Chapter 114
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 114
‘Heart-Pounding Let’s Eat Salad.’
It was a song based on an old anime theme song that had recently gone viral among the general public.
The defining characteristic of this song was its relentless emphasis on cuteness.
[?????]
[Guys??? No way??????]
Everyone rushed to the link.
Upon clicking the video, they saw Kang Yi-chae, Jeong Da-jun, and Seong Ji-won standing in a line with their eyes closed. The background was a kitchen drawn in a colorful, pastel-toned, cute art style. Soon, as the intro began, they opened their eyes, placed their hands on their hips, and began a rhythmic dance, lifting and lowering their heels.
[Squeeze, squeeze the lemon!
Heart-pounding, how tasty will it be!
My lovely salad!]
[Squeeze, squeeze the grapefruit!
Fluttering, how fresh will it be!
My delicious salad!]
On the screen, three tall, sturdy men were mimicking spraying sauce and eating in time with the adorable lyrics, yet they suited the song perfectly.
Seong Ji-won, the angel with a divine voice; Kang Yi-chae, the sly, delinquent-looking one; and Jeong Da-jun, the youngest puppy—all paired with a cute, bubbly old anime opening?
It was a winning combination.
[Aaaaaaaaah!]
[Dying from the cuteness.]
[Damn, are these the same guys who did Kill the Lights?? Why are they so good at this???]
They all danced with bright smiles without a hint of embarrassment, and among them, the youngest, Jeong Da-jun, was absolutely in his element.
[Ah, Jeong Da-jun, ah!!!]
[So cute!]
[He definitely watched this anime for real.]
[He was probably a hardcore fan watching from the front row of his living room.]
└ [LOL, now that I think about it, Da-jun is from the right generation for it.]
As everyone watched him with fond smiles, the three of them approached the camera during the last line of the first verse, pointed to the side with their index fingers, and smirked.
As if there was more to come.
[Wait, no way.]
There was.
[Are the Hyung-line doing it too?!?!]
The first verse had been composed of members who either suited the vibe or were mentally shameless enough to catch the fans off guard. The second verse was intentionally handed over to the remaining two who absolutely did not fit the concept. While the screen was still black and the interlude played, fans poured out their reactions.
[I-I’m not expecting anything. Whatever comes out is fine.]
[This auntie isn't expecting anything, okay?]
This time, Seo Ho-yun and Kim Seong-hyeon stood there, taking deep breaths against a background decorated with colorful, cute flowers.
[F*ck, I actually expected a lot! ! ! Thank you!!!!]
[Kijul (Faints)]
Wearing white sweatshirts, they stood with solemn faces that clashed with the cute melody before (eventually) stomping their feet in time with the first line.
[Ho-yun-aaaaaaah!!!!!]
[Ah, Kim Seong-hyeon, Kim Seong-hyeon, Kim Seong-hyeon!]
[Put the salad in the bowl and mix, mix!
Crush, crush the avocado!
If it’s a bit bland, sprinkle some salt~
Your gloomy mood will fly away!]
Kim Seong-hyeon’s ears turned beet red, and Seo Ho-yun kept his gaze fixed on the ground, occasionally seen taking deep breaths.
[Oh my god, Kim Seong-hyeon’s ears are so red.]
[He wants to marry me, I get it.]
[Seo Ho-yun, LOL. Him taking deep breaths is freaking hilarious, ahahaha.]
└ [No, but he’s getting more shameless as it goes on.]
└└ [Somehow his movements have become confident...]
Of course, toward the end, he stared shamelessly into the camera and made an exaggerated salt-sprinkling gesture.
[The magic of the salad, ta-da!
Let’s all be happy, heart-pounding!]
[Fck, so cute, fck, so cute, ah, so cute, ah.]
[I love you, ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
The two, who managed to keep their smiles until the very end, buried their faces in their hands and wiped their faces in exhaustion the moment the song stopped. Then the screen faded to black.
[I can’t believe it... I... I was a person who laughed this much...]
[I thought I was watching with a straight face, but when the screen turned off, I saw myself grinning like an idiot.]
While everyone was reeling from this never-before-seen side of The Dawn, a B-Live notification popped up.
[The Heart-Pounding Deonging-i-deul are here (V-sign emoji)]
‘This is it…!’
This was a winning stock.
Everyone lunged at the notification with fire in their eyes. When they entered the B-Live, the members were waving their hands in the practice room.
“Hello~!”
“Hello!”
