Episode 22. Auspicious Occasion (1)
Was it thanks to the support of Kang Dae-oh and his family?
At first, Kang Yera’s morale had been broken due to Ahn Yesul’s participation.
Starting from the first preliminary stage to the second, Kang Yera received all Passes from the judges with unstoppable momentum, securing her advancement to the upper rounds.
When she passed the 2nd round and reached the 3rd round.
Finally, the first broadcast of ‘On The Stage’ was released.
Kang Dae-oh, who had left work early today, gathered with his family in the living room to watch the highly anticipated first episode of ‘On The Stage’.
Since they already knew the results, the tension was low.
But conversely, it also meant they didn’t need to watch the broadcast with anxiety.
Thanks to this, they could watch the broadcast at ease.
Kang Yebin, who was staring intently at the TV screen, focused on one particular part.
“It seems the program PD here thought highly of unnie. She’s appearing with more significance than I thought.”
From the preliminary stage, Kang Yera, along with Ahn Yesul, received intensive focus.
She held such a significant role that it wouldn’t be wrong to call her almost a double protagonist of ‘On The Stage’.
Kang Yera chuckled and said.
“Every time I saw the PD, I went up and greeted them enthusiastically. I had to make an impression, even a small one, so they would remember my face and my name.”
Kang Yera herself never imagined that her unique appealing methods, honed diligently during her unknown days, would be helpful at a time like this.
Still, it was a relief that Kang Yera’s intentions seemed to have worked to some extent.
In fact, it wouldn’t have mattered much even if she hadn’t explicitly revealed her presence to the PD.
This was because Kang Yera’s outstanding abilities and qualities as a singer were already enough to attract the attention of the PD and production staff.
Still, since she wanted to firmly establish her presence if possible, she even resorted to such methods.
With the scene previewing the first round of the main competition, the first episode concluded.
Kang Yeyoung, who was searching for viewers’ opinions related to the first episode of ‘On The Stage’ on her smartphone, nodded as if she had expected it and shared what she had seen.
“The reaction is really good, isn’t it? There’s a lot of talk about unnie too.”
Kang Dae-oh had already heard many times, based on his daughters’ future knowledge, that ‘On The Stage’ would be a hugely successful audition program.
But seeing it unfold exactly as his daughters had said with his own eyes, Kang Dae-oh found it incredibly fascinating.
“Many famous singers will be born from this audition, won’t they?”
The daughters nodded simultaneously at Kang Dae-oh’s question.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“There’s also a senior actor I used to act with. They originally participated in ‘On The Stage’ aiming to be a singer. But after their debut, they realized they had more talent in acting and switched to being an actor.”
Not only in singing, but also in acting, people from ‘On The Stage’ held strong positions.
And that’s not all.
This time, Kang Yeyoung opened her mouth and added her opinion.
“There were quite a few influencers active mainly on YouTube who significantly raised their profile through ‘On The Stage’ and started broadcasting.”
Thanks to the program’s great success, future stars could emerge like mushrooms after rain in this way.
Kang Dae-oh looked at his eldest daughter.
“Yera will definitely be like that too.”
In response, Kang Yera nodded vigorously and replied.
“Of course! I’m going to make it happen. Appa and Eomma, just watch. I’ll make it to the finals later so we can even do a family interview.”
“Family interview?”
Kang Dae-oh tilted his head at the unfamiliar words.
It was a topic he hadn’t heard about when his daughters told him about ‘On The Stage’.
Kang Yera gave a detailed explanation.
“If you make it to the finals, they film separate interview videos with the participants’ families or acquaintances. I remember seeing such videos during the final stage.”
Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung also nodded, indicating that their unnie remembered correctly.
If they were to film it, this would be their second interview video.
Kang Dae-oh didn’t particularly mind.
He often showed his face as a father in videos uploaded to Kang Yeyoung’s YouTube channel.
He had no particular aversion to such things, so it was fine.
The problem was his wife.
“Are you okay with it? You don’t really like your face being exposed, do you?”
Min Seung-yeon nodded, indicating that it didn’t really matter.
“It’s an interview for a good cause. And it’s not like I intensely dislike it. When we went to Jeju Island, I felt like my face had gained some weight, so I was self-conscious about that and told them not to show my face.”
As a former fitting model, she had no aversion to cameras.
And most importantly.
“Our taking an interview means that Yera has secured her spot in the finals, right? It’s filming for a good cause. As her mom, of course, I have to cooperate.”
Min Seung-yeon wished that Kang Yera would fulfill the dream she couldn’t achieve in her previous life, even if it meant filming many times.
Hearing her mom’s words, Kang Yera’s fighting spirit ignited once again.
Looking at Kang Yera’s eyes, full of enthusiasm, Kang Dae-oh smiled inwardly.
He wished for all of his family’s aspirations to come true.
Kang Dae-oh earnestly hoped in his heart.
If she passed only the 3rd main competition stage, she would be granted the qualification to advance directly to the final stage, which is the upper round.
