Free Web NovelAfter chatting with the other teammates in the players’ waiting room, everyone changed clothes and exited the room.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“You all did great.”
As one by one they left the room, Han-jo smiled at me and said,
“I’ll head out first. The younger ones are waiting.”
“Oh, okay.”
I nodded regretfully. I’d wanted to have some old-timer talk about today’s game or our luck, but sadly I couldn’t go with him.
“Woo-joo, let’s take a selfie.”
“You using your phone? Perfect. Then let’s swap numbers too.”
Other teammates had grabbed me to take selfies or exchange numbers. One of them grinned and said,
“I’ve wanted to get close ever since I saw you on broadcast, but you five looked so tight-knit I never had a chance.”
“You could’ve just said so.... Actually, we’re not that tight. We’re more like post-its.”
Joking around, I bonded with the senior singers, then at the right moment excused myself.
“Really, thank you all so much! Playing the game together was so much fun.”
“Yeah, you did great too.”
“I’ll head up first.”
With a lively bow I closed the door behind me. It’d only been an hour, but I wanted to see our younger siblings as soon as possible.
Like Jung-hyeon when he went to grab food, I strode down the corridor and passed the hallway in no time.
When I reached the staircase down to the first floor, I faintly made out four figures huddled on the dim stairs. Even their shadows looked handsome. It was clearly my kids.
What are they up to? Curious, I padded along the corridor and pressed myself against the wall at an angle where they couldn’t see me. Leaning in close, I heard murmured voices.
“It’s gone dark again.”
“Jung-hyeon hyung, this uses a sensor, right? Like this, wave your hand~”
With the maknae’s gentle voice, four shadows waved their hands in unison, flickering toward me. I stifled a laugh.
Twinkle.
I heard four giggling voices.
“But what about Ri-hyuk hyung?”
“He’s timing the lights going off. If his record’s right, they’ll go out again in thirty seconds.”
“Wow. If this guy were born in the Joseon era, he’d be Edison.”
“Edison in the Joseon era would get executed, no?”
“Is Ri-hyuk gonna die?”
“...Why are you trying to kill me all of a sudden?”
Listening to this nonsensical conversation, I felt strangely calm. Ji-ho said he wanted to try something and moved in the dark. When the lights snapped on, he struck a concert opening pose.
As the others clapped and howled with laughter on the stairs, I stepped out with a “Ta-da!” smile.
“Guys!”
At last the four pairs of beautiful eyes that had been chatting turned toward me. I could see their pupils dilate, their outer eyes lift, and their mouths curve in real time.
They all jumped up.
“Woo-joo hyuuuuung!”
“Guys!”
Like excited macaques they scampered up and down the stairs, then met me on the landing in a joyous reunion.
“Waaah—!”
It felt healing.
Indoor Gymnasium Facilities Management Team.
“....”
A staff member, watching the CCTV with steely eyes, looked stunned. Since there were many attendees, they’d been on alert for any fans or staff sneaking off to restricted areas.
But the camera on the basement-2 stairs had caught something odd.
“...What is this?”
As he blinked, a senior colleague peered over.
“What’s up? Got a problem?”
“Camera 24, down there.”
“24? Basement 2? Why—”
He too blinked at the screen.
What the hell. On that CCTV, four people were dancing around someone holding what looked like a plaque. It looked like a victory dance of conquering monkeys. When the one in front held up the plaque, the other four made “brilliant” gestures, then danced merrily.
“....”
“....”
The senior, dumbfounded, spoke first.
“They... dance well.”
“They do dance well.”
“....”
“....”
Whoever they were, idol members were performing an elegant dance on a basement stairwell, like some Bronze Age tribe.
“Their fans don’t know about this, right?”
“Probably better they don’t.”
“True enough....”
“....”
The two men watched the CCTV and forced awkward smiles.
Main Arena, First Floor.
Back upstairs, I took my seat to watch the women’s ssireum finals.
“And now, the women’s ssireum finals!”
“Scarlet are dominant again this year!”
Having swept Girls on Top in straight wins, Scarlet still flaunted their might. While Bom sat fanning herself like Zhuge Liang from her plastic chair, the triplet of Yu-bi, Gwan-u, and Jang-bi launched their opponents overhead.
“Daisy wins again with a perfect throw over Misty’s Sua!”
“Such a hearty laugh! She can’t hide her joy!”
