Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: The First Live Stream
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8 PM. N Live began.
But I didn't tell them it had started, hoping Answer's natural, unscripted moments would leave a strong impression on the fans. The chat room participants were also silent, as if in on the secret.
"I'm nervous."
"We just have to look at the phone, right?"
"I think other groups use digital cameras. Isn't the phone camera quality bad?"
"Aren't there any beauty filters or anything on here?"
Ro-si, Seol-ah, and Yi-na took turns grumbling, looking incredibly anxious.
The fans who had entered the stream but remained silent, waiting for something interesting to happen, probably felt anxious too. They were likely worried about who would break the unspoken silence and anticipation to be the first to chat.
"Lee Seul-bi! Are you really not going to say hi?"
"I'll do it later. I have to get the shepherd's purse fritters ready!"
"But it's our first live stream!"
"Ah, whatever. The shepherd's purse isn't dry, I have to shake the water off."
Seul-bi, who had spread newspapers all over the kitchen floor to prepare the shepherd's purse fritters, was bustling about, mixing the batter.
"Preheating the oil, starting now!"
Seul-bi exclaimed cheerfully.
"Kekeke. Is this like watching a Japanese anime? Ikuyot! No? Ikimasu? Is that it?"
Yi-na's giggling remark sent a shiver down my spine. I had a feeling it didn't have a very wholesome meaning...
"I know ikimasu, but what's ikuyo?"
"I don't know. I think I've heard kids use it a lot?"
Yi-na replied to Seol-ah's question, looking puzzled.
Ro-si, who had been searching on her phone, turned bright red.
-Ikuyoooot? LMAOOOOOOOO
-LMAOOOO I can't take it LOLOL
-Burst out laughing on their very first live stream!
-Wow, what are we gonna do with these girls LOLOLOLOL
-Creating an embarrassing moment to haunt them forever on their first stream LOLOLOLOL
-Ikuyoooot! Never thought I'd hear that from a girl group!
-My sides hurt.
-My stomach hurts, save me.
The chat suddenly exploded with activity, and I covered my face.
"Ah! The live stream started!"
Yi-na said innocently. Seol-ah, after seeing Ro-si's phone screen, also blushed, her red face standing out, perhaps because her makeup was light.
"Hewwo. Nice to meet you!"
-LOLOLOLOL
-So pretty 'cause she doesn't know anything.
-What do we do, Seol-ah and Seul-bi? Or is that Ro-si? They're all flustered LOLOL
Ro-si, who had been standing awkwardly with Seol-ah, wore a bitter expression. It seemed to be because someone had mistaken her for Seul-bi.
"Ahem! Hello, everyone. Nice to meet you for the first time. Ask us questions! I'm Seol-ah, Answer's leader and main vocalist!"
"I'm Ro-si, the lead vocalist and main rapper."
"And I'm Yi-na, in charge of being pretty!"
The members, who had quickly brightened their expressions, greeted the fans energetically.
"And..."
Seol-ah turned the camera to Seul-bi, who was shaking the water off the shepherd's purse. Seul-bi smiled brightly and greeted them.
"I'm the main dancer, Seul-bi! I wuv you all!"
"We went to the Gyeonggi Shepherd's Purse Festival today. She's insisting on frying up the ones we dug up ourselves."
Seol-ah said with an awkward smile.
-Seol-ah-unni, you're so cool! I became a fan after watching Best Idol!
-Clap clap clap, agreed.
-Shouldn't they make her an honorary firefighter or something?
"Ah! Thank you for watching."
-You were so intense, are you hurt anywhere?
"I did injure my wrist and shoulder a bit... but it's gotten better since I've been using pain relief patches."
-What are you talking about?
-Didn't you see the news? She performed CPR on set.
-Whoa, awesome, so that was you, Seol-ah! I had no idea, sorry.
"Pfft."
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. The person who had deliberately brought up the CPR story was using Choi Yoo-jun's ID.
-Sing for us.
"Ah! Then we'll sing a little bit of our new song that's coming out soon."
♪♬
The night begins again
But time is short
♪♬
An impromptu mini-showcase began. The verse belonged to lead vocalist Ro-si, and they all naturally started performing small dance moves.
Thump, thump, thump.
Seul-bi, her hands white with flour, ran over and started dancing behind the other members.
