Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: The Surprise MT
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“Hey. What’s this camera for?”
Jung Eun-woo asked, pointing at the camera.
“I told you, you guys said you'd go on the MT.”
“The MT? Oh, you mean from that group message? We did say we’d participate. I was actually meaning to ask when that was.”
“That's what we're leaving for right now. And that's why the cameras are set up.”
“What?”
His voice rose in sheer disbelief.
‘A sudden MT? No way. Who in the world goes on an MT without any prior notice?’
It was absurd.
“We don’t have anything with us right now.”
All we had on us were our phones.
If we at least had our wallets, we could have bought some necessities from a dollar store, but none of us had any cash.
“Don’t worry. They said it’s fine to come empty-handed. No, wait, maybe they made it so sudden *because* you had to come empty-handed?”
“Huh?”
“I heard they've prepared everything, including a change of clothes. They've got team outfits and pajamas ready. They just told me my only job was to get you to the destination safely.”
“What about toothbrushes? We don’t have those either. Are we not supposed to brush our teeth?”
“They said those are at the lodging too.”
“Underwear?”
“They said they have that too.”
It seemed the company had prepared everything meticulously.
There wasn't a single loophole to escape through.
‘But isn't providing underwear a bit much?’
“Okay, fine. I get it, we're going. We'll go. But can we just stop by our dorm first? Huh?”
“Sorry. I'm just doing what I'm told. You guys know that, right? What power do I have?”
The manager let the corners of his eyes droop, as if trying to look pitiful.
“Sorry, but that's not going to work on us.”
Park Ji-ham stared at the manager with a deadpan expression.
“Ahem.”
Embarrassed, the manager cleared his throat and his expression returned to normal.
“They said everything's there, so let's just go. Besides, it's only for one night and two days. You know you're being filmed right now, right?”
It was a playful threat.
We had no choice but to get in the car.
“Isn't this basically kidnapping?”
“That's what I’m saying.”
“No wonder they told us to have dance practice first thing in the morning.”
Our dance practice was originally scheduled for 3 PM.
But it was moved to the morning because the choreographer supposedly had something urgent come up.
Until then, none of us had suspected a thing.
That we would be dragged off to an MT so suddenly.
“Guys. Since we're going anyway, let's try to have fun.”
The manager tried to lighten the mood.
“Should we listen to some music?”
Upbeat music started playing.
Normally, we would have at least hummed along, but today we weren't in the mood.
We had already used up a lot of energy during dance practice, and we were still dumbfounded.
And so, the car drove down the road in silence.
“Guys. Please, say something!”
The manager's desperate voice cried out.
He shuddered, as if he couldn't stand the awkward silence.
“We're not doing this because we're angry.”
Park Ji-ham, who had been sitting with his arms crossed and eyes gently closed, slowly opened them and spoke.
His words and actions didn't seem to quite match.
‘I think the manager is reacting like that because of the way Ji-ham is acting.’
Park Ji-ham had sharp eyes, which was why fans often called him a cat.
Perhaps because of that, he didn't seem so cold when he smiled, but it was a different story when his expression was blank.
‘Still, it doesn't seem like he's actually angry.’
I had once witnessed Park Ji-ham's angry face firsthand during the filming of RED CUBE.
It was when Park Ji-ham's teammates tried to copy my team's outfits and concept.
‘When Ji-ham gets angry, it's much worse than this.’
His expression had been so cold that I was just glad his anger wasn't directed at me.
Right now, Park Ji-ham was just gathering his thoughts.
“Then?”
“We're just surprised. And like you said, it's not your fault. You're just doing as you're told.”
“Ji-ham... Thanks for understanding.”
“In that case, could you turn off the music for now? For today, I'd just like to ride in silence.”
“Okay.”
The manager quickly turned off the music.
‘And he said he was worried because we're too soft-hearted.’
Seeing him just now, it seemed the manager was even more soft-hearted than us.
* * *
After about a two-hour drive, we finally arrived at our destination.
“Hello.”
Creatin, who had arrived before us, greeted us.
“What is this place?”
“They said we're having a rural retreat.”
Three small, cabin-like buildings stood clustered together.
“So, who else is coming?”
“Ines and Cloud Nine couldn't make it. They have other schedules today.”
Ines and Cloud Nine were girl groups from JR Entertainment.
They were in their fifth and third years, respectively, and were incredibly popular overseas.
‘I think I saw an article saying they're on an overseas tour right now.’
In other words, the participants in today's MT were Leon, Creatin, and RE-V.
