Chapter 136

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Variety shows.

It was a schedule that idols would usually catch once their activities reached a certain orbit and results came out.

There were words that it was difficult to catch variety shows even if results came out to some extent because the public popularity of idols themselves had decreased a lot recently, but first, TeStar did not belong here.

Because they were from , which was number 1 in variety show buzz last year.

If it was a person who was roughly interested in the entertainment industry, they would have heard of the faces or names of the members who were top-ranked participants of at least once, even if they didn’t know TeStar.

Since the results were clearly proven through last year’s activities, I knew that quite a lot of variety show offers came in for this comeback as well.

Thanks to that, I well caught a suitable variety show schedule that I wanted.

“Are you nervous~?”

“To some extent.”

Big Sejin smiled widely.

“Hey, me too!”

For someone who said he was nervous, his eyes were burning with ambition.

‘It’s understandable.’

There were only two TeStar members heading to the filming site right now, me and Big Sejin.

Since this variety show wasn’t a format that the whole group could participate in, the offer came down after various consultations and these two were selected.

It was almost the first time that members caught variety shows individually like this. And that guy Big Sejin would never miss an opportunity to appeal his individuality.

‘Did the fire ignite even more because the unit stage was successful?’

Well, anyway, it wasn’t a bad thing.

“You know even if I don’t tell you, right? Greet well when you arrive~”

“Yes!”

“Yeah.”

As we nodded coolly at the manager’s words, we first made rounds to greet the cast as soon as we arrived.

“안녕하십니까!”

Since we were only in our second year, it was an expected thing, but there were no juniors younger than us.

However, no one ignored us.

“Oh~ TeStar!”

It was because the recognition and results were clear.

‘As expected, rising is the answer.’

Still, it was truly a feat that Big Sejin exchanged numbers with three actors in an instant.

And, I also found a somewhat welcome face in one waiting room.

“Heok! Sunbaenim~”

“Ah, it’s nice to meet you. You two.”

It was Youngrin, the female idol who served as the representative in .

“I’m hearing the news well. It’s good to meet like this. It would have been good if the other members were seen together too.”

Youngrin said a few words of well wishes and added as if joking.

“I’m going to release a solo album this year, so let’s not have overlapping activities.”

…Suddenly, the nightmare of the simultaneous release with VTIC at the beginning of debut came to mind.

“Haha! Ayy, we should be the ones to postpone it out of fear, sunbaenim~”

“I’m looking forward to the album a lot.”

“Thank you.”

Youngrin nodded with a slight smile.

And next to her, hmm… there was a person I didn’t expect.

It was the first time meeting, but as soon as the greetings were finished, she looked at me with delight.

“You’re Moondae-ssi, right? Wow, I’m seeing you like this! Let’s do well in today’s filming~”

It was… a member of SoftSweet.

The original singer of , which I danced in the first rank evaluation, and , which we changed to a Halloween concept in the first team match—female idol SoftSweet.

And the one I met now… hmm, she’s the member who is the only one active as a successful actress among SoftSweet.

Anyway, since it meant she was a great senior in terms of years, I bowed my head.

“I’m the one who should ask you to look after me….”

‘Wait.’

Come to think of it, doesn’t everyone know that I’m a fan of SoftSweet right now?

‘Does this person also think that I’m her fan?’

Sure enough, the SoftSweet member asked with a beaming smile.

“Excuse me, by any chance, whose fan were you among our members? We made a slight bet among ourselves.”

There was only one correct answer for this.

“……Of course, I was an all-fan.”

“Ayy, so you weren’t my fan? You’re escaping well, Moondae-ssi!”

The SoftSweet member laughed heartily and slapped her thigh.

‘She’s treating me like a cousin.’

It seemed that an one-sided friendship had been formed because I… danced to Popcorn so much.

“Of course, it’s a joke! Thanks to Moondae-ssi, it was really fun among ourselves after a long time~ Thank you. Let’s do well during today’s filming!”

“…Thank you.”

At this rate, it felt like I would even get a signed CD from SoftSweet.

Anyway, it was a good sign that people I had a connection with were seen among the cast.

‘It’s good for pulling out edited stories here and there.’

Rather than a cast that doesn’t know each other at all, isn’t it better to have parts that can be explained by grouping them together to get screen time?

Since the gap in years with those two was so large, the probability of unnecessary old broadcast-style love arrow editing entering was also low.

‘Still, it’s more comfortable if they’re the same gender.’

