Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 183

#183.

“Ugh!”

“Everyone, calm down!”

The strong sea breeze made the straw hats of the children’s choir members wobble precariously.

The older students, positioned in the back row, skillfully held onto their hats, but the younger children, just stepping onto the stage, were less composed.

The supervising teacher was sweating as she tried to calm the children, who were flustered by the thought of their hats flying away.

Dojae passed by the children, scanning the floor.

Fortunately, no hats had fallen.

“Oh!”

However, a girl trying to grab her hat, which was about to blow off, lost her footing and stumbled.

She was the last child to enter. All eyes were on her.

The child barely managed to regain her balance.

She saved her hat and didn’t fall, standing in her place in the formation.

“Whew…”

The supervising teacher in front of the stage breathed a sigh of relief, looking as if a great weight had been lifted.

However, the child’s expression was still tearful.

“Why is Soyul…”

The teacher, puzzled as she looked at Soyul, soon understood the reason.

One of Soyul’s feet felt empty.

The new white shoes she had bought for today’s performance had come off as she wobbled.

They were a little bigger than Soyul’s foot size because they’d been bought in a hurry.

The sound and lighting settings were nearing completion.

The supervising teacher hurriedly ran onto the stage to find Soyul’s shoes.

She thought it would be faster for her to go up than for Soyul, who looked like she was about to cry.

At that moment.

A large hand carefully picked up a small, palm-sized white shoe.

It was Dojae, who was descending from the stage.

Dojae picked up the shoe with a calm but quick hand and approached Soyul.

The fans who spotted Dojae back on stage shouted, “Kyaa!”

“It’s Dojae!”

“What, what? Why is he back?!”

“Aah! Dojae!”

The large screen broadcasting the performance was off, so the fans were even more puzzled as to why Dojae had returned.

“Oh-!”

Only Dojae’s fan, who quickly took out her camera again, could see what Dojae was holding.

Soyul saw Dojae walking towards her with her shoe in his hand, stamping her feet.

There was a small commotion on Soyul’s sides and behind her as well.

“He’s a handsome oppa [older brother/male friend]!”

They were the children from the choir who had watched MOST’s performance from below the stage.

MOST was already popular among elementary school students, and even the younger children who didn’t know MOST became fans after today’s performance.

In particular, there were more than a few children who had fallen for Dojae, who had performed the sword dance.

“An awesome hyung [older brother/male friend]…!”

They were popular regardless of gender.

Children are the most honest and accurate at accepting the ‘coolness’ they saw.

The children’s eyes sparkled as Dojae came right up to them.

Dojae stood in front of Soyul with the shoe in his hand and knelt down on one knee.

“Kyaaaa!”

Then, for some unknown reason, a scream-like shout echoed from the audience.

Dojae quickly placed the shoe in front of the child’s small feet.

“Put them on quickly.”

Dojae whispered in a kind voice to Soyul, who was stiff with tension and just staring at him.

Soyul looked dazed and reached out her foot.

Dojae made sure that Soyul put on her shoe and even carefully fastened the straps.

Cha-ra-ra-rak-

Dojae’s fans with cameras were frantically pressing the shutter.

If they didn’t have a camera, they captured the scene with their phones.

Dojae’s profile, kneeling on one knee and putting on white shoes, was like something out of a fairy tale.

“Don’t be nervous, and do well.”

Dojae got up and comforted Soyul, who was still dazed.

The children around him looked at Dojae with curious, fascinated eyes.

“Th, thank you.”

Soyul belatedly greeted Dojae’s back as he left.

Dojae glanced back at Soyul and gently pressed down on Soyul’s hat, which was crooked in the wind, with a light smile on his face.

Then, he quickly walked off the stage.

Ding- Dong- Ding- Dong-

A cheerful children’s song prelude announcing the start of the choir’s stage began to play, but Soyul’s gaze was fixed on the direction in which Dojae had disappeared.

It was a historic moment when Soyul, at the age of 9, experienced her first crush.

***

[Remember MOST Tongyeong Battle, Beautifly Group Fancam] (+1320)

That night.

Videos and photos related to MOST’s festival performance were uploaded to various social media and online communities, drawing a lot of attention.

MOST had been dominating community sites since the Turtle Ship Rowing Competition.

However, this festival performance was a legendary stage that fans called the ‘MOST Battle’.

The members, clearly in top form, commanded the stage, and even the wind seemed to cooperate, making the performance even more vibrant.

The vivid live performance that cut through the crude sound system felt like a bonus.

Moreover, even people who weren’t fans would be interested in this performance.

It was a time when there were many discussions about hanbok [traditional Korean clothing].

At such a time, they performed on stage wearing hanbok, and Dojae, the most popular member, even performed a sword dance.

[JUMO IS BACK (feat. MOST Performing in Hanbok)] (+1242)

[Foreigners’ Reactions to MOST Performance on MyTube Today] (+2101)

[Male Idol Stage that Commanded the Sea Today] (+821)

[Group Dance Part of MOST Stage at Hansan Festival that General Yi Sun-sin Would Have Been Pleased With] (+419)

[MOST Direct Photos Collection from Hansan Festival] (+280)

[MOST Kang Dojae Fancam additionally uploaded to MyTube] (+506)

[Most’s Casual Sense Shown at the Turtle Ship Rowing Competition] (+657)

[Dojae Jeonha [His Majesty] Sword Dance Edit CUT] (+1280)

It was truly a situation that could cause a stir.

Many people who weren’t fans of MOST felt a sense of pride when foreign comments poured into the MyTube video.

But it didn’t end there.

