Chapter 202
Chapter 202
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 202
Chapter Title: Moving Day
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-Hyung. There's quite a lot of luggage.
“Don't worry, just go handle your schedule. We can't exactly hire outsiders to move Answer's things.”
-That's true, but you could've handled the schedule instead.
“There are some basic things I need to tell the Earl Grey members, so I have to be here. Don't worry and get going.”
-Okay! I'll hurry back as soon as I can.
I was supposed to handle the move with Choi Yoo-jun, but another road manager's schedule suddenly got complicated, so I ended up doing it alone.
The Earl Grey members emerged from the shabby multi-family house, each dragging one or two suitcases.
“Hah! A room with rats and cockroaches in this day and age? Unbelievable!”
“And they put an 'Under Construction' sign on one of the two shared bathroom stalls and only let their family use it!”
“Good riddance!”
The Earl Grey members, clearly harboring many complaints about their former home, spewed a torrent of words that were practically curses.
“I'll go take care of this and be back.”
The bassist, Yoon Woo-sung, drove off first in the clunker SUV they used for events, and I headed to Answer's dorm with the remaining members.
“*Sniff, ahhh.* The scent of this luxury van.”
“*Phew.* You're right. It smells like flowers, like actual flowers.”
Jang Hyun-seung and Seo Bang-il were flushed with excitement, like young children getting their own rooms for the first time.
“Are you that excited about the new dorm?”
“Yes, PD-nim. I even got my toe bitten by a damn rat in that house.”
Jang Hyun-seung spoke nonchalantly about something so dangerous that, if he'd been unlucky, could have led to tetanus, amputation, or even death.
“Ha! That's insane. Did you go to the hospital?”
“No. Luckily, nothing happened.”
I was dumbfounded by their living conditions, which reminded me of a rural village in an impoverished country.
“What would you have done if you'd gotten tetanus? If anything like that happens again, go to the hospital immediately. The company will cover it all.”
“Yes, sir! I absolutely will!”
“But, about our meals... how will that work...?”
As Seo Bang-il asked, Jang Hyun-seung and even So Joong-han stared at my eyes in the rearview mirror, their own eyes sparkling.
To think their first question was about food.
“That will depend on the situation. For now, until your debut, you'll be having regular meals.”
“But we've already debuted...”
“The company considers the date of your first broadcast appearance as your debut date.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Based on current prices, you can spend around 10,000 won per meal.”
“Yes!”
Jang Hyun-seung and Seo Bang-il muttered happily, and I could even see the corners of So Joong-han's mouth twitch upward slightly.
“With 40,000 won, we could get a platter of jajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork, right?”
“Hehehe. I'm craving sweet and sour pork.”
I let out a small chuckle at the sight of the Earl Grey members practically drooling.
“When you come to the office, there's a well-known baekban place nearby. It's quite good and has a varied menu, so you won't get tired of it.”
“Ooh! Baekban! Do they make a good soft tofu baekban?”
“Yes. They're good at all kinds of baekban. The stir-fried octopus and spicy pork are delicious too.”
“Aaaah. I could die happy right now!”
Jang Hyun-seung said with an ecstatic expression.
Can someone really be this happy just by imagining it?
“So, does the meal budget change after we debut?”
“Once you start generating revenue and we have profits after expenses, you'll be free to eat what you want. And the 10,000 won per person pre-debut budget is just an estimate, based on a monthly food budget of about 4 million won for the team. It's not a strict rule. That also gets deducted from your settlement.”
However, I didn't bother to tell them that meals after debut are often worse than before.
Once their schedules get busy, their options will be pretty much limited to lunch boxes. If anything, their food expenses would decrease while their coffee expenses would rise.
“Our monthly food budget is 4 million won? Wow.”
“Does that mean we can grab coffee in between, too?”
I had to fight back a disbelieving laugh that was threatening to burst out.
An hour flew by as I drove and answered the Earl Grey members' questions, and before I knew it, we had arrived at the villa—Answer's former dorm and, starting today, Earl Grey's new one.
“Whoa! There's a convenience store right in front of the building!”
The convenience store was 100 meters away, but to them, it might as well have been right at their doorstep.
