Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 77

#77.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Heungmin, who was stretching in the back of the waiting room, came over and asked.

Dojae read the message that had just arrived.

It was a message left by Team Leader Kim Seokcheol in the group chat with the members.

“We have a new advertising model contract. It’s for ‘Star Star Chicken,’ and this time it includes TV commercials, not just online.”

Dojae, reading the message without inflection as if he were Team Leader Kim Seokcheol himself, put down his phone and checked on the members.

“Ugh! Hyung, the problem isn’t eating more chicken right now!”

Woochul, who had been grumbling about smelling garlic a moment ago, raised his voice loudly.

“No… Team Leader Kim sent a message saying, ‘You can eat as much chicken as you want, just like you all wanted.'”

Despite Dojae’s words, the members were more focused on becoming advertising models than on the chicken.

“So… an advertisement.”

Gyuseong also couldn’t hide his excitement and muttered in a thrilled voice.

‘He kept singing about not being able to eat chicken every day… I guess advertising is the priority after all.’

Dojae swallowed his laughter and thought.

Dojae was also happy that an advertisement offer had come in.

“What? You guys are models for Star Star Chicken?”

“That’s amazing! Congratulations!”

The stylists, who were organizing the outfits, came over to offer their congratulations.

Louis excitedly grabbed Woochul’s hand and spun around the waiting room.

“Ha… how distracting.”

Kijun said, but he didn’t actively stop the two of them.

Kijun’s lips were subtly twitching, so he was clearly in a good mood.

It wasn’t the first time they had become advertising models, but there was a reason why the members were so happy.

Their debut album did quite well, and after winning the Rookie Award, the MOST members became models for one clothing brand and a small cosmetics brand.

However, they only shot pictorials to be used in print and online banners, and on event pages.

This meant that this was the first time they would become TV advertising models.

And it was for a chicken advertisement, which only popular celebrities were hired for.

Star Star Chicken was one of the top five brands in the same industry.

“I heard about you guys……”

Jeong Gilju, who burst into the waiting room, smiled.

Judging by the atmosphere, he had clearly heard the news.

“Hyung, hyung! Are we really filming a Star Star Chicken TV commercial?”

“When is our shoot?”

“How long is the contract period?”

“Do we sing a jingle too?”

Faced with a barrage of questions, Jeong Gilju groaned.

“Guys, wait a minute! Let me breathe, me too.”

At Jeong Gilju’s words, the members gave him about 5 seconds to breathe.

And after 5 seconds, they poured out questions again.

Jeong Gilju smiled in disbelief and answered one by one.

“The shoot is in fifteen days. The contract is for 6 months, but it can be extended depending on the response… Of course, you’ll sing the jingle for the commercial, and your faces will be on the packaging. There might be some merchandise too.”

The members listened carefully to the continuous explanation, not missing a single detail.

“Still number one, and even doing a chicken commercial……”

Jeong Gilju looked at the members with pride.

He hadn’t watched the members from before they became MOST like Team Leader Kim Seokcheol, but he had grown fond of them over the year or so he had been watching them.

As much as the members were kind and hardworking, he was happy and proud as if it were his own business when they did well.

He experienced a sense of professional fulfillment that he rarely felt when managing other celebrities.

“Congratulations!”

“Thank you!”

Louis replied excitedly to Jeong Gilju’s congratulations.

“Since there’s good news, put even more effort into today’s performance.”

The members nodded at his words.

The problem was that they were so happy that he didn’t know if they could capture the vibe of properly…….

Well, that was it.

Of course, as soon as they got on stage and the intro of started, the members were frighteningly immersed in the performance.

Good days or bad days.

Always delivering the best performance.

That was what they had been practicing for every day, and what they would continue to do.

***

A few days later.

The members gathered in the conference room and received the storyboard from Team Leader Kim Seokcheol.

The members, who had been happy about becoming models for Star Star Chicken, stared blankly at the storyboard, wondering if they were really filming a chicken commercial.

“This is……”

Heungmin rubbed his eyes and looked at the storyboard again.

“No way. How can we do something like this……”

Heungmin, who couldn’t speak properly and stuttered, was next to Kijun, who let out a low and deep sigh.

Louis and Gyuseong, who were in a ‘slightly’ better situation, looked at the remaining members.

But even though they were in a ‘slightly’ better situation, neither of them was confident in filming the commercial according to this storyboard.

“…This kind of *aegyo* [acting cute] style is popular in Korea too.”

Dojae said out loud what he was thinking.

He had quickly composed himself, but he was still a little embarrassed.

“Is it popular? Is it really popular?”

Woochul stared at Team Leader Kim Seokcheol and asked.

“Honestly, isn’t this not really the current trend?!”

When Team Leader Kim Seokcheol replied in a flat tone, exclamation marks appeared in the members’ eyes.

“I see! So, you’re trying to be funny, right?”

At Woochul’s words, Team Leader Kim Seokcheol said, “Well…” and avoided eye contact.

“Ah…. My friends are going to make fun of me so much when this commercial comes out.”

Woochul grabbed his head.

Kijun’s eyes were also shaking violently.

He was imagining what the reactions of his older sisters would be like.

At that moment, Team Leader Jeong Heeyeong opened the conference room door and entered.

“Did everyone check the storyboard? How is it? It’s so good, right!”

“Team Leadeeerrr.”

Woochul whined, and Team Leader Jeong Heeyeong laughed out loud.