Just as I finished that thought, another car pulled in.
Leon immediately got out of the car.
“Hello.”
“Ah, hey.”
Leon greeted them with an awkward expression.
“Looks like everyone's here now.”
A company staff member, who seemed to be the host, stepped forward with a megaphone.
“Ah, ah. Mic test.”
The megaphone was powerful.
“Can everyone hear me?”
“Yes.”
“I believe you were all briefed on the way here.”
In short, he was going to skip the lengthy explanation.
“Today is an MT for the male artists of JR Entertainment to build camaraderie.”
“Woooooah.”
A mechanical reaction burst out.
‘Are we going to play games or something?’
“Today's concept is 'healing'.”
The location itself was well-suited for healing.
“You who have worked so hard! Rest well today. Of course, we have prepared a small game.”
The moment I heard that, only one thought came to mind.
‘I knew it.’
Even though it was the company's own content, they had to show what the fans wanted to see and guarantee a certain level of entertainment.
‘To be honest, our fans would probably say it's fun just seeing our faces no matter what we do, but this time might be a little different. It's not just their favorite idols appearing, but other idols too.’
The one saving grace was that the three fandoms weren't hostile toward each other.
There had been some conflict a while back, but not anymore.
“First, please go to your respective lodgings, change into your team outfits, and come back.”
“Okay.”
“From the far left, it's Leon's, Creatin's, and RE-V's lodging.”
I entered what was designated as our lodging with the members.
“Whoa.”
The interior had a very cozy atmosphere.
“What? There are five rooms?”
It looked small from the outside, but it was a two-story building with two rooms on the first floor and three on the second.
There was even a fireplace in the first-floor living room.
It reminded me of a mountain cabin from an American movie.
“This place is nice.”
Everyone was so captivated by the interior that they'd long forgotten about the team outfits.
Myself included.
“There's a bathroom on each floor, too. Oh? There are clothes in this room.”
Jung Eun-woo, who had been exploring a room on the second floor, came out holding a red zip-up hoodie.
“What's that?”
“I don't know. I guess there's a set of clothes in each room? Huh? Ho-jun's name is on this. It's embroidered, 'Lee Ho-jun.' I think this is your room.”
“Really? I'm coming up.”
Lee Ho-jun, who was on the first floor, went up the stairs.
“I'll change first and come out.”
“Okay.”
I was on the second floor, so I checked the rooms there first.
There was nothing in the room besides a bed and a nightstand.
It seemed my room wasn't on the second floor, so I went downstairs.
“Haru! This is your room!”
“Oh, thanks.”
I found my name on the room right next to the entrance.
The room wasn't very large, but it was big enough to sleep in for one night without any issues.
And since I hadn't brought any luggage to begin with, there was no chance of it getting crowded.
I picked up the clothes that were neatly placed on the bed.
It was a complete set: a white T-shirt, a red zip-up hoodie, and black sweatpants.
‘These would be great to wear as pajamas at the dorm later.’
The clothes I wore on Twisty Puzzle had also become my practice wear.
‘It feels like I unintentionally collect a new set of clothes every time we do one of these shoots.’
After changing, I opened the nightstand drawer.
Inside were new underwear and toiletries.
‘They really did prepare everything.’
I closed the drawer and went out to the common area.
“By the way, you think our color is red because of RED CUBE?”
That was a pretty sharp deduction.
Our light stick color was also red for that reason.
“Somehow, I think Eun-woo is right.”
“Me too.”
“Let's go out now.”
I went outside with the members.
Creatin wasn't out yet, but Leon was already waiting.
He was wearing a flashy, neon-colored zip-up hoodie.
If we all stood together, the combination of colors would probably hurt your eyes.
‘Don't tell me his color is neon because his name is Leon?’
I only thought of it as a possibility, but somehow, it felt like I was right.
“We're the last ones.”
“We're sorry.”
Creatin apologized as they hurried over to where we were.
They were in blue zip-up hoodies.
‘So colorful.’
“Everyone's gathered. Now, I will announce the rules for this MT. During this MT, the use of formal titles and honorifics is forbidden.”
Banning even the most basic honorifics was basically a rule directed at us and Creatin.
“What does MT stand for?”
“Membership Training.”
Leon answered bluntly.
“Correct. And why do we do Membership Training? So everyone can get closer. Therefore, from now on, everyone will address older members as you would an older brother, or simply by name.”
Creatin looked utterly devastated, as if they'd been struck by lightning.
“We'll start right now.”