Chapter 109
Chapter 109
Ryu Cheong-woo asked back with a look of pure bewilderment.
“…Shooting arrows… while riding horses?”
“Exactly!”
“Whoa~”
“I love horses!”
“…Was we recruited because of Cheong-woo?”
At Bae Se-jin’s question, the manager shook his head.
“No. It’s a new format KBC put together, similar to that Idol Olympics show that ended recently. Most idols will probably be there.”
“Ah~”
In other words, if we didn’t show up, it would cause problems for our future music show appearances. Message received.
“Wait, but the holidays are already over. Why are they doing this now?”
“Well, I guess there were some internal scheduling issues at the station.”
“Hmm~”
Most of the members accepted the explanation, but Ryu Cheong-woo still wore a complicated expression.
“Hyung, is there a problem?”
“Huh? Oh… I’m just a little worried.”
Ah, was it because of his past injury?
Even if there was no pain, the situation itself could be uncomfortable. Variety shows that drag a bunch of people out for physical labor always carry a risk of injury.
However, this time, the manager spoke up with an awkward look on his face.
“Um… about that.”
“…?”
“Cheong-woo… you’re banned from competing.”
“……!!”
“The production team rejected you, saying it wouldn’t even be a contest. Instead, they want you to just give a demonstration.”
“Whoa.”
The members were shocked by this incredibly sensible decision. It was clear they had secretly been counting on him as their ace.
But Ryu Cheong-woo’s expression didn't brighten.
“I think it would be better if I just did it… Hyung, is there really no way out of this?”
“…Well, it’ll be tough if we want to keep appearing on KBC, right? Why?”
Ryu Cheong-woo shook his head.
“It’s too dangerous. Riding a horse is hard enough, but shooting an arrow on top of one is even more dangerous. How much training time did they secure for us?”
“……They said we’d learn on-site….”
“…….”
“…Hold on a second.”
After ushering us into the van, the manager stayed in the parking lot for a while, seemingly having a long phone call with the company.
Then, he climbed back into the car with a much brighter face.
“Ah, don't worry, guys. They said everything is well-prepared.”
“Oh….”
“It’s KBC, a public broadcaster, after all. They said they won’t make you do anything unreasonable or dangerous, so let’s give it a shot!”
Seeing him boast like that, he must have heard something reassuring. Since he wasn't giving a detailed explanation, I figured they were looking for a specific reaction.
‘Did they call in a national equestrian athlete or something?’
Surely they wouldn't do something as stupid as bringing a current national athlete in front of an idol who had to retire from the national team due to an injury, then try to package it as a "heartwarming" moment.
Having dealt with the monstrous people at Tnet, I found myself automatically bracing for the worst-case scenario.
“And they said there are plenty of other events, too. Cheong-woo, you can shine in those!”
“I see. Understood….”
Ryu Cheong-woo still looked uneasy, but he eventually conceded.
And then, on the day of filming, we witnessed something truly absurd.
*
The filming location was none other than Daegwallyeong.
What was even more amusing was that we had traveled all the way here wearing outfits we never could have imagined.
“Hwarang?”
“Yeah! The concept of this program is a competition between Silla Dynasty Hwarang!”
“Wow….”
I didn't realize they’d go as far as summoning our ancestors just to differentiate themselves from the Idol Olympics.
Thanks to that, we had to get our hair and makeup done in Seoul, put on Hwarang costumes, and be shipped off to Daegwallyeong.
—Don't lean back too hard, or you'll ruin your hair!
I thought my neck was going to snap.
And then, we arrived at the filming site.
A pink merry-go-round was spinning.
“…??”
“Over there?”
“Those are the horses you’ll be riding!”
“…!!”
The cameras busily captured the members’ stunned faces.
A moment later, the bows were distributed.
They were colorful toy bows.
The sight of us holding those bows while dressed in historical drama costumes was the height of absurdity.
“…….”
“…Aren't our ancestors going to be pissed?”
Probably.
Anyway, thanks to that, the filming proceeded safely, just as KBC had promised.
Idols dressed meticulously in Hwarang attire, riding a glittering merry-go-round and shooting toy bows at animal character dolls—it was a bizarre, triple-layered comedy.
‘Why on earth did they drag us all the way to Daegwallyeong for this?’
They could have done this at any theme park.
