Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: An Invitation from America
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The members returned to the dorm, their faces glowing, having just had dinner at their family homes.
I was likely no different.
I’d eaten my fill of greasy food.
“Did you all get forced to eat this and that by your parents even though you were already full?”
At Lee Ho-jun’s question, everyone nodded in unison.
“No matter how hard I served and washed dishes at the restaurant, I’d only ever eaten rice with kimchi and bean sprouts. I’ve carried so much meat to tables, but I’d never gotten to eat any myself. But today, the meat just kept coming.”
“Just how much was there? Isn’t eating meat a good thing?”
“No. Moderation is key. Eating a lot isn’t necessarily good. The meat just kept coming. They even gave me bone broth, saying I needed to build up my strength. So I ate diligently. But it never ended. Then they brought some weird water, saying it was a tea that’s good for your throat, and then said grapefruit was good for your throat too. I forced myself to eat it. But then, they brought out herbal medicine. It was the first time I’ve ever gotten sick of eating.”
Park Ji-ham patted his chest with his hand as if the memory alone was making him feel ill again.
He didn’t look too well, either.
“Looks like we all had similar experiences. It was the same for me. They said they were just preparing a simple meal… How was that simple?”
It seemed each of them had been served a very heavy portion of their parents’ love.
“And look over there. Seriously, isn't this too much?”
Jung Eun-woo gestured with his eyes toward the large insulated bag he’d brought.
“Those are all side dishes. They gave me all of this, saying since we’re not promoting anymore, we’d be eating at home, right? I told them it was fine so many times, but they said if I wasn’t going to take it, I had to eat more before I left. I had no choice but to bring it.”
“Me too. What should we do?”
Lee Ho-jun pointed at his own backpack.
“I brought some stuff from home too.”
“Me too.”
“This is a problem. Will our fridge be okay?”
“I don’t know.”
In just a few minutes, the once-empty refrigerator was packed to the brim without a single spot to spare.
“Can we even eat all of this?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Impossible.”
It was far too much, even considering five grown men would be eating it.
“From now on, I have to tell my mom to never pack anything for me.”
I nodded vigorously at Park Ji-ham’s words.
“My mom said she sent a package too…”
Haru, who had been quiet, spoke up with a troubled look on his face.
“From Japan?”
“Yeah. She said she was really grateful to your parents for taking good care of me and wanted to send them a gift. I told her it was okay several times, but she said it would be rude not to, so I had no choice but to give her the address.”
“Looks like we have to eat at home for the time being.”
We couldn’t just throw away the side dishes our parents had painstakingly prepared.
And so, for our official three-day vacation, after two brief outings, we found ourselves diligently eating three meals a day in our dorm, under the solemn duty of finishing all the food we had received from home.
* * *
“Hey guys, looks like you had a good vacation. You’re all looking well.”
Having eaten delicious food at home and rested well, it was only natural that we looked good.
“You could say we ate a little too much of our parents’ love.”
At Park Ji-ham’s remark, the manager tilted his head as if wondering what that meant, but he didn’t press further.
“More importantly, I have some good news for you.”
Since our promotional period was already over, I had no idea what kind of good news he could have.
So, I waited quietly for his next words.
“It’s been decided that you’ll be performing overseas!”
The manager raised his voice to the point where the veins in his neck stood out clearly.
“An overseas performance?”
“Yeah. We received an invitation. From America, of all places.”
*But did RE-V go overseas this quickly, and to America at that?*
I couldn’t remember clearly, but I didn’t think it had been this soon.
*Well, going to America for a performance doesn’t mean we’re officially debuting there.*
“In America?”
“Yes! America! Ji-ham, you’re surprised too, right? At first, I thought it was a scam. And it’s not just anywhere in America. It’s a venue where really famous artists perform.”
“How would a place like that even know about us?”
“You know your music video’s behind-the-scenes footage? It started trending a little among foreign YouTubers who review K-pop, and then it really took off in the algorithm. That’s how we caught their interest.”
Unable to hide his excitement, the manager was breathing heavily.
“This is huge. It’s something that would never have happened if the internet wasn’t so developed! But what’s with your reactions? Aren’t you excited? Why are you all just standing there blankly? You should look more thrilled.”
Of course, I was thrilled.
The other members probably were, too.
But you know those times?
When you’re supposed to be angry, but someone next to you gets so angry on your behalf that you suddenly calm down.
That was exactly us right now.
We were overjoyed and excited, but the manager was making such a fuss that there was no reaction left for us to show.
