Watch Your Mouth, No Matter the Hour
‘I told him to contact Song Bi-seo when he was done.’
After removing his nametag and changing clothes, Neoul picked up his smartphone and was slightly startled to find more than twenty missed calls stacked up on the screen.
Just then, the phone he had set to silent lit up with an incoming call. The moment Neoul answered, Won Hasin’s bellow came blasting through.
“Hey! Why are you answering now? Who taught you to hang up on people like that, you rude fish—Aaaagh!”
“My ears ache. Please speak more softly.”
“You! Youuu! I already sent Song Bi-seo, so don’t wander off anywhere and come straight home! Huh? Got it?!”
“I am not deaf. Please speak more softly.”
“Argh! I’m losing my mind! Honestly! Your life isn’t over yet, right? Huh? I’m trusting you here! Huh? No, more importantly, what kind of bastard even suggested that to you? Why won’t you tell me?!”
Won Hasin’s voice was so loud that even Baek Yuri, who had been edging closer, flinched and backed away again.
Neoul held the phone at a distance and replied, “I merely asked because I was curious.”
“Why would you be curious about that? Don’t be curious! Don’t go near it! Don’t even think about it! Just erase it from your head!”
Neoul shook his head. How was one supposed to ask about things one did not know?
What an intolerable human.
He was about to hit the end-call button when he suddenly thought of Ha On-ha and Yeo Do-bin, who had nowhere to go.
“Representative Won Hasin.”
“What now?!”
“On the first broadcast day, may I have some humans over at the house?”
“Huh? Your friends want to watch the first episode with you?”
Friends…? Those two?
Neoul did not think they were close enough to be called friends. He had never formed anything he would describe as a deep bond with them.
“Not friends. Just ‘humans I know.’”
And for now, they were closer to “rivals,” too. They were filming a survival program for a debut, after all.
“Wow…. ‘Humans I know’ sounds so hurtful. Then what am I, just ‘some guy you know’?”
“Indeed.”
“What do you mean, ‘indeed’?! You ungrateful fish! How many meals have I fed you, punk? Pay me back! Throw it all up!”
“Um….”
Neoul looked at the screen, his expression troubled, then drew the phone slightly away from his ear and brought it back again.
“Can you handle it?”
“Aaaagh! You crazy—!”
He could faintly hear Won Hasin hurling obscenities beyond the phone, having pulled it far away from his mouth. A moment later, he came back, panting, and snapped at Neoul in a furious voice.
“Bring those ‘humans I know’ over if you want!”
“Thank you for your permission. I am pleased that Representative Won Hasin, though he seems petty, actually has more generosity than I expected.”
“Ugh, I hate you!”
Won Hasin shuddered, then added, “Hey! For the record, you absolutely cannot bring the ones who gave you drugs, okay?! Those people are trash that can’t even be recycled! Got it?!”
Just as Neoul was about to say that no one had ever offered him drugs, the call cut out.
From the ended-call screen, he could sense Won Hasin’s desperation to hang up first, by any means possible. It was revenge for Neoul ending the previous call before him.
Whether Won Hasin took revenge or not,
Neoul cheerfully tucked the smartphone into his pocket.
Then his eyes met Baek Yuri’s, who had retreated several steps away. Baek Yuri kept his distance and, after a brief pause, asked, “Neoul.”
“Yes?”
“Baek Gi-yeom said he wanted to ask the first-round team members whether they’d like to watch the first broadcast together.”
“…? Why doesn’t he ask directly?”
“He already went around asking everyone one by one.”
“Instead of using the group chat?”
“It’s not that kind of chat. He thought that if he asked in the group, there might be people who wanted to refuse but would end up saying yes because they got swept up in the mood. So he’s asking people individually. Some may want to watch with other friends, or with their families at home.”
Was that really necessary?
Neoul thought Baek Gi-yeom was being excessively considerate, but he did not point it out. Instead, since he had something he wanted to ask Baek Yuri, it worked out nicely, and he opened his mouth.
“Teacher Baek Yuri. By any chance, what is a drug….”
“Wah!”
“I….”
“Wah! Neoul, you wanted drug toast? Haha. If you wanted toast, you should have said so sooner. They sell it nearby too, so we can buy some on the way out later. Right?”
“…….”
Baek Yuri emphasized the word “toast” loudly and quickly scanned the staff moving about nearby. Then, with a fearsome look in his eyes, he shut Neoul’s mouth for him.
In the end, Neoul removed the subject from the question.
“What is it that humans are making such a fuss about?”
