Chapter 273: Chapter 274:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 274

There was a rope in front of him.

It was as thick as Woojoo’s arm, the kind that would be used to anchor a ship at the harbor.

Whoosh-

The warm summer wind blew the sand on the playground.

Was his eye moist because of the sand? Or because of the rope in front of him?

“How do you feel, trainee?”

“…”

“Doesn’t it look fun? It’s a privilege only for excellent trainees like number eight.”

“Th-thank you.”

The Special Forces members looked proud.

“Trainees, aren’t you jealous?”

“Very jealous!”

The cast members answered loudly.

They looked happy that it wasn’t their turn.

The cameramen filmed Woojoo as he measured the height.

It must be about seven meters.

It felt like almost a three-story building. How was he supposed to climb up to that distant top?

Officer Go Kwangsoon scratched his nose.

“Who wants to demonstrate? Jeong-ah? Or Kyung-joon?”

“I’ll do it.”

Officer Park Kyung-joon, who was wearing a jungle hat, stepped forward.

He grabbed the rope with one hand, as if to show the others.

“It may look hard, but it’s actually not. Anyone can do it if they learn the trick.”

He put his right foot on the rope and his left foot under it.

Then he lifted his right foot up like climbing a stair, and used the other foot as a support to go up.

It took him only three seconds to reach the halfway point.

“Wow…!”

Everyone gasped with their eyes wide open. Officer Park, who came down with a smirk, turned his head to Woojoo.

“How about you? Can you do it?”

“Yes!”

“Are you okay? Do you need me to show you one more time?”

“I’m good.”

He smiled brightly at Woojoo’s answer, as if he knew he would say that.

Officer Lee Jeongah came over and handed Woojoo gloves that the Special Forces used.

“Take off the cotton glove and wear this.”

“Thank you.”

Woojoo took off the PT glove and put on the one she gave him.

It felt much better.

He felt a bit uneasy, as if she was saying, ‘If you take this, you’re one of us for today.’

He heard whispers from behind.

“He only saw it once, can he do it?”

“Did you see how he did it? It’s confusing. No, you lift your foot and put one under it. Is that it?”

“Shh, he can do it. He can do it.”

Woojoo grabbed the rope and swallowed his saliva.

He replayed the movement he just saw in his head and lifted his right foot on the rope.

Then he moved his body.

Swoosh-

“Oh?”

It really worked.

It wasn’t as hard as he thought. He just held the rope firmly and pushed himself up.

Every time he did, he heard an ‘oh’ sound.

In no time, he reached the top of the seven-meter rope and the admiration sound faded.

“Wow…”

The air was different.

Instead of the humid wind, the cool breeze cooled the sweat on his face.

His eyes were delighted by the icy blue sky.

He enjoyed the view of the Special Forces for a moment, then quickly came down as instructed by the instructor.

“Your posture coming down was perfect. Well done.”

“Thank you!”

“Everyone, let’s give a round of applause to number eight who climbed up and down the rope!”

“Woohoo!”

The Special Forces officer who had been smiling sternly turned his head.

“How do you feel? Is it fun?”

“Yes! It’s very fun!”

“That’s why we don’t let anyone do it.”

He and Woojoo lured the cast members with their perfect sync.

As they showed their curiosity one by one, a smile appeared on the instructor’s gruff face.

“Do you trainees want to try it too?”

“Yes!”

“Oh, this is not good. I was only going to let number eight do it, but… I’ll be flexible and accept applicants.”

They all raised their hands.

The instructor’s gaze asked who he should choose.

“Number nine! I want to try.”

“Okay. Number nine!”

Junghyun stood up with a happy expression.

He walked briskly to the rope and stopped in front of it, making an ‘ah’ face.

Woojoo whispered to him, “You didn’t understand, did you?”

“Yes.”

He wanted to try it, but he didn’t seem to get the demonstration he saw earlier.

The instructor intervened.

“Let’s try it once. I’ll check your posture afterwards.”

“Yes, I understand!”

Junghyun grabbed the rope with his gloved hand. Then he stretched his arms up and pulled the rope.

The Special Forces soldier shook his head.