They occasionally visited B-Live individually (with titles like ‘Hello, this is Ji-won’ for Seong Ji-won, or ‘The cutie is here’ for Kang Yi-chae), but a B-Live with all five members was different. The Dawn waved as they watched the chat scroll by at lightning speed.
However, the content today was a bit different from usual.
It was because the fans had been driven wild from the start.
[Guys, Heart-Pounding Salad.]
The fans, who didn't want this to end with just one video, prayed fervently.
[H-H-Heart-Pounding Salad, please do it.]
[Just one more time... ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Oppa Please I beg you]
“Heart-Pounding Salad?”
“Ah, Heart-Pounding Let’s Eat Salad!”
[Yes yes yes please]
[Please]
The Noeuls said it hoping the members would do even just one line or a small hand gesture…
But The Dawn, being the cute and eccentric weirdos they were, always exceeded the fans' expectations.
“Should we show them once?”
Then, Kang Yi-chae smiled and pulled out a box from the corner. Just as the chat filled with question marks, everyone jumped up.
“Let’s go!”
“Yeaaaah!!”
Lettuce, sugar, lemon juice, and other salad ingredients, along with a large mixing bowl.
Items prepared solely for ‘Heart-Pounding Let’s Eat Salad.’
[Aaaaaah, crazy!]
[No wonder they were in the practice room today, lol.]
[This is what an idol is.]
[F*ck.]
[The essence of an idol has appeared.]
“Squeeze, squeeze the lemon!”
“Squeeze, squeeze!!”
The Dawn, including Seo Ho-yun, were currently determined to do everything the fans asked for.
They even formed a formation, holding the bowl in one hand and making the salad with the other while excitedly shaking their arms. Even in that short time, it was obvious they had practiced.
“If it’s a bit bland, sprinkle some salt~.”
“Your gloomy mood will fly away!”
“W-Wait. Is it okay to sprinkle that much??”
Kim Seong-hyeon, who was shaking his hips in perfect sync, asked with shaking pupils as he watched an endless amount of salt go in. But the maknae line was very, very persistent. At the end, they all gathered together to eat the salad they made and even critiqued each other.
“Ugh, salty! Hyung… didn’t you put in too much salt?”
“It’s to make you happy~.”
“I knew you were putting in a lot.”
“…Whoa. Guys. Try Ho-yun’s. It’s actually delicious.”
“What?? How can you make it taste good in that short time?”
Seo Ho-yun, who had now caught on to what the fans wanted from him, shrugged nonchalantly. Kang Yi-chae chuckled and mimicked feeding the salad to the camera.
“Let’s be happy~, our Noeuls too~.”
“Please be very, very happy always!”
After The Dawn finished their B-Live, having recreated the trending challenge in real life, Seo Ho-yun’s fans—who had been fighting malicious comments until recently—poured out their satisfied reviews on social media.
[I’m keeping my baby idols forever.]
[Drain my soul for the rest of my life.]
[Even if a scout comes, I will never look away~!!!]
Moreover, the reaction was positive across the board, not just among Seo Ho-yun’s fans.
[This group is truly full of craziness and loveliness.]
[I plan to keep this B-Live video until my 80th birthday.]
[No?]
[What do you mean 80th? It’s the age of centenarians, I’m keeping it until I’m 120.]
As a result of The Dawn’s fans, deeply impressed by the video, diligently sharing it across various social media platforms, the ‘Heart-Pounding Let’s Eat Salad’ challenge—which originally trended on Tick-Tock—evolved into a challenge where people actually made and ate salad to the song, just like The Dawn. Soon, other idol groups began to hop on the trend and post their own videos.
[Refined’s Heart-Pounding Salad Challenge]
[High Five’s Heart-Pounding Salad Challenge]
[Let’s do the Heart-Pounding Salad Challenge together <3]
Even,
Ju Woo-seong, who had recently come to his senses, tilted his head in confusion while doing a Starstagram Live as he saw the requests for the Heart-Pounding Salad challenge flooding the comments.
[Heart-Pounding Salad? What’s that?]
After seeing a link someone posted, Ju Woo-seong set his phone aside and searched for the video on his computer. Upon seeing The Dawn’s Heart-Pounding Salad challenge on Nutube, he burst into laughter.
[Hey, Seo Ho-yun, what are you doing there??]
Forgetting he was in the middle of a broadcast, Ju Woo-seong cackled at Seo Ho-yun’s shamelessness. Then, still chuckling, he stood up from his chair like a professional.
[Alright, alright, I’ll dance it for you. Just a second~.]
