Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Flowers for You
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‘They’re clearly aware of it, but what can we do about that.’
I tried to step forward, pushing past Leader Hyung. But Yoo Hajin still blocked me and said,
“Ah, we’re Zenith.”
“Zenith.”
“You can’t just slap someone’s cheek and forget about it.”
Huh.
It wasn’t me who said it. Kang Minje said it with a smile.
“Dowon went to the hospital because of that.”
I didn’t go. I just fixed it with a cheat.
Jeremy narrowed his eyes. Then he pursed his lips and forced a smile.
“Ah, I remember. That game?”
“Yeah. That game. Senior.”
“Who the hell cares. You little shits.”
Wow. How childish.
‘If things have come to this, I need to make it even more childish.’
I could feel the staff glancing over. And there happened to be an audience too. I smiled brightly and held Kang Minje back.
“Hyung, don’t get mad.”
“There’s a bruise.”
“It’s nothing.”
I scanned Jeremy up and down. Then I looked at his members standing blankly behind him.
‘Not one of them is stepping in?’
I got a rough sense of the atmosphere. Jeremy really must be the one in charge.
‘But how did such an idiot end up with power?’
Whatever. It wasn’t my business. My job here was to provoke him childishly.
“Since it’s nothing, it’ll stay nothing, right? For something to become a big deal, it has to be done by someone insignificant. And it seems like you seniors are pretty insignificant.”
I wonder if they got it. I twisted it a bit to make it confusing on purpose.
Fortunately, a few faces changed.
See? I’m saying it really wasn’t a big deal. You can feel it, right?
Jeremy immediately yelled,
“Hey!”
“I’m fine, Senior. It healed clean. No scar, not even a trace.”
At that moment, a staff member shouted from behind.
“Zenith, please enter.”
Perfect timing. I grabbed Yoo Hajin’s waist and said,
“We’ll see you next time. We have a performance.”
Yoo Hajin obediently let himself be pulled along. I couldn’t hold back the laughter. Maybe feeling my body tremble from the laughter, the leader whispered softly,
“Dowon. What if you provoke them again?”
“The pro was Minje Hyung.”
Yoo Hajin glanced at Kang Minje.
“Minje, why’d you do that?”
“Ah, I was pissed. I thought he’d at least apologize.”
The fox smiled as usual. As I let go of Yoo Hajin, I said,
“If he’d apologized, VIP would be the clever ones. They’re so innocently single-celled. Doesn’t it remind you of big ol’ Hush?”
“That’s why they’re already losing.”
“Hey, still, don’t underestimate them? A top group is a top group. They’re popular in Japan.”
“They must’ve been too focused on overseas.”
It’s common to lose your base while worrying about crossing the sea.
“This is driving me crazy. What if they pull something?”
The worried Leader Hyung was pacing anxiously. This won’t do. It’s only round two.
“Hajin Hyung, let’s focus on what we can do first.”
“Huh?”
“We’re performing in a few minutes. How about we concentrate on that?”
“Ah…….”
“I’d bet ten thousand won that VIP’s provocation was meant to ruin our stage.”
Ki Jaeyoon, who’d been quietly following behind, said,
“Whoa. If Cha Dowon’s betting ten thousand won, he must be dead serious.”
Oh no. Who knew I’d earn trust with just ten thousand won.
“I don’t want to play into VIP’s hands. Am I the only one?”
I glanced back slightly, and everyone’s expressions weren’t bad.
“We can’t let that happen.”
“A stage is where you always give your all.”
“Got it.”
Ki Jaeyoon jumped up and said,
“We can’t mess up the stage! I was looking forward to meeting Yujimin Noona.”
Yujimin’s really popular. What if this Ki Jaeyoon kid causes an accident?
When I glanced at Yoo Hajin, Leader Hyung nodded as if he understood.
‘Reliable.’
I grinned. We exchanged looks and took our positions. I could hear the audience behind us murmuring.
I stood between the round tables. I could see the eyes of the actors sitting next to me. I smiled faintly.
