Chapter 39
Chapter 39
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: A Shared Meal and a New Rule
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After confirming the broadcast had ended, the account owner's fingers began to move busily.
[The Water Shimmer page is reopening. I’m adding a few more words to avoid any misunderstandings. It’s not that I stopped being a fan during the hiatus. The constant mocking comments and direct messages with death threats, among many other situations, exhausted me, and I had no choice but to stop managing the page. However, I recently went to see the RED CUBE performance and had the opportunity to talk with Yoon-seul for about 30 minutes. He said to me, ‘If you had liked another idol, you wouldn’t have had to go through all this.’ Hearing those words broke my heart, and I couldn't bear it. So, I’ve decided I have to protect him. My idol. I am reopening this page to protect him.]
↳A legend has returned.
↳Wow. This person is coming back.
↳Wow. Seo Yoon-seul’s most famous fan is back. Now that the tide is turning, they're really trying to ride the wave.
The reaction on social media was explosive.
[Park Ji-ham had vocal cord nodules? Wow. He appeared on RED CUBE with vocal cord nodules? Just because he wanted to be an idol?]
↳Wow. I can't believe it.
↳Suddenly, I see Park Ji-ham in a new light.
↳But in the preview, it looked like Park Ji-ham was singing perfectly fine.
[Hello. I am a fan of Park Ji-ham. I would like to extend my apologies to all the contestants who were on team ‘Villain’ and to their fans. I am truly sorry for everything that has happened.]
↳I was angry and frustrated, but I’ll forgive you. Since our Yoon-seul said it’s okay, what more can I say? The person directly involved has forgiven him. And the guys seem to be getting along well, so I'll stop.
↳Thank you. Like singer, like fan; you are very generous.
↳It’s good to see you reflecting! It doesn’t seem right to keep pointing out faults when someone is apologizing.
↳Thank you for apologizing.
[Seeing Park Ji-ham apologize, it seems he really was the one who yelled not to do it. If not, he wouldn't be helping polish some random person's image on RED CUBE.]
↳I was thinking the same thing. Because he even thanks the show's PD.
↳The PD always says something like, he might use sensationalized editing, but it should never be to the point of ruining someone's life. People should be able to tell that it’s just edited for dramatic effect for the show.
And so, for the first time since RED CUBE began airing, a truce was formed between fandoms.
[The other team members who aren't apologizing really pale in comparison.]
↳lol for real. Park Ji-ham opposed it and apologized, but what are the rest of them doing?
↳Their character is truly legendary.
↳I just don't want to see them. Who’s left now? Choi Young-jun and a few others?
↳Only Choi Young-jun, Choi Jeong-un, and Park Ji-ham are left from that team.
↳So once the two Chois are eliminated, the team will be wiped out. It’s coming soon.
At the same time, viewers became convinced that it was Park Ji-ham who had opposed copying the performance.
* * *
After watching the main broadcast, I received a message from Park Ji-ham.
[Thank you. Thanks to you, I fixed my vocalization and my image has improved. Thinking back, it couldn’t have been easy for you to do all that just for one performance. Honestly, you could have just gotten angry at me. Told me to get my act together. No matter how I think about it, I’m so grateful and sorry that I want to repay you somehow. Would you like to grab a meal?]
It was a long message.
Since we had gotten closer, Park Ji-ham had been saying things like this quite often.
Honestly, based on my first impression, with his sharp image and one-word replies to everything, I never would have dreamed he had this kind of personality.
It felt wrong not to reply, and if I refused, it seemed like I would have to keep hearing these burdensome thanks.
‘I’ll just let him treat me to one meal and be done with it.’
And so, we decided to set a date.
As it happened, our schedules didn't align, so we ended up agreeing to meet on the day of the next RED CUBE broadcast.
A week flew by in an instant.
For our meeting, I dressed casually and put on a hat and a mask.
“Where are you going?”
My mom asked casually as I was about to leave the house.
“Yeah. I’m going out to eat.”
“But the show is on today, isn’t it?”
My mom sounded disappointed, perhaps because we hadn't had a chance to watch the show together.
“Let’s watch it together next time.”
“Alright.”
I left the house and got on the subway.
It was a Friday night, so the train was crowded, and no one recognized me.
‘It would have been a real problem if someone recognized me here. What a relief.’
Fortunately, I arrived at our meeting spot without any trouble.
He had said he would go into the restaurant first, so I walked briskly toward the address he had sent.
“You’re here?”
Park Ji-ham greeted me from his seat.
“Yes. But isn’t this place expensive?”
I hadn’t realized just from the address, but as I opened the door and stepped inside, I saw it was a very expensive beef restaurant.
Convinced I had come to the wrong place, I was about to turn back when a staff member smiled and guided me in.
“It’s fine.”
I was not fine.
Nowhere in this restaurant was a price listed.
‘Usually, places like this are even more expensive.’
“Come on, sit down.”
At Park Ji-ham’s urging, I sat down, but I couldn’t feel at ease.
“I already ordered.”
“I’m fine with just getting tteokbokki at a snack bar, or something like gukbap.”
I wanted to open the menu right then and there to check the prices.
‘Even for two people, it feels like it’ll easily be over 100,000 won.’
“You don’t have to feel so burdened.”
I was about to say more when the door slid open and a staff member came in with a small cart of food.
“Eat a lot. I was so grateful you helped our Ji-ham. He’s never brought a friend here before.”