It was a pity, but among the rest of the cast, no special overlapping activities or familiar lineup were seen.

……I thought so until then.

However, as if their schedule was extremely busy, there were guys who barely arrived right before the filming.

“Hello~”

They were two members of VTIC.

‘Shit.’

Why are those bastards coming out here?

The guys of the level that would have a solo special feature organized even if this variety show had to change its format if they appeared as a group—why did they pop out when it’s not even an activity period?

At that moment, Big Sejin, who had come after wearing all the microphones, poked my back and whispered.

“Wow, LeTi works well.”

“LeTi?”

LeTi Entertainment. It was the agency for VTIC and SoftSweet.

Big Sejin glanced. It was towards the actors he had taken the numbers from.

“That actor group over there, it was SoftSweet… Soohyun sunbaenim’s first lead movie team.”

“……!”

“They’re in the same agency. They must have agreed on a group appearance by including VTIC.”

……Was it that the cast came out as a group for the purpose of movie promotion?

Thanks to that, it seemed that two members of VTIC, who were in a rest period, personally came out.

Since they also had company stocks they held, they might have been generous toward the promotion of celebrities from the same company.

Big Sejin smiled slightly.

“Still, it’s good for Moondae, right?”

“What is.”

“I don’t see the sunbaenim who is in charge of Moondae’s social life~”

“…….”

It seemed he had already noticed early on that I feel uncomfortable around Cheongryeo.

Well, it seemed he was just guessing something like ‘Maybe he was more of a kkon-dae than I thought’.

I laughed and shook my head.

“No, such things aren’t very important.”

“Oh, really?”

That’s right.

Cheongryeo wouldn’t suddenly smash my head with a sledgehammer at this filming site where there are many people, would he?

It would just be… a level of being a bit annoyed and tired of meeting a crazy guy.

‘It doesn’t matter whether that guy is there or not.’

The problem was… the fact that VTIC appeared. Since we were in the same male idol position but there was a difference in grade.

I said honestly.

“Because I’m worried about the screen time.”

“Eh?”

Big Sejin burst into laughter.

“Hey, even Moondae is worried about the variety show screen time! But don’t worry too much~”

“……?”

Big Sejin lowered his voice even more and whispered.

“Those two sunbaenims don’t talk much in variety shows.”

“……!!”

“Maybe they sent whoever was available urgently. Hmm, won’t they just kill time moderately and go?”

It meant that as members who didn’t have much interest in variety shows, they wouldn’t have much ambition.

Honestly, I was slightly impressed.

‘This bastard’s head really turns well.’

Thinking after gathering information, he’s truly a great guy.

I nodded.

“I should try hard then.”

“You should try hard.”

We did a rare unnecessary fist bump.

The microphones were turned on, and the filming soon began.

* * *

“Sensory Saturday! The joy of the weekend night, 에 여러분을 초대합니다!”

“Waaaah!!”

, it was a full-scale variety entertainment show hosted by a national MC.

As could be guessed from the name, it was a program with a very long history, which ended in the late 2000s but was resurrected a few years ago due to the retro craze.

A program that starts at 8:50 PM on Saturday on a public broadcast, with good viewership ratings.

In a word, it’s a variety show with extreme public popularity.

A place where there’s no way for the guest’s family history to pop out unnecessarily, and where a few scenes can show a character interestingly and with impact.

It had all the elements I was looking for.

However… the process of letting myself go was necessary.

Because the concept required hang-ma-ryeok.

Dudum-chit dududum-chit!

At that time, the MC was DJing while shaking his bobbed hair in an 80s-style DJ booth.

He seemed very immersed. His professional spirit was amazing.

“Today’s party concept? !”

The words I was notified of in advance came out.

“Only~ a pair of the same party people, today’s stage where only complete carbon copies can enter! Our party people, please appear now~!”

Thanks to that, I matched my clothes and hairstyle with Big Sejin.

……For reference, as if conscious of this concept, one of the combinations of members for this variety show appearance that the company thought of was the ‘Big Sejin-Bae Sejin’ pair.

Of course, thanks to Bae Sejin’s active horror, it fell through before even being discussed.

“Our turn.”

“Yeah.”

It was time for me and Big Sejin to appear on the set.

[The party people who will enter this time are~ Oh~ young! Handsome!]

We were going to go up to the stage and dance the prepared dance along with the MC’s enormous introductory remarks.

Because the MC… throughout the time the participant was dancing, he reproduced the cringy variety show subtitles that were popular as memes in the old days with his mouth.