Watching the scene, Keun Se-jin chuckled and stretched.
“At least they didn't invite the fans here. I heard that’s a real struggle for everyone involved.”
“Yeah.”
I remembered. I’d never gone to film one because the schedules never lined up, but there were plenty of people who used to take photos of those events to sell.
“Moon-dae, Moon-dae, let’s snap some photos to upload for Loviewers.”
“Should we?”
Hmm. That was a pretty good suggestion.
“Oh~ Look at you being proactive! Actually, Moon-dae, you like the Hwarang outfit, don't you? You feel like you look pretty cool, right? Is that it?”
This was getting a bit annoying.
“I-I want to, too….”
“Are you taking pictures?”
“I want to see my hair!”
As I took a few group shots including the ones who barged in, I felt eyes on us. It was the other idol groups.
‘It’s just like the hallways of a music show.’
Since everyone was waiting out in the open together, it was an even better environment for socializing. There wasn't even a fan section to worry about.
However, these guys didn't seem particularly interested in other groups.
Even Keun Se-jin was like that. Since none of the other idols here were on the same level as TeSTAR in terms of metrics, he seemed to have completely checked out. He gave polite greetings and then didn't even look their way.
‘Should I call him a true results-obsessed guy?’
I wasn't really in a position to talk, but… this guy was truly something else.
Well, thanks to that, it was comfortable not having anyone talk to us.
After spending a peaceful waiting period like that…
“This next group is… ah, they’re famous! The National Stock! It’s the TeSTAR Hwarang!”
I wasn't sure if a public broadcaster should be using a catchphrase from another cable channel’s extreme capitalist show, but regardless, our turn was called.
Ryu Cheong-woo, who was excluded for fairness, and Bae Se-jin, who volunteered to sit out to keep the team at the five-person limit, remained on standby. They’d probably participate in the next event.
“Do well. And be careful.”
“……Yes.”
I wondered if he could really say "be careful" after seeing that merry-go-round, but the thought vanished once I was hit by Ryu Cheong-woo’s "tragic backstory" beam.
“Let’s go~”
And so, we mounted the merry-go-round.
After putting on seatbelts and hearing an explanation that the merry-go-round could be stopped if we signaled a problem, it began to spin.
—Ting-tang-tang-tara-rang, chrrr~ tang-tara-rang~
Accompanied by the cute sound of a music box, the merry-go-round began to move up and down. I felt a surge of self-loathing.
And here, one more rule was added.
“Now, TeSTAR Hwarang~ What do you have to do to shoot your bows?”
“A quiz!”
“You have to get the answer right!”
That’s right. We couldn't just shoot arrows infinitely; we could only shoot for 10 seconds if we answered a question correctly.
The structure was designed so that the group that hit five targets in the shortest amount of time would win.
“Correct! As Hwarang followers who possess both literary and martial arts skills, you must get the answer, the target, and the timing all right~”
“Actually, for timing, you don't ‘get’ it right, you ‘set’ it right….”
“Hahaha! Give us the question!!”
At Keun Se-jin’s words, the actor serving as the MC immediately raised his hand and shouted.
“Now, the first question is a person! He is one of the most famous Hwarang and a general who led Silla’s unification of the Three Kingdoms. What is the name of this general who defeated the army led by Gyebaek at the Battle of Hwangsanbeol?”
“……??”
Why did the difficulty level suddenly spike?
It wasn't that it was particularly hard, but for the previous group, they had only asked them to name the location we were currently at.
‘Are they trying to screw with us because we’re from a cable show…?’
KBC wasn't a bunch of idiots, so that probably wasn't it. It was likely just a matter of luck.
In the midst of that, the problem was that Cha Yu-jin was the first to raise his hand.
“What kind of bee is a Hwangsan-bee…?”
“Correct! General Kim Yu-sin!”
“Ah, Hwarang Park Moon-dae~ Correct!”
Fortunately, I managed to overlap my audio over his "Hwangsan-bee."
‘I’m saved.’
I let out a sigh and aimed my bow.
“Now, 10 seconds! Start!”
“Whoa, whoa??”
And as if it were a joke, the merry-go-round sped up. The horses that had been moving like turtles suddenly began to gallop like they were in a high-intensity spin class.
