Chapter 172: Chapter 173:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Sometimes you had to do things you didn’t like.

That was why he always tried to enjoy what he had to do anyway.

“Let’s have some fun. Hanjo. It’s embarrassing, but… what can we do?”

“Yes. I’ll do my best to enjoy it.”

As Hanjo and Woojoo exchanged such words, the members around them whispered.

“What are they so serious about?”

“It’s shameful. Well, I would have rolled around in embarrassment.”

“But it’s fun to watch. Hehe.”

Hanjo and Woojoo turned their heads at the same time and gritted their teeth.

“These ungrateful bastards…”

This was all thanks to them that they got this ad! Huh?

They glared at them and they ran away to a corner of the set, saying “Grandpas are angry”.

“…”

Woojoo took a deep breath and looked around.

This was a studio they came to for filming.

Today’s schedule was a 30-second short ad for YouTube.

The advertiser was ‘Hyperstudy’, the largest entrance exam company in the country, who hired them because of the meme from the TBC Year-End Music Festival.

“Hey, guys!”

“Yes, Director!”

Fourteen of them gathered in front of the director. He looked at Hanjo and Woojoo alternately and said, “You two are the main, so you have to do well. Got it?”

“Yes, we’ll do our best with our bones breaking!”

“Then I’ll also do my best with something breaking…”

The Director pointed to the camera movement with his finger.

“I’ll explain, so listen carefully. The basic layout is the same as the VCR you filmed. You’ll walk from both sides like you did then, and then say the lines in the script. The rest of you, just act with your expressions in the back.”

“Yes, we got it!”

“You’re energetic and good. Okay, I’ll call you when you’re ready, so warm up a bit.”

The members started to loosen their necks or shoulders.

As Woojoo rotated his arms and warmed up, Hanjo looked at him with curious eyes.

“Oh, I think I learned that in elementary school. Does that loosen your body?”

“It’s very effective.”

“Then I’ll also…”

They did some national gymnastics and chatted.

It was mostly about the new dorm or the recent schedule. Hanjo said, “Oh, by the way, today is the day, right? Idol Show episode 2.”

“…Yes.”

“I’m looking forward to it. I really enjoyed the first episode. I watched it to monitor how others do, but they were all funny and good.”

“I heard that. Hanjo, you laughed the loudest when I wrote the cat letter.”

“Ah, ah…”

“I’m disappointed. Was our friendship only that much?”

“No, no. That was a joke. Namu laughed the loudest.”

Hanjo pointed to LB, who was far away. He was laughing with Jiho, who was shoulder to shoulder.

“Anyway, our kids and the Street Boys seem to have gotten closer.”

“Yeah. The distance has also shortened.”

Thanks to the influence of Mint Choco-dan, the Street Boys and their New Black kids were very friendly to each other.

They were more friendly than them, but Woojoo didn’t know the exact situation, but it seemed that they got a better position in the company thanks to them.

It was a pretty nice sight.

The first friend they made since they entered the music industry… should he say that?

Well, they were not at the stage of talking freely yet…

“Namu Hyung!”

“Jiho!”

“It’s so nice that we’re talking, right?”

…They are. They are.

As the members who had similar personalities became friends, Hanjo and Woojoo turned their heads and soon met eyes.

“Then we should also…”

“Well…”

After a brief awkward silence, Woojoo suggested, “Shall we take some time?”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

He answered with a sigh on his face.

Just then, the production crew called them.

“Let’s get ready for shooting!”

The staff came over and brushed their hair, sprayed some hairspray to fix it, and made them look neat and clean.

They walked towards the center of the studio, leaving no dust on their clothes.

Hyperstudy’s ‘2015 New Years Package.’

A 30-second YouTube ad preview.

Thump-

The screen went black.

The sound of a pounding heart filled the screen as it lit up again.

Students in uniforms appeared at both ends of the hallway.

On the left, nine science students with blue ties, and on the right, five humanities students with red ties.

The tense BGM intensified and the scene resembled a meme from the internet.

