Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Episode 19. An Unexpected Opportunity (1)
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The final attempt.
If they succeeded in twenty jumps this time, they would clear the first mission.
Even though it was only the first mission, with Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae's unexpected appearance, plus Choi Ye-hee's singing skills.
Maybe it was because so many great scenes had come from unexpected places. The PD's face was lit up with a constant smile.
But that was that, and this was this.
“Beep!”
The whistle blew once more, and the rope started turning without fail.
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three…….”
The steady count from the participants continued.
After six tries, they seemed to have gotten the hang of it. The nine participants showed decent teamwork, smoothly handling more than fifteen jumps.
However, they couldn't afford to get complacent.
Hadn't they just barely passed nineteen only to fail at the twentieth?
‘Complacency…….’
‘……is absolutely forbidden!’
They steeled their resolve inwardly.
But the goddess of luck did not smile upon them.
“Gasp!”
Was the pressure too much? The rope caught on Oh Min-tae's right ankle.
With that, boos erupted from the crowd once again.
“Time!!”
Oh Shin-hoon suddenly halted the game. He began negotiating with the PD again.
In short, they were asking for one more chance.
At that moment, one corner of the PD's mouth twitched upward.
‘Alright, let's really milk this for all it's worth!’
Instead of accepting outright, the PD—who was openly scheming—attached a condition.
“If Kang Han-do-ssi and Oh Min-tae-ssi can make the people here laugh, I'll consider it.”
“……!”
It was a matter of pride as comedians.
* * *
Make the people in the open lot laugh!
Faced with the PD's new mission, Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae couldn't hide their momentary bewilderment.
This was out of left field.
The reason Choi Ye-hee had sung in the first place was precisely because 'celebrities shouldn't step forward but should draw reactions from the audience.'
So they'd assumed there'd be no need for them to step up this time either, but things were different now.
‘I can never predict what that PD is thinking even one step ahead.’
Kang Han-do let out a small inward sigh. But the PD had already laid out the demand. There was no backing out now.
Only one choice remained: whether Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae would take on the challenge of making people laugh as per the PD's proposal.
Of course, it was no choice at all.
They had to do it.
Unlike Choi Ye-hee, they were celebrities. Being celebrities meant delivering more than just meeting expectations.
If they not only failed to meet them but rejected the proposal outright here, it would only leave the crowd deeply disappointed.
Moreover, the PD wasn't asking them to do something outside their wheelhouse—like sing well like Ye-hee.
Make people laugh!
That was Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae's specialty.
Kang Han-do sighed briefly and exchanged a glance with Oh Min-tae. Oh Min-tae nodded.
No words were exchanged, but the look in their eyes made their decision clear.
Kang Han-do gave his answer.
“Yes, we'll do it.”
“Woooow!!!”
The crowd erupted in enthusiastic cheers at Han-do's resolve. To them, it was like getting a free standing comedy show.
And not from amateurs, but pros!
Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae, who had made their mark as regulars on HSL, had never properly done standing comedy together.
Sure, there had been the public recruitment comedian exam, and for Kang Han-do personally, his successful debut stage on Pobokjeoldo just recently.
But the former was just a test phase to pass the exam, not to entertain the public, and the latter hadn't aired yet.
So people were curious to see what kind of chemistry the two would show in standing comedy.
“Min-tae-ya, let's go with that one from last time.”
“What's that?”
Oh Min-tae shot back at Kang Han-do's cryptic reference, skipping all the details.
Even close同期 like them didn't always click perfectly.
“The interlude gag we prepared just in case during public recruitment prep.”
“Oh, that!”
Oh Min-tae nodded, finally getting it.
Truth be told, they hadn't only prepared structured 'corner' gags.
For those moments when a bit of time was left after their main corner—specifically, when the allotted time ran a tad short—they had one interlude gag ready.
Of course, in the actual exam, they'd used exactly the time given, so it never saw the light of day and got buried.
“We'll need a moment to set up. Can you prepare some music?”
At Kang Han-do's earnest request, the PD nodded.
“Just say the word. We have all the audio gear ready, so give us the BGM track or name it, and we'll play it right away.”
“Then, Arise's Dancing Stars, please. If you have the song…….”
“Oh, that? We do.”
Arise's Dancing Stars was a wildly popular BGM in Korea.