[Dancing magic! Soaring stocks! Two shining stars of TeStar have descended to the ground!]

It seems the funny point is the cast members breaking down, unable to endure that sound echoing through the hall via the microphone.

But neither Big Sejin nor I seemed like we would break down very interestingly. It might be different if it were Ryu Chungwoo or Seon Ahyun.

So I decided to do it in reverse.

Big Sejin and I slowly surrounded the DJ booth while dancing.

“…?!”

The MC was slightly flustered.

“Wow, the best national MC!”

“I’ll show you what hosting is! I am the host!”

“Presence that even a booth cannot confine! Light that rings across the nation!”

“Shaking the Saturday evening. This is the giant’s remark!”

“The only one who catches both emotion and laughter at the same time is that person in the DJ seat!”

[No…!]

The MC broke down instead.

At first, he seemed really flustered, but this seemed to have been a bit of going along with it.

‘It’s a relief.’

It was a relief that it was okay without having to let out worse remarks with my mouth.

However, next to me, Big Sejin chuckled and poured out all the remaining remarks.

“South Korea’s variety show history is divided into before and after Choi Hosu. He is the standard of variety!”

“…….”

The dance stage ended like that.

The MC, who regained his senses, suppressed his laughter several times and left a gem of an ending remark.

“Taking over the stage as soon as they appear! This is exactly what variety is! Passion, spirit, love and peace!”

“Thank you!”

Big Sejin and I came down from the stage.

‘……Whew.’

First… I did everything I aimed for in this part. Seeing that even the production staff were laughing, the impact was also decent.

However, as soon as I sat on the chair for the cast, agony rushed in.

I was prepared when I previewed the broadcast before appearing, but it was amazing how a variety show could test a person’s hang-ma-ryeok to this extent.

‘People who missed this kind of format… were many.’

I couldn’t believe it. But the viewership ratings did not lie.

‘Let’s just do reactions.’

I sent enthusiastic applause to the VTIC guys who went up to the stage last.

As Big Sejin said, as if they didn’t have much interest in variety shows, it seemed they hadn’t prepared much.

“Heaven-sent handsomeness!”

After all 12 cast members appeared, the program began in earnest.

“Actually, the reason I opened this party today was… to find the fake!”

“Wait, wasn’t it strange because they were so similar like carbon copies?? One person is a doppelganger! A fake!”

…With this concept, the people who appeared together would split up and do a 6:6 team battle, which was what I heard.

“The decisive person who made the team lose! That person… will receive a penalty!”

And the moment the penalty recipient was selected in the first game, the real intention was revealed.

“Eh? Why isn’t our Jooho-ssi, who entered together, coming out?”

“Ye, yes?!”

“Since you’re the same body, you should receive the penalty together~ You’re doppelgangers! So, !”

“……!!”

That’s right.

When a penalty recipient comes out, the doppelganger of that person in the opposing team also receives the penalty together.

“No, goodness!”

“Then I shouldn’t target myself over there?”

“No, the team victory is important! Let’s just receive the penalty~”

Surprisingly, because it wasn’t notified to anyone, the cast members were truly surprised.

In that gap of whispering, my eyes met with Big Sejin’s.

‘Let’s receive a penalty once.’

‘Okay.’

Reactions in crisis situations like penalties were good for pulling out characters. This had to be taken.

“The penalty for this team battle is…… a water balloon bomb!”

“Heok!”

Hmm, if it’s that much, the level seemed okay.

However, when the opportunity came, interference came in.

It was a one-on-one remaining situation in the Mirrorball Dodgeball match, which was this team battle.

The lineup was me and a VTIC member.

And just then, the VTIC member who was left alone on the opposing team caught the ball.

‘In this kind of thing, the person who is eliminated at the very last is the penalty recipient.’

Due to the nature of this program, they would have 100% done that to pull out a funny sight of someone feeling unfair.

They would say something like, ‘Since you didn’t win while you were left until the end, you’re the cause of the defeat~’. There were many such records too.

‘I can just get hit here.’

I prepared to be hit by the ball.

“It’s done!”

“Hit him over there!!”

However, the VTIC member of the opposing team started doing a crazy thing.

He looked at me with ambiguous eyes, then pretended to throw the ball and stepped on the line and was eliminated.

“……??”

“Oops! I made a mistake!”

‘What.’

What is that bastard doing?

Even when our eyes met, he sent a signal by winking.

It’s a face like a senior student who covered for a freshman in some presentation.

‘What exactly is it.’