“That’s the worst posture. If you try to go up with just your arm strength, you’ll fall off in no time. Look.”

“Kyungjun.”

“Yes?”

The senior officer, Go Kwangsoon, pointed somewhere with his finger.

“…Is he going up?”

“Yes?”

Chupchapchap.

“…?”

“…?”

Junghyun was climbing up the rope at a fast speed, grabbing it chupchapchap.

He was much faster than Woojoo.

“How did he do that?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the Special Forces soldier who had pointed out his bad posture.

He coughed.

“This is an exception. He’s going up with just his arm strength… No, how did he do that?”

Woojoo could read his bewildered expression behind his sunglasses.

He just smiled and said, ‘Our kid is strong, right?’

The Men Go members and the production staff had their mouths wide open.

“…Is that possible?”

“He’s faster than a cockroach climbing a wall.”

“And he’s not even using any tricks like in space… He’s doing it with his strength.”

Even the Special Forces soldiers were whispering to each other.

Shururuk!

He was their kid, who came down the rope like Tarzan.

It seemed like a jaguar or a gorilla would roar ‘King of the Jungle’ behind him.

When Woojoo was making background music that suited the scene in his head.

“Trainee, come here for a moment.”

“No, we’ll go. Don’t move.”

The Special Forces soldiers stuck to Junghyun and grabbed his arm. They looked like scientists who had discovered a new species.

“No, he’s so skinny…”

“How can he have this much strength in this body? It doesn’t make sense.”

“His bones are thick, but how? He shouldn’t be able to do this with this amount of muscle mass.”

They seemed interested in how he could have such strength in a skinny idol’s body.

It was a mystery that Woojoo had been curious about since before.

“Trainee.”

The senior officer grabbed Junghyun’s shoulder.

“Trainee number nine, Kim Junghyun.”

“You’re going to the hospital for a thorough examination.”

“…Hospital?”

Junghyun’s pupils shook.

“Did I… do something wrong?”

The Special Forces soldiers trembled their cheeks at his worried expression.

They held back their laughter and said.

They said he should check it out because his muscle fibers or muscle quality seemed to be outstanding.

“If his muscle quality is this good, he should be an athlete…”

“The sports world lost a talent.”

That was their reaction when they saw Junghyun’s body.

“Thank you.”

He smiled happily as he received the compliment, then quickly came over and sat down next to Woojoo.

“Did you have fun?”

“Yes. I want to do it again.”

Woojoo smiled at his sincere expression of enjoyment.

He felt it every time he saw him, but their kid was really blessed by the god of entertainment.

He could get so much airtime with just one rope-climbing.

“Any more applicants?”

One success after another.

It must have looked easy and fun, because even Jo Sohyung, who was sweating coldly with a pale face, raised his hand.

“Number seven, come out.”

“Yes!”

“You have a good body. Your muscles are well-developed.”

“Thank you!”

Hanjo stood calmly in front of the rope.

“Okay, climb up here. Trainee.”

Hanjo grabbed the rope and climbed up. He had watched the demonstration carefully, and his movement was quite accurate.

“Stay still in that position.”

“…?”

“Okay, I’ll show you a sample case.”

The instructor pointed out the points of his posture as he touched Hanjo’s body.

Woojoo held back his laughter all the while.

Hanjo, who was still on the rope, started to twitch as time passed.

“Okay, then, trainee! Keep going up like this!”

“Go!”

With a spirited shout, Hanjo grabbed the rope and climbed up…

Slurp.

“…?”

Thud.

Hanjo landed on the floor and blinked his eyes, and everyone burst into laughter.

He was flustered and climbed up again.

He slid down the rope like a drop of water following a straw.

Slurp.

Everyone laughed at his ‘huh?’ expression.

“…You had balloon muscles.”

“Here, it’s the opposite of efficiency.”

The Special Forces murmured, and the laughter grew louder.

“Number seven.”

“Yes?”

“You did well. Go back in.”

“I can…”

“Okay, next applicant, please!”

Hanjo came back with tears in his eyes. Then he coughed and said to Woojoo, who was giggling, “At least I got some airtime.”