-Ooh, not bad?
-This song doesn't have that Jae-Dragon vibe, does it?
-It's retro disco, so I thought it was another Park Jae-yong track, but it doesn't seem like it. The song is good.
Encouraged by the positive reaction, Seol-ah took a breath to sing the chorus. Seul-bi and Ro-si, noticing her cue, held hands behind her.
♪♬
My love is waiting for you
In this brief darkness
Hold me tight
♪♬
Ro-si and Seul-bi executed an elegant yet swift turn, reminiscent of Swan Lake, and at the perfect moment, Seol-ah's high-note hook exploded.
For a moment, my 'Third Eye' saw a bright light emanating from the members' bodies.
-Whoa, they killed it.
-This is gonna be a hit.
-They really sharpened their skills. For real, this is gonna be huge.
-Ooooohhhhhhh
-This is so good?
-No, for real, this is seriously gonna be a massive hit.
-Glad I came to the live stream.
Even though it was just their raw vocals without any reverb, the power of Seol-ah's voice came through intensely, and the fans' reactions were incredibly positive.
"Ah! The fritters are burning!"
As Seul-bi ducked out of the frame, the short showcase came to a halt.
"Thank you!"
"Thank you for the kind words."
Pleased by the good reactions, the Answer members bowed their heads repeatedly in thanks.
Even I, who had been worried about salvaging the mood after Yi-na's initial slip-up, was now happily feigning applause.
"Do you really like it?"
-It's amazing!
-For real.
"Thank you!"
"Please give us lots of love!"
-But the lighting seems too dark. Is your house dark?
-Give us a tour of your dorm.
"Ah... our dorm?"
Seol-ah and the other members glanced at me.
"Ah... it's a bit messy, but we'll show you."
Yi-na and Ro-si scurried off in different directions to turn on the lights.
"This is the closet room. All four of our outfits, shoes, and so on are in here."
Seol-ah showed the room where Yi-na had turned on the light, and Yi-na helped out by holding up clothes or opening boxes in the places Seol-ah pointed the camera at.
-They don't have many clothes for celebrities.
"Yes... most of our outfits are sponsored, so we have to return them after a certain period. We usually return them right away because we're worried about losing or damaging them. They can be surprisingly expensive. And this sofa was bought for us by the company recently. We didn't even have this before, but now we're using it comfortably."
Yi-na quickly sat on the floor and leaned her back against the sofa, resting an arm on the cushion.
"As you can see, the sofa makes for an excellent backrest, right? It's really comfortable."
-Of course, of course. Sofas aren't for sitting on.
-Pwahaha! Is this a Korean thing?
-Nice piece of backrest furniture you bought there LOLOL
-But for real, sitting on the sofa and using a low table sucks. When the chicken arrives, BAM! Leaning your back on the sofa while you eat is the best.
-Whoa, so it's not just my house LOLOL
Everyone's faces lit up at the fans' reactions.
"Now, this place where Ro-si is, we use it for storage. The reason there's a bunk bed is... because we were originally a seven-member group. Back then, all these beds were occupied."
-Sheesh, that's creepy.
-Isn't it scary having a storage room like that? It feels like a ghost might pop out.
"Uwaaah! I wasn't scared until now!"
Seeing the chat, Yi-na looked like she was about to cry and shuddered, which made the fans laugh.
"Hmph, you guys are mean."
-Aww, Yi-na-chan, don't cry.
-Don't cry, don't cry.
-But the dorm is so shabby. It's making me tear up.
-Seriously, this is the most rundown dorm I've ever seen.
"Actually, our Daepyo-nim told us today that he'd get us a new dorm. But we still have a lot of our initial investment to recoup, so we told him we'd ask for one when we start earning more."
-Was the investment that big? It doesn't seem like they did much.
-Of course the investment is big. A lot of people don't know. Just the money for food, housing, and clothes is...
Choi Yoo-jun's comments, popping up whenever a topic came up. I could now tell it was him at a glance without even checking the ID.
"We'll work harder and make sure to show off our new dorm someday."
-We're cheering for you.
Worried the mood was getting somber, Seol-ah quickly turned the camera back to Seul-bi.
"And what is our main dancer and mukbang specialist, Ms. Seul-bi, doing now?"
Seul-bi picked up a piece of the well-washed and dried shepherd's purse and grinned widely.
