Save a Failed Idol’s Life

#015. 100 wins in 100 battles

Shake it!  Shake it!  Like popping bottle-

♪

My body moved reflexively, following the avatar’s movements on the large TV panel.

Just how loud did you turn the TV volume up?

Fortunately, Kyunghwa was away due to personal schedules, and there was no way Seongwon would come out to a place like this.

Only Sunwoo sat on the sofa and watched the sacred dance battle while chewing carrots instead of popcorn. 

‘Surely—is it because the grade went up? It’s not as urgent as before to follow the movements.’ 

I even have time to see how Yejun is doing in the meantime.

Boom your face-! Blow your mind-!

It’s me the last one who steal your heart-!

The fast beat of the pop song was said to have topped the Billboard charts. 

If it had been “Lim Hyunsung,” I would have hated even listening to the song.

Even though I’ve never heard the song or done the choreography, I found it amazing that the word ‘Miss’ didn’t come up even once.

‘Oh Yejun…Let’s see how much he scores.’

When I peeked at the real-time score, it was neck and neck. 

It’s enough—still, didn’t I improve a lot compared to last time?

I now stretched out my arms and legs, diligently copying the movements that reached the highlight. 

Then, something unexpected happened.

“Why are you so noisy in the morning? I can’t sleep because of the noise.”

Seongwon walked out of his room alone. Then, he pulled out the TV cord plugged into the power strip.

“Hey! What are you doing,iIt’s almost over!”

Yejun jumped at Seongwon, pushed him to the other side, and plugged in the cord again. But it was after the last part had already passed. 

[Fail-! You need to practice some more! Do your best!]

After that, the movement was judged to be a miss for both of us, and the clear failure screen came up.

“Aren’t you crazy? Is it hard to just say to lower the volume?”

“Is it polite to turn it up loud enough to make the floor rumble in the morning at the dorm?”

Guess who isn’t the kind of guy who doesn’t fall for both tempers?

Na Sunwoo, who was chewing carrots leisurely just a while ago, was flustered.

“Both of you, don’t fight—. I should have turned the volume down beforehand. I, it’s my fault—” 

Then Yejun firmly responded.

“Don’t say nonsense that you keep looking at that kid. No matter who sees it, the one who pulled out the cord first is overreacting. He can ask to lower volume first!” 

“What did you do well in waking up someone in the morning?” 

It would have been nice if there was Kyunghwa at a time like this. 

I headed to the kitchen, missing Kyunghwa, who had left in the morning because of some schedule. 

Then, holding two silver pots that seemed to have been bought for boiling ramen in both hands, I came out into the living room. 

“What would you have done if this was broken?”

“I can tell it if it breaks down. Since you watch TV the most, aren’t you actually the cause when it breaks down?” 

In any case, the conversation slowly turned into small complaints about who wasn’t the kid between them. 

Both of them were distracted by each other and didn’t notice what I was doing. 

Only Sunwoo covered his startled eyes as if he couldn’t see the terrible scene.

Clank–! 

“Ack!”

“Argh!” 

The bottom of the pot collided with the two light heads that had nothing on them, making a clear and cheerful sound.

Four eyes full of resentment glared at me at the same time.

“Both of you, stop making noise and eat.”

When they woke up in the morning, they heard an announcement that the cooking was done.

It was the beginning of a temporary ceasefire.

* * *

Maybe it’s because they’re boys in their prime. Putting a spoon in their mouths certainly did make them quiet.

Where did they just expose their teeth and growl at each other? Both were busy chewing and swallowing the rice in their mouths now.

“It’s been a while since I ate Gang Doenjang, so it’s really delicious.” (t/n: Gang Doenjang (강된장) is a reduced and thickened fermented soybean paste stew, usually served as a dipping sauce for Korean lettuce wraps (ssam:쌈).) 

Yejun drools as he pours a spoonful of soybean paste over barley rice, which has more barley than white rice.

It was a delicious bibimbap wrapped in fragrant pumpkin leaves that had been steamed beforehand.

After marinating it beforehand and then defrosting it, adding the grilled Bulbaek with only the smell of fire made it impossible not to taste it. (t/n: Bulbaek is an abbreciation for 불고기백반. It’s the food which is set meal with 불고기(bulgogi), rice, lettuce, and so on.) 

“Yise Hyung, I always say it’s delicious, so you might think I’m just saying it out of politeness….” 

I already knew that I was good at cooking even if he didn’t say it. 

“Enough, just empty your rice bowl. The lunch is a salad with no carbs.”

It was a little ironic to talk about salad while eating rice with a perfect balance of soybean paste and snails.

“Ung! I’ll eat it clean!”

Sunwoo, who placed the pumpkin leaves on the palm of his hand, took a handful of meat and bibimbap and put them in a bite.

It looked like the face of an angel who was happy in the world.

‘Dinner too…I’ll have to eat it with a salad with fewer carbs.’

It was my role to maintain that angelic face and figure.

Seongwon, who emptied the bowl first, glanced at Yejun and brought the finished bowl to the sink.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

It was a big improvement, considering that he had been eating and suffocating himself in the room.

“Anyway, he’s a really ignorant punk.” 

Yum. Yejun, who still had something to eat, muttered into the back of Seongwon’s head. 

Will they fight like this again? I quickly pushed the Bulbaek plate in front of Oh Yejun. 

“Oh, thank you~.”

Yejun was really simple.

As the meat came closer in front of him, he ate with a happy expression, as if he had never been in a bad mood.

This guy— might be good in many ways because he is easier to handle than Son Seongwon.

I relieved myself and quietly asked Yejun.

“It was better than last time, right?” 

Then, Yejun replied with a smirk with eyes that went up in a bad way.