“It was popular on social media once before. Want to see?”
Baek Yuri lifted his phone, typed so quickly his fingers were nearly invisible, then showed the screen to Neoul.
[It’s something you absolutely must never do. It’s illegal, but more than that, it ruins people. It can be addictive, so don’t touch it out of curiosity, either.]
Neoul looked at him as if to say that much was obvious, but why was he being barred from even speaking the word? Baek Yuri typed the next line.
[There are a lot of ears listening. Some of the staff are short-term part-timers, and even if they signed confidentiality agreements, they could still leak things they heard here. There are plenty of people who are curious about stories that don’t make it on air. Just like they’d be curious if it seemed Neoul was interested in drugs.]
Baek Yuri’s fingers kept moving over the smartphone screen without pause.
[If this goes wrong, there could even be an article with a suggestive title like “Idol Travel contestant Garl Neoul goes around asking about drugs….” Once that kind of article gets out, it’ll stick to you like a tag.]
Then cyber-rackers who lived off sensationalism would take the article and churn out videos full of false rumors and inflammatory headlines.
People who watched those videos might not bother checking the truth and would simply brand Neoul as some “idol hopeful hunting for drugs before even debuting.”
Compared to that, a headline like “Hungry Garl Neoul Wants Drug Toast” was far safer, wasn’t it? Baek Yuri was worried about Neoul, that innocent mermaid prince who knew nothing about the ways of the world.
“Of course, it may be needless worry. I may simply be being overly sensitive. But….”
Baek Yuri lowered his voice until only Neoul could barely hear him.
“If you always act while imagining the worst-case scenario, things tend to turn out at least a little better than that.”
Listening quietly, Neoul blinked slowly.
Then, as if he still could not quite understand, he asked, “Teacher Baek Yuri.”
“Yes?”
“If one always imagines the worst-case scenario… does it not wear on the heart?”
Neoul flicked his gaze toward Yeo Do-bin and Ha On-ha, who were approaching from over there, then looked back at Baek Yuri.
Baek Yuri froze, unable to answer. It felt as though he had been struck hard on the head.
Neoul spoke again.
“I understand that caution can do no harm. Yet if it were me, I think it would be deeply exhausting. If making grim imaginings into a habit, then someday the heart would burn black like India ink.”
“…….”
“There are already more than enough things in life that burn on their own. Why burn them in advance? They ought to be cherished, carefully preserved.”
When he finished speaking, Neoul lowered his eyes and smiled faintly. With shadow falling across his face, he somehow looked as though he carried a story. But then he lifted his chin again as if nothing had happened.
“Thank you for telling me. I shall contact Baek Gi-yeom myself.”
Neoul left Baek Yuri behind and started walking. He went over to Ha On-ha and Yeo Do-bin, who were farther away, and spoke with them.
Baek Yuri stood rooted to the spot, quietly turning over the words Neoul had left behind.
* * *
Yeo Do-bin abruptly warned Neoul, “Be careful around Kim Ji-rok…!”
“Hm?”
“He’s aiming for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was going to use violence! He’s a bad person!”
“I know Kim Ji-rok is bad.”
“Ah, you know…?”
“The stench of rot from his soul is strong. If he dies, he will surely be dragged off bound in a rope line.”
As Neoul said it with complete calm, Yeo Do-bin’s eyes widened.
“A rope line? What is a rope line? Who drags him away?”
“The Grim Reaper will drag him away.”
“Hahaha! Neoul, you’re surprisingly good at cursing people~?”
Ha On-ha laughed heartily and admired him.
“More importantly, the two of you should come to my house for your reaction shoot. I’ve already gotten permission from the landlord.”
Neoul invited the two of them to Won Hasin’s house.
* * *
“Oh, come on, PD-nim. Turtles don’t just decide to be your friend. Eat first.”
“Ah, uh. Hold on.”
In FLu headquarters’ editing room, PD Seok O-yeong, who had been replaying footage without pause, looked away from the monitor at the assistant director’s call.
He took the packaged food bag handed to him and set it aside, then groaned as he pressed and rubbed the stiff nape of his neck and shoulders, which had developed a hunch from hunching over all day.
“Ugh. I’m dying.”
The assistant director looked just as worn out. The two of them sat side by side, shoveling kimbap into their mouths in a hurry, but their eyes were already fixed back on the monitor again.
PD Seok O-yeong asked, “We’ve got the overall direction figured out, but for some reason it still feels like something’s missing… Doesn’t it? I think we could add a little more MSG.”
“Where exactly do you think there’s room for that?”
