Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 78

78.

The five-day filming schedule for ‘Momoji’ is finally over. Now, they only need to do additional filming at the school later.

The only downside is that the first broadcast is next month, and I can’t see how it will turn out until then.

‘…My shoulders are stiff.’

Coming straight to the studio after five days of filming, my body is complaining of fatigue. Just a mere body… trying to overcome the human spirit.

I shake my head once and read the final version of Junseong’s lyrics.

It’s time to finalize the lyrics for Junseong’s song. The song was completed a while ago and handed over to the choreography team, but the lyrics, except for the verse, have not been finalized yet.

‘…Hmm, not bad.’

The lyrics have a slightly different vibe than I originally thought, but they’re usable.

The chorus that explodes with the lyrics ‘I’m Sorry for that I’m Villain’ fits well with the 狂亂 [kyōran – wild, frantic, deranged] party. It’s reminiscent of a human shooting a gun into the sky in the middle of the city.

Junseong is sitting in front of me, looking at me with sparkling eyes.

‘…Mok-hwa used to make that exact expression when getting his homework checked.’

It’s an expression that demands praise. In those cases, I would always praise him first, even if I saw shortcomings. However, unfortunately, Junseong is not Mok-hwa…….

“…It would be better to match the rhythm a bit more in this part. It’s a part that should flow like water, but right now it feels a bit stiff.”

There’s no need to praise him.

“That’s too much, composer.”

Goodness, a grown man acting cute.

“…Please change your tone, it’s giving me goosebumps.”

As the two of us were fixing the lyrics one by one, Junseong suddenly stretched while working and collapsed onto the sofa.

“…Are you tired?”

“Well… it’s not that I’m tired, junior. How should I put it, I enjoy working with you, but I feel like my energy is being drained.”

Junseong gets up from the sofa and this time turns the lyrics paper upside down.

“Wait, let’s take a break, junior.”

“I’m also a perfectionist, but you seem even worse than me.”

“Well… I can’t be a perfectionist.”

Then Junseong glares at me with an expression as if he’s heard something he shouldn’t have.

“No, if you’re not a perfectionist, then there’s no perfectionist in the world?”

“According to Sartre, the concept of ‘perfection’ cannot exist for humans. Pursuing something that doesn’t exist is inefficient…….”

“Stop.”

Junseong covers his head and bows deeply, muttering.

“…You’re doing that on purpose, junior. To tell me to stop talking nonsense.”

I smile faintly at Junseong and say.

“Why do you ask when you already know?”

And after about an hour, we finally got our hands on the completed lyrics.

‘…Noir-ish.’

The basic story of the lyrics is a combination of the sentence ‘Even if I’m poison to you, I’ll be sweet’ and ‘Sorry, because I’m a villain.’

‘…I don’t know what’s wrong with Junseong’s taste.’

I shook my head and replied.

“…For now, the contract is complete.”

Finally, I’ve completely paid off the debt for ‘Detection.’ …In conclusion, it would make sense to pay a little more, but I’ve kept the contract terms.

Junseong, who was packing his bags because he had another schedule, looked at me and opened his mouth.

“If this song does well, will you become my exclusive composer, Dong-hwa?”

Junseong asks in a playful voice. I also smiled back and replied.

“…Leave now.”

I’m busy enough taking care of my team, what are you talking about. I push Junseong, who is smiling slyly, out of the studio.

After politely seeing Junseong off and being left alone in the studio, I realized that I was lacking physical strength while revising the song to be submitted for this album.

‘…Am I really going to collapse like this?’

Hmm, if I collapse again this time, the members might try to confine me to the dorm.

‘Ha, I should get some sleep for now.’

I squeezed myself into the sleeping bag that I had prepared in advance on the sofa. Because my average sleep time is about three hours a week, it has become a habit to sleep in the studio instead of going to the dorm.

* * *

Ryoo Ideun came to Ji Dong-hwa’s studio with coffee, sandwiches, and Ryoo Ideun’s special salad.

‘…Hey, if he really collapses again, should we confine him?’

He’s working for our team, so it’s inevitable that he’s busy, but it’s a problem because he’s working by cutting down his lifespan, as if a black magician is using magic based on his life force.

‘By the way… Dong-hwa seems to be good at acting in his own way.’

If you were to pick the MVP of the ‘Momoji’ filming, it would be different for everyone, but Ryoo Ideun would probably pick Ji Dong-hwa. The director praised Chae Ha-min, who has a more solid foundation, but I wondered if that crazy acting could come out with practice.

That’s why.

“…Is he really crazy?”

Ryoo Ideun thinks about how Ji Dong-hwa’s usual appearance was sometimes close to madness. They say the difference between a genius and a madman is just a piece of paper.

Thinking about that, he arrived at the studio, Ryoo Ideun knocked and carefully opened the door. He had to be careful because Ji Dong-hwa often slept here.

As expected, he sees him sleeping peacefully in a sleeping bag on the sofa, like a vampire lying in a coffin.

‘Caterpillar…….’

I heard that caterpillar also means caterpillar, did the planning team aim for this when they named it that way?

Ryoo Ideun, smiling at the stupid thought, quietly put down the food and left a note so that Ji Dong-hwa wouldn’t wake up.

Then he noticed the composing program on the monitor.

‘Ah, is this the song Ha-min was talking about?’

Ji Dong-hwa doesn’t properly lock the screen because he becomes careless in a space where he believes he is safe. Even though the members share the studio key.

‘He’s just like… a cat.’

I think Milk, the cat I raise at home, felt exactly like this.