The photo that was uploaded around midnight once again swept the internet.

This photo, first uploaded to Dojae’s famous fan page, Tweetie, showed Dojae putting shoes on Soyul.

It was a photo that was already receiving thousands of retweets with just the preview photos.

Dojae’s fan stayed up late to edit the photo at the dorm, and as soon as the high-quality original was uploaded, the photo spread across the internet.

[Proof that MOST Kang Dojae is a Prince.jpg] (+2156)

I heard that a choir child’s shoe came off while going on stage, so he picked it up and put it on. So sweet..

The post, which compiled Dojae’s appearance from all angles, garnered a heated response, easily exceeding two thousand comments.

-Huh? I saw this in Cinderella

-Oh? You too? Me too~!

-ㅇㄴㄷ [Korean internet slang expressing agreement/excitement]

-So, so handsome..

-The colors of the photo are pretty..

-Admiration comes out naturally

-He’s just doing it all in the East and the West

-He’s truly a global monarch

-I want to be that child ㅠㅠ [crying emoticon]

-Is it losing if you envy that child? I think I can lose more than a hundred times

-I’ve already lost a thousand times

-Scratching my head and crying ㅠㅠ

-Kang Dojae, I love you ㅠㅠ I like you so much ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-So sweet ㅇㅇ [Korean abbreviation for “okay/agree”]

-Really.. so my style..

-What’s up with his profile? His nose is crazy

-If I sprinkle shoes on the street, will Prince Dojae put them on for me?

-I sold my heart when he did the sword dance, so what’s beating now? Whose heart is it?

-I really want to be those shoes

-Hey, what kind of good deeds did that child do in her past life? I’m so jealous ㅜ [crying emoticon]

-He’s handsome lol

-He even has a good personality

-I already liked him, but I like him even more today

-If being kind is a sin.. Kang Dojae is guilty!!

-What kind of energy is flowing in Tongyeong? Legends of legends of legends are pouring out

-I know why everyone is going crazy for Kang Dojae these days lol

-Wow.. I’m a Dojae fan, and I’m so proud!

***

The next day.

The members, who had returned to Seoul and slept in late, were preparing to go to their radio schedule.

It was also the afternoon when ordinary office workers were returning from lunch and sitting back in front of their computers.

‘Park Teaching Assistant’, who was not an office worker but a disciple of Professor Kim Ye-in, a major in traditional studies, was also patting his full stomach and surfing the internet.

It was no coincidence that ‘Hansando Festival MOST Kang Dojae Sword Dance Compilation’ appeared in the MyTube recommended videos.

Professor Kim Ye-in was studying sword dance, and the teaching assistant also had the words sword dance on his lips every day.

“What…. MOST is an idol group, isn’t it? An idol is doing a sword dance?”

The teaching assistant didn’t expect an idol to perform the sword dance he was studying.

“They must be calling it a sword dance because they’re dancing with a sword.”

Thinking it wasn’t a big deal, he clicked on the video.

The video uploaded last night had over 500,000 views, so even though he didn’t think it would be a proper sword dance, he couldn’t resist clicking.

When he clicked, a foreign comment saying ‘BEST PERFORMANCE EVER’ was at the top.

“They must have a lot of foreign fans.”

He was muttering when.

Thump, thump, thump-

In the quiet professor’s office, rang out.

He frowned, as he didn’t usually listen to pop songs, and was about to turn down the speaker volume.

“Huh?”

Jung Teaching Assistant’s gaze stayed on Dojae, who came to the center of the stage and held a fake sword that was clearly made of plastic.

“Oh!”

Jung Teaching Assistant’s eyes widened.

It was true that there were some slight modifications…….

Jung Teaching Assistant, who watched sword dance videos every day, could tell.

This was a proper sword dance.

“No way…….”

Sword dance was a very historic traditional art form that could be traced back to the Goguryeo tomb murals.

The sword dances currently familiar to people are mainly those established in the late Joseon Dynasty [Korean kingdom from 1392-1897], and among them were court sword dances.

Jung Teaching Assistant jumped up from his seat.

Just then, the door to the professor’s office opened and Professor Kim Ye-in came in.

“Jung Teaching Assistant? Why are you standing like that?”

“Professor! Please take a look at this!”

Jung Teaching Assistant hurriedly called Professor Kim Ye-in and showed her the video.

“An idol danced it for a bit, but please take a look, Professor.”

“Idol?”

Professor Kim Ye-in’s eyes, having met and interacted with various dance researchers and dancers, would be accurate even if her own eyes weren’t.

“Oh my!”

Before long, an exclamation also came from Professor Kim Ye-in’s mouth.

“That’s right, Professor? It looks like one of the court sword dances…….”

At Jung Teaching Assistant’s words, Professor Kim Ye-in nodded with her mouth open.

“Is he a friend who received instruction from the elders?”

Professor Kim Ye-in muttered, recalling the intangible cultural heritage artisans related to court sword dance.

“No, even so…. Like that…….”

Jung Teaching Assistant, who had searched the internet, shook his head.

“Not at all. There’s no connection?”

Professor Kim Ye-in couldn’t close her open mouth and continued to watch Dojae’s dance.

The dance lines and expressions that even created a pathetic atmosphere, the movements of the sword that even felt tragic.

In addition, high perfection and formative beauty.

Everything was admirable, but what was most surprising was that each movement felt like it had popped out of the historical records.

A feeling that was more real than the dances that have been restored to date…….

“Is there any way to contact that friend?”

Professor Kim Ye-in asked Jung Teaching Assistant.

“…….”