Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Unexpected Fans
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6:05 AM.
We left the school uniform commercial set and drove toward Gangwon Province.
“Hyung, for real though, I'm getting paid for that commercial, right?”
“Want to brag to your sister?”
“Pfft. Brag? About what? It's not that much. Ahh, this is awesome!”
Despite his words, Choi Yoo-jun started humming.
“…You do realize you're humming, right?”
“Huh? Me? When?”
“…”
Choi Yoo-jun asked back with a bewildered expression.
It was a surprise, but since it was a contract I'd signed without his permission, I'd been a little worried.
It was a completely pointless worry.
“But anyone can see you should've gotten a bigger cut… Why is it the same?”
Of course, the original ratio had me getting much more than Choi Yoo-jun, but my assets were already growing plenty.
I wanted to give a small reward to a kid who was so loyal to me and the company.
“I'll treat you to something big when the payment comes in.”
“Forget it, man. You want me to show you my bank account again?”
“Hey… Don't scare me like that… But maybe I should try investing like you, Hyung?”
I know the future of the places I've invested in.
Recommending profitable investments to Choi Yoo-jun was a good idea, but I worried about what would happen when he was no longer under my wing.
I'm a firm believer that what's gained without pain and effort is quickly lost.
“I'll tell you about an investment opportunity at the right time.”
“Whoa! You promise? For real?”
“Sure.”
In the rearview mirror, Seul-bi was looking at her phone with a pleasant expression, and Yi-na was looking at the phone Ro-si was holding out.
“This outfit is pretty, right?”
“Yeah, yeah!”
Seol-ah, who had her eyes closed, slowly opened them.
“This could turn into a three-day shoot with only one night's rest.”
“…”
The plan was for a two-night, three-day shoot, but Seol-ah warned that, depending on the conditions on set, it could easily turn into a one-night, three-day affair.
“Shouldn't we get some sleep if we want to keep our energy up?”
“Yes, Unni.”
Ro-si stopped everything she was doing and closed her eyes.
Yi-na puffed her cheeks slightly but closed her eyes in the same position as Ro-si.
“Seul-bi, you're not sleeping?”
“Just a sec.”
Seul-bi was grinning from ear to ear at her growing number of SNS followers.
“These are people who've been cheering for me since I had a few hundred followers. I can't just ignore them now that we're getting a little popular.”
Seol-ah smiled faintly at Seul-bi's words and adjusted her headrest.
The Seul-bi I first met had a stiff and rebellious image, but the more I got to know her, the more I realized she wasn't like that at all.
After tapping on her phone for a while longer, Seul-bi pulled the blanket up to her neck with a smile.
“You should get some sleep too, Hyung.”
“Alright. Wake me up if you get even a little tired.”
Choi Yoo-jun was all smiles, still wearing his makeup from the commercial shoot, but he couldn't hide the dark circles under his eyes.
“I'm not tired at all.”
“If you doze off for a second, we're all goners.”
“I get it.”
“…Even if you're not sleepy, you have to pull over at Gapyeong Rest Stop.”
“Ah, don't worry and get some sleep!”
Between my manager duties and other tasks like VR map and sound making, I'd been having a busy few days, and my body was quite fatigued.
* * *
“Zzz... zzz...”
*Is that me snoring?* The thought startled me awake.
“Zzzzzz...”
Choi Yoo-jun's snores.
“Rrrrumble...”
Seol-ah's.
“Hnnngh...”
Yi-na's.
Ro-si and Seul-bi were passed out like corpses from the all-night shooting schedule, and the rest were snoring.
A chuckle escaped my lips before I knew it.
Choi Yoo-jun had reached Gapyeong Rest Stop and immediately conked out.
Outside the window, I could see many families traveling toward Gangwon Province.
“…Hnngh!”
I stretched, feeling strength return to my muscles. I hadn't even slept two hours, but I felt refreshed. A glance at my watch confirmed we still had plenty of time before our next schedule.
Should I wake them up to use the restroom?
It might be hard to find time to eat later. Should I feed them here?
Where's the next rest stop?
Should I just wake up Yoo-jun and switch drivers?
Just then, Ro-si woke up, covering her mouth as she yawned. She dabbed at the corner of her eye with a tissue and asked.
“Um… where are we?”
“Gapyeong Rest Stop.”
“Hnngh!”
“Hwaaah!”
At my answer, Seul-bi and Yi-na let out strange stretches as they emerged from under their blankets.
