When the web promotion for
The fact that it was being revealed through an internet broadcast made it even more so.
However.
"Huh? JustX's Ma Yeon-woo is appearing?"
"Really? No way."
The power of idol fandom is no joke.
Especially when it's the hottest idol lately, JustX—there was no need to say more.
The news that JustX's Ma Yeon-woo would be appearing.
People began to take interest at those words, and accordingly, information about how the web promotion would proceed gradually started spreading.
"I heard it's actors versus idols?"
"One actor on the idol team, one idol on the actor team. Something like that, roughly."
"And the match is decided through acting, and then singing?"
"Yeah, singing includes dancing too."
Even at Yeonhwa High School where Seo-yeon was, such talk was going around.
'Should I try talking to her?'
'You do it.'
The female students exchanged glances with each other.
The female student who always sat quietly in class, Ju Seo-yeon.
Even before her acting career, she was a girl who was difficult to approach due to her appearance, but now it had become even more difficult. There were only a few who had gotten slightly closer after the festival.
At that moment.
"S-Seo-yeon."
A brave female student spoke to her.
"……."
Seo-yeon slowly raised her gaze.
For reference, they were classmates but had never properly spoken even once.
They froze looking at Seo-yeon.
'Damn, she's ridiculously pretty.'
An actor is an actor.
On top of that, with the aura flowing from just her sitting posture alone, it was hard to even speak to her.
Moreover, she was basically expressionless.
Of course, Seo-yeon was also frozen in the same state right now.
'Why?'
No, why were they suddenly talking to her?
Seo-yeon had filmed variety shows and movies before, but this was another first.
"Ah, that is. Are you really appearing on a broadcast with JustX's Yeon-woo oppa?"
But they say the brave win the prize.
At those words from the female student, Seo-yeon slowly nodded.
"Yeah."
"T-then a signature! Please just one signature for us!!"
Seo-yeon actually didn't think much of that request.
"Alright."
"Really?"
At Seo-yeon's concise answer, the female student's face brightened.
Then.
'Huh?'
Female students suddenly started lining up in front of Seo-yeon.
This meant they were all lining up to get JustX's autograph.
'Are they this popular?'
For a moment, such a question arose.
JustX.
An idol group that would explosively disband in just one year.
She had only remembered that fact, but it seemed their popularity was truly remarkable.
'Even Senior Jung-woo wasn't like this.'
Well, actors may have fans, but they tend to have fewer extreme fandoms.
At least in Korea.
Thus, Seo-yeon received requests to sign all sorts of items.
Ordinary notebooks, clothes, and so on.
"……What's the matter?"
Upon arriving at the filming set, Ma Yeon-woo answered politely.
Finding his attitude strange, Seo-yeon tilted her head.
"Um, if it's okay, there's something I'd like to ask of you."
"A request?"
"Yes."
Saying so, Seo-yeon set down her luggage with a thud!
Seeing that, Ma Yeon-woo momentarily lost his words.
Did she really bring this all the way to the filming set?
He swallowed dryly.
It definitely wasn't his imagination that he lost at arm wrestling.
"I received a few requests. Of course, it's fine to refuse."
"I, I see."
It's fine to refuse?
Ma Yeon-woo looked at the luggage for a moment.
Actually, the quantity itself wasn't much.
'Ah, it's not as much as I thought.'
It just looked heavy because various miscellaneous things were mixed in.
Of course, it wasn't an amount a high school girl should carry to a filming set.
However, the usual Ma Yeon-woo would have definitely refused.
'If you give too many autographs, your class drops.'
That was Ma Yeon-woo's usual mindset.
If his autograph became common, wouldn't the brand value drop too?
So he tended to refuse autographs as much as possible, but.
"Um, is it not okay?"
"……."
At Seo-yeon's voice asking in a flat tone, Ma Yeon-woo couldn't bring himself to say the words of refusal.
Whenever he heard Seo-yeon's voice, his right arm throbbed.
'Is this being a nuisance?'
Seo-yeon reflected.
Excited by the first requests from her friends, she had brought things from other classes too.
So she planned to quietly take them back if he refused, but.
"Of course I should do it."
Ma Yeon-woo nodded, not very willingly.
It wasn't because of the pain in his right arm.
Really.
'Ahem, we're going to be on the same team from now on, so this much is nothing.'
JustX.
He had pride in that group.
And as an idol, he had his pride too, so honestly he didn't want to lose.
A drama dealing with idols.
He knew he had to act, but there were definitely parts where dancing and singing were the main focus.
Losing there?
His pride would be hurt so much he probably wouldn't be able to sleep for a while.