“Anyway. Haru obviously has a passport, but does anyone else not have one?”
I immediately raised my hand.
“What? None of you do?”
I turned my head and saw that the other members had also raised their hands.
“We never had a reason to go abroad, so we didn't make one. Why waste money making it when we weren't going on an overseas trip?”
“That’s right. It’s not like we were going abroad for work.”
“We need to get you passports made right away. I need to book a studio. We’ll take your passport photos, touch them up a bit later, and show them to the fans. They’ll love it.”
The manager fiddled with his phone.
It looked like he was booking a studio right then and there.
“But, hyung.”
“Hm? What is it, Ho-jun?”
The manager replied, his eyes still fixed on his phone.
“Are we going to sing one song and come right back? We don’t have any other songs.”
It seemed a bit off to be invited all the way to America for a performance only to do one song and leave.
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean, we only have one song. Oh, or are we covering another artist’s song?”
“Why would you only have one song?”
The manager looked at us, surprised.
“What other songs would an idol group that just debuted with a single album have? ‘MESS’ is all we’ve got. You’re not confusing us with another group, are you?”
Lee Ho-jun stared blankly at the manager’s face, looking even more bewildered.
*Did we have other songs we didn’t know about? That doesn’t make sense.*
“No. You have your songs from RED CUBE.”
“What? Are we allowed to sing those?”
“Of course.”
The manager let out a chuckle.
“If not you, who would sing them? That was all settled when we signed the contract with RED CUBE. It’s a loss for everyone if you make such high-quality songs and no one uses them. If the performance goes well, they might even chart again.”
“That’s true.”
“You just need to prepare a base of two songs. So, all you have to do is decide which song you want to perform there.”
Suddenly, all the songs we had performed during RED CUBE became potential candidates, and our options became overwhelmingly vast.
“Which one would be good?”
“Right.”
Everyone sank into deep, serious thought.
“Think about what kind of stage you want to show people. Just keep in mind that our performance slot is around sunset.”
The manager tossed out a piece of advice.
“If we’re going all the way to America, wouldn’t ‘When the Red Moon Rises’ be better? The preparation time isn’t that long, so a choreography we’ve all done together would be easier to prepare.”
Inspired by the manager’s words, Lee Ho-jun carefully broached the idea.
“Besides, couldn’t it be a chance to introduce Korean culture in America? Since the song has a Korean feel, it would be great to have costumes with a hanbok-like aesthetic. Hanbok designs are objectively beautiful and the colors are vibrant, so they’d be perfect for stage outfits.”
“True. An outfit with the feel of a traditional overcoat and some flashy decorations would enhance the Korean feel and look spectacular during turns.”
The moment the idea of performing “When the Red Moon Rises” was brought up, everyone chimed in, and a picture of the stage began to form quickly.
“We’ve already shown fans before, so I want to show a different feel. Is there anything new we could try?”
“Hmm… What about attaching long ribbons to the sleeves to give it a traditional dance feel?”
“Oh? That’s good. We should change the choreography to focus more on the upper body, then. Adding movements that involve extending or raising and lowering our arms would look beautiful.”
*Ding.*
A mechanical sound came from somewhere.
I instinctively looked around, but I couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.
*What was that sound? Did I mishear it?*
“Yoon-seul, what’s wrong?”
“No. I thought I heard something. Ho-jun hyung, did you hear anything?”
“What sound? Did any of you hear anything?”
The members shook their heads at Lee Ho-jun’s question.
It seemed I was the only one who had heard it.
“I didn’t hear anything either. It’s probably nothing. Let’s continue the meeting.”
The manager waved his hand in the air at me, as if telling me to carry on.
“Okay.”
I thought the angle of the phone in the manager’s hand was a bit strange, but I had faith that he wouldn’t do anything to harm us, so I didn’t say anything more.
“How about we do this part like this?”
“That’s good.”
The meeting continued.
“But wouldn’t the long ribbons be inconvenient when we’re dancing to MESS? The choreography is a bit intense, so I think they’d get in the way.”
“Then what if we make the ribbons detachable?”
“That’s a good idea, but if they’re detachable, there’s a chance they could fall off during the performance. How about we just tie them into bows instead?”
“Ah, that’s a great idea. It would take some time to tie bows on both sides, though. We’d need to position dancers or extend the instrumental break. Like when Creatin was getting ready to apply glitter to their necks.”
The atmosphere was even more heated than before.
For some reason, I was getting very excited about the performance in America.
*America. RE-V is going to America.*