Chapter 204:

Chapter 204:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 204 Part 27. The First Competition

-After the beep sound, the connection was not made...

Woojoo put down his phone after hearing the friendly voice asking him to leave a voice message.

“He’s not picking up.”

“Who? Grandma?”

Woojoo shook his head at Junhyun’s question.

“No, the President.”

He told him to call him right after the Dolympic ended yesterday.

He probably wanted to congratulate him on his hard work and talk about the composing equipment.

But now...

“He’s not picking up...”

Jiho said next to me, “Try again later. He might be really busy right now.”

“Nah. Forget it.”

The President was not his friend.

He couldn’t keep leaving missed calls if he didn’t answer his call.

Bijoo cautiously said, “Maybe it’s because of that. The President was a bit shocked after seeing the price of the composing equipment yesterday...”

“Oh, come on. The President wouldn’t do that.”

...Woojoo was about to say that there was no way, but the usual image of the President flashed through his mind.

A luxurious but worn-out coat and a canvas bag.

The face that was happy when he bought him a drink at the cafe with a free coupon stamp.

The way he went around the company bathroom to turn off the lights whenever he had a chance.

“...”

Woojoo couldn’t say anything because he was the president, but the siblings and Woojoo exchanged glances and nodded.

“...Maybe he could be.”

He was so frugal that he might have been a little shocked by the price of the composing equipment.

Jiho tilted his head.

“But is it that expensive? I can ask my dad to buy it for me as a birthday present.”

“Right? It’s not that much. ...Huh?”

Someone poked Woojoo’s side with a notebook.

Woojoo turned his head and saw a pale face pushing a notebook with neat writing on it.

[How can you say it’s not expensive? Where is your conscience?]

“What’s with you all of a sudden? It’s a well-known fact that my conscience is gone, according to Junghyun.”

“That’s right.”

Junghyun agreed happily, while Rihyuk quickly wrote a note with a sharp pencil.

Swish, swish.

Woojoo asked, “How long are you going to talk with that notebook?”

“...”

He raised his finger as if to tell Woojoo to wait.

He erased the content he was writing with an eraser and started to write something else with a sharp pencil.

Woojoo asked again, “Does your throat hurt that much?”

“...”

Scrape, scrape!

He erased the content with a slightly annoyed expression and started to move the sharp pencil again.

Jiho asked maliciously, “Hyung. Can you tell me how to sing this part? I have no idea.”

“...!!!”

“Don’t swear with your mouth. You look like an ugly goldfish.”

“...”

That was how Jiho and Woojoo played a prank on Rihyuk, making him write the content over and over again.

Snap.

“...”

Rihyuk’s patience snapped along with the sharp lead.

He smiled slyly without answering and turned a page, then wrote a single word on the blank space.

Then he pushed it to Jiho.

[ᅩ]

“Wow.”

The youngest made a fuss and grabbed Bijoo.

“Bijoo Hyung. That Hyung swore at me.”

“Rihyuk is having a hard time, that’s why.”

Rihyuk drew another line on the notebook and turned it to Woojoo.

[ᅩᅩ]

“Wow.”

Woojoo smiled.

“My little brother Rihyuk is so sweet. He gave me two thumbs up for my sake. I’m so happy.”

“...!!”

“By the look of your mouth, you’re thanking me, aren’t you?”

He pounded his chest and made an ‘augh!’ expression in response to Woojoo’s teasing question.

Around then, Bijoo slid his hand on Woojoo’s arm and smiled.

“Hyung, stop teasing Rihyuk.”

“Okay.”

Woojoo nodded and smiled.

Rihyuk, who was spewing fire at the sky as if he was furious, received a thermos from Bijoo.

Woojoo asked him, who was drinking barley tea from the tumbler, “Are you really not going to talk all day?”

Nod.

“Only use your voice when you sing?”

Nod, nod.

He tapped his throat as if it was not in good condition and Woojoo smiled silently.

He couldn’t do anything if he decided that way.

The other brothers also looked around and said, “If you feel sick in the middle, let me know right away. I’ll try to find a way somehow.”

“Okay, Hyung.”

Bijoo said with a smile, “But I’m so nervous that I don’t even know if I’m sick or not. I think I’ll catch a cold when it’s over...”

They all agreed with that.

Today was Tuesday.

They finished the Dolympic yesterday and they had the first round of ‘Challenge, Legendary Song Discovery Team!’ tomorrow.

But their condition was terrible.

They played basketball and archery yesterday, and ran too.

From 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. the next day, they sat crouched in the stadium with a smile on their face and their legs were sore.

Their bodies were so stiff that they could understand why their Lady Kim Deoksoon was walking around with a fat face.

They were all on the verge of catching a cold.

“What should we eat for lunch?”

He was humming and looking at the delivery app menu as if he was digging a honey jar.

“...”

“Hyung, what should we order today? Spicy pork vs pork cutlet?”

“Pork cutlet.”

Woojoo thought that even if a virus got into him, the virus would run away saying that this was not what a virus should do.

On the other hand, Woojoo and the other kids were all groaning.

Especially their weakest one had a very exhausted face.

He was still looking at the lyrics diligently, but his face was pale.

“Rihyuk, do you want to eat this?”

“You’ll see.”

“We’ll make you jealous when we get NewBlackLover.”

“...I don’t think I’ll be jealous, though?”