“Yeah. Still, Hyung, you weren’t as good as you used to be. That’s because I’ve never seen someone who can dance as well as Hyung? Are you still receiving rehabilitation treatment?” 

While I attended dance classes secretly from the members, on the surface, I pretended that I was undergoing rehabilitation treatment.

I don’t think they’ll believe it because Cheon Yise’s dance and performance skills were A or better at the time. 

Then, it would be better to make an excuse for my physical condition in advance. It was my judgment. 

“Yeah. I’ll probably have to get it for a while. But don’t worry, it won’t interfere with your activities.” 

According to Manager Hyung, the company planning team’s concept meeting will be held next week.

When I said that I really wanted to participate in the planning this time, he was happy to make the position. 

Then now— it was time for me to accumulate minimal background knowledge about the idol industry. 

It was also necessary to closely analyze what kind of work Climax had released so far.

Objectively look at what was lacking compared to other performance projects.

“I’ll make your lunch, so you just have to mix the salad dressing and eat it. Serve it yourself. Yejun, watch Sunwoo to see if he eats anything weird or if he gets a proper PT.”

Then Yejun murmured. 

“Yeah, I’m going out after lunch too. I can watch him going to PT. Okay.”

What is this kid doing, running around all the time?

Be careful of people. It bothered me because he was the one with the highest risk of escape among all the members.

It’s all the more because he’s already receiving love calls from all over the place.

“Why are you going out again?”

“Just, I need to meet a friend. Haha…”

What kind of friends do celebrities meet so often? Even though it’s called a failed idol. 

I nodded my head in doubt.

“Okay, I’ll get ready and go out. I’ll be back in the evening.”

“Yes, I’m going to eat outside, so with this guy… All I need to do is watch him.”

“Yeah.”

With that last word, I cleaned up the breakfast table and prepared the lunch salad.

It was already 11 o’clock when I put each salad for three people in a lunch box. 

I quietly got out of the dorm and headed to the officetel.

When I took out my own car parked in the private parking lot next to the dorm and arrived at the officetel, it was the time for lunch. 

‘Come to think of it, it feels like I’m back home after almost 3 weeks.’

It should be called a house—. Although Cheon Yise is familiar with it, I am not, and the dorm felt more like a ‘home’ to me.

Most likely, it’s not because no one lives here, and it’s a total mess, right?

Contrary to what I was worried about, the house was clean because a person regularly came to clean and organize the refrigerator.

‘Let’s eat lunch first!’

Eating comes first at Mt. Geumgang. (T/n : 금강산도 식후경 used to suggest delaying something until after eating.)

I wouldn’t have an idea if I starved myself to eat, no matter how important the task was.

I took out the bread that had been replaced with a new one and lightly toasted it in a buttered frying pan. 

‘Hmm…The smell of butter is amazing.’

Crisply grilled bacon is placed between toasts coated with a butter flavor that rises savory and salty. Here—let’s melt the cheese and put it in here. 

The heat from the frying pan made the cheese melt, giving off a delicious smell.

There’s no sugar powder, but it’s better to eat it like this because there’s raspberry jam.

After soaking in the beaten egg and cooking the top like frying, the Monte Cristo was done. It was a bomb in calories and a bomb in taste.

‘It’s… a taste that makes life worth living.’

It’s good to eat a healthy meal, like eating for breakfast.

As expected, people must live by eating unhealthy tastes that explode in calories. 

Because of Sunwoo, I’ve had a healthy diet for a while, and my tongue felt greasy, and I was craving something sweet and salty. 

After eating four slices of bread in an instant, my head began to spin.

‘Now let’s analyze Climax’s works. I’ve learned the song and choreography so I can focus on the concept and mass media reactions.’

I cleaned up the table, brought my laptop, and sat down in front of the table. 

[Climax Debut Single: One Week with Your Man]

The concept of the first album was wild beauty. Was this a trend back then…? 

Everyone was wearing makeup like charcoal black that didn’t even fit. 

When I went to the most famous music site and checked the comments, the few responses were also spectacular. 

[– The makeup doesn’t look good. I know you’re trying to follow the hit in the black zone, but it’s a bit;;] 

[– Did CEO Hong lose his touch? Is this a rookie? You brought black zone]

[– I can’t see a single WePla Award?]

What is the WePla Award? I opened a new portal site window and searched.

It sounded like a word meaning a contemplative appearance preferred by Climax’s agency, ‘We Planet.’ 

Even ‘Lim Hyunsung’ knew who Black Zone was. It was a male idol group that swept the music industry 7 years ago with the concept of ‘wild and dangerous men.’

Even if the two unknown faces are second.

First of all, Seongwon and Sunwoo were beauties, however, they’re not tough-looking or masculine beauties.

Rather, isn’t it rare to see such pretty-looking kids? Why did they dress young kids in clothes that don’t suit them? 

After summarizing the shortcomings, I moved on to the second single.

[Climax Second Single: Beach BooM]

As if to prove that the release date is in August. On the album cover, all seven members were just taking off their tops.

A few members grabbed my eye wearing see-through or net jackets as if it were impossible not to wear one. 

[– The net is a bit ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[– I accidentally pressed the cover and my eyes met 14 How do YouDo. Everyone, do you think it’s right?]

Of course, that thing ate the best comments, so all the comments were embarrassing. 

Should I think it’s a relief that there’s no harsh curse?’

The song itself was the best song to my ears.

But that guy’s comment—.

It was a moment when I felt that there were many things to pay attention to when selecting album covers.

Then the third single and the first full-length album. The comments were also not good.

The debut single had the most likes, and the controversial second single received the most comments. 

‘At the time of the fourth single, the number of members was reduced to five.’

I’m wondering if there have been many protest comments in response to the member’s departure? 

It was finally time to look at the last single. I opened the comment section without letting go of the tension.