Chapter 137
Chapter 137
VTIC had stolen my penalty screen time.
“Alright, you two! Please step up onto the stage!”
“Aw, so close!”
“This feels a bit unfair~!”
Instead of knocking me out, one VTIC member had intentionally stepped on the line to volunteer for the penalty, while another took a water balloon to the face with a completely unremarkable reaction.
If these guys weren't selling 1.8 million copies in their first week, that bland performance would have been cut in three seconds. Just as Keun Se-jin said, they didn't seem to have much passion for variety shows.
‘...Which means they didn't fail on purpose just to grab screen time.’
Did that mean that proud look from earlier really came from a genuine desire to ‘look out for a rookie idol’?
‘It’s more persuasive to think they actually messed up and acted that way out of embarrassment.’
My eyes met Keun Se-jin’s. He gave a picture-perfect smile and subtly pointed a finger at himself.
It was annoying, but there was nothing we could do. It seemed he was signaling that he’d try to actively aim for the next penalty himself.
“Now, for the next team match... Finding Ssanghwa-tea!”
However, this bizarre and ridiculous situation continued into the next round.
“The team of the person who picks the Ssanghwa-tea without an egg yolk first loses! Now, let’s pick while dancing to the music!”
In short, it was a vague 90s-vibe game that combined musical chairs with a game of chance.
‘This is pure luck.’
I decided to pass on this one and picked a cup without even thinking. It would be funnier if I got caught like this anyway.
Of course, statistically, the odds of the damn yolk being in there were much higher.
“Ah, Moon-dae—safe!”
And that’s exactly what happened. The Ssanghwa-tea I picked had a yolk in it.
Immediately, the VTIC guys started clapping and hyping it up.
“Ooh! Amazing!!”
“Wow, how did he get it right away like that?”
“…….”
What is wrong with you bastards?
I managed to brush it off with a vague response, but this wasn't even overtly funny; it was bound to come across as nothing but awkward, forced wholesomeness.
Eventually, the MC, unable to watch any longer, tried to turn it into a joke.
“Wait, you two have been giving Moon-dae such great reactions since earlier. What’s going on?”
“Ah, hyung-nim, you don’t get it! Successful people stick together!”
“Is that how it is?”
The VTIC guys waved their hands dismissively.
“No, no! It’s just, he’s a talented kid!”
“We were just amazed he picked the right one without even hesitating.”
They should have just leaned into the joke, but their lukewarm denial made the scene awkward again. They really were bad at variety shows.
But why were they trolling me because of it?
‘Are they trying to screw with me?’
I observed them just in case, but I didn't sense any intent to provoke me.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
The penalty for this round went to a member of Malang Dalkom.
“Look closely! ……It’s not a yolk, is it? It’s a canned peach?!”
“Aaaagh!”
The penalty was gosam-tea. Young-rin, who performed the penalty alongside her doppelganger, downed it in one shot without even a change in expression, drawing a reaction even from the staff.
‘I’m jealous.’
I wished I could have at least drunk the gosam-tea and spat it out or something.
At this rate, I’d end up as nothing more than a reaction prop and a sidekick for VTIC’s screen time without ever getting a single penalty.
‘Should I just try to stand out more?’
Just as I was debating whether to change my strategy, filming paused briefly.
“Cut! Let’s take a break and reset!”
“We’ll check the mics for a moment.”
“Yes!”
It was a short maintenance break.
“Restroom.”
“Got it.”
Keun Se-jin followed the MC and slipped away, while I intentionally lingered, sipping a drink and waiting for the right timing.
That’s when the other side moved first.
“Hello, junior~”
“We came in so fast earlier that we couldn't even greet you properly, right?”
The VTIC guys approached me with beaming smiles.
Even though I’d never even introduced myself to these guys, social life dictated that I couldn't just give them a cold shoulder.
“...Yes. It’s been a while, seniors.”
“Ah~ ‘Senior’ feels so awkward. Just call us hyung, hyung!”
“Exactly. Don’t call us like we’re so old.”
Before I could even process the fact that eighth-year idols were being so shameless, a different feeling hit me first.
‘Huh?’
These guys... why are they so awkward?
‘I bet they have cold sweat running down their backs.’
They seemed to be trying to talk to me in a boisterous, friendly manner, but their limits were showing.
They didn't have the vibe of people who were used to commanding a room—people like Keun Se-jin or Ryu Cheong-woo.
