Chapter 136

Chapter 136

Variety shows were an inevitable part of being an idol once you were established and popular enough. Idols appeared far less often on mainstream media of late, and some claimed that getting on a variety show wasn’t easy for even the most popular idols, but this wasn’t true of TeSTAR.

We were born from Idol Inc., the hottest variety show to hit TV the previous year. Anyone who was even remotely interested in celebrities knew the winning contestants from the show or had at least heard their names, even if they didn’t know much about TeSTAR as a group.

We’d proved our skills during last year’s activities, and we’d gotten plenty of variety show offers after our most recent comeback, too. As a result, I was able to secure an appropriate show, just as I’d hoped to.

“You nervous, Moondae?”

“Somewhat.”

Big Sejin grinned. “Hey, me too!”

Your eyes are a bit too full of ambition to pull off nervous. Though that’s hardly out of character for him. Big Sejin and I were the only ones heading to the set.

This particular variety show’s format wasn’t conducive to hosting an entire group, and after a lot of discussion, Big Sejin and I were the ones to be selected. It was almost the first time only a few of our members had been on a variety show like this, and Big Sejin would never miss a chance to have the spotlight all to himself.

He might even be more enthusiastic about it after his successful sub-unit stage. Whether this was the truth or not, it wasn’t a bad thing.

“You know the drill guys, right? Be sure to greet everyone politely as soon as you get there!”

“Yes!”

“Of course.”

Doing as instructed by the manager, we greeted the cast as soon as we arrived.

“Hello!”

We were only in our second year, so it followed that we were the most junior of anyone there. Despite that, nobody was dismissive of us.

“Wow! TeSTAR!”

We had popularity and good sales numbers on our side.

I guess hitting it big is the answer to everything. Still, I was impressed that Big Sejin had managed to exchange numbers with three famous actors in the blink of an eye.

We found a welcome face in one of the waiting rooms as well.

“Oh! Hello!”

“Ah, it’s nice to see you again, you two.” It was Youngrin, the idol who’d served as the figurehead for Idol Inc. “I’ve been keeping up with your progress. It’s nice to meet you like this. It would have been nice to see the other members as well.”

After exchanging friendly small talk for a while, Youngrin added playfully, “I’m going to release a solo album this year. Let’s hope our promotions don’t fall within the same period.”

I was reminded of the nightmare we’d experienced early on in our career when our promotions had overlapped with VTIC’s.

“Haha! We’d be too scared to go up against you, Ms. Youngrin!” Big Sejin said.

“I’m looking forward to your new album,” I added.

“Thank you,” Youngrin said, smiling faintly.

I spotted someone standing next to her that I frankly hadn’t been expecting to see. Though I’d never seen her in person, she brightened as soon as we met eyes.

“You’re Moondae, right? What are the odds, huh? Good luck with filming today!”

It was a member of Marshmallow. Marshmallow was the female idol group that had released “POP☆CON,” the song I’d danced at my first audition, as well as “To a New World,” which we’d transformed into a Halloween concept during the first team battle. This particular member was the only truly popular one in the group—she had successfully transitioned her idol career into an acting one.

She had many more years of experience than I did, so I bowed deeply. “I’m honored to be appearing on the show with you...”

Wait a second. I realized that everyone thought that I was a Marshmallow fan. Does she think I’m her fan, too?

Unsurprisingly, she grinned at me and asked, “Which of my fellow members were you a fan of? We have a little bet going on between us, you see.”

There was only one way to answer this question.

“I was a fan of all of you, of course.”

“Oh, so you weren’t my fan? Crafty answer, Moondae!” She laughed cheerfully, slapping a hand against her own thigh.

She’s treating me like I’m her little cousin. After all the times I’d danced to “POP☆CON” on the show, it seemed as though she’d grown to like me without my knowing.

“I’m joking, of course! We had a great time coming together again thanks to you. We’re very grateful for that. See you soon on the set!”

“Thank you...”

I was going to end up with an autographed Marshmallow album by the end of this. In any case, it was good that we knew someone on the cast.

The editors will prefer that. It would be advantageous for our screen time if there was someone I had a shared history with who could become a topic of conversation. Both of the women were quite a bit older than us as well, so there weren’t likely to be any old-fashioned matchmaking edits, either.

