Little Pink Starfish

Yang Jungtae, the main producer of Masked Singer, was feeling a bit slighted by Han Sion.

No—more accurately, he wasn’t exactly slighted…

He was sulking.

‘No, no. Not sulking. Why would I be sulking?’

He couldn’t bring himself to admit it, even to himself, but that word best described his feelings objectively.

At first, Han Sion had proposed a simple plan to Yang Jungtae.

Gutaehwan graduates with honors, then Ieon graduates with honors, and finally, Han Sion graduates with honors.

It took eight weeks for one person to achieve an honorary graduation, meaning Sedalbaekil would dominate Masked Singer for a total of 24 weeks.

Even Yang Jungtae, the ratings alchemist, agreed to this devilish plan.

But internally, he felt a bit different.

He didn’t think Han Sion’s plan had a 0% chance of success—but he didn’t think it had a high probability either.

Because of Gutaehwan and Ieon.

They wouldn’t be eliminated easily, of course.

But they also probably wouldn’t reach honorary graduation.

That was Yang Jungtae’s honest take.

And it wasn’t just an empty opinion.

Winning four times in a row—what it took to graduate with honors—was extremely difficult.

If you win twice in a row, from the third week on, the production team activates the “Masked Entry/Exit” radar.

Under the slogan “On Masked Singer, you either enroll or you drop out,” the fiercest possible lineups would be unleashed.

And if you somehow got through that third week, the fourth week guaranteed an S-tier challenger.

Not just because the producers were greedy.

Those with real pride in their skills would think carefully about how to make their debut on Masked Singer as impactful as possible.

The easiest way? Crush someone attempting honorary graduation.

If you take down a top-tier challenger in one shot, all eyes turn to you.

Even the viewers knew this by now, so every time someone attempted graduation, people would speculate on who might be their nemesis.

That’s why Onsaemiro managing to graduate was so impressive.

But Gutaehwan and Ieon? Probably not.

If you look at it objectively, Onsaemiro is Sedalbaekil’s main vocalist.

Then what’s Han Sion?

Just… the “main” one. Period.

Despite all this, Yang Jungtae accepted the plan because it was Han Sion.

He believed Han Sion could pull it off.

And if Gutaehwan and Ieon managed 2–3 wins before failing, then Han Sion could enter like a final boss, like, “You bullied my boys?”

That was the story Yang Jungtae had in mind.

But things went differently.

Gutaehwan defeated an insane lineup and achieved honorary graduation.

It was even tougher than Onsaemiro’s run.

Ieon made it to the graduation match, but lost narrowly in overtime.

Compared to Onsaemiro and Gutaehwan, Ieon’s third and fourth-week opponents were a bit weaker.

But then one of Korea’s top 3 vocalists, Park Changhyun, appeared—and they went to overtime. That alone proved Ieon’s worth.

Some even said Ieon deserved to be called an honorary honorary graduate.

Now, only Han Sion was left.

If he could close out the trilogy—or rather, a four-part series including Onsaemiro—it would be perfect.

But this is where Yang Jungtae’s sulking kicked in.

Han Sion suddenly postponed his appearance.

Just rescheduling wasn’t the issue.

Honestly, part of Yang was relieved.

He’d never really expected Sedalbaekil to occupy Masked Singer for 24 straight weeks.

He figured Gutaehwan and Ieon would fill about 7 or 8 weeks combined before stepping down.

So bringing in Han Sion immediately after that would’ve been a bit much, from the network’s perspective.

So rescheduling was fine—he even felt grateful Han Sion brought it up first.

But if you’re going to postpone, you should at least explain when and why.

Han Sion didn’t do either.

There was no new date, no explanation.

If that were the end of it, Yang would’ve been angry, not sulky.

Because Han Sion’s behavior could be considered rude.

But Han Sion—and SBI Entertainment’s director, Seo Seunghyun—were extremely apologetic.

Genuinely sorry, and they used the most considerate language possible.

They clearly stated he would appear eventually, and even promised that if there were a King of Kings match in the future gathering all honorary graduates (and even those who attempted graduation), every member would rearrange their schedules to participate.

Even so, when asked for the reason and rescheduled date, they just said, “It’s confidential.”

And “confidential” means exactly what it sounds like.

It’s a secret, so you can’t know.

That’s when Yang Jungtae sulked.

He hadn’t fully believed in the plan from the beginning, but they’d all committed to it together.

At this point, weren’t they practically insiders when it came to Masked Singer?

That’s how he felt.

Yang Jungtae wouldn’t realize it, but this was the same type of attachment PD Yoon Jungseop of Show Me had.

Just as Yoon Jungseop’s producer instinct made him want to get closer to Han Sion, so too did Yang Jungtae.

Two weeks passed.

<LateJoseonMan>, who defeated Ieon, earned a second win.

By now, everyone knew he was Park Changhyun of Dojubak.

He was a prolific live performer, and his stage against Ieon showcased his signature style.

-Yo, at this rate Park Changhyun’s gonna graduate.

-Too early. Let’s see what happens in Week 3.

-But Gutaehwan and Ieon already used up all the big names; who’s even left to challenge him?

-Do Jaewook?

-He already graduated.

-He could come back. That was ages ago.

-I wouldn’t if I were him lol

-What about Juseonghan? A lot of strong ones who got unlucky have re-challenged.

-Too soon lol Plus he’s filming a show with Sedalbaekil.

-Yep yep yep

The netizens were right.

