Little Pink Starfish

Yoon Jung-seop and Han Sion, the two schemers, made a plan to flip the world upside down with a mask—but truthfully, it was plagiarism.

Hiding your identity behind a mask and revealing it to shock the world—that concept originally belonged to someone else.

That “someone else” was the production team of MBN’s The Masked Singer.

But the Masked Singer team didn’t know that. And even if they did, there was nothing they could do.

Broadcasting has always been about walking the fine line between reference and plagiarism.

If you can pull a “We’re bros, aren’t we?”—then it’s a reference.

If it’s “We are not bros”—then it’s plagiarism.

So if you break down the word “broadcasting industry,” the first word to pop out would probably be “connections.”

And now.

The Masked Singer team activated the alchemy of long-restrained connections.

That alchemy began with PD Kang Seok-woo landing Onsaemiro a spot on The Masked Singer.

At the time, the industry was pretty much pretending Sedalbaekil didn’t exist, but Kang Seok-woo, from MBN, reached out to a junior and gave Onsaemiro the opportunity.

Of course, it wasn’t based on personal connections alone—it was closer to the Masked Singer’s main PD Yang Jung-tae joining Han Sion’s escape plan from Lion Entertainment.

So why did Yang Jung-tae join Han Sion’s plan?

There must’ve been a tangled web of thoughts, but in the end, the answer was just “a feeling.”

To Yang Jung-tae, Han Sion’s plan seemed a bit wild, and the request from newly-transferred Kang Seok-woo was something he could’ve easily ignored.

But for some reason, it felt like he had to do it.

So Onsaemiro appeared—and even achieved an honorary graduation.

Despite the public “law” among viewers known as Masked Singer In-Episode Exit (마싱입퇴), he overcame it.

And Sedalbaekil took flight.

At that point, Yang Jung-tae’s move couldn’t be written off as just luck or intuition.

It became a reflection of his outstanding foresight, leadership, and refined judgment—fitting for the main PD of The Masked Singer, a flagship program.

And spiritual leader Yang Jung-tae also had a good memory.

He remembered the phone call he’d once had with Kang Seok-woo:

– Great. But get me one more promise.

“What is it?”

– Make sure Han Sion appears on our show at a time we want. I don’t know any Onsaemiro!

“Sure, whatever.”

– And tell him if Onsaemiro doesn’t win, I’ll demand compensation too!

“What compensation, come on.”

– I mean it!

Of course, none of those conditions made it into any actual contract.

There was no guarantee Han Sion would appear, and no special clause for compensation.

Not that it mattered—Onsaemiro ended up graduating with honors anyway.

Still, connections matter in this industry.

In other words, Yang Jung-tae had earned the right to use the “We’re bros, right?” card with Sedalbaekil.

It was believed only Kang Seok-woo had the power to activate that privilege, but it turned out Yang Jung-tae could too.

Maybe only once in his life—but still.

And now Yang Jung-tae saw his timing.

He’d toyed with the idea of using the Han Sion card a few times, but it never led to actual casting.

Masked Singer, which had switched to a 110-minute single segment, reverted to a 60-minute, two-part format, and they’d managed to book a lucky streak of solid guests.

And whenever he really wanted to invite Han Sion, the guy was always out of the country.

But now.

The timing matched.

Sedalbaekil announced individual activities, and Masked Singer was going through a slight ratings plateau.

The overall numbers looked fine because the core audience was rock solid, but the internal metrics were shaky.

Especially the real-time viewer drops.

What that meant was simple:

“People weren’t curious about who’s behind the masks anymore.”

Makes sense—too many unknown masked singers had appeared.

Even when they took off the mask, no one knew them.

The MC would have to exaggerate their achievements to make them seem famous.

Those types kept popping up.

And if the problem’s simple, the solution’s simple too.

Just bring someone on who’ll flip the country the moment they remove their mask.

Obviously, the best candidate is Han Sion.

So spiritual leader Yang Jung-tae whipped out his connection alchemy.

He bit his lip and declared “We’re bros, right?” to Han Sion.

He pretended to be confident—but was nervous inside.

Rumors about Han Sion were often exaggerated.

He wasn’t picky or sensitive. He wasn’t arrogant or hard to deal with.

But it was true that he kept a distance from broadcast.

You might wonder what kind of idol stays away from TV—but Sedalbaekil could.

Their music sold so well they didn’t need to sell their image.

They could save that for when their music hit a slump.

This is what’s often called a “mystique” marketing strategy, but it had pretty much died in the idol industry since the late 2000s.

And Sedalbaekil brought it back.

So there was a good chance Han Sion might just brush off Yang Jung-tae’s gesture.

But…

Yang Jung-tae saw the light.

“That’s a good idea too. But how about this instead?”

“How about what?”

“The members of Sedalbaekil appear one by one.”

“One by one?”

“Yes. As you know, Jaesung can’t, and Saemiro already graduated, so that leaves three.”

Koo Taehwan appears first—if he drops out (or graduates), then EEON comes on. After that, Han Sion.

“If we don’t overlap, I think this would be a lot of fun. What do you think?”

What does he think?

Is that even a question?

“I love you…”

“Excuse me?”

Han Sion flinched and stepped back from Yang Jung-tae.