“Last year she was nicknamed Glutinous Rice General, right?”
Laughter rippled around at ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the nickname. The Daisy I remembered was more like a petite rice cake, but though her look hadn’t changed, her heroic laugh now seemed like a warrior’s. It was faintly frightening.
Daisy’s gaze swept the stands and fell on us five, the timid ones, cheering politely. Starting with Daisy as the first contestant, Scarlet racked up three straight wins. Misty, as the finalists, fought with all their might, but our seniors from the agency were too powerful.
“Waaah!”
Amid the fans’ cheers, the gold-medal winners in ssireum were applauded as the commentators came out for interviews. The quartet’s satisfied smiles appeared on the big screen.
“Congratulations on winning ssireum!”
“Thank you!”
They all bowed.
“For time’s sake, let’s keep it brief... Who wants to say a few words? Yes, Rina.”
The visual member with a calm demeanor swept her hair back. Her fandom, the Curtain, screamed “Unni!” until security intervened.
Then Rina spoke to her fans before calling someone else.
“Director.”
The camera panned to our CEO in the crowd. Beside him, DNS Media’s CEO wore a displeased expression, while ours dabbed at red eyes and blew his nose with a handkerchief. He nodded at the call.
Rina addressed him tersely:
“This year, we’ll have snow-flake sirloin.”
Standing next to her, Daisy added in her rap style, “One plus plus,” and laughter echoed through the arena. Other singers applauded and cheered.
I overheard nearby:
“We’re taking overall first, right?”
“Right. Gold in ssireum, gold in archery... a silver and a bronze in running.”
“Last year only Scarlet did that; this year we’re sweeping medals for both men and women.”
I, excited, asked the younger ones,
“We’re overall champions?”
“As long as there’s no upset, yes.”
Ri-hyuk, racking his brain, said,
“Even if MVP counts separate for individual results... unless someone can levitate, our team’s overall first. They’d have to fly in to beat us.”
“Grr...”
“Woo-joo hyung’s already got dreamy eyes. That’s the same look you had at Director Jo’s studio.”
I felt happy. Overall victory was just a nice honor; what mattered most was the promise with our CEO. He said he’d buy me the composing equipment at Director Jo’s place.
I scanned the stands for him. I saw him teasing President Im of DNS Media, and then President Kim—it caught my eye. I flicked my eyes at him.
Jung-hyeon shook his head. “I don’t think Director’s looking.”
“Just a moment.”
I focused more. Blink blink. At last, our CEO’s gaze landed on me. He opened his eyes wide, gave a warm smile, and waved. Maybe because we’d beaten our rival company to first place, he looked the happiest person alive.
Mouth shapes said: “Woo-joo!”
“Director!”
We exchanged warm gazes. I heard teammates whisper:
“Woo-joo hyung is looking at the director like a treasure goblin.”
“That greed....”
“I think the director sees him as a golden-egg-laying goose. Give-and-take, right?” freewebnσvel.cѳm
I ignored them and smiled. When I sent a finger-heart, the director chuckled and sent me a giant heart back. The maknae tilted his head.
“But director still looks so happy—maybe he doesn’t know how much that equipment costs.”
“Let him enjoy.”
Our juniors sent stars and hearts toward the director, too. For a long time he smiled contentedly, then donned his worn coat and stood. He looked as if he was humming to himself. President Im, grumbling, rose beside him—guess they’d had a dinner bet.
Jung-hyeon said, “They’re leaving.”
“They should. They must be tired. They’re the only ones still here since the opening.”
As he said, the seats once filled with CEOs were now empty. Most had stayed only through the morning, then left for schedules. Only our director and DNS Media’s remained.
Evening had fallen. It was amazing and touching that they’d stayed late to support us.
The maknae lying on my lap said, “I’m jealous. I want to go home too.”
“You get off at ten.”
“Oh, right!”
Our recording today would end around 1 a.m., but by law our maknae and main vocal, as minors, had to leave by ten. If under fifteen—or rather, any minor—they couldn’t be on a recording past ten. The rule’s meant to protect minors in harsh broadcast environments, though in practice it applied to most under eighteen. Of course “leaving” just meant waiting in the dressing room.
Ji-ho pouted, then made a teasing face. “I wish I could stay here with you hyungs, but the law makes me go in. So sad.”
“....”
“I’ll have to lie on the waiting room sofa.”
“....”
