Chapter 4: 4

 

Dance.

My movements (dance in this case too) were the worst. Even after six years of being a trainee, I couldn't get better. But what if I can conquer that?

I can't count the number of debut opportunities I missed while I was a trainee. A fellow peer who came in later than me made his debut before me.

'I barely made it to the debut team and was dropped.'

It was all because of my dancing.

The reason why I gave up on my dream of becoming an idol, and the reason why I was dropped from TNT was because of dance.

But if I could overcome it. . .

To know for sure, I repeated the same experiment as before.

First, I dance to the choreography that I knew and then after seeing the original performer of the dance on MeTube, I took a second video. When I looked at the results, I couldn't keep my mouth shut.

Oh my god, It works?

I was just thinking of it, but it really was possible. The distance between the videos was less than a minute, but my movements were surprisingly different.

". . ."

I was literally speechless. Should I say that it felt like all the stars embroidered in the night sky are falling onto me?

It was distant and unrealistic. 

Is it a dream that my lifelong struggle and the cause of being dropped from the debut group has been resolved so easily?

I legs lost strength and I sat down. Chills rose up from the sandy floor in the harsh winter, but I sat blankly and looked up at the sky.

Stars floating in the night sky. The half-clouded moon was floating in the sky.

Looking at all of that in front of me, I recalled what happened today.

From saving an elderly man and watching an action movie at a hospital. To interviews and coming to the playground to test this ability.

All of this was not a dream.

At first, I was denying the reality, saying it was ridiculous, but the more I experimented, the more certain it became. I don't know why, but it was clear that I had some ability.

A kind of superpower.

I laughed because I was dumbfounded,

"Haha. . ."

After laughing for a long time as if I had lost my mind, I dusted my butt and stood.

"Now. . . dance is not a problem."

I told Seokhwan that I would give up on being an idol, but in fact, I auditioned several times after I left TJ Entertainment.

And I repeatedly failed.

The judges, who smiled at my visuals and singing skills, saw my dance which was creaking like logs. They made their decision and shook their heads after hearing my trainee period.

If you've been doing it for 6 years and it's only at that level, it means you can't improved anymore.

But now it's different. Dance was no longer a challenge for me.

If so, I could walk again. I can keep on dreaming again after abandoning it.

The road that I've gave up on.

Idol.

Maybe it's now not impossible.




 

* * *




 

"Hurry up and eat. The meat is going to burn."

"Huh? Yeah."

I was shock at Seokhwan's urgent prompting.

The BBQ restaurant Seokhwan sent to me was a restaurant located in Eunpyeong-gu.

When I was a trainee, it was a place I wanted to go to at least once, but I could only swallowed my saliva. However, Seokhwan might have known about my pain. (I guess endure the pain of not going to eat there TT eat well our baby)

I put a piece of the cooked rib eye in my mouth. The grilled beef over charcoal was savory yet greasy.

Seeing me make an ecstatic expression, Seokhwan with the tongs made a sad face.

"Whoever sees you will think that you've been starving for three days. Eat slowly. Will someone be coming to take you?" (Kinda like "eat slowly, there's no one who's going to steal your food, or yourself away" phrase. No indigestion on Seokhwan watch!)

"Weren't you going too?"

"What?"

"Didn't you come to take me?"

"Why do you think so?"

"I ordered 50,000 won worth of snowflake sirloin for just one person that's meant for five serving, but there's no anger. That means it's not a personal card. Plus you said you were bringing out a corporate card earlier. Then isn't this a public issue and not personal?"

"You're very much like Sherlock Holmes."

"Ahh, do your best hyung".

In return for pouring the alcohol, he carefully fed me a ssam. (Ssam is a lettuce wrap that you can fill with meat, vetagable, sauces, etc. . . making a ssam for others is kinda like affection almost. The better the ssam is, the more affection it is to the one receiving the ssam lol correct me if wrong)

I said with a smile, "So, if you catch me, will you be arrested?"

"I saw it."