Used in a famous variety show, its techno tempo with electronic sounds made it a staple in commercials too.
That's why it still popped up in variety shows occasionally and was always on standby in BGM lists.
The staff jumped into setup at Kang Han-do's request.
For about a minute, Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae huddled, exchanging ideas.
Since recording hadn't stopped, Oh Shin-hoon approached to fill the airtime.
“Any hint on what you're about to show us?”
“A hint, huh…….”
A subtle smile played on Han-do's lips.
“You might be pretty shocked if you see it, Shin-hoon sunbae-nim.”
“……??”
“You'll know right away when you see it.”
Kang Han-do dodged a direct answer. That evasiveness was the real hook.
Why spoil everything before the show even started? It'd ruin the fun.
Plus, if Oh Shin-hoon recognized it instantly.
‘Could it be that?!’
Oh Shin-hoon made his guess.
Just then, the staff gave the okay signal, and the music started.
“Alright, go ahead!”
Oh Shin-hoon signaled to begin. The two took positions, then suddenly thrust their right hands diagonally upward.
They clenched fists and moved: left, down, opposite direction, back up.
They were doing the square dance, alternating shapes!
“One, two, three, four!”
“Awesome! Love it!”
Enter the square dance.
It held iconic meaning.
It was Oh Shin-hoon's one-of-a-kind signature move from his early debut days.
“Alright, left side! Left square, fire!”
“Fiiiire~!!”
At Kang Han-do's cue, Oh Min-tae chimed in and drew a big square with his left hand.
Their sharp, synchronized moves evoked sword dance(?), drawing instant laughs from the crowd.
To the techno beat, they drew all sorts of squares.
The actions were ridiculous, but their expressions were stern, serious, solemn. The mismatch was the comedy gold.
‘Well, I'll be.’
Recalling Oh Shin-hoon's early days, their performance was enough to win over the crowd.
* * *
As Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae's joint performance(?) wrapped up briefly, the crowd cheered and applauded wildly.
Seeing Oh Shin-hoon's debut-era dance after so long stirred nostalgic memories. And with the originator right there, it added a weird twist of humor.
What did the original creator think? As the music ended, he spoke up slyly.
“100 out of 100. Perfect!”
“Hahaha!!”
The laughter poured out again.
Short but punchy impact. And with two doing it like a knife-sharp group dance, even the same moves felt fresh.
Oh Shin-hoon turned to the PD.
“Success?”
The PD gave an awkward smile at the direct question.
“Can't deny that was a success.”
“Yesss!!”
Oh Shin-hoon and the others expressed brief joy.
But that was it. The PD nailed it shut: no more chances.
“This is absolutely the last one. Even if you fail and try negotiating after, I won't agree. Remember that.”
“Yes, got it.”
Oh Shin-hoon nodded readily.
Pushing for more retries here would just waste airtime.
They'd gotten solid laughs; now it was time to clearly separate success from failure.
Facing their seventh attempt, the challengers—faces tense—shouted what might truly be their final cheer.
“We'll succeed this time for sure! Fighting!!”
“Fiiiighting!!!”
The challengers rallied once more.
At the PD's signal, the staff at the rope ends began turning.
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three…….”
The jump count continued steadily.
They blasted past fifteen in a flash, heading into sixteen.
That instant.
‘Oh no!’
For a split second, Kang Han-do lost his balance.
His body wobbled dramatically. Anxious voices rose from around.
But Kang Han-do quickly refocused, steadying his center with all his mental strength.
“Ngh······!”
He jumped anyway. Barely cleared the seventeenth.
Just three left!
“Eighteen!”
“Nineteen……!”
Now only one!
One more and mission clear!
Fueled by the will not to waste Choi Ye-hee's song or the two's interlude gag, they poured out their last desperate strength.
And finally……
“Twenty!!”
The crowd shouted the final count powerfully, applauding their effort.
Only after twenty did the PD nod and declare.
“Mission... success!”
“Finally……!”
Oh Shin-hoon, the cast, and the specially recruited participants for the rope jump hugged in joy.
Even the relatively reserved Choi Ye-hee couldn't hold back; she and Kang Han-do shared a light embrace.
That moment, they registered each other and flushed, pulling back with awkward expressions.
They'd known each other for a while, but this was their first skinship like that.
After all the twists and turns, their efforts had smoothly cleared the first mission.