NOVEL NEXT Chapter 232
Chapter 232
The cheer stick that Ban Yo-han had painted, under Seo Moon-gyeol’s guidance, was perfectly polished and painted.
The magic wand—or rather, cheer stick—that Ban Yo-han and Seo Moon-gyeol designed consisted of two main parts: the handle and the head.
Overall, it used white and sky blue, giving off a clean, fresh, and confident vibe.
“The round part at the top represents bubbles because Aeri is the fairy of air. Inside, we put a transparent orca and fine gold powder to evoke the sandy beach Raon saw in his dream. Oh, was I not supposed to say that? Anyway, it represents the beach.”
Ban Yo-han naturally revealed what Director Ju Yeol-eum had subtly hinted would be revealed someday, and he calmly continued his design explanation.
“The connection part is meant to represent wings with a wave motif. If you press this shell-shaped button on the handle, it makes a ‘bbyororong’ or ‘sharalang’ sound, which I personally think is the killing point. Ideally, it would extend like a baton, but I’m not sure if that’s possible within the budget. That’s it.”
His explanation was so detailed, sincere, and serious that everyone missed the right timing to say anything, thinking it was just a joke.
Ban Yo-han’s best friend, Kang Ji-woo, was the first to come to his senses and shouted angrily.
“You and me!”
He was sure the omitted words would be something like, “It’s embarrassing to carry it around.”
“If you were going to make something like this with Gyeol hyung, you should have just given him to me earlier!”
“Oh no. What do you mean, ‘something like this’? And give? Seo Moon-gyeol isn’t an object.”
“It’s completely contradictory for you to say that now, after snatching him away with rock-paper-scissors!”
“Well said, our youngest!”
Gyun Seong-ha, who had given up his grand dream to Ban Yo-han, couldn’t stay silent either.
“No matter how rare a cheer stick is that you can carry around comfortably, it should at least be something you can take out proudly when needed. How are we supposed to carry this?”
“Why? Are you embarrassed of me? I’m confident with it.”
“Don’t assume everyone in the world is like you!”
Seeing Gyun Seong-ha subtly address Ban Yo-han as “you” suggested that the rule against ranking by age, proposed by Orca, had firmly taken root.
“Thinking everyone is like him… that’s horrifying.”
“But Aeri fans will like it.”
“No. I guarantee if everyone in the world turned into you, Aeri fans would give up on you within a day.”
“Half a day is more generous.”
“Why are you all so lenient? I say 15 minutes.”
According to his own claim, it would take at least an hour for Aeri fans to get tired of him.
Ultimately, we agreed that it would take an hour for Aeri fans to give up on Ban Yo-han and returned to discussing the cheer stick selection.
“But we have to choose just one here. It’s a shame to give up on any of them.”
“Don’t sneak in a rotten banana.”
“Aw.”
“It’s such a shame. Can’t we just have all four as our cheer sticks?”
“You’re watching Yo-han hyung, who seems to have realized that if he doesn’t push for it now, his idea won’t come to fruition.”
“Sniff.”
“……These hyungs are acting cute!”
Then Ban Yo-han annoyed me by mimicking what I said to Seo Chan-bin during Pick Heart, “Did I seem cute? Then it’s not acting cute but really being cute.”
At that moment, from outside the camera angle, a staff member’s voice was clearly heard, saying that the two younger members were the hope of this group.
The voice was loud enough to be picked up by the microphone, but since it was common for staff voices to be naturally captured during the company’s self-produced content shoots, no one paid much attention.
It could always be edited out later.
Then, Seo Moon-gyeol, usually classified as a hyung by Aeri fans, looked at me and Gyun Seong-ha with a desperate gaze.
It seemed he wanted to be included with the younger members.
“We don’t accept traitors!”
“That’s right…!”
“!”
Seo Moon-gyeol’s pupils shook as if he were deeply shocked by Gyun Seong-ha’s unexpected rejection.
“No! Actually, that’s a lie. It’s a joke!”
“I can’t tease him. It makes me feel like a terrible person…….”
“But Gyeol and betrayal really don’t go together.”
“That’s right. Ban Yo-han and betrayal seem naturally paired since birth.”
“I haven’t betrayed anyone yet, you know?”
“The fact that you said ‘yet’ means you’re already wrong.”
“So, if we decide this among ourselves, will it be made accordingly?”
To my question, Kang Ji-woo answered.
“That was the plan, but……. Our director is signaling strongly for us to finish quickly.”
Before Kang Ji-woo even finished his sentence, one of the cameras pointing our way showed Director Ju Yeol-eum standing off to the side.
Ju Yeol-eum, who had been nodding during my and Gyun Seong-ha’s presentation, looked like he had lost his words in many ways and drew a big X with his hands.
“Why?”
“Don’t you trust us?”
“You clearly said you’d leave it to us! Please explain what’s going on, Director!”
The subtitles would probably say something like ‘Idols whose guts burst out’.
