Chapter 65

Chapter 65

It was common for a group debuting following an audition show to go on to film a reality show since they could capitalize on the buzz and popularity generated by the audition show.

But I didn’t think they’d start shooting after a single meeting about it. We hadn’t even been told much during said meeting—we were interviewed about what ideas we had for the show and that was about it.

I guess I should be happy the dorm is nice, at least. The place was pretty luxurious, probably for the camera’s sake. I’d never lived in such a large and secure apartment before, or one so recently built at that—though there were the cameras in every corner to consider.

“Oh, a camera!”

“Hello!”

The members, who’d gone about taking their shoes off and running into the living room one by one, nodded at a camera. They’d been instructed to do this prior to coming inside.

They said something about it being awkward if we didn’t seem to see the cameras at all. With so many of them everywhere, though, I had a feeling it would be incredibly difficult not to notice.

When we moved into the living room, we found a few cameramen and members of the production team waiting in the blind spots, where the cameras on the wall wouldn’t see them.

We’d been informed that they’d be here briefly today to take a few shots for the early episodes. Then they’d be gone, leaving only the devices installed in the rest of the apartment.

“First of all... Congratulations, everyone, on winning!”

“Yay!”

“Let’s take a photo!”

We sat around the living room and clapped as we took a group photo, then the filming began.

“Wow. This feels like we’re preparing for a new team battle.”

“I guess you’re right, except this one will last five years.”

“Wow, Raebin, very smooth!”

To my great relief, nobody seemed all that tense.

I guess we had to live with cameras in our faces the whole time we were filming Idol Inc. There was a generally happy mood since we were all still riding the high of winning. The members were at least three times less irritable and far more generous than they’d been during filming for the audition show and grinned as they exchanged banter and jokes.

“Good work, everyone.”

“Yeah. These days, I feel like I’ll have fun no matter what we do!”

“L-let’s have a g-good time of it, guys!”

The production team waited for a good window and then let loose a robot vacuum cleaner from their position hiding in the blind spot. It was the mascot of the reality show and also its biggest product placement.

“Huh?”

“Hey, it’s carrying something!”

There was a card flopping about on the front of the vacuum cleaner, covered in glitter. Quick-fingered Eugene lifted the thing up and plucked the card from it.

“Does it have a message for us?”

“Yeah, it does!”

The robot vacuum still tucked under his arm, Eugene read the card excitedly.

“Hmm... ‘You will... receive missions on these cards from now on! Complete the missions to solidify your teamwork!’”

“Oh!”

“A m-mission?”

Their excitement flagged a little—these guys had been left a little traumatized by missions and challenges.

Ryu Chungwoo chuckled, sounding tired. “Haha... We won the show, but we’re still doing missions, huh?”

I thought wryly, If we’re going to succeed as a group, our agency needs to get their sh*t together. I recalled the way Tnet had informed us three times in a single day that we’d been assigned to a new agency. That had been only three days ago. I didn’t have a good feeling about this.

The success seems to have gone to their heads. What with how popular the show had been, T1 clearly wanted to start their own agency and manage TeSTAR that way. Given that they had existing contracts with affiliate company Tnet, it had probably been difficult to arrange this.

The resulting dispute seemed to be occupying all their attention since the group itself was hardly more than an afterthought at the moment. In fact, we’d only learned that we were releasing a debut song within the month from a news article that morning. Worse still, we didn’t even have a manager yet.

This is driving me nuts. I repressed the urge to sigh.

Eugene suddenly raised his hand.

“Oh! Oh! There’s more! ‘Today’s mission is... free time!’”

“Wow!”

The almost gloomy mood was suddenly resuscitated. Wanting to show I was happy about this, I accepted high-fives from those seated around me.

Let’s just not think about all that for now. It was practically confirmed that we’d be joining a new agency operated by T1. We were newbies that had no say in the matter, so there was nothing I could do but accept it.

All I ask is that you guys don’t hire some big-wigs relative to handle the music and concepts. Let the higher-ups hog all the management, accounting, and other such tasks, but they had no business running the creative side of things. For that, they needed to hire a professional.