At this point, there were no clear S-tier challengers to stop Park Changhyun in Week 4.

Sure, they had some big names on standby.

But no one wanted to go up against Park Changhyun now that his identity as <LateJoseonMan> was public.

The skill risk was one thing, but there were also personal ties.

“Back when I was a rookie, Changhyun sunbae helped me a lot. Even if I could beat him, I wouldn’t feel good about it.”

“I’m rooting for Changhyun hyung to get his honorary grad.”

In this situation, Yang Jungtae thought of Han Sion.

Maybe he couldn’t guarantee Han Sion would beat Park Changhyun, but at least it would be a match worthy of the “entry/exit” motto.

Which made him sulk all over again.

Amid these thoughts, he happened to catch the semi-final of Show Me.

The one where “Saoi” went wild.

“Ah, damn. That’s a rip-off of our show.”

He normally didn’t watch Show Me—he had zero interest in rap—but this time was different.

Watching Saoi gave him inspiration.

‘Should we do a three-week arc too, and show more of the masked singers’ personalities?’

Those were his thoughts.

Musically, Show Me didn’t move him much.

He watched it from a producer’s perspective.

But the semi-final was different.

Even for a rap-indifferent viewer like Yang Jungtae, the first three performances were impressive.

Then finally, Saoi appeared.

And as he watched the stage, something felt strange.

‘Is it just because I don’t know rap? That lyric sounds like…’

Only Han Sion could’ve written that.

And then, Saoi took off the mask.

“Hey!!”

He shouted out loud.

Because standing there was someone he’d never even imagined.

In that moment, all his sulking vanished.

He understood everything in a flash.

And then came the cherry on top.

[PD Yang, are you watching Show Me What You Got by any chance?]

A message from Han Sion.

Asking to set up a meeting for his appearance.

---

“I’d like to challenge Park Changhyun sunbae’s honorary graduation. It’s right after the Show Me finals anyway.”

That was Han Sion’s opening line.

“Wait—why are you good at rap too?”

That was Yang Jungtae’s first response.

They stared at each other briefly, then burst into laughter and joked around for a bit.

“But seriously, wouldn’t it have been better to appear on our show first, even if it meant being busier?”

“Because I could take off both the mask and the veil around the same time?”

“Exactly. Wouldn’t that have been more of a bombshell moment?”

Like Yang said, if Han Sion had graduated with honors on Masked Singer, he’d have been the masked winner of bothshows.

The broadcast dates were only two weeks apart.

Recording-wise, the timelines overlapped, but Masked Singer was pre-recorded, and Show Me was live.

So if he could physically handle it, it was doable.

“That was my original plan, actually.”

“From when you signed on to Show Me?”

“Yes. I was confident I’d win.”

Yang Jungtae was speechless at Han Sion’s confidence, but it was the truth.

Since both shows had fixed schedules, Han Sion had planned from the start to reveal his face in both around the same time.

“Then why didn’t you do it? It would’ve been epic.”

“Once I started doing Show Me, I realized it wasn’t that easy. If I prepped for Masked Singer at the same time, I might’ve lost. Then it all falls apart.”

“Ahh.”

Yang nodded as if convinced—but Han Sion was lying.

Show Me needed real prep. Masked Singer? Not really.

He could just waltz in like it was a day trip and win easily.

If he couldn’t win, then all his decades—well over a hundred years—as a regressor artist were for nothing.

But his heart had changed.

He didn’t want to coldly, mechanically win both shows and move on like a robot.

He wanted to win genuinely. With joy.

That’s why he postponed Masked Singer.

‘Also, Park Changhyun has a big fanbase…’

That calculation factored in too.

While Han Sion was thinking that, Yang Jungtae pulled out his planner.

“If you want to stop the honorary grad, we’d need to shoot this week.”

“Can we delay filming to Sunday?”

“Sunday? But the Show Me final is Saturday.”

“Yes. I’ll film and then come over.”

Yang hesitated.

Moving the shoot from Thursday to Sunday wasn’t hard.

Slotting Han Sion into the lineup wasn’t either.

But still…

“What if you lose to Park Changhyun?”

It would be awkward for the newly crowned Show Me winner to lose right after.

Wasn’t the prep time too short?

But Han Sion was calm.

“I’ve already got the perfect song ready.”

The hesitation didn’t last.

“Okay, let’s do it. Then send us the mask concept and on-stage comments ASAP.”

“I have a suggestion.”

“What is it?”

Han Sion explained.

Yang Jungtae burst into laughter, baffled.

---

A few hours later, after Han Sion and Yang Jungtae’s meeting—

One of the youngest writers on the Masked Singer team woke up from dozing at her desk.

She’d been assigned the task of preparing for a new contestant added to <LateJoseonMan>’s Week 4 episode.

Her job was to draft concept lines based on the mask and profile.

She’d fallen asleep waiting for the email.

“Ugh, when is it coming…”

She refreshed her inbox—and saw the email had arrived 30 minutes ago.

Frantically, she opened it.

‘This must be a real strong one.’

They were clearly bringing in someone to stop Park Changhyun’s graduation.

‘Who could it be?’

She read through the info and logged the necessary details.

These would go to the head writer, who’d then finalize what the MC would say.

Still half-asleep, she mechanically worked through the data.

But then something felt… off.

The mask image and nickname were way too familiar.

“…?!”

Fully awake now, the writer jumped to her feet.<SaoiReturnsToHisMainJob>

This was just…

Straight-up…

Han Sion.