Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 167

167. Showing Effort

To decide on teams, Jongwoo took Rembrary to the broadcasting station.

The other cast members for the day were already gathered at the station. They were greeting each other, and when Rembrary appeared, they greeted him as well.

Jongwoo noticed the curiosity mixed in with their gazes and felt a little touched. He recalled how just last year, they struggled to even get a single gig. Now, he was the one calling the PD [Production Director] to ask to be on the show, almost as if seeking revenge, and celebrities were more fascinated by him as he walked by.

He hadn’t really felt it because Rembrary was always so flamboyant and drew attention, but suddenly, he was aware of the change.

“Jongwoo, what are you doing alone?”

“Because you’re like this, that’s why I am…”

Anyway, Rembrary and Jongwoo quickly greeted the others as well.

In the crowd, they spotted the Shea Butter Rapper, with whom they had a recent unpleasant encounter. Jongwoo noticed the rapper flinch slightly when their eyes met.

Jongwoo nudged Rembrary to greet him first, and the rapper awkwardly returned the greeting. He seemed just as unhappy about the recent incident.

‘How petty,’ Jongwoo thought to himself. They even added a new schedule because of it.

“Jongwoo.”

“What is it?”

“Why are you acting so surprised when you scheduled this gig to follow him? He’ll think we ran into him by accident.”

“That’s why I’m acting surprised, so it looks like that.”

Rembrary gave him a sidelong glance, and Jongwoo cleared his throat, looking away.

“Why? The CEO told me to.”

“Your excuses are so lame.”

Meanwhile, the chaotic atmosphere calmed down as the PD appeared, holding a paper rolled up like a cone.

The PD greeted each of the gathered people and then handed out the papers he had brought.

Jongwoo and Rembrary also received one. It had vocalists’ names on one side and rappers’ names on the other, with lines connecting the names in pairs.

“I’ve randomly paired you up into teams of two. Practice with your assigned team and come on the day of filming. We’ll send you the detailed schedule separately.”

It seemed the production team had completely decided the teams.

At the very bottom of the paper, there was an added note: ‘We’ve paired those whose voices match well.’ It was clear.

“Let’s see… you’re here.”

Jongwoo found Wooyeonwoo’s name and followed the line with his finger.

The name connected to Wooyeonwoo in the rapper column was…

“That’s a familiar name.”

It was Beta, whom he had met on . [It is likely that the show name was omitted here. The original text has a blank space.]

As soon as he realized it, he heard a cheerful voice from beside him, “We meet again!”

Turning around, he saw Beta approaching with a bright smile.

They had exchanged brief greetings earlier, but this time it was more formal.

“Wow, we must have some kind of connection. Don’t you think? Oh, I’m enjoying your variety show.”

While Beta and Rembrary were greeting each other, Rembrary noticed that Jongwoo was unusually quiet.

Normally, he would be all over them, bowing and asking them to take good care of ‘his kid.’

Wondering why he was acting like that, he glanced sideways and saw Jongwoo looking askance at the Shea Butter Rapper.

‘Why is he doing that?’

He found out the reason later when he went to the first-floor terrace with Beta.

“It’s nothing much. It’s just that the person teamed up with the Shea Butter Rapper is Queens. I don’t know if they’re a rapper or a vocalist, but it feels a bit unfair for them to be on this kind of competition.”

Rembrary turned his eyes and asked,

“Didn’t that person appear on ?” [It is likely that the show name was omitted here. The original text has a blank space.]

Beta added, agreeing.

“That’s right. They’re good at both singing and rapping.”

Jongwoo wanted Rembrary to be the sole focus on stage that day. He was okay with sharing the spotlight with Beta since they were on the same team, but he absolutely didn’t want to share it with the Shea Butter Rapper.

But he was unhappy that Queens was teamed up with the Shea Butter Rapper.

However, Rembrary didn’t seem to care whether Queens was there or not.

Worried that his anxiety might ruin the mood since the person involved was fine with it, Jongwoo excused himself to buy some snacks from the broadcasting station’s convenience store.

Once they were alone, Beta asked,

“Do you have any songs in mind?”

“I don’t know many songs.”

Beta had been on a program with Rembrary for several weeks, so instead of finding it strange, he told him the titles of a few songs he had been thinking about and asked again.

“First of all, I’m not a great singer. I’m not bad, but I’m not good either. As far as I know, Yeonwoo isn’t a great rapper either, right?”

“That’s right.”

“So, I’ve picked three easy ones and three that are of medium difficulty but can be covered up with a lively atmosphere even if we’re not great.”

Beta had even prepared the lyrics in advance, sending them to him via text message after getting his phone number.

The two of them quietly sang along to the song that seemed the easiest to sing.

As soon as the song ended, Beta’s constantly smiling expression turned serious.

“How was it?”

“I knew you weren’t good, but you’re really bad.”

Meanwhile, Jongwoo, who had gone to the convenience store, came back with his hands full of snacks and placed them next to the two of them.

When Jongwoo asked, “How’s Yeonwoo?” Beta answered sharply.

“His voice is the best, and his sense of rhythm isn’t bad, but listening to him is a bit… his voice is so good that it would be great if he could just do an average job.”

“Is that so?”

Rembrary rapidly ate the sandwich Jongwoo had bought, never interrupting Beta and Jongwoo’s conversation.