It felt like they weren't used to playing the role of the sociable older brother.
‘What is this?’
For now, I gave a proper response.
“It’s not a matter of age, but since you are such great seniors, it’s hard for me to be so informal...”
“What do you mean, ‘great seniors’? Ack!”
“I told you, just be comfortable!”
“…….”
Wow, these guys are really trying.
This was even more bewildering than when they stole my penalty earlier.
I was at a loss for words. Taking my silence as a sort of tacit agreement, the two of them snickered and exchanged glances.
Then, one of them cleared his throat and spoke.
“Ahem, variety shows are pretty hard, aren't they?”
“Pardon? Yes... they are.”
If it weren't for you two, the difficulty level would have dropped by two stages.
But the two of them looked proud of themselves.
“Yeah, don’t push yourself too hard while filming... If it gets tough, send an SOS. We’ll help you.”
“...??”
“Ah, don’t feel pressured! Just pay it forward when you get juniors of your own later. Don’t worry about us.”
And then these two exchanged looks that said, ‘Oh~ that was a good line, wasn't it?’
Unbelievable.
“…….”
Suppressing a headache, I asked them directly.
“……Then, earlier, when you stepped on the line.”
“Ahaha! No~ was it that obvious?”
“No, I think this junior just has good intuition.”
“Right? Anyway, don't... don't worry about it too much. It just kind of happened~”
...Now I knew for sure.
‘These guys did it out of pure goodwill.’
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and this was exactly that.
Furthermore, the idea they’d come up with to "help" was incredibly one-dimensional.
Even considering their lack of variety show experience, they didn't seem like the type who knew how to use their heads.
‘They look like the type to lose everything to a bad loan or a business scam within five years.’
No matter how smoothly VTIC had grown, they were surprisingly naive for people who had survived eight years in the hellfire of K-pop society.
‘...Could they be the ones Cheong-ryeo swapped in?’
I could see how he might end up with people like this if he was looking for guys who wouldn't cause trouble and were easy to handle.
Anyway, since they didn't seem to have any complex ulterior motives, I just needed to brush them off appropriately.
“Thank you so much. But I’d like to try doing as much as I can on my own. You don’t have to look out for me like you did earlier.”
“Huh?”
Slightly flustered, they hesitated for a moment before speaking again with sheepish faces.
“Umm, actually, well, we heard a bit about you from Cheong-ryeo hyung.”
“……??”
What was this now?
‘He didn't say anything unnecessary, did he?’
Just as a chill was about to run down my spine, the guy in front of me grinned.
“No, he just said Moon-dae is a really hard-working and good junior, so we should treat you well, or something like that!”
“...!!”
“Exactly! And that hyung is really not the type of person to say things like that.”
“Yeah. He barely has any close friends... It was surprising to see him get close to a junior.”
We are not close.
“He might seem a bit cold... but Jae-hyun—no, Cheong-ryeo hyung is actually a much better person than you’d think.”
“Right. Did you know he donates half of his earnings to an abandoned dog shelter?”
“Heol, he donated half?”
“Yeah, I was horrified when I saw him using his banking app.”
“He lives like some kind of mountain hermit, but he really does love animals.”
As they spoke, they got sucked into their own conversation. When they snapped out of it, they backed away awkwardly.
“Wait, how did the conversation end up here? Anyway, it’s fate that we met, so if anything’s tough during filming today, just let us know~ that’s what we’re saying.”
“Is there anything bothering you right now?”
“…….”
I felt lightheaded from hearing so much nonsense all at once.
I punched my inner self.
‘Who gives a damn. Get it together.’
Whether Cheong-ryeo was the guardian of abandoned dogs or not was his own business.
The important thing was my goal. The current filming.
I chose my words carefully and spoke.
“Actually...”
After I briefly explained the situation I was in and indirectly let them know that I was actually aiming for the penalties, the two of them were shocked.
“Gasp! Is that so??”
“Hey, I’m sorry!”
“Should we start pushing the penalties on you now?”
“Want us to make it all penalties for you?”
“……That’s alright.”
Instead, I made a simple request, and the VTIC members readily agreed.
“Hey, Moon-dae~”
Right after that, Keun Se-jin returned from the restroom.
“Did you guys have a good talk?”
“More or less. You?”
“Hey, I just went to the restroom, what kind of ‘good talk’ could there be~?”
Seeing him smirking as he answered, it was clear he’d accomplished something, but he was playing coy for now.
