The Idol Training Simulation I Messed Up

Chapter 7

When she first saw Haerang’s character in the styling window of My Enter, she almost didn’t recognize him.

Perhaps conscious of his position as the main rapper, her past self had styled him very intensely.

Bright red hair spiked up in the front. His eyebrows were dyed red to match his hair color.

“What is he, Tongki?”

As she held her head, looking at the hairstyle that seemed perfect for dodgeball, the actual appearances of the Monochrome members came to mind.

‘But why was there no red-haired member?’

Even so, she, as the director, had noticed when a member who wore a hat upon entering this office, took off his hat as he came in.

She was certain that none of the members, including Haerang, had such intense hair color when she saw them.

This question was answered the next day. Since she and they were in the same building, it was a matter of going down a few floors to find them.

The practice rooms, studios, and other soundproof rooms were clustered on the lower floors.

Perhaps the structure was designed to minimize noise between floors due to the stomping.

She found it fascinating as it was her first time going downstairs other than the floor with her office.

There weren’t many rooms with people, so she leisurely looked around and soon found where Haerang was.

“Baek Haerang?”

Haerang was in a studio with Woohyung.

When she poked her head in and called out, both men stopped what they were doing and stood up to greet her.

They didn’t need to be so nervous.

He asked Haerang to step out of the studio for a moment.

‘Up close, he was incredibly tall.’

Among the members, he might be the tallest. She had to look up to examine his hair.

It was hard to see the hair color clearly because Haerang wore a hat and the corridor wasn’t well lit. But it was definitely not that vivid red color.

“Hold on a second.”

“……?”

She reached out and took off Haerang’s hat. Haerang watched her actions with a puzzled look.

And the question was immediately resolved.

There was a realistic reason for the hair color change. The bright color faded significantly.

With the hat off, she could see that only the ends of his hair were left with faded reddish-brown, making it two-toned.

‘So the styling window in My Enter doesn’t show the ‘current’ look.’

She suspected that the styling menu showed a set appearance after going through the hands of hair and makeup designers, stylists, etc.

Anyway, discovering this new information was an unexpected gain.

At the same time, seeing how much the dye had faded, she could guess how long the hiatus had been.

When her eyebrows furrowed, Haerang, unable to understand what she was thinking, awkwardly scratched his head.

“Is your hair okay?”

That vivid red color would be impossible without bleaching.

There had been periods of meaningless album releases just to earn in-game currency. That meant he had to maintain that hair for months on end.

‘What about your scalp?!’

It was said that scalp care takes a long time. To top it off, the color was so obvious as soon as the hair grew, so he would have had to repeat that harsh bleaching process continuously.

However, Haerang seemed to interpret her words differently.

“Should I bleach it again?”

“No!”

Of course, since they had bleached his hair whenever they had activities, he probably thought he had to do it again.

But no more bleaching! Protect the scalp!

She put the hat back on him and conveyed a special request.

***

The order of the profile photo shoot was first Yunhwan, who had to leave in the middle, and last was Jun-hae, who had an exam.

Apparently, Jun-hae had insisted that he didn’t need to take the exam, but since it was the first period, they managed to proceed with the shoot without much issue.

‘I understand not wanting to go if it’s the first period.’

But he was a student and had to graduate, so she told him to go. She even threatened that if he didn’t take the exam, she wouldn’t be allowed into the studio for the shoot.

She didn’t really mean it, but it seemed like a strong enough statement that Jun-hae closed his mouth and nodded.

And while the other members were in the practice room, she heard that Jun-hae studied in an empty meeting room.

Even today, when the other members arrived, Jun-hae was not there, having gone to school diligently.

The studio was quite large, with a separate dressing room and makeup room next to the shooting set.

When the traveling hair designer, makeup artist, and stylist arrived, the scene became quite busy.

Moreover, besides Monochrome’s manager, there was another manager assigned for Yunhwan’s transport.

‘The entertainment industry really has so many people working behind the scenes.’

All of this was fascinating to her.

She was supposed to be in charge, but her position here was almost that of a spectator.

She watched Yunhwan’s shoot, which started first, from behind.

“Wow. He’s a celebrity.”

As soon as he stood in front of the camera, he posed skillfully, proving he was indeed a celebrity.

Even before the makeup, everyone said his face was puffy, and other members put water bottles in front of his face to hide it.

But the Yunhwan standing in front of the camera now looked perfect, without a trace of puffiness.

As she peeked around like someone seeing a celebrity for the first time, Yun-hee stood next to her with a camcorder.

“What’s that for?”

“I’m recording this for behind-the-scenes footage.”

“Oh.”

So they had to think about things like that too. As expected, a professional was different.

She marveled and turned her attention back to the front.

A pair of earrings about two fingers long dangled between his slightly messy, styled straight hair.

Even though he wore a simple white shirt, his sharp eyes and sparkling earrings added flair, making him look unmistakably like an idol.

The concept for this profile shoot started from Yun-hee’s straightforward opinion.

She recalled her brief and strong statement during the last meeting.

[To directly quote fans’ opinions on styling, ‘If you drop the naughty concept, I’ll do 108 bows towards Monochrome’s dorm direction and prove it. Otherwise, I’m going to break a Newma pot.’]

