Chapter 47
Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: NicoleTempest
Chapter 47 The Meaning of the Audience
The sun started to set early, probably because it was in the countryside.
Shadows crept up from the foot of the mountain.
The manager came over and hinted that it was time to change clothes.
“That’s it for the harvest experience, everyone! Let’s wrap it up!”
The staff, who were few in number, began to pack up at the PD’s announcement.
While they prepared the outdoor stage, we had plenty to do ourselves.
“We’ll start the rehearsal at 6:15.”
The rehearsal was nothing more than a low-level and small stage, like a talent show at an elementary school. There was no need to check the lines.
There were only two cameras for filming.
And only one of them was focused on the stage, while the other one was planning to capture the villagers.
It was probably a street busking level stage for other famous idols.
‘There’s no need to be nervous.’
I muttered to myself, trying to encourage myself.
It wasn’t a proper live stage, with only decorative in-ears, and all we had to do was dance and get off.
Thanks to that, none of us seemed too nervous, even though it was our first stage activity in almost a year.
I was the problem.
The audience was all villagers.
They didn’t know who we were, and they didn’t care who we were.
It wasn’t a good thing for me to have my first performance in such a place. I couldn’t deny that I felt a bit disappointed.
“I wish the main show would start soon.”
As I was thinking that, Seon-woo, who I thought would be more nervous than me, surprisingly looked bright. I felt a little embarrassed.
“I haven’t been active for almost a year… I’m so nervous because it’s been so long.”
He proved that it was because of anticipation, not fear or avoidance, by his flushed cheeks.
This was a precious opportunity for them.
They had a different position from me, who thought that it wouldn’t hurt to go out for promotional purposes, and that I couldn’t miss it.
“Can I do that?”
“What’s that?”
Yi-jun was also unable to hide his excitement, bouncing around the waiting room (aka the guest room of the village head’s house).
“I wanted to do that to the elders. They say they love it when you say, ‘Oppa is here, kids.”
“Are you kidding? Stop talking nonsense.”
“Aw, why~. I want to give them back their youth.”
“Shut up if you don’t want to be on the lifestyle page tomorrow.”
Kyunghwa snapped at him, telling him not to spout nonsense. The lifestyle page. That was the second page that celebrities should avoid, after the social page.
It was because of the tricks that the reporters used after the entertainment page comment section was closed due to various incidents.
They deliberately posted articles that people would flock to curse in the comments on the lifestyle page.
They would do anything to make money… It was pathetic that they used tricks to make money, without any regard for the meaning of closing the entertainment page comment section.
‘It’s easy to bleed people without using a knife if you just make money.’
I waited for the manager to come back, feeling bitter.
“Hey, Ise. You’ve been quiet for a while.”
While I was lost in thought, Yi-jun pulled me in with a curious expression.
“Huh?”
I had no thoughts. I just hoped I wouldn’t make a mistake.
I didn’t feel any great anticipation that something amazing would happen because of this, nor any great frustration that this was all there was.
“You worked the hardest to prepare, right? I thought you’d be looking forward to it a lot.”
That was just because I had to do it.
If there was someone else who would risk their life to take care of ‘Climax’, I wouldn’t have stepped forward like a teacher.
“I…”
What should I say? I’m not nervous? I’m nervous, but not enough to be nervous?
As I was squeezing out a sentence in my head, the manager burst into the room.
“Let’s go to the rehearsal!”
“Yes!”
“Yep!”
Yi-jun followed the manager out before I could answer.
He worked so hard in the field all day, but he still had so much energy. He was amazing and surprising in many ways.
“Let’s go, too.”
Seong-won left with a light snort, without saying anything. Seon-woo and Kyunghwa waited for me to come to my senses and then accompanied me.
“How many people usually come to this kind of stage? Fifteen?”
Seon-woo revealed that he really didn’t expect anything with a bright smile.
“Not that many. The village is not small, so about 50 people will come.”
I didn’t get to see the preparation process in detail because I was kicked out, but judging by the number of people who came to help in the kitchen, it seemed like that much.
“That’s a lot! I’ll have to work hard.”
His standard of a lot was too modest. I chuckled and answered.
“Let’s go. The manager is waiting.”
“Okay!”
As I walked with Kyunghwa, who acted like Seon-woo’s guardian, it felt like we were going on a picnic.
‘Well, if it’s a given and I can’t change it, it’s enough that he likes it this much.’
He had been lacking in confidence when we did the live broadcast last time. But he had lost more weight and received a lot of compliments, and his shoulders were tense.
He still couldn’t compare to Oh Yi-jun, who was a natural self-esteem dynamite.
But compared to the old days when he seemed to stutter even when he spoke, there was no comparison.
‘Kids change so fast.’