But as soon as he said that, the cast of Men Go started to show their true entertainment skills.

“Aaaah!”

“The rope is too slippery!”

“There’s something wrong with this rope!”

They made them laugh with their bodies.

Pro broadcasters were different indeed.

Only Park Hobum, who had the concept of an A-class soldier, climbed up to the top gracefully, while the rest couldn’t even make it halfway.

Even Jo Sohyung, who had poor stamina, had acrophobia on top of that, and he was tormenting the instructors.

“I can’t come down!”

“Are you kidding me? Why can’t you come down?”

“I don’t know! How do I do this!”

He panicked and spoke in his real accent, and the Special Forces rubbed their foreheads.

“Why are you scared of a three-meter height?”

“I don’t know! I’m scared!”

Finally, Junghyun and Woojoo stepped forward and said they would catch him from below, and he came down trembling.

Then he started to run around the field under the scorching eyes of the instructors.

Meanwhile, Hanjo had a blank expression on his face.

“…I guess I’ll be edited out.”

“It’s okay. You can do it.”

Junghyun and Woojoo comforted him, saying that he would have more embarrassing opportunities ahead.

Lunchtime.

“Food’s ready!”

“Food!”

“Thank you, we’ll eat well!”

The cast members gathered in the cafeteria had the happiest expressions in the world.

Kimchi fried rice and crispy fried eggs.

It was delicious, not only because the training was hard, but also objectively.

“It’s really good.”

“Maybe it’s because we worked hard in the morning. The rice goes down so smoothly.”

“It’s the taste of society that you can’t feel in the army.”

It was a warm and friendly atmosphere.

“Our guests are eating well too.”

They looked at them with a friendly gaze, perhaps because of the sense of camaraderie from rolling together.

The eldest brother, Lee Pilseung, smiled kindly.

“Junghyun, is it good?”

“Uh, yeah, hahoho. Ahahaha.”

“He’s so happy. Because it’s delicious.”

The cast members laughed at Woojoo’s interpretation. Then they turned the topic of conversation to them.

“Woojoo, you’re really good. How do you do everything well?”

“Are you an administrative soldier? You’re good at showing PT demonstrations. And when you climbed the rope, you made it look easy.”

“It was harder than it looked.”

“Really. How did you do that, Junghyun?”

“Let’s go to the hospital after the recording. I’m so curious. How do you have such strength in an idol body?”

The members who were interested in Junghyun called the PD who was eating nearby.

“PD Do!”

“Yes?”

“After this special recording, take Junghyun to get a check-up.”

“Yes, I’ll consider it.”

Junghyun looked worried and said, ‘The hospital is scary.’

While the old men were laughing and teasing him about his black history with the arrow target.

The schedule for the training was distributed.

“They’ll give us black uniforms for dinner.”

“Black uniforms?”

“The black clothes that the Special Forces wear. They’ll distribute them according to your size.”

“Wow…”

The faces of all the men sitting down sparkled with romance.

They could wear the clothes that they only saw in Jiho’s shooting games or in movies and dramas.

As they were excited, Park Hobum narrowed his eyes and looked at the schedule.

“Did you see that there’s a rappelling training this afternoon?”

“Ah…”

“Hobum, you’re good at breaking the mood.”

At his words, they all looked at the schedule and sighed.

A series of tough schedules that looked hard at a glance.

Then they all glanced at Woojoo at the same time, as if they had the same thought.

Woojoo put down the spoon he was eating egg soup with and asked, “Why are you looking at me?”

“You’ll have a hard time. Woojoo.”

“Me?”

They all nodded.

“When I saw the Special Forces earlier, their eyes were dripping with honey. They said they’d make you do it eight times if there was only a demonstration.”

“Eight times, eight times, they sang it so much that my ears got scabs.”

“Woojoo, hang in there.”

Woojoo shook his head and smiled.

“No, they’re just being nice to me, it’s not that much…”

As he was answering, he stopped talking and quickly wiped his mouth and got up, seeing the opposite side.

When they turned their bodies, the Special Forces were coming.

Maybe it was because they took off their sunglasses and scarves.

