Chapter 183
Chapter 183
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: The Prodigy at the Orphanage
-----------------------------------------------------------------
We arrived at an orphanage in Sadang.
Reporter Shin Dong-min, who had arrived before us, was taking pictures. He spotted our car, smiled brightly, and turned his camera toward us.
“Hello, Reporter Shin.”
“It's an honor to be invited again. Oh? Mr. President, it's been a while.”
After a warm handshake with me, Reporter Shin turned to the president and smiled.
“Ah, Reporter Shin! Thanks for always looking out for us. Want to grab a drink later?”
“Sounds great! But first, let me get a few shots of the inside of the car.”
I opened the car door to give him a clear view of the interior.
“Wow. It's packed with snacks. How many boxes is all this?”
“There's still plenty more back at the company. Should I send a few boxes your way, Reporter Shin?”
“If you send them, I'll gladly eat them. Thank you.”
While Reporter Shin and I were talking, dozens of children had gathered in the orphanage yard.
But for some reason, they didn't look very happy.
“…Where's Answer?”
A girl who looked to be the heaviest of the group, with a faint bruise on her eyelid, asked the question. The president and I, realizing what was happening, couldn't help but be flustered.
“Answer is working. But I came instead. Don't you know me?”
“…”
“…I'm a singer, too.”
“You're a singer?”
The children seemed to have no idea who the president was, and his flustered expression was so palpable that even Reporter Shin and I felt second-hand embarrassment.
It was perhaps to be expected, since the president doesn't appear on the kind of TV shows kids watch these days, and they use web streaming services far more often anyway.
“Oh, my. I told you it wasn't Answer coming, but someone from their company. Welcome, President Park Jae-yong. I'm the director here.”
“I-It's quite all right. Hello, Director.”
The president seemed to have arrived with high hopes of playing with the children, but things had gotten off on the wrong foot from the very start.
A few teachers came out belatedly, their faces bright.
“Haha…”
The president, assuming these were people who would recognize him, was already wearing a commercial smile, but the teachers' attention was directed solely at me.
“Manager-nim, you're so handsome.”
“It's such a shame you couldn't debut with Fire Emblem.”
“You look so much better in person. Your proportions are amazing, too.”
I'd been on TV a few times, but I wasn't famous enough to warrant this kind of reaction…
They must have heard that JD Enter, Answer's agency, was making a donation, and in their research, their interest extended to me. The president's smile, prepared for a greeting that never came, made me feel embarrassed for him.
Looking embarrassed, the president turned his attention to the children.
“Answer might not be here, but I brought lots of snacks. Want to take a look inside?”
As the president tapped the car, the children swarmed to the back.
“Whoa! Is this all snacks?”
Seeing the car filled to the brim with boxes of snacks, the children gasped in delight. It was the first time I'd felt a sense of satisfaction since we arrived.
As the president and I started unloading the snack boxes, the children joined in, carrying them one by one, either in pairs or by themselves.
All the snacks were piled up in a corner of the large playroom, and we took a commemorative photo with the children.
“Wow, there are so many snacks!”
“What's a Wangkkulsora? Is this super tasty?”
“There are lots of other snacks, too.”
“Hehe. My dentures might fall out while eating this.”
I couldn't help but give a wry smile at the children's innocent comments.
Perhaps feeling it would look bad to just drop off the snacks and leave, the president tried to play with the children.
“Hey kids, I know how to dance. Want me to teach you?”
“Uh… you, mister?”
“Haha! Don't underestimate me! Believe it or not, Answer learned how to dance from me. I even created the choreography for their debut song.”
“Sir, please compose yourself.”
“…What's there to compose myself about? I'm just offering to teach them how to dance.”
Mr. President. Surely you're not planning to show the kids Answer's sultry debut choreography, are you?
“I don't think you can dance better than Soo-young.”
“Huh?”
“That's right. Soo-young is an amazing dancer.”
At the mention of dancing, the children suddenly pointed to one girl. It was the same chubby girl who had asked where Answer was.
The president let out a faint chuckle.
How can you feel competitive with a child, sir?
“So your name is Soo-young. Shall we have a little dance battle then?”
The president was smiling, but his eyes, burning with a competitive fire directed at an elementary school student, were unmistakable.
…How embarrassing.
“This could make a good story. 'President & Producer Park Jae-yong Teaches Children How to Dance.'”
“Hahaha! 'Teaches' is too grand a word. I'm simply sharing dreams and hope with the children.”
“Wow! We get to see Park Jae-yong dance in person?”
The teachers’ excited chatter began.
“I'm curious about the manager's dancing too.”
“Manager-nim, I heard you debuted with a girl group?”
“Oh. What's this about, teacher?”
“On the radio, they said when Answer was short a member, the manager filled in for a performance.”
“Oh my gosh! Really? I wish there was a video of that.”
“There is a video.”
“Where? Where?”
The teachers crowded around to watch the video of me.
Why did the conversation have to turn to that… But I am confident. As Oh Ro-si said, I just did the best I could…
…Still, I can't help but break into a sweat.
As if it were a common occurrence for Soo-young to dance, the children set up a makeshift stage with several chairs.
The chubby girl named Soo-young showed no signs of refusal and was already in position, ready to dance as soon as another child operating the computer played the music.
I usually tried not to look at other people's information. It was because their information often contained uncomfortable details that were hard for me to ignore.
But for some reason, I felt a strong urge to check the stats of this chubby, ten-year-old-or-so girl.
Stats.
“…!”
⁝
Vocal 35/75
Dance 81/94
Rap 52/70
Charisma 82/91
⁝
She had a talent for dance similar to Seul-bi's, and her vocal talent was even greater.
