Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: The Supreme Looks Shoot
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“Whoa!”
After Answer’s performance ended, everyone in the practice room gave them a standing ovation, cheering wildly.
“Ahahaha!”
Seul-bi, one of the stars of the show, laughed joyfully and waved, while Ro-si, though looking shy, joined in the response.
The judges’ positive reviews and the live audience’s reaction made everyone in the practice room feel as overwhelmed with emotion as if they were Answer themselves.
-We now have only the first and second place announcements left. The anticipation is killing me. In last week’s competition, there was only a three-point difference out of two hundred, so the group that wins this second round has a very high chance of becoming the overall winner of the first round. It’s been as fierce as it has been fun.
The trainees, sensing that Answer was about to be crowned the winner of the first round, began to look antsy.
-Alright. The results are finally in. I won’t drag it out; I’ll announce it right away. First place goes to…! Tooooo…!
Some stood up to get a better view without blocking others, while some were so nervous their legs were shaking.
My cute and admirable trainees, I’ll make sure you all succeed.
-First place goes to… did I mention they’re the exclusive cover models for Elegan?
“Booo!”
“Damn it!”
“He’s doing it again!”
The practice room filled with jeers at the MC’s teasing, while the members of Answer and I, who had been expecting this, snickered.
I couldn’t resist checking the live comments.
-Ugh, that guy’s at it again!
-Stop dragging it out already.
-Wow… my blood pressure is rising.
-Look at the MC’s face! Isn’t that the face of someone enjoying this?
-Exactly! He’s toying with the viewers right now!
-Let’s flood the message boards and complain so they stop this. He needs to know when to stop.
-If he says, “We’ll be back after a commercial,” I’m gonna lose it!
The MC looked at the card again, then turned to the camera and opened his mouth.
-…We’ll be right back after a word from our sponsors.
“You son of a b—!”
“Oh, come on!”
“Argh! I wanna break something!”
With the director present, no one dared to actually throw anything, but the room was in an uproar. Answer and I burst out laughing at the exact reaction we’d hoped for.
-You f—!
-Commercials my ass!
-Wow, he’s so freaking annoying.
-He shouldn’t have pretended he wasn’t going to drag it out.
For the sixty seconds the commercial was on, the practice room and the live chat were in a state of utter pandemonium.
“Hee hee. That was a bit much.”
“Yeah. He must have dragged it on for a full minute before cutting to the commercial.”
Seul-bi and Ro-si chatted with mischievous looks on their faces.
-Everyone! Did you enjoy the commercials? Now, I really won’t drag it out. The winning group of this Best Idol special is…
Thump, thump. The entire audience held its breath.
-Following their win in the vocal round! The conquerors of the dance round, Answer!
-Waaaah!
“Waaaaah!”
The chairs the trainees had been sitting on clattered to the floor as they jumped up. They formed a circle around the Answer members, linking their shoulders like they were doing a folk dance.
“Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh.”
The trainees, regardless of gender, jumped in place, cheering like they were at a soccer match.
The atmosphere was as if our country had just won the World Cup.
“Ahh! Congratulations!”
Lee Yoo-ah, who had just entered the practice room, congratulated them dramatically. It was an uncharacteristically boisterous display, which showed just how excited she was.
On the screen, a heartwarming clip of Answer ascending to the top of the pyramid was shown, intercut with scenes from their Elegan photoshoot.
With a satisfied heart, I opened Answer’s YouTube channel.
Their subscriber count had already surpassed 150,000.
I opened the community tab, where visitors could leave short messages.
-Why doesn’t Answer have an official fan club?
-They’ve completely given up on promotion.
-Isn’t now the perfect opportunity?
-I want to see an N Live. I’m curious about Answer’s daily life.
-I thought this group was just top-tier visually, but their skills are amazing too. If they pick a good title track for their next album, they could blow up.
-In other groups, the main vocal is usually not that attractive, but this group’s main vocal is insane. Her face and body are flawless.
-To the person above, maybe leave out the comments about her body? Seol-ah-nim might feel uncomfortable.
-But it’s true that she’s pretty, isn’t it? lol. It’s a cruel world where you can’t call a pretty person pretty.
-Yeah, well, your face is crueler.
-She’s not just good at singing. Look at her dance. Wow. She’s got skills that could win a dance competition on America’s Got Talent. Seriously insane.
