Save a Failed Idol’s Life

#028. The weight of a crown the size of a rat’s tail (1)

‘Ugh… My back…’

As I kept bending down to check the ingredients one last time, I felt pain in my lower back.

‘I was fine when I just woke up. It’s a bad day, so I can feel it throbbing right from the waist.’ 

I thought I should have had real physical therapy instead of just saying that I went to the hospital every day and got rehabilitation treatment.

When I gently pulled back the curtains on the window facing the outside, I could see that it was raining.

It was an ominous sign since the sky was dark from the morning, but I decided not to care.

‘The manager said he’d give us lighting equipment and live broadcasting equipment later in the afternoon.’

The simple script was sufficiently prepared, and now it was time to prepare the mind. 

Of course, Climax is not a rookie, but it’s because I’m a rookie.

I wanted to see what kinds of mistakes these idols made when making live broadcasts for the first time.

All sorts of web posts came pouring out as if it wasn’t called the age of hundreds of thousands of idols for nothing.

[Title: A disaster that happened because the mouth was faster than the head] 

What’s this? I just clicked on the post without much thought.

I think he’s in his early 20s? It was a video of an unidentified male idol reading what was posted on the viewer chat.

“Oppa has a very handsome face and I support your skills, but why do you do such a thing when you are in school… Ah.” 

It seemed that there was only good comment in the front, so he read along, but he couldn’t get enough of the content behind it and read it line by mouth.

Silence came within the video for a moment, and the main character of the video hesitated without being able to speak anymore.

“That’s… I think you’re a little misunderstood. It’s a rumor without proof….” 

Then, chats started popping up like crazy, as if they were waiting for the main character in the video to make a mistake.

[※Admin: Controversial and slanderous chats will be deleted immediately.]

[You know there is no evidence, so you mean to talk? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ] 

[This message has been deleted by the administrator.]

[Please take care of the comments]

[Oh, this is a mess]

[This message has been deleted by the administrator.]

[This message has been deleted by the administrator.]

[※Admin: Controversial and slanderous chats will be deleted immediately.]

A staff member who appears to be an administrator posted a notice that slanderous/controversial chats will be deleted.

However, the fire didn’t know how to extinguish itself once it sparked.

Continuing to point out the controversy over school violence, and deleted chat messages were repeated. 

‘What a mess….’

The video ended in a hurry to end the live broadcast.

I glanced through the comments on the post.

[Why did he read that out of all the comments?]

[The case of George’s life with his own mouth]

[The agency was working hard to get the controversy posted on the anonymous community, but he ignited it]

The situation seemed complicated in many ways, but—anyway, it seemed clear that the situation was twisted due to a mistake on his part.

Aside from that, I was able to point out several cases of mistakes made during live broadcasts.

1. Bringing up the existence of a girlfriend or ex-girlfriend while talking about daily life 

2. Discarding gifts given by fans or showing scenes of treating them carelessly

3. In the background of the dorm, underwear or other items that should not be exposed appear

4. Mistakes of speech (speech with a sexual connotation, swear words, etc.)

Etc. It was a problem that I didn’t have to worry about if I organized the background that could be caught on the screen in advance.

Well—it’s been 5 years since our debut, but if these guys were going to have a big accident, they would have done it long ago.

Right now, it would be enough to keep the mouth closed before the live broadcast started.

Hmm… For idols, it would be better to be single anyway for marketing purposes.

In the position of providing romance and fantasy, having a real lover would be a definite disadvantage.

‘I’ll have to check it out when we all get together. I don’t think it’s okay if they meet someone unknowingly.’ 

It was none of my business by the time I succeeded as an idol and took full revenge, but before that, not a chance. 

‘Ah. I can’t. Anyway.’

I nodded to myself and stood up. 

‘I have to prepare all the ingredients in the morning and finish cleaning them.’ 

When I washed my face in the bathroom and stood in front of the refrigerator, my mind sparkled.

First of all, let’s think about finishing the live broadcast that will be held in the evening safely.

I had a feeling that today would be so long that it would be hard to compare it to other days.

* * *

“Since Kyungwwa has done it before, I don’t have to tell you separately, right?”

When it was time to announce the live broadcast in the late afternoon, Manager Hyung showed up with an old cell phone. 

He says he’s sorry that he can’t keep watching from the side, but—.

‘I don’t know if it’s sincere.’

I didn’t even know if there was another trouble behind the scenes with the rejection of draft A.

Since Kang Yoogun took his anger out on the managers there when he was mad, the company deserved what happened.

‘This… It looks like it’s older than the one I’m using.’

The manager handed out an old cell phone that made it questionable whether the camera was working properly. 

“What are you looking at so closely?”

Manager Hyung looked up at me nervously as if he had no time. 

The Manager looked up at me nervously as if he had no time. 

“The model is a little… I thought it was a long time ago?”

Of course, I used to save things, but…to give something this old to use for filming…

It wasn’t about saving money; it was more like being irresponsible. 

“If you have a cell phone you don’t use, would you like to donate it? Floss’s regular live broadcast starts at 11:00, so don’t forget to finish at 10:30.”

What? I asked, raising my eyebrows for a moment.

