NOVEL NEXT Chapter 74:
Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 74
The atmosphere of the event hall came alive.
It was just a small gesture, but the audience burst into laughter at the aegyo of the youngest member of New Black.
As whispers like ‘He’s funny’ and ‘He’s cute’ went back and forth.
In the lively mood, New Black started to sing a trot song.
Of course, it wasn’t as high-quality as their live performances of Night Sea or Something.
The people in the hall knew that too.
They showed their determination to make people happy, even though they were not familiar with the genre of trot, and even though they could have embarrassed themselves by singing it wrong.
That was evident in their performance.
They went on stage not to show off their coolness, but to have fun with them.
The audience’s eyes softened at the sight of the singers who were soaked to the skin after coming down from the stage in less than 30 seconds.
The leader who sang while peeling off the hair stuck to his forehead, the dancer who moved his wet body gracefully on the muddy ground, the vocal who shivered and lost his voice but still tried to clear his throat.
The rapper and the youngest who became a duo and led the audience’s reaction diligently.
Even though it was a short song, their best effort touched the audience.
And.
There was someone who smiled at the audience’s reaction.
‘Well done, good job.’
Mayor Kim Younggeon had been smiling broadly since a while ago.
His reaction was completely different from when New Black first came on stage.
Unlike before, his eyes were dripping with honey as he looked at the five singers.
He thought the festival was completely ruined today.
No, it actually was.
But an unexpected rookie boy group appeared and pulled the event out of the swamp.
He thought there would be no other team among the ones who performed today that could elicit such a response, except for the trot singers.
Rather, if another team had come up, the atmosphere might have gotten worse.
It was a godsend that New Black came up.
He decided to go and thank them personally, maybe shake their hands or something, when the event was over.
‘What’s the problem?’
He saw something strange in his eyes.
He couldn’t see well because of the backlight from the spotlight, but there was a commotion behind the stage.
What was the problem?
He narrowed his eyes and ordered the staff behind him to find out what was going on.
When the staff ran over and reported the situation, his mood that had soared to the sky came back to the ground.
“…What?”
“That is, the pump that drains the water broke.”
The staff quickly added as he frowned.
“They said it will be fixed soon, so don’t worry. They said they will fix it before New Black’s stage is over. The water overflowing is temporary.”
He couldn’t just take their word for it, so he decided to have one staff member go over with an umbrella and monitor the situation.
When he turned his attention back to the stage.
Before he knew it, the first verse of ‘Stay with Me’ was over and Kim Junghyun was rapping with a microphone.
It wasn’t as much as the trot, but the rapper who was waving his hands and feet to induce a response was applauded by the audience.
And then, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
‘Could it be…’
He wondered why New Black had come down from the stage at first. Then he thought, ‘Oh, it was to get the audience’s reaction.’
But now it seemed like that wasn’t the only reason.
‘Could it be, they’re trying to divert the audience’s attention from there?’
At first, it was a doubtful thought, but soon he was convinced.
It was obvious.
If New Black had continued to perform on stage, the audience would have inevitably noticed the water stream flowing in from the side because of the direction of the light.
Of course, that wouldn’t have ruined the event.
Just the mood.
His eyes moved from the youngest member of New Black who reminded him of his son who went abroad, to Seon Woojoo who was smiling and moving his body next to Kim Junghyun.
‘Well…’
He decided to think about what he could do to repay them better, along with the thought that he owed them a lot today.
He would at least send them some rice.
He was thinking about that when the tone of the song changed gradually.
“Are they going to do something other than trot?”
Kim Junghyun’s rap sped up as if it was approaching the climax, and the atmosphere became more intense.
And finally, when his rap ended.
Thud-
The lights that illuminated them went off at once.
For a second, people blinked in confusion.
Then the lights came back on.
Thud-
But the place where the lights shone was not where New Black members were.
At the back of the straight line of seats.
There, standing with a cheerful smile, the singer’s face received a huge cheer from the audience.
Along with the upbeat second verse intro.
Singer Song Bohyung walked towards New Black in the front row and greeted the audience with enthusiasm.
-Hello! I’m back!
A collaboration stage between an idol group and a trot singer at an unexpected time.
Everyone, regardless of age or gender, clapped and cheered at the sight.
It was a stage that everyone could enjoy with a smile, transcending generations.
***
Woojoo’s heart soared with the hot cheers.
The idea of switching with the trot singer before the end of the stage was what he suggested today.
-You know the MR we have is the one we used for the year-end evaluation, right? The first and second verses are different songs. The second verse is ‘Thank You’ by Jang Sowon. If we do it as planned, the reaction won’t be that great.