-I agree. Professional choreographers should be nervous.
The number of positive comments about Answer was exploding. As planned, I uploaded a new video.
-Answer Official Fan Cafe OPEN D-7, N Live D-10
***
11:30 PM.
Choi Yoo-jun and I were in the car with Answer, heading to a commercial shoot.
“Hyung, you should get some rest. Do you really have to go at this hour?”
“Because I don’t trust you.”
“What? Me? How so? I can even fight a little!”
Choi Yoo-jun took my joke seriously and replied with excitement.
Like a hot-headed puppy.
“See? Isn’t that why he doesn’t trust you?”
“Yep.”
“Argh! My dear artists, have I not served you well enough all this time!”
Seul-bi and Yi-na chimed in, and Choi Yoo-jun spoke as if he’d been wronged.
Seol-ah, who had been chuckling, looked out the window with a tilt of her head.
“…Isn’t this a university? Are we filming at a university?”
“There’s a studio on campus.”
The large studio, located in Seoul’s Seongbuk district, was situated within a university campus.
“How interesting.”
Seol-ah’s eyes followed the lit streetlights with a curious expression.
“Haaam. I think I’m already getting sleepy. What to do.”
Yi-na said, wiping away a small tear.
“I’ve already asked them to prepare some simple drinks and snacks inside.”
“Ooh! Our Oppa is the best!”
“The shoot is scheduled to last until 6 AM, and we have a few hours of travel after that, so you can sleep then.”
“Okay.”
Following the brightly lit road, we arrived at the designated location.
A moving truck and several other cars were parked in front of the studio.
We could see racks full of school uniforms being wheeled into the studio with a rattling sound.
“Oh! School uniforms!”
Ro-si’s eyes widened in delight.
“It’s a common style. What’s so exciting about it?”
“I never got to attend school in Korea. I’ve always wanted to try on a Korean school uniform!”
Ro-si replied to Seul-bi’s question, unable to hide her anticipation.
“Huh? You don’t wear uniforms in Australia, Unni?”
“Umm… we do, but…”
“It’s cold. Let’s talk inside.”
At Seol-ah’s words, everyone headed into the studio.
While Seol-ah and Seul-bi were the first to get their makeup done, Ro-si was busy scrolling through her phone.
“Here it is!”
“…Ew.”
At Yi-na’s reaction, Ro-si gave a bitter smile.
“Green hat, green blazer, green tie, green bag, green skirt…”
“We used to call ourselves Christmas trees.”
“Ew, ew, ew. That’s too much. What is this?”
“In Australia, a school uniform is literally just clothes you wear at school. There’s zero artistry or style, only practicality.”
With a wry smile, Ro-si held out her phone for me and Choi Yoo-jun to see.
“Pfft! That’s harsh!”
“Aside from the fact that the model is Ro-si, it really is cringe-worthy.”
“Right?! My friends who liked K-Pop especially wanted to wear Korean school uniforms. They said they were pretty.”
Seeing Ro-si in a head-to-toe drab green outfit, I truly understood how she felt.
To exaggerate a little, it looked like a design from a hundred years ago.
Perhaps because the school uniform shoot required a natural look, makeup took less than thirty minutes per person.
“Ahh… as expected, our Answer members look best with a pure, natural makeup look.”
Choi Yoo-jun crossed his arms and looked at the Answer members with a pleased expression.
“Next, please.”
“…Huh? Hyung, why?”
At the makeup artist’s call, I gently pushed Choi Yoo-jun’s back and went forward.
“Sit.”
As I sat down first, a bewildered Choi Yoo-jun followed suit.
“You both have very fair skin tones.”
The makeup artist seemed to be choosing a base that matched our skin tones.
“Why are we here?”
“Because we’re the ‘and’ models.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we signed a contract to be in it too.”
“What? Why are you telling me this now…”
“Because I knew you’d make a huge fuss. It’s a surprise. I got us both the same deal. Five million won.”
“Whoa!”
Choi Yoo-jun was surprised but also incredibly happy.
“Since it’s a company contract, the money won’t be deposited directly into your account. It’ll come through after a certain percentage is deducted.”
“Heh! Thanks to you, Hyung, I’m actually shooting a commercial!”