“Ugh… The air from the heater feels so stuffy.”
“Yeah. Unni, let's go outside.”
Yi-na said to Seol-ah, who had just opened her eyes.
“Where are we eating?”
Seul-bi asked slyly.
We had salads I'd bought beforehand, but since they'd have to rely solely on the meals provided by the production staff for the next three days, maybe I should just let it slide?
“When you think of Gapyeong, you think of pine nuts! Pine nut rice wine!”
Everyone gave Yi-na a dumbfounded look.
“Where did you even hear that?”
Seul-bi grumbled as she opened the car door.
It was March, but the chilly air that rushed in felt more like winter than spring.
“Hwaaah…”
Choi Yoo-jun yawned so wide it looked like his mouth would tear.
“I'll drive from here, so you sleep in the passenger seat.”
“Okay. I will.”
“Want me to get you anything?”
“No. I'm just going to sleep.”
I left Choi Yoo-jun and got out of the car.
Two elementary school kids holding hot dogs stopped in their tracks when they saw Answer.
“Huh?”
“Hey? You're singers, right?”
The kids blinked their wide eyes, staring at the Answer members.
“Ah! They're singers!”
At the cry of a child eating walnut cakes, a few people's gazes turned toward Answer.
“Wow! Can we get a picture?”
“Of course! Thank you for recognizing us!”
Even though it was just a little kid, Seol-ah responded politely. As more proactive elementary schoolers gathered, adults also started to murmur and crowd around.
“I saw you on *Best Idol* yesterday! You're so pretty!”
“Thank you so much! Thank you!”
Looking a bit dazed, the Answer members started taking pictures. Yi-na's expression brightened completely as she handed me the blanket she was wrapped in and began to pose.
So much for being cold.
“Wow! Unnis, your dancing was amazing!”
“Seriously, it was insane!”
The faces of the Answer members filled with elation at the change in people's reactions overnight.
While they were taking pictures with numerous students, a man in his fifties quietly approached.
“You the manager?”
“Yes.”
“Feed 'em while you work 'em. Here.”
The man held out a bag of pine nut walnut cakes.
I couldn't just let the man walk away after he turned his back so casually.
“Seol-ah.”
“Yes?”
“That gentleman over there gave these for the members to eat.”
“Oh! Thank you so much!”
“Thank you!”
At the thanks from Seol-ah and the members, the man's expression twitched with pleasure.
“Why don't you take a picture before you go?”
“Sh-should I? Heh heh.”
The man, who had a Chungcheong dialect, awkwardly tried to mimic a Seoul accent.
Seul-bi, Ro-si, and Yi-na stood in the back while Seol-ah, in the front, posed for a picture as if receiving the bag of pine nut walnut cakes from the man.
“Aigoo, really. It's just some snacks, heh heh heh. I'll be cheering for you, alright?”
The man left, looking extremely satisfied.
Afterward, older male and female fans continued to hand the members snacks like coffee, drinks, dried squid, hot bars, and chips. The rest stop was filled with a quiet commotion from the unexpected celebrity visit.
The Answer members returned to the car, their hands full of snacks.
“…Wow…”
“I think we're famous.”
“Right? It's seriously so cool.”
For a while, the Answer members stared at the snacks in their hands with amazed expressions.
“We're not famous yet. Most of them don't even know our name.”
“Seol-ah Unni, you always have to be a buzzkill at times like this! Can't we just enjoy it?”
“I'm just saying we should be careful.”
Seol-ah seemed to think she might have been too harsh and looked awkward.
“Well, I guess we'll have to eat this instead of a proper meal.”
Seul-bi said it like she was disappointed, but her expression didn't look disappointed at all. She was practically licking her lips.
“Huh? What is all this?”
Choi Yoo-jun, who had just woken up, was shocked by the enormous amount of snacks.
“Our fans gave them to us.”
“You have fans here?”
“They don't know the name Answer, but a lot of older people just started buying us things. They said we were too skinny and that we should be fed well.”
“Ahahaha.”
We drove on, dividing and eating the massive amount of snacks.
“Hey… this is too much. They call them pine nut walnut cakes, but there's only one pine nut in each. Isn't that a rip-off?”
“Pine nuts are expensive.”
“Still.”
Despite her complaints, Seul-bi chomped away, clearly enjoying it.
But unlike Seul-bi, I could see an anxious-looking Ro-si glancing at me in the rearview mirror.
