Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Episode 36 Chiljeonpalgi (2)
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Kang Han-do stepped out of the house for the Chiljeonpalgi pre-meeting.
Today was the day he’d finally meet the fixed cast members for Chiljeonpalgi.
The only people he knew were Oh Min-tae and Shin Yong-woo.
‘Shin Yong-woo sunbae. It’s been a long time since I last heard that name.’
A celebrity who’d started out as a comedian, ten years older than Kang Han-do.
Even though they’d debuted through different broadcasters’ public recruitments, when viewed through the broad lens of comedians, he was definitely a senior figure to Kang Han-do.
On air, he came off as aggressive with his constant nagging and sharp jabs, but behind the scenes, he was the best kind of senior—always looking out for and cherishing his juniors more than anyone.
Age-wise, Shin Yong-woo was the oldest.
Next came Jeong Hak-gu, one year his junior.
Then Timbo and Yang Ho, four years younger.
Bringing up the rear were Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae.
Those two formed the maknae line.
‘Talk about a twist of fate.’
If Oh Shin-hoon had joined, the third spot would’ve been safe.
But with Kang Han-do stepping in as a Chiljeonpalgi member, he’d somehow landed in the maknae line while snagging the main MC role.
The most junior maknae was now the main MC.
It was a spot that could stir up some unease.
However.
‘They’re all solid people without any rough edges. No issues there.’
They weren’t the type to look down on someone just for being a junior or younger.
This wasn’t mere guesswork from watching broadcasts.
Kang Han-do had worked in the industry. He’d never met them one-on-one socially, but he had crossed paths with them at group events a few times.
Of course, they wouldn’t remember him.
Still, recalling how they’d acted back then, he doubted they’d say or do anything to dismiss him for being the maknae.
‘This is nerve-wracking.’
Kang Han-do let out a wry smile.
To him, the Chiljeonpalgi cast were like superstars.
The shining stars of variety TV.
God-like figures in the variety world!
They’d set the trends in variety shows. Sure, these days they faced talk of being washed up or fading from relevance, but Chiljeonpalgi had reborn them as variety gods.
Just getting to stand alongside them was an honor for Kang Han-do.
Could they rise again as variety gods?
It all came down to what Kang Han-do made of it.
He had to fill Oh Shin-hoon’s empty spot properly.
He arrived at the pre-meeting location.
His heart pounded.
He headed to the small conference room where Yoo Tae-hwan PD was waiting.
Knock knock knock.
“Yes, come in.”
The voice of Lee Yeon-shin, the writer he hadn’t heard in ages.
He opened the door carefully, and Yoo Tae-hwan PD and the Chiljeonpalgi writers greeted him warmly.
“Hello.”
“Huh? You’re early. Plenty of time left before the meeting.”
“Wanted to get here before the sunbaes.”
“As expected of Han-do. Love that attitude. That’s exactly why your sunbaes like you.”
“Haha, thank you.”
Yoo Tae-hwan PD gave Kang Han-do a thumbs-up.
Better to arrive twenty minutes early than be late.
No way was he letting a first impression stamp him as a chronic latecomer.
That was fine for Kang Han-do.
‘Min-tae, why hasn’t this guy shown up yet?’
Five minutes till the meeting.
He’d told Oh Min-tae they should arrive twenty minutes early together.
But there was still no sign of him.
A belated message popped up.
-Oh Min-tae: Traffic’s insane, gave up on the car and running to the station now!
-Oh Min-tae: No one there yet?
Kang Han-do fired back: ‘Yeah, hurry up.’
Three minutes to go.
Murmurs drifted in from outside.
‘That voice...’
Kang Han-do knew right away who it was.
Timbo and Yang Ho.
With a knock, they appeared.
“Hello!”
“Hello, I’m Timbo!”
Timbo, the active singer.
And Yang Ho, the talent and Timbo’s best friend.
The two strode in side by side, as if on cue.
Kang Han-do stood right away and bowed in greeting.
“Hello. I’m comedian Kang Han-do.”
“Wow, you’re really Han-do-ssi, right?”
It was Timbo’s first time seeing Kang Han-do in the flesh.
It had to be that way.
He and Timbo had only met before his regression.
Post-regression, this was their first direct encounter.
Yang Ho was in the same boat.
“Wow... Meeting a superstar in person. What an honor.”
“The honor’s all mine. Looking forward to working with you. And feel free to drop the formalities—I’m way junior to you both.”
“For real? We can go casual?”
“Of course.”
A golden chance to buddy up with Kang Han-do, variety’s current hotshot.
Timbo pointed at Yang Ho and himself.
“Call us hyung too. No need to be stiff.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re all family now that we’re doing a show together. Family should get along.”
The two had incredibly high likability.
No different from how Kang Han-do remembered them.
“Got it. Timbo hyung, Yang Ho hyung it is.”
“Sounds good. Take care of us.”
“You too.”
Yoo Tae-hwan PD’s lips curved into a pleased smile at how quickly the cast was warming up.