It’d be even better if we were the same gender, but I guess it can’t be helped. Sadly, I didn’t notice anyone among the remaining cast members that I knew or had any connection with.

I turned out to be wrong, however. Two more people arrived at the last minute, presumably because they were just that busy.

“Hello there!”

It was two members of VTIC.

F*ck. Why were they appearing on the same show as us? They weren’t even promoting an album right now, and they were so top-tier that this variety show would overhaul its entire format if necessary just to get the entire group on it.

Big Sejin, who’d come to my side after getting his microphone hooked up, poked me in the back and whispered, “Wow. LeTi’s really on a roll.”

“LeTi?”

LeTi Entertainment was VTIC and Marshmallow’s agency.

Big Sejin glanced toward the actors he’d exchanged numbers with earlier. “That group of actors over there... They were in the same movie that Marshmallow’s Suhyeon got her first leading role in. She’s from the same agency as VTIC. She probably struck a deal and got a couple of VTIC members on the show in return for having the whole cast on as a group.”

So the cast is actually a group of actors advertising their new movie? This was likely the reason why two members of VTIC, who were currently on hiatus, had shown up. They were probably not averse to helping someone in the same agency out with advertising since they owned shares in the company.

Big Sejin smiled faintly. “You’re happy right, Moondae?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t see the member who’s always so eager to speak to you, haha!” He had noticed a while back that I found Cheongryeo’s attention uncomfortable, though he had probably just assumed that Cheongryeo was a bit of an overbearing boomer.

I grinned and shook my head. “Nah. It doesn’t really matter to me if he’s here or not.”

“Yeah?”

This was true. There were plenty of people watching us closely while on set. He wouldn’t suddenly try and take a sledgehammer to my head in front of the cameras. He was a nutcase that annoyed the hell out of me every time I met him, but that was all it was.

It doesn’t matter if he’s here or not. The fact that VTIC was here at all was the problem, actually. They were male idols just like us, but they were definitely on an entirely different level.

I chose to be honest. “I’m worried we won’t get any screen time.”

“Huh?” Big Sejin burst out laughing. “You’re worried about that? You, of all people? But you don’t need to worry.”

“What do you mean?”

Big Sejin lowered his voice even more and whispered, “Those two are kind of famous for not talking much when they’re on variety shows. I think they just sent whoever was available when the request came in. The way I see it, they’ll just be polite, do the bare minimum, and leave.”

This meant they weren’t all that eager to participate when it came to variety shows. I was a little bit impressed if I was honest.

This bastard’s really sharp. The way he collected and pieced information together was magnificent.

I nodded at him. “We’ll have to give it our best, then.”

“Of course we will.”

We bumped fists, something we seldom did.

The microphones were turned on, and soon filming began.

***

“It’s a lovely Saturday! You’re invited to a weekend night of entertainment with us at Saturday Party!”

“Yeaaah!”

Saturday Party was a variety show hosted by a popular emcee. As the name might suggest, it was a very long-running show that had ended in the late 2000s, only to be brought back a few years ago as everything retro became popular.

It was a national TV show that aired at 8:50 P.M. every Saturday and had a huge audience—in other words, it had incredible mass appeal. The show would not delve unnecessarily into a guest’s family affairs, and only a few scenes that were entertaining and impactful would make it to air. It was everything I’d been looking for.

There was one caveat, though... I would need to goof around a little since the concept was a bit embarrassing. The emcee was standing in an eighties-style DJ booth, shaking his shoulder-length hair around as he bobbed his head. He seemed very immersed in his role, perfectly professional.

“What’s our party’s concept today, you ask? One body, two souls!”

We’d all been informed of this in advance.

“Only party-goers that perfectly resemble one another are allowed on the floor tonight! So, party people! Come on inside!”

Big Sejin and I had been dressed in identical clothes with hair styled the same because of this requirement. Perhaps in deference to the concept, the agency had originally considered sending Big Sejin with Bae Sejin together. This was quickly shot down when Bae Sejin balked at the idea.

“Our turn.”

“Yeah.”

Big Sejin slowly walked out onto the set.

“This time we have... Oh, baby! He’s young! He’s handsome!”

We were meant to come out on stage and dance as rehearsed after the emcee introduced us over-dramatically. The emcee was actually saying out loud the cringey, meme-fodder variety show captions from the old days.

