[ Park Moondae's POV ]
One thing led to another, and now Seungmin and I were on our way to my house. He even showered and changed at the gym with clothes he brought, that punk. Was he prepared for this?
When we were almost at the drab alley leading to my apartment room, I glanced at Seungmin. He was skimming the area with only his eyes until they stopped at something.
"Moondae hyung, there's a convenience store," he said, unbothered by how sketchy everything looked. "Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
"Some beer," I thought, but I just shook my head.
"Hmm, do you drink? I was going to buy some beer* and ramen if you're fine with that."
*Legal drinking age is 19 in Korea, so Seungmin can drink
"...In that case, sure."
He smiled and nodded again before disappearing into the store. It didn't take long for him to come out with two cases of beer and a bag filled with instant food. I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw the amount he was carrying and quickly took the bag from him.
"I wasn't sure if you drink Cxss or Txrra, so I bought both."
"So he did the same for ramen because he didn't know which I like?"
I bit my lip to prevent myself from saying anything about his strange logic.
In the end, we made it to my room with enough food and drinks to feed a large family reunion.
"Sorry," I started to say when I looked around, "there's not much here, but make yourself at home."
He doesn't seem like the type of person to ever step foot into such a shabby place like my apartment. But he said nothing and sat down easily in front of the TV. I felt a little awkward.
"Um, do you drink Cxss?" I asked from my kitchen.
"Do you?"
"Yes."
"Okay," he smiled. "Then I'll drink the Txrra."
Suddenly, he was right behind me at the kitchen counter. I almost jumped out of my skin because I didn't hear him come.
"I'll help make the ramen. Which do you like?" he muttered, rummaging through the bag I set on the floor. There was also the triangle kimbap I ate in the PR live.
We ended up boiling ramen together and taking the bowls, beers, and kimbap to the table he set up in front of the TV.
"Thank you for this food," he said before taking a bite of the kimbap. He nodded his head as if he approved of it.
Meanwhile, I turned on the TV. We were right in time. I cracked open the beer and took a large gulp.
Being in a top-ranked group, Seungmin and I would only appear in the end, so most of the first half was watched in silence; there wasn't any particularly conspicuously friendly or hostile editing.
It was only in the middle of the second half when things started picking up pace.
A black screen with the words [ One week ago. ] took over the screen before Gigantic's stage began.
Then it flashed to Choi Wongil crying during an interview.
I sat there, stunned, as the sobbing echoed in the room. Beside me, Seungmin stifled a laugh. He was already on this third beer. I guess even he can loosen up with some alcohol in his system.
The TV moved on to show Wongil's rude and uncooperative actions he'd done so far, including going back to the first team match. The part that was snipped out of the previous episodes of Wongil instigating a fight with me appeared.
[ Choi Wongil: Hey, Moondae hyung, aren't you being too much? We don't have much time... ]
[ Asking for ideas out of nowhere...! ] the captions said.
And then in the second team match.
[ Choi Wongil: I'm the one who formed this team. Isn't it only right to give me more parts this time? ]
He even began asking if the others cared more about me because I was ranked higher.
I checked the live chat on my phone. Seungmin also looked over my shoulder.
- Is Choi Wongil for real...?
└ I'm more annoyed that he was only being mean to those he thought were weaker
└ Fr, like Heesung and Moondae specifically...
- We have to rethink our assessment of Park Moondae. He gave Wongil the part even when he was acting like that
└ He's a saint
I wasn't necessarily pleased that I was being brought up. Later, I could get twice the hate if anything suspicious showed up.
"Hyung," Seungmin murmured. His voice was even lower than usual. "Do you like how it turned out?"
I took another sip of my second beer.
"About Wongil? Well...he did annoy me, and he brought that upon himself, but the production crew did too much. He'll experience a lot of hardships for the time being."
Seungmin went silent.
"I thought you would like it," he muttered as he went back to his seat.
"Does he think I hated Wongil?" I wondered. "He's just a child. It would be stupid if I was upset by someone years younger."
