Chapter 120
Chapter 120
The evening before the live broadcast of Idol Comprehensive Review.
Sitting in front of the TV, Juha kept sweeping back his bangs and moistened his parched lips with his tongue.
'...Please.'
There was a valid reason for his nervousness over merely watching a variety program.
'Don't mess up!'
He had seen plenty of the members' off-stage sides through behind-the-scenes content and radio shows released by the company.
Since the team was formed and debuted hastily, he had secretly worried whether things would be awkward between the members, but HAZERD already looked as comfortable as a family.
Their talk never cut off abruptly or lapsed into awkward silence. He had never heard them give awkward laughs either.
But variety shows were a different realm.
It was a place where countless mistakes occurred because people became overly ambitious under the pressure to liven the mood and create fun, leading to errors.
'It'd be better if they were no-fun...'
He prayed earnestly.
Exaggerated reactions and forced individual talents only made the viewers cringe.
Getting obsessed with gags could cause the misfortune of an idol's fantasy shattering in an instant...
'If I wanted to see something funny, I'd have liked comedians.'
Since HAZERD was a group whose faces solved everything anyway, even just sitting still would get them above average.
And then, finally, the broadcast began with a flashy sound effect.
[MC Yeonsu: Huh? What's this?]
The broadcast opened with a scene where the production team was stealthily handing something to the MC in the waiting room.
[MC Yeonsu: A surprise camera? What mischievous prank have our producers prepared this time? Who's coming on today?]
Following that, a short introductory video for HAZERD rapidly flashed by.
The screen filled with common captions seen in K-POP idol intro videos such as 'Appearing like a comet', 'Unprecedented visuals', and 'Dominating digital charts'.
'So clichéd.'
Thinking that the exact same captions would have been used for any rookie group, not just HAZERD, Juha chicly brushed snack crumbs from his mouth.
[MC Yeonsu: Ah, HAZERD! I missed you so much! I heard you're an all-visual-center idol group.]
The MC made an exclamation in an exaggerated acting tone.
[MC Yeonsu: Let's see here. So what I have to do is... Huh?]
The camera closed in on the cue card the MC was holding.
In the center of the card, the following words were written in large letters.
[Believe in HAZERD and Do Nothing!]
Soon, the contents of the surprise camera that the production team had prepared were revealed with cheerful background music.
An extreme autonomy mission where the six members had to lead the broadcast entirely on their own, with no help whatsoever.
As Juha confirmed this, he unknowingly furrowed his brow.
"Ah, dammit..."
It was going to be a massive hit or a total disaster.
The members would either flop by overreacting with unfunny exaggerations, or flop by just dragging on in awkward silence.
Juha desperately prayed for the latter.
Soon, HAZERD appeared on the set where only six chairs and profile panels were placed.
[One, two. Hello, we are HAZERD! (cheep cheep)]
As befitting a show specializing in idols, a brutal moe-ification began immediately.
Sprout CGs were drawn over the members' heads, and cute sound effects were added to every trivial action.
'Excessive.'
But... it was cute.
After entering, the HAZERD members had been fidgeting and looking around, and finally blinked as if they had noticed something strange.
Kim Yuri soon opened her mouth.
[Kim Yuri(Head Chick): When is the MC...?]
A cold voice of the production team was heard from off-camera.
[Production team: Not coming.]
Then the members' reactions to the production team's statement, 'Today, you'll be handling things yourselves,' were shown.
[HAZERD: What? (shocked)(surprised)(pupil earthquake)(frozen)]
[Flustered Variety Newbies!]
'Cute.'
Hm, Juha unknowingly lifted the corners of his mouth slightly.
He felt like he finally understood the production team's intention a little.
The taste of an unpolished, raw, awkward, and fresh-faced rookie that had disappeared at some point due to the agencies' meticulous training.
That must have been what they planned to show...
[Seo Cha-gyeom: Then shall we start with self-introductions?]
[Baek Gyeonwoo: Let's sit down. First.]
[However, the way they quickly calmed down and accepted the situation...]
'What the.'