I felt like I was treating him like a ten-year-old, even though he was an adult. But what he did wasn’t much different from a ten-year-old.
I burst into laughter, remembering how Seon-woo unintentionally tormented Seong-won in the field.
“What are you laughing at?”
Kyunghwa asked, tilting his head with a curious expression.
“No, nothing. I just remembered something.”
“?”
“You’re out of luck with Seong-won.”
I tapped Seon-woo’s shoulder and followed the group ahead. Seon-woo had a question mark on his face.
“What do you mean, that?”
Seon-woo asked Kyunghwa with an innocent expression, but Kyunghwa failed to hold back his laughter.
“Ahem.”
“What? Why are you two laughing?”
Kyunghwa ran away from Seon-woo and went ahead of me. The mood was not bad before our first stage.
***
When we arrived at the rehearsal place, there was a really neat stage setup.
“Let’s go up and test the lines once!”
We obediently walked up the stairs that were only four steps high and stood on the stage.
There were about a hundred chairs filling the open space in front of the stage. We didn’t expect them to be full.
We just hoped that it would look a bit more crowded on the screen.
Soon, the noise from the speakers and the prelude flowed out.
♩~♪~♬♪-.
My body moved before I could think. It was a strange sensation. One that I had never felt before when I was ‘Im Hyunsung’.
Wasn’t the rehearsal supposed to be just a casual practice? Everyone was putting too much effort into it for such a thing.
Kyunghwa seemed to have the same thought as me, because he couldn’t help laughing when our eyes met.
“Why are you laughing?”
I asked, making a slight pout with my lips, and Kyunghwa answered.
“What about you?”
Me? Was I laughing? I didn’t have time to think about what my expression was like as I moved along with the members.
“I don’t know.”
Kyunghwa nodded naturally at my sullen answer.
“Then I don’t know either.”
The sun was gradually disappearing from the end of the mountain beyond the stage. On the opposite side, the sea that was pure blue at noon was dyed red.
The first stage of Climax, with Lim Hyun-seong instead of Cheon Ise, was starting.
***
After the rehearsal, we had a long wait.
The village head had gathered his relatives and friends as the audience, since we came to film a lifestyle program.
We watched the seats fill up a little bit from inside the minivan parked next to the stage set.
Most of them were elders over 60. Or their families who looked like they were in their 30s or 40s. There were some children mixed in, but they were too young.
‘The main consumer group of idols, from teens to twenties, is almost extinct.’
It wasn’t something I hadn’t expected. It was within the normal range. I calmly brushed my chest.
“Wow, it really feels like the countryside.”
“Well, yeah. You have to go to the city to see young people. There are schools and universities there.”
Goseong was a county. And the administrative district of this filming location was not even a town, but a village. There was no way there would be any young friends in such a remote countryside.
Then I saw an unbelievable scene.
“Wait a minute… Do you see the writing on that picket?”
“Huh, what is it, what’s going on.”
Kyunghwa pointed to a place where a middle school student who looked like he was less than 150cm tall was holding a black panel.
“Picket?”
The two students approached the stage and were soon spotted by the staff and guided to the front row.
Then I realized what Kyunghwa was surprised by.
[With Clamak, anytime is Climax]
[Oh Yi-jun, I love you to death]
Why… Why do they say they love him to death? I looked at the members’ expressions at the overly aggressive expression.
“Wow… how did they get here?”
Yi-jun rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, as if surprised.
“Do you know them?”
Is that why he was so surprised? I asked, unable to hide my curiosity, and Yi-jun asked me back as if he was serious.
“No, how could I? I was wondering how those kids got here.”
“Did they have any family or friends nearby?”
Either way, it was amazing that there was someone who came to this remote place to see Climax.
“Wow… we really have to work hard. We can’t disappoint them and send them away after they came all this way.”
Then Kyunghwa snickered.
“When did you think of doing it casually?”
“No, not that. I just feel sorry and grateful.”
“What do you have to be sorry for?”
Yi-jun hesitated for a moment and answered.
“If we were more famous. They wouldn’t have to come to such a remote place to see our stage, right?”
Everyone was speechless at Yi-jun’s words. Damn, turn on the blinker and come in, it hurts too much.
“We haven’t been on stage for almost a year, so maybe it’s too much that only two people came.”
Kyunghwa sighed briefly.
“Anyway, since the fans are here, let’s do our best and get off.”
It was a bit awkward to call them ‘fans’, but the conversation ended in a warm atmosphere. I didn’t know how they got here, but
it was a heartwarming thing to have an audience who wanted us among the people who didn’t care who the performers were.
“Okay, it’s time. Let’s go.”
The manager pressed the door open button, reading the sign from the outside. The sliding door opened and the sea breeze blew in from outside.
Our first stage as idols was starting.