Ryoo Ideun was about to leave the room humming, but suddenly became curious.

‘…Would it be okay to listen for a moment?’

Thinking so, Ryoo Ideun shook his head and turned his feet to the door.

‘He’ll let me listen later, I guess.’

* * *

Today is Junseong’s MV filming. It’s been about a month and a half since the song was completed. Me and the members came to support him.

‘…Junseong seems busy these days.’

That person must be a top idol.

The set is an abandoned construction site filled with a noir atmosphere. It matches well with the villain image I intended.

‘Sorry,’ which Junseong participated in writing the lyrics and I participated in the composition and arrangement process, became a song that feels like smiling and saying, ‘Ah, sorry, am I a bit dangerous?’

…Well, the song itself turned out better than expected.

While exploring the set, I went to the waiting room that was temporarily set up, and Junseong was warming up. The company camera is filming that scene. It seems like they were filming the MV behind the scenes.

“Hyung! We’re here!”

Ryoo Ideun approaches, calling him friendly. Calling him that makes him seem like a neighborhood hyung [older brother or male friend]. He must have spoken as usual in private.

“Wow, my direct juniors came to support me. It feels like just yesterday that we were in the survival show.”

…Elder.

After delivering the support message and the prepared gifts, Junseong looks at the camera and smiles.

“Timer [Junseong’s fandom name], I have invited our song’s composer to the filming site. Now, let me introduce you!”

…Hmm?

“Dong-hwa!”

Suddenly entering a situational drama. Ryoo Ideun and him are very similar in that regard.

If you don’t accept this, it will become more annoying, so you have to accept it appropriately.

I take a step forward and bow to the camera.

“Nice to meet you, Timer. This is Dong-hwa from Bloosence.”

“Wow, how did you feel when you first received the request to compose ‘Sorry’?”

“…Wasn’t it during the survival show when you first requested it?”

Everyone who watched the survival show knows that he was persistent since then.

Junseong also remembered that time and smiled and replied.

“Ah, come to think of it, that’s right. Besides that, junior.”

“Well, when I first talked about the song, I remember being a little… embarrassed because the conditions you requested were a bit… difficult.”

“What did I say?”

I closed my eyes for a moment. To tell you exactly word for word, I looked back at the memory of that day and opened my mouth.

“…As soon as I sat down and asked what kind of song you wanted, you said you wanted a ‘dangerous but exciting, somehow sad, but the song is so good that you want to keep listening to it.'”

The expressions of the members who heard my words are filled with shock. It’s clear to anyone that it’s an absurd request.

“Wow, I think I was a bit harsh even when I think about it……. Anyway! The reason why I suddenly went into Dong-hwa’s W app [fan communication app] last time has finally been revealed.”

While chatting for a while, the MV director came in. He also filmed our MV.

He came to talk to Junseong, but stopped when he saw us and suddenly started thinking about something.

…Ah, why do I feel like something is going to happen.

“It’s been a while, Bloosence.”

The smile he was wearing reminded me of something. When I was a family member on the register with Mok-hwa in the past, it resembled the smile of the boss at the place where I worked before asking me to do something.

* * *

I thought there wouldn’t be any filming for a while.

Thinking so, I put on a white hoodie and wore horn-rimmed glasses. It’s similar to the glasses I used to wear, so I feel like I’ve regained my face for the first time in almost half a year.

“The actor team that was supposed to come suddenly bailed… I’m so sorry, Bloosence.”

When I heard about it, there had to be a very small role of about six villains helping Junseong, but they said that they saw us while trying to convey the situation where the filming was delayed due to a sudden cancellation.

That’s how the cameo filming, which was not planned, happened. Team leader Jang Hae-jin, the management team, and the team leader of the public relations team gathered and discussed, and it seems that they reached a consensus that ‘there is nothing bad’ about it.

…No matter how I think about it, I don’t know if this is the right thing to do in conclusion. The composer is a junior idol in the same company, and he’s also filming a cameo in the MV.

I don’t think Junseong’s fans will like it.

Then the possibility of being attacked by Timer or Junseong’s individual fandom will also increase.

…I should definitely express my opinion to Team Leader Jang Hae-jin and Junseong.

I pull down my hood and look in the mirror. The hacker role that helps Junseong, who is scheduled to appear in the video for only 9 seconds.

The dark circles that were deliberately painted under my eyes stand out. …It’s exactly like I was before the possibility changed.

For the first time since living as an idol, I have acquired a look that is close to my essence.

* * *

At the filming site, I plug in my earphones and look at a total of five monitors in a dark room, typing on a typewriter.

When the phone rings, I check it once with a bored expression, mutter a little curse, and then answer the phone.

And… there was an instruction from the director to say anything. Hmm, can I really say anything?

But this anything is an overly difficult concept. …I should recite it with sentences that move my mouth in a variety of ways.

“Ideun hyung, one wiener schnitzel for the kids and a mushroom salad.”

I opened my mouth with a very serious expression. And after hearing some answer, I frown and answer with a full of annoyance.

“…Chae Ha-min is the one who eats mushroom salad.”

I recite exactly the conversation that took place in the dorm two days ago, the day after the ‘Momoji’ filming ended. The conversation when Ryoo Ideun asked if there was anything he should buy when he came back from somewhere.

“Ha… How many times have I said that fried food is not good for your body.”

I look at the phone once and sigh once. I put my mouth back to the phone and quietly whisper fiercely.

“…Hyung, I don’t think treating fried food as poison is the right value.”

And when that short filming ended, the director burst into laughter.

‘…He’s the type who laughs at everyday conversations.’