The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 2221

[Bonus] Episode 24. The Mysterious Variety Show Rookies

With the cast confirmed, the production team shared a common concern:

That the entire cast had little to no experience in variety shows.

They were individuals dedicated to their primary professions, such as acting and music, but the production team couldn’t expect them to possess the variety sense or hosting skills necessary for entertainment shows.

‘Shouldn’t we find a host, even now?’

In the case of ‘(Tentative Title) Wise Island Life,’ there were many broadcasters who wanted to join. It wasn’t that no one wanted to participate, so there was no need to insist on these four.

PD [Production Director] Na Hye-ju also considered this.

However, she ultimately confirmed the cast.

While she acknowledged that the broadcast program needed to be entertaining, she wanted to emphasize the documentary aspects more.

She wanted to show the lives of four people with little to no variety show experience going down to the countryside, feeling unfamiliar, making mistakes, and sometimes getting into trouble, but gradually adapting.

She hoped to capture that life isn’t just a facet of comedy or tragedy, but a process of facing the unfamiliar and adapting to it.

‘Growth’ isn’t the wrong word, but people don’t grow every moment; they also regress or stay in place, so wouldn’t ‘adaptation’ be more fitting?

Thus, she wanted to show the cast feeling awkward in front of the reality cameras,

and looking clueless about what to do, like people who had really gone back to farming.

‘But, unexpectedly···’

It was going well.

‘Surprisingly so.’

After cleaning the house, dishes were being placed one by one on the porch table.

Kwon Jae-ik’s contribution was 50% in getting to this point.

More resourceful than expected, he looked around as soon as he arrived at the house and looked for things to do.

Compared to him, the other cast members didn’t seem as resourceful.

Naturally, Kwon Jae-ik thought he would be the only one working hard and have to do everything himself, but.

Contrary to their initially relaxed attitude, the other cast members were more cooperative than expected.

“Oh, there’s a light bulb here-.”

“I’ll fix that, *noona* [term used by younger males to address older sisters or female friends],”

“Ah, it comes off when you turn the screw. I’ll hold it for you.”

Lee Jung-min was already famous for being good at everything—he even had a heavy equipment license—and Lee So-ra didn’t know how to do it, but she did well when asked.

It probably helped that she didn’t have a single picky bone in her body, considering she was a top star.

And surprisingly, the boy, whom even Kwon Jae-ik hadn’t expected much from, played a big role.

PD Na Hye-ju had earnestly requested the villagers to treat them like strangers who had just moved in, so she thought the villagers wouldn’t help them at all in the beginning, but.

“But where did this light bulb come from? Our production team wouldn’t have gotten it.”

“Hae-il got it from the village chief.”

“?”

As if he were a genius creating something from nothing, he even made(?) things. It was a small thing, but the residents recognized the boy who had been sweeping the front with a broom.

Not as Star Halo, but as the guest from Nam Gyu-hwan’s grandmother’s house who had visited a month ago. And as the star of the town hall at the time.

“Little boss, when did you come?”

“No, you can’t clean with such a small hand. Wait a minute. I’ll lend you mine.”

From people lending him brooms.

“Oh my, the young man who sings well?”

“Hello, the kimchi you gave me last time was delicious. It was really good.”

“! It was good? Should I give you more? I was saving it for my children, but if our singer wants to eat it, I’ll give you mine.”

“Thank you.”

Food kept piling up.

“What? Did you come here to farm?”

“Ah, a neighbor passing by gave it to me to eat.”

“Wow, this village is so generous. They just gave it to you?”

Side dishes like kimchi [traditional Korean fermented cabbage dish] and pickled seafood, seasonal fruits, and even-.

“A blanket?”

“It’s still early spring, so they said it gets chilly at night, so use it to sleep.”

“This?! Even snake wine?”

Kwon Jae-ik hugged the snake wine. He felt like he wouldn’t say anything even if the boy didn’t do any chores in the future.

It was an amazing performance.

Halo was bringing everything that was lacking in the house.

The production team all shook their heads at the villagers without making it obvious, but they couldn’t intervene because the boy was paying the price.

“Could you sing that song you sang back then one more time?”

“Of course.”

The villagers vividly remembered the boy playing the guitar and singing at the town hall.

“Will you continue to broadcast for the village? Little boss’s broadcast is still ringing in my ears.”

“Did you like it?”

“Of course.”

When the boy sang, the villagers smiled faintly and listened to the song, or teared up, providing enough footage for the broadcast.

‘T, this isn’t what I wanted?’

This wasn’t what they wanted.

The production team’s pupils shook, but when the boy sang, even they were engrossed in the song, so the household items increased exponentially.

‘These are variety show rookies···?’

Everyone was too busy to feel awkward in front of the reality cameras,

and Kwon Jae-ik’s planning skills and Lee Jung-min’s resourcefulness were too high to be clueless about what to do.