“Let’s check out our rooms! We need to decide who’s going where.”

Taking the mission card with them, they started exploring the apartment. There were three rooms and three bathrooms, plenty for all of us to use. And there were numbered signs on each room’s door.

“And here we have TeSTAR’s first minigame! Choose your rooms!”

“You sound exactly like him.”

“Y-yeah...”

Kim Raebin had done an uncanny impression of the emcee from Idol Inc. He’d done such a good job of it that the others were having unpleasant flashbacks. The game proceeded without incident, however. We played a few board games and the results were basically random, which determined what order we drew slips of paper from a box.

“This reminds me of the show, too...”

“Yeah...”

The members seemed to grow quiet and pensive every time they were reminded of Idol Inc. I drew my paper after Eugene, unfolding it and finding I was in room one.

Room three was successfully avoided. The third room was the master bedroom, which had been set up for the use of three people. Naturally, two was much better than three.

I hope I end up sharing with someone quiet. I’d avoided Eugene, so I was on the right track.

Now Big Sejin’s the only one I need to watch out for. The moment I thought this, Lee Sejin drew his paper and got room one as well.

Before an awkward silence could ensue, Big Sejin and Chungwoo came to the rescue.

“Wow! Moondae and Sejin are sharing the same room!”

“Both of them are decisive dudes, so I think they’ll get along well.”

“I know, right?”

I was glad some of our members were so well-equipped in tact.

“We’ll be good roommates,” I quickly said, holding out my hand, and Lee Sejin slowly took it.

Now I’m a little worried about being filmed. He would be quiet, at least, which I liked. But the cameras would be running for at least two or three weeks, and I wasn’t certain he would be willing to play nice for that long.

I’ll leave that for the production team to worry about. This wasn’t an audition show, after all. The editing wasn’t out to get us anymore. If some kind of controversy erupted, the production team had nothing to gain from it.

“Let’s pick our rooms, too!”

The remaining selections resulted in polar opposites sharing the same rooms. Raebin and Ahyeon were in the same room.

“I look forward to b-being your roommate.”

“Same here.”

The two exchanged awkward greetings, and I got the feeling they’d continue to feel rather uncomfortable around each other. They were in a far better situation than I was, of course. Neither of them was contending with a personality like Lee Sejin’s after all.

“Wow! Our room looks like fun!”

“I like the big room!”

“Yeah! This is going to be great, guys.”

The third room, shared by three people, was assigned to Big Sejin, Eugene, and Chungwoo. They were already being noisy. Chungwoo, however, seemed pretty content with his lot.

Come to think of it, he’s kind of in an awkward spot, isn’t he? Chungwoo didn’t know any of the other members all that well, other than Eugene. It was probably best that he was joining the biggest room so he could get acclimated quickly. Since Big Sejin was so friendly and very polite to anyone older than him, he would be just fine.

The production team signaled us to move on, and we went into our rooms so they could film us unpacking our things and resting.

“Which bed would you prefer to use?” I asked.

“Either one will do.”

“Yeah?”

If you say so. I went to the bed on the left and began unpacking my things. Our room was opposite the living room, which probably meant there would be less noise coming through our wall.

Lee Sejin had also been eyeing the same bed, but he didn’t say anything. We were no longer competing in an audition program, so I had no reason to go out of my way to oblige him. I’d do whatever I liked, as long as I didn’t invite criticism for doing it.

Lee Sejin stared at me quietly, then went to the opposite bed, opening his pack. It was in a peaceful mood that I started organizing my luggage, though there was precious little of it because I didn’t have much in the way of belongings.

I did buy some clothes because I had so few. I’d used some of the prize money my team had earned from winning the team battle by a slim margin during the finals.

I’d heard the production team had only notified the public online after the program was over because they had issues counting the votes in time. They’d gotten some flak for it, but I didn’t care as long as I got some of the money.

As for the kimchi refrigerator... there was still no sign of it. They’re frauds, is what they are.