Therefore, today was a very important day for Kang Yera.
Competitors who had been running together from the preliminaries until today once again appeared on site.
Ahn Yesul was no exception.
As ‘On The Stage’ aired its first and second episodes, starting with the preview, the wary gazes towards Ahn Yesul increased among the participants.
Everyone knew that Ahn Yesul was no ordinary talented individual through the evaluations the judges had given so far.
But since she was even gaining popularity through broadcasting, they had no choice but to be even more wary of her.
However, Ahn Yesul wasn’t the only opponent the participants had to be wary of.
The youngest participant. The eye of the storm. A genius born to be a singer, etc.
Kang Yera, who was called by various nicknames, was also a person frequently mentioned by the participants.
Thus, a total of 20 participants, including Kang Yera and Ahn Yesul – no, survivors – watched intently as the MC appeared on stage.
The MC once again announced the rules for the 3rd round of the main competition to the participants.
“As I mentioned last time, the 3rd round will be evaluated in groups. Participants will be organized into groups of four, and the four will compete against each other to be ranked by the judges. A total of 10 participants will advance to the ‘On The Stage’ finals, selected as the 1st and 2nd place winners from each group.”
The survival rate was 50 percent.
However, it was a probability that had to be won by skill, not just luck, so the tension was inevitably higher.
“Group assignments will be done by drawing lots. Please come out one by one and pick a ball from the box. There will be a number written on the ball. It’s the number indicating which group you’re in, so please remember which group you belong to after you pick it. Understood?”
“Yes!”
The 20 participants replied with vigorous voices.
They took some time to lightly predict who would be assigned to which group.
Their main interest, as expected, was the whereabouts of Ahn Yesul and Kang Yera.
“No matter what group it is, I want to avoid those two.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Me too. If I had known this, I would have drawn water and prayed this morning, wouldn’t I?”
This was because if they were in a group that included either Kang Yera or Ahn Yesul, it could be considered that one of the two spots leading to the finals was practically gone.
The aura shown by the two participants so far was that immense.
“Shall we start with Kang Yera, first?”
Kang Yera briefly nodded and walked towards the box placed in front of the MC.
The camera focused intently on Kang Yera’s hand and expression.
Kang Yera let out a short sigh, mixed with tension, and put her hand into the box.
A moment later.
A ball was held in her small hand.
The number written on the ball was.
“It’s 5.”
Kang Yera smartly showed the number towards the camera and said.
Group 5 meant it was the last order.
The participants proceeded with the drawing of lots one by one, with the intention of just avoiding number 5.
In the middle, some participants who drew number 5 let out a short scream, “Ugh!”
The turn continued.
Finally, it was Ahn Yesul’s turn.
“Ahn Yesul. Please come forward.”
“Yes.”
Kang Yera and Ahn Yesul, who vied for the 1st and 2nd spots in popularity, had never been assigned to the same group before.
But today.
An upset occurred.
“It’s Group 5.”
Ahn Yesul held up the ball she had just drawn, facing the number clearly.
Finally, they ended up in the same group.
Not only the participants, but even the staff.
They couldn’t hide their astonishment at the unexpected result.
The PD also clicked his tongue in regret.
Kang Yera and Ahn Yesul were the mascot-like and representative rival characters that the PD was highlighting for ‘On The Stage’.
But for the two of them to be in the same group meant.
If they were unlucky, the possibility of one of them not advancing to the final stage increased.
Then a red light would appear on ‘On The Stage’s’ viewership ratings.
And it wasn’t as if they could redo the drawing of lots now.
This was because manipulation was the most sensitive and forbidden thing when filming an audition program.
In fact, in the past, a certain survival audition program had manipulated the rankings of participants at the discretion of the production team.
As these facts were fully exposed to the public, the entire genre of survival audition programs was once shelved.
For the production team, it was a dilemma.
The writer approached the PD and whispered softly.
“What should we do, sunbaenim?”
“What do you mean, ‘what to do’? We have to go with it as is.”
This is also fate.
They had wanted to spectacularly showcase the Kang Yera VS Ahn Yesul card in the final stage.
But in the 3rd round of the main competition, they had no choice but to go with a “preview of the finals” feeling.
If there was anything else they wished for.
“Let’s just pray that both of them advance to the finals.”
This was the only thing the production team could do.
Meanwhile.
As soon as Kang Yera confirmed that she had been assigned to the same group as Ahn Yesul, her mind was filled with chaos.
While waiting for her turn in the waiting room, Kang Yera looked for Hong Yoona.
“Unnie. I…”
“Do you need anything?”
Her smartphone. She wanted to try calling Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon with it.
This was because she felt that hearing her appa’s and eomma’s voices would ease her tension, even a little.
However.
“No, nothing.”
She couldn’t rely on her eomma and appa forever.
This was Kang Yera’s fight.
She had to show them.
To her eomma and appa.
How proud a daughter their child was.
She decided to prove it this time.
