Chapter 48 |
“Hello, our little cuties! I’m Fairy Jaaay!”
Jay exclaimed in a bubbly voice as he rushed into the room, camera in tow.
He then walked straight to me and poked my cheek with his index finger.
He looked very happy.
“Pfft, hmph, hehe.”
‘This crazy…….’
I silently looked up at the guy, who was thoroughly enjoying his one-sided yaja time1 while swallowing curses.
He acted as if the camera was some kind of miraculous shield, and the fact that it wasn’t entirely wrong made me even more furious.
“What is the charm of a survival program?”
With dumbfounded expressions, Woo Kangwon and Do Yuda could only look at each other in response to Jay’s question. They were lying on the floor when the camera and their senior barged in, it was no surprise they weren’t in their right minds.
“Dingdongdang! There’s no time to rest! Fairy Jay has come to guide you on the next mission!” Jay answered himself with exaggerated gestures, pretending to play a xylophone.
‘Making sounds like dingdongdang for what. No one answered.’
“Wow! Next mission! Third competition!” Do Yuda, who had been sitting blankly, suddenly stood up and shouted, clenching his hands tightly.
For him, the start of the third competition would be like the end of the second, so he must have been happy.
“It’s not the third competition mission. Because we haven’t had the second ranking ceremony yet, right?”
Before the warm atmosphere could continue, Jay’s cold words fell.
“The official third competition will begin after the elimination of the trainees. This mini mission is essentially the last schedule for the eliminated trainees.”
“Ah…..”
The hopeful atmosphere from just a moment ago had completely vanished. Do Yuda and Woo Kangwon were instantly depressed and lowered their heads. There wasn’t a single trainee in this room who was at risk of elimination in the first place, so I wondered if it was something to be that sad about, but I decided to just keep my mouth shut.
“Well, S-Class Room 1 is only for top-ranking trainees. There’s no risk of elimination, so you can relax and rest easy! Just make sure to say goodbye properly when your friends leave!”
When Jay said the exact same thing I was thinking, Woo Kangwon and Do Yuda gasped and widened their eyes in disbelief.
It was a good thing I kept quiet. Jay, this heartless bastard!
“Ah, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Please edit it out!”
“Yes.”
Jay smacked his forehead playfully and winked cheerfully at the production team. The staff nodded, clearly used to this behavior.
“I’ll be right back!”
And with that, he rushed out the door only to re-enter once more.
“Hello, our little cuties! I’m Fairy Jaaay! I’m here to guide you on your next mission!”
“…Hello.”
“…Hello.”
Witnessing the dark side of broadcasting right before their eyes, Woo Kangwon and Do Yuda bowed slightly with a somewhat tired expression and greeted him.
“The mission is to find your own advertisement and take as many authentication shots as possible. It doesn’t matter what type of advertisement it is, whether it’s a bus stop ad, bus ad, subway ad, or anything else. Once there’s any sightings or photos of you posted on SNS, everything will be considered invalid from that moment on, so please be careful not to get caught!
‘Is this an outdoor mission…….’
If the show only broadcasted dull scenes of the trainees rotting away in Lucky Center, they were likely to get burnt out. So it’s good to have events like this once in a while. Of course, the production team’s real goal wasn’t to refresh the trainees, but to naturally incorporate PPL in an outdoor setting.
“Are the camera crews coming with us?”
“No. We’ll be distributing self-cams, one per team, so you’ll be free to do what you want.”
“Team … are you talking about the teams from the second mission?”
Do Yuda, with a worried look, mumbled a question. Jay patted Do Yuda’s back as if to reassure him.
“It’s the members sharing the same room who form a team. That’s why I’m going around to each room like this, right? Haha, since I think it’s a bit MC abuse for Yang Hajun-ssi to visit all the rooms by himself, I’m helping out during my free time.”
“We’re a team! Awesome!”
“That’s great, Yuda-ya.”
Woo Kangwon warmly smiled as he caught the overjoyed Do Yuda, who was jumping up and down.
