Chapter 184
Today was the first time since Colors was founded that we filmed a variety show with the entire idol group.
From the senior idol group, Grayish, to the still-new Steel Blue.
Fans of Colors were anxious about the ambitious project PD Oh had come up with after a long time.
Of course, the Colors idols, knowing nothing would happen, were just tired….
“Hey, Yoon Cheong~? Long time no see~?”
Where did he even learn that way of speaking?
I forced a smile.
“Oh, yes. PD. How have you been?”
Just as I was about to turn around after greeting him.
Someone jumped out from behind PD Oh.
“Cheong, it’s been a while!”
“Writer Kang!”
Here was someone I was genuinely happy to see.
Writer Kang glanced at the busy PD Oh preparing for the shoot and then whispered in my ear as she approached me.
“Haha. You must have been worried when you heard it was PD Oh’s plan today, right?”
“Yes….”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep things in check.”
How reliable.
“Thank you. I’ll trust you with the shoot, Writer Kang.”
Honestly, the Colors’ group variety show was fine.
It was okay.
But when I found out that PD Oh was involved, I started to worry….
But if Writer Kang was joining too?
It’d be fine.
Feeling reassured, I returned to the members.
“You all know the concept for today, right?”
“Don’t be too eager for screen time….”
“If I hear it one more time, it’ll be the hundred millionth time, Cheong Cheong.”
I had already told the members.
The harder you try to be funny, the less funny you are.
Just work hard.
Work like your life depends on it….
Don’t practice the games beforehand.
Newbies are more entertaining when they don’t know anything, knowing too much makes it boring.
“Especially you, Kim Geum.”
“Cheong Cheong, you really don’t trust me.”
“You’re too funny. Don’t be funny. Don’t forget your essence as an idol…!”
“….”
“Bo-ra, you know you shouldn’t get angry on the show, right?”
“….”
The more I talked, the sharper the members’ glares seemed to get.
Let’s stop here.
“Junior!”
At that moment, someone called out to me.
That sly voice.
I knew who it was without looking back.
“Yes, senior.”
“I expect great things from you today.”
“No, no one can match our senior Han Jae-i in variety shows. I just aim to learn from you today.”
“Haha. I’ve thought this before, but our junior really doesn’t seem like a 21-year-old.”
“You too, senior. You don’t seem like you’re just 23 with that level of experience.”
This guy….
I had thought this before.
Isn’t he really suspicious?
Considering the thickness of the iron plate on his face, it’s hard to believe he’s in his third year.
That kind of experience should only come after at least 13 years.
Ever since I found out another contractor existed besides the fluffball, I kept suspecting Burn Ash.
The quality of the songs he made was unbelievable for a newbie.
Even the speed was fast.
All the members were extremely sensitive to privacy issues as if they were in sync.
It was suspicious that they were only walking the path of success under Han Jae-i’s command.
And most importantly… compared to my memories, Burn Ash’s career was significantly higher.
Of course, even before, Burn Ash was undoubtedly one of the top groups, with few competitors.
But not to this extent.
Moreover, Dan Ha had a terrible reputation, surrounded by small controversies.
He couldn’t adjust to the entertainment industry, and every time he appeared on variety shows, he got swept up in personality controversies….
Now, he has completely turned that into a variety show character and is doing even better.
He’s a suspicious guy in many ways.
And for some reason, I could feel that he found me suspicious too.
“….”
“….”
We kept glaring at each other before stepping back.
There were too many eyes watching here.
“Good luck with today’s shoot~?”
“Senior, you too, hang in there today.”
In the past, I wouldn’t have cared if Han Jae-i was a regressor or not.
But now.
I was desperate for any clue about the fluffball.
I had to find out the truth about this contract somehow.
“….”
“Why do you keep messing with random people?”
As Yoon Cheong left.
Dan Ha immediately grabbed Han Jae-i by the back of his neck and dragged him.
“Why are you courting danger?”
“It’s not dangerous. Have you ever seen my intuition be wrong?”
Han Jae-i shook off Dan Ha’s hand.
“Yoon Cheong is definitely Baek Nokha.”
“That was already agreed upon. Whether Yoon Cheong is Baek Nokha or not, we decided not to care.”
“But…”
Han Jae-i glanced at Yoon Cheong’s back.
“‘That’ Baek Nokha, Kim Dan Ha. The one you’ve been almost in a one-sided love with for ten years.”
“It’s not a one-sided love, you crazy bastard.”
Dan Ha got upset and pushed Han Jae-i.
“Sure, sure. It’s a one-sided love where you haven’t even exchanged a word, so let’s just call it admiration. But still. It’s that Baek Nokha.”
The idol of idols.
Even in the previous world, Burn Ash was a fairly successful idol group.
But Baek Nokha was a step above.
Dan Ha respected Baek Nokha so much that he named her as his most respected artist.
“And my intuition tells me they’ve definitely caught on as well.”
“Since they haven’t said anything about it, they probably don’t want to get involved with us.”
“Or maybe they’re just still probing.”
“I told you to give it up, Han Jae-i.”
Han Jae-i’s eyes were filled with greed.
We’ve been together for 15 years now.
Dan Ha knew exactly what that look meant.
“Think about the information and songs Baek Nokha might know. Wouldn’t you be tempted if you were in my shoes? She reached the top of the industry.”
“I’m not tempted. We’ve already made it big without that information or those songs.”
“We could become even bigger—”
“Too much is as bad as too little. We learned that well enough in the second world. Excessive greed only brings disaster.”