He believed it wasn’t right to interrupt while eating.

Especially when his share of the food wasn’t determined, it was best to eat quietly and quickly.

Around the time Rembrary finished two sandwiches and a juice.

Beta, who had finished talking with Jongwoo, discovered the last remaining sandwich and said with wide eyes.

“First, Yeonwoo-ssi, focus on pronouncing each word clearly, and where did my sandwich go?”

Rembrary pointed to the last remaining sandwich.

When Jongwoo asked, “What about mine?” Rembrary pointed to the convenience store.

Beta’s manager, who had been eating a sandwich next to Rembrary, cleared his throat and fanned himself.

While Jongwoo grumbled and went to buy another sandwich.

Beta seriously advised Rembrary.

“This is the method I used when I first started improving my rap skills. I used to only communicate with a friend who dreamed of debuting through rap. We paid attention to everything from rhyme to flow.”

“That sounds embarrassing.”

“It’s not embarrassing when it’s just the two of you. Anyway, Yeonwoo-ssi doesn’t need to go this far, but you need to make sure people can understand what you’re saying on stage, right? So, try this.”

Beta revealed his practical method for improving skills.

* * *

While Beta and Rembrary were lamenting each other’s skills.

The Shea Butter group’s rapper was matching up with Queens and admiring each other.

“Winning is as good as reserved for us, don’t you think?”

Afterward, the Shea Butter group’s rapper returned to the agency and told the members, who greeted him, about Wooyeonwoo.

“Hey, I saw Wooyeonwoo when I went.”

“Huh? Why was Wooyeonwoo there?”

“I don’t know. He was just there when I got there.”

The members asked the manager if Wooyeonwoo was originally supposed to be on the show, but the manager said no. As of their conversation, Wooyeonwoo definitely wasn’t supposed to be on the show.

“Wow, is he deliberately coming on the same show or something?”

The members were annoyed but urged the rapper.

“Make sure you win.”

“Don’t lose to him.”

The rapper laughed, saying they were stating the obvious. He was confident.

In fact, though not widely known, this rapper had originally been a trainee as a vocalist before switching to rapping.

He was also quite good at singing. But Queens, who was on the same team, wasn’t even distinguishable as a rapper or vocalist.

“Even if the opponent attracts attention by causing issues, in the end, it’s skill that survives.”

* * *

While the Shea Butter members were steeling themselves.

Rembrary was studying how to talk to others in rap, following Beta’s advice.

Beta said that since Rembrary wasn’t writing his own lyrics for the competition, he should put rhythm into his words and ask the other person if they understood what he was saying to identify his pronunciation weaknesses.

“Hey, you can’t do that to me.”

Rembrary tried it out on Jongwoo, who was driving closest to him, but Jongwoo snorted and didn’t react much.

“Just tell me if my pronunciation is clear.”

“How long have I been with you that I can’t understand your pronunciation? I’ve even adapted to your royal 말투 [a very formal and old-fashioned way of speaking].”

“Is that so?”

“It is. Try it on other people.”

Rembrary thought of Sagamjae, who would be staying at the agency with the other members. Should he call Sagamjae and ask?

But since the other person was a grim reaper, he didn’t have much faith in this area.

Yeonwoo pondered for a moment and then thought of Seonwoo Sil. Seonwoo Sil was the most passionate about music, so wouldn’t he be receptive?

But on the other hand, Seonwoo Sil was so passionate about music that he would probably hate it if Rembrary started rapping badly to him over the phone.

After thinking it over, Rembrary called Jang Taeri.

“Hey yo, Taeri yo, hello, yo.”

Then, greeting her with rhythm, Jang Taeri repeatedly asked, “Hello? Hello?”

Her voice was flustered.

“Taeri say hello? Hello? Yeonwoo say hello, hello.”

[……]

“Jang Taeri-ssi?”

[Oh, you scared me. What was that just now?]

When Rembrary explained the situation, Jang Taeri lamented why he had gone on such a program when he was good at singing, then suddenly burst out laughing strangely.

“What’s wrong?”

When Rembrary asked, Jang Taeri made a deflating sound once more and said.

[Try it on Jo Woon.]

“Greeting him with rap?”

[Yeah. And tell me his reaction.]

“Okay.”

As soon as he hung up, Jongwoo turned the steering wheel and nagged.

“Do it without English, without English. You barely know any English, so there’s no need to force it in, right?”

“Understood.”

Rembrary calmly replied and, as Jang Taeri suggested, called Shin Jo Woon this time.

[Oh, it’s you, pig.]

And as soon as Shin Jo Woon answered the phone, he started rapping with gusto.

“Rap rap rap Yeonwoo is rapping Yeonwoo is rapping, Yeonwoo is rapping Yeonwoo is rapping.”

[……]

A long silence flowed over the receiver.

Rembrary, who had been waiting for a reaction, finally asked first, “What do you think I just said?” Only then did a laughter, forced through gritted teeth, leak out.

[What was that?]

“I’m practicing rap. What do you think I just said?”

[You said you’re rapping.]

“Was my pronunciation clear?”

[Yeah, I heard everything. It was on speaker mode, and my secretary just fell backward after hearing that.]

He understood well. Rembrary nodded contentedly.

Beta said that as long as others could understand him, it would be enough. Wouldn’t this be enough?