Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 204 Part 27. The First Competition
-After the beep sound, the connection was not made…
Woojoo put down his phone after hearing the friendly voice asking him to leave a voice message.
“He’s not picking up.”
“Who? Grandma?”
Woojoo shook his head at Junhyun’s question.
“No, the President.”
He told him to call him right after the Dolympic ended yesterday.He probably wanted to congratulate him on his hard work and talk about the composing equipment.
But now…
“He’s not picking up…”
Jiho said next to me, “Try again later. He might be really busy right now.”
“Nah. Forget it.”
The President was not his friend.
He couldn’t keep leaving missed calls if he didn’t answer his call.
Bijoo cautiously said, “Maybe it’s because of that. The President was a bit shocked after seeing the price of the composing equipment yesterday…”
“Oh, come on. The President wouldn’t do that.”
…Woojoo was about to say that there was no way, but the usual image of the President flashed through his mind.
A luxurious but worn-out coat and a canvas bag.
The face that was happy when he bought him a drink at the cafe with a free coupon stamp.
The way he went around the company bathroom to turn off the lights whenever he had a chance.
“…”
Woojoo couldn’t say anything because he was the president, but the siblings and Woojoo exchanged glances and nodded.
“…Maybe he could be.”
He was so frugal that he might have been a little shocked by the price of the composing equipment.
Jiho tilted his head.
“But is it that expensive? I can ask my dad to buy it for me as a birthday present.”
“Right? It’s not that much. …Huh?”
Someone poked Woojoo’s side with a notebook.
Woojoo turned his head and saw a pale face pushing a notebook with neat writing on it.
[How can you say it’s not expensive? Where is your conscience?]
“What’s with you all of a sudden? It’s a well-known fact that my conscience is gone, according to Junghyun.”
“That’s right.”
Junghyun agreed happily, while Rihyuk quickly wrote a note with a sharp pencil.
Swish, swish.
Woojoo asked, “How long are you going to talk with that notebook?”
“…”
He raised his finger as if to tell Woojoo to wait.
He erased the content he was writing with an eraser and started to write something else with a sharp pencil.
Woojoo asked again, “Does your throat hurt that much?”
“…”
Scrape, scrape!
He erased the content with a slightly annoyed expression and started to move the sharp pencil again.
Jiho asked maliciously, “Hyung. Can you tell me how to sing this part? I have no idea.”
“…!!!”
“Don’t swear with your mouth. You look like an ugly goldfish.”
“…”
That was how Jiho and Woojoo played a prank on Rihyuk, making him write the content over and over again.
Snap.
“…”
Rihyuk’s patience snapped along with the sharp lead.
He smiled slyly without answering and turned a page, then wrote a single word on the blank space.
Then he pushed it to Jiho.
[ㅗ]
“Wow.”
The youngest made a fuss and grabbed Bijoo.
“Bijoo Hyung. That Hyung swore at me.”
“Rihyuk is having a hard time, that’s why.”
Rihyuk drew another line on the notebook and turned it to Woojoo.
[ㅗㅗ]
“Wow.”
Woojoo smiled.
“My little brother Rihyuk is so sweet. He gave me two thumbs up for my sake. I’m so happy.”
“…!!”
“By the look of your mouth, you’re thanking me, aren’t you?”
He pounded his chest and made an ‘augh!’ expression in response to Woojoo’s teasing question.
Around then, Bijoo slid his hand on Woojoo’s arm and smiled.
“Hyung, stop teasing Rihyuk.”
“Okay.”
Woojoo nodded and smiled.
Rihyuk, who was spewing fire at the sky as if he was furious, received a thermos from Bijoo.
Woojoo asked him, who was drinking barley tea from the tumbler, “Are you really not going to talk all day?”
Nod.
“Only use your voice when you sing?”
Nod, nod.
He tapped his throat as if it was not in good condition and Woojoo smiled silently.
He couldn’t do anything if he decided that way.
The other brothers also looked around and said, “If you feel sick in the middle, let me know right away. I’ll try to find a way somehow.”
“Okay, Hyung.”
