Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 35

#35.

“The winner is! Congratulations! MOST! !”

Fireworks exploded on stage as the MCs announced the winner.

A tremendous roar shook the stage.

“MOST!”

“MOST!!!”

“MOST!!!”

The voices of the fans chanting the team name were filled with excitement.

The MCs handed over the trophy and a bouquet of flowers.

Gyu-sung received the trophy, and Do-jae, standing next to him, received the bouquet.

Gyu-sung’s hand holding the trophy was trembling slightly.

Do-jae patted Gyu-sung on the shoulder.

‘We really… actually won first place.’

However, Do-jae was just as moved.

Do-jae felt his heart pounding loudly.

When he lived as a prince, he often forgot where his heart was.

That’s how monotonous his daily life had been.

But coming here and pursuing his dream, he could hear his heart beating more often than ever before.

The Candies members and other singers around them congratulated MOST and left the stage.

“MOST, congratulations! It’s your first number one! Please share your thoughts.”

The male MC passed the microphone to the members.

Ki-joon, the leader, stood in the center and prepared to speak.

“……Ah.”

For a moment, Ki-joon was uncharacteristically frozen.

Something seemed to well up inside him.

“Hyung [older brother/male friend]. Don’t cry.”

Heung-min, standing behind Ki-joon, said something that wasn’t picked up by the microphone.

Only then did Ki-joon clear his throat and bring the microphone closer to his mouth.

“Ah…. First of all, thank you.”

Ki-joon, who uttered his thanks in a trembling voice, carefully spread out his palm.

His palm was covered with words smudged with sweat.

“Kingdom CEO and Vice President who believed in us and helped us grow, Team Leader Kim Seok-cheol, Team Leader Jung Hee-young, Planning Team 2 staff… Director Lee Jung-yeop who wrote the song for us……”

He had written it down in the waiting room in case he forgot anyone he should thank.

One by one. Ki-joon’s brow furrowed as he said their names.

At first glance, he looked angry, but he was just frowning to hold back his tears.

“…Gil-joo hyung, who went through thick and thin with us. Thank you. Above all… our parents who made it possible for our members to be here. Thank you. And to our fans……”

Watching someone’s beginning was a very special thing.

Even those who were not usually interested in MOST watched the six members with reddened eyes with warm interest.

The members were genuinely surprised and delighted by the first place award, and they were more moved than anyone could have imagined.

That feeling was conveyed to the audience, and MOST’s fans even felt rewarded for voting so hard.

“Thank you!”

“Thank you!”

“I love you!!!”

“Love you so much!”

Starting with Woo-cheol, the members shouted to the fans into Ki-joon’s microphone.

A huge roar erupted from the fan seats once again.

The MCs gave their closing remarks and went down, and soon the intro to began to play.

The encore stage at the end was almost never broadcast, so it was like fan service.

However, the members performed the choreography without missing a beat, as if they were on the main stage again.

They bowed deeply to their fans who remained among the departing audience.

It was like they had just taken their first step towards the summit.

The members were filled with the conviction that the road ahead would be long and arduous, but it would be an uphill climb.

As the interlude began, Do-jae handed the trophy to the members, and they flocked to it.

“Wow, our first trophy!”

“What? The trophy is heavier than I thought.”

The sight of MOST gathering together and looking at the trophy with wonder remained in the eyes of the fans.

***

“Congratulations!”

“Congratulations on your first place!!!”

As they returned to the waiting room, the staff continued to congratulate them.

“Thank you, hyung!”

“Thank you.”

The voices were still filled with excitement as the afterglow lingered.

“Unbelievable! We’re number one!”

“Aaaah! I’m so excited!”

The youngest members, in particular, couldn’t contain their excitement and were boisterous.

In the midst of all this, Team Leader Kim Seok-cheol, who happened to be in front of Do-jae, said.

“Congratulations. You’ve worked hard….”

“Thank you. You’ve worked hard too, Team Leader.”