The idol of idols. An idol admired by other idols, and a member of Black Call—one of the few groups currently considered the best. A video of Ju Woo-seong picking up the choreography after seeing it just once and dancing it flawlessly was uploaded.
Since it was Ju Woo-seong, the reaction went without saying.
[Wow, Ju-seong is seriously insane, lol. He just glances at it once and dances the whole thing.]
[Plus, he dances it with the most flavor.]
└ [He’s probably the best dancer among male idols these days.]
└└ [Did he really need to show off his skills even in the Heart-Pounding Salad challenge...]
[This guy is a total natural talent..]
└ [His face alone is already perfect,, ha,, Oppa,,]
As the video of Ju Woo-seong doing the Heart-Pounding Salad challenge (after laughing his head off at Seo Ho-yun) became a hot topic, a sense of pride swelled among the Noeuls that ‘The Dawn was the first to lead a new challenge trend.’
With that, the fatigue from the trolls vanished in an instant.
Seo Ho-yun, who had quickly capitalized on the Heart-Pounding Salad challenge suggested by Lee Ji-hyeon, watched the whole process with a bit of admiration.
‘If they like it, then….’
Thinking that it was fine as long as the fans were happy, Seo Ho-yun poked the salad in front of him with a fork. Because they had filled the fridge with greens to practice the challenge, they had been eating nothing but salad for days.
Nevertheless, Jeong Da-jun didn't seem to mind as he stuffed his mouth with salad and spoke while chewing.
“Salad is yummy.”
“That’s good.”
Ho-yun thought that perhaps living like Jeong Da-jun was the wisest thing to do, but even while his hands were busy eating salad, Jeong Da-jun suddenly became dejected.
“But really, what am I going to do about the CSAT….”
“…….”
Just as Seo Ho-yun had his own, Jeong Da-jun had his own worries.
* * *
“Oh!”
After successfully calming the atmosphere with the Heart-Pounding Salad challenge, I headed to the filming location for Yoo Ji-ah’s Nutube channel alone, and surprisingly, Ju Woo-seong was already there. I thought I would be the first to arrive.
I was about to give a casual greeting….
“Hell—”
“Is that our Ho-yun??”
“……??”
…Ju Woo-seong was a bit strange today.
‘Our Ho-yun? What’s wrong with him?’
Normally, Ju Woo-seong would either give a blank ‘Oh, hey,’ or if he was pissed off, he’d grit his teeth and say, ‘The son of a bitch is here.’
But, our Ho-yun?
He was beaming and smiling so brightly that a halo almost seemed to shine from his face. I unconsciously took two steps back.
“…What is it?”
Whenever Ju Woo-seong smiled like that, the outcome was usually not good. Didn't he smile just as broadly during that damn archery match on Victory is Mine?
The Heart-Pounding Salad challenge? Or some other aegyo? Please Take Care of the Camera? I considered all possibilities of what he might use to tease me and stood on guard, but Ju Woo-seong tilted his head.
“What’s what~?”
However, Ju Woo-seong just kept smiling brightly and didn't launch any attacks.
“Our ju~nior, it must have been hard coming all this way, please sit here! I prepared this for you!”
I approached him cautiously, staying as guarded as possible, and whispered quietly so the staff wouldn't hear.
“What kind of trap did you prepare today to act like this?”
“Huh? You’re really too much.”
“…Wow, you must have prepared a lot.”
Seeing how much he was building up the intro. As I muttered, Ju Woo-seong shook his head.
“Ho-yun, I’ve decided to become a senior you can be proud of and respect.”
Right….
“I enjoyed the Heart-Pounding Salad challenge. Your acting on Kabu was also very good.”
I hesitated for a moment. But I couldn't stop the words from popping out of my mouth.
“…And?”
“…….”
Ju Woo-seong, who had been speaking so prettily, seemed to get pissed off for a moment as he turned his head away and took a deep breath.
Of course, regardless of what I said, personally, seeing Ju Woo-seong after dealing with Min Ji-heon felt like coming back to my hometown. It was comfortable.
The guy turned back to me, dropping the corners of his eyebrows as if he were dejected.
“Hey, do you have to speak so hurtfully? I’m really trying my best here.”
“What’s hurtful is the way you’re talking right now, Ju Woo-seong.”
“You prickly bastard, seriously….”
Seeing Ju Woo-seong return to his usual self after just a little poking, I nodded with satisfaction.
Yeah, this is the pushover I know.
Ju Woo-seong threw away all the build-up, returned to his original self, tilted his head, and got straight to the point.
“Hey, do you know how insane the reaction was last time?”