‘If we divide the team based on the room, our team should have the most advantage.’
In other rooms, the number of people was distributed according to their grades, with up to 8 members in some rooms, so it would be difficult to move together without being noticed by fans.
It wasn’t my intention, but things worked out in my favor.
Normally, at this point, it would be typical to carry out the mission with the team you competed with, but since I had just spoken with the main PD about Song Hanseo’s issue, it seemed like it had been modified.
“What is the reward for this mission?”
“That’s right! You have to ask that. Are you excited? Of course, you are! Drumroll … the reward of this mission is.…”
When I finally asked the question, Jay, with an excited expression, shook and rubbed my cheeks, constantly talking without stopping.
“Aaa, should I tell you, or should I not? Ahahaha! If you ask more earnestly, I might tell you! Maybe if you act cute, I’ll tell you, Trainee Han Seungbeom. Gwiyomi? Do you want to do gwiyomi? One plus one is gwiyomi!”2
‘Are you out of your mind…….‘
I could feel the dormant feelings of disillusionment creeping up on me. This little brat, who had answered Do Yuda and Woo Kangwon’s questions right away, was treating only me like this.
“Oh, wait a minute. The battery is dead … I’ll replace it quickly.”
The camera crew lowered the camera and turned their backs on us.
In that moment, I couldn’t suppress my murderous intent directed at Jay. Exposed completely alone to my gaze, Jay stood up straight with an adult-like expression in an instant
“The camera is on! Please start again!”
“Since the third competition has not started yet, I cannot provide specific details of the reward. However, I would like to inform you that a huge benefit for the third competition will be given based on the results of this mission. Do you have any additional questions? I will answer them in detail.”
After the production team finished replacing the battery, Jay began answering my questions politely, like an AI. The stiff posture, like a soldier, was an added bonus.
I leaned forward, putting my face into his line of sight, and smiled brightly.
“Wow! Trainer Jay, you have a great sense of humor. What is one plus one?”
“One plus one is two.”
Then Jay, with a pale face, atoned for the karma he had created.
“Why is Trainer Jay suddenly acting like that?”
“He must be nervous … even the most experienced senior must have moments like that.”
Woo Kangwon and Do Yuda whispered at the sight of Jay, frozen stiff with fear, but it was none of my concern. I kept my gaze fixed on Jay’s face, and all he did was clench his teeth and stare blankly into the air.
“…….”
‘I’ll spare you.’
When I took a step back, Jay finally let out a comfortable breath.
“…Then there are no additional questions?”
“Yes!”
“Alright. Then we will move to the next room, so please take the rest of the day off.”
After exchanging the final goodbyes, the production team followed Jay, who fled quickly, and left the room.
As I watched them go, I had a question.
‘What are those without their own ads nearby supposed to do? This is a fight that’s completely favorable for the top-ranking trainees.’
Even if this mission wasn’t designed with lower-ranking trainees in mind, it seemed like a competition that heavily favored the top-ranking trainees. After all, the numbers on the advertisements were different.
But it wasn’t until the next day that I realized how foolish I was.
***
“How did this happen?”
I muttered dazedly as we evacuated to the production team’s vehicle.
“Did you guys take any authentication shots of us?”
“I took just one. One of Seungbeom-hyung’s. But the focus was off, so I’m not sure if the production team will accept it as one.”
“We’re in trouble. I’ve heard that the other teams have at least five shots.”
As for the result of the mini mission, it was a complete failure. And a very big one at that.
“It’s over. We haven’t even started.”
Do Yuda, who had browsed through the personal phone allowed for the mission, muttered in frustration. The sight of our backs had already been posted on SNS as an eyewitness account.
“I thought our team would win first place in the mission because we had the fewest members and had the most advertisements.”
“….What should we do about the third competition?”
Here’s the full story of the incident.
The mission started, and we went out on the street with our faces completely covered. Up until that point, we didn’t feel anxious about the mission at all. Our team had a lot more advertisements than the other teams, and we had very few people.
