Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Chapter 43 Heading to the First Stage (1)

It was less than a week after I appeared on <School Kitchen Attack> as Kang Yugeon’s substitute.

[Sender: PD Pyo Juyeon]

What did this person want from me?

I wondered as I answered the phone call in the late afternoon.

“I picked up the phone. This is Cheonise.”

-Yeah~, long time no see, Ise. How have you been?

PD Pyo didn’t call me just to ask how I was doing. Was it a casting offer? I answered with a hopeful expectation.

“Yes, thanks to your concern, I’ve been doing well. The broadcast is not far away either.”

I only found out the scheduled air date after I finished filming. It was about two weeks after the shooting day.

In about a week, I would be able to see the reactions on the entertainment community or SNS and check whether I did well or not. It would be like getting a report card.

-I’m glad you’re doing well. I have a favor to ask you, if you don’t mind.

A favor? What was he talking about? 

The only thing people would ask Cheonise for was a connection with his parents.

But that would be too difficult… Unless it was Vice President Ahn Jung-hee.

If the purpose was to get a line to Cheon, the chairman of Cheon Soo Group who held the real power, Cheonise was a wrong choice.

“Oh, what is it?”

As I asked for a specific answer, PD Pyo let out a slightly awkward laugh.

-Well, there’s a program PD I know who needs a male singer cast. He said it would be better if it was an idol or a group. It’s not a very urgent schedule, it’s next Thursday.

There must have been plenty of groups to cast even if it wasn’t Climax. Why did he choose Mangdol, who had low popularity like Climax? I felt a bit puzzled and asked.

“Can I know what kind of program it is?”

-Uh… Well…

He hesitated to tell me the program name confidently. It was suspicious.

Was it something like… a dangerous encounter with rich ladies? It wasn’t anything illegal, was it?

I sharpened my intuition and decided not to follow any wrong actions. I waited for PD Pyo’s answer.

-Live Today’s Hometown, do you know it, Ise? You might not know it since you were young. It’s the lifestyle broadcast that comes on at 6 o’clock.

Cheonise might not know it, but Lim Hyun-seong couldn’t forget it. 

It was the first program he appeared on as Lim Hyun-seong.

‘Looking for the best beef kimchi stew in Gyeonggi Province! At the next table, fresh pork belly is sizzling, and at the other table, there’s a sour and savory kimchi stew that’s bubbling! Where is this place? Surprisingly, it’s run by a young boss in his twenties!’

It was the restaurant he opened after leaving the meat shop where he worked as an employee. It became a hit after being on the broadcast.

It was already famous as a local specialty. It wasn’t well-known enough to attract people from all over the country, but it was good enough to have no problem getting married.

‘I got a promotional call and they begged me to let them film without paying any fees.’

It was a good opportunity because it was a new program that had a hard time casting.

There was no money involved, and there was no harm in going out, so I agreed to film and became famous.

Not long after the broadcast, a company offered me a franchise partnership.

Thanks to that, I started my first franchise.

‘But it wasn’t all good.’

The old man who partnered with me to start the company hit me in the back of the head when I was 26.

It wasn’t just a betrayal. 

He embezzled nearly 3 billion won and I had to go to the Han River and come back at the age of not even 30.

Success was never easy. 

It was a moment of painful learning. 

It was a story that left a lot of marks, but anyway, there was a separate conclusion.

‘It’s the program that helped me, but why would I refuse it just because it’s not a program that young people would like.’

“Ah, yes, I know. Are you going there as a daily reporter or something?”

-Oh, you know? That’s good. No, you just have to help the rural elders and sing a song at the village festival and come back.

I roughly saw what kind of picture he wanted. 

Yeah. That was something that only the really famous K-POP stars wouldn’t do.

They would go to some rural corner and be exploited to death until they ate the fresh food.

It was a tough journey that required me to endure the hard farm work that could dislocate my joints and make the elders’ shoulders bounce.

“Do I have to go with the other members too?”

-Well, you don’t need all five, but I guess it would be better if it was all of them.

Then I couldn’t do this alone! 

I couldn’t force them. 

I had to listen to what the other guys had to say.

I also had to talk to the manager and the agency.

“Let me talk to them. Can I get back to you by tomorrow morning after consulting with the agency?”

As I cautiously asked for confirmation, PD Pyo gladly answered.

-Sure, please contact me by tomorrow morning! If not, I have to look for another team right away.

“Yes, I understand. Thank you for contacting me first.”

-No, thank you for talking to me nicely, Ise.

Today’s Hometown wasn’t a program that had a hard time casting. I finished the call with a bit of curiosity.

Then I went to the living room and called the members who were doing their own things at the dorm.

“We got a program offer.”

“All five of us?”