They weren't surprised at all?
The production team seemed quite disappointed by the members' unexpected reaction, as the caption font changed to a feeble, squiggly style.
[Baek Gyeonwoo: My MBTI is INFJ.]
[Kim Yuri: Ah~ In today's terms, they call that your 'chugumi'! 'The ideal image of myself that I pursue'!]
[Baek Gyeonwoo: No, for real.]
[Seo Cha-gyeom: My MBTI is ROCK.]
[Han Neuti: Are we... supposed to laugh?]
[Jeong Sowol: It's funny.]
[The Members' Never-Ending Talk (feat. MBTIs with Zero Credibility)]
[Kim Sanho: A lot of people tell me I resemble a deer.]
[Seo Cha-gyeom: What about a puppy?]
[Jeong Sowol: San-ho hyung looks like a harp seal though.]
[Seo Cha-gyeom: What does that even mean.]
[Jeong Sowol: Why are you getting all serious, hyung?]
[The conversation...]
[Doesn't end!]
[At this rate, the recording will end]
"Huh."
At the absurd sight, Juha eventually burst out laughing.
And once the laughter started, it didn't know how to stop. After laughing for a long while, his shoulders shaking, he murmured with the corners of his mouth reaching his ears.
"So cute..."
And to quell the surge of violence that rose in proportion to the cuteness, he hurriedly turned on Wit.
―During yesterday's radio, the audio didn't have a single second of silence, so I thought they were trying hard, but turns out they're just chatterboxes
―The kids are so quietly loud lololol Watching them, it's total chaos
―If you turn off the sound and subtitles, it's literally the scene of a UN General Assembly
―Hey guys, can you include us too....?? I wanna hang out and chat in your living room ㅠㅠ
―Production: Handle it yourselves / HAZERD: So great! It's totally our world! We're excited!
'Wow, a lot of people are posting in real time.'
He was reminded once again of HAZERD's firepower.
Juha smiled contentedly in the boisterous and cheerful atmosphere and left his own comment.
―So-wol, the cat is Neuti's
And then, the broadcast screen showed the MC secretly watching the members from the corner of the studio.
[MC Yeonsu: When do I go out? I'm getting antsy here...]
―Lolololol oh that expression
―I think you can clock out for the day, sunbae-nim lololol
―This is the surprise camera?
―They said they were newbies!! Newbies!!!!
In the end, HAZERD's otherworldly self-introduction talk met a fast-forward ending.
[The members' self-introduction talk will be released in full on NeoTube after the broadcast ends]
[Please look forward to the content (please)]
The production team's tired-looking squiggly font was a nice touch.
Though in the eyes of fans, it only looked like a happy announcement meaning 'Massive teokbap explosion expected today'.
'Ah, this show is packed with content!'
The moment he resolved to leave a positive comment on the official website, a message came from Hyelin.
[Hyelin: The kids aren't even nervous lol They're already total pros ㅠㅠ]
'I know, right!'
Just as he was about to reply in violent agreement, the situation on screen changed quickly.
It was finally revealed to be a surprise camera, and the MC appeared in front of HAZERD.
[MC Yeonsu: Ah, I thought I was just going home like this today. Did you all have fun?]
[HAZERD: ...Hello, sunbae-nim!]
'Huh?'
The excited chattering from moments ago vanished completely, and the members all froze up and gave stiff greetings.
Seizing the moment, the production team once again began pouring out brutal moe-ification captions and sound effects.
[MC Yeonsu: But it's strange? Why do they seem more awkward now that I'm here.]
[Kim Yuri: O-oh, no...! We've just been waiting for you to come, sunbae-nim! (Shivering)]
[Seo Cha-gyeom: That's right... (pupil earthquake)]
The members' awkward and cute behavior made Wit flare up hotly in a different direction.
―Th-they're nervous, the kids are nervous!!!!
―So they get nervous in front of their senior lolol It's so obvious they're babies, makes me wonder what to get them for Children's Day
―Isn't this totally different from how they were when they were alone among themselves???
―Pro idols, we said pro idols, but the fact remains, that man was also a rookie...