Bijoo said with a smile, “But I’m so nervous that I don’t even know if I’m sick or not. I think I’ll catch a cold when it’s over…”
They all agreed with that.
Today was Tuesday.
They finished the Dolympic yesterday and they had the first round of ‘Challenge, Legendary Song Discovery Team!’ tomorrow.
But their condition was terrible.
They played basketball and archery yesterday, and ran too.
From 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. the next day, they sat crouched in the stadium with a smile on their face and their legs were sore.
Their bodies were so stiff that they could understand why their Lady Kim Deoksoon was walking around with a fat face.
They were all on the verge of catching a cold.
“What should we eat for lunch?”
He was humming and looking at the delivery app menu as if he was digging a honey jar.
“…”
“Hyung, what should we order today? Spicy pork vs pork cutlet?”
“Pork cutlet.”
Woojoo thought that even if a virus got into him, the virus would run away saying that this was not what a virus should do.
On the other hand, Woojoo and the other kids were all groaning.
Especially their weakest one had a very exhausted face.
He was still looking at the lyrics diligently, but his face was pale.
“Rihyuk, do you want to eat this?”
“…?”
Woojoo handed him a red ginseng.
It was a big decision.
He took the bag and drank it with a gulp and gave Woojoo a short glance of gratitude.
He would have said no and pushed him away if it was usual, but he seemed to be in bad shape today.
“…”
The three of them kept glancing at the red ginseng that the fourth one received as if they didn’t care.
Woojoo smiled and took out more red ginseng.
After four packs of cheers, they all had a brief drinking time.
“Ugh, bitter.” The youngest said with a grimace, “I can’t believe I have to eat this bitter stuff to survive… I’m going to rest all day tomorrow after the competition. Really.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
Woojoo patted his shoulder and smiled.
That was how he managed the condition of his brothers.
Tomorrow’s competition was a very important opportunity for them.
The Dolympic with the Soufflés was also an important event, but it was only a secondary activity.
The core of our activity was this fixed music program.
They would have skipped the Idol Sports Festival long ago if it wasn’t for the disadvantages we would get from not participating.
That was why their brothers were really pushing themselves to the limit of their stamina and practicing.
Woojoo was watching them, but seeing their serious eyes and clenched teeth, he didn’t have to worry.
They were all pros now.
“Okay, let’s stop resting and start practicing!”
Woojoo clapped his hands and called his brothers.
He turned on the MR and stood in front of his younger siblings who were sitting on the chairs set up in the practice room.
“The point we need to save in this competition is the performance. If we just compete with pure singing, we are at a disadvantage. They are the seniors who sing the best in Korea.”
They all nodded.
“Before we practice, I’ll briefly go over the points we need to save in the performance. Remember them well.”
Woojoo calmly explained as he played the gentle accompaniment through the speaker.
The long-awaited day of the competition finally dawned.
10 a.m.
The car stopped in front of the PBS Broadcasting Station in Yeouido. They tilted their heads as they took off their masks before getting off.
“There are a lot of people?”
This was the new hall.
Since it was the same PBS, the commute was similar to when we appeared on the music show Music On.
There were also quite a lot of reporters with cameras.
“I guess they are reporters and fans of other seniors.”
“Then we should take off our masks.”
They took off their masks again.
They checked each other’s faces with only basic makeup on and walked briskly as they got off. A cheer erupted.
“Ah.”
They were their fans.
They smiled broadly with a cat-like expression and walked with a light step.
Half of the people in the seats were entertainment reporters and the other half were fans waiting for the singers.
Among them, 90 percent were their fans.
As they sent heart signs with their hands, they heard the reporters’ voices.
“Here! Please say hello here!”
“One more heart!”
“Please strike a pose. Manager, don’t stay there and come out!”
Dowon Hyung stepped aside awkwardly and they posed.
When they were making a V as a group, one reporter asked, “What is your goal ranking today?”
They folded their fingers that were making a V and only showed their index fingers.
Their youngest danced a cheeky shoulder dance and said ‘First place for sure~’. Laughter flowed among the fans.