Seon-woo, who was munching on a cucumber he had sliced in advance to ease his hunger, peeked his head out and asked.

Thanks to losing almost 6kg in two weeks, his jawline was visible even without taping.

‘This is also a human victory.’

I swallowed the words that broke the mood and continued to explain.

“Yeah, he said he’d prefer if all five of us appeared. But there’s a problem.”

The shadow fell over their eyes that were filled with anticipation.

“The program is Live Today’s Hometown.”

They all looked at me with puzzled expressions on their faces.

“Isn’t that the program that grandmas and grandpas watch? What are we supposed to do there?”

Yejoon asked, sounding more like a statement than a question.

“We have to help the rural elders with their chores and perform at the village festival at the end. I think he’ll tell us more details if we agree.”

Seon-woo and Kyunghwa’s faces turned sour as they had hoped for something flashy and glamorous.

“Well, we can’t help it. Isn’t it better to go anyway? It might help our popularity since the elders watch it too…”

Kyunghwa sighed and looked at Seongwon. Then Yejoon’s eyes lit up.

“I think it’ll be fun. We’ve never done anything like that before, so why not take the opportunity?”

Seon-woo nodded a little, persuaded by Yejoon’s positive reaction.

“I’m not confident, but… it’s better than having no schedule.”

We didn’t have any choreography yet, and we had nothing else to do except practice our parts if we didn’t have any individual offers.

It didn’t clash with the jacket shooting that was coming up soon.

“What do you think, Seongwon hyung?”

Seon-woo looked at Seongwon with his eyes sparkling.

Seongwon, who seemed like he would say why should I go there, backed away.

“Why are you asking me?”

“Because it seems like the other members are all in favor except for you.”

He couldn’t say he would drop out here. Seongwon turned his head away instead of answering.

“Just do whatever you want.”

“Wow!!”

Seon-woo clapped his hands and smiled brightly as he got the permission that wasn’t really a permission.

“Then we have to prepare for the stage in advance, right?”

“That’s right, we’re going to perform in front of the elders anyway.”

I finally started to feel the reality of the problem ahead.

I had learned the choreography of the previous songs as the main dancer. The problem was…

‘I didn’t pay any attention to the vocals!’

I was so distracted by the new song that I had to record that I didn’t even think about the old singles.

“Anyone have a schedule this afternoon?”

Seon-woo had come back from PT in the morning and it was the perfect timing when we were all gathered with nothing to do.

“Then let’s rent a practice room and match it up. We have to check the changes in the line-up and the movements, and we might have forgotten some things since we haven’t danced for a long time.”

Kyunghwa decided and proceeded with the preparation step by step. Matching up meant choreography first, right?

I tried not to be nervous and stood up with my shoulders straight.

“I’ll talk to the manager hyung right away.”

I pointed at my phone and slipped into the room. And I immediately looked for the system.

‘System!’

The system appeared as if it had been waiting for me.

[What can I help you with?]

Hehe, Pposil licked his tongue and wagged his tail as he looked up at me.

‘Give me the vocal training quest,’

Give me, do you have it? Pposil tilted his head curiously as if he didn’t understand the imperative. Don’t pretend you don’t know.

[Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest – ‘Vocal Grade Improvement Training’ ‘Expand Your Songs’ Do you want to start?]

[Yes/No]

Of course it was YES. I pressed the yes button hard. The status window disappeared as soon as it lit up and Kyunghwa knocked on the door.

“Can I come in?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

Kyunghwa wouldn’t see the status window, but I felt guilty and spoke with a force on my face.

“Come in.”

Kyunghwa turned the doorknob and came in.

“Let’s talk to the manager hyung together. I think it would be better if we talked to him as a pair.”

Well. I didn’t think it was necessary, but. It wouldn’t hurt to share the responsibility.

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

I searched for the manager’s number in the phone book and pressed the call button. 

The cheerful ringing sounded and the manager soon answered.

-Hey, what’s up?

There was no need to beat around the bush. I went straight to the point.

“Hyung, we got a lifestyle program offer from PD Pyo Juyeon. It’s not his program, though. He said he knows the person in charge.”

-Huh? A lifestyle program?

The manager seemed to be surprised as well and racked his brain.

-What are you guys going to do there?

“We have to help the rural elders with their village work and then perform at a simple village festival or something. I think he’ll tell us more details if we agree.”

-Where is the location?

“I haven’t asked him yet. We can’t just say we’ll appear, so I’m contacting you first.”

It would have been better if he gave us a quick permission. I waited for him to say ‘okay’.

But unfortunately, not everything in the world went the way I wanted.

-That’s a bit tricky…

Kyunghwa and I looked at each other. His eyes were shaking with tension.