“Didn’t you say we could do it for two hours yesterday?”

Then Manager Hyung answered with a smile.

“Think about your most recent live. You couldn’t even talk for 30 minutes because you ran out of things to say, and it went quiet. Just give it a try first and tell me.” 

The manager turned his head and said, ‘Well, it’s already been half a year.’

I turned my gaze to check the members’ expressions. Everyone couldn’t be in a good mood because they were openly ignored.

Sunwoo, who was always at a loss and couldn’t say anything right away, even if he didn’t like something, was hardening his expression.

I’m upset, but this treatment now was at a level suitable for Climax.

A nameless person who luckily gained attention after being buffed by a popular idol, but people still couldn’t tell who we were.

‘Everyone’s expressions are bound to be bad.’

Now that things have gotten to this point, the most important thing was to get the water flowing in a good direction.

“All right. We’ll take care of it.”

“Yes, contact me anytime if you have a problem while doing something.”

Even if we contact him, will the manager come back right away and help?

In a cluttered atmosphere, the manager left, saying that there was something he had to do to support other groups’ schedules.

Certainly—he said he was Climax’s manager.

As the time without schedules got longer, he seemed more attracted to support from other teams. 

‘This, too, must have been treated as natural for Climax until now.’ 

Instead of just being depressed like this, I had to work hard to change so that I wouldn’t be treated the same in the future.

“Okay now, because the manager has gone. Let’s make sure to read the cue sheet carefully.”

I started first because Kyunghwa was fiddling with the mobile phone for the live broadcast with a sullen expression.

“Oh, yes! Can I wear the apron over there?”

Kyunghwa shrugged his shoulders in surprise and put down the cell phone. The scheduled time for the live broadcast was 9:00. It was now 7:30 PM.

“I will bring it.” 

With a slightly brighter expression, Sunwoo came to the table carrying aprons for five people. 

They looked like a waiter because they wore the most basic apron that could be bought on a website to order food supplies. 

I thought about dressing them in a cooking suit as well—.

‘As expected, if it’s too much, it will look burdensome.’

I thought an apron would be enough for now.

“Kyunghwa, please organize the strings behind me.”

What’s so hard about wearing an apron? Yejun whimpered and turned his back to Kyunghwa.

“Why are you so clumsy? Wear it slowly.”

While Kyunghwa complained, he even fixed Yejun’s hair so it didn’t fall on his neck and tied a beautiful ribbon around it. 

The way it looks—it looked like a guardian who tied a ribbon around the dog’s neck.

He was watching it with an unknown look on his face.

“Do you want me to tie your hair, too?”

“What?”

When I asked, Seongwon asked back in a nervous tone.

“Ribbon.” 

Looking at the knot Seongwon had tied, it was just a tight knot that would have some trouble untying later.

“Seongwon Hyung is pretty, so I think a ribbon would suit him well!”

Sunwoo said something that scratched my inside without noticing, so I breathed in to hold back my laughter.

“What? Does it mean I don’t look good because I’m not pretty?”

Yejun intervened without missing the timing.

“No, it’s not that… Since Seongwon Hyung looks a bit prettier….” 

Sunwoo panicked at the sudden complaint.

It was a bit paradoxical for a guy who no one in the entire entertainment industry would push to say that he was a beautiful person.

“You are prettier, you punk.”

Sunwoo shouted shyly as I messed up his hair as if to stop talking nonsense.

“Yise Hyung is also very handsome!”

“Why don’t you tell me I’m handsome!”

“Yejun hyung is handsome too!”

“Not very much?” 

Kyunghwa raised his hands and said as if tired of the sudden praise relay and begging for compliments.

“It’s all noisy, so be quiet.”

“What do I do?”

Yejun pouted his lips. That was exactly what I wanted to say.

Even though it was messy and loud, at least one tension seemed to have been eased.

“Let’s turn off the local broadcasts. Kyunghwa will set up the camera and check each other’s seats in advance. I have to see how it comes out on the screen.”

Sunwoo, the most important person among the five, nodded quickly.

Now, if I look at it in real life, it’s pretty cute and even has a slightly round impression—.

The biggest problem was how to appear on the screen of the live broadcast. 

Even if you use an app to edit selfies, it’s hard to edit videos at our level.

Filters have gotten better these days, so it’s possible to apply a real-time correction filter, but—.

I didn’t want to imagine what kind of uproar the chat would be if it was cut off in the middle by mistake.

“Okay, then I’ll turn it into a camera recording.”

Kyunghwa hardly took his hands off the camera while he worked hard on the tripod across the kitchen and adjusted the angle. 

“Sunwoo, don’t come to the middle. You should stay as far back as possible behind the other members so you don’t show your body.”

“Ung! I’m good at hiding.”

Everyone gasped at the unexpected nonsense, and here and there the sound of holding their breath was heard.

Sunwoo may not have meant it at all, but it helped him to keep his mind together.

Everyone quickly recovered as if it hadn’t been when the atmosphere was down because of the friction with the manager a while ago. Being young is definitely a good thing.

Good. The mood of our kids is not bad.

I put my apron on again and stood in front of the camera.