The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 133

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Former Idol Does Indie Band — Hard Carry
Episode 133
We threw ourselves back into the work of shaking the world once more.
But there was nothing extraordinary about it.
The priority was naturally making good music.
Everything else was just circumstance layered on top.
The difference was only in what came next.
A few days had passed since the company was established and announced.
“Perk up your faces.”
We were riding in Jo Hyun Seop’s car, heading somewhere.
On our way to a pre-meeting location before the variety show appearance.
My friends’ expressions weren’t good at all.
“A variety show… I don’t know if we can do this….”
“Man, I’m so nervous.”
“Do you think we can pull it off?”
“I’m not even sure we should be doing this. What if we mess it up?”
It wasn’t that they absolutely hated the idea of filming, but since none of us had experience with it, we were all wound tight with tension.
That trembling was clearly nervousness, not excitement.
“Hey, just do what you normally do.”
I tossed out a casual word of reassurance, telling them not to be nervous.
While it didn’t completely dissolve their tension, the guys seemed to calm down a bit at that.
* * *
It was just a matter of doing what we normally did.
Our first variety show was an observation program, after all.
In a small meeting room at the SBC Entertainment Division.
“Hello!”
A PD I’d seen a few times in my past life.
I couldn’t quite remember his name, but he’d been really kind and made good broadcasts.
“I’m Yun Young Chul. I’m the PD for Intensive Life White Paper.”
The name of the program we’d be appearing on was Intensive Life White Paper.
It was an ordinary terrestrial observation variety show that captured a day—or a few days—in the life of an entertainer.
Nothing particularly sensational, but that universal appeal made for good viewing.
With that ordinary strength, Intensive Life White Paper was currently boasting the highest viewership among observation programs.
That’s exactly why my friends couldn’t shake the tension on the drive over.
It was just too famous a program.
“Hello. I’m Jo Hyun Seop.”
“Nice to meet you!”
After Jo Hyun Seop, we also greeted the PD.
We spent a moment exchanging pleasantries to ease the mood.
PD Yun Young Chul had an affable expression and the same attitude I remembered.
“By the way, Director, I’ve heard a lot about you. I heard you recently made a comeback in entertainment.”
“Ah, yes. It just sort of happened that way.”
“We really look forward to working with you. If you don’t mind, would it be okay to shoot a few scenes with you on the filming day?”
“Me? Why would you want shots of an old guy like me? The kids should be the ones on camera.”
“No, no. You’re a famous person, so this will definitely be a big deal.”
“Well, do what you think is best. I don’t mind either way.”
“Thank you so much!”
PD Yun Young Chul asked for the director’s permission even before we got into the main meeting.
Industry insiders and consumers really do see things differently.
The public would want to see Oktatop on the broadcast.
But the industry would find the combination of a monster from the distant past and a rising newcomer fascinating.
The director would probably be used briefly for that effect.
“Well then, let’s start the meeting.”
Once the mood had loosened up a bit, we moved into the actual meeting.
“We’ll be filming over the course of two days total. Friday and Saturday. Two days like that.”
“Oh, Saturday’s when we do our busking.”
Lee Do Young threw out a detail.
“Right, we were actually planning to wrap it up with a busking scene.”
And it was a production team that already knew.
“Over those two days, we’ll film you rehearsing in the studio, creating songs, moving around, eating—everything like that….”
An explanation of the filming scope.
“And this isn’t something you absolutely have to do, but try not to be too conscious of the camera. That’s how we get the best shots.”
“Understood.”
The mood had loosened considerably from the start, but the guys were still pretty stiff.
Up until now, we’d done a few other broadcast shoots.
But back then, we had music as our weapon.
Star Observation Cam, Killing Band, music broadcasts, Jo Hyun Woo’s Gift Box.
And even audition programs.
All of them had the same format: chat a bit and just show off the music on the main stage.
But now that music wasn’t built into the format, the guys couldn’t find their footing.
I needed to loosen things up.
“Wait, you’re filming us eating too?”
Twenty years old but still clinging to that high school tone of voice.
“Yes, that kind of everyday stuff has its own appeal.”
“Then you should definitely film him eating hamburgers!”
“Hey, why are you saying stuff like that?”
Heo Jun Sung jabbed me with his elbow.
“Haha! Right. Everyone knows Jun Sung loves hamburgers. We’ll definitely get it on film.”
The other guys looked horrified at that.
“Really?”
“Do we have to film that?”
“Hamburgers again….”
Normally they tried to avoid burgers whenever possible, but now they seemed to accept the inevitability and their spirits sank.
“Haha! Doesn’t anyone else like hamburgers?”
“Well, because he eats them all the time, so we’re tired of them.”
“Seriously, he’s like a hamburger ghost. Don’t you ever get sick of them?”
“At this point, just seeing fries makes me want to gag.”
The guys kept firing away without a break.
“Hey, come on, hamburgers are a complete food!”