That was because the audience at that time already knew that the first and second verses were different.
So they didn’t find it strange that they collaborated with different songs.
But today’s audience was not the trainee parents who looked at them with affection, but ordinary people.
If they raised the mood with trot and changed the second verse to a different song, there was a high possibility that the audience would be confused.
-So we’re going to do trot for the second verse too.
-What? How?
-We’re not singing it, we’re passing the baton to Song Bohyung. There’s a part where Junghyun’s rap breaks off abruptly, right? That’s where we stop the song and start again. It’s a song without a bridge, so it won’t be a big problem to play the first verse intro again.
-Won’t that be weird?
-The lighting team will help us make it smooth.
Fortunately, the lighting director agreed readily, and they checked the arrival time of Song Bohyung and put it into action.
The reaction was, as you could see.
Very good.
Every time Song Bohyung sang with a playful smile, the elderly and middle-aged audience clapped and cheered enthusiastically.
They all had the same expression.
The market lady who smiled and said Jiho was cute was also bouncing her shoulders as if she was excited.
Woojoo guessed experts were different.
In terms of vocalization and bringing out the charm of the genre, it was the same song, but Woojoo felt goosebumps on his body.
He didn’t know you could sing it like this.
As they handed over the protagonist’s spot to Song Bohyung, they backed up the choreography so that it wouldn’t look empty.
He seemed to appreciate their gesture.
He occasionally smiled at them as he sang.
Maybe he liked the sight of the audience cheering louder than when he sang.
Anyway, it was a good memory for New Black and for him.
-Thank you for your hard work today, New Black! Thank you!
After the song ended, instead of the MC, he waved his hand and thanked them, and they all gathered together and bowed deeply to the audience.
And then.
The rain that had been pouring down like a pole over them began to subside.
“Do you want me to rub your back?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry.”
Rihyuk then plopped down next to Woojoo, who was crouching on the floor.
Soon, Bijoo also leaned his head on his shoulder and joined them.
The three of them were slumped against the backstage wall like zombies.
The two managers who were holding umbrellas over them didn’t tell them to get up, but just smiled.
Seokhwan Hyung patted Woojoo’s shoulder and laughed.
“You did great, really.”
“I don’t think I can ever do that again.”
“What are you going to do? It looks like we’re going to get a lot of gigs from this event.”
Woojoo rolled his eyes at his joking remark, but the mood was warm.
It was just physical exhaustion.
Woojoo was so nervous that he thought he was going crazy, trying to sing three songs in a row that they weren’t even prepared for.
Thankfully, the audience seemed to like it.
“Hyung, I’m so cold…”
“Me too.”
The kids who were soaked by the rain clung to Woojoo’s shoulder.
The professional idols who were smiling and dancing on stage just a moment ago were nowhere to be seen. Now they were just his kids.
Woojoo wanted to get up and go to the car and rest, but he had no strength in his legs to stand up.
Oh, except for one.
“Jiho.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you on Junghyun’s back?”
“My legs gave out. I asked him to carry me.”
He grinned cheekily, hanging on to someone else’s back.
The three Hyungs shook their heads at him.
“Junghyun, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Among the five of them, he seemed to be the least affected by the fatigue and stress, maybe because he had a higher tolerance and stamina.
Well, he still looked pretty worn out.
Woojoo grabbed Seokhwan Hyung’s hand and got up, looking around at the others.
“The managers must be tired of holding the umbrellas too. Let’s go to the car and rest for a bit. Turn on the heater. We need to change our clothes before we catch a cold.”
Bijoo and Rihyuk grabbed his hand and got up one by one.
“Do we have spare clothes?”
“We have our regular clothes, not the costumes.”
“Oh, I don’t like them, they’re dirty…”
“Then you can stay naked… Hey, who’s looking at me like that? You’re hurting my feelings, Hyung.”
“Please, just get hurt already. When are you planning to get hurt?”
Bijoo squeezed in between them, who were bickering.
“Rihyuk, I’ll lend you my blanket.”
He looked at Woojoo with disdain and muttered to Bijoo, “You’re the best, Hyung.”
‘What about me?’ Woojoo looked at him and he only gave him a scornful look.
Woojoo thought to himself that he should get a box of water from him soon.
That was when it happened.
“Excuse me.”
A reporter came up to them as they were heading back to the car.
He was with a man carrying an ENG camera.
He looked at them and handed a card to Seokhwan Hyung.
“I’m Baek Cheolhwan, a reporter from Gyeonggi TV. I think we had a brief interview earlier, but I was wondering if we could talk more properly.”
“Oh, sure.”