And it wasn't just Ma Yeon-woo, but the other one as well.
Cha Na-hee felt the same way.
'Ju Seo-yeon.'
Honestly, Cha Na-hee found Seo-yeon difficult to understand.
Leaving aside the "let's have a match" remark for now, she had questions about the structure of this role itself.
'Why me for the Song So-ha role?'
Auditions allow those in later order to wait and watch those who went first.
Cha Na-hee subtly probed an idol who was in the later order than Seo-yeon about the audition, and she said this.
"Everyone seemed to want to cast Song So-ha."
Acting wasn't even comparable to begin with.
That was the gap between actors and idols.
But did that mean she couldn't sing or dance?
"Her singing was definitely decent, but her dancing was almost flying."
Since it was an idol she was somewhat close with, it would have been an honest statement.
If even an idol like her described Seo-yeon's dancing as "flying."
If she didn't lack singing ability either, and was at a decent level, it actually wouldn't be strange for her to be cast as Song So-ha.
'It might be because of recognition…… but.'
Currently, Seo-yeon's activities consisted of one play, variety shows, and advertisements.
It wasn't that she had no recognition, but she was somewhat unfamiliar to the public.
What the public knew of Seo-yeon was mostly just her past fame.
But did that mean Cha Na-hee had overwhelming recognition? Absolutely not.
'Why did she yield?'
Therefore, Cha Na-hee could only think that Ju Seo-yeon had yielded the role of Song So-ha.
Under the gazes of Ma Yeon-woo and Cha Na-hee, Seo-yeon felt a bit flustered.
'Why is everyone looking at me.'
The place where Seo-yeon was currently at was the filming set.
In other words, the set prepared for 'Team Idol' for this 'variety promotion.'
Team Idol's leader was Ma Yeon-woo, members were Cha Na-hee and Ju Seo-yeon.
Honestly, it was a rather small composition to call a team.
That was because there were exactly six lead-level roles.
'One actor on the idol team. One idol on the actor team.'
It was natural for Park Jung-woo to be the leader on the actor team.
And on the idol team, Ma Yeon-woo……setting aside his personality, his recognition was high so it made sense for him to be leader too.
'The role of Park Min-yool that Ma Yeon-woo took, and the role of Jo Ha-rin that I took have ambiguous weight, so they put Cha Na-hee with the female lead Song So-ha role as a member.'
Seo-yeon glanced at the corner of the filming set.
The current situation was all being filmed by cameras.
For reference, today was recording.
From the match onward, it would be broadcast live.
"Anyway!"
Ma Yeon-woo clapped his hands and spoke.
Anyway, as the leader, he needed to lead the situation.
"First of all, we're Team Idol, right? We have to win in singing and dancing."
They had to win in their areas of expertise.
This match was a guillotine match where only 2:0 or a draw could exist.
"Seo-yeon. How's your singing?"
At Ma Yeon-woo's words, Seo-yeon stared at him for a moment.
"It's fine to speak comfortably."
"Yes?"
Suddenly like this?
Then what was my right arm even for yesterday.
"Only on broadcast."
"……."
Seo-yeon said in a small voice so it wouldn't be caught by the cameras.
'Something about using honorifics doesn't fit the character.'
Anyway, since it was variety, it had to be as natural and fun as possible.
It seemed Ma Yeon-woo wasn't used to speaking politely to someone younger.
It was questionable why controversies hadn't erupted until now, but some concession was necessary.
'No, what the…….'
Ma Yeon-woo wanted to argue.
With his personality, it wouldn't have been strange for him to sarcastically mock her and storm out of his seat already.
But his throbbing arm tightly gripped his reason.
"Uh, y-yeah."
"Okay. Let's start with acting first."
Seo-yeon said enthusiastically.
Whatever the case, it was a match.
Seo-yeon had no intention of losing a match.
Even if it was against someone she knew, Park Jung-woo!
'……Aren't I the leader?'
Ma Yeon-woo held such a question.
It's the idol team, so why is an actor speaking first instead of an idol?
She had taken control of the situation so naturally that it became awkward to even interject.
"First of all, since it's a promotion, it's a format where we show some scenes from the drama."
And that scene was…….
Seo-yeon first looked over the scenes given as missions.
Because each person's script had a list of those scenes.
"……."
"………."
Everyone looked over those scenes and closed their mouths.
Even Seo-yeon, who had been enthusiastically examining the script, was a bit flustered.
Was there a love scene?
No way.
If that were the case, it would only be somewhat troublesome.
This was a problem of an entirely different nature.
