In fact, bringing Cha YooJin would not spoil the atmosphere of the meeting.

However, when his team fight airs in the ninth episode, we will keep quiet.

Don't you think that would be awkward?

I grabbed my phone and thought for a while. I was trying to choose a phrase to reject his request in a proper way.

But at that instant, Keun SeJin asked.

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, RaeBin asked if he could come with Cha YooJin."

"Hmm ... I think that would be nice, right?"

SeJin started laughing.

"I doubt that the production team will show the problem of his team in the ninth episode. It will surely appear a bit in the teaser of the tenth episode."

Wow, I hadn't thought of it that way.

Also, I didn't think he would be so direct. It seems that he now has a higher level of trust in me after I helped him with the controversial article accusing him of violent harassment or bullying.

"It would be nice to take this opportunity to make friends with him~ Oh right! We have to ask the owner of this house! What do you think, AhHyun?"

"I-it's fine by me!"

"You heard it!"

Seon AhHyun raised his voice to indicate that he accepted YooJin's presence and returned to focus on reading the rules of the board game.

This guy also seems to have changed his personality a bit.

I didn't expect him to invite a participant he had never talked to before to his house.

"Well... In that case."

I'll tell them to come.

Reluctantly I wrote a reply to RaeBin.

* * *

It was after lunch that Kim RaeBin and Cha YooJin arrived.

"Oh~ Come in!"

Keun SeJin happily greeted them.

By the way, after I sent the message to RaeBin, SeJin said "If the two of them are going to come, then we need to call our hyung". That's why Gold 1 hastily joined us and is now sitting on the sofa.

If Gold 1 were missing, our image would look weird. Well, it still looked weird because of YooJin's appearance.

"Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Unexpectedly, YooJin bowed his head to greet us and handed us a bag full of sweets.

"I ordered chicken for dinner, but if there's anything else you want to eat, we can order again."

"Okay."

RaeBin nodded and sat in a corner in silence. That indicated that it was not necessary for him to order other types of food, unlike YooJin, who asked with sparkling eyes.

"Can I order pizza?"

"Of course!"

"Wow!"

After letting out his exclamation, YooJin opened his delivery app. I thought he would still feel bad, but he looked very lively.

RaeBin exchanged greetings and chatted calmly.

"Hyungs, did you come this morning?"

"Oh, I did come early~ Instead, MoonDae has been here for a few days."

"What?"

There was nothing I wanted to hide, but it was a bit annoying to tell it again.

Anyway, I couldn't ignore the boys' curiosity, so I explained the chaos that happened in my old room. Seon AhHyun chimed in from time to time to supplement the story.

It went to be something like this.

"So I went to the door and there was another person."

"Aaah!"

"The-there were three more people! I-it wasn't just one!"

"Well, yes. So it took a while for the police to arrest them."

"Th-the cops didn't do much, like it wasn't a big deal... Th-they were very mean."

"Mean... Yes, they were like that."

As we repeated the same story, the incident became more and more exaggerated and seemed like an urban legend that you find on the internet. After hearing us, the boys were silent for a moment.

"Wow, it's good that AhHyun helped you. I would be very scared."

"I know... Someone visited my house before, I'm worried it will happen again and get worse because I have a younger brother at home..."

"Oh no, how was he?"

"Uh, well, a woman rang my doorbell and sat in front of the door for many hours, so he couldn't go out."

"Oh God..."

Similar experiences have been reported primarily among people who live alone or live in their agency's accommodation. It was a disturbing subject suitable for watching Icorpo's live broadcast, as it caused shock and horror.

While eating chicken, they even told the story of an idol who is friends with another contestant.

"Then he went in to take a shower and suddenly he heard a "beep-" in the bathroom."

"What the hell..."

While we ate the pizza that arrived later, we started to watch the rebroadcast of the eighth episode of Icorpo, before the ninth episode started.

We saw it and made appropriate comments.

At the end of the show, even Cha YooJin was in the mood.

"You really didn't feel bad about taking third place?"

"It was disappointing, but it was still good."

"Hey, you're so cool."

"Hehe."

At Gold 1's admiration, YooJin smiled. I was curious to know what the hell happened in the "Husky" team that could make such a boy suffer...

And the ninth episode started when we finished eating all the pizza.

The logo that I was already getting tired of seeing reappeared and the episode began showing the Talent Show.

There, all the participants managed to be evenly shown in the camera cuts.

I don't know if it's because it's content that promotes healing from the pain of "Stock Sale" or if it's an attempt to make up for poor progress on the spur of the moment.

Anyway, most of them had humorous scenes that made everyone happy and positively affected their images. Keun SeJin was an excellent example.

The problem is that my part ... appeared and ended as a joke.

They put those kinds of subtitles on while I was singing. But more than causing me smiles, they made me want to die of shame.

"Hahaha!!"

"Puffju..."