The assistant director nearly dropped the kimbap he was eating, incredulous.
The quality? Good. They had received overflowing investment from UJ Group and even gone all the way to Jeju Island. The theme song had come out well, and both the promotional video and the editing quality were impeccable.
The narrative? More than enough.
There was Lee Gal-chae, the child actor who had once dreamed of becoming an idol but had set that dream aside because of reality, only to finally spread his wings at last.
There was the dazzling appearance of Baek Yuri, who had suffered setbacks but refused to give up and was now aiming for a second debut.
There were the stories of global trainees who had flown in from all over the world to become Korean idols.
There was Ko Un-gu, the youngest participant, a middle schooler who held his own among the older boys and still managed to pull his weight.
And then there were the assorted civilian contestants brought in from Jeju Island.
Their stories were overflowing like a waterfall.
And the conflict? That was plentiful too.
From the very team-selection stage things had been precarious, and in the end one side had erupted into shouting while the other had dissolved into tears, hadn’t it?
The assistant director had no idea where PD Seok O-yeong thought the seasoning was lacking.
“I mean contestant Garl Neoul.”
At the sudden remark, the assistant director leaned in, urging him to continue.
“What about Garl Neoul?”
“How should I put it… after the edit, the contestant’s charm feels weaker. He’s somehow become a little flat.”
A vocal genius discovered by chance on Jeju Island.
Neoul had been shaped into a character with the aura of a hidden master. PD Seok O-yeong had focused heavily on Neoul’s distinctive tone and exceptional vocal skill.
He couldn’t dance, but there was at least some room for a growth narrative through his earnest effort, so that was under consideration too.
To be honest, at first he had expected nothing from the civilian contestants. Their role was merely to accentuate the program’s unique flavor.
But Garl Neoul’s astonishing singing ability and the way he threw himself into dance practice had made him start to feel a sliver of anticipation.
Whoa. This kid might actually debut after all.
A civilian contestant who had only been there as a comic side character suddenly standing at the center of the program as its true protagonist.
Just imagining the picture made his blood run hot.
For the sake of that grand design, PD Seok O-yeong had cut the scene where Neoul had snapped at Kim Ji-rok and Gye Tae-seok on the bus. It was an edit that was obviously favorable to Neoul.
But now that he was watching the cut version again, he felt as though something important had been lost, and the result was oddly unsatisfying. PD Seok O-yeong rolled the unedited original footage back and snapped his fingers.
“Let’s not cut it. Let’s preserve as much of it as possible. Better yet, let’s frame it as a rivalry—a sworn-enemies setup.”
The more he watched, the more Garl Neoul seemed like a gentle contestant to everyone. His words might be blunt, but by nature he seemed soft-hearted, almost easygoing. Yet strangely, he was hostile and wary only toward Kim Ji-rok and Gye Tae-seok.
Like a wild beast, using a sensitive instinct to distinguish the good from the bad.
Gye Tae-seok didn’t seem to care much whether Neoul was wary of him or not.
But Kim Ji-rok, even while pretending not to show it, had several scenes that revealed a subtle sense of competition or irritation toward Neoul. The emotions slipped into his face here and there, making it obvious, though he himself did not seem to realize it.
“Will that be okay…?”
“It’s not evil editing, so what does it matter?”
It would be their own fault for not being careful after going on broadcast.
Whether the two of them got dragged through the mud or the viewers split into camps and fought like dogs, all PD Seok O-yeong needed was good ratings.
If you stirred up conflict too often, there was always the risk that viewers would get exhausted and drift away. But the right amount of fighting only fanned the flames of interest.
“Besides, this was the whole point of bringing in civilian contestants in the first place. To show candid, unfiltered behavior.”
“Right…? That kind of thing is fresh, after all.”
“Exactly. But now they’re only showing such perfect images that it’s actually killing the freshness and charm. It almost makes the ‘civilian’ label feel like a lie, and it could make people doubt the authenticity of the program too.”
PD Seok O-yeong stretched with both arms extended, then reached for the mouse again.
His eyes were blazing.
“I think it’s best to go with the original intent after all.”
He said it nicely enough, as though he were merely following the program’s original purpose, but in the end what he meant was that he’d stop caring what happened to the contestants’ images and go all-in on ratings.
And while he was at it, he’d build a showdown with Kim Ji-rok too.
Neoul’s behavior on the bus would certainly draw some criticism… but that could be covered if they also aired his superb vocals and how hard he worked. He was a contestant with a great deal of charm.
If needed, we can always take care of his image later, after seeing the viewers’ reaction.