Show Me PD Yoon Jung-seop thought Han Sion had simply made a funny little misunderstanding he could someday joke about on a variety show.

But no—it was genuine.

100% sincere.

So Han Sion still kept a bit of distance from Yoon Jung-seop.

His full-buy strategy was still far from working.

But Yang Jung-tae seemed, at least outwardly, more serious than Yoon Jung-seop.

Despite the flustered response, he waved it off.

Then got to the real issue.

“But if we do this, the members will feel a lot of pressure.”

“You mean… pressure to win?”

“Yes.”

If the Sedalbaekil members appear in order and each becomes King, then drop out—it makes a nice story.

They might get some flak too.

Not sure what kind of logic would justify the criticism—but people will find something.

Viewers are a species that invents fresh logic to get mad whenever something unfamiliar happens.

Especially with idols.

But what if Sedalbaekil members don’t win?

It won’t be just criticism—it’ll be mockery.

Widespread mockery that makes whatever Masked Singer gets seem mild.

Jealousy and inferiority complex toward those who achieve great success always go beyond expectations.

Han Sion, of course, was an exception to this concern.

His talent was real.

PD Yang Jung-tae had rarely seen everyone in the industry unanimously say “This one’s the real deal.”

Usually, one side says he’s real, the other says he’s fake.

If they’re even more successful, one side says he’s real, the other says he’s real but overhyped.

Especially for idols.

People could openly acknowledge vocalists like Lee Hyun-wook or Do Jae-wook—but not main idols like Juyeon or Onsaemiro.

Even though Onsaemiro graduated with honors from Masked Singer, reactions like “Was he really that good?” weren’t uncommon.

But Han Sion was the opposite.

One side says he’s the real deal. The other side says he’s underrated.

Yang Jung-tae had never seen anything like it.

So the idea of Han Sion not becoming King was hard to imagine.

Sure, a bad song choice might keep him from graduating with honors.

But what about Koo Taehwan or EEON?

Would they definitely win?

Unclear.

Their absolute skills were enough—but relative skill? That was up to luck.

As ridiculous as it sounds, Lee Hyun-wook, one of Korea’s top vocalists, couldn’t stop Onsaemiro from graduating with honors.

To be blunt—he lost to Onsaemiro in a singing battle.

To be petty—he never even became King. Just a commoner.

No rule says this kind of thing couldn’t happen again.

Koo Taehwan and EEON were good—but they might lose.

“First place might feel less pressure—but the second performer worries me.”

If Koo Taehwan wins, people will expect Han Sion to win too.

Which means EEON, stuck in the middle, bears the biggest burden.

Han Sion paused, thinking.

He was 100% sure all three of them would win and graduate.

So Yang Jung-tae’s concerns didn’t quite hit him.

But he could see how the pressure might build.

So who should take that pressure?

Who would benefit most from overcoming it?

There was only one answer.

“Koo Taehwan, then EEON, then me. We’ll appear in that order.”

“Hm…”

“If the first two graduate with honors and I go last, the story will be perfect.”

“…Honorary graduation? That means winning four times.”

“Yes. That’s right. You’re doing 60-minute two-part episodes now, right?”

“Yes.”

“So if we win once every two episodes, that’s 8 episodes per person. 8 for me, 8 for Koo Taehwan, 8 for EEON. 24 total—is that okay?”

Could be a problem.

Masked Singer has the highest weekend variety ratings, even beating out public networks.

Especially in re-runs—it’s huge.

Small business owners just leave it running all day.

And Sedalbaekil dominating 24 episodes of that?

Chaos.

Maybe even internal rumors at MBN.

“Did Yang Jung-tae get a cut from SBI Entertainment or something?”

But Masked Singer had one miracle shield.

Just make sure the competition is fierce.

Wait, are you accusing me of rigging it for wins?

So you’re saying I bribed Lee Hyun-wook, Kito, Nuts, Ben, Oh Jae-hyung, Breed, Shin Jung-ah too?

Wow, what am I—a god?

Am I the puppet master of the entire entertainment industry?

That was an actual conversation Yang Jung-tae had with a rival senior CP (they were on opposite sides of office politics).

They were drunk out of their minds, so they pretend it never happened.

“The competition will be crazy.”

“Perfect. Especially for when EEON appears—make it extra tough.”

Yang Jung-tae got a bit curious.

Does Han Sion dislike EEON?

“Why?”

But that wasn’t it.

“Just like Saemiro realized—it’s about time hyung realized too. His objective self.”

Han Sion grinned.

The meeting ended shortly after.

Masked Singer typically pre-records four weeks of shows—but that sometimes shrinks to 1-2 weeks.

Like when a King gets caught drunk driving, or snorts something other than protein powder or misutgaru.

That’s why the main PD jumped out of his chair at a single call from Han Sion.

Or maybe not?

Maybe he’d have jumped no matter what.

Yang Jung-tae gave instructions to the staff:

“Pull the lowest-rank contestant for next week. Tell them it’s postponed.”

– Who are we bringing in?

“Yeah.”

– Who?

“Sedalbaekil’s Koo Taehwan.”

– Oh… target is King?

“No. Honorary graduation.”

– …Masked Singer In-Episode Exit?

“Masked Singer In-Episode Exit.”

And just like that, next week—

Koo Taehwan’s Masked Singer taping began.