"It's an amount of footage that makes you look really good. Congratulations, MoonDae-ya!"

The last one is said by Keun Sejin, but I silently slapped him on the back while he drank a soda, causing him to choke.

"Kugh..."

Why didn't you just laugh?

But my cut did not end there.

At the end of the scene where the participants jumped up and gathered around me, excited that I won the kimchi cooler, they inserted some interview clips.

After the immediate response, a cut was inserted showing my thumb raised.

'That cut is from another interview where they asked me if I liked the new team.'

The crazy people in the editing team made up so many things to fool the public.

The subtitles marked me.

I haven't received my kimchi cooler yet, you fucking bastards.

What angered me the most was that my appearances in the ninth episode ended that way.

'I have been shown in a stupid and useless way.'

If I had been shown in this way at the beginning of the program, I would have been grateful for the positive effect it would cause. But not now.

This is because the edit isn't very beneficial to me, just as we're about to enter the final team battle.

Showing me off with such few and simple words will make the audience believe that "I don't seem desperate to debut" and that will fatally affect me at the next ranking ceremony.

Well, so far ... I haven't looked desperate to debut on the show.

I think it's understandable that I have more fun scenes than desperate ones. In this last team battle I have worked harder, but if this trend continues, it is unlikely that the 'despair' in me will stand out.

'It is unavoidable.'

Well, I never announced my decision to debut on this show. I've never shown enough to point to a cut like that and it's too late to do so.

I didn't have a dramatic backstory so that fans could be moved and share my despair to the whole world.

'It's kind of funny.'

In fact, I am the most desperate person here. I'm probably the only one who will die if I don't make it to debut.

'I should prepare myself mentally for when the time comes.'

Even if my ranking suddenly drops in the last episode, I'll be fair. Whoever is going to replace me will be able to achieve their dream of debuting.

Suddenly, I felt a bitterness in my mouth. That would be a bit unlucky for me.

If I manage to do it, it would be great to be around people I feel comfortable with. Most of the guys who are next to me now will probably debut. I felt a strange sense of defeat because I thought maybe I won't be able to be with them.

It seems that my attitude has changed quite a bit compared to when the filming of the show started.

But there was no time to sink into my emotions.

Surprisingly, at the end of the ninth episode, the collapse of the "Husky" team was shown:

They showed the exact moment Sejin's face twitched in anger and held it for several seconds.

They then showed the three boys clenching their fists tightly because they were completely upset, but they were just asking questions and answering.

It was obvious they were aware of the cameras and still put up with it.

There was no one to mediate this disaster that happened when Ryu CheongWoo went to confirm the song that his team had chosen to the staff of the production team.

YooJin had tried to intervene but was ignored as if he was never there.

I think his comment was perhaps not very appropriate to calm that environment.

Cha YooJin looked at the screen with a gloomy face and soon brought his glass of soda to his lips to drink it.

In my opinion, it went well for him because he passed without anything to criticize, but his point of view must be different.

The ninth episode ended when Cheongwoo returned and was alarmed to see the atmosphere of his team completely shattered.

"Oh, it's over~ How was it?"

"Well, it was good."

Keun SeJin slightly changed the topic and the atmosphere lightened. I don't know why he prompted me to respond, but I did so appropriately.

YooJin turned away from his soda glass and smiled at us.

I guess he is now addicted to anything with high amounts of sugar?

'...Maybe it's my fault.'

I quickly erased my sinister thoughts.

On the screen, the latest commercial breaks were now disguised as advertisements in the middle of the program. Considering the time, the broadcast will probably end right after the commercial, showing us a teaser of the next episode or behind the scenes.

"Today they just showed a little bit of how we started."

"Yeah, we don't go out much."

Only a short cut of the "Moon Rabbit" team's formation was shown.

The production team can arbitrarily adjust the show order, but since we were the first to show up, I was looking forward to being shown at the end of the 9th episode, but it looks like they're going to change our order.

'Won't that cause our rankings to drop?'

I was wondering for a moment until the commercial break ended and Icorpo appeared on the screen again.

The MC appeared on the screen.

"Don't you think something is wrong?"

"You too? I feel the same."

Since it was never good for the MC to appear alone on the show, the contestants tensed up and waited nervously.

"No."

"Not much."

We were somewhat negative because they showed irregularities in the editing of the program. Although it was something we would never say when they filmed us.

What?

Well, I don't think they let us know that easily. Perhaps some of the rankings will not be revealed...

"Oh my God."

Kim Rae Bin sighed. It was understandable.

'What kind of crazy person came up with the idea of ​​revealing only the negative votes?'

I knew about the controversial strategies of the show, so I didn't think I would be so surprised.

'But I didn't know there would be such a surprise.'

It was clear that was the reason for not including the introductions in this episode.

Along with the MC's words, the ratings with negative marks on the screen were arranged in an orderly manner.

And the living room was enveloped in silence.