The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 31

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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 Hard Carry for an Indie Band
Episode 31
—Busker Every Day continues next week.
The third episode of Busker Every Day, featuring Moon Ga-yeong and produced by PD Park Yun-chan, had come to a close.
The broadcast was a massive hit.
—It’s literally healing itself. All the cast members are so harmless and it feels like real musicians traveling, I love it so much
—This is a hundred times better than celebrities showing off their lifestyles
—Wasn’t that scene where they made ramyeon so good?
└Oh yeah, I totally agree, I was grinning like an idiot at that part
└They made ramyeon right after the show ended lol
└Me too lol
—Moon Ga-yeong and Ji Yun-jung’s voices together are really so good, I’d love if they released something together
—After watching celebrities flex all the time, seeing this is so refreshing
—Ji Yun-jung can sing and she’s a good cook too?
└She’s a housewife though
└Oh that’s right
└Of course she’d be good at it, she’s a mom lol
—A busking music program? The production really picked an amazing concept
—I kept smiling the whole time watching it, it just made me so happy
The program had no sensationalism whatsoever.
Yet somehow, that very gentleness struck a chord with the general audience.
Rather than the usual program of celebrities flaunting their wealth, this humble, everyday content left viewers with a sense of calm.
As a result, both the response and viewership ratings were quite good.
To the public, the casting was nothing short of a masterstroke.
For a program whose main keyword was healing, they’d assembled musicians who naturally carried an understated, ordinary feel.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without Cha Seo-ha suggesting the healing keyword to PD Park Yun-chan.
But a broadcasting station wasn’t a place where only good things happened.
“Um… PD?”
An employee approached PD Park Yun-chan, who was savoring a moment of good mood in the station’s smoking area.
“Hm?”
“Well, um…”
At the employee’s troubled sigh, anxiety bloomed in Park Yun-chan’s chest.
“What is it?”
“… It passed.”
“Wait, what!? Seriously?”
“Yes, it did…”
PD Park Yun-chan had barely begun to relish his happiness before a crisis landed on his doorstep, forcing him to grab his throbbing head.
“Got it, go on.”
“Yes, understood.”
* * *
PD Park Yun-chan was on his way home from work.
One piece of news from earlier had his mind churning in turmoil.
“The Union General Strike passed.”
The broadcasting station’s Union General Strike, which had been brewing for some time, had finally gone through.
There’d been endless talk about whether it would pass the voting majority or not.
The beginning of the year had been chaotic, and like always, he’d assumed it wouldn’t pass, as it usually didn’t.
Busker Every Day consisted mostly of external personnel anyway, so the strike wouldn’t affect it much.
But the music broadcast he was working as a director on was a different story.
Since they had to handle live broadcasts with internal staff every week, the music show stood to take a serious hit from the strike.
The strike was scheduled to run for one month starting next month.
Management said there would be no cancellations of the music broadcast.
If even one broadcast got cancelled, they’d have to pay breach-of-contract fees for all the advertisements tied to it.
Of course, forcing the broadcast wasn’t purely about the fees.
A major entertainment company had a rookie idol comeback scheduled for that week.
For a small agency it might be one thing, but between major companies and broadcasting stations, there were complex webs of interest at stake.
Would they postpone that idol’s comeback—on which they’d already booked an expensive set—and pay the advertising penalties?
Or would they just push through with a skeleton crew?
Even a fool in a village would pick the latter.
And the guy in charge of that skeleton crew was me.
Hell, damn it.
His grip tightened on the steering wheel.
Honestly, forcing the broadcast itself wasn’t that difficult—just tedious.
He could request external personnel funds from upstairs and shuffle the budget around.
It’d be sloppy, but somehow or other, the show would go on.
The real problem was the lineup.
He suspected roughly four teams would refuse to appear.
A small company that had put effort into staging wouldn’t want to entrust it to an unproven external crew.
Sound and lighting wouldn’t be the same as usual anyway.
Plus, there were companies refusing to appear in the name of respecting workers’ rights…
“What does workers’ rights have to do with anything, can’t they just do it? Damn it.”
He already had a headache from the Busker Every Day filming; he felt like he was losing his mind.
“Where am I supposed to find people…”
A few teams that had applied for the music broadcast but been rejected came to mind.
Most of them weren’t very good, and some would need to adjust their schedules.
His head throbbed.
Let’s just go home. I’ll think about it starting tomorrow.
—This is a school zone. Please drive slowly.
“Ah, drive slow…”
……
“Drive slow?”
…!?
“Oh! Oh! Cha Seo-ha!!!”
Suddenly, a person he’d forgotten all about came to mind.
* * *
“If the music broadcast lineup falls through because of the Union General Strike, would you call us in as a backup sometime?”
Was that even a reasonable thing to say?
The kid had surely been joking, but the way events were unfolding exactly as he’d said gave Park Yun-chan an eerie chill.
As expected, five of the originally scheduled teams expressed their refusal to appear.
Three of those slots were being filled with other idol groups.
For one of the remaining two teams, he was thinking of recruiting Cha Seo-ha and his band.
The last slot would have to be filled by looking further.
PD Park Yun-chan picked up his phone with a flutter of anticipation.