“…”
Han Jae-i let out a deep sigh.
He knew it.
In the previous life, they had slipped up many times because of too much greed.
Burn Ash had reached the top in the first world.
Yet all the members agreed to make ‘that’ contract together because they had lingering regrets.
More.
A desire to climb even higher.
Not just to be the top of a generation.
Not just to be the top in Korea.
They wanted to be an unprecedented idol group.
Han Jae-i had convinced the members to cross over to the second world, but they had failed miserably.
The result was even worse than in the first world.
It was a mistake born out of immaturity.
That’s when they realized.
Being an idol wasn’t just about having good skills, working hard, and knowing everything.
Something more was needed.
However, Han Jae-i couldn’t give up.
Just one more time.
If given just one more chance….
What if?
With that thought, he kept begging ‘that’ for one last chance.
If he was given just one more opportunity, he would let go of his lingering regrets.
“This is already the third world. Aren’t you tired of it?”
Han Jae-i smiled at Dan Ha.
“I’ve never been bored for a single moment.”
In fact, even at this moment.
He felt like he was going crazy with the desire to climb higher.
How could it be boring?
Fan Hong turned on the television after a long time.
Today was the first broadcast of Colors’ first group variety show, “Coloring.”
“If PD Oh edits like the devil again, I’m going to storm Mnet.”
I’ll just destroy everything.
[PD Oh: Now, we’ve finished the introductions. Let’s move on to the first game~]
Caption: PD Oh, as ruthless as ever…
[PD Oh: The first game is to guess the Colors songs~]
[PD Oh: Songs from groups other than your own will play for five seconds each. You have to guess the song within five seconds after hearing it.]
Caption: Surely you know your fellow group’s songs, right? ^^
Caption: The Colors members were in shock…
Caption: It won’t be easy~
[PD Oh: Don’t worry. We’ll focus on the title tracks.]
Caption: It’s still difficult…
[PD Oh: First, our senior group, Grayish. Since there are four of you, you need to get four questions right in a row to pass.]
[Hee-young: Ahh…]
[Sol: How are we supposed to get these right? We can’t even remember all our own songs!!]
Caption: That was true…
Caption: The staff gave preferential treatment to the seniors…
Caption: They even sneaked in a track from Grayish’s debut album…
Caption: Resulting in 1 win and 3 losses…
Caption: The only song they got right was from Steel Blue…
Caption: Their love for their juniors is undeniable^^
[PD Oh: Next is All Colors. You’ve always bragged about your love for your juniors, right?]
[Day: Who’s been spreading that rumor?]
<Archival Footage>
[Day: Ah, when it comes to loving juniors, it’s All Colors. All Colors equals loving juniors.]
Caption: It’s you, you…
Caption: All Colors had 3 wins and 3 losses…
Caption: They even got all their juniors’ songs wrong.
[PD Oh: Next is White Noise! There’s a rumor that you’re known as the least entertaining within Colors.]
[Sa-yoon: Who spread such baseless rumors!]
Caption: It was so boring it got edited out
Caption: White Noise 5 Wins 2 Losses
Caption: But for family love, White Noise is number one
Besides that, Burn Ash recorded 6 wins and 1 loss.
Caption: Dan Ha, do you seriously just listen to songs all day?
Caption: Our third-year members are no joke…
Caption: Filled. With. Determination.
[PD Oh: Now, our newbies. You should be nervous.]
[Writer Kang: Don’t go easy on them. Don’t go easy.]
[PD Oh: Before we proceed, we need to highlight something. Our senior group, Grayish, is in their 13th year. And the youngest among our newbies, Yeon Juhong, how old are you?]
[Juhong: I’m 18 years old!]
[PD Oh: Let’s begin.]
[Steel Blue: ?!]
[PD Oh: Alright, for our Steel Blue, we’ll go with a Grayish special round~]
Caption: Earth-shattering pupils…!
Caption: How will Steel Blue overcome this crisis?
Fan Hong also watched the screen with a worried expression.
No way.
How could our Juhong know songs that came out when she was 5 years old?
That didn’t mean the other members had any advantage either.
At most, they were 6, 8, and 9 years old.
Knowing PD Oh’s personality, he would definitely include a bunch of debut songs to stir things up.
However,
Just three minutes later.
Fan Hong let go of his worries.
[Geum: Geum!]
Caption: Al-Already?
Caption: They only played 1 second…?
[Geum: Kiss Kiss Kiss!]
[PD Oh: …Kim Geum, correct!]
[Juhong: Juhong!]
Caption: ??
Caption: We seriously only played 1 second?!
[Juhong: I can’t forgive you for turning away~ Correct! Turned Away!]
[PD Oh: …….]
[PD Oh: Correct.]
[PD Oh: That was a B-side track. How did you even get that…?]
[Juhong: It’s a personal favorite song!]
[Juhong: We can’t not know our unnies’ songs!]
Caption: The members of Grayish, covering their mouths in shock
Caption: ~A wave of emotion spreads through the studio~
[Hee-young: Prepare a building for our Juhong right away.]
[Sol: Prepare the marriage registration form immediately.]
[Sorin: Everyone, maintain your dignity. Don’t you know we start with dating these days? Prepare a bank account for our Juhong.]
Caption: And so, Steel Blue.
Caption: Won 5 matches and stole their seniors’ hearts….
Caption: PD Oh sharpens his blade of revenge…!
Caption: See you next week at the same time!