“Thank you, thank you!”
They bowed their heads here and there and entered the hall.
Woojoo’s heart was already pounding.
“There are more reporters than I thought?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it because of the program launch? It looks more than when we go to the music show.”
The scale of the reporters who came out for the commute was quite large, as befitting a program that PBS was ambitiously promoting.
Even considering the symbolism of the first recording, it was a big scale.
Only then did Woojoo start to feel the reality of participating in this competition.
He was nervous as if he was facing an important exam, but on the other hand, he was also excited to show the results of our practice.
“Hello!”
They greeted the staff who passed by the hallway with enthusiasm and walked towards the waiting room.
The new hall.
The place where Woojoo used to stand every time he performed on a music show felt strangely unfamiliar today.
“Oh, this is amazing.”
“It feels a bit different from what we usually see.”
They looked around as they came out to draw the order of the performance.
The audience seats with red cushions were the same as usual, but the camera placement was different.
The open space in front of the seats.
Where three standard cameras and two jimmy jibs were messily placed during the live show, there were temporary chairs.
They seemed to have arranged them to fill more audience.
And two places caught Woojoo’s eye.
“I guess that’s where the original songwriters sit.”
There were seats set up separately next to the stage, where the original songwriters who came to watch the competition would sit.
Later, Teacher Noh Jaehyun would also sit there and watch their performance.
Rihyuk wondered.
“Doesn’t it look like there are more seats than I thought?”
“Maybe it’s the judges’ seats.”
“Their seats are over there.”
Woojoo followed Rihyuk’s finger and saw that it was true.
The seats where the judges who would evaluate and comment on today’s competition were also added to the audience seats.
They heard a kind voice as they were wondering.
“That’s where the celebrity panelists sit.”
“Oh, hello. Sunbae-nim.”
“Hi.” Lisa, who was smiling softly at them, explained, “People would get bored if we just competed seriously. Other singers and entertainers will watch our stage from there and react. They’ll also throw in some funny comments here and there.”
“I see…”
They nodded with convinced faces. Lisa then tilted her head and asked, “Where is LisaLover?”
“He’s next to the writer.”
“Oh, there he is.”
Lisa waved and smiled at them.
Soon, their manager’s nose and cheeks ascended as he watched his favorite’s fan service.
They slapped their cheeks as they saw his happy face, as if he had achieved everything.
“Wow. He doesn’t smile like that for us.”
“Maybe it’s because we don’t wave at him often.”
They all smiled brightly at Minki Hyung and waved at him.
“…”
He returned a grim face.
He shook his head as if disgusted, and Lisa chuckled next to him.
They gave their manager a sidelong glance.
“You’ll see.”
“We’ll make you jealous when we get NewBlackLover.”
“…I don’t think I’ll be jealous, though?”
They ignored someone’s logical remark and gave him a sidelong glance.
Then they chatted with Lisa, mostly about the competition.
“Did you prepare a lot?”
“Yes. But the time was a bit tight.”
“It was really tight. I have a musical rehearsal that I’m preparing for right now, so it’s hard to adjust the time.”
“We had the Dolympic.”
“Ugh, I hate that.”
She knew well about the Dolympic, having been an idol as Sugarfish.
But they couldn’t complain to her.
“We did it outdoors in the summer…”
“Ah, oh.”
The Imjin Fortress year-end stage was the same.
An outdoor Dolympic.
It was a moment when their respect for the senior idols grew.
As they talked with Lisa, they greeted the other singers who arrived one after another.
“Did you all eat? Food?”
A cheerful smile on a 30-something man.
Instead of a glittering suit, he wore a calm casual outfit and arrived as a trot singer, Song Bohyung.
“…Well. Hello.”
Still an unlikable tone.
They sprayed their hair with super-strong spray and wore a leather jacket with a pattern on the back, like a motorcycle biker gang.
Jo Yuri Band greeted them as they climbed onto the stage.
“Long time no see, everyone.”
A thick appearance that gave off a police or military vibe.
Cha Woohyun.
The most experienced senior singer in this place led his bulk up.