Sure enough, the spoils of his labor soon emerged.
“It’s just... our paths happened to cross, so I talked a bit with MC Choi Ho-soo. We even exchanged numbers.”
As expected.
“The conversation must have been productive.”
“Well, shall we say we discussed our direction for variety shows?”
Keun Se-jin grinned.
“I told him the two of us would absolutely never take a penalty.”
“……!”
“So he’ll probably try his best to give us penalties just to get a reaction out of us.”
Brilliant.
*
The latter half of the filming ended well with the cooperation of several cast members.
‘I think it turned out better than planned.’
Now it was a matter of editing, but honestly, I wasn't too worried.
Even if I were the PD, I wouldn't cut this footage.
“Great job, everyone~!”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Ah, today was really great!”
Anyway, after bowing repeatedly just as I had when I arrived, I finally left the filming set.
And inside the car heading to the next schedule.
In the quiet and peaceful atmosphere following the successful filming, an unwelcome message suddenly arrived.
[VTIC Cheong-ryeo Sunbae: I heard you met the kids at the shoot today.]
[VTIC Cheong-ryeo Sunbae: How was it? I’m sure they were helpful. ^^]
“……Sigh.”
I had a feeling it would be like this when I met those VTIC guys.
It was ridiculous, but looking at it this way, the content of the text itself was more or less normal.
‘The problem is that he’s a lunatic when you actually meet him.’
After rubbing my eyes a few times, I sent a reply.
[Yes. The seniors were very helpful. Thank you.]
And surprisingly, a reply came back after quite some time had passed.
[VTIC Cheong-ryeo Sunbae: I’m glad they were helpful. By any chance, don’t you want to try promoting again with better teammates?]
‘Fuck.’
Why does everything always lead back to dying and starting over with him?
The nonsense from the VTIC guys echoed in my mind.
—Jae-hyun—no, Cheong-ryeo hyung is actually a much better person than you’d think... better person... better person...
Like hell he is.
That’s the kind of talk that gets people killed.
However, it didn't seem like the VTIC guys were lying. Which meant the example they gave was... likely true.
‘...I’ll try this just once.’
With superhuman patience, I attempted a reply, assuming for a moment that the other person was sane.
[I do not. And just hearing things like that is extremely stressful. I’m already at my limit just thinking about the missions.]
[It’s very difficult for me, so I would appreciate it if you stopped.]
And for a long time, no reply came.
‘...Did I step on a landmine?’
But even if a countdown to being buried alive on a remote mountain had begun, I wouldn't die alone.
‘I’d have to make sure this bastard suffers a social death too.’
Leaning against my neck pillow, I began to refine the plan I’d thought of before.
It was a repetitive task, almost like a way to calm my mind.
“Hmm.”
Then, suddenly, a reply came back.
[VTIC Cheong-ryeo Sunbae: I understand.]
“……!”
A few dozen seconds passed.
Only then did the next text arrive.
[VTIC Cheong-ryeo Sunbae: I’m sorry.]
“…….”
The messages ended there.
“...Sigh.”
I turned off my smartphone and closed my eyes again.
People really were unpredictable creatures.
*
While Park Moon-dae was lost in thought in the car, articles were starting to pop up on the internet.
[Choi Ho-soo’s <Saturday Party>, A Premium Lineup is Coming... From VTIC to TeSTAR]
[TeSTAR’s Variety Outing? <Saturday Party> Filming, “Please look forward to it!”]
And not long after, it was revealed which TeSTAR members would be appearing.
-
There was also someone who breathed a sigh of relief after checking all these reactions.
‘There’s almost no hate for Moon-dae!’
The graduate student exited the page she was looking at with a sense of relief. She was a fan of Park Moon-dae who had started searching the internet after being overwhelmed by the wave of English comments on WeTube.
Her heart fluttered because the atmosphere of people viewing Moon-dae favorably lately was so clear.
Her friend, who was a fansite master, seemed quite anxious, but she couldn't quite understand why.
‘Isn't it good if everyone realizes how kind and cute Moon-dae is?’
Compared to the days when she worried Moon-dae would see malicious comments, this was like a dream.
‘I’m so excited for the variety show!’
The graduate student kicked her feet on the bed with a smile, and unable to contain her surging fan heart, she logged onto WeTube.
Then, she clicked on a thumbnail that was still on the trending videos list.
‘I’ll watch it just one more time before I sleep.’
It was the music video for TeSTAR’s latest title track.