I answered as I look at the menu, "If you add a steamed egg, I might change my mind without knowing."

Yoon Seok-hwan smiled and added a steamed egg.




 

While eating meat, a hot steamed egg came out.

I took a spoonful of the steamed egg, blew them, and brought them to my mouth. Seokhwan looked at me and carefully opened his mouth.

"Anyway, are you okay?"

"What?"

"The exam. According to the article, I saw you've been preparing for 2 years since you were in the military. The mock test results are also at the top."

"It's a shame, but there's nothing I can do about it. How can I change what's already happened?"

"It doesn't make sense."

"It's okay. I'm used to this now.", I answered with a smile.

"When did my life ever go the way I wanted it to? Well, if everything came true as I wanted, I would've become a star in Asia by now. It's a waste to study, but there's nothing I can do about it. I can't change what happened, but I'm the only one who can change my emotions."

 

"You still have a diamond-like mentality."

"It's not a diamond, but maybe gold. It's not real gold, but it's mixed with some impurities."

Seokhwan laughed at my joke as if he couldn't stop it.

"What did your grandmother say?"

"What do you mean?"

When I remembered the conversation we had just shared a few hours ago, I shuddered.

"She'll used all the swear words that she can use. Do you know what kind of animal a chinchilla is?

"Did you get a chinchilla?"

"It's an animal that my grandma cursed, so it can make it into the 12 zodiacs. If I weren't my grandmother, I would've filed a complaint."

"You must have said that out of concern."

"I know."

That's why I'm sorry and I'm worried. I feel like I've only done the wrong things to my grandma who only looks at her grandchildren at an old age.

"Hyung, can we talk about something else? The taste of alcohol is lacking now."

"What nonsense are you spewing? You're drinking Cola right now."

"Cola is also an alcohol."

"Since when did Cola become alcohol?"

"When you're not feeling well and you feel better when you're drinking, it's alcohol."

"I drank soju, but why are you the one talking nonsense?"

I drank the Cola and made a loud noise.

I couldn't hold in my alcohol.

From the moment I drink it, my face becomes so red that others will think, 'He's drunk.'

"Let's just do a cheers."

After clinking the glass together, I picked up a piece of meat.

"Hyung."

"Yes?"

"So why did you ask me to meet you?"

Yoon Seokhwan was the type of person who likes face to face conversations.

However, business was different.

No matter how good a person is, Seokhwan was a member of society who was living a fierce life.

If he calls me after a long time and is seen feeding me meat, I don't think he called me to go on a trip down memory lane.

"There must be a reason why you wanted to see me today. Honestly, it would be an excuse for you to meet me because you saw my face on the internet."

"That's true."

"What?"

"You're more famous than you think right now."

"No way."

"If you look at the level recognition of today, you're a very mid-range famous idol."

"Don't keep on flying." (get hopes up?)

It was when I waved my hands.

"Excuse me."

"What?"

Turning my head, I saw a woman approaching our table. She was in her 20s and her eyes sparkle as if there was something she wanted.

"Your Galhyeon-dong Righteous Hero am I right?"

 

Galhyeon-dong Righteous Hero.

I was numb to it when I saw it in articles, but when I heard it myself, I felt ashamed. Seokhwan giggled at my face who was cringing in real time.

"Yes, that's right. What's going on?"

"Wow, awesome."

Among the Jangseung that stood at the entrance of the village, what were the female Jangseung that were next to General Cheonha called? (Jangseung is like kinda like a wooden pillar with faces that protect the the village of Cheonha from evil. Correct me if wrong.)

Oh yes, Jihayeojang.

That was when a laugh came.

"Oh my gosh, I saw it on the Internet today. It was really cool."

"Oh yes. . ."

"You're more handsome in person."

"Thank you."

"Can I take a photo with you?"

"Photo?"

Yes, can I?"

For some reason, I felt like I'm a celebrity.

Before turning on the camera, a photo of the famous idol group SIXTY SECONDS was decorated on the background screen of the woman's smartphone.