After a dialogue like the one from the year-end music festival.

Woojoo: Great, then do you want to take online classes with me?

Hanjo: Sorry, I’m a humanities student.

Then, Woojoo added something new.

Woojoo: It doesn’t matter if you’re a humanities student.

Hanjo: No way… a unlimited package that doesn’t care about science or humanities?

Woojoo: (Smiling with his eyes) That’s right.

The two groups behind them make surprised faces with smoke effects.

At the top of the screen, the golden words ‘Hyperstudy 2015 New Year’s Unlimited Lecture Package’ appear.

Below them, fourteen idols stand.

With the voices of the two leaders in front, they all raise their thumbs.

Everyone: Students are the future, Hyperstudy!

Lemon Entertainment. Management Team 4 office.

“Why do you look so gloomy? Again.”

“I can’t help but smile when I imagine how happy our Souffles will be when the ad airs.”

“I don’t think so.”

“No, really. I’m sincerely happy.”

Woojoo gave a bitter smile and Seokhwan Hyung burst into laughter. After laughing for a while, he said abruptly, “Hey, anyone would think you were forced to do it. You were the one who wanted to do it first.”

“Well, yeah… but I always feel a bit of a reality check. The strange sense of defeat that remains when I raise my popularity with a dark history.”

“Just be grateful. Other groups would be dying to film an ad like this.”

“I know that, of course. Our manager.”

Knowing that, Woojoo gave it his all when he filmed this ad.

“How are the ads going? Are they ready?”

“Yeah, I’m practicing with the kids after looking at the script.”

They won two Rookie Awards last year and they were the best rookies of 2014 in name and reality.

That was why they had a lot of ads coming in since the New Year.

They already had three places where they were the promotional models: a mid-sized airline, a school uniform brand called Everdream, and a domestic clothing brand.

This time, they had a meeting with the staff and added three more: a famous pizza company, a ginseng product, and a college entrance exam advertisement.

The one Woojoo was most happy about was the ginseng ad.

When they signed the contract, they sent them a ton of ginseng and asked them to eat it often in front of people.

Woojoo couldn’t eat it in front of the Soufflés before, afraid that they would think he was asking for gifts, but now he could enjoy it without hesitation.

“Hehehe.”

Seokhwan Hyung tilted his head as he saw Woojoo’s happy expression.

“Why are you smiling like that all of a sudden?”

“I have a reason. Hyung.” Woojoo coughed and asked, “By the way, what did you want me to come and get?”

“This.”

He opened the drawer with a key and handed him a thick stack of papers.

“What is this? Scripts?”

“These are the proposals for new variety shows or TV programs that came to you. There are hardly any from the major networks, mostly from cable or general service channels. You guys should review them.”

“I see.”

“Let me know if you find any good ones. I’ll discuss them with the team.”

Woojoo skimmed through the titles as he took the stack of papers.

There were romance, chase, quiz, and brain-teasing programs.

“They’re pretty diverse, huh?”

“Your popularity has risen that much. Especially, the sense of humor and attitude you showed on Idol Show last week must have been well received by the insiders. Plus, it’s the time for program reshuffling.”

Seokhwan Hyung continued.

“The reason why there are so many types is that we’re thinking of going for a less burdened image-making. We want to try them out.”

“Burden?”

“Oh, this is something we only talked among the staff.”

Their manager stroked his chin.

“We thought about making your activities more public-friendly. Like the first-generation idols, we want to create an image of a boy group that the public feels close to.”

“Oh, like the old idol seniors?”

“Yeah. Something like a national idol… Well, that’s our wishful thinking.” Seokhwan Hyung said, “Actually, the original plan was to make your image very mysterious and cool.”

“Hmm, that sounds good too, but why?”

“You made so many black histories that it all went down the drain.”

“…”

“Well… It’s a shame, but ever since you appeared on Around the World With Dice, the public doesn’t think of you as mysterious anymore.”

