I'll Do It
Hello, princesses. It is an honor to meet you. I am Alfredo, standing in for Butler Andrew to attend to you all today.
From backstage, Jeong Ui-tak listened to the greeting of Alfredo — real name Son Bong-gu — who had taken over as MC for the guerrilla concert in place of the busy variety-show main host, Andrew. Ui-tak swallowed hard.
He's not actually worried we didn't fill ten thousand seats, is he?
Sensing Ye-chan's gaze, Ui-tak whipped his head around.
"I didn't say anything."
"Your eyes look suspicious."
Sharp as ever.
Crouched beside him, Beom Se-hyuk was grinning from ear to ear.
Shim Sang-rok, just back from getting his in-ear monitors checked, asked,
"Se-hyuk, something good happen while you were out promoting? You look pretty happy."
"It's my first time performing for ten thousand people! Ten times bigger than any of the stages so far. I'm seriously buzzing right now."
At Se-hyuk's words, the air backstage shifted. The vague figure of ten thousand suddenly took on weight and settled into the trainees' chests.
"…I think I'm gonna throw up."
"Hang in there, Chae-jin. You chose this stage."
"I-kyeong hyung, you know where the bathroom is?"
"You hang in there too, Tae-rang."
Among the anxious, the thrilled, the grateful, and the overwhelmed, Ye-chan alone remained calm. Or at least, he looked calm.
Quiet backstage. That's all I need.
As always, Ye-chan quietly gathered the roiling pre-stage emotions inside himself. Everything he had was meant to be poured out only once he was under the lights.
"Kyaaaaaah!"
A roar of cheers erupted from the audience. The MC must have just announced the turnout. The trainees stirred.
Beside him, Jeong Ui-tak clenched the hood of Ye-chan's sweatshirt tight.
"We'll move up to the stage in order!"
Following the staff's directions, the trainees filed up onto the stage, still wrapped in its tented covering.
"Ye-chan, over here."
Shim Sang-rok, already standing center stage, beckoned him over.
The opening number for the guerrilla concert was, once again, the Choose My Prince 99 theme song — Choose Your Prince. The choreography that ninety-nine of them had once performed would now be danced by forty-eight.
For the princesses who have come here today, your princes sing! Choose Your Prince!
On the MC's cue, the fabric blocking their view fell away and the intro rolled out. Stage lights blazed down on the trainees. Ye-chan answered the waiting roar of the crowd with a smile.
A few trainees faltered under the sheer weight of more than ten thousand spectators, but the concert proceeded with surprising smoothness overall.
After the theme song group number came the cover stages. Ye-chan caught his breath backstage, waiting for his turn.
Jeong Ui-tak strutted over looking rather pleased with himself, a bandana — merch produced alongside the official hoodies — tied snugly around his head.
"Well? Does it look good?"
"Want the honest answer, or the nice one?"
Ui-tak didn't hesitate for even a second.
"The nice one."
"If you really want to wear it, maybe fold it into a headband instead?"
"I said the nice one!"
"Honestly, the head's not working. I'd recommend wrapping it around your wrist."
Ui-tak bristled at the reply, but Ye-chan paid him no mind and rolled up his sleeve to show off the bandana decorating his own wrist. After glaring daggers at him, Ui-tak fumbled the bandana off his head and went off in search of a mirror.
Right on cue, Ye-chan's next target came back from finishing his set. Without a word, Ye-chan held out a water bottle toward the person trying to brush past him.
"Good work out there."
Kang Hae-sol eyed the bottle thrust suddenly into his path with suspicion before taking it.
"Thanks."
"You were great again today, hyung."
As Hae-sol tried to take the bottle and leave immediately, Ye-chan fell into step beside him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Hae-sol took a long drink, looking unconvinced, then tipped his head.
"…You were good too."
"Our team hasn't even gone on yet? Aren't you being a little too casual with that…"
As Ye-chan let the sentence trail off, Hae-sol's face twitched with irritation. But instead of snapping, he chose to explain calmly.
"No — not the team stage. The opening earlier."
"Ah."
During the theme song number, Hae-sol's position had been right behind Ye-chan — a clear view of him the whole time. Realizing that Hae-sol, whom he'd assumed had been avoiding him throughout the long shoot, had actually been watching properly, left Ye-chan in a good mood.
He decided to let Hae-sol go without a fight as the older trainee quickened his pace to shake him off.
"Watch our stage later too, hyung."
Hae-sol glanced back at Ye-chan standing there waving, gave a rough nod, and walked off.
A little over a month remained until Chumaf's final broadcast. Short as that window was, he was bound to get thoroughly tangled up with Kang Hae-sol in the meantime — so for now, it was time to step back.
I never thought getting close to Hae-sol hyung would be this hard, though.
Watching Hae-sol's retreating back, Ye-chan kneaded the stiff nape of his neck. It was nearly time to take the stage again.
"Don't Bother, Team One, you're up!"
At the production staff's call, Ye-chan strode forward with energy. Unlike the previous broadcast, he delivered his rap with fluency, and the audience responded without holding back.