The trot singer, indie band, and ballad powerhouse arrived, and finally MC Baek Sangjung arrived.
He quickly arranged the stage and started recording.
-Yes. Challenge, Legendary Song Discovery Tean! The long-awaited first competition day has dawned.
The announcer threw his eyes at the camera with a playful smile.
-Are you all nervous?
“Yes.”
-You all look relaxed for being nervous, but you don’t feel it yet, do you? It’s your first stage today.
They nodded with sympathetic faces, as if they were the only ones who felt that way.
Baek Sangjung laughed.
-Soon, six hundred spectators will enter that seat.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the empty seats.
-And you will compete with each other’s skills through the stage in front of you, and decide the winner of today… you will.
He lowered his voice calmly, drawing the attention of the future viewers and participants. The MC skillfully led the progress.
He glanced at the cue card and spoke vigorously.
-Well, now that we have the rehearsal ahead of us, let’s decide on the order. You all know how important the order is, right?
Everyone’s eyes settled calmly.
The 600 audience members holding the remote controls are the ones who will vote for the first place in today’s competition.
The audience does not give objective scores like AI, but they make subjective judgments of their own.
That was why the order mattered.
No matter how well you did, if the person in front of you was overwhelming, you would look relatively bad and get a harsh evaluation. And if you did poorly, but the previous person did worse, you would look relatively like a fairy.
There was also the issue of condition.
If you were placed in the back, you had to keep loosening your throat in a tense state to avoid choking, which increased fatigue.
It was obvious.
The rehearsal was during the day, but the performance was at 10 p.m., so anyone would be tired.
The MC looked around the participants and asked.
-What order do you want to go in? Song Bohyung, what order do you want to perform today?
“Well.”
Song Bohyung smiled slyly.
“I think it would be best to go as early as possible considering the condition, but the middle wouldn’t be bad either. Most of all… My goal is to go ahead of our senior Cha Woohyun.”
A small laugh burst out.
It was the common thought of everyone in this place, including them.
Subjective or not, a singer with outstanding singing skills that could chew up anything was the number one target to avoid.
-How about you, Cha Woohyun?
“I don’t care when I do it,” Cha Woohyun said indifferently, as if it didn’t matter.
Rihyuk sent him a look of envy.
Lisa and Jo Yuri Band also picked their preferred order as either front or middle, and then it was their turn to be interviewed.
-How about New Black? You have such strong senior singers here, you must be nervous as a rookie?
Woojoo answered as the representative.
“Yes, there are so many amazing seniors here… We want to perform first.”
It was best to get the performance over with before the condition worsened due to the rotation.
If not, there was nothing they could do.
The MC nodded.
-I see. Well, then, this time we’ll go in reverse order from when we picked the songs. New Black, who picked the song last, will pick the order first.
Soon, a box with a lottery stuck in it like a sushi roll arrived.
From 1 to 5.
-Who’s this time…?
Before Woojoo could say anything, his siblings poked his back or pointed their fingers at him, saying, “This person! This person!”
‘Why me?’
Woojoo looked at them with a wronged expression, and a warm smile came back.
‘The leader has to do the hard stuff.’
‘Go. Slave. Go.’
They smiled and gestured for him to hurry up, and he stepped forward to the lottery.
“Hoo…”
Woojoo took a deep breath and reached out into the air.
Please.
Let them go first. Buddha. He had to win first place today and get Deoksoon.
Woojoo prayed hard, even though he didn’t usually, and closed his eyes and waved his hand back and forth.
Give him a sign when it felt right.
“…!”
As he moved his hand like that, he felt something and stopped.
-Oh, did you get a feeling?
“Yes, this is it. I think this is the first one.”
Woojoo picked out number 4 and held it out.
The MC untied the string with a serious face and unfolded the lottery. Then he smiled and grabbed the microphone.
-Yes! Congratulations.
Of course.
-It’s the last order! New Black!
“…”
Woojoo blinked his eyes as he heard the laughter from all over.
He thought he prayed to Buddha, but the one who answered him was the god of black history.