They ignored someone’s logical remark and gave him a sidelong glance.

Then they chatted with Lisa, mostly about the competition.

“Did you prepare a lot?”

“Yes. But the time was a bit tight.”

“It was really tight. I have a musical rehearsal that I’m preparing for right now, so it’s hard to adjust the time.”

“We had the Dolympic.”

“Ugh, I hate that.”

She knew well about the Dolympic, having been an idol as Sugarfish.

But they couldn’t complain to her.

“We did it outdoors in the summer...”

“Ah, oh.”

The Imjin Fortress year-end stage was the same.

An outdoor Dolympic.

It was a moment when their respect for the senior idols grew.

As they talked with Lisa, they greeted the other singers who arrived one after another.

“Did you all eat? Food?”

A cheerful smile on a 30-something man.

Instead of a glittering suit, he wore a calm casual outfit and arrived as a trot singer, Song Bohyung.

“...Well. Hello.”

Still an unlikable tone.

They sprayed their hair with super-strong spray and wore a leather jacket with a pattern on the back, like a motorcycle biker gang.

Jo Yuri Band greeted them as they climbed onto the stage.

“Long time no see, everyone.”

A thick appearance that gave off a police or military vibe.

Cha Woohyun.

The most experienced senior singer in this place led his bulk up.

The trot singer, indie band, and ballad powerhouse arrived, and finally MC Baek Sangjung arrived.

He quickly arranged the stage and started recording.

-Yes. Challenge, Legendary Song Discovery Tean! The long-awaited first competition day has dawned.

The announcer threw his eyes at the camera with a playful smile.

-Are you all nervous?

“Yes.”

-You all look relaxed for being nervous, but you don’t feel it yet, do you? It’s your first stage today.

They nodded with sympathetic faces, as if they were the only ones who felt that way.

Baek Sangjung laughed.

-Soon, six hundred spectators will enter that seat.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the empty seats.

-And you will compete with each other’s skills through the stage in front of you, and decide the winner of today... you will.

He lowered his voice calmly, drawing the attention of the future viewers and participants. The MC skillfully led the progress.

He glanced at the cue card and spoke vigorously.

-Well, now that we have the rehearsal ahead of us, let’s decide on the order. You all know how important the order is, right?

Everyone’s eyes settled calmly.

The 600 audience members holding the remote controls are the ones who will vote for the first place in today’s competition.

The audience does not give objective scores like AI, but they make subjective judgments of their own.

That was why the order mattered.

No matter how well you did, if the person in front of you was overwhelming, you would look relatively bad and get a harsh evaluation. And if you did poorly, but the previous person did worse, you would look relatively like a fairy.

There was also the issue of condition.

If you were placed in the back, you had to keep loosening your throat in a tense state to avoid choking, which increased fatigue.

It was obvious.

The rehearsal was during the day, but the performance was at 10 p.m., so anyone would be tired.

The MC looked around the participants and asked.

-What order do you want to go in? Song Bohyung, what order do you want to perform today?

“Well.”

Song Bohyung smiled slyly.

“I think it would be best to go as early as possible considering the condition, but the middle wouldn’t be bad either. Most of all... My goal is to go ahead of our senior Cha Woohyun.”

A small laugh burst out.

It was the common thought of everyone in this place, including them.

Subjective or not, a singer with outstanding singing skills that could chew up anything was the number one target to avoid.

-How about you, Cha Woohyun?

“I don’t care when I do it,” Cha Woohyun said indifferently, as if it didn’t matter.

Rihyuk sent him a look of envy.

Lisa and Jo Yuri Band also picked their preferred order as either front or middle, and then it was their turn to be interviewed.

-How about New Black? You have such strong senior singers here, you must be nervous as a rookie?

Woojoo answered as the representative.

“Yes, there are so many amazing seniors here... We want to perform first.”

It was best to get the performance over with before the condition worsened due to the rotation.

If not, there was nothing they could do.

The MC nodded.

-I see. Well, then, this time we’ll go in reverse order from when we picked the songs. New Black, who picked the song last, will pick the order first.

Soon, a box with a lottery stuck in it like a sushi roll arrived.

From 1 to 5.

-Who’s this time...?

Before Woojoo could say anything, his siblings poked his back or pointed their fingers at him, saying, “This person! This person!”

‘Why me?’

Woojoo looked at them with a wronged expression, and a warm smile came back.

‘The leader has to do the hard stuff.’

‘Go. Slave. Go.’

They smiled and gestured for him to hurry up, and he stepped forward to the lottery.

“Hoo...”

Woojoo took a deep breath and reached out into the air.

Please.

Let them go first. Buddha. He had to win first place today and get Deoksoon.

Woojoo prayed hard, even though he didn’t usually, and closed his eyes and waved his hand back and forth.

Give him a sign when it felt right.

“...!”

As he moved his hand like that, he felt something and stopped.

-Oh, did you get a feeling?

“Yes, this is it. I think this is the first one.”

Woojoo picked out number 4 and held it out.

The MC untied the string with a serious face and unfolded the lottery. Then he smiled and grabbed the microphone.

-Yes! Congratulations.

Of course.

-It’s the last order! New Black!

“...”

Woojoo blinked his eyes as he heard the laughter from all over.

He thought he prayed to Buddha, but the one who answered him was the god of black history.