It pisses me off a little. I bit back a sigh as I folded my last article of clothing. The peaceful silence was suddenly disturbed by the sound of chattering voices.

“Tada!”

“Room one is the best one. Probably because it’s first place’s room?”

It was the occupants of room three. Chungwoo, as a former national athlete, had taught the others how to get their luggage put away in record time. Eugene and Big Sejin seemed to be roaming free around the apartment as a result.

“Anything you want for dinner, guys?” Chungwoo asked, laughing and sitting on the edge of the bed.

“How about ribs?” suggested Eugene.

“Pigs’ feet!” Big Sejin declared.

I could understand Eugene, who was just being himself, but Big Sejin seemed intent on performing for the cameras. I suddenly had the nasty hunch that for the duration of filming the show this boisterous mood was going to be never-ending.

***

We were forced to cook dinner together that night, which meant I got to cook more than two servings’ worth of food for the first time in a while.

Cooking is better than going grocery shopping, at least. Going out meant having to talk more since there were fewer people. And it took a lot of courage to enter a large supermarket with three cameras in tow. In any case, my cooking turned out pretty good. I got a surprising amount of help from the others, too, except from Ahyeon.

“S-s-sorry...”

“No need to be sorry.”

Maybe he did need to feel sorry, but only for himself. I kicked him out of the kitchen after he nearly cut his finger off for the third time. Ahyeon seemed nervous not to be doing anything until I told him to set the table.

No wonder there was a housekeeper who came by his apartment. I’d wondered why he needed one when he was pretty good at keeping things tidy. It had been thanks to his terrible cooking. In any case, the braised chicken came out great—braised chicken being Chungwoo’s pick after he won rock paper scissors.

I tried cooking this on my birthday once because I didn’t want to waste money. Who knew the experience would come in handy later? Recalling the year that I’d first made money as a paparazzo, I shrugged.

“It looks great.”

“Yeah.”

Lee Sejin didn’t say anything much in response to Raebin’s comment, but he was surprisingly cooperative when it came to helping with cooking.

Is it because I’m holding the kitchen knife? I finally put away the knife, which I’d just realized I was still holding. In the meantime, the guys that had been responsible for buying the groceries earlier transferred the completed meal to the table.

“Wow! This is really good!”

“The chicken absorbed the sauce, and it’s nice and soft.”

The meal was a success.

“Maybe I should also learn to cook.”

“I’m good at cooking,” Eugene said.

“Huh? Why didn’t you cook, then?”

“I like grocery shopping better,” he said cheerfully, and that marked the end of the first shoot for our reality show.

“Good work, everyone!” The cameramen left a claw machine in the living room before they took their leave, all the toys inside face down.

That’s going to be really creepy at night. In any case, we were supposed to act shocked tomorrow morning after spotting the machine in the living room, and then try and win a toy with it.

More content for the show. We were supposed to meet our manager tomorrow and even start discussions about our album with the agency. That meant we probably wouldn’t be getting to bed until late.

I hurried to my room, determined to get plenty of sleep. Lee Sejin was already in bed, staring at his phone.

“Good night,” I said.

“You too.”

Perhaps he felt better after a good meal since he seemed to have softened a little since morning. I put in my earplugs and lay down to sleep. The last thing I saw before drifting off was the camera running in the corner.

I hope the people we meet tomorrow don’t ask us to do anything absurd. My bedtime wish was fulfilled only once.

***

The manager was a nice guy.

“Be sure to tell me if you guys need anything!”

He seemed friendly and patient, obviously not the type to lose his temper or be rude to us.

He probably needs to treat us with some respect since we’ve already gotten quite a lot of recognition.

“And don’t worry, once you release your album and things get busier, they’ll hire a second manager to help out!”

“All right!”

I decided not to worry about this for now, since the first manager was likely to set the mood for any following hires.

Then came the meeting with the agency. This was where things went south.

“As for who’ll make the song... our talented TeSTAR can handle that part, right?”

Stunned silence. “I’m sorry?”

In a word, we were f*cked.