Chapter 146. A One-off Single (4)

Translator: Chamber

Editor: Illidan

One of JooAh’s most prominent hobbies was traveling.

Every time she was in a rest period, she toured around famous cities in Europe or America. She enjoyed uploading them to her personal blog and watching the reactions of her fans. Although some of the comments warranted legal action, reading the reactions of her fans was actually quite enjoyable for her.

The place she chose to travel to this time was the Xi’an province in China. This was the capital of the Tang dynasty as well as the Jin dynasty, the first dynasty to unify China. She was here with her manager.

There, she met up with Min JinSeo, one of her juniors who had been here shooting a film for a long time.

“My dear JinSeo! It’s been a long time.”

JooAh lightly patted the back of the junior of hers who ran into her arms as soon as she saw her. Although this junior was a head taller than her, she was still the cute little junior.

“Unni, it’s been a long time. Have you been doing well?”

“That’s right, little girl. Hm? Did you get a sun-tan? I think you became prettier.”

“You got thinner as well. Are you on a diet?”

JooAh smiled at Min JinSeo who was sunburnt a little. An endless stream of praises was the same in women’s conversation wherever they were.

There were very few juniors that JooAh liked. Although many trainees and singers alike respected her and wanted to follow in her footsteps, not many were to her liking. They either had good skills but a weak personality, or good personality but lacking skills.

Min JinSeo was a rare specimen that fulfilled both criteria. Although the field of work was different, she was one of the few juniors that she acknowledged.

The manager left to give them some space, and the two started talking over a cup of tea.

Both of them talked about their activities. Since JooAh worked in Japan and JinSeo in China, the two did not know a lot of things about each other. Exchanging episodes like that, they didn’t know how quickly time passed.

“JinSeo. Your shoot this time is quite long. When does it end?”

“I’m not sure, one of the actors was switched out again so… I think it’ll take some more time.”

“Eh? Again?”

When JooAh sighed complaining why the filming was taking so long, Min JinSeo shook her head.

“It can’t be helped. Shooting a movie requires considering the investors’ suggestions, and many things change according to the circumstances. I don’t think it differs much whether it’s Korea or here.”

“Aren’t they tying a superstar like you here for too long? It must be fatiguing to move around Xi’an. The least they could do is shoot in Shanghai.”

Min JinSeo only smiled faintly. She was relieved since JooAh was one of the very few people that she could speak her heart to.

Speaking about Korea, they mentioned Eddios. Min JinSeo was already aware that they had moved to World Entertainment. The members of Eddios now had their individual roles in the industry, and the results were looking good. When she was updated on the news, she was happy for them.

“I knew that he would take care of the problems regarding them. It’s good that things are going well.”

“I think they’ve found their place as well. They all looked at ease.”

“Really? I’m a little… envious.”

JooAh’s stiffened when she saw Min JinSeo’s mood turning a little sad.

“What? You want to go there as well?”

“…Unni, I’ll be leaving because I have a shoot coming up soon.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

She had a look at the clock before standing up.

“Eh? You didn’t tell me that before.”

“I’m off then.”

She took a deep bow and left the cafe.

“Sheesh, I really don’t get what she’s thinking.”

JooAh blinked several times as she was left alone. It was unknown what was on Min JinSeo’s mind.

***

KangYoon, who had decided to invest a lot of money into renting XT Hall, started strategizing about marketing. He sent the news through the web portal Sace and put up ads on various online music charts. This was very different from their usual marketing strategy to use social media. They were investing properly this time.

KangYoon and Jung MinAh were heading home after filming the promotional video.

“I feel like the scale of things has gotten very large rather suddenly.”

Jung MinAh, in the passenger seat, seemed rather excited.

Although KangYoon had told her to leave everything to him, she was still worried. However, she hadn’t realized that he was setting up something this huge. Jung MinAh knew very well what Sace, as a web portal, was capable of doing.

“Ahjussi, ahjussi. Why don’t we partner up with something like Twisser next time?”

“Hahaha, sounds good.”

