Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Instead of asking back, I quietly made dog ears and stuck them to the sides of my head.
Even as I did, the guy next to me kept on talking.
"That hyung got on Park Hyeong-tae's bad side for real."
Now it was time for cat ears.
Flipping a V upside down and sticking it on my head... since I'm someone who knows the embarrassment of explaining every single thing, let's just gloss over it.
"You'd better keep your distance too. I heard the grade evaluation was an absolute mess."
Lastly, I curled my hands into circles and put them on my head.
These were bear ears.
'Seems like bears and I are pretty far apart though.'
This associative effect, commonly called moe-ification, was actually... closer to simple brainwashing than a real resemblance, so the more popular someone got, the more people would claim they looked alike.
So the mascots taken on by the centers of each idol team were usually one of the mainstream animals in character merchandising, like a dog, cat, rabbit, or bear.
Locking in an image as one of them would be a huge help in establishing a character. If mascots overlapped, it'd spark subtle tension, so it was better to stake a claim as early as possible.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Yes."
"You did, right?"
"Yes."
I thought a cat would be best, if possible. A dog might overlap with Kim Sanho, after all.
* * *
The production presentation conference ended with the group procession walking (and being filmed) under natural light after leaving the dingy auditorium.
Before getting into the manager's car, I paused for a moment and looked around.
"Why?"
"Oh, nothing."
'Baek Gyeon-u would... get home on his own, I guess.'
I nodded at the manager's words to get in back and opened the rear door.
"Hyung!"
"......What, why'd you follow me?"
"Let's eat on the way back."
He was all hyped up.
I squeezed in next to Kim Sanho, who was all crammed into the cramped sedan, and he immediately started chattering away. Most of it was about choosing what to eat.
I told him to pick anything and that I had something to search for now, so I'd hang out with him later.
I picked up my phone and went into the Wit app. The reactions were probably starting to come up by now.
'Ah, the trainees' names haven't been revealed yet.'
Fortunately, it looked like I wouldn't have to go to the trouble of picking search terms.
It was because I had followed every idol fan account I could, so scrolling down just a little on my timeline made Make Back-related Wits pour out in a flood.
As expected, even if people said the bubble had burst, it still flaunted its majesty among fans.
'Oh, my picture's popping up right away too—.'
—#202X0305 MAKE100% Production Presentation Preview
Fox, making a powerful entrance!
—#MAKEBACKSEVEN #PREVIEW
A fox pretending to be a bunny
A fox pretending to be a cat
A fox pretending to be a dog
A fox pretending to be a bear
—Funny stuff from today's Make7 fan showcase
Haven't learned his name yet but this hella-fucking-handsome friend just kept providing unlimited fan service and was a total robot, me and everyone around me cackling lol this is K-idol
└I thought he was sneering, but watch the fancam of this
LOLOLOL <— is not it
Awoooo~~ so freaking funny♡♡ <— this is it
Feel like I went to a live pet show for noonas
—No but look at his face, he's the only one with a different version in that group, is he a new char?
└New char lol now that you say it, his fan service is like "/fan service" lmao (I mean it's cute...)
—New char guy, are we connected, kid? I pushed the 160cm height theory since he only showed his upper body in the music video, but the lord's hand slipped again
—I'm telling you, this season's Make Back debut team is going to eat up the whole world. The 5th gen prospects are fucking bright
└Debut team isn't even confirmed yet, you coming from the future?
└Lol no, at least Airplane-z is a lock, so... as long as the production crew doesn't suddenly unearth mud hidden in the mud, yeah
—But new char guy even prepared a 4-set of animal ears, so why'd he randomly end up a fox? He doesn't really look like a fox though, I was pushing cat
└I pushed deer
└Nah, that's not it
└A cat's wrong too?
└Wrong
└Wrong
"......."
I scrolled down in silence, then turned off the power.
My face came into sharp focus on the pitch-black phone screen.
"San-ho."
"Yeah?"
"Do I look like a fox?"
At my question, his fingers, which were busily searching for good restaurants, came to an abrupt halt.
Kim Sanho stared at my face intently, slowly furrowed his brow, and began to ponder seriously.
"Hmm."
"......."
"Hmm......."
"......."
"A little bit like, not like, like, not li......."
"Forget it."
I cut off his lukewarm response and thought to myself.
'How did I end up as a fox?'
I'm not saying I look like some other animal, but when you don't look like any animal, isn't a dog or cat the safe, generic choice?
"Ah, I just thought of it."
"What?"
"What you look like, hyung."
Kim Sanho closed the restaurant search window and connected to NeoTube.
Kim Sanho, who had been covering the screen and searching for a video while saying it was a surprise, held out his phone to me.
In the video he showed me, it was something standing on two feet, puffing itself up huge, and threatening a person.......
"A red panda?"
"Yes."
"No way."
It seemed to be getting further and further away from me. I was about to let out a hollow laugh, but then I realized it in that moment.
The commonality between a red panda and a fox.
"......Could it be because of the hair color?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah! I think that's right."
Right now, my hair was naturally brown. Just enough that it looked orange under sunlight.
I knew I didn't really look like a particular animal, but even so, I'd never imagined I'd be assigned one based on hair color.
'Not even Yellowy or Blackie.......'
It wasn't that I disliked being a fox. It was just that, isn't a fox a bit more niche compared to other animals?
"Hyung, why are you searching for fox crying sounds?"
"To brainwash myself."
Well, what could I do.
If they say fox, then fox it is.