Woojoo stared at the air for a moment. Was it his mood that made it look blurry?

He gave Woojoo a warm smile.

“That’s why we decided to go for a boy group that’s friendly to the public, since it’s already like this.”

“So that even the grandpas and grandmas in the countryside can recognize us and say, ‘Oh dear, isn’t that New Black?’”

“Hey, you’re good at impersonating…?”

“Am I? I watched Power Diary on YouTube yesterday.”

Seokhwan Hyung exclaimed and then said, “Anyway, that’s it. Of course, we have to be careful. It would be bad if we ruin ourselves or become like comedians.”

“Well, I don’t think we’ll go that far…”

Woojoo was about to say no.

But something flashed through his mind and his mouth went dry.

“Uh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, Hyung. There’s a little problem… Something’s coming out on the second episode of Idol Show. That is.”

Woojoo hesitated.

Woojoo didn’t know how to explain it for a long time. He licked his lips and stuttered, “What’s coming out there?”

“Didn’t Minki Hyung or Dowon Hyung tell you anything?”

“They said to look forward to something interesting. What was it? Oh, a stag beetle.”

“Yeah, that stag beetle…”

But Woojoo couldn’t say anything more.

This wasn’t something he could explain. So he just said calmly, “…You’ll see. You’ll see.”

Woojoo finished talking with Seokhwan Hyung and went down to the practice room, where he saw a strange sight.

“Aaaah!”

“…”

“Aaaah! Hyung! Stop stepping on me!”

“…”

What was he looking at?

Bijoo was stepping on Rihyuk’s back.

To be precise, he was holding his shoulders while his legs were almost torn apart at 180 degrees.

“Hyung, you’re here?”

Bijoo, don’t smile so brightly. It’s scary.

“What are you doing?”

“Rihyuk’s flexibility has dropped a lot lately. He needs to improve it if he wants to do the choreography this time.”

“Aaaah! This! I’ll kill you all when I get free! Aaaah!”

Woojoo could only smile warmly at the pathetic sight of the white crane flapping its wings in anger.

Woojoo crouched down and met Rihyuk’s eyes, then gave him a thumbs-up.

“That’s right, buddy. You should have stretched diligently when you stayed at Director Jo’s house.”

“I didn’t play around! I was busy studying foreign languages! Aaaah!”

Woojoo turned his gaze to Bijoo as he struggled in pain.

“Tell me if it’s hard, Bijoo. I’ll take turns stepping on him.”

“Okay, I will. Hyung.”

“Aaaah! Stop chatting cozily, you two!”

“Cheer up.”

Woojoo wanted to tell him to stretch slowly, but they had an overseas showcase next week.

They were going to the awards where they were nominated for the Rookie of the Year, and then fly to Taiwan the next morning.

They planned to meet the Souffles in Taipei and show them their stage.

Of course, it was Masquerade, that they could dance even in their sleep. They had more than enough practice, but flexibility was an important factor in the choreography details…

“Ouch!”

It was a bit painful, but it was something he had to do.

That was when Junghyun, who was practicing the dance in the corner of the practice room, came over with Jiho in his arms.

“Hyung, what did you bring?”

“What? A script? Is that a script?”

“No, it’s not. Wait a minute, Rihyuk. Bijoo. You guys come over here too.”

When Rihyuk got out of the grip of their main dancer, Woojoo explained what he had heard from Seokhwan Hyung.

Immediately, curious hands reached out for the proposals.

“Wow, there’s so much stuff. Is this all for us?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s awesome.”

For a moment, happiness spread across their faces.

They were the expressions they had when they finished their diet and went to eat meat.

“We have to choose what we like from these, right?”

“I want to see too. Hyung.”

They laughed and took it for a while, but soon their eyes became calm and looked at the proposal.

The sound of turning pages filled the practice room.

Woojoo was about to tell them to look carefully, but they seemed so serious that he felt like he was being too harsh.

He also examined the proposals thoroughly.

He imagined how they would do if they got in, how well they could perform.