* * *
Just over a minute left till the meeting.
Oh Min-tae made a nail-biter entrance.
“S-sorry I’m late!”
Yoo Tae-hwan PD shook his head.
“You’re not late. But why are you drenched in sweat?”
The weather wasn’t hot at all.
If anything, it felt like early winter.
Everyone was bundled in coats, yet here was Oh Min-tae, sweating bullets.
It was impossible not to wonder.
Kang Han-do explained on his behalf.
“He said traffic was bad, so he got out of the car midway and ran straight here without stopping.”
“Whoa, for real?”
“Could’ve just texted if you were running late.”
Yoo Tae-hwan PD and the writers felt a pang of unnecessary guilt.
But Oh Min-tae brushed it off.
“Promises have to be kept. That’s my creed!”
Kang Han-do clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Liar.’
The guy had flaked on dinner plans multiple times before.
The sheer gall of spouting that with a straight face had Kang Han-do stifling a laugh.
Still, he didn’t want to rib Oh Min-tae in front of Timbo and Yang Ho.
Oh Min-tae exchanged greetings with them.
Just like Kang Han-do, he quickly fell into a hyung-dongsaeng dynamic.
It was exactly meeting time.
“Hello.”
The eldest, Shin Yong-woo, made his entrance.
Everyone shot to their feet.
“You’ve arrived, sunbae-nim.”
“Hey, hey, what’s with that? Just sit.”
Shin Yong-woo had shared stages with Timbo and Yang Ho a few times before.
He was tight with those two.
Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae were a different story.
Perhaps irked by their formal vibe, Shin Yong-woo spoke up first.
“You guys went hyung-dongsaeng with Timbo and Yang Ho, right?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“How’d you know?”
Oh Min-tae chimed in after Kang Han-do.
They hadn’t called them hyung in front of Shin yet. Even so, he’d nailed it on the first try.
Shin Yong-woo curled his lips into a grin.
“That’s just how those two are. Call me hyung too. And do the same with Hak-gu when he gets here. I give permission.”
Laughter bubbled up from the pre-meeting attendees.
Ten minutes past schedule.
Jeong Hak-gu arrived.
“Aigoo, sorry. Traffic was brutal...”
Same situation as Oh Min-tae.
The difference? Whether he’d actually run or not.
Shin Yong-woo shook his head at Jeong Hak-gu.
“Tsk tsk tsk. Heard some fresh-faced rookie ditched his car and sprinted here to avoid being late. And you’re just chilling?”
“Told you ahead of time I’d be late. Twenties can afford to run. Us late-thirties need to start taking care of our bodies.”
“Pfft. Keep ‘taking care’ of that body and you’ll be back in obscurity.”
Shin Yong-woo and Jeong Hak-gu’s chemistry was electric.
Shin usually played the nagger, with Jeong Hak-gu fielding it.
That’s how it’d been on Chiljeonpalgi.
Kang Han-do had already mapped out positions for all six, including himself.
He needed to tailor them to each person’s concept and role.
They couldn’t all go the hot-tempered nagger route like Shin Yong-woo, the shouting gag maestro.
One of that type was plenty.
Individuality had to shine through.
Kang Han-do’s job was guiding them so concepts didn’t overlap.
Yoo Tae-hwan PD cleared his throat.
“Ahem! Alright, everyone’s here, so let’s chat.”
The first pre-meeting kicked off.
* * *
It was called a pre-meeting, but nothing too complicated.
Mostly just an excuse to put faces to names.
The episode 1 shoot details had already been shared with the cast.
Here’s what Chiljeonpalgi episode 1 entailed.
“We’ll pit you against a packaging machine. The theme is ‘Human VS Machine! Who finishes packing first?’—capturing your challenge on camera. Writers already looped you all in, right?”
The cast nodded along with their affirmatives.
Yoo Tae-hwan PD pressed on.
“Winter’s right around the corner, yeah? Winter means Christmas. Airdate should land about one or two weeks before. We cooked up this battle concept with that in mind, but...”
“Got a question.”
Oh Min-tae shot his hand up.
Such proactive energy—nice to see.
The attitude Yoo Tae-hwan PD approved of.
“Yeah. Min-tae, go ahead.”
“It’s us six versus the packaging machine, right?”
“Correct.”
“Can we win?”
No matter how amazing humans are, could they match a machine’s speed?
By common sense, no shot.
But Yoo Tae-hwan PD saw it differently.
“Comically staging the attempt against impossible odds—that’s our gig. Min-tae, you didn’t forget, did you? This ain’t some Guinness record chase. We’re a variety crew here to crack people up. Our goal’s delivering huge laughs, massive fun. Not grinding through some do-or-die mission to beat the machine for real.”
“R-right. Sorry. Got too serious there without realizing.”
“Haha! No worries. That fire’s a good look too.”
Oh Min-tae had briefly misunderstood.
He’d thought they had to win at all costs.
How big a laugh could they give the viewers?
That was the real win condition.