It was no longer an era where activities in Korea were the only option. Aiming for a bigger stage required that as well. Many celebrities had separated their personal and work accounts.

The traffic jam didn’t look like it was going to let them through anytime soon. KangYoon even had the hand brake on.

“The traffic sure is awful today.”

It wasn’t that they had a schedule to attend to, but they didn’t want to be stuck in the road.

At that time, Jung MinAh turned on the car radio. A female radio DJ introduced some music with a very relaxing voice.

“Nice voice.”

“Right? I thought the same.”

Jung MinAh spoke while they were talking about the radio DJ.

“Ris is interested in radio DJs.”

“She does? Well, she always liked speaking in a small voice. HanYu is the same.”

“You’re right. The two sometimes play around like that, and it’s quite funny. You haven’t seen them do that, right?”

Tentatively titled ‘DJ roleplay’. The two played around like that and it was good for reciting commentary and good for fun as well.

“That’s a good way of playing around. What do you do in your free time?”

“Me? I guess, wrestling?”

“You mean the one where they do choke slams?”

“Sure.”

KangYoon became speechless seeing her so calm about it.

‘I… I can’t imagine it!’

Would they do pro-wrestling with ordinary clothes? He suddenly imagined a tight bikini-like wrestler costume on Jung MinAh and his face turned red.

Jung MinAh dealt the final blow without knowing what was going through his head.

“It’s fun to play with SamSoon. She has good reflexes. Any stress will fly away if we keep smashing each other into the ground.

“……”

“Ahjussi? Why is your face red?”

Because of you.

KangYoon couldn’t say those words.

***

The showcase date was Thursday in the third week of March.

It was also the day Jung MinAh debuted on KS TV.

Thanks to that, KangYoon, Jung MinAh, and even Lee HyunJi, who rarely left the company, had to chip in to help. KangYoon moved with Jung MinAh, and Lee HyunJi headed to XT hall first to meet with Sace personnel and prepare for the live broadcast.

KangYoon was currently at KS TV’s waiting room.

“Fuu, fuu.”

After finishing off the dress rehearsal, Jung MinAh took deep breaths while waiting for her solo debut stage. Although she had a daring personality, standing on stage was something she hadn’t done in a long time and it had made her nervous.

KangYoon was a few meters away from her and waited for her to come to herself.

However, Jung MinAh suddenly called out to him.

“Ahjussi.”

Usually, he would have told her off for calling him that, but the times called for otherwise. KangYoon approached her.

“…What?”

“Hehe, you’re not scolding me.”

“…What’s up?”

“Hehehehe. Nothing.”

KangYoon was flabbergasted, but he brushed it off thinking that this was her own way of easing her nerves.

“I will do well, right?”

“Of course.”

“……”

Jung MinAh looked at KangYoon’s unshaking eyes. Like that, the two looked at each other for a moment.

At that time, a knock sounded from the door.

“Miss MinAh, please get ready!”

“Yes!”

Jung MinAh stood up from her seat.

“Then shall we get going?”

“Yes.”

The two started heading towards the stage.

Leaving KangYoon behind, Jung MinAh carefully stepped up onto the stage. Although this would be pre-recorded and be broadcast to the public later, the audience seats were still full of fans.’

‘Ah….’

The first thing she saw on the stage were the banners that her fans held up. Her heart pounded while looking at the messages that her fans had sent to her.

– MinAh! I was waiting!

– I still haven’t betrayed you

– Love Jung MinAh ?

There were many messages aimed at her. Jung MinAh became a little absent-minded. She was worried that none of them would recognize her anymore but…

At that moment, the producer’s words sounded on her earbud.

-Miss MinAh. We’ll be starting the music soon.

Jung MinAh immediately stepped into her position. When she looked around, she saw that the backup dancers had already gotten into their respective positions. She smiled awkwardly and got into her position.

When she finished, a bold brass sound filled the stage.