Soon, the host’s voice rang out.
“Zenith’s celebratory performance. ‘Chunhyang.’”
The familiar intro played. I felt the camera on me. Using my sharp eyes, I checked the angle and did the arm movements.
We appeared on the screen behind. I took a flower from the small basket. And smiling, I offered it. Fortunately, it was a middle-aged actor.
‘Ah, I said only male actors and elderly teachers.’
The path was checked, but picking people was tricky. Smiling, I offered flowers during breaks in the choreography.
I didn’t forget to make eye contact occasionally.
‘It’s trickier than I thought.’
Multitasking made it easy, but I was worried about the other members.
‘Especially Ki Jaeyoon.’
It was almost the end. While dancing, I spotted a familiar profile in front.
‘Jung Jiseok…….’
Of course he’d be here. He’s won several grand prizes. When Jung Jiseok met my eyes, he smiled brightly, uncharacteristically.
‘Ugh, creepy.’
Goosebumps rose, but I smiled back. And offered him a flower politely.
The extended instrumental from the arrangement came. I locked eyes with the nearest Lee Seungjun and went up on stage. Cheers from the audience rang out again.
‘Not bad.’
Maybe because we came from the audience seats. Or because of the flowers. The actors’ expressions had softened pleasantly.
‘Worth the overreach.’
Now I had no time to worry about the audience. The moment I received the paper umbrella from the dancers, I had to perform the original Chunhyang choreography.
I danced silently. The flowing Eastern-style costume sleeve fluttered then wrapped around my leg again.
Their gazes felt good.
Ki Jaeyoon leaped high. I opened the paper umbrella and did the finishing moves.
The music ended. As I exhaled, applause rang out.
‘Wow.’
Even the film people were clapping.
Then a familiar voice came.
“Our son is so cool!”
I didn’t need to look. It was Jung Jiseok.
‘Not your son.’
What if some weird article comes out? This uncle.
‘Well, better than those wooden dolls avoiding eye contact.’
Why he wasn’t clapping while watching the stage was still a mystery. I smiled at Jung Jiseok. Then I followed the staff’s guidance out.
The host’s voice came from behind.
“That was Zenith’s stage signaling the start of Part 2.”
The tense stage was over. Looking beside me, Lee Seungjun was rolling his shoulders. Seeing that, Yoo Hajin said,
“Good job, everyone.”
“That was no joke. I didn’t know not falling would be this hard.”
“They were baffled at first when we only gave flowers to male actors, but later they laughed.”
It was definitely an overreaching stage. Good that we finished without mistakes, but I worried about the viewers’ reactions.
“Tough stage, but we nailed it.”
“I wasn’t sure it’d work, but it did.”
I let out a small breath.
“Good thing we pulled it off.”
Suddenly, the members walking ahead stopped. Then they all stared at me blankly.
“For Dowon to say that. I figured it’d go well since it’s us, of course.”
What kind of person do they think I am?
“I’m good at objective judgment.”
“Still. But Dowon.”
Yoo Hajin placed a hand on my shoulder.
“It was a bit of an overreach, but not too much.”
“We didn’t even need to see VIP’s stage to know. Those lofty film folks probably didn’t react at all.”
“In a place with people stiff as statues, we had to go big too. Good idea. The reaction was solid.”
I sighed.
“Such snobbishly lofty audience.”
“There’s no rule saying we can only perform for cheering crowds. Who knows? We might end up performing for an even stiffer audience than film people.”
“No way. Unless it’s North Korea.”
Suddenly Ki Jaeyoon laughed.
“Puhahaha! That’d be hilarious! Even Cha Dowon couldn’t smile through that in front of North Koreans? I’d love to see Cha Dowon stiffen up on stage!”
Ki Jaeyoon’s been living too easy lately. Smiling, I said,
“Oh yeah?”
“Eep!”
I called his name affectionately.
“Jaeyoon. Want to have a private 5-minute debate?”