They all had gentle and clear faces, except for their lean bodies and rough skin.

“Sit down. Sit.”

At the words of the middle-aged Go Kwangsoon, they sat down one by one.

“How is it? Is the food good?”

“Yes!”

“This is the best cafeteria in Incheon among the police cafeterias. Haha!”

“Hahaha!”

They exchanged warm laughter.

“Did you see the rappelling training in the afternoon?”

“Yes!”

“Be careful not to get injured. If you have acrophobia… You can sit this one out, Trainee Jo. I saw you earlier.”

“Y-yes…”

“Then I’ll assume there’s no one else. Oh, number eight?”

“Yes?”

A thick hand tapped Woojoo’s shoulder.

“Let’s see you again later. We’ll teach you a lot of fun things.”

“…”

“We have a lot to show you.”

The other agents also smiled contentedly at him and moved to get their plates.

“…”

Woojoo’s face reflected in the egg soup looked very sad.

The members of Men Go gave him their share of yogurt, saying he looked pitiful.

“Eat this and cheer up.”

“Thank you…”

Junghyun, who was looking around, also offered him a yogurt.

“Hyung.”

“Thanks, Junghyun.”

“Yes…?”

“…?”

Their eyes met in midair.

“…You weren’t giving it to me?”

“No. I asked you to peel it for me because I cut my nails too short.”

“…”

Everyone burst into laughter, and Hanjo, who was sitting on Woojoo’s left, handed him a yogurt.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you. You’re the best, Hanjo…”

“Peel mine too, please.”

“…”

Hanjo grinned mischievously.

The camera director and the cast laughed as Woojoo closed his eyes slightly.

The scene showed the cast moving to the rappelling training site after lunch.

The building next to the barracks they finally arrived at.

As they all crouched on the ground, the instructor began to explain.

Instructor: Rappelling training is when you descend from a building wall or a cliff with a single rope, like this.

The video showed a detailed explanation.

Footage of descending from a helicopter or infiltrating a balcony from a high-rise apartment wall.

They all nodded at the explanation that it was a necessary skill for entering in case of a terrorist holding a hostage or a fire.

Instructor: Now, let’s watch the assistant’s demonstration.

Lee Jeongah, a senior officer who was on the roof, jumped off the building with a shout of ‘Descent!’.

They all applauded as she descended with a precise posture.

At the same time, the faces of the regular members who looked anxious as if saying ‘Do we have to do that?’ passed by.

A screen of an interview with a man with a shaved head and a gentle expression.

Min Taewon: I always say that everything depends on your mindset.

Writer: You did.

Min Taewon: Rappelling is an exception.

Writer: (Laughter)

Scenes of the members struggling with rappelling training in the past army episode.

Lee Pilseung: It was pitch black in front of me. Except for Hobeom, we were all scared of rappelling… That’s about 15 meters, right? It’s no joke. Your legs will shake even if you don’t have acrophobia.

Writer: They say it’s the height that humans feel the most fear.

Lee Pilseung: Yes. So I was really worried about rappelling… Fortunately.

He smiled happily.

Lee Pilseung: We had Trainee Woojoo.

The screen switched again.

The cast screamed as they descended from a four-story building with a rope.

Some were praised and some were scolded for their dangerous posture.

There was a person who caught the attention of the instructors.

-Number eight!

-Trainee number eight! Come here!

-Number eight!

The scene of the Special Forces agents calling Woojoo eagerly was edited and flowed.

Woojoo came down the rope with a perfect posture.

He was clearly scared of the height before descending, screaming ‘Ahh!’, but as soon as he jumped off, his posture became flawless.

Every time he came down the rope, the corners of the Special Forces’ mouths twitched under their sunglasses.

The voice of Sergeant Go Kwangsoon sounded like a narration.

Sergeant Go: Well, he didn’t show it at the time… but our Woojoo is an honorary member of the Tactical Team 1.

PD: Honorary member?

Sergeant Go: His posture was really pretty. Aww. He said it was his first time, but I couldn’t do that when I was in the Special Forces.

PD: That’s amazing.