The three, excluding Ri-hyuk, looked comforted. I summoned our third member with a gesture.
“Jung-hyeon.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“Deal with it.”
As our ticklish maknae screamed, I looked around.
“Ugh—.”
“This is overkill....”
Other group members crouched nearby wore vacant expressions. Having crouched since dawn for over twelve hours, then done light exercise, then crouched again on the cold floor, they were on the verge of collapse. They were cold and hungry, and with six more hours of recording, it was maddening. When their eyes met mine, we exchanged comradely glances. Because we were in the center of the arena, all around were eyes and cameras, and fans watched from afar, so everyone smiled on the surface.
“Yap yap!”
Someone who’d just been sobbing “This is overkill” winked at the fans and made me laugh. Perhaps due to restrictions on such behavior, Teen Spirit nearby looked especially frustrated. They whispered brutally profane words into each other’s ears, then sent adorable fanservice to the crowd.
“....”
I still can’t get used to that. I shifted my gaze away from the other idols and looked around more broadly. As staff bustled getting the next event ready, Han-jo and I caught each other’s eyes, nodded, and stood.
“Hyung, shall we go see the soufflés too?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
Smiling at the juniors awkwardly rising, I said, “Let’s go see the soufflés now.”
After basketball, the intel Tae-hyun gave was gold.
“Want to go to the cheering section to see the fans?”
Of course. It’s way better to talk up close than wave from afar. But...
“The staff are watching, so it’ll be tough.”
That was the problem. In an Olympic program, the production crew’s power play is so brutal you’re always on guard. On camera they’re civilized, but off-camera they’ll shout “Hey, you!” if you pass by, shove you to move equipment aside, and generally control everything. One misstep in free action, and our managers get called in for scolding. No wonder our fans hate this show.
So far we hadn’t gone to the fan section. Other senior idols, with experience, timed quick visits in and out, but as rookies we didn’t know when to go. Just as we fretted, our senior gave us the perfect timing tip: now.
“We’re here!”
“Our soufflés!”
Our soufflés greeted us with enthusiastic faces. Though exhausted, they looked happy, and I smiled back. I figured we must look exactly the same. Having been confined since dawn for over twelve hours, our eyes met with a veteran camaraderie. There were rasping voices here and there, but the mood was warm and boisterous.
“Oppa!”
Someone shouted. “I’m going to the community center to legally change my name to Kim Deok-soon!”
“Pfft!”
Our manager brothers laughed, and so did the younger siblings and fans. Urged by the members to answer, I looked at the fan and said,
“Remember this first.”
“...?”
“Deok-soon is one and only.”
Holding up my finger, I said. Next to me Jung-hyeon exclaimed, “Oh, no shame left!” as he admired. I resolutely clapped my hands and said,
“Now repeat after me. All together: Deok-soon is one and only.”
“Deok-soon is one and only.”
Like a choir, the fans blinked in unison. I nodded with satisfaction.
“You can’t legally change it. If you must change something, not Deok-soon but write it as Deok-soon with a double giyok.”
“Double giyok. Double giyok, you person.”
“Oh, right. Double giyok.”
Ri-hyuk tutted and clicked his tongue as everyone burst into laughter. I asked that fan with a smile,
“What’s your original name?”
“It’s... Ye-ji.”
“I’ll remember you as Ye-ji, so don’t change it. Kim Deok-soon is mine.”
Immediately, everyone else declared they’d change their names to Kim Deok-soon too, but I wasn’t fooled. Then our road managers appeared carrying bags. I announced,
“You’ve all worked so hard today, so we’ve prepared a special dinner for you.”
To be precise, thanks to the offer from the youngest son of a wealthy family, we could.
Together with the juniors, we handed out our gift to each fan in the stands: a fancy paper box. On top lay letters we’d been writing for days. I told the fans staring at them,
“As you can see, on top we worked hard to write...”
“Steak!”
“What did you say? Steak?”
At someone’s shout, everyone opened the boxes in surprise.
“No way, it’s steak.”
“Wow....”
“It’s really steak.”
This... this wasn’t the point. Smiling, I added,
“We worked hard on the wording...”
“Wow, steak.”
“We appreciate that you’ve...”
“Steak!”
“...Enjoy your meal.”
The fans, so hungry they clutched forks and knives to survive, made me beam. I got it. Meat. Indeed, meat was the best high-quality meal of all.
