Chapter 51:
Chapter 51
Who cares? We’re having fun!
“This is going to be fun.”
“It’s going to be awesome, right?”
“Are you sure about this?”
Lee Ju-hyuk asked again. But Jo Tae-woong, Kim Ju-young, and Park Seo-dam looked disappointed as they licked their lips.
“Ah, I wish we had a part too.”
“Then it would be too much like a group song.”
“Hyung, there’s no place for me, right?”
The trio seemed to be really regretful as they scanned Park Jin-hyuk’s lyrics over and over.
Lee Ju-hyuk scratched his head as he didn’t get the reaction he expected.
“You guys know the situation, right?”
The trio lifted their heads from the lyrics.
“Hyung, why are you asking us that? We’re trying to get your permission.”
Jo Tae-woong retorted as if it was obvious.
“How much trouble can we get into? Do you think the CEO will beat us up?”
“He’ll scold us for sure. Let’s take it together.”
Kim Ju-young and Park Seo-dam added.
They were showing a warm teamwork as they conspired together.
“Let’s go!”
Jo Tae-woong shouted and everyone raised their hands and cheered.
“Let’s eat first and then record.”
“I’m hungry. What should we eat today?”
“Cold noodles and pork cutlet.”
“Deal.”
They were worthy of being called a group obsessed with food.
Park Seo-dam left the studio and asked Park Jin-hyuk.
“But hyung, what does Love J mean?”
“Huh? It’s nothing… Love is the name of my dog, J is from Jin-hyuk’s J.”
“Hyung, have you ever heard that you’re living just because you were born?”
“How did you know? That’s what my sister used to say to me a lot.”
Park Jin-hyuk chuckled.
Ian, who was left in the studio, stared at the emails from the reporters that he had received from Jin.
‘Should I make at least one backup plan…?’
“Ian, what are you doing? The elevator is here!”
“Oh, I’m coming!”
***
‘Idol Rapper’ PD Lee Jong-soo yawned as he left the broadcasting station.
‘Damn it, I don’t like it…’
He was on his way out after watching the final edit of episode 9.
‘Idol Rapper’ was being edited by Kang Byung-in, the co-PD who was ignoring the headquarters and doing whatever he wanted. The result was very different from what Lee Jong-soo had envisioned.
‘Shit… I should have stepped on shit. When I move, I’ll start with a killer music variety show.’
Lee Jong-soo’s transfer to JBTC was almost certain.
That’s why he was able to detach himself from ‘Idol Rapper’ and relax his mind.
“Hello, PD-nim.”
A tall man with a black cap pulled down low stood in front of Lee Jong-soo.
Lee Jong-soo tensed up and then saw the face under the cap greeting him and said cheerfully.
“Oh? Jin-hyuk, what are you doing here? Aren’t you busy preparing for your comeback?”
“I… Can you please listen to my live song demo?”
“You could have just emailed it to me. Why did you come all the way here…”
“I need you to listen to it first.”
Lee Jong-soo narrowed his eyes at Park Jin-hyuk’s desperate look.
‘There’s something going on?’
If you have more than 10 years of experience in the entertainment department, you naturally pick up on these things.
And a few minutes later, at a cafe on the first floor of the broadcasting station, Lee Jong-soo PD clapped his hands after listening to Park Jin-hyuk’s demo song.
“Go for it! I’ll cover everything for you!”
***
“What’s this? Why is the song title like this? What is this? Have you listened to it?”
The day before ‘Idol Rapper’ live broadcast, PD Kang Byung-in asked after receiving all the songs from the contestants in advance.
“That? I checked them all out. It has a unique concept, right? The Three Kingdoms era? That kind of concept.”
“Oh, I see.”
“They’re probably going to compete with their performance. They’re famous for their performance skills.”
Kang Byung-in PD shrugged off Lee Jong-soo PD’s unusually polite attitude as him being careful of the headquarters.
‘I did well as I planned. If this goes on, Ji-hoon will win.’
Kang Byung-in only had his eyes on Im Ji-hoon.