She was an idol fan?

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After taking the picture, she leisurely left, saying, 'Can I post it on Facebook?'

When I glanced over at the table, it seemed she had come out to eat out with her family. Her younger brother seemed to be a test-taker.

I murmured as I saw the family in harmony. Perhaps the results of the provisional scoring were good.

"I guess I'm really sold on my face."

"Do you believe it now?"

"A little bit".

"This skeptical person kept on saying, 'Why did you ask me to meet you? What's the matter?'" (Seokhwan referring to Wooju when he mentions, 'skeptical person')

I nodded my head.

"You're an entertainer. . ."

"I won't do it."

He blinked at my answer even before he could finish his speech.

"Listen till the end, you punk."

"You're telling me to be an actor. It's obvious without looking."

When the rib eye, which was baked in medium rare, was dipped in oil sauce, blood slightly came out and floated in the oil. I opened my lips while enjoying the taste of greasy and chewy A++ grade beef.

"That's what I said in TJ, too. Idols are not that important while cutting me off.  I can't put on a mask when I'm working, so that's why I won't be an actor." (Put on a mask is just an expression for acting differently an one's true self)

"Do you hate being an actor that much?"

"No."

I picked up the soju bottle and filled Seokhwan's cup.

"Now I don't care whether I'm an actor or an idol. Actually, something special happened today."

While saving the grandpa who was pushing the rear car, I rolled on the ice and developed a strange ability.

The ability to <copy> any movement immediately just by looking at it.

I found this out when I tested this and that on the school playground. There was no limit to the movements I could copy. Not only martial arts such as punches and kicks, but also dances such as gymnasts' movements, b-boying, and idol dance.

 

The fact that the problem dancing, which had been a headache for six years, is now over meant that I didn't have to become an actor.

"I haven't confirmed it yet, but I'm thinking of trying to become an idol again."

"Now after so long?"

"Well, some people debut at the age of 25. 21 is a little late, but I can still take on the challenge."

"Are you going to give up on the exam?"

"I'm thinking about it."

I scratched my cheek because I felt awkward, "I told you, I'm not certain that I'll be an idol. I haven't decided what to do with the exam yet."

"So, you want to be an idol first, right?"

"Hmm?"

Seokhwan's reaction is somewhat strange. As I saw Yoon Seokhwan's twinkling eyes, I shooked my head.

"That's good, Wooju."

"What?"

"If you want to be an idol, come to our company."

"Wait a minute."

I raised my hand and cut off Seokhwan's words.

"Why is the story going like that? Didn't you come here to recruit me to be an actor?"

"When did I do that?"

"Huh?"

"You misunderstood it however you wanted. That's why you have to listen to the end of a person's story."

"Sorry, I misunderstood."

Yoon Seokhwan took his business card out of his arms and held it out.

 

[LEMON ENTERTAINMENT CHIEF MANAGER YOON SEOKHWAN]

I opened my eyes wide to the phrase on Seokhwan's new business card.

"Chief manager? You got promoted."

"What promotion? If you move from a large company to a smaller company, it's about the same."

"Congratulations. You joined a good company."

Lemon Entertainment was a proven agency that was evaluated as being strong in its own way even though it was a small and medium-sized agency.

Didn't they started as an actor-specialized agency and is now expanding their scope toward the music industry.

I heard that a girl group debuted before.

"SCARLETT is from LEMON ENTERTAINMENT, right?"

"That's right."

SCARLETT is a popular four-member girl group.

Was it last year?

By appearing like a comet, they firmly established their image as a talented girl group.

"We've been preparing for a boy group since SCARLETT this time, so come and audition."

"Are you serious?"

Seokhwan nodded to my question.

"I'm serious, would I play around feeding you expensive meat?"

"Do you remember I got cut because I'm terrible at dancing?"

"Am I ever going to forget that?"

"Even so?"

I looked at Seokhwan still because I was suspicious of him. Then Seokhwan shrugged with a smile that seemed to dim.

