Chapter 91

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The teaser video for began by showing a string of past guests.

After showing the appearances of celebrities as famous as the stars, it showed the new guest who would hit the peak of that atmosphere.

[This guest is…]
[VTIC!]

Numerous records and activities of VTIC passed behind the subtitle. And one member among them was zoomed in on. It was a famous scene of him greeting while winning an award at an international awards ceremony.

[VTIC’s Leader]
[Cheongryeo]
[The person he wants to get close to is?]

Immediately after, a new screen appeared.

[A certain day in July 202X]
[Cheongryeo: Hello. I’m Cheongryeo of VTIC.]

It was a pre-meeting video showing Cheongryeo in casual clothes.

[Q: What is the criteria for selecting the person you want to get close to?]
[Cheongryeo: Well… a fellow singer? (Laughs)]
[Cheongryeo: Actually, I’ve been focusing on activities so far, so I’ve rarely met fellow singers.]

A small added subtitle ‘The Sorrow of a Workaholic’ appeared and then disappeared.

[Q: If you had to pick just one person?]
[Cheongryeo: It’s hard. (Laughs)]
[Cheongryeo: Actually, there’s someone I’ve been keeping an eye on lately.]
[Cheongryeo: I think he’s a bit like me.]

Cheongryeo’s next voice was treated with a ‘beep’ sound.

Because his mouth shape was also covered, no clues could be obtained from there.

But the next moment, almost everyone guessed whom Cheongryeo had pointed out.

This was because the ‘Just Me’ stage of was shown in blurry quality, zoomed in only on a part.

Since it had all been leaked through articles anyway, it meant they would openly give hints.

[Who exactly is the ‘similar fellow singer’ that Cheongryeo pointed out?]
[Revealed in next week’s !]

And the comments were already taken over by spoilers.

– It’s Park Moondae.
– Anyone can see it’s Park Moondae ㅋㅋㅋ
– Whoa, Cheongryeo-nim rarely appears on variety shows, but finally ㅠㅠ Looking forward to the chemistry with the hoobae-nim!
– Oh, it’s going to be so fun.

The best comments were mostly in this vein.

Although different stories could be seen if sorted by latest or if entering SNS, anyway, the expectations of general viewers were considerable.

It was rare for male idols who even secured popularity to appear, and among them, two who had no solo variety show appearances were appearing on a terrestrial variety show.

Even one side was appearing on a terrestrial variety show for the first time, so fans were completely excited.

– Gasp, Moondae-dindin’s solo variety show ㅠㅠㅠ
– This program is really fun, and it’s the type of program that Moondae would be good at, looking forward to it.
– Finally succeeded in wish-fulfillment… Another win for persistence… Moved beyond words…
– (I’m a soul already watching the main broadcast, please pass by)

There was clearly the lingering effect of the conflict that occurred while overlapping with VTIC’s activity period, or the dissatisfied voices of individual fans within TeSTAR.

But it didn’t capture the mainstream. It was because even individual fans of TeSTAR members wanted someone to break through into terrestrial variety shows first for now.

It was the same for malicious individual fans.

– It’s not that the agency arbitrarily stuck him in, but he was pointed out, so I won’t curse… But it’s true that it’s uncomfortable to see Gommer benefit after winning 1st place through selling his sad story ㅎ
– Moondae-ya, don’t mess it up, our kid also has to come out.
– I don’t give a damn about Gommer’s variety show, so I’ll mute it. Since there’s only the group account, I have to keep seeing it, so annoying.
– Huh? Only Park Moondae goes on a terrestrial variety show? T1 guys, set up more individual schedules for our kids too.

Negative public opinion subsided quietly after words were exchanged to this extent under the surface.

– Ah~ I wish next Friday would come quickly ㅠㅠ

In general, this opinion was the public opinion of entertainment-related communities.

And the party of this excitement then entered the filming site in a state full of distrust.

* * *

‘This guy is suspicious.’

Suddenly pointing out Park Moondae as a variety show guest without consultation?

Furthermore, while he sent texts poking at me, he didn’t say a single word about this variety show. It meant that he had no intention of giving a personal hint from the beginning.

‘It seems he’s trying to screw me over.’

But there was no way the company would say okay to throwing away a terrestrial variety show recruitment that came in exactly as a target, especially a Friday night variety show that got good ratings.

Thanks to that, I was approaching the filming location after greeting the staff.

“…”

A giant wooden building was visible before my eyes.

‘Bad memories are coming back.’

Why of all things was it wood? I suppressed a sigh and knocked on the door.

“Is anyone inside?”

Thump, thump, thump.

As I was knocking on the door quite strongly, the door soon opened slightly.

“It must be cold, please come in quickly.”
“… Thank you.”

Because of this damn setting that put in a midwinter sentiment, I almost died of heat while wearing a padded jacket even in summer.

‘Since they said the inviting side decides, this guy must have decided.’

Was he like, it didn’t matter because he was indoors from the beginning?

I swallowed the curse that rose to my throat and entered the building.

Inside… it was the appearance of a typical mountain cabin. It wasn’t at the level of a pension, but it strongly felt like a temporary facility where hikers would come and go and stay for a bit.

‘… Is it time to say the lines?’

I took off my luggage, put it in a corner, and muttered.

“I was surprised because a blizzard suddenly hit, but I was lucky there was a mountain cabin.”

“I see. I also checked the weather situation and came in quickly.”

That was right. At that time, the default setting was ‘a state just before being stranded in a snow-covered mountain cabin.’

The reason this nonsensical setting was put in was obvious.

It was the characteristic of this program.

was a program that recruited a celebrity and allowed them to spend time with a celebrity they pointed out.