“Why are you guys like this? Huh? This was planned by a hot advertising company these days, so it’s really good! It’s going to be a hit when it airs on TV.”

“Is it a famous advertising company?”

At Dojae’s question, Team Leader Jeong Heeyeong nodded lightly.

“You all know them. This time, the actress Song Jihyun acted as 1 person 10 roles……”

“That juice commercial?!”

Heungmin recognized it and replied.

All the other members knew it too.

It was a famous commercial because Song Jihyun had done a great job of playing all 10 roles, which became a hot topic.

Thinking of the juice commercial, they roughly grasped the atmosphere of the storyboard.

The overall content itself is funny, but the moments can be attractive…….

“But I don’t think we can do that kind of acting.”

As Kijun said.

The reason why Song Jihyun was cool was because she did the funny acting ‘well.’

Considering the acting skills of the MOST members, it was impossible to unleash the same charm as Song Jihyun.

The content being funny was also funny, but another reason why the members froze after seeing the storyboard was this.

They can barely do facial expressions for music videos, but now they have to do acting with lines…….

It was bound to be despairing.

“At least Dojae……”

Gyuseong said his true feelings like a sigh.

Honestly, the only member who can act is Dojae.

But that doesn’t mean Dojae can play 1 person 6 roles.

“I thought we were just going to eat chicken normally and say it was delicious.”

At Heungmin’s words, who was prepared to do that level of acting, Team Leader Jeong Heeyeong shook her head as if asking what he was talking about.

“We can’t do that! We’re filming a commercial, so we have to become a hot topic, gain popularity, and renew the contract!”

The members smiled awkwardly at Team Leader Jeong Heeyeong’s ambitious words.

It seemed that expectations, excitement, and pressure for the first TV commercial were all working at the same time.

Team Leader Jeong Heeyeong changed her attitude and spoke realistically.

“Honestly, you don’t have to do well. If you don’t do well, it’ll be funny in its own way.”

“…Will our image be okay?”

He was worried that it wouldn’t be too ridiculous.

Team Leader Jeong Heeyeong replied in a confident tone to Kijun, who was asking seriously.

“Of course. It’ll be funny but absolutely cool. Don’t be afraid and just do your best.”

Since it was their first TV commercial, they weren’t in a position to ask to change the storyboard anyway, and since Team Leader Jeong Heeyeong said it was okay, it seemed okay.

And there was one thing the members did best.

Doing their best.

***

Advertising shoot morning.

After finishing their basic makeup and hair, the MOST members headed to a studio in Gyeonggi-do [province surrounding Seoul] for the advertising shoot.

The street where the cherry blossoms were starting to fall was perfect for listening to .

Coincidentally, was playing inside a store with the door open.

“It’s a good day for sightseeing.”

Dojae enjoyed the warm spring breeze and the sound of the song coming in through the half-open car window and muttered comfortably.

His mind couldn’t be more stable than this.

The song was continuing its success, ranking first for 3 weeks in a row.

After the manipulation controversy, ironically, the music chart ranking did not fall and rather completely settled in 3rd place.

Since Infinite Boys is making a comeback next week, it seemed that they would soon give up the number one spot on music shows, but most people said that they would remain on the music charts for longer than expected.

The results of their first full-length album were more than enough.

“Ugh. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

“Hyung! No! Nope! Not in the car!”

“Hey. Park Woochul. Don’t overreact.”

“You look like you’re going to throw up too. Yes or no?!”

“Yeah. I feel like I’m going to throw up, so stop it. If you make throwing up sounds, I’ll throw up too.”

“Can you guys stop talking about throwing up?”

Of course, only Dojae, who had already prepared himself mentally, was calm.

The members were agitated the entire way to the set.

They had practiced quite hard, so they could now do something that could be called ‘acting,’ but they were still like this.

“…Byeol-ah [a common Korean name]. Did you not bring your textbook? Do you want to look at it with me?”

Gyuseong, sitting in the most secluded spot, quietly recited his lines.

Certainly, Gyuseong’s role suited his image well.

He was quiet and calm, similar to his actual school days.

It seemed that the advertiser and the advertising company had researched the MOST members quite a bit.

The concept of this Star Star Chicken commercial was that the six members were flirting with a virtual partner named ‘Star Star,’ whose last name was Star and first name was also Star.

The members each played high school students with different images and charms.

Even that would have made the members feel like they were already facing difficulties, but they weren’t ordinary high school students.

The model was the male protagonist of an internet novel that was popular at the end of the century.

Thanks to that, all the commercial lines were difficult to say with your hands and feet fully extended [meaning they’re incredibly cheesy and embarrassing].

At least Gyuseong’s lines, who played the role of the model student class president, were smooth.

However, next to Gyuseong’s lines were all subtle smiling emoticons like ‘^^…’.

Moreover, the advertising protagonist’s image did not completely match the member’s actual image.

In reality, Dojae originally had a gentle and upright personality, but Dojae’s lines in the commercial storyboard included emoticons with a sarcastic feeling (?) like ‘-_-^’.

‘The music video role too…. Is there a subtle thug in me?’

Come to think of it, he was treated like a thug in the Imperial Palace.

Dojae looked out the window again, thinking that people’s eyes were sharp after all.

In fact, there was one part that was a little bit awkward for Dojae, rather than a worry.

‘I’ve never even thought about kissing…….’