Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 124

#124.

“Kim Rui! Are you ready?!”

“Yes, yes! Teacher!”

“Of course. Why not?!”

“Good, good! Excellent! That’s the spirit!”

MVS Broadcasting Station, MOST waiting room.

Despite the early morning, Woo-cheol and Rui’s energetic voices echoed loudly.

“What are those two doing?”

Ki-joon shrugged at Heung-min’s question.

They seemed to be psyching themselves up before going into rehearsal.

Ki-joon, who had been up all night working on the next music show’s audio source until yesterday, tried to catch some sleep while waiting, but failed miserably.

“But… why is Woo-cheol ‘Teacher’? Woo-cheol has never been an MC before.”

Gyu-seong quietly wondered.

Woo-cheol turned to Gyu-seong as if asking what he meant.

“I was the host of a kindergarten talent show! As an MC!”

It was a faint memory that he had forgotten, but thinking about it now, that was it.

The children laughed when he burst into tears on stage, and it seemed that the experience had a significant impact on his fear of standing on stage for the first time.

Of course, almost causing a major accident at his debut showcase actually worked like shock therapy, and now he hardly feels any fear of the stage.

“You’ve been a celebrity since kindergarten, hyung [older brother]! As expected!”

Rui gave Woo-cheol a thumbs up.

The comeback schedule being pushed back by a month brought unexpected good news.

One of them was that Rui would be the special MC [Master of Ceremonies, host] for 〈Music Story〉 on the comeback day.

A vacancy arose when a member of Infinite Boys, who had been the MC before, left to prepare for their next album, and MOST got the opportunity thanks to the schedule aligning perfectly.

The officials put Do-jae, Woo-cheol, and Rui on the list of candidates, and the company recommended Rui considering future schedules.

The members also agreed that Rui was the most suitable for being a music show MC.

“If the response is good this week, you’ll get a permanent MC position!”

Rui nodded with a trembling face at Heung-min’s confirmation.

“Don’t put too much pressure on him.”

“Hey. Rui doesn’t get intimidated by this kind of thing. Right?”

“Rui student! Are you intimidated?!”

Rui, who had been nodding again at Heung-min’s words, was startled by Woo-cheol’s question and quickly shook his head.

The hyungs smiled and patted Rui on the shoulder.

Rui clenched his fist and strengthened his resolve.

Being a music show MC was definitely a position where he could make the most of his strengths.

He definitely wanted to do well and become a regular MC.

He wanted to help MOST become known and gain popularity.

“Do well, Rui-ya.”

“Yes! Hyung.”

Rui replied energetically to Do-jae’s calm and kind encouragement.

He was already nervous about the comeback stage, but now he was debuting as a music show MC as well.

Tension X Tension.

But instead of doubling the tension, it disappeared altogether.

It was Rui’s positive mindset that turned the multiplication into zero.

***

After Rui left to do the MC rehearsal, the members hurriedly prepared for the pre-recording.

As soon as Rui finished his MC rehearsal and returned, it would be the pre-recording stage.

On today’s comeback stage, MOST was scheduled to briefly sing only the first verse of 〈We Must Go〉, a song from the album, and then perform the full version of the title track, 〈Remember〉.

The reason for pre-recording 〈We Must Go〉 was to show the completely different concepts of ‘the pursuer’ and ‘the pursued’ for each song.

The outfits for 〈We Must Go〉 were ‘the pursuer,’ and the outfits for 〈Remember〉 were ‘the pursued.’

The stylists’ hands were careful as they touched up the makeup, as the pure white shirts had to remain free of makeup.

“Rui… will do well, right? I’m getting nervous for no reason.”

Heung-min muttered, checking his fixed hair in the mirror.

When Rui was in the waiting room, they were just members cheering him on.

But as soon as Rui left, they became more nervous and tense.

“Our Rui. I hope he doesn’t get discouraged and does well.”

Gyu-seong also muttered.

Ki-joon was nodding next to him.

Woo-cheol was also a little worried, but the hyungs’ worries didn’t make sense.

Rui had torn up the stage alone during the ‘Maknae Special’ [youngest member special performance] at the previous KVS Song Festival.

“He’ll do well. Kim Rui always does well wherever he goes!”

“Of course, I know that.”

“That’s right. Rui adapts quickly and does well wherever he goes.”

Gyu-seong, who had been worrying about him getting discouraged 5 seconds ago, immediately changed his words.

Woo-cheol opened his mouth at Gyu-seong’s quick change of attitude.

Of course, everyone knew that Rui, whose personality was that of a natural entertainer, would do well as an MC.

It was just a meaningless worry because they cared about their youngest member.

Thanks to that, the pressure of the comeback stage was somewhat forgotten.

“If it wasn’t for the pre-recording right away, we would have gone to watch and cheer him on.”

“I know, right…”

Heung-min and Gyu-seong finished preparing while talking.

“Woo-cheol-ah. This.”

Do-jae handed Woo-cheol the glasses that the stylist had given him.

Woo-cheol was wearing glasses for the first time in his life for the elite agent concept.

The props would change for each stage, but today, thin gold-rimmed glasses were Woo-cheol’s item.

There were no lenses, but instead, there was a glasses strap, making them quite fashionable.

Woo-cheol put on the glasses and looked at Do-jae, asking.