“Well… it’s my job.”

Team Leader Kim Seok-cheol said calmly in response to Do-jae’s polite greeting.

However, he couldn’t hide the smile that appeared on his lips even as he said that.

It was the first time Do-jae had seen Kim Nae-gwan looking so happy, so he looked at Team Leader Kim Seok-cheol with curious eyes.

‘The Imperial Palace was peaceful… but it had to be rigid to maintain that peace.’

So there was no way Kim Nae-gwan, an employee of the Imperial Family, would be seen smiling happily.

But this place was different.

He could see Kim Seok-cheol, who had the same name, appearance, way of speaking, and personality as Kim Nae-gwan, laughing freely.

Of course, the same was true for Do-jae himself.

‘I’m glad I can laugh with him, even if it’s only here.’

Do-jae thought, always feeling sorry for Kim Nae-gwan, who was in charge of the troublesome Third Prince.

“Please give me the bouquet. I’ll take care of it.”

“Yes.”

Do-jae smiled happily and handed over the bouquet.

Then, he wiped away the sweat with a tissue given to him by the stylist.

“You guys must be hungry, right? I’ll go buy you food while you change your clothes. What do you want to eat?”

Jung Gil-joo asked in a voice that was one tone higher than usual.

Usually, after music shows, the members would take out food and eat in the car.

It was right around dinner time, so the surrounding restaurants were crowded, and they were too hungry to go all the way to the dorms to eat.

At Jung Gil-joo’s question, Woo-cheol raised his hand and answered.

“Galbi [Korean BBQ]! Since we’re in a good mood today, galbi!”

“Uh… can you even take out galbi these days? Do they grill it for you?”

“Hyung. Don’t even listen to this guy. Galbi in the car doesn’t make sense.”

Heung-min immediately scolded him, and Woo-cheol turned his head with a ‘Tch’.

‘Galbi… I want to eat it too after a long time.’

Do-jae unconsciously licked his lips when galbi was mentioned.

It was because he was reminded of the sweet galbi he had eaten in the Empire.

Whenever he went to Suwon Hwaseong [historical fortress] with his parents, he would eat galbi brought from a famous restaurant there.

‘Suwon galbi is also famous here. Of course, it doesn’t have to be that galbi…….’

Come to think of it, he didn’t remember having a proper ‘feast’ since coming to Korea.

The company’s meal allowance was limited, and he had money, but he was saving as much as possible because he didn’t know when he would receive his settlement money.

‘Above all, I didn’t have time. After entering Kingdom and adjusting, I was always busy preparing for my debut.’

He thought that he should have gone out to eat meat with the members before he knew it would be like this.

Anyway, galbi in the car was out of the question, so the menu was roughly decided to be hamburgers.

It was a hamburger that he had wanted to eat so badly that he was sick of it because he had to take care of his body right before his debut.

But after his debut, the thing he ate most often was hamburgers.

He didn’t have to worry about gaining weight from eating hamburgers because he was so active.

“Then I’ll have a Spicy Chicken!”

“I’ll have a Tomato Deluxe!”

“The menus are all different. You’re all so picky.”

Jung Gil-joo spat out his dialect as he wrote down the orders of the excited members.

The last order was Do-jae’s.

“What about Do-jae?”

Thoughtful Do-jae, please order the same menu, even if it’s just you.

Jung Gil-joo looked at Do-jae with that in mind.

Do-jae smiled and replied.

“I’d like a Bulgogi Burger.”

“…Thank you.”

Just as Jung Gil-joo’s shoulders were drooping as he wrote down the six different types of hamburgers.

“Wait a minute. Gil-joo.”

Team Leader Kim Seok-cheol, who had finished a short phone call, grabbed Jung Gil-joo, who was about to leave the waiting room.

And he said to Jung Gil-joo and the members.

“Let’s go to a restaurant for dinner tonight instead of eating in the car.”

“Oh…. A restaurant?”

