Chapter 74:

Chapter 74:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 74

The atmosphere of the event hall came alive.

It was just a small gesture, but the audience burst into laughter at the aegyo of the youngest member of New Black.

As whispers like ‘He’s funny’ and ‘He’s cute’ went back and forth.

In the lively mood, New Black started to sing a trot song.

Of course, it wasn’t as high-quality as their live performances of Night Sea or Something.

The people in the hall knew that too.

But the reason why the audience could enjoy the show sincerely was thanks to the effort of the idol members.

They showed their determination to make people happy, even though they were not familiar with the genre of trot, and even though they could have embarrassed themselves by singing it wrong.

That was evident in their performance.

They went on stage not to show off their coolness, but to have fun with them.

The audience’s eyes softened at the sight of the singers who were soaked to the skin after coming down from the stage in less than 30 seconds.

The leader who sang while peeling off the hair stuck to his forehead, the dancer who moved his wet body gracefully on the muddy ground, the vocal who shivered and lost his voice but still tried to clear his throat.

The rapper and the youngest who became a duo and led the audience’s reaction diligently.

Even though it was a short song, their best effort touched the audience.

And.

There was someone who smiled at the audience’s reaction.

‘Well done, good job.’

Mayor Kim Younggeon had been smiling broadly since a while ago.

His reaction was completely different from when New Black first came on stage.

Unlike before, his eyes were dripping with honey as he looked at the five singers.

He thought the festival was completely ruined today.

No, it actually was.

But an unexpected rookie boy group appeared and pulled the event out of the swamp.

He thought there would be no other team among the ones who performed today that could elicit such a response, except for the trot singers.

Rather, if another team had come up, the atmosphere might have gotten worse.

It was a godsend that New Black came up.

He decided to go and thank them personally, maybe shake their hands or something, when the event was over.

‘What’s the problem?’Reêad latest novels at novelhall.com

He saw something strange in his eyes.

He couldn’t see well because of the backlight from the spotlight, but there was a commotion behind the stage.

What was the problem?

He narrowed his eyes and ordered the staff behind him to find out what was going on.

When the staff ran over and reported the situation, his mood that had soared to the sky came back to the ground.

“...What?”

“That is, the pump that drains the water broke.”

The staff quickly added as he frowned.

“They said it will be fixed soon, so don’t worry. They said they will fix it before New Black’s stage is over. The water overflowing is temporary.”

He couldn’t just take their word for it, so he decided to have one staff member go over with an umbrella and monitor the situation.

When he turned his attention back to the stage.

Before he knew it, the first verse of ‘Stay with Me’ was over and Kim Junghyun was rapping with a microphone.

It wasn’t as much as the trot, but the rapper who was waving his hands and feet to induce a response was applauded by the audience.

And then, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

‘Could it be...’

He wondered why New Black had come down from the stage at first. Then he thought, ‘Oh, it was to get the audience’s reaction.’

But now it seemed like that wasn’t the only reason.

‘Could it be, they’re trying to divert the audience’s attention from there?’

At first, it was a doubtful thought, but soon he was convinced.

It was obvious.

If New Black had continued to perform on stage, the audience would have inevitably noticed the water stream flowing in from the side because of the direction of the light.

Of course, that wouldn’t have ruined the event.

Just the mood.

His eyes moved from the youngest member of New Black who reminded him of his son who went abroad, to Seon Woojoo who was smiling and moving his body next to Kim Junghyun.

‘Well...’

He decided to think about what he could do to repay them better, along with the thought that he owed them a lot today.

He would at least send them some rice.

He was thinking about that when the tone of the song changed gradually.

“Are they going to do something other than trot?”

Kim Junghyun’s rap sped up as if it was approaching the climax, and the atmosphere became more intense.

And finally, when his rap ended.

Thud-

The lights that illuminated them went off at once.

For a second, people blinked in confusion.

Then the lights came back on.

Thud-

But the place where the lights shone was not where New Black members were.

At the back of the straight line of seats.

There, standing with a cheerful smile, the singer’s face received a huge cheer from the audience.

Along with the upbeat second verse intro.

Singer Song Bohyung walked towards New Black in the front row and greeted the audience with enthusiasm.

-Hello! I’m back!

A collaboration stage between an idol group and a trot singer at an unexpected time.

Everyone, regardless of age or gender, clapped and cheered at the sight.

It was a stage that everyone could enjoy with a smile, transcending generations.

***

Woojoo’s heart soared with the hot cheers.

The idea of switching with the trot singer before the end of the stage was what he suggested today.