“Pardon?”
It wasn’t typical for a staff member to say such things, so I looked back and forth between Park Ji-ham and the staff member with a bewildered expression.
“She’s my mother.”
As soon as Park Ji-ham finished speaking, I shot up from my seat and bowed.
“Hello. Ah, I wasn’t told beforehand, so my greeting is late.”
“Not at all. I expected as much. I saw your expression when you walked into the restaurant.”
A wave of embarrassment washed over me.
“Please, sit comfortably.”
“Yes.”
I sat back down, but my body felt strangely tense.
“I’ll leave you two to it, so eat comfortably and enjoy.”
“Thank you.”
Only after Park Ji-ham’s mother left the room did the tension finally release, and my shoulders slumped.
“You were surprised, weren’t you? This is my parents’ restaurant. It felt a little awkward for me to mention it.”
“I was a little surprised, but it’s okay. More importantly, I’ll do the grilling.”
Since I was being treated to such expensive meat, I felt I should at least do the cooking. I reached for the tongs, but Park Ji-ham was faster.
“It’s fine. I’m treating you, so it would be weirder if you cooked. Just eat. I used to work part-time here whenever I didn't have anything scheduled.”
Because Park Ji-ham held onto the tongs, all I had to do was eat.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such expensive beef.
‘It really is delicious, though.’
Throughout the meal, Park Ji-ham took care of me.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“No, I’m really full.”
He kept offering me this and that, and I felt like my stomach was about to burst.
There was no more room left.
“How are you getting home?”
“I’m planning to take the subway.”
“It’ll be crowded. Will you be okay?”
“It’s better because it’s crowded. I doubt anyone will recognize me.”
I had a feeling Park Ji-ham was about to offer to take me home, so I quickly said my final goodbyes.
“I should probably head back and prepare for the next filming. I’ll get going now. Thank you for the meal.”
When we came out of the room together, Park Ji-ham’s mother also seemed a little disappointed, suggesting I stay for a cup of tea.
I told her I really wanted to but had something scheduled, promising to come again next time as I left the restaurant.
“Then I’ll see you at the filming location.”
“Alright.”
After a brief farewell, I parted ways with Park Ji-ham.
On the subway ride home, I logged into social media.
Since I hadn't been able to watch the live broadcast, I wanted to at least check the general reaction.
[What is this? Why are Park Ji-ham and Seo Yoon-seul so cute? They’re wearing headphones and shouting lololololol. It’s so frustrating, but they can’t say anything because it’s a secret mission. Why is that so cute and funny? lolololol. The other guys had great chemistry too. It was better for them since there were two of them, but the other teams had more members, so it was even more of a disaster.]
↳lol I laughed because the other teams were a total mess, but Park Ji-ham and Seo Yoon-seul had a different kind of vibe.
↳I was so surprised by how good Haru was. You can’t tell anything just by looking at his lip movements. How does a Japanese person get it right?
↳I thought the same thing. Seriously, someone needs to check his passport. I heard RED CUBE is uploading the unedited version of this on their YouTube channel.
[Today was a rollercoaster of tears and laughter. I cried watching Park Ji-ham’s interview about his vocal cord nodules. (Screenshot of Park Ji-ham’s solo interview) To put it simply, he said he felt so sorry and embarrassed that he couldn’t even speak properly, but he was so grateful because Yoon-seul acted proactively and took really good care of him after finding out about the nodules……. It’s totally understandable (Screenshot of Seo Yoon-seul checking Park Ji-ham’s condition) (Screenshot of Seo Yoon-seul giving him water to drink) (Screenshot of Seo Yoon-seul organizing the sheet music by himself). If I were him, I would have been really moved too. He said he did it for himself, but people who only think of themselves usually don’t go that far.]
↳What is with these two? I thought it would be so suffocating when they ended up on the same team, but watching them unexpectedly blend together is so moving. A person who knows how to admit their faults and a person who can forgive them met, and it’s beautiful.
↳I’m really seeing Seo Yoon-seul in a new light. He’s a genuinely good person.
↳Park Su-hyeol said some bad things, but I kind of get what he meant. You can see that the kid is truly kind.
↳Me too. Yoon-seul’s expression was literally ‘what is that guy saying right now,’ which was hilarious. But I never dreamed it would suddenly transition into the vocal cord nodule narrative. They’re really playing with my emotions.
It seemed the show had done a good job of telling my story with Park Ji-ham.
[Them playing card games in their room was funny too. I think their chemistry will be great if they’re on the same team later. They seem like they’d take good care of each other.]
↳I heard you can vote for two people starting this round! The official account posted about it.
↳Really? Then I should vote for Park Ji-ham too.
Wondering what that was about, I went to the official account.
[Surprise Announcement!
Starting from this round of voting, you can now vote for two contestants. The voting method remains the same. Please cast your vote online through the official website, or text the name of the contestant you support to #1101 during the broadcast.]
↳What is this? A surprise announcement for sure.
↳Wow. If it’s two people, the rankings could totally flip.
↳The top-ranked contestants will be nervous, while the lower-ranked ones will see it as an opportunity.
↳The push for votes is going to get even more intense, isn't it? Social media is going to be flooded with people trading votes and showing proof.
↳Wow. The next ranking is going to be insane.
Just as people were saying, I got the feeling that this round's voting results would be quite different from before.