It seemed there were some unnecessary remarks, but it showed how desperate the fans were.

The casual styling was summarized as the naughty concept. After years of maintaining a lively and refreshing image, it had come to this.

The lyrics of the songs released under the same concept were mostly similar. The narrator was a younger man, afraid of losing his loved one. Something like that.

She wholeheartedly agreed with the need to break away from this image.

Considering their years, it was time to go for a mature look! And that’s how the idea for the shirt style came about.

Monochrome. Black and white. When you think of black and white, it’s suits! Shirts!

Although the motif was taken from Secretary Choi’s suit, it had a different feeling than his sharp suit.

Furthermore, this time, all the members’ outfits were unified in monotones.

Just like their debut, which was themed around monochrome films and black-and-white movies.

In a way, you could say this was also a new beginning, and she wanted to give it a meaningful significance.

The individual shoots were conducted in two outfits. One with a shirt, and another with a more comfortable attire.

After finishing the shoot in the second outfit, a gray knit, Yunhwan moved straight to the interview location.

Next was Woohyung’s turn.

She thought she was familiar with Woohyung’s face since she had seen him a few times, but indeed, he was a celebrity!

“Oh. Handsome.”

She expressed her honest feelings without holding back.

Woohyung, who was finding his position in front of the camera, heard the comment and smiled shyly.

While their faces were distinct from ordinary people, the look completed with makeup and hair setting made them seem like people from another world.

The upward-tilted eyes could appear sharp or gentle depending on his expression.

‘He can make expressions like that too.’

Perhaps because she often saw him looking embarrassed or troubled, those were the impressions that stuck in his mind, but seeing him in celebrity mode felt new.

Changing into a black turtleneck, Woohyung now looked at the camera and smiled brightly.

‘He definitely looks good when he smiles.’

Since Han-yi finished getting ready first, he had been monitoring the photos with us for a while now.

“You could be an actor.”

His thick eyebrows were revealed between his styled bangs that exposed half his forehead.

Unlike Woohyung, whose eyes were upturned, Han-yi had double eyelids and slightly droopy eyes, giving him a gentle yet intense look, closer to an actor’s.

“Handsome, right?”

“Huh? Yes, he’s handsome.”

“Hey! Don’t be so cheeky.”

Woohyung, having finished his shoot, joined behind the monitor and lightly smacked Han-yi’s back.

It seemed this kind of bickering was familiar, happening often.

Unknown to her, Han-yi seemed to naturally have a friendly personality.

Those handsome guys were talking amongst themselves about their good looks; it really was their own world. She wondered what it would feel like to live with such faces.

As if changing places, Han-yi now took Woohyung’s spot.

‘The power of lighting is amazing too.’

Despite it being winter, the intense heat from the lights made it impossible to feel cold. Of course, her amazement wasn’t about the heat they generated.

The place, set against a stark white background, seemed solely designed for the subject captured by the camera.

Even though it was the same face, there was a different sparkle compared to seeing it up close.

It felt like watching through a monitor screen.

‘His eye smile is refreshing.’

Even though she came to work, admiring faces was quite fun.

Seeing the variety of expressions, she naturally learned each person’s charm points.

As she watched, a question arose. When she first saw Monochrome’s profile pictures, there was no particularly memorable image.

Even if looks alone couldn’t determine everything, why hadn’t they gained popularity when they all had good looks?

‘…It’s my fault.’

She had left these precious gems in their raw state.

Newma Entertainment was foolish too. How could it run based on the CEO’s opinion alone, despite having employees?

Yun-hee’s words when she handed in her resignation were indeed correct.

No matter how hard the artists worked, if the agency didn’t do its job properly, it could all turn to nothing.

It was a moment of realizing the weight of her position again.

Although it was her first time at a photo shoot site, she found it took a lot more time than she thought.

Changing outfits midway, finding more fitting compositions.

After the shoot, there was also time needed to check the photos to see if they turned out well.

Yun-hee, swapping with the manager now and then, wandered around filming various parts of the shooting site.

Now, except for the youngest who went to school, Baek Haerang was left.

When Haerang, boasting his tall stature, entered the shooting site, everyone’s attention focused on him.

***

“Good job, Yunhwan.”

“What for.”

In the car, moving back to the studio after finishing the magazine interview.

The manager smiled encouragingly at him through the rearview mirror.

Having woken up first in the morning and been on the move continuously, he must have been tired, yet he didn’t even take a nap, worried his face would swell.

The manager felt proud of Yunhwan for that.

As the team leader of the management team, he often acted as Yunhwan’s personal activity manager.

Though there was a manager in charge of the group, Yunhwan often had separate individual activities. Recently, even more so.

The car was quiet as it was just the two of them.

Thinking this was the right time, the manager spoke up.

“You. That… Director Heo Yongseok, you know him, right?”

“Yes, I do. He moved to Newrain.”

Yunhwan immediately recalled the face of the person the manager mentioned.

Until a few days ago, or to be precise, until last year, he had worked at Newma Entertainment.

“Soon, let’s go to Newrain together.”

When Yunhwan didn’t respond, not understanding the meaning, the manager continued.

“The director wants to have a meeting.”

“With us?”

“No. Not ‘you guys’, but ‘you’ specifically.”