Juha was also covering his mouth and crying out.
'Neuti!'
...But come to think of it, he wasn't any different from usual?
Having realized this, he scratched the back of his head and focused on watching again.
[MC Yeonsu: It's time for the initiation ceremony no rookie idol can avoid! Random PlaRei Dance!]
'This is already no-fun.'
Because HAZERD would surely pull off every song perfectly.
Of course, that sight could be proud and cool, but the entertainment fun was bound to suffer.
Juha crossed his arms with a deliberately arrogant expression and secretly looked forward to it.
'The taste of a skills flex is great.'
However.
[MC Yeonsu: Wrong!]
'...?'
[MC Yeonsu: Oh dear, our HAZERD! Since you debuted not too long ago, you seem to still be mixing up your own song's choreography!]
"What?"
The members had just perfectly executed the choreography.
The song was the same for the first and second verses, so how on earth could they tell they were doing it wrong?
Were they pulling such a shameless stunt just because they didn't want to give away a single Korean beef set?
Unable to contain his rage at this unbelievable pettiness, Juha logged into Wit and poured out harsh words.
―I'll buy you that damn beef set, f*** it, I won't eat it cuz it's dis
His anger only grew as he typed.
―Aren't you just giving out s***ty crappy things like guest appearance tickets?
Juha's fingers, which had been typing out his fury for a while, came to an abrupt halt.
Because the screen stopped as if paused, and captions appeared with a large exclamation mark.
[No Raging, Everyone!]
[Please watch the production team's explanation]
'Yikes.'
Feeling pricked, Juha meekly turned off Wit.
And then, the screen transitioned and once again showed the MC waiting lonely in the waiting room.
He received something from the production team and wore a flustered expression.
[MC Yeonsu: Uh-oh, this kind of surprise? Ah, I can't do this. I'm the only one who becomes a villain! I don't want to get cursed out!]
Using his cries as background music, the true purpose of this Random PlaRei Dance was written out on the pitch-black screen.
[This is all a surprise camera prepared to upgReide the members' variety skills!]
[The production team's intent to teach the members how to survive the harsh realities of social life... please understand... (heart)]
"......"
Hyelin meekly deleted the swear words she wrote on Wit.
'They really do all sorts of things.'
Rather than training with the profound intention of actually improving the members' variety skills, she thought it was just the production team's scheme to squeeze out fun.
But her thoughts changed the moment she saw the following scenes.
[MC Yeonsu: Wrong! Our Cha-gyeom, the choreography is slightly different for the second verse, right?]
[Seo Cha-gyeom: Yes, the second verse enters one beat later than the first verse...]
[Chicks who obediently admit even to the MC's absurdity ㅠㅠ]
[MC Yeonsu: So-wol's arm angle is about 15 degrees lower than the other members!]
[Jeong Sowol: Ah, I'm sorry.]
[By this point, even in the production team's eyes, the MC looked like a devil]
'Why are these kids so ridiculously naive?'
Can't they even obstinately deny it?
She expected it from Han Neuti, but she didn't think even Seo Cha-gyeom, who seemed so sharp, would be like that.
'How can you survive the harsh entertainment industry with such a soft heart!'
Seeing the members completely deflated and staring at the empty display stand, her heart genuinely ached.
Before she knew it, the only remaining prize was one guest appearance ticket.
And sure enough, the production team's antics repeated themselves this time as well.
[Wrong!]
At this heart-wrenching scene that was impossible to watch without tears, Juha fervently prayed that the MC would now stop, reveal the truth about the surprise camera, and rescue the members.
That was when it happened.
[Seo Cha-gyeom: Um... sunbae-nim.]
Seo Cha-gyeom finally opened his mouth.
[Seo Cha-gyeom: That part just now... it was the first verse.]
'Cha-gyeom! That's right!'
I knew if anyone would step up, it'd be you!
Touched by the counterattack that had finally begun, Juha clenched his fist tightly.
[Seo Cha-gyeom: The electric sound is different.]
However, what followed was a statement somewhat different from what he expected.