“Eek!”
He ran and hid behind Yoo Hajin. I narrowed my eyes. Then Yoo Hajin dragged Ki Jaeyoon out from behind and brought him in front of me.
“Here, Dowon. Fresh Ki Jaeyoon. Go ahead and grill him.”
“Eeeek! Hyung!”
“Thank you.”
I placed a hand on Ki Jaeyoon’s shoulder.
“Let’s chat.”
“Eek! Wait, hold on!”
I looked down at him quietly and realized.
“But did you get shorter?”
“Pfft!”
Suddenly Yoo Hajin covered his mouth and laughed. Ki Jaeyoon straightened his back immediately. But he was still slouching comfortably, and his eye level was a bit lower.
When that didn’t work, Ki Jaeyoon stood on tiptoes. Then it burst out from behind again.
“Puhahahahaha!”
I didn’t need to look. Leader Hyung’s laugh.
“You’re too much!”
“What.”
“Why are you tall when you’re alone!”
Ah, that’s it.
I glanced at the ceiling once. Come to think of it, my knees had hurt a bit.
“Ah, it’s not that you shrank, I just grew.”
“Pfft!”
This time I knew without looking. Kang Minje.
Looking down slightly, Ki Jaeyoon’s eyes were misty. I smiled brightly. Perfect time to start the talk.
***
After running one more event, it was already night. As I washed up and headed to bed, Lee Seungjun was sitting there looking at his smartphone.
‘Everything’s great, but why is this guy on my bed?’
I sat on the empty spot and asked,
“What’s up?”
Lee Seungjun shoved the screen in my face and said,
“You should leave a comment on Jung Jiseok’s post.”
The screen showed Jung Jiseok’s SNS. The flower I gave him was photographed prominently.
“He even had it tucked in his front pocket when receiving the award.”
“Guess he liked the flower.”
“Not the flower—the fact that you gave it.”
Shuddering in disgust, I looked at what Jung Jiseok wrote.
-Given by my son.
“Not your son…….”
Didn’t this guy give up? Shaking my head, I tapped my phone. Lee Seungjun grinned and said,
“You thought today’s stage was an overreach, right?”
“Yeah. It was really tough. Too hectic.”
“The reaction’s good.”
The stage was already up on video sites. Bear shoved another video in front of me.
As Chunhyang played, Zenith handed out flowers. It looked a bit clumsy, not quite pro. But it was unexpected.
“The vibe’s good?”
Lee Seungjun nodded.
Once the flowers were distributed, the stiff expressions gradually relaxed. But that wasn’t the point. When Zenith only gave flowers to male actors and elderly teachers, the actresses clapped and laughed among themselves.
“Comments say it’s cute.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be a cute stage?”
I aimed for cool.
The mood was odd. But maybe that’s why. When we went on stage, they all watched with sparkling eyes.
“Like a talent show, but weirdly achieved the goal?”
“What was your goal?”
“To overshadow VIP’s stage. Of course, by being awesome.”
Lee Seungjun nodded. As I left a comment on Jung Jiseok’s SNS, I said,
“Japanese comments increased on all videos.”
“Just like you wanted.”
“Still not enough. Attention’s good though. But big trouble. That fake documentary Minje Hyung and Jaeyoon shot. It probably turned out weird.”
“The reaction’s good?”
I furrowed my brow.
“Already out?”
“It’s up.”
I searched right away and went in. Not sure how they edited, but it was short 5-minute episodes posted one by one.
I played the one with the most views.
“Hyung, this really won’t work.”
“Let’s do it step by step.”
“Me~~~ Gah!”
“Throat caught, huh. Jaeyoon, sip some lukewarm water and try again.”
“Hyung!”
“Jaeyoon. Think deluxe burger. Dowon said he’d make it.”
Ki Jaeyoon swallowed a sip of water and said,
“It’s not deluxe burger. It’s deluxe cheese bacon burger with three patties and cheese in between.”
The video cut with Kang Minje’s baffled expression.