Falling for the Omega Idol-Chapter 154: EPISODE TWO?

AFTER morning practice, Haneul and his group headed to the dining hall for lunch. They’d decided to eat there after the vocal evaluation. Now that the talk about the Lee Minjae incident had died down, the chances of them drawing attention were slim to none. Especially since the show’s first episode had just aired last night—most contestants would probably be discussing that instead. Just like their group was doing right now.

"Haa... I hope I got enough screen time," Joonhyuk said, taking a half-hearted bite of his chicken wing.

"Don’t stress about screen time," Robin reassured him. "Once they air this vocal mission episode, our group will definitely get the screen time we deserve."

Joonhyuk poked at his food with his chopsticks, shoulders slumped. "You’re right. But still..." He sighed, "It’s nerve-wracking not knowing if we’ll even make it into the episode."

"I know. Just thinking of the possibility that I didn’t even have a single minute of screen time was enough to make me lose sleep," Seongwoo agreed.

"No wonder you look like a panda today," Robin teased. "But seriously, don’t think about it. You’ll just stress yourself out over something you can’t control."

Haneul could understand Joonhyuk and Seongwoo’s sentiment. After all, in survival shows like this, most of the time, not everyone was given screen time. A contestant could be doing his best and still get none, so the public would never know about their effort. Being invisible was definitely the scariest thing that could happen to any contestant.

"Robin hyung is right. Let’s try not to focus on that," he said softly. "Worrying too much might distract us from doing our best for the upcoming performance."

Their first performance with a live audience would be on Wednesday—which meant they only had four days left to prepare. For Haneul, that was what mattered most. Like Robin said, the show’s editing wasn’t in their hands. But their performance? That depended entirely on them. If they messed up, everyone would see it. So they’d better focus on what they could control.

"I agree," Taeyang said, putting down his chopsticks. "Right now, the live performance is what matters most. Let’s just focus on that."

"Our leader already spoke," Robin said, glancing at Joonhyuk and Seongwoo. "Try not to stress yourselves out, you two."

Joonhyuk sighed, setting down his spoon. "I know, I know... It’s just hard not to think about."

Beside him, Seongwoo offered a small nod. "I’ll do my best to focus."

Their group’s conversation wasn’t much different from the others in the dining hall. Most of them were worried about how the first episode turned out. They’d probably be even more stressed if they knew the show wouldn’t air just once a week like typical idol survival programs. Instead, Boys Odyssey would air twice a week—every Friday at 10 PM and Saturday at 9 PM.

PD Song was the one who pushed for this. He wanted to give as many contestants as possible a chance to shine. Vnet’s upper management wasn’t fully on board with his idea at first. But with JH Entertainment wanting the same thing as him, his plan got approved without any issues.

And so, tonight, the second episode of Boys Odyssey aired.

***

The second episode opened with shots of contestants in various practice rooms. The cameras zoomed in on their nervous faces. Then a subtitle popped up: ’The first mission begins now.’

And then, in a video recording format, a young man with striking features filled the screen. His face was angled close to the camera—close enough to see the subtle lift at the corners of his eyes, giving him a naturally alluring gaze. A teardrop-shaped mole marked the outer edge of his left eye, accentuating his beauty even further. His lips, neither too full nor too thin, held a natural rosy tint, perfectly framing his face like a final brushstroke on a painting.

He looked like he’d just pressed the record button. When he finished, he leaned back, letting the camera capture his full figure. Even in just a simple sweatshirt and pants, his beauty didn’t fade one bit.

Then he started to sing and dance the theme song of the program, [Sailing to the Stars].

Sailing through the ocean wide,

Chasing dreams, the tide is high.

The moment the episode opened with this scene—especially the close-up of Haneul’s face without his glasses—online reactions exploded, flooding even the livestream’s comment section.

- HOLD ON IS THIS REALLY THE GLASSES GUY?? The one who tripped last episode?? WHAT KIND OF VISUAL WHIPLASH IS THIS—???

- LMAO bro moves like a baby deer learning to walk. How is this idol material?

└ Are your ears broken? His vocals are crystal clear even while dancing! That’s better than most active idols nowadays.

- Okay, but his footwork... That transition at 0:32 was ROUGH. Someone get this kid a dance coach.

└ He’s literally singing LIVE while dancing?? Cut him some slack.

- Nah sorry, visuals can’t carry this. That high note was shaky.

└ Another deaf person found here.

└ Stay pressed. You’d trip over air trying to sing half as stable.

- Not you all fighting over this. Just admit he’s pretty and move on.

- But wow. He’s seriously gorgeous. I thought Mirae would be the prettiest Omega on the show, but Haneul just stole that spot.

Similar comments appeared on the livestream and foreign social network sites. With just that one performance, Haneul was cemented in many viewers’ memories.

After Haneul’s performance, other contestants were also featured. Some who got positive reactions were Jung Taeyang and Baek Eunwoo. Both sang and danced perfectly. Robin also left a good impression on the audience. There were also Park Mirae and Song Jiwoo.

But contestants like Han Seojun and Lee Haru received mixed reactions. Both had gotten overwhelming support in the first episode, but their theme song performances weren’t as good as people expected—especially Han Seojun’s. Everyone could see he lacked both dancing and vocal skills. So a lot of people started mocking him online. But surprisingly, many also defended him, proving he’d already gathered fans just from the first episode.

In the end, the second episode wrapped up with the top 60 contestants being announced. The final shot showed a ship docked in a port.

Follow current novℯls on f(r)eewebnov𝒆l