Sergeant Go: Amazing, right? So I got excited and wanted to teach him one more thing. Hahaha!

Then the scene of Woojoo suffering followed.

He was clearly being adored by the Special Forces, but every time he learned a new move, he looked like he was dying.

He reproduced the beginning and the end of rappelling with his body.

At the end, he came down upside down holding the rope like Spider-Man, and everyone stuck out their tongues and admired him.

Woojoo: Was it hard?

On the interview screen, Woojoo smiled in a black suit.

With somewhat moist eyes.

Woojoo: Well, it was great. They were trying to teach me one more thing. When can I have this kind of experience? Hahaha…

When the netizens ran the facial analyzer later, it was a miserable smile with 99 percent sadness.

Woojoo: Thanks to them, I had a chance to reflect on myself.

Writer: Reflect on yourself?

A break time during rappelling training.

“Good job.”

“Woojoo had a hard time.”

“Aww, this makes us feel so bad. But thanks to him, we had a good rest…”

They were all smiling. These people.

But he thanked them for giving him a brief massage.

“Ahh…”

Woojoo lay down on the sand and looked at the sky that was slowly turning red.

Why did it look so different from the sky he saw yesterday?

He wanted to hear the voices of his grandmother and siblings.

“Ugh, I’m dying…”

It wasn’t that his body was terribly tired.

He could handle it physically, but the problem was that the Special Forces poured their attention on him.

‘Number 8! Let’s try this one more time.’

‘Just this one more time.’

‘Good job. Right!’

They welcomed him like a new member who had been waiting for a long time in the club, and he was miserable.

“…Are you okay?”

Woojoo’s calm face was dark in the backlight. Hanjo looked down at him with a worried voice.

“Ouch… You look so tired.”

“You’re wrong if you think I can’t see you smiling because of the backlight.”

“You caught me.”

Hanjo grinned and reached out to lift Woojoo up.

Nearby, Junghyun, who was carrying the luggage with the staff, came over and dusted off the sand on his uniform.

While the production team was preparing for the night shooting, the three of them headed to the bathroom, shivering.

“I’m so miserable.” Woojoo whispered as if complaining, “I don’t think I can do it, but they keep smiling and asking if it’s fun. I think this is enough, but they say it’s just the beginning. Even the concert encore wouldn’t be like this.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

The two of them ‘hmm’ and looked at each other.

“He doesn’t seem to know, does he?”

“It seems so.”

“…Is this karma?”

“You have to be pushed to the edge to know, they say.”

“Isn’t that empathy?”

“No, it’s not? Jiho told me that for sure.”

Woojoo interrupted the conversation they were having.

“What don’t I know?”

“Nothing.”

They mumbled.

They pushed him to go to the bathroom when he kept digging.

Woojoo turned on the faucet and looked at the mirror. An aged face that had aged a day stared back at him.

“Hahaha.”

Tears blurred his vision.

You’ve worked so hard today, Woojoo. He comforted himself.

Wait a minute.

“…Huh?”

Something was off, so he wiped the foggy mirror with water. A haggard face appeared in the clear mirror.

Where had he seen this expression before?

Slumped shoulders, dark circles that reached his chin, lips that looked parched and listless.

Someone’s face came to mind.

‘…Composer Na Sangyoon?’

No.

It was an expression he had seen for much longer.

“Huhhh…!”

Woojoo opened his eyes wide and covered his mouth with his hand.

‘A&R Team!?’

Every time he worked in the studio, the A&R Team members’ faces were reflected on the laptop screen. They looked just like this.

They would nod off and then look at his face with the same expression and say, ‘Woojoo, are you done?’

Woojoo thought they were tired because they were office workers.

“…!”

As the realization hit him like a tsunami, he saw another face behind the A&R Team’s faces that passed over the mirror.

It was a handsome man with a Goofy-like expression.

‘…Director Jo?’

In January this year.

When they stayed at Director Jo’s house, Woojoo saw that expression on his face. And now it was on his.

‘What the hell.’

…Was he the Dooly that Director Jo was talking about?

As he stared blankly at the mirror in shock, he heard Junghyun snoring loudly.