He had intentionally omitted Park Jin-hyuk’s footage in the early episodes, hoping to get Blue Mic’s attention.
But Park Jin-hyuk didn’t cause much of a stir, so he changed his target.
He focused more on editing Park Se-on negatively to erase the negative community reaction to Im Ji-hoon.
Kang Byung-in briefly listened to Im Ji-hoon’s song and took off his earphones.
“I can’t go to the rehearsal. I got a call from the headquarters.”
“Really? I’ll watch the rehearsal.”
Kang Byung-in smirked as if he was jealous and said, but Lee Jong-soo was secretly rejoicing.
‘The timing is good~’
As soon as Kang Byung-in left, Lee Jong-soo put on his earphones and played Park Jin-hyuk’s song.
“Wow… What a remarkable guy.”
Lee Jong-soo was actually disappointed that Park Jin-hyuk, who had received Blue Mic’s recognition, had only mediocre rap skills and his diss battle was more like a praise battle.
He didn’t have a strong punch and only ranked in the middle.
He thought he was just going to participate for the sake of it because of his group comeback, but he didn’t know he had a heavy punch waiting at the end.
‘Yeah, I can’t let Kang Byung-in bastard drag me down.’
This was his last program here anyway. He was thinking of dropping a big bomb for real. Lee Jong-soo shivered with anticipation.
“Today is finally ‘that day’.”
Park Jin-hyuk, who was eating cereal for breakfast and lunch, clasped his hands and put them on his mouth.
“Hyung, don’t act too heavy and go wash up. We have to go to the rehearsal early.”
“Oh, right.”
Thanks to Lee Jong-soo PD’s consideration, they were going to arrive earlier than the other contestants and finish the rehearsal first.
Park Jin-hyuk hurriedly got up and headed to the bathroom. Ian approached Kim Hyun, who looked pale.
“Hyung, how do you feel?”
“I don’t know. My stomach is churning…”
“There’s something perfect for that.”
Ian took out a mint tea drink from the fridge and handed it to Kim Hyun.
“Get that away from me!”
Kim Hyun pushed the drink can roughly. Ian laughed and caught the falling drink can with a thud.
“Hey, don’t waste it.”
“That drink is not worth saving.”
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Hey, I was always fine.”
Kim Hyun grumbled.
“It’s because I’m nervous, you idiot.”
You’re kidding me. Ian snorted inwardly. Kim Hyun had been unsure until the recording, asking if they should tell the company.
Well, Kim Hyun had been receiving the company’s special care since he was a trainee. And the CEO personally picked him out… It’s not that he couldn’t understand his worry about the company.
“Hyung, it’s already done. Just get ready.”
Jo Tae-woong seemed to know how he felt and patted Kim Hyun’s back.
“Hey! I’m not scared!”
Kim Hyun shouted, but the other members ignored him and pushed him into the room.
“Are you all watching live?”
“Of course we are. But do we have to act when we go there?”
“What acting? Just cheer.”
Ian and Kim Joo-young said as they entered their room.
***
“Guys, how’s Jin-hyuk’s song? Are you still not going to let me hear it?”
“Hyung, it’s our group’s secret.”
“Guys… You said I’m the eighth member… Hyung is sad.”
Park Dong-soo muttered sullenly. Because of the rehearsal, they were heading to the broadcasting station early.
Lee Joo-hyuk and Park Jin-hyuk exchanged glances.
Lee Joo-hyuk was scheduled to have a pre-interview with Park Jin-hyuk as a participant in the producing.
“It’s no fun if you know in advance, hyung.”
Ian said that and glanced at his side. Kim Hyun was still fidgeting nervously. Ian tapped his shoulder lightly.
“We picked a really good song this time.”
“Does the song come out at twelve tomorrow? What if we rank higher than our group’s song?”
“Wow, that would be awesome.”
The members spoke casually as Park Dong-soo made a smooth cornering.
‘Well… What could go wrong?’
Park Dong-soo had been monitoring ‘Idol Rapper’, where Park Jin-hyuk appeared, diligently.