'Ah, Dream Future was this kind of drama.'
She could only wonder anew how a concept like this had exceeded 20% in viewership ratings.
***
But that didn't last long either.
It was a modest 3:3 team match anyway.
Plus, as a pre-promotion for a youth drama, it was bound to lose steam quickly.
- I'll still watch it
- Ju Seo-yeon is busy, a drama right after a movie?
Even in Ju Seo-yeon's fan community with less than 300 active members, there was some talk.
Of course, no one held particularly high expectations.
Just people who had become interested in the character 'Ju Seo-yeon' that appeared on variety shows.
There was virtually no anticipation for the drama itself.
And so the first episode of the web variety show began.
- It's already boring
- When does the meeting end?
First, in the case of the actor team, true to the personality of their leader Park Jung-woo, their strategy was to secure victory thorough 'acting skills.' They had practiced dancing and singing too, but it wasn't at a level that particularly stood out.
Then the idol team next.
- Who is that, get rid of her
- Ugh, please drop out of the group ㅠㅠㅠ
On this side, comments arose because Seo-yeon stepped forward first.
Originally, a large number of the fandom had come to see Ma Yeon-woo, not the match.
Still, once they started practicing in earnest, the number of viewers gradually increased.
Comments slowly started appearing on the public internet broadcast channel too.
- Ohㅋㅋㅋ Park Jung-woo can sing pretty well
- Why is that bastard Ma Yeon-woo so quietㅋㅋㅋ He usually runs his mouth
And the one who got the most comments was, of course, Seo-yeon.
- Wait? Is Ju Seo-yeon a former idol?
- She dances well
- Is her singing seriously that bad?
- My little sister sings exactly like that
It wasn't that Seo-yeon sang poorly.
It was just that it paled in comparison to her dancing.
And so the practice ended.
- Hmm...
- For a promotional variety show, it's a bit...
The content of the pre-recorded first episode.
The evaluation of the content, which mostly consisted of the members' practice, was not very good.
First, the majority said it was boring, and it seemed to end like that, but—
- What? It's not over yet?
At the very end, the scene changed and the scene of them practicing the actual scenes came up.
This match involved filming two scenes.
And evaluating who did better in acting and singing across those two scenes.
"I, I don't think I can do it."
Seo-yeon appeared.
No, the appearance of Seo-yeon acting as Jo Ha-rin.
"No matter how much I practice, my singing doesn't improve. Like this, it'll never work."
It was a part that showed Jo Ha-rin's basic character.
Jo Ha-rin, who had expertise in dancing, but relatively lacked singing ability.
In a way, it could be called a role that perfectly suited Seo-yeon.
However, Kim Si-hwan, whom Jo Ha-rin had a crush on in the drama, was someone who was complete as an idol in every way.
Appearance-wise, he had the looks.
Singing and dancing, he possessed the talents of a top idol.
Jo Ha-rin, wanting to stand by his side, chased after him but couldn't get closer.
"Ha-rin!!"
At that moment, a man approached the despairing girl.
Park Min-yool.
Just as Jo Ha-rin harbored a crush on Kim Si-hwan.
He had feelings for Jo Ha-rin.
He just didn't show it, fearing she would find it burdensome.
"You're doing well. I'm here for you!"
Cliché dialogue flowed out.
Then naturally, the reaction in the chat wasn't very good either.
- ㅋㅋㅋ Ah, so damn predictable
- So now she gets comforted and does well? Overcoming her trauma and all that
The moment they said that.
"Look at me, Ha-rin!!"
Suddenly, Park Min-yool started walking while dancing.
- ?
- No wait, why the hell is he dancing there?
"Look at me, Ha-rin! I couldn't dance either, but I improved like this!"
- Please stop
- Can't he just stand still and talk?
Suddenly the speed of the chat started to increase.
But the dancing didn't stop.
Park Min-yool shouted.
"So you can do it! You can sing too!"
- Ah
But unlike the chat, the scene didn't stop.
Jo Ha-rin, who had raised her head at Park Min-yool's words, gave a faint smile.
- Ah fuck, don't tell me
And along with Park Min-yool's dance, Jo Ha-rin opened her mouth.
"Yeah, you're right."
- Wait
- Ah
- ㅋ?
An exciting accompaniment suddenly flowed out.
And Jo Ha-rin's mouth opened.
Singing.
A beautiful voice, even more refined than before, split the space.
And riding the rhythm of that beautiful voice, Park Min-yool's dance movements became even more fierce.
- We were wrong... please stop...
Naturally, the singing and dancing didn't stop.
That the chat exploded was only to be expected.