I carried Earl Grey's luggage up the four flights of stairs. Unlike me, they struggled their way up, looking a little pathetic.
*Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep. Chirp.*
The luggage of the Answer members, who had left for their schedule with Choi Yoo-jun, was neatly arranged by the entrance. Besides the suitcases, plastic boxes held the cute bowls and utensils the members used, along with gifts from fans.
“Ah! Our juniors in Answer have so much stuff.”
“You don't have to help. Go unpack your things first.”
“Nah. Don't worry about it, PD-nim.”
The Earl Grey members carried their own luggage on the way up and Answer's luggage on the way down.
I smiled at the sight of So Joong-han helping me with a stoic expression. He was prickly, but he clearly wasn't a bad person at heart.
Thanks to Earl Grey, we managed to bring down all of Answer's luggage in just three trips.
“Thanks to you artists, we got it down easily. Thank you.”
“Hahaha. Don't mention it. This was nothing.”
Jang Hyun-seung said, puffing out his chest.
“Go on up and unpack. To celebrate, I'm treating you all to Chinese food delivery tonight—as much as you want.”
“Woooah!”
As expected, the Earl Grey members were as ecstatic as if they'd won the lottery.
“I want sweet and sour pork!”
“I want kkanpunggi!”
“Yoon Woo-sung likes yangjangpi.”
“Right, right.”
Unlike Jang Hyun-seung and Seo Bang-il, who shouted out their favorite dishes, So Joong-han showed a surprisingly considerate side by thinking of Yoon Woo-sung.
Is the leader a leader for a reason? Or maybe So Joong-han just likes yangjangpi too.
The Earl Grey members unpacked, and I ordered the food to arrive around the time Yoon Woo-sung was expected back. Then, they all tested out their new space, lying down on the bunk beds and sitting on the sofa.
“Ooh. This UHD is sick.”
“You can see every pore.”
Watching them marvel at the old 43-inch UHD TV, I felt a sense of satisfaction, picturing the bright future that would blossom for them.
“There's no elevator, but the heating works great, so it won't be cold even in the dead of winter. The next goal is to move to an even better dorm before the cold wave hits.”
The Earl Grey members blinked at me. Then, unable to contain his curiosity, Jang Hyun-seung spoke up.
“You don't mean *this* winter, do you? That's less than seven months away.”
“That's about how long it took Answer, from album production to moving.”
“This place is great, though.”
A subtle thrill rose on the Earl Grey members' faces.
Truthfully, I could move them into a better dorm right away. But my goal was to let them experience the fun of achieving things one step at a time, with a clear objective in mind.
The motivation to climb higher is one of the greatest driving forces for self-growth and effort.
And another important factor was that the lease on this dorm would be up around that time anyway.
Gotta be frugal.
I chuckled at my own thoughts.
“Still, Answer did a good job cleaning up before they left.”
Hearing So Joong-han's thoughtless comment as he looked around the room, I realized I needed to give them a warning beforehand.
“Earl Grey may have released an album first, but Answer are your seniors by a long shot when it comes to broadcast debuts. Don't forget that, and show them respect.”
“Yes! Understood!”
Jang Hyun-seung's loud reply drowned out So Joong-han's mumbled one.
Yoon Woo-sung, who had gone to get rid of the car, returned, and soon, Chinese food arrived, filling two large delivery containers.
“Woooah.”
Four bowls of jajangmyeon, one for each of them, along with sweet and sour pork, kkanpunggi, and yangjangpi were laid out appetizingly on the table.
“You should eat too, PD-nim!”
“I'm on a diet.”
“This place makes great kkanpunggi.”
As they ate the Chinese food, the Earl Grey members savored each dish with expressions of pure bliss.
“Finish unpacking and rest for today. Starting tomorrow, you have to come to the office. Someone will pick you up at 8 AM.”
“When we get there, should we go to the studio?”
Thinking of setting up shop in the engineer's room already, as if you've made it? A bitter smile crept onto my face without me realizing.
“Director Lee Sun is in charge of external artist direction. You'll be starting with that.”
“What's external direction?”
“Our builds are fine, so it's probably stuff like skincare.”
So Joong-han answered Jang Hyun-seung's question.
…In what world is your build 'fine'? Does he even have abs to be saying something like that?