Woojoo looked for a good program that matched well with them.

The situation was different from last year.

In 2014, they wanted to go on any TV program to raise their popularity, but now they had to be more careful.

Of course, going on a public broadcast show was still like reaching for the stars, but they could afford to be picky about cable or general service channels.

For example.

“Love and Match…?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a show on a general service channel. Celebrities appear and make couples with love sticks.”

“…Let’s skip this one.”

They also eliminated the programs that were too crazy or would ruin their image.

After they removed the ones that they couldn’t do, only a third of them remained.

And then they chose a program that all five of them could appear on, and another third was left.

It was when they were sorting out the few remaining proposals.

“Uh…!”

Rihyuk shouted like he had found gold.

“This, this is it!”

“What is it?”

“I found something that fits my taste perfectly!”

He swallowed his saliva and clenched his fist, looking excited. They felt rather sour.

“Why do I feel so uneasy when he says it fits his taste?”

“Exactly. It must be something weird. Like a show that cleans your house and asks, ‘Is your home healthy? We have a home doctor.’.”

But they were curious.

What did he see that made him so flushed and excited?

Soon, they all blinked.

“…Sok Sok History Exploration Team?”

The proposal that Rihyuk handed over said ‘Sok Sok! History Exploration Team!’.

They thought the name was a bit childish, and sure enough. The first page of the proposal proudly stated the program category.

“Rihyuk, this is a children’s educational program.”

“I know that. But look at the content. It’s awesome.” Rihyuk explained, “It teaches historical events of our country every episode. But the cast doesn’t just explain the events, they act them out.”

“…Wait, wait! Act them out?”

Their youngest was already 90 percent gone.

“They also do simple makeup.”

“Makeup!”

…He was 100 percent gone.

“They act out the events to explain them. They wear king or servant clothes, and go to folk villages or palaces to film them.”

“Oh, that sounds fun.”

Not only the youngest, but they were also interested.

It was a children’s program, but the format was fresh and appealing.

It was a bit of an awkward time slot, but it was a huge advantage to be aired on HBS, a terrestrial channel.

And most importantly, it was not a one-time appearance, but a regular appearance that lasted for a long time.

They looked at each other.

“This is good, isn’t it?”

“It seems like fun. And promising.”

“Let’s give it a try. We can challenge the president with this.”

They checked out the other proposals, but the one they liked the most was Sok Sok History Expedition.

Woojoo decided to convey their opinion to the management team as the representative.

“Ugh, I’m stiff.”

Was it because they sat for over two hours reading the proposals? They gathered around in a circle and massaged each other’s shoulders one after another.

“Ah, that feels good… But guys, why do I feel like we’re forgetting something?”

“Me too. I feel like something is missing.”

“Did we miss anything?”

“No. Except for watching Idol Show episode 2 later…”

“Huh?”

Starting from Woojoo, the hands that were rubbing the shoulders stopped one by one.

“Huh?”

“Huh.”

“Huh…?”

“Huh!”

The current time was 7 o’clock.

Idol Show, which started at 6 o’clock, was already over.

“We should have monitored it!”

They all ran to the corner of the practice room and looked at the phones connected to the chargers.

They saw the messages that caught their eyes right away.

Kim Deoksoon [You did well today too]

Han Taehyun [Dude ㅋㅋㅋㅋprivate property? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

They ignored all the nasty messages and looked for the place where their Souffles were gathered.

As expected.

-Our Jiho, are you okay with your growing pains?

-Jangsoon ㅋㅋㅋㅋ dung beetle ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Daegil, are you watching? Your friend is a dung beetle

-Mom and dad, this is the idol member I like… No, he’s not a cicada, he’s a dung beetle (shy)

-Let’s go to Dung Beetle Day instead of Souffle Day for the next fan meeting

-I laughed so hard I spit bubbles ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

…Something had exploded.

At the same time.

“…”

Yoon Seokhwan stared at the ceiling without a word.

For a long time.

“…”

He felt a headache… coming on.