 

"When my superiors told me to call you, the first thing I mention was your dance skill. I wouldn't want to leave you frustrated again. However, my superiors told me that it didn't matter, so to be sure to call you."

"Superiors?"

Oh, right. I haven't told you about it yet."

Yoon Seokhwan clinked the glass and started his luck, "Do you know Cho Kyuhwan among the composers?"

"Of course I know. It's a name you can't not know when you study composition."

"No way he's famous".

Cho Kyuhwan.

A genius composer who has many hit songs that can be known just by listening to the title track of the song. He was a person who earned hundreds of millions of won in copyright fees every year at a young age.

"He's the production director of LEMON ENTERTAINMENT. After the CEO, he actually has the second-largest role, mainly in casting actors, singers, and producing. SCARLETT is also his work."

He continued to talk, "But he's a really unique person. His nickname is, 'fortune teller'."

"A fortune teller?"

"Should I say that he know what will go good and what will go wrong. The hit rate is almost 100 percent."

"Does that make any sense?"

"It's real, dude."

To me, it was nonsense that I laugh at it.

Yoon Seokhwan became angry and told me several cases. He picked a song as the title song that everyone thought would fail.

He also strongly persuaded the company to include an actor from the company into a minor movie saying it would be success.

A song that was in the movie topped the chart in a single day, and the male actor, who appeared in the work, went from crying and eating mustard to being a 10 million worth of an actor.

"Most of these stories I've only heard of it, but I've also watched over SCARLETT's casting."

That's how the SCARLETT's members, famous for being a talented girl groups, was casted.

He was walking around Hongdae and pulled out his business card after looking at their dace.

It is said that he was sitting on the subway and handed over his business card to a high school student sitting opposite him.

And that's how they picked up SCARLETT, becoming the most hit rookie group in 2012.

Seok-hwan shook his head as if he was tired of thinking of that time and continued to talk.

"Composer Cho Kyuhwan wants to pick you as a member for the new boy group in LEMON ENTERTAINMENT."

"What?"

"Literally."

After contemplating for a while, I stared at Seokhwan.

"Seokhwan."

"Huh?"

"Be honest with me. The boy group that's you're telling me to join. You're in a bad mood currently, right?

"Huh? What do you mean I'm not in a good mood?"

"Why would you pick a new member for a group if there isn't a problem? There's definitely a problem internally, so they're picking out a new member."

Seokhwan's proposal was good enough to be tempting.

In the new boy group produced by Midas hand (The president of TJ ENTERTAINMENT), he said he wanted me to join.

But where is the world does everything go well?

I had to think about if this was a really huge opportunity or if something bad was approaching.

Why did this opportunity have to come up now? Especially when I'm not even a trainee and the opportunity to take the exam failed.

"Well, it's not a problem."

Seok-hwan said, scratching his nose.

"The situation is a little complicated."

He explained the details.

Originally, the boy group was the first idol project that was being prepare at LEMON ENTERTAINMENT.

While director Cho Kyuhwan ambitiously produced SCARLETT, the company's management team was also independently preparing its own boy group.

The goal was 7-member.

However, a problem came soon to be.

One of the trainees had a bad personality, so he constantly had some friction against other trainees. Eventually he was cut from the company.

If that was the case, it wouldn't be to late.

I thought the situation would end there, but 2 out of the 6 members left before their debut.

The problem is that the departure took place at a time when the profile pictures for the debut was taken already.

And so, the remaining four were mentally broken.

In that state, two years have passed.

"After SCARLETT started to settled down earlier this year, director Cho Kyuhwan became the producer of the boy group."

"So what?"

"We decided to debut a 5-member group by drastically revising the project that was originally set as a 7-member group. There were many who audition, but unfortunately, there was no one who director Cho liked until today."

Until today, what do you mean?

No way.+

"When it was lunchtime, we saw your face on TV at the Soondae Gukbap restaurant, and the way he looked at you was unusual. I asked him why he was doing that, and he said this."

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