In the end, the 'Gigantic' team performed well, so the criticism died down.
Seeing the screen transition to an interview with Raebin, I assumed our stage was next.
[ Staff: What is your plan in recruiting teammates for the 2nd team match? ]
[ Kim Raebin: First, I'm thinking of recruiting participant Park Moondae. ]
I coughed the beer I was drinking. Seungmin handed me a tissue, and I wiped my mouth with it. I wasn't expecting this.
[ Kim Raebin: Park Moondae's range is versatile, so he wouldn't be burdened with any song. And I've seen him interact with his other teammates in a composed manner. He's my first choice for a teammate. ]
[ Kim Raebin: Next is Cha Eugene for his stage presence and dance prowess. Then is Cho Seungmin for his all-rounded skills and patience, and Ryu Chungwoo for his leadership. ]
His voice dubbed over the moment each of these people were successfully recruited.
[ Kim Raebin: I considered two things for my team. How well they execute their own parts and the overall harmony of the team. ]
The TV suddenly zoomed into Lee Sejin A's face as he was chosen as the last team member.
Again, the beer in my mouth almost spilled.
"Harmony? Lee Sejin A?"
Small subtitles of others saying we were a dream team played.
[ H.O.W.E.V.E.R ]
[ Youngrin*: Who did the rearrangement for this? ]
*I never used her name bc i forgot what it is lmao. she's the famous idol judge
The intense mid-evaluation scene appeared right before the episode's ad.
I used the chance to check the live chat again.
- Ah, this team must be screwed
- Raebin became a pushover again?
- The moment he picked Park Moondae, it went south
More and more comments began to target Park Moondae first. I sighed loudly as I brushed my hand through my hair, frustrated.
"Is the alcohol making me angrier than usual?"
Next to me, Seungmin watched as I scrolled through, but he didn't slide closer to see what I was actually reading.
"Hyung, don't worry," he said. "You saved the team."
I put my phone down as the ad finished and the rest of the episode played. Even if I did, no one would know if the production team doesn't add in the good deeds I've done, so I couldn't hold the same confidence as him.
[ Team Heroes Clan who managed to finish everything in just a day! ]
Small snippets of Raebin at the keyboard, Cha Eugene and Seungmin making the choreo, and Ryu Chungwoo gathering everyone together played with those words.
Overall the leader was still getting nicely edited. I frowned as I wondered if he would take all the credit for the team's success this time too.
While an interview of Chungwoo played, Seungmin muttered, "He is a cousin of one of the writers."
Widening my eyes, I turned to face him. He was still watching the TV.
"How...do you know?" I asked cautiously.
Without turning his head, his eyes glanced at me before going back to the screen.
"They're very distant cousins. I wonder if it was her idea to edit him well?" He was smiling now, but it was unsettling.
I decided to ignore him and watch the remainder of the episode, not wanting to get caught up in some unnecessary drama. It was back to the midterm evaluation. The scene of Kim Yojoon putting the blame on Raebin was shown with a daunting BGM.
"Don't tell me we'll all get screwed over like this and only the leader will survive."
[ Silence envelops the practice room... ]
It started zooming into my face.
[ At that moment! ]
[ Park Moondae: We all agreed on how the rearrangement should be done based on the concept we decided on. ]
"...!"
Scenes of others asking Raebin to change the song were added as a flashback, and then it turned to me.
[ A person who paid close attention to him... ]
It flashed back to the evaluation as I finished the rest of my response, and a touching effect was added to show that the team balance was restored.
Slow-motion scenes of us working hard together were accompanied by Raebin's interview saying he thought he did well to recruit his teammates.
Then as a bit of a funny skit, they added the moment I gave Raebin an idea. They put some cute sfx around Seungmin and Raebin as we talked and Raebin darted to the keyboard.
Finally, our stage entered the scene.
I finished the beer and leaned back on the floor. Seungmin also placed down the beer in his hand and watched quietly.
My overall thoughts on this episode's performance editing?
Not bad.