Even the sound wasn’t empty.

Since it had been a while since they had met, everyone was busy talking about their lives so far, and in between, the boy sang a medley of OSTs [Original Soundtracks] from ‘Today Onward, We,’ which brought out behind-the-scenes stories from the drama.

Halo coming to the set, the boy, who was 17 years old in Korean age at the time, saying Lee So-ra looked too young, Lee Jung-min getting an autograph from the boy and taking a picture with him, etc.

“You came back then?”

“Pay attention to your surroundings.”

Kwon Jae-ik couldn’t remember no matter how hard he tried, so he cleanly gave up on thinking.

“By the way, we’re supposed to be appointed as temporary teachers starting tomorrow, have you all thought about what subjects you’ll teach?”

To be exact, they would be entering classes like student teachers with a teacher present. At Lee So-ra’s question, the people who had been quietly watching the night sky reacted.

“I-.”

Kwon Jae-ik opened his mouth first.

“Music?”

“You?”

“?”

“? Can’t I teach some music?”

The startled production team suddenly remembered.

That Kwon Jae-ik was also a singer with two albums.

Fans begged him not to do everything he wanted, but he had released two hip-hop albums and rapped for over an hour at a two-hour fan meeting.

“Don’t you think I can teach well? The kids like me too.”

“···.”

“Jung-min isn’t saying anything, so shouldn’t we think about it again?”

“Lee Jung-min!”

“Yes, *sunbaenim* [term used to address senior colleagues or mentors].”

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

“No, *sunbaenim*.”

“···I see.”

Lee So-ra smirked.

In fact, she didn’t care who taught, but it felt strange because there was such a big figure next to her when it came to music.

“What do you want to do?”

“Me, a math teacher? Wouldn’t it be cool to draw on the chalkboard?”

“You can’t even get your multiplication tables right, what math are you talking about.”

“When have you ever seen me get my multiplication tables wrong?”

“Eight times seven?”

“···63?”

“···Please edit this out since she’s an actress.”

The production team laughed at Kwon Jae-ik’s words.

“No! I didn’t get it wrong! I heard it as 9×7.”

“I said eight times seven?”

“Your pronunciation was weird.”

“Ah, really?”

Kwon Jae-ik raised the corner of his mouth as if it were absurd.

Lee So-ra appealed to her two younger colleagues that she had misheard out of embarrassment.

“I wanted to try being a fashion teacher once. I majored in fashion, you know.”

No one told her that there was no fashion subject in elementary school.

“Jung-min, what do you want to do? You seemed to study well when you were young.”

Lee Jung-min, who actually did well, pondered.

“Um···science? I majored in chemistry and physics in high school. I’m not good at memorizing.”

“Memorizing? Don’t you memorize all your scripts, Jung-min?”

“Haha···chemistry and physics are more fun. So, I was wondering if a science teacher would be good? I’ve been interested in quantum entanglement lately, so I’ve been looking into it.”

“Ah, quantum entanglement···. I know it well. But wouldn’t it be a bit difficult for elementary school kids?”

“Haha, would it be a little difficult? I thought it was an interesting topic.”

It seemed like it would be difficult even if you brought adults, not just elementary school kids.

“What about Hae-il?”

Lee Jung-min asked Halo, who was sitting with his guitar.

In fact, Lee Jung-min wanted to know what Halo would do more than anything else.

And if possible, he just wanted to listen to his class.

“I guess Hae-il will do music?”

At Lee So-ra’s question, Halo tilted his head.

Everyone thought he would teach music, but he wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know.”

“Why not?”

The eyes of the three people and the production team gathered.

Halo asked calmly.

“I was wondering if there’s anything to teach in music.”

“!”

One of the production team members, who had gone to music academy for years to get rid of his tone-deafness, flinched.

“But isn’t there something like that? A melody that appeals to the public. A money code? How to make good music.”

“You naturally learn those things through various experiences. Everyone likes music without anyone teaching them, right?”

“!”

Someone was hit in the bone and cowered.

If it were another singer, they would have thought it was nonsense or a bluff.

They would have laughed, asking if he thought he was a genius,

but since the genius who had proven himself once again with the recent ‘Sound Exhibition’ was saying it, it just hurt.

“Yeah, when I listen to Hae-il’s music, I like it without anyone teaching me.”

“Me too, Hae-il, I’m listening to your songs.”

“Then Hae-il, what do you want to teach?”

Lee So-ra, who became an actress after auditioning for fun with a friend without going to acting school, thought that it must be natural for singers.

Halo hadn’t really thought about what to teach.

As he always said, he wasn’t close to kids and didn’t like them.

Should he say that he doesn’t seek out things related to children?

But if he had to do something.

Something fun.