“Um…”
Seeing Ro-si's troubled face, I suddenly remembered how they had been surrounded by fans and couldn't even go to the restroom freely.
I spoke before Ro-si could say what was on her mind.
“Yoo-jun, you need to use the restroom?”
“Huh?”
Choi Yoo-jun, his mouth full of a hot bar, blinked his big eyes as if to ask what I was talking about.
“We'll pull over at a rest area for a moment.”
“…”
I had to laugh at the sight of Choi Yoo-jun squinting his eyes and flaring his nostrils.
We arrived at a rest area where two other cars were parked.
“Yoo-jun, let's go to the restroom.”
“…But… I don't have to go…”
“Hurry up, man!”
I dragged the reluctant Choi Yoo-jun out of the passenger seat and into the restroom.
“…Oh! Ah… so that's what this was about…”
Only after entering the restroom did Choi Yoo-jun understand my intentions. He had been asleep and hadn't seen the members surrounded by fans, unable to go to the bathroom, so his confusion was understandable.
Fortunately, the restroom was clean, and we could wait without pressure for long enough for all the Answer members to use it.
“Should we get going?”
“Yeees!”
Choi Yoo-jun replied with a sudden, sly grin. What was he thinking?
I steered Choi Yoo-jun, who was heading for the driver's seat, toward the passenger side and got in the car. The Answer members either had their eyes closed or were looking at their phones.
“Ah… we're late because Hyung took so long.”
“Huh?”
*So this is why he gave me that sly answer earlier?*
I was so dumbfounded all I could do was laugh.
“Pfft!”
At my reaction and Choi Yoo-jun's comment, the Answer members burst out laughing.
“…Hey, you. You've gotten bold, haven't you?”
“Hehehe!”
Choi Yoo-jun stuck out his tongue and laughed.
“We know you were being considerate of us. Don't be offended, heh.”
“Yeah, yeah. Our oppas are so thoughtful, it's insane.”
“Totally. I'll give you that.”
Ro-si said with an awkward smile, and Yi-na and Seul-bi nodded in agreement.
The car re-entered the highway.
“So Yoo-jun knows how to tease our Timjang-nim now?”
Seol-ah, who had been chuckling for a while, finally spoke up.
“Haha! I only said that because I knew our Answer artists were quick enough to get the joke! You don't think I'd actually try to throw Hyung under the bus, do you? Hahaha!”
“…What if we hadn't gotten it?”
“Then… uh… payback for making me look like I wet my pants? Hahahat!”
Choi Yoo-jun's over-the-top reaction made the atmosphere warm and friendly again.
* * *
Following the address the production team gave us, we came upon a new resort that didn't even look like it had opened yet.
Just driving on the cleanly paved entrance road was healing in itself.
“Uh… I don't think this place is open yet.”
Seul-bi muttered, looking at her phone.
“They'll probably open right after this airs. I bet promoting this place is part of the shooting schedule.”
“That makes sense.”
Ro-si said with a nod.
Following the directions of the staff waiting outside, we parked the car and entered the resort.
Inside the building, which I expected to be filled only with production staff, numerous people in construction vests with words like 'Welder,' 'Engineer,' and 'Interior' printed on the back were moving through restricted passages.
“When are they going to shoot this, edit it, and get it on air? Is it really possible in three days?”
“Man, don't even talk about it. The resort's grand opening is the day after the first broadcast.”
Two staff members holding paper cups were talking as they watched the numerous construction workers.
“Haaah… no wonder. This is gonna be a hellish schedule.”
“They say the construction crew is working holidays and nights, pulling extra overtime to finish by the air date.”
“Isn't that against labor laws?”
“How should I know? They might all be registered as independent contractors.”
“This place is really playing dirty with loopholes.”
Seul-bi, having heard the staff's conversation, gave me a thumbs-up.
“Just like you said, Oppa.”
As I was about to move with Answer, the Third Eye marked one of the staff members in red and focused on him. I stayed within earshot of their conversation.
“By the way, when is that coffee truck from Fire Emblem supposed to get here? This instant mix just ruined my palate.”
“It's still early. They have to come after building up the scene a bit.”
“What? So that's an insert shot too?”
“You're asking the obvious.”
So that was it.
They're trying to emphasize that Your Girl is Fire Emblem's sister group, aren't they? I couldn't just stand by and watch Your Girl's presence grow.
I started calling the members of Fire Emblem.
*Just one of you, please pick up.*