The problem was that Han Seungbeom’s appearance couldn’t be hidden by a mask or a hat, Woo Kangwon’s height was almost 2 meters, and Do Yuda’s mouth never stopped talking.
The ridiculous combination of the three of us was enough to attract people’s attention.
“Wow! It’s Han Seungbeom!” “Really? Where!”
“Athlete Woo Kangwon, please take a picture just once!”
“Yuda is so cute!”
The mini mission was structured so that the higher the team’s recognition, the more difficult the mission became. The next thing we knew, we were surrounded by a huge crowd and we were running non-stop from then on. In that situation, there was no time to take any authentication shots.
‘I’m not being overly self-conscious, I’m just not expecting to be chased by people that quickly.’
In the end, we requested rescue from the production team, and we were being transported by vehicle to take a break.
“I wish Seungbeom-hyung’s face was just a little less handsome. When he debuts later, he won’t even be able to walk outside.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it, Yuda-ya. And in the end, our identities also got exposed anyway.” Woo Kangwon smiled gently as he watched Do Yuda whining.
“Are we the only team to be eliminated so quickly?”
“No. The S-Class Room 2 team finished a while ago. Nicholas-hyung refused to wear a mask and confidently went out, but he got caught immediately and that was the end of it.”
Pffft.
As I sneered while hearing the unfortunate news about Lee Hwayoung, the production team stopped the car and let us off.
“We’ll be conducting individual interviews with each of you, so please come to the studio one by one. Please come in the order of Trainee Han Seungbeom, Trainee Woo Kangwon, and Trainee Do Yuda.”
***
“You didn’t perform well in this mini mission. How do you feel about that?”
“I’m grateful that so many fans recognized me, but at the same time, I’m a little worried. I’ve heard there are benefits.”
“Do you think not receiving the benefits will have a big impact on the results of the main mission?”
“No. I believe that as long as I perform well on stage, the results will follow.”
‘The question lacks sense.’
I spent pointless time answering the production team’s boring and senseless questions. I started to wonder if this was even content worth using for the broadcast.
“PD-nim!”
Suddenly, one of the production team staff burst into the studio, holding a phone in one hand. They went straight up to the PD and whispered something.
“…Really?”
Judging from the expression on the PD’s face as he listened, it was definitely something serious.
After hearing the entire story, the PD stiffened and stood up. Then, he waved his hand at the camera crews, signaling them to stop filming.
“We’re stopping the filming. Everyone, please step aside for a moment …. Trainee Han Seungbeom, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Yes.”
I thought there was some trouble among the production team, but it seemed like it was a problem related to me. Since I had caused a lot of problems up until now, I tried to guess which one it might be.
“SU Entertainment has informed us that they want to terminate the contract with Trainee Han Seungbeom. Did you receive the notice?”
What?
Translator’s Corner:
- Yaja time (야자타임): you know that Koreans really strict about manners right, like when you are talking to someone older, you need to use honorific etc. Yaja time is the time when groups of people regardless of their age, decided to talk down or casually to each other. For example, juniors can call seniors “hey” or use informal language. It’s usually happened during a trip or when drinking together, and during this time, there are many things you can do, such as making them sing songs or pour drinks, but it is common sense not to do anything that goes beyond fun.
Yaja time here is used because Jay is having so much fun being a “senior” to his older brother who’s 5 years older than him. In other timeline he would already get kicked if he pull of this behavior.(To be honest, mostly when yaja time happened and the “senior” told the “junior” it’s okay to speak comfortably and act freely, people with common sense will keep a certain line).
But well of course Jay has no common sense….. ↩︎
- Gwiyomi (귀요미) in literal way means “cute”, it’s a famous aegyo song in Korea. The lyrics is basically “One plus one is gwiyomi, two plus two is gwiyomi, etc”. For reference, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ0IojyKcj8 ↩︎
In short, Jay is basically asking to get killed