“Physical education?”

“Huh?”

It would be fun to play in the sea, go to the mountains, and go sightseeing here and there.

After the word that he wanted to try diving off a cliff was conveyed, Halo’s label staff went into a frenzy. ‘Absolutely not.’ They shook their heads at PD Na Hye-ju, saying it was absolutely not allowed, and made an X with their arms.

“Or art?”

He wasn’t good at it, but he had fun drawing the watch design last time.

“It would be fun to do something like that.”

“I think you’d be good at it.”

First of all, the cast members were in a good mood because there were two people who said it was good no matter what the boy said and one person who was indifferent to everything.

“Ah, the stars are pretty.”

“Ah, the production team told me there’s a great spot for stargazing, when should we go, *noona*.”

“Aren’t all stars the same?”

A friendly scene.

The shadows cast below the cast members and the sky beyond were beautifully captured on camera.

However, viewers who later saw this scene and their added interviews laughed at how everyone said the opposite.

That’s because.

“Okay, everyone, let’s give a round of applause for concentration. Everyone, let’s greet them. These are the people who will be your teachers for the next two weeks.”

“Hello?”

Uwaaaah!

Kwon Jae-ik, who really liked children, gifted the children with a sense of intimidation and tears with his strong presence as a male actor.

“Kids, you like soccer, right? Let’s go, let’s go, uwaaaah!”

Kwon Jae-ik, who took on physical education class instead of the music class he wanted, was confident that he would take good care of the children, but he made the children cry by never giving in to their competitive spirit and teasing them.

It seemed like it would be uploaded as an example of ‘why you shouldn’t leave children with men.’

“Men.”

Lee So-ra, who was watching, clicked her tongue.

A sobbing child approached her.

“Pretty *noona*. I got hurt here.”

“Noo···. *Noona*? Are you talking to me?”

Lee So-ra, who was in her mid-30s, was instantly delighted to be called *noona* by an elementary school student.

“Yes, kids, pretty *noona* is here. Where did you get hurt, let me see.”

“You’re such a mess, really.”

“Teacher Kwon, please cherish your once beloved disciple.”

Kwon Jae-ik was disgusted by Lee So-ra’s teacher title.

“I wanted to be an unforgettable glance for you, and you for me.”

Lee Jung-min, who became a Korean language teacher reading poetry instead of quantum mechanics, was popular with the children. However, the parents liked him even more.

He realized why the term ‘free pass for meeting parents’ existed.

And what was really unexpected.

The boy who had interviewed separately that he wasn’t close to children,

“Teacher! How do I do this?”

“*Hyung* [term used by younger males to address older brothers or male friends], let’s play together!”

“Teacher, teacher, let’s play dice again!”

Became a popular star at Baekun Elementary School.

“Damn it, I’m jealous. Should I go and sing my album?”

“Ha, the kids will have a fit.”

Uncle love is country love. The children chased after the boy like chicks chasing after their mother hen, so much that Kwon Jae-ik, who loved children, was really envious.

“You go play with the kids too.”

And Winter, who received Lee So-ra’s affection as soon as she appeared, was always by Halo’s side. Winter, who grabbed the hem of his jacket in case he went somewhere, didn’t play with the other kids.

Winter was the only girl in this neighborhood who was around elementary school age, and a girl who was small and liked music more than playing probably had a hard time joining a group of boys playing soccer and running around. Lee So-ra roughly grasped the situation and treated Winter more affectionately.

“I don’t like it, they make fun of me for being small.”

As expected. I see.

Just as Lee So-ra was about to feel sorry for her. Halo’s words were heard.

“You can get bigger later and make fun of them.”

“Can I get bigger?”

“Why not?”

“!”

Winter’s eyes sparkled.

‘Could it be···’

Lee So-ra glanced at Halo.

His lips were raised in a smile as if he was having fun.

Of course, Halo might be a child without prejudice, but Lee So-ra, who had seen him treat the six-year-old girls in the village more gently,

“Hae-il, you. Don’t you know, by any chance?”

“Know what?”

She realized he didn’t know.

That Winter was a girl.

You could tell just by looking at her.

Winter, who was sparkling her eyes while looking at Halo, and Lee So-ra made eye contact. Lee So-ra gently folded her eyes and smiled, raising her finger to her lips.

Let’s surprise him later.

It’s a secret until then.

Winter nodded, not knowing why.

Uwaaaah-!

Kwon Jae-ik, who had made the kids cry again today, looked at the boy enviously. He wished he had cute kids like that following him around.

But that wasn’t possible for him.

Because he had seen the boy become an overnight star at Baekun Elementary School in an instant.

The reason why the children were now following the boy, who was indifferent and didn’t try to be friendly when he was first appointed(?).

That was because of the ‘Mozart Dice Game’ that he had shown in his music class.