* * *
Interest in Oktatop had gradually cooled as time passed.
There was nothing externally visible about them, so it was unavoidable.
Using that quiet period, Oktatop devoted themselves steadily to composing new material.
Then one day came.
—Click.
The practice room door opened and Cha Seo-ha walked in.
“Hey, why are you so late?”
“Are you acting all high and mighty as the leader?”
“Seo-ha, being late isn’t good.”
“You’ve got some nerve, buddy!”
As always, the guys didn’t stop their attacks the moment they saw his face.
I looked at these guys and let out an arrogant smile.
“What’s with that expression?”
“All right, everyone gather around. We need to go over the next plan.”
“Next plan?”
I showed the guys a text message I’d received from PD Park Yun-chan.
“Didn’t I say it before?”
“Say what?”
—Hello Seo-ha. This is PD Park Yun-chan from the meeting we had before. The reason I’m texting is that I’d like you to appear on the music broadcast next month. Please give me a call when you have time.
“That we’d be able to appear on the music broadcast.”
“Wow, that’s insane.”
“Wait, is this for real?”
“Seriously, Seo-ha? You really got us on the show?”
“Whoa, no way, they’re seriously recruiting us?”
The guys read the text message I showed them over and over again.
“It’s real, I told you.”
“Yeah, you said it, but I never thought it’d actually happen.”
“Right, because usually music broadcasts are for idols with agencies.”
“Yeah, I figured the producers were just being polite when they said it.”
“This guy might actually be more impressive than we thought…?”
To begin with, a music broadcast wasn’t the kind of place our music belonged.
But the fact that we’re appearing on this show now carries tremendous significance.
Because the guys wanted to find places where we’d take even more flak.
“We’re really gonna get torn apart appearing on this thing, huh?”
“Yeah, we’ll get hate and draw aggro and become famous—it’s perfect.”
“I wonder how much criticism we’ll get this time, I’m kinda scared at this point.”
“Don’t worry too much. Most of it’s probably gonna be directed at me anyway.”
Kang Min volunteered himself as a scapegoat to reassure Lee Do-young.
“Yeah, that does seem like it’d be the case. I feel a bit better.”
Lee Do-young thanked Kang Min with a good-natured smile.
Why does that scare me?
“Anyway, all of you clear your schedules this coming weekend—we’re having a meeting.”
* * *
Several days passed like that, and soon it was the weekend. We met with PD Park Yun-chan in a small conference room.
One of the meeting rooms at K-Net Broadcasting Station.
In the room were us Oktatop members, PD Park Yun-chan, and one assistant director.
“Hello. I’m Park Yun-chan, the PD in charge of K-Countdown. Thank you so much for coming.”
“Yes, hello, PD.”
“Hello. I’m pretty nervous, actually.”
“Thank you for having us.”
“Hello.”
Our guys greeted him with impeccable politeness.
How’d we end up with such well-behaved kids?
Even thinking about it now, it was strange and heartwarming.
Normally they seemed like kids with a screw loose.
But in important situations, they still had the sense to read the room.
It must be because they’re genuinely good-natured.
“Don’t be too nervous. We know Oktatop’s situation well, so we’ll help out a lot on our end.”
We don’t have an agency.
There’s no manager to organize our schedule, no stylist for hair and makeup, no legal team to handle problems if they arise.
What PD Park Yun-chan was saying was that they’d help with those aspects.
Though of course it would be minimal help.
I can handle most of it myself anyway, but I’m planning to take whatever help we can get.
“By the way, your chemistry is really great, isn’t it?”
“Thank you.”
“You really don’t have an agency? It’s not easy to find a group like this.”
“We don’t. We’re just having fun doing our own thing.”
“Wow…”
PD Park Yun-chan wore the expression of someone wondering how such a group had come together.
After that light icebreaker, the assistant director began explaining the circumstances of our recruitment.
That Oktatop’s recent track record had been excellent.
And how it would be great if fresh faces like ours appeared on the music broadcast.
“But as you know, the union’s about to go on strike soon. When we start filming, it’ll all be handled by substitute workforce.”
The assistant director explained the current situation at the station, but the guys didn’t seem to understand.
They understood the situation, but not how serious it actually was.
“You’ll be performing Rendez-vous, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then we’ll need to get the review cleared first, so we’ll apply for emergency screening—”
“The review has already passed.”
“Oh, you already did?”
“Yes, just in case, I submitted it in advance when we released it.”
“Wow, you’re well-prepared.”
“No. What will the schedule be like on the actual day? We’ll need substitute workforce in place before we can say for sure, but I’d like to know the general outline first.”
As the conversation turned toward the main topic, I brought up the details.
The assistant director answered on behalf of the PD.
“Yes, normally check-in would be at 9 AM, but that day you’ll need to come two hours early. Please arrive by 7 AM and we’ll start the first rehearsal at 9. Then the second rehearsal starts at 12, and there’s a final rehearsal at 3. The live broadcast starts at 6. We’ll notify each team of their detailed schedule later.”
“Would it be possible for just us to come a bit earlier?”
“Earlier? Well, there’s no problem with that, but why?”
The assistant director and PD Park Yun-chan looked at me with puzzled expressions.
“Because we want to do a live performance.”

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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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