He was about to say that they needed to change their clothes, when they heard a loud thud!

They all turned their heads.

It was the sound of the drainage pump that was far away.

It seemed to have been fixed when they got off the stage.

But it broke down again in no time.

Thump, thump, thump-

The machine vibrated and spat out water.

The water was flowing back, and it didn’t look good.

The youngest staff member, who looked thoughtful, ran to call the other workers, and they just stared at it.

The water that it had spat out earlier was nothing compared to this.

It was serious.

It wasn’t their problem, but Woojoo felt a pang in his chest.

At that rate, it would reach the stage soon.

Woojoo swallowed hard, looking at the event stage where Song Bohyung was singing.

The machine was shaking as if it would explode at any moment.

It was when Rihyuk hid behind Woojoo, as if he saw a bomb.

“Hey, Junghyun Hyung! Where are you going?”

Junghyun, who was carrying the youngest on his back, walked towards them with big strides.

“We’re getting wet!”

Just a while ago, the youngest went to the market side and made Woojoo’s heart sink. And now, their rapper started to move.

“Junghyun, where are you going?”

“Ah.” He said as if it was obvious, “I think I can help.”

***

Baek Cheolhwan, a reporter from GBS Gyeonggi TV, followed him with curiosity.

‘...What’s going on?’

He wanted to get an interview, but the situation turned weird.

“Is it showing well on the screen?” he asked with a feeling that he might get a good scoop, and the cameraman nodded.

When they arrived at the scene.

The staff members rushed over at the call of the youngest staff.

“Hey, what happened here?”

The director shouted with his scruffy beard trembling, but no one could answer him.

The youngest staff stuttered.

“Well, it broke down earlier, but then it was fine, and we checked it...”

“And then?”

“It broke down again.”

“Damn it, what kind of answer is that? I’m going crazy, really. Hey! Someone, fix this!”

“Director, we don’t know why the machine is malfunctioning. If we touch it wrong, it might get worse...”

The director, who was about to swear, closed his mouth at the appearance of the agent sent by the market side and the sudden camera.

And the New Black members too.

The eyes turned to them as if asking what they were doing here.

The staff members were pushing and shoving with buckets they brought from somewhere to stop the water, when Junghyun parted his lips slowly.

“I think I know how to fix that.”

“...”

He opened his lips after a brief stunned expression.

“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but this.”

“I saw it before.”

“...?”

“When I went down to the main house, it was the same thing. It broke down and I saw the adults fixing it. I know why it does that.”

The staff members blinked their eyes at his calm and relaxed voice that didn’t match the urgent situation.

Splash, splash, splash–

The director, who was lost in thought at the sight of the water flowing back, called someone.

“Hey, Juyeong. You try to fix this.”

Then he turned his eyes to Junghyun.

“You just said that, right? It was the same breakdown. Tell him what to do while he fixes it. This is urgent...”

Junghyun quickly lifted the pump with the staff.

The conversation went fast.

The staff’s hand moved busily as Junghyun told him what to do with words like impeller and strainer.

The hand trembled and dropped the cross screwdriver every time, and he picked it up slowly and said calmly, “I saw my grandfather doing it, and he separated the filter from there...”

As the water overflowed more and more, the New Black members also joined the staff’s line to scoop out the water.

It was when the situation turned around in five minutes.

“It’s done!” The staff reassembled the machine and shouted. “It’s done!”

They quickly reconnected the electricity and turned on the machine.

Everyone clasped their hands and watched it.

The pump that was turned on started to work normally.

The water that had overflowed disappeared and the water started to drain.

It was a situation that would have taken 30 minutes to find and fix the cause of the breakdown, but it was done in five minutes.

The staff let out a sigh of relief, and the director washed his face with the rainwater.

As the atmosphere returned to normal, the staff returned to the scene, and the agent from the market side also disappeared quickly.

The director and the staff who handled the repairs thanked them with a grin.

The members and managers of New Black responded to him, but they looked very nervous as they glanced at one of their members.

Junghyun, who smiled leisurely at the director who grabbed his shoulder and talked to him.

And.

There was someone else who was watching this whole situation and laughing.

“Is the recording done?”

The cameraman raised his thumb at Baek Cheolhwan’s question.

While the shooting continued, he went to a place a little far away and took out his phone.

The call was connected right away.

“Hey, it’s me. Writer Kim. I went to cover a festival in Icheon. I got some good scenes, but it’s a bit awkward to send them to the news, so I wanted to toss them to the program you’re in charge of.”

He said with a smile, “This, the picture looks pretty good.”