I’d seen it while waiting, but the production team’s desire for a laugh was truly overwhelming.
“This is way faster than I thought?!”
“Hahaha! Now~ one!”
And like a miracle, Cha Yu-jin immediately hit a doll.
“One!”
I sighed and aimed my toy bow.
And of course, I missed. Dammit.
“Ah, that was fun!”
“I like it!”
Keun Se-jin and Cha Yu-jin climbed down from the merry-go-round with beaming smiles and waved at the camera.
Surprisingly, we finished in 2 minutes and 7 seconds, setting a new record.
What was even more surprising was that Cha Yu-jin got the second question right.
—Now, the second question~ The WWW we often see in address bars stands for….
—World Wide Web!!
—…? Correct!
It was an unexpected success.
For the record, I hit a doll that time. It was all about getting the hang of it.
“Good job. You guys were great.”
“We’re good at this~”
“There were no major difficulties!”
“We’ve got some skills~”
Beside the guys who were showing off in front of a pro, Bae Se-jin asked quietly.
“…Was it fun?”
I shrugged. It was my way of saying, "Do you think it was fun?" Bae Se-jin understood without a word.
“I-I think we did well this time.”
“Right. Let’s keep this up and really go for it~”
“Oh~”
Having tried it once, everyone seemed excited and immersed. I had a bad feeling that if I was the only one doing things half-heartedly in this atmosphere, I’d get swept up in a subtle "lost his rookie mindset" controversy.
‘I need to focus on my reactions.’
As a side note, Ryu Cheong-woo, who came out next for the demonstration, burst into laughter and performed the insane feat of hitting all five targets by himself within the first 10 seconds.
I was starting to lose any sense of just how high the bar was for a Korean national archery athlete.
*
Time passed, and after going through everything from sheep shearing—which I had no idea why they included—to giant Yutnori, we reached the final event.
“Next is… the Paint Battle!”
“Oh~”
It sounded fancy, but it was just paintball survival played with bows. The team with the last person standing after shooting paint at each other would win.
This time, it was a 7-member team battle, so Ryu Cheong-woo and Bae Se-jin joined in. Since luck played a huge role in this round, Ryu Cheong-woo wasn't excluded this time.
‘It’s an even number, so that’s convenient.’
Looking at the other teams, quite a few of them were mixed.
“Is this going to be a scenario where we just stand still and win because Cheong-woo hyung shoots everyone~?”
“I’ll shoot, too!”
“…I’m counting on you.”
Perhaps lacking confidence, Bae Se-jin spoke to Ryu Cheong-woo with a rare, solemn expression.
Ryu Cheong-woo replied with an awkward, flustered look.
“Let’s just have fun, guys. We might get eliminated.”
“That’s weak!”
“I want to win!”
“F-Fight!”
With even Seon A-hyun acting like this, Ryu Cheong-woo was eventually swept up by their momentum.
“Haha, alright. Let’s win!”
“Whoo!!”
The cameras were busily filming the scene.
‘Hmm, if we actually win this, it might not look great.’
Since TeSTAR was the most successful group among the participants, it might be better to avoid winning any more events.
‘We already took second place in Yutnori.’
If we went any further, people would surely start saying we were stealing screen time from other, more desperate groups.
But if I slacked off, I’d get criticized for that, too. The best thing to do was to look insanely immersed but fail miserably.
So, I nodded as if moved by Ryu Cheong-woo’s words and pumped my fists.
‘Time to hit the dirt.’
I wouldn't provide any actual help; I’d just pretend to work hard.
If I rolled around on the ground in this outfit, they’d have no choice but to admit I tried my best.
And five minutes later, I really did end up rolling on the ground, just as I’d planned.
“Moon-dae, are you okay?!”
“…Yes.”
It was because everyone else had been eliminated, leaving only Ryu Cheong-woo and me.
The other five, who were so focused on hitting others with paint that they didn't care about getting hit themselves, had brought about this situation.
I had unintentionally ended up being the one who held out until the end.
And Ryu Cheong-woo, determined to save his last remaining teammate, was busy shouting orders for me to roll left and right whenever an arrow came my way.
Since he was rolling around himself, I couldn't even just act clumsy and get hit.
‘Wow….’
Just get eliminated already, you jerk.
But Ryu Cheong-woo was far more immersed in the game than I had expected.