* * *
—Guys you promised you'd only look at Jundol your whole lives... ㅠ
└Dude who is your profile pic, that's not Junseok
└That's how it ended up, please give lots of love to new char guy
—#ProductionConference
Our fresh first meeting
On the (black cat emoji) side for life starting today ♡
—Went to the fan showcase, some of the ones who weren't in the music video were pretty good-looking too, the polarization is crazy serious but the good-looking ones are seriously good-looking
└Why'd the ones not in the music video not appear?
└Dunno? Just guessing junk content did junk content things
—But when exactly are you going to tell us the kids' names? Until when do I have to call these friends like I'm naming unidentifiable criminals?
└(This is a private reply.)
└Oh thank you
—Oh wait daebak, Seo Cha-gyeom from Me7 is on it
└Right??? I doubted my eyes too why is he in a place like this lol
└No way, is that rumor true
└Oh?? What is it?? I know he left and a bunch of others rushed out
└DM go
—The audience recruitment is already up, so the kids must be in training camp now... eat lots of sausages and hang in there
└Do side dishes still only come as sausages these days?
* * *
"......? What's this?"
"Cup ramen and snacks. I heard the food there tastes awful."
"Who said that? Food is all just food."
"That's because you eat so carelessly, hyung....... If you take it and share with the other trainees, you could get close to them, which would be nice."
Did he think I was going to school for a new semester or something.
That was a thought that could come off as needlessly sarcastic, so I buried it. I obediently nodded as I accepted the snack bundle Kim Sanho handed me.
"Sure, and don't skip training just because I'm not there."
"I work hard at everything I'm told to do."
"Then while you're at it......."
Before I could even finish speaking, Kim Sanho quickly backpedaled and slipped right into the building.
'He's always so slow-moving but fast only at times like this.'
I was just going to tell him to look around for some decent kids, and he got scared for no reason.
Inwardly reflecting on whether I'd worked him too hard, I loaded the carrier into the trunk and got into the manager's car.
This training camp period ahead of the first competition was about a week long. If I entered now, I could only come back after the competition ended.
Originally, it was a system of a 3-day camp followed by individual practice, but I heard it changed because a trainee once went around spouting spoilers on his own. Did they have leftover production budget or something.
"Cha-gyeom, fighting!"
"Get in safely."
The manager, who had moved my carrier to the entrance of the lodging, waved his hand back and forth as he returned to the car.
I was about to step inside without thinking when I remembered that room assignments hadn't been finalized yet.
No wonder everyone just tossed their stuff and left. I, too, wedged my carrier in among the scattered luggage and then immediately tried to head to the assembly area.
"Hyung, why didn't you get a drink?"
"Huh?"
Ahn Jiwon, who had been sitting at the threshold of the dorm entrance like someone whose debt had defaulted, suddenly stood up and asked. He was holding a drink cup with a large franchise logo stamped on it.
"Didn't you see the truck when you came in?"
"Truck?"
Ahn Jiwon, who had frowned slightly at my return question, quickly relaxed his expression and shook the cup left and right.
"They're collaborating with Dayday Coffee this time and said they're giving drinks out for free every morning. Go and pick out whatever you want to have."
"Ah."
"Drink the same thing as me! Iced Americano!"
I really didn't want to drink that.
I scratched my cheek for a moment and ultimately turned my steps in the direction Ahn Jiwon pointed.
Since PPL would unconditionally be broadcast on air. I had to pick something and at least pretend to drink it.
The reason I hadn't spotted the coffee truck was simple. It was because the manager, having spotted a cluster of cars, had skillfully steered us to another route and dropped me off where there were no people.
Three trucks were lined up side by side in the giveaway zone; two were for the staff, and the trainees' share was the one in the middle.
As I got closer, one staff member handed me a paper coupon with my name on it, calling it a voucher.
As luck would have it, there was only one person standing in the waiting line.
'.......'
The moment I recognized who it was, I walked straight up without a second thought.
"I'll get the same thing as this hyung, please."
"......Huh?"
Han Neuti, who had a sports bag slung over his shoulder, whipped his head around.
Upon identifying me, he lightly ignored my eye greeting and instead asked, sounding utterly dumbfounded.
"Yah, how come you're asking for the same thing without even knowing what it is?"
"Just because? I was curious about hyung's taste."
"Why are you curious about that?"
I couldn't bring myself to say it was because I was starting with a taste survey since I was at a loss on how to recruit him as a colleague.
Unable to find an answer, I shut my mouth and stared at him quietly, and instead, he, who had done nothing wrong, lowered his eyes and started mumbling.
"Well, my taste is kind of unique....... Did you pick it? Don't blame me, okay?"
"I won't."
How unique could a drink taste preference be? Ginger tea?
Or maybe, surprisingly, he liked sweet things. From just looking at his face, he seemed like the type to only drink iced Americano, so.......
"One Cucumber Toktok Sparkling Ade."
"......."
"......."
Every one of them was wrong.
At the end of the wait, what landed in both our hands was a green drink with a whole mini cucumber stabbed right into it.
Seeing me speechless at that generous-portion figure, Han Neuti squirmed and began to explain.
"I'm just, I kind of like cucumbers......."
"Wow, it's tasty."
"Without even taking a sip?"
I pulled out the cucumber skewer pitifully submerged inside the soda and crunched on it. Well, it just tasted like cucumber.
Just how badly persecuted had he been? When I chewed the cucumber without a word of complaint, Han Neuti stared at me like he was watching someone eat dirt.
No, you're the one who ordered it, so why.
"......Do you like cucumbers too?"
"I don't dislike them."
"No, from what I can see, you've got talent. Join the O Sa Mo."
I just chewed and ate the cucumber and gave the leftover drink to Han Neuti.