In truth, it wasn’t intentional. A recommendation from the youngest writer at the radio station had been the catalyst, and our appearance was decided on the spot by the advertiser during the meeting.
Choi Yoo-jun’s eyes grew moist.
Why was he so happy about this?
I chuckled at his emotional reaction.
My gaze naturally shifted to Ro-si.
She looked so excited as she tried on the uniform.
“Answer members in the center, and the men on either end… perfect.”
With no audio being recorded, it was hard to tell if we were shooting photos or a video, but we did our best to follow the director’s instructions.
“Okay, on the count, I want you to jump. Two, three, jump! One more time, two, three, jump! Good, good. Great expressions, great lines.”
Perhaps because we were all in high spirits, a natural vibrancy radiated from us.
It felt like we had all gone back to our school days.
“The managers are doing a great job too. We’ll have to pay you a hefty modeling fee.”
“Hahahahaha! We were trainees once too, you know!”
Choi Yoo-jun’s confidence, now at an all-time high, brought broad smiles to everyone’s faces as they monitored the shoot.
“Okay. It looks natural, everything’s great. Let’s take a ten-minute break while you change.”
“Yes, sir!”
It was already almost 3 AM.
“I heard eating sugar helps wake up your brain.”
“Help yourselves.”
My answer brought a pleased look to Seol-ah’s face.
The members, who had been yawning and looking tired just moments before, headed to the snack bar with renewed energy.
The members made coffee, each with a macaron in their mouth.
“You need to sleep on the way to the next schedule to get through the next three days without any issues. If you’re going to have coffee, drink it now. Drinking it after four might disrupt your sleep.”
“Yes, yes. Your words are wise and true.”
Seul-bi, looking extremely cheerful, said with a bow.
“It’s been like two years since I last had a macaron.”
“It’s so chewy and delicious.”
*Pour.*
Hot water from a thermos mixed with the instant Americano coffee powder.
“Here.”
“No, thanks. I don’t like coffee mix.”
Ro-si refused the coffee Seul-bi offered.
“Huh? This isn’t a mix, it’s an Americano. Try it.”
Ro-si took the cup Seul-bi offered again, her face showing little expectation.
She sniffed it skeptically before taking a small sip.
“…Huh? This is pretty good.”
“Ah, geez. Our Ro-si is just as prejudiced as Yi-na.”
“Hey, why are you bringing me into this again!”
Yi-na whined at Seul-bi, who was acting like a know-it-all elder.
“If I didn’t know, I would’ve thought this was just an average coffee from a cafe.”
“Yep. They did a blind taste test between this coffee made with two sticks and a brewed coffee, and even Italian baristas had a hard time telling them apart.”
Ro-si slowly nodded, as if she thought it was plausible.
“Koreans are so serious about their food. Since ‘hurry, hurry’ is part of our daily life, even our instant food is made to be delicious.”
“Should we make a toast to our fast-fast country?”
“Okay!”
The Answer members and I clinked our coffee cups and took sips.
“Forget us, aren’t the Jun oppas’ poses so natural? They give off such an experienced vibe.”
“Totally. They’re prepared talents, for sure.”
The Answer members shot me and Choi Yoo-jun a double thumbs-up as if they were firing twin pistols.
“Hahaha! It’s not me. Min-jun hyung is so good, I’m just a prop, a prop. Hahaha!”
Despite his words, Choi Yoo-jun’s eyes were glued to his own image on the monitor.
The Answer members looked at the hyped-up Choi Yoo-jun and grinned, revealing their pearly white teeth.
This guy has no shame.
⋮
“Want to look pretty?”
“You can slim it down!”
“Want to study?”
“You can stretch it out!”
“Want to exercise?”
“Even if you get wet, it dries fast!”
“Enjoy the awesome you!”
“My own max-level uniform, Supreme Looks!”
“Cut! Ah, that was fantastic! It makes even parents want to buy a school uniform.”
At the director’s reaction, all the staff members clapped with bright faces.
“Thank you! You all worked hard!”
We bowed politely in greeting.
“Would it be possible to get a commemorative photo?”
“Of course!”
Seeing that most of the staff wanted to take a picture with us, I realized once again how much Answer’s recognition had grown.
“Alright, then! One… two…”
“Three!”
“Threeee!”
“Threeeeeeee!”
*Click.*