“Dance wizards! Stocks are soaring high! Two of TeSTAR’s bright stars have come down to earth today!”

The staff laughed in the background, unable to control their amusement as the emcee’s voice rang out through the set, which was supposed to add to the humor of the moment.

Neither Big Sejin nor I were likely to be all that entertaining if we just came out and danced, however. Ryu Chungwoo and Seon Ahyeon might have been able to pull it off, but not us. So we decided to flip the script. Big Sejin and I slowly danced over to the DJ’s booth until we were positioned on either side.

The emcee seemed confused.

“Wow! It’s the greatest emcee in the country!”

“He’ll show you how it’s done! He’s the industry standard!”

“No booth can contain his energy! His light shines on the entire country!”

“He’s got Saturday night by the horns. A true giant!”

“He’s the only one in the DJ’s seat who can deliver both entertainment and sentiment!”

“Wait, what!”

Now it was the emcee who had to play the fool. He was really taken aback at first but quickly seemed to understand what we were doing.

That’s a relief. At least we wouldn’t have to keep going and end up saying something even more embarrassing.

Big Sejin grinned, however, and finished with a bang. “Choi Hosu wrote the book on variety show hosting! If you’ve got a show to run, you know who to call!”

I didn’t add anything else, and our mini-dance performance came to an end.

The emcee, pulling himself together and trying not to laugh, delivered another dramatic line to wrap our introduction up nicely. “They dominate the stage the moment they appear! See, this is how variety shows are done! Passion! Spirit! Love and peace!”

“Thank you!” Big Sejin and I said, coming down from the stage.

Phew... I’d done everything as planned for this segment of the show, and we’d made a good impression, based on the way the production team was laughing.

I was seized with agony as soon as we took our seats in the guest area. My prior research had told me this wouldn’t be easy, but I was still amazed that a variety show this cringy existed.

And apparently a lot of people... missed this format? I couldn’t believe it, but the viewer ratings didn’t lie.

I just need to do my best to play along. I clapped eagerly as the VTIC members climbed the stage last. They didn’t seem to have prepared much—Big Sejin had likely been right about them.

“Angelic good looks!”

After all twelve members of the cast had been introduced, the show finally began.

“We’re hosting this party for a very important reason... To detect the imposters!”

“Doesn’t everyone seem too similar to one another? One of each pair is a doppelganger! A fake!”

This was the concept for the show today, and each pair was supposed to split up for a six-on-six team battle. That was all we’d been informed of about the show going in.

“Whoever contributes to their team’s defeat the most will... suffer punishment!”

The real twist behind this arrangement became clear once the scapegoat was selected.

“Huh? Where’s Juho? You came with this person, didn’t you?”

“I-I’m sorry?”

“One body, two souls! Remember? That means you need to share the punishment! You’re doppelgangers, after all!”

The doppelganger on the other team also had to endure the penalty.

“My god!”

“So I’m not supposed to target my doppelganger on the other team?”

“What matters most is that your team wins. What’s a little penalty? No big deal, right?”

Surprisingly, none of the cast had been told about this, and they were all really taken aback. As they murmured among themselves, I locked eyes with Big Sejin.

Let’s get a penalty at least once. Got it. Putting ourselves in unpleasant situations like receiving penalties was perfect for making an impression on the audience. We needed to take any opportunity presented to us.

“The penalty for this particular team battle is... being hit with a water balloon!”

“Yikes!”

Hmm, that seems doable. When the opportunity arrived, however, we were met with a roadblock. The first team battle was dodgeball using mirror balls, and there was only one person on each team left alive—myself and a member of VTIC. The VTIC member currently had the ball.

In this sort of game, the last person to get hit is bound to get the penalty. Given the nature of this show, they were sure to have arranged it like that since it would be funny to see the longest-running survivor’s indignation.

They’d say something along the lines of “You survived till the end, but the rest of your team didn’t manage to win! So you are the reason your team was defeated, right?” This was always how it went down.

I guess I can take the hit now. I prepared to let the ball hit me.

“There!”

“Hit him right now!”

However, the VTIC member began acting strangely all of a sudden. He gave me a weird look, pretended to throw the ball, then stepped over the boundary line, effectively eliminating himself. “Whoops! My bad!”

The hell? What’s that bastard up to? He even winked at me when our eyes met, like he’d just done me a massive favor.

What the hell was that?