𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 ―𝐝.𝐨.𝐝

Chapter 54

[ Cho Seungmin's POV ]

I clapped warmly when Moondae hyung was called to first. I thought he was about to cry when he bowed, but he looked perfectly fine.

"And smiling," I thought while smiling myself.

"I wish I could give you something in return," he was saying. "Um, no matter how much you spend on me, I'll try my best to make your spending produce the highest efficiency within the same price range. Thank you."

Some people were sniffling.

The microphone was passed to Eugene, who laughed and said his thanks to his mother in English. He then waved eagerly to the audience.

"He enjoys himself so openly...he reminds me a lot of Mother's son," I thought objectively.

I waited for Moondae hyung to come up to the podium so I could congratulate him, but he never came up. Eugene came up alone.

"Yay!" he cheered, giving me a double high-five. "We're debuting together!"

"Yeah, let's have lots of fun," I chuckled as I looked back at the stage.

"Now, it's time to make a choice," the MC said seriously.

A tense BGM started to play.

"A huge reward for the winner of first place...let me show you. Participant Park Moondae!"

"Yes."

"What kind of reward do you want?"

Moondae hyung thought about it for a second.

"Well...I don't know. A quick debut?"

"Ah~ that's important," the MC laughed.

Then he spread his arms widely.

"Now, show us the reward!"

On the screen, it said, [ Prize money 50,000,000 won!* ]

*Around 45,000 dollars

"Yes, Park Moondae will immediately receive 50 million won as the first-place reward! You can claim it as soon as this live broadcast is over."

I could see Moondae hyung flinch ever so slightly. I frowned a little.

"I have more money than that."

"Oh," the MC sneered mischievously, "but there's another option too!"

Upon those words, another message appeared on the screen.

[ Recruit a new member! ]

"With the authority of the first-place winner, Park Moondae can nominate one of the 13 remaining participants as a team member to debut with!"

It was obvious what Moodae hyung would need to choose in the situation.

"Participant Park Moondae?"

"...Yes."

The shouts of the audience were getting louder and louder as they shouted names.

"Have you made up your mind?"

Again, Moondae hyung answered half a beat late.

"...Yes. I will recruit a new team member."

The audience cheered. The judges who I'd forgotten about also clapped.

"Then," the MC dragged on, "who is the last member chosen by Park Moondae?"

The nervous participants showed on the screen.

I stared at Moondae hyung and tilted my head. If he chose any participant, the fans of other eliminated participants would hate him.

"The participant I choose is...the 8th participant will be chosen by the shareholders."