Finally, Ju Yeol-eum, who had been looking at us affectionately, opened his mouth.
“Are you asking because you don’t know?”
Not just a reflection, but a rainbow reflection kind of answer, we quieted down.
* * *
The video we shot about two months ago was uploaded to Orca’s YouTube channel today.
Since the official article had already announced a comeback in August, Aeri fans, who nervously clicked on the link, reacted explosively.
– Wow, our cheer stick is out?!?!?
– Thank you for the teaser
– Why do they have so many demands for a small cheer stickㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ We want it too, but what about the cost..? Director Ju Yeol-eum doesn’t look very happyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Our Ju couldn’t even make a ring properly before, now he can’t draw either. So cuteㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜㅜ
– (Photo) How did Raon recognize the orca in Ji-woo’s drawing that looks like a rotten banana?
┗ LOL Ju must really pamper the youngest
– (Photo) A hilarious composite of Kang Ju’s drawing with a tuna at the fish marketㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Fainted hearing “Don’t fight because of me” from Gyeolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Why does On Raon look like he wants to break the window so badㅋㅋㅋㅋ
┗ Actually, what he really wanted to break was Oops’s head..
┗ “Our Rangoo is too kind to think like thatㅠㅠ. I think about breaking that guy’s head every dayㅠㅠㅠㅠ.”
– “(Endless ‘Hing’ and ‘Hying’ video) Listen up, Kang Ju and Honey, it’s cheating for a 22-year-old man to be this cute.”
– “When Gyeon Seong-ha said there’s no cheer stick you can use daily, I thought, ‘Oh? Our Yo-han, who is embarrassing no matter where he goes, is making a sensible comment?’ But then he immediately created an over-the-top magic wand, and I was shocked.”
– “I’m really sorry, Yo-han, but we also have social face and shame to consider….”
– “It’s so funny seeing Gyeol desperately looking at the youngest, wanting to be included in the younger groupㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ.”
At the end of the video, a date a week from today was prominently displayed, raising Aeri fans’ expectations even more.
– “Huh, the cheer stick is coming out in a week. Seed is working hard!!!”
– “I’m curious which one they choseㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. There were some pretty ones among the kids’ ideas, so they probably used one of those.”
– “A skilled person rendered the kids’ ideas in a 3D program, and Rangoo’s and Seong-ha’s are really, really pretty!!! What’s your favorite?”
┗ “Wow… They’re all stunningly beautifulㅠㅠ. Even the fresh fish that looked like a rotten banana looks genuinely pretty now.”
┗ “Wow, that’s real talent, amazing.”
┗ “I like number 3! I love decorating, so a cheer stick designed for customization by the official company is the best. My wallet will hurt, thoughㅎㅎ.”
┗ “I also like 3. The subtle blue light makes it look like an aquarium, so beautiful.”
┗ “Number 2 is cool.”
┗ “222. Nowadays, there are many old-style cheer sticks, but this one is square, so it stands out more.”
┗ “Indeed, it looks very powerfulㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ.”
┗ “Is there no one else who likes number 1ㅠㅠ? It looks like it would really stand out anywhere, which I like.”
┗ “222. When you see it like this, it’s surprisingly pretty.”
┗ “I thought it was pretty, too, but the ideal and reality are different. It looks quite pretty like this, but in reality, it would just be fresh fishㅋㅋㅋㅋ.”
┗ “But I also want the magical girl wand… It’s just too pretty to pass up, regardless of whether I can take it out in publicㅋㅋㅋㅋ.”
┗ “Me tooㅋㅋㅋ. I was tempted just by Gyeol’s drawing, but seeing it shine like that makes me want to collect it.”
┗ “Doesn’t the design and color of number 3’s first picture look a bit like a fanlight? Am I the only one who feels this way?”
┗ “It doesn’t look similar at all.”
┗ “I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this wayㅠㅠ.”
┗ “It’s not because of the round shape and white light, is it? Nowadays, if you gather fanlights, there would be a box full of old-style and semi-spherical designsㅋㅋ.”
┗ “Also, that’s not an official image. The kids said they wanted a basic blue light like in the second picture, and it was just made by a passing skilled person.”
– “I can’t believe the person who designed that magic wand was quietly attending Seoul National University until two years agoㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ.”
┗ “Since joining the family company, Yo-han has been unleashing his hidden quirks 365 days a year.”
Among them, the cheer stick designed by Ban Yo-han and Seo Moon-gyeol was so charming that kidult toy enthusiasts wanted to collect it if it was released like that.
Anyway, On Raon and Gyeon Seong-ha’s designs weren’t bad either.
Since Ju Yeol-eum had participated in designing the Jupiter and Krenia cheer sticks a few years ago, which were made in a sophisticated form, Aeri fans were looking forward to the week passing quickly without much worry.
And a week later.
Ju Yeol-eum, the god of marketing—or rather, business—surprised the Aeri fans with his plan.