***
“Aaaah!
“Everyone! We've finally arrived at our new dorm!”
Seul-bi, her face full of anticipation, aimed the camera at the front door, while Seol-ah covered the apartment number with her hand.
“I think this is the most nervous I've been since we won first place on a music show.”
As Ro-si was about to enter the passcode, Yi-na blocked the camera. Then, gently closing her eyes, she brought a finger to her red lips and slowly shook her head.
-LOL, Yi-na is quiet as ever today.
-Why is she so cute trying to act all mature?
-Yi-na is on another level.
*Chime. Click.*
“The reveal!”
As the door opened, the bright white light blinded even the camera. It was a stark contrast to the gloomy, orange-lit old dorm. The Answer members screamed, all at once.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
“Oh my gosh!”
Three cleaning ladies, who had just finished and were tidying up, were startled by the Answer members' joyous screams.
*Patter-patter-patter-patter.*
The Answer members kicked off their shoes as if throwing them and rushed inside.
“Thank you for your hard work. I've just transferred the payment.”
“The young ladies are so... pretty.”
“They're usually very polite, but I guess they're just overjoyed right now. It was a difficult move for them.”
“Aigoo. We know how happy it feels to move into a nice house. Hoho, well, we'll be on our way then.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”
*Patter-patter-patter-patter.*
“Thank you for your haaard wooork!”
The Answer members, who had gone to check out the master bedroom, rushed over in a single wave to give their belated thanks. The move-in cleaners laughed, amused, as they left.
-Wahahaha, like a pack of puppies.
-I think this is the first time I've seen Answer be this hyper.
-I can understand Seul-bi and Yi-na acting like this, but I never imagined Seol-ah and Ro-si would be screaming and running around too.
-But isn't that patter-patter sound so cute? They must be sensitive about noise between floors.
-For real. They're running on their tiptoes, hahaha.
-They have to. Their old dorm was such a dump that the slightest movement would sound like hammering to the floor below.
*Patter-patter-patter-patter.*
“Kyaaaaaaah. The bathroom!”
The Answer members continued to explore every nook and cranny of the dorm.
Choi Yoo-jun, who had just come in, bowed his head to Min-jun.
“Phew. You worked hard.”
“You too.”
*Patter-patter-patter-patter.*
“Gasp! Two shower stalls!”
“There's a bathtub, too!”
-Ahaha, is this really a live broadcast?
-Looks like they forgot they're live, lol.
-Celebrities have it so good. Moving is a huge pain, but they just come back from a schedule and everything's cleaned and organized.
-Honestly, the money they make from one schedule is probably more than 10 times what it costs to hire people. It's only natural.
-That's right. These days, even dual-income couples hire cleaning services as a standard thing.
“Aack! It's an induction stove! I need to practice cooking!”
Seul-bi, who had only been screaming with joy until now, let out a cry of despair at the sight of the kitchen.
-Huh? Practice cooking?
-Is Seul-bi planning to do a cooking show instead of just mukbangs?
“To all our fans, thank you so much. It's because of your love that we were able to get a new dorm like this. I'm so touched. The new house smell is so nice.”
Seol-ah said, looking like she was about to cry.
-Ah! They say that new house smell is carcinogenic!
-They also say it can cause atopic dermatitis.
“It's not at that level.”
Min-jun cut into the frame.
-Oh, the idol's manager.
“Starting a week before the move-in cleaning, we cranked the heat to the max and aired the place out every morning and evening.”
-Ooh, they did a proper bake-out.
-Ahh, so that's what they call a bake-out.
-Right, baking isn't just for bread.
-JD Enter is doing a great job these days. Sending artists overseas, making Answer a success.
*Patter-patter-patter-patter.*
“Kyaa!”
“Gasp!”
*Phew...*
Min-jun and Yoo-jun both let out a sigh for reasons even they didn't fully understand.
The Answer members, their spirits refusing to settle, showed an energy that got even the fans excited, doing things like a ridiculous butt dance.
*Bzzz.*
Min-jun looked down at his vibrating phone.
-Variety Dept. 2, Lee Hee-jin PD-nim.
It was the female PD he had briefly met at the cafe with Seul-bi's father, Chef Lee Seung-chan.