– Ah ah ah ah ah Come on – Come on Ah ah ah ah ah Come on do it

Jung MinAh knelt down on one knee and looked down. She then lightly swayed along the rhythm to stand up again. Using steps that were reminiscent of breakdancing moves, she performed a light wave. Her slim waist created a beautiful curve along with the wave.

This was a performance that contained both the powerfulness of men and the curves of women.

‘What’s that?’

‘That looks great.’

Even fans of other singers started falling for Jung MinAh’s strong performance.

– Don’t be in a rush, I’ll wait for you forever —

This was the highlight of the first section. Jung MinAh flipped her body upside down on her elbow and stretched out her legs in a diagonal direction. This was a power move of breakdancers, elbowing.

“Kyaaak! What’s that!?”

“That, that’s so awesome!”

This was a splendid twist. The women had fallen for her already, and the men were flabbergasted by her energy and her feminine beauty.

The dancers that danced with Jung MinAh also showed complex moves and emphasized her.

Like that, the audience waved their balloons and phones in the air as more time passed.

“Uwaaaa—!”

The ‘tough unni’ characters were not popular amongst men except for a few minorities. However, Jung MinAh combined the ‘tough unni’ character with the sexy beauty that men liked in a perfect fashion. It wasn’t to the degree where it tried to be both but was neither but rather a perfect balance between both. She was at a level where she had a unique charm about her. The stage costume also didn’t focus on exposure, but on giving glimpses of her skins during powerful moves.

The mood heated up. The audience had stood up to cheer at her already, and some of the staff were cheering for her as well.

‘The reactions are good.’

KangYoon had a wide smile on his face. It wasn’t like she was allocated more time because it was a comeback stage. She was literally overwhelming the crowd with pure performance. The twist of her new image from her usual Eddios image also played a role here.

After the bridge, Jung MinAh put her hand on her waist and gave a long glance towards the audience. Like that, the short 3-minute comeback stage was over.

“Thank you.”

“Waaaaaaa—!! Jung. Min. Ah! Jung. Min. Ah!”

“One more song! Encore!”

This was the first time such a thing happened on a pre-recorded show. The fans were aware that there was a schedule, but they couldn’t help but shout that. Sending Jung MinAh off only after a short 3-minute performance was a waste.

Jung MinAh was at a loss about what to do but she soon grabbed the mic. Just those actions made the audience cheer at her. The assistant director ran up because he didn’t know what she was about to do.

“I want to show you more… but there are other people… so I’ll be quick about this. I also have a stage in XT Hall in Samseong-dong. Although promotion isn’t allowed here, this is the last time I’ll be performing on TV, so… if anyone’s interested, I’d love it if you could meet me there! You’ll be on time if you come right after this! Thank you so much, everyone!”

Jung MinAh gave the assistant director the mic and stepped off the stage.

Then….

“Samseong-dong? When is it?”

“It’s at 7! It’s a showcase!”

“Why are there no more TV shows about her? That’s too far away! But I’m still going!”

When the fans opened up their phones, the banner ad about Jung MinAh’s showcase was shown right on the top of Sace’s main page. Even though there was a stage next, the fan’s murmurs did not die down. Jung MinAh’s performance just had that much of an impact on them.

After throwing a bomb at the audience, Jung MinAh ran up to KangYoon.

Rather than praising her for her work, KangYoon gave her a harsh smack.

“Ouch! Ahjussi! What’s wrong!”

“You, really….”

He really wanted to hit her again. Promoting in this place? KangYoon had to apologize to the producer for this incident. Thankfully, the producer was considerate as he had just heard that this was her last stage on TV. Though, the fact that the reactions were so good did play a role as well…

KangYoon hurriedly left the TV station. Jung MinAh grumbled while trying to tidy up her messy hair.

“Aah, ahjussi. You messed my hair up.”

“You’re going to go through full re-make-up once you’re there. You lump of trouble.”

“What do you mean lump of trouble?”

Jung MinAh became grumpy. She was sensitive to the word lump.

Though, she felt good since the reactions about her performance were so good.

Like that, the two headed towards XT Hall where the showcase would take place.

***