"This is the shepherd's purse we dug up today. And now, our 3-minute cooking show starts now!"
-LMAOOOO
-Ikuyot!
-Ikuooooong LOLOLOL
-LOL you guys, saying stuff like that is sexual harassment.
-What sexual harassment? They're the ones who said ikuyo.
-LOL Answer's concept is freaking awesome.
-No, it's not a concept, they're the real deal LOLOLOL
A hint of embarrassment flashed across the Answer members' faces before disappearing.
"Alright, everyone. I'm now going to show you just how delicious shepherd's purse fritters are. First, thoroughly wash the dirt off and shake off the water. It's okay if they're a little damp. That helps the batter mix stick better."
Seul-bi lightly dredged the shepherd's purse in the batter mix, front and back.
"Sometimes people use pancake mix because they don't have tempura flour and then complain it doesn't taste good, but you can't do that. Tempura flour, which is mainly cake flour, is much crispier than pancake mix, which uses all-purpose flour."
-Ooh, someone did their homework LOL
"But I'm not satisfied with just regular tempura flour. I mix in a generous amount of glutinous rice flour. Now, the oil seems to be hot enough."
Szzzzzle.
"Kyaa! Doesn't this look delicious!"
The battered shepherd's purse fried appetizingly in the oil, and Seul-bi clapped her hands toward the camera.
-Is this really a girl group's first live stream? LOL
-For a second there, I was looking for the donation button LOL
"They're thin, so they cook quickly. But I like them extra crispy, so I'll wait until they're a deep golden yellow... Then I'll shake off the excess oil and place them on a paper towel to drain completely... Now, time for a taste test."
Without hesitation, Seul-bi popped a golden-brown fritter into her mouth.
Crunch. Crunch.
-Isn't this a bit much this late at night?
-Came for their first live stream and got a mukbang LOL
"Mmm! It's crispy, fragrant, and savory! This overwhelming savoriness from the glutinous rice flour!"
-Gimme some!
-I wanna eat the shepherd's purse fritters Seul-bi-jjing made.
-Smells like a pro.
Seul-bi's mukbang, performed like a seasoned veteran, filled the chat with pleas of hunger.
The better the reaction to Seul-bi, the heavier Ro-si's expression seemed to become.
Ro-si wasn't the type to get jealous.
Ro-si had shown that same heavy expression from time to time while traveling between schedules. Something was definitely wrong. I instinctively felt it was something important.
***
I went to the office with Answer.
I held short, unscheduled one-on-one meetings. It was Seol-ah, then Seul-bi, and then Ro-si's turn.
"Ro-si, are there any difficulties or anything you want to say? You can tell me or the company."
"Um... I'm just very grateful for the current situation."
Knowing Ro-si's personality, I knew she wouldn't open up easily. From experience, physical contact in these situations could sometimes trigger a revealing vision, but... I couldn't just randomly ask for a handshake.
Finally, I called in Yi-na.
"Why the sudden one-on-one meetings?"
Yi-na asked with a beaming smile.
"Any difficulties or anything you want from the company?"
"...Umm... I think everything's fine these days?"
"I see. Then, do you happen to know what's been bothering Ro-si lately? She's seemed down."
"Ahh. It's nothing big. She just feels sorry toward Seol-ah-unni and Seul-bi-unni. She thinks she isn't contributing because she doesn't have any standout talents. So I tried to comfort her a bit. I told her that's how all groups work. Honestly, I'm only the center because of my face, you know..."
Yi-na continued to ramble on, but knowing Ro-si was the type to worry quietly by herself, I had a different thought.
Tiring.
[Sudden Quest: 'Ro-si's Presence']
Answer member Ro-si's self-esteem is dropping due to concerns about her presence in the group. This drop in self-esteem can lead to a vicious cycle that further diminishes her presence. Raise Ro-si's self-esteem to 80 or higher.
Ro-si's Self-Esteem: 35/100
Time Limit: None
Reward: ?
Failure: Answer's rise will end.
For me, who knew that Ro-si's insane hidden potential was in acting, this mission could be an easy one.
All I had to do was get her a decent role, have her perform brilliantly, and raise her individual recognition. That would solve it.
She could audition for dramas or movies, but could she land a good role just like that?
It seems it's time to broaden my spectrum into the acting world as well.