Seokhwan Hyung looked at them and said, “First, our kids…”
He was about to say that they needed to change their clothes, when they heard a loud thud!
They all turned their heads.
It was the sound of the drainage pump that was far away.
It seemed to have been fixed when they got off the stage.
But it broke down again in no time.
Thump, thump, thump-
The machine vibrated and spat out water.
The water was flowing back, and it didn’t look good.
The youngest staff member, who looked thoughtful, ran to call the other workers, and they just stared at it.
The water that it had spat out earlier was nothing compared to this.
It was serious.
It wasn’t their problem, but Woojoo felt a pang in his chest.
At that rate, it would reach the stage soon.
Woojoo swallowed hard, looking at the event stage where Song Bohyung was singing.
The machine was shaking as if it would explode at any moment.
It was when Rihyuk hid behind Woojoo, as if he saw a bomb.
“Hey, Junghyun Hyung! Where are you going?”
Junghyun, who was carrying the youngest on his back, walked towards them with big strides.
“We’re getting wet!”
Just a while ago, the youngest went to the market side and made Woojoo’s heart sink. And now, their rapper started to move.
“Junghyun, where are you going?”
“Ah.” He said as if it was obvious, “I think I can help.”
***
Baek Cheolhwan, a reporter from GBS Gyeonggi TV, followed him with curiosity.
‘…What’s going on?’
He wanted to get an interview, but the situation turned weird.
“Is it showing well on the screen?” he asked with a feeling that he might get a good scoop, and the cameraman nodded.
When they arrived at the scene.
The staff members rushed over at the call of the youngest staff.
“Hey, what happened here?”
The director shouted with his scruffy beard trembling, but no one could answer him.
The youngest staff stuttered.
“Well, it broke down earlier, but then it was fine, and we checked it…”
“And then?”
“It broke down again.”
“Damn it, what kind of answer is that? I’m going crazy, really. Hey! Someone, fix this!”
“Director, we don’t know why the machine is malfunctioning. If we touch it wrong, it might get worse…”
The director, who was about to swear, closed his mouth at the appearance of the agent sent by the market side and the sudden camera.
And the New Black members too.
The eyes turned to them as if asking what they were doing here.
The staff members were pushing and shoving with buckets they brought from somewhere to stop the water, when Junghyun parted his lips slowly.
“I think I know how to fix that.”
“…”
He opened his lips after a brief stunned expression.
“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but this.”
“I saw it before.”
“…?”
“When I went down to the main house, it was the same thing. It broke down and I saw the adults fixing it. I know why it does that.”
The staff members blinked their eyes at his calm and relaxed voice that didn’t match the urgent situation.
Splash, splash, splash–
The director, who was lost in thought at the sight of the water flowing back, called someone.
“Hey, Juyeong. You try to fix this.”
Then he turned his eyes to Junghyun.
“You just said that, right? It was the same breakdown. Tell him what to do while he fixes it. This is urgent…”
Junghyun quickly lifted the pump with the staff.
The conversation went fast.
The staff’s hand moved busily as Junghyun told him what to do with words like impeller and strainer.
The hand trembled and dropped the cross screwdriver every time, and he picked it up slowly and said calmly, “I saw my grandfather doing it, and he separated the filter from there…”
As the water overflowed more and more, the New Black members also joined the staff’s line to scoop out the water.
It was when the situation turned around in five minutes.
“It’s done!” The staff reassembled the machine and shouted. “It’s done!”
They quickly reconnected the electricity and turned on the machine.
Everyone clasped their hands and watched it.
The pump that was turned on started to work normally.
The water that had overflowed disappeared and the water started to drain.
It was a situation that would have taken 30 minutes to find and fix the cause of the breakdown, but it was done in five minutes.
The staff let out a sigh of relief, and the director washed his face with the rainwater.
As the atmosphere returned to normal, the staff returned to the scene, and the agent from the market side also disappeared quickly.
The director and the staff who handled the repairs thanked them with a grin.
The members and managers of New Black responded to him, but they looked very nervous as they glanced at one of their members.
Junghyun, who smiled leisurely at the director who grabbed his shoulder and talked to him.
And.
There was someone else who was watching this whole situation and laughing.
“Is the recording done?”
The cameraman raised his thumb at Baek Cheolhwan’s question.
While the shooting continued, he went to a place a little far away and took out his phone.
The call was connected right away.
“Hey, it’s me. Writer Kim. I went to cover a festival in Icheon. I got some good scenes, but it’s a bit awkward to send them to the news, so I wanted to toss them to the program you’re in charge of.”
He said with a smile, “This, the picture looks pretty good.”