However, since such healing content was quite common, they had put in a moderately novel element.

It was the extreme situation.

The setting that the two people were isolated to take care of their body’s safety in some kind of extreme situation always went in as the default.

Of course, it wasn’t done seriously, but it was a kind of skit. To the extent of going back and forth between gag and immersion.

For reference, the situation that was a huge hit during the pilot was an apartment where a zombie apocalypse broke out.

They said Youngrin pointed out an actor from Mal-dang (Mal-rang Dal-kom) and the two appeared, and it was quite interesting when I checked through a few clips.

‘The problem is that I’m the one appearing.’

That too, with an idol of 1.8 million initial sales whose thoughts were unknown.

‘Let’s not give him any fault.’

My goal was to handle him like a senior with a bad temper and finish the filming safely.

“Mountain climbing in this kind of weather is a rare thing, so it’s amazing to meet like this. Ah, do you want to drink coffee?”

Cheongryeo smiled and lifted a thermos. In his other hand, as if it were a setting that he found it in the cabin, a worn-out and rustic coffee cup was held.

“Thank you.”

I received the coffee cup that Cheongryeo held out with both hands. Americano was boiling inside.

“…”

Boiling Americano in long sleeves when it was deathly hot…

I made a show of only touching it with my mouth and put it down. Fortunately, the air conditioning was running intensely inside, so it was slowly bearable even in winter clothes.

‘It’s my turn to suggest here.’

I opened my mouth.

“I even got to drink coffee, if it’s okay, shall I treat you to dinner? I packed some preserved food quite generously.”

“Good. Um… the blizzard is still strong. It seems we’ll have to wait for a long time, so we should eat heartily.”

“Yes.”

While pretending to peek through the window glass blocked by green partitions, I wondered what on earth this was.

‘… What on earth.’

It was work done for money. I didn’t think useless thoughts.

I approached the bag I had thrown in the corner and took out preserved food.

It wasn’t that I packed it, but the production crew packed it in advance…

One brand name caught my eye.

[Easy Boneless Chicken Feet Over Rice]

“…”

I decided to take out something else. For now, chicken feet were… a brain-rot.

“Thanks to you, I ate well.”
“Not at all.”

Mealtime passed while just doing light skits about why we came to climb the mountain.

“I’ll do the organizing.”
“… No! We should do such things together.”

Who was he trying to send away by making the hoobae play?

As I was organizing the remaining plastic and containers like that, a roar was heard from outside.

‘Kwagagwang!!’

They really put in this sound. Honestly, I was surprised.

“…!!”
“Is it thunder?”

Cheongryeo frowned, then went to the front of the cabin door and tried to open the door slightly.

But the door didn’t open.

“… It seems that the sound earlier was a landslide. It seems snow has piled up outside.”

“I’ll report it to the police first.”

I held an old feature phone. And I acted as a ‘person who reported it to the police but heard that they can’t come today because the snow has piled up too much.’

“Oh boy. Then for now, let’s hold out in this mountain cabin today.”

“Yes. I look forward to your kind cooperation.”

“I also look forward to your kind cooperation.”

With this, the notified basic setting ended.

From now on, the production crew’s prior explanation was that we could freely create the situation with one or two person settings for the skit in mind.

So I made some funny shows of looking for a heater and checking the windows, and sat in the living room again.

“The heater isn’t working well. We don’t know what kind of problem will arise, so we should hold out today without sleeping.”

It was the production crew’s intention to talk nonsense all night for the broadcast picture.

‘… What should I do.’

Given the structure of this program, it seemed it was time to talk about sincere stories that ‘could be told because we were strangers.’

‘Would it be suitable for the picture if I start first by asking for advice as a subordinate?’

I pondered, and then moderately spoke up.

“Come to think of it, how did you come to climb the mountain today?”

“I wanted to organize my thoughts, but today was the only time I had, so it turned out like this. Haha. Um, actually, I’m a singer.”

“Pardon?”

Cheongryeo, as if embarrassed, cleared his throat and continued speaking.

“It’s an idol group called VTIC, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it.”

Look at that abominable setting.

I made a reaction like ‘Of course I’ve heard of it, I’m a fan,’ and brought up my story.

“I also… debuted recently.”

“Really? You were a hoobae. What a coincidence.”

“Exactly.”

It was really a situation setting where there wasn’t even a needle hole’s worth of reality.

I wondered if we were entering a serious conversation, but Cheongryeo, who was stroking his chin, suddenly brought up something out of context.

“Um… Since we happen to have the same occupation and we’re in a situation where we shouldn’t sleep… There’s a story that comes to mind.”

“Pardon?”

“Do you want to hear it?”

Was there a guy who would have said no there?

“Yes. I’ll listen intently.”

“Haha, it’s not a story to listen intently to… it’s just casual talk.”

Cheongryeo lightly tapped the wooden floor.

“Do you know the idol ghost story? I also heard it recently.”

“…… Ghost story? Idol ghost story?”

“Yes.”

… I don’t know what kind of skit greed he has, but for now, let’s accept it.

“What is the content?”

“Um, what kind of content it is…”

Cheongryeo smiled broadly.

“There was an idol, and one day he opened his eyes and returned to the past.”

“…”

“That idol is surprised, but he challenges himself diligently to become an idol who succeeds without controversy this time… But what do you know. He keeps dying in accidents and returning to the past!”

“…”

“So they say the idol trapped in the past eventually became a ghost. He wanders the recording studio, and if an idol who seems likely to succeed records, he intervenes and records together. While saying, ‘I could have done it too…'”

Cheongryeo crossed his arms.

“How is it?”