And Heo Jun Sung’s nonsense.
Just bringing up hamburgers once and they could riff like this all day.
I thought filming would go just fine.
PD Yun Young Chul, watching the guys banter, had the same look on his face that I did.
* * *
A week had passed since the meeting, and filming day had arrived.
“Ugh….”
“Good morning. Cha Seo Ha.”
“Huh? Oh! Yes, good morning.”
The night before, I’d been working on the next album in the practice studio until dawn and had fallen asleep.
I’d meant to go home and sleep, but I must have dozed off without realizing.
The production crew came bursting in first thing in the morning.
Camera in my face.
I hadn’t even washed up yet and I was mortified.
“Ugh….”
I flipped the blanket back over my head and flopped down, but then got up right away.
“Have we started?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll just wash up and be right back.”
Cameras were already set up all over the place.
We’d already discussed that they’d be doing things this way, so why had I slept here anyway?
In my past life, I would’ve been wound tight and vigilant the whole time, but I was definitely more relaxed these days.
Not that it was necessarily a bad thing.
I washed up just enough to look presentable, came back out, stretched broadly, and grabbed my laptop.
The crew moved like ghosts and filmed me while I didn’t pay them any mind, falling into my usual routine.
“Ah, ah ah. Ah! Ah aah ah!”
First, I warmed up my voice with some light vocal warm-ups.
“Mm hm hm…. Hmm~”
Then I checked my falsetto with some humming.
After connecting my laptop, audio interface, and keyboard, I launched right into work.
Creating a track for the next album.
The title was basically set, but figuring out the direction for the rest of the album was proving quite tricky.
“Kim Ji Hu, Kim Ji Hu….”
I was muttering to myself without thinking.
This was my way of channeling Kim Ji Hu’s energy while I worked.
“Lee Do Young…. Lee Do Young….”
Next, I played the bass and sketched out a rough outline.
Something felt off.
Work like this really does need to be done alone.
With all these cameras in front of me, I just can’t focus.
“Ooh….”
But the crew seemed pleased enough with what they were seeing and let out a small exclamation.
Click.
Then the sound of the door opening.
It was Kang Min.
“Yo, what’s up. Did you pull an all-nighter here?”
That tone of his, I swear.
“Nah, I just slept here.”
“Come on, take it easy. You’re gonna hurt yourself.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Your speech patterns are damaging my eardrums.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“Okay.”
So I switched into my running shoes and went out with Kang Min.
As we left the studio, I asked the production crew a question.
“We’re gonna go for a run now—is that okay?”
“Sorry?”
“We run every day.”
“Really, for real?”
The crew murmured among themselves.
“Yeah, seriously. We run every single day. No joke.”
“Oh, wait a second.”
The crew started loosening up, setting aside their equipment for a moment.
When did I become such a mean person?
The thought of making the broadcast guys—people who probably just sit around—run with us actually seemed kind of fun.
But I was just full of mischief like that.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Okay!”
And so we started running with the production crew.
The course started from the practice studio, looped through Banwol Park, and came back—just under three kilometers.
Not brutally hard, but not exactly light either.
But for us, running every day made this pretty much just a warmup.
The problem was the crew.
Within a minute they were gasping for breath.
Even though we slowed down to be considerate, they couldn’t keep up at all.
They were only carrying a gimbal camera, so the equipment shouldn’t have weighed much.
But the crew ran out of steam faster than expected.
“Wanna take a break?”
“Huff, huff…. That would be…. so grateful…. huh….”
“Let’s grab some drinks at that convenience store.”
So we headed into the nearby convenience store.
Kang Min and I grabbed some sports drinks, and the crew each picked up something to drink as well.
“Put those together. I’ll get them.”
I offered to buy for the crew first.
“Oh, no. We’ll buy our own drinks.”
And there was a round of refusal.
“Come on, you’re already up and running this early because of us. We should buy.”
“No, really, it’s fine.”
“It’s fine, I’m telling you.”
“It’s not. Really, truly.”
The back-and-forth kept going, so I resorted to force.
“Hah!”
I snatched the drinks from the exhausted crew’s hands and put them on the counter, paying for everything.
It wasn’t like it cost that much anyway.
I slid my card in and waited for the completion message.
“Wow, top-tier character celebrity.”
It was something the convenience store clerk had just said to me.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Heh.”
The transaction completed. Please take your card.
At the completion message, I grabbed my card and drinks and headed out of the store.
“Thanks for your hard work.”
“Yes, come back soon.”
And so we chugged our drinks and got ready to run again.
“Do you know the convenience store clerk?”
The crew asked, and this time Kang Min answered.
“Oh, we just come here every morning to buy water and stuff, so we kind of know them by sight.”
“I see….”
The crew responded like they found it interesting.
Would that really be interesting enough for the show though?
“Alright, should we run again?”
We started running again, and the crew gritted their teeth and ran alongside us.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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