When Ye-chan returned backstage looking satisfied, it was Kang Hae-sol's turn to hold out a water bottle.
"I saw. You did well."
Always so diligent.
Ye-chan grinned and accepted the bottle gladly.
"Ye-chan really is something else. Best rapper out there!"
Apparently still bothered by how shocked he'd been watching Ye-chan's abysmal rap skills on the broadcast, Shim Sang-rok walked past with a thumbs-up. Ye-chan huffed a dry laugh.
That one's diligent too, I guess.
Once all the cover stages were done, the theme song number returned. This time they took the stage without choreography, interacting freely with the audience — the kind of set that felt like a concert encore. Nothing like it had happened in any previous round.
Must have taken inspiration from the cute version we sang again at the last fansign.
Knowing this final stage was a result he himself had created left him feeling rather buoyant.
It went without saying, but whether these guerrilla concerts happened at all depended on how well Chumaf was doing. Before the reset, they had been held across five cities just like now; in less successful rounds, only Seoul and Busan, or even Seoul alone. And right now, he was sharing the stage with more fans than in any round he could remember.
Ye-chan plucked one of the smartphones stretched toward the stage — one close enough to grab — and slung an arm around Woo Hwi-gyum's shoulder beside him.
"Come on, look this way and smile."
Hwi-gyum, who had been staring blankly with no idea what was happening, reflexively smiled at the phone in Ye-chan's hand. The fan who got her phone back with their selfie on it looked ready to faint on the spot.
Thank you, princesses! Please keep loving Choose My Prince 99!
As the production team had instructed in advance, once the final song ended, Beom Se-hyuk — first place at the first ranking announcement — delivered the closing remarks on everyone's behalf.
The first guerrilla concert wrapped without incident.
The next day brought a guerrilla concert in Daejeon. Assembling earlier than the day before, the trainees finished their makeup at the shop and boarded the bus once again.
Ye-chan searched for the concert recap posts he hadn't checked the night before. Videos weren't circulating openly — likely because of the notice asking fans to hold off on uploads until Episode 7 aired.
They'll be going around behind the scenes anyway. The previous performances already finished, so spoilers have spread as far as they're going to — but still, this kind of thing is a bit much… hmm?
Scrolling down a little, he found that the selfie he'd taken with Woo Hwi-gyum was generating a serious buzz.
She posted it instead of keeping it private. Grateful for that, honestly.
Most of the comments were either envying the lucky phone owner or praising Ye-chan and Hwi-gyum's faces. But once he hit the anonymous boards, the reactions got sharper.
…Right. I figured being obviously distant would actually help, so I kept him at arm's length pretty thoroughly.
Seeds sown in the past were coming back to hurt. They needed some pruning before the harvest. Ye-chan skimmed through the rest of the recaps quickly.
Ye-chan and the other trainees only realized something was wrong after they'd finished street promotions without incident and were waiting backstage for the concert to start. About twenty minutes remained until the six o'clock sharp start time.
"What are you supposed to buy when you come to Daejeon?"
"Don't even ask. It's not like…"
"He still hasn't shown up? What do you mean!"
The trainees, who had been chatting about this and that with their nerves loosened by a growing sense of familiarity, clamped their mouths shut in perfect unison at the main PD's shout.
"What? Who hasn't shown up?"
"Did someone get left behind during promo?"
The trainees whispered among themselves, watching the production staff scramble — some on phone calls, others frantically searching for something on their phones.
Then a deathly pale FD broke away from the cluster of staff and approached them. Wiping the sweat from his chin with his sleeve, the FD looked over the trainees and asked carefully,
"…Does anyone here, by any chance, want to try being the MC today?"
The murmuring backstage went silent as if doused with cold water.
The one who didn't show is the MC?!
Horror must have been written all over the trainees' faces, Ye-chan's included, because the FD hastily added,
"S-Son Bong-gu was in an accident on his way down to Daegu. You've all seen it the past couple of days — it's really not that hard. Barely any lines, honestly super easy! Anyone want to give it a shot?"
Easy, my ass.
Anyone could tell that was nonsense. The FD was right that there were barely any lines, but asking someone to suddenly solo-MC a performance in front of ten thousand people? It wasn't a mission any inexperienced trainee could pull off.
And they still have to perform mid-show. How is that supposed to work for these kids?
Unsettled by the stretching silence, Im Chae-jin rolled his eyes around and gave Gi Tae-rang a nudge in the ribs.
"Tae-rang, you were great as MC during that recreation session before. How about giving it a go this time too?"
"What? No, hyung, this is totally different! I absolutely can't! I'll pass out!"
Tae-rang jumped as if he'd just heard the most ridiculous thing in the world. The color that had briefly returned to the FD's face drained to black despair.
Ye-chan scanned the trainees all looking the other way, terrified of catching the FD's eye. It certainly wasn't something anyone would take on lightly. But it was also something someone had to do.
Ye-chan's pale hand rose cleanly above the heads of the other trainees.
That MC spot.
"I'll do it."