Throughout the show, Park Jin-hyuk followed the company’s intention to just make his name known.
He didn’t get any malicious editing, and he passed the most worrying diss battle without any problem.
He had no conflict with the other contestants, and he was friendly with the producers, which was shown on the broadcast.
Usually, in these survival programs, the role of a teacher or a lover of all is the way to survive long and thin.
‘It’ll be fine…’
Park Dong-soo tried to calm his restless mind as he parked in the underground parking lot of the broadcasting station.
***
“Jin-hyuk, let’s go in for rehearsal first.”
“Already?”
Jo Yeon-chul looked puzzled at Lee Jong-soo PD’s words. He hadn’t even prepared properly for rehearsal yet.
“It’s a rap performance anyway, so there won’t be much camera work involved. Let’s just do it in order of arrival.”
“Well… Okay.”
Jo Yeon-chul scratched his head as he saw Lee Jong-soo being suddenly enthusiastic.
The AR that Park Jin-hyuk had prepared shook the stage, and Park Jin-hyuk in a flashy outfit grabbed the microphone.
As soon as he sang a line, all the staffs’ eyes were focused on Park Jin-hyuk.
“PD-nim, what is this?”
“I ordered it. It’s a secret from Kang Byung-in that bastard. Everyone keep your mouth shut.”
Jo Yeon-chul looked at Lee Jong-soo with a dumbfounded expression.
As soon as the first verse ended and the second verse began, Kim Hyun and Ian jumped onto the stage and sang along.
“Wow… Is this that?”
“That rumor was true.”
The staffs opened their mouths wide and looked at the stage.
When Park Jin-hyuk’s rehearsal stage ended, all the staffs’ eyes moved from the stage to Lee Jong-soo PD.
“I ordered it, so everyone thinks so.”
Of course, no one believed his words.
“This is my last project. Please don’t tell Kang PD.”
Lee Jong-soo pretended to be exhausted and asked the staffs. The staffs had secretly disliked Kang Byung-in PD who was arrogant with his back from headquarters. They nodded their heads.
“Don’t worry.”
Even Jo Yeon-chul, who seemed to be the hardest to persuade, gave in to Lee Jong-soo. Lee Jong-soo smiled inwardly. And then someone screamed in that silence.
“Crazy… Crazy…!”
It was Park Dong-soo, AWY’s manager who was watching the rehearsal. He grabbed his head as if he was tearing it apart.
He should have checked it beforehand. He shouldn’t have trusted Park Jin-hyuk’s words that he didn’t have to worry! And Lee Joo-hyuk, the leader, you too!
“These bastards…!”
A rookie who debuted just six months ago, came out on Nnet’s survival program, and brought a song that dissed Nnet?!
“Hey, you crazy bastards!”
Park Dong-soo forgot his dignity and shouted. Kim Hyun, who was going down, turned around and looked at Park Dong-soo with a smirk.
“Hey… It’s fun.”
Kim Hyun was the last one to enter the backstage. His expression was noticeably bright, and he didn’t even notice the sweat running down his forehead. He was full of excitement.
“It’s fun…!”
“Isn’t it?”
Park Jin-hyuk smiled brightly. Ian handed him a towel he got from the staff.
“Hyungs, did you hear? Dong-soo hyung was screaming when we were going down.”
“I heard it.”
“I didn’t know he could shout that loud.”
“He must be fired up.”
They guessed that their situation would get worse after this, but the trio couldn’t stop laughing as they wiped their sweat and drank water.
“Who cares, we’re having fun right now!”
***
Lee Jong-soo PD, who had keenly noticed Park Dong-soo’s scream, put down the cue sheet.
He promised to cover them all, so why not be a reliable backer?
“Are you AWY’s manager? Listen to me.”
On the cue sheet that Lee Jong-soo PD had put down, there were all the orders and songs of the performers, but only Park Jin-hyuk’s song was marked with an asterisk and highlighted with a fluorescent pen.
Park Jin-hyuk – Jujak (朱雀) (Feat. Hyun, Ian of AWY)
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