Quick-witted Heung-min asked with an expectant look.

Team Leader Kim Seok-cheol nodded.

“Yes. I just got a call from the Vice President. He said he’s treating us to celebrate our first place…. Is galbi okay for the menu?”

“Wow! Yes, yes, that’s great!”

“Ugh! Galbi!”

“Vice President. Awesome.”

The members were as excited about the fact that the dinner menu had changed from hamburgers to galbi as they were about winning first place.

Do-jae couldn’t hide his joy and shouted, “That’s great!”

“Gil-joo, please make a reservation at a galbi restaurant.”

“Yes, Team Leader!”

“Please have the choreography team and staff attend if they have time.”

“Us too? Yes!”

Excited voices erupted from here and there.

***

The place Jung Gil-joo reserved was a famous galbi restaurant located halfway between the broadcasting station and the dorm.

They had made a reservation so suddenly, but fortunately, it was a weekday, so a group reservation was possible.

Sniffing at the smell of galbi wafting from the entrance, Louis and Woo-cheol even danced their butts off.

Sitting down, Gyu-sung also hummed a song.

“Do-jae’s post on Tweety [Korean Twitter] is the most popular again today.”

Heung-min said, looking at his phone while waiting for the ordered meat.

“Really? I was wondering if I wrote too much…….”

“We can’t write like that even if we try.”

Ki-joon replied to Do-jae’s question.

Do-jae’s Tweety 말투 [speech style] and posts, which were different from other members, or other singers, were quite loved by fans.

“They say you talk like a scholar.”

“A scholar?”

“That’s right, hyung. But you talk like a scholar even in person. Sometimes I’m surprised. I wonder if this hyung came from Joseon [historical Korean kingdom].”

Do-jae flinched and smiled awkwardly at Woo-cheol’s playful words.

He was trying to fix his 말투, but his writing was still the same.

He didn’t intend to fix it either.

“Ah. The picture of you holding the bouquet is also a big deal here and there today. It’s more popular than the picture of Gyu-sung hyung holding the trophy.”

“Of course.”

Gyu-sung replied as if he had no intention of comparing it in the first place.

“But the biggest topic today is Louis.”

Do-jae said, who had checked the reactions in the car while moving.

Everyone nodded at Do-jae’s words.

“I said the intro choreography was difficult, but you were flying around when you got excited.”

“Did you guys see the article titled ‘Louis, the 19-year-old who does somersaults’? The number of comments on that is no joke!”

“A lot of people were tricked by Louis’s name.”

“It’s like my parents gave me a name to become a celebrity.”

Louis smiled proudly and made a V with both hands.

“I already thanked my parents. I used to hate it because there were so many misunderstandings about my appearance…. I was also teased.”

“Everyone says your name is pretty now.”

Gyu-sung said, ruffling Louis’s fluffy yellow hair.

It was a way of telling him to forget about the teasing he had received in the past.

In the meantime, Heung-min’s expression hardened strangely when his parents were mentioned.

In fact, Heung-min was a case who debuted against his parents’ wishes.

He often contacted his mother, but it had already been several years since he had contacted his father.

“But Ki-joon hyung.”

Heung-min changed the subject as if he didn’t want to think about his parents anymore.

Ki-joon, who was picking up side dishes, raised his head.

“You said that the stage is the same for us whether we’re nominated or not…. When did you write your acceptance speech on your palm?”

“Oh! Right! I saw you write it on your palm too!”

Woo-cheol grabbed the topic.

“Hyung. You were secretly expecting it, right? Right?”

You could see Ki-joon’s expression hardening at Heung-min’s question.

“Ah…. Why isn’t the meat coming out?”

Ki-joon’s face quickly turned red as he turned his head.

The younger siblings burst into laughter as if their older brother was cute.

In the meantime, Do-jae left his seat for a while to call his mother, who would have left work by now.

Until then, no one had expected the atmosphere to soon become a mess.