Idol of the Heavenly One - vanish into fiction

For three seconds, I just stared blankly at Myeong-jin’s face. The phrase “I froze” would be the most accurate description.

He was seriously telling me to try becoming an idol?

“I don’t even know how to sing.”

“What do you mean? Are you tone-deaf?”

“No. I’ve simply never sung before.”

“…Huh? What do you mean? You’ve never been to a karaoke place? Kids your age go all the time.”

“I’ve never been.”

“Why…?”

“Because students are supposed to study.”

Kono—coin karaoke. I had never been to one in my previous life, and this life was no different. Kyu-jin always begged me to go with him, but just like I had told Yoo Myeong-jin just now, I would always refuse, saying a student’s duty is to study.

Most kids my age practically lived in coin karaoke rooms, so maybe the fact that I had never sung before was truly shocking to him. Yoo Myeong-jin fell silent, scanning me up and down as if lost in thought.

“No matter how I think about it…”

“Friend, you must have been sent to me by the Buddha Himself.”

“Excuse me?”

His eyes suddenly lit up, and he stepped closer.

“Your face, your name, your personality… You’ve never drunk alcohol, have you? Never smoked either?”

“No.”

“It’s you. It’s absolutely you. Ji Cheonmyeong—it’s you!”

Then he grabbed both my arms as if he would never let go and shouted with a voice overflowing with joy—no, with madness—toward the ceiling.

…This is getting a little scary.

He was starting to feel like some cult fanatic, so I tried to pull my arms free, but his grip strength was incredible.

“We’re going to do a camera test. Please look at Camera 1.”

“……”

“Good, now Camera 2.”

And just like that, I was dragged to CZ Entertainment. At first, I tried to refuse, but Yoo Myeong-jin insisted—saying I could even bring my parents or the police if I wanted, just come for one camera test. In the end, I came with my father since the judo studio was closed for the holiday. It was a bit of a hassle prying my little sister off since she wanted to tag along too.

My father was startled at first when I told him, but soon he burst out laughing, saying he had a feeling something like this might happen, and happily agreed to come with me.

When we finally arrived at CZ Entertainment headquarters—its location exactly where the map app showed, my own heart began to race a little. I had never experienced anything like this, in this life or the last, and the unfamiliarity made me tense.

Yoo Myeong-jin disappeared somewhere, leaving me in front of four people whose expressions were anything but welcoming. If I were just some ordinary kid, I probably wouldn’t have been able to even look at the camera properly from nerves.

Especially the person sitting second from the left, wearing glasses—his gaze was so sharp it felt like he could kill with just his eyes.

“That should do for the camera test.”

“Would you like to try singing a song?”

An idol, huh. I had never once considered that as a possible path. I figured there was at least an 85% chance this wouldn’t work out. After all, I had never been to coin karaoke, but I had gone to regular karaoke a few times during company dinners in my previous life.

And every single time, I was forced to sing at least one song, and every single time, people’s expressions turned awkward. Even to my own ears, it had never sounded quite right. I was probably tone-deaf—or maybe just completely off-rhythm.

“…Sing?”

Sure, they say idols rely a lot on looks, but they’re still singers. Singing is the bare minimum. I would surely be eliminated at this stage.

“Can I sing anything?”

“Yes. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Well, since I was already here, I might as well treat this as a big life experience.

“‘Your Voice, Drunk on Alcohol.’”

I started singing the one song I actually knew. It wasn’t that I particularly liked it—just that back then, it was constantly on the radio, so I naturally learned it, and whenever I ended up in karaoke, this was the only song I would sing.

“Comforting you, who’s grown so thin in the past few days—”

I didn’t even need to look to know what kind of faces the people in front of me were making. It had to be the exact same awkward, bewildered expressions I had seen on people’s faces in my previous life whenever I sang.

Sure enough, their faces were full of that same awkwardness and confusion. See? I told you—I’m tone-deaf. Or maybe rhythm-blind.

Clap clap clap clap—

Huh? Applause?

The scariest-looking one, the man sitting second from the left, suddenly started clapping. The others nodded along in agreement.

“You’ve never trained as a singer before?”

“No.”

“I thought so. You have no habits in your singing. Do you sing often at home?”

“Never.”

“Haha!”

What? Did I actually do well? Judging by the feeling, they were clapping because I sang well. Otherwise, it would have been sarcastic applause to scold Yoo Myeong-jin for wasting their time and salary bringing me here.

But since it clearly wasn’t the latter, that meant it had to be the former.

“Did I… sing well?”

“How about your grades? Do you do well in school?”

“…I only ever rank first in class.”

“Ha! This kid’s a real prodigy.”

Instead of answering my question, they asked something entirely different, then started whispering among themselves.

I couldn’t hear everything clearly, but words like “found” and “perfect” floated back and forth. It seemed I really did meet their criteria. So I wasn’t tone-deaf after all. Strangely, I felt a little excited.

“Ji Myeong-hyeon.”

Finally, as though they had reached a conclusion, the man with glasses called my name in a voice full of gravity.

“Do you want to become an idol?”

It was the question I had been expecting. From the way their faces seemed to light up, I had the feeling that if I said yes, they would sign a contract with me on the spot.