These were numbers I could hardly imagine for a child whose body bordered on obese.
Could she really dance well with that body?
I glanced at the president beside me. It was a completely different situation from him, who was suffering a huge penalty in his dance expression due to his weight gain.
The girl named Soo-young kept waiting for the music to start, but the child at the computer seemed to be having some trouble.
“What do you think of this child?”
“What do I think? You can't dance well if you're overweight. Look at me. I was once called the king of dance, but after gaining weight, I just can't do it anymore. Age is probably a factor, too.”
“It's just that her ready stance has such sharp lines, I thought she might be good.”
“Pfft. How can you tell from her stance? Now, if she lost some weight and I coached her, that might be a different story.”
“Aargh, it's so slow! It's rebooting. Wait.”
The child at the computer shouted irritably. The president cracked his neck and stood up.
“Then should I go first? Min-jun, play 'Come Back to Me, Honey'.”
“Ooooh!”
President Park Jae-yong stood up, naming a song from his prime, and the teachers who knew it well cheered quietly.
I wasn't sure why, but a small sigh escaped my lips. I found the president's song on my phone and played it.
At least it's better than Answer's debut song, right?
♪♬
Bbababam!
Ddung tak ddungddudung tak!
♪♬
It was a fast-tempo disco-pop track that had been a huge hit in the 2000s.
♪♬
Ddungddurudung jjyajjyaran ddungddurung jjanjyaran doom pak doom pak
♪♬
The groovy bass sound and disco synth beat that ran from the intro to the pre-chorus were quite addictive.
I found my body unconsciously moving to the beat. The president in his prime was certainly an incredible performer.
♪♬
I know your heart flutters when you see me
Ah! Are you curious? How I found out?
♪♬
“Ooooh!”
Although his weight prevented him from hitting the sharp angles of his past, the teachers' faces lit up as they watched the president sing live to the disco beat from my phone, enthusiastically moving his arms and legs.
♪♬
Every time I move, it's like time stops
I can tell by the way you freeze up
You're frozen on me
babe babe I know
Ah! Are you curious?
♪♬
Pant, pant.
He was already out of breath after just a few lines, but the president was dancing and singing his heart out as if he were on a major stage.
It seemed he wanted to prove he still had it.
♪♬
I'll come closer
You shy one, just stay still
All you have to do is accept me
Please accept me
♪♬
But despite the president's earnest performance, the children's reaction was lukewarm. Far from being impressed, they watched him as if it were a talent show, their faces saying, 'Not bad for an old guy.'
♪♬
I'll shoot at you
Your heart is pounding
It's pounding for me
Can you feel the heat of my love?
Get to know me more
♪♬
The president's breath was hitched all the way up to his chin as he had to belt out the high notes in the chorus, and Reporter Shin Dong-min, who seemed to be recording a video, had a smile that was dangerously close to bursting into laughter.
He must have chosen a song with the most toned-down lyrics for the sake of the kids… but he couldn't hide the underlying desire.
♪♬
Alive tonight!
Yeah tonight!
Bbabam!
♪♬
The president spun around once and pointed his index finger to the sky, ending his performance.
“Woooow!”
Still, the teachers in their thirties or older and a couple of new staff members gave the president a small cheer and a round of applause.
It was a bit of a shame, as I thought he could recapture his old dance lines if he just lost the weight. His heavy breathing was grating, but if you closed your eyes, it was definitely a good song.
“Hah, huff. Thank you, thank you.”
Despite the chilly day, President Park Jae-yong was drenched in sweat.
“Haa, kids. Haa… I'm pretty good, right?”
“For an old guy.”
“After seeing Soo-young dance, you're not that great.”
The president looked shocked by the children's words, his mouth hanging slightly open with a sullen expression.
“I-Is that so? Soo-young must be a very good dancer, then?”
Though the president was smiling, a vein was popping on his neck.
Why does he keep trying to compete with children…?
♪♬
The intro began, with an automation filter applied to the drums and synthesizer, causing the muffled synth sound to gradually become clearer. The intro to Answer's title track, 'Answer Me Now,' started to play.
It seemed they had succeeded in playing the song on the rebooted computer.
Soo-young had already taken the spot where the president had been dancing.
“Woooow!”
The children and teachers cheered and clapped, as if they already knew she would put on a better show than President Park Jae-yong.
♪♬
The night begins again
But time is short
♪♬
Soo-young's dance began, perfectly in sync with Answer's song.
“Huh?”
Despite her obese frame, Soo-young began to dance with incredible flexibility and power.
♪♬
You, who smiles at me.
Time will never come back.
You, who smiles at me.
My heart is waiting for you.
♪♬
It was distinctly different from simply copying the choreography. It felt like she was hitting the exact points, conveying the true meaning of the dance. It was hard to believe she was only twelve.
She wasn't just performing one person's part; she was creating her own dance by combining the key points from each member's choreography.
She mostly switched between Seul-bi's and Seol-ah's parts, and the sight of her executing even the most difficult turns without a single wobble, despite her weight, left the president's mouth wide open.
“From a body I would have considered the worst for dancing… comes the exact dance line I've always wanted…”
The president muttered in genuine admiration of Soo-young, who was unfolding the choreography with near-perfect, elastic movements. The shock must have been even greater for him, as his own dance lines had been ruined after his weight gain.
Soo-young performed the choreography perfectly until the very end of the song, showing no signs of fatigue.
“Woooow!”
“See? She's better than you, mister, right?”
“Uh, yeah. She's good.”
A boy with a pleased expression on his face made a point of coming over to rub it in. The president looked bitter, but he couldn't deny it.
Come to think of it, this boy looked a little like Soo-young. He even had a couple of bruises on his face, just like her.
They were clearly siblings.