“Does it suit me? I think it looks awkward no matter how I look at it.”

“You look handsome.”

Do-jae stared at Woo-cheol and said.

There was definitely a cold atmosphere that was different from Woo-cheol’s usual self.

Woo-cheol chuckled and replied.

“You’re more handsome, hyung.”

The two looked at each other and smiled lightly.

Ki-joon, who was next to them, moved his seat without a sound.

Watching the ‘strong solidarity of handsome people’ right in front of him…

It was a separate issue from acknowledging that his two younger brothers were actually handsome.

***

Shortly after.

Rui, having finished the MC rehearsal, entered the waiting room with Jung Gil-joo.

The stylists flocked to Rui and touched up his clothes and hair.

Woo-cheol asked, handing him the ‘Rui’ name tag with colorful letters attached to his chest.

“How was it?!”

“I was a little bit nervous when I went up! But it was okay.”

“It’s not just okay! Everyone is praising you a lot. Do just as well during the live broadcast, Rui-ya. Got it?!”

Jung Gil-soo, who had watched from below the stage and heard the writers and production staff praising Rui, said.

Rui opened his mouth and smiled as if he felt good.

The hyungs also smiled, unable to hide their proud hearts.

“We’ll know when we watch it on TV later during the live broadcast!”

Everyone nodded at Heung-min’s words.

“You haven’t become friends with the other MCs already, have you?”

Woo-cheol asked, wondering if that was even possible, but it was not a difficult task for the social butterfly Rui.

They met in the waiting room beforehand to coordinate, and in between matching the script below and on the stage.

Rui was having a hard time adjusting to being an MC for the first time, but he didn’t forget to become friends with the MCs.

It wasn’t that he knew it would be much more helpful to be comfortable as an MC, but it would eventually be helpful.

There were a total of 3 MCs including Rui, Hwang Ji-eum, a member of the rookie girl group from New Entertainment, and Yoon Jung-hoon from Illusion.

Hwang Ji-eum was a junior in terms of debut year, but she was a senior as an MC, and she seemed a bit prickly, perhaps because she was shy.

However, it wasn’t to the point of making Rui uncomfortable.

Hwang Ji-eum quickly relaxed her expression when Rui acted affably.

Yoon Jung-hoon had also met him at ‘Ah-Che-dae’ [likely a university or academy] and had a laid-back personality, making it easier to become friends.

“I think it would be nice if everyone got closer.”

Woo-cheol clicked his tongue, impressed by Rui’s words.

Heung-min said that it was a relief that they had Rui.

“We’re always just with each other, but we can hear news about the world thanks to Rui.”

“What is it, hyung. That… comment with a sense of experience.”

Woo-cheol shook his head.

In the meantime, Rui’s preparation was finished.

The members hurriedly left the waiting room.

***

The tension that they couldn’t feel while warming up in the waiting room immediately swept through their bodies as they stood on the stage.

‘It’s been a while.’

A new song that hasn’t been revealed to the fans yet.

New choreography, stage… it’s all been a while.

The teaser response was good, but they could never know what the response to the music or the stage would be.

Even if they became a 10-year singer, it seemed like they wouldn’t be able to be sure of anything.

“Are you ready? First, we’ll do a rehearsal to check the routes, and then we’ll go straight into recording!”

“Yes!”

“Yesss!”

The members answered the 〈Music Story〉 PD’s [Production Director’s] question in a loud voice.

Then, bang-! The lights shone, and the members released the strength in their arms and stood in formation on the stage.

The beginning of 〈We Must Go〉 was in the form of two people sitting in the center and four people making a tower by shaping their hands above them.

The members focused on the front.

There was a pre-recording with fans participating, but not for this stage.

In fact, there was quite a big difference between performing on the same stage with and without an audience in front of them.

They might be less nervous, or they might be able to focus a little more on the stage itself.

However, without fans, they definitely felt like the energy couldn’t boil up to the end.

The fast and intense beat was even majestic, and it quickly captivated the stage.

Do-jae was the composer of 〈We Must Go〉.

It was the first time that a song that Do-jae had created from beginning to end was included in MOST’s album and performed on stage.

-Stop for a moment at the station called you.

And uniquely, the intro of 〈We Must Go〉 was Ki-joon’s part.

This was because the rap started instead of the melody.

As Ki-joon, who spat out the rap heavily, turned and entered, Woo-cheol and Do-jae filled in behind him.

-The star you looked back on, the star that swallowed me

-Shaking, breaking

The lyrics, which said that they had to go anyway without fearing anything, were also Do-jae’s work.

It was also a continuation of the lyrics of 〈Remember〉.

The group choreography, which seemed to throw something with all their might, passed by and the chorus continued.

-We keep going, Most must go!

It was a group dance where the six members waved flexibly and then powerfully stretched out their arms.

The members were already sweating profusely, forgetting that it was a rehearsal.

A tremendous force was felt.

“We should have just recorded it like that?”

“How much did these guys practice again? They’re really good.”

The staff below the stage admired.

Those who would watch the broadcast later would probably think the same.

Someone even guaranteed it.

***

After the pre-recording ended safely.

It was finally the live broadcast time to show the main stage of the title track, 〈Remember〉.

It was then that a scream echoed in the place where the MCs were gathered, practicing their opening remarks.

“Kyaaak!”