Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 271
After the three-day mobilization training, Woojoo returned to reality.
He said goodbye to the people who were in the same squad as him and took a group photo. Then he looked for the people who were waiting for him.
“Long time no see, everyone!”
Their reaction to Woojoo’s return was strange.
The production staff with cameras and the siblings holding a placard that said ‘Looking for Jenmin’ widened their eyes.
Bijoo pointed at Woojoo’s face with his finger.
“Hyung, your face...”
“My face? What’s wrong with my face?”
“No, your face...” Bijoo said with a surprised face, “It got much better in three days. Your skin looks soft and shiny.”
“Wow. The dermatologists couldn’t do what the reserve army did.”
“You were shocked for a moment, right? I changed so much.”
Woojoo laughed cheerfully at the siblings’ words.
He was happy to receive compliments, as a narcissist, but it was also thanks to eating well and sleeping well for three days.
He felt vitality in his body.
“Do you want to join the army if you’re jealous? PD-nim, there’s still room, right?”
“Of course.”
When Woojoo turned around and asked ‘How about it?’ the three of them waved their hands with disgusted faces.
Then they all laughed.
Woojoo was in a good mood, and the siblings seemed to be in a good mood too.
The sky was clear without a single cloud.
After the ‘Men Go’ production staff filmed the necessary scenes, Woojoo picked up his phone and checked the weekly schedule.
“I feel really good. What should I do now? First, I’ll check the work status of the A&R Team and the composers...”
“You won’t be able to meet the A&R Team members. They all took a leave of absence from today.”
“Why did they take it today of all days? That’s too bad.”
Then he would just meet the composers. Whatever.
Woojoo gave them the studio and asked them to do some supplementary work while he was away.
He was excited to see the results.
“I’m having fun! Ha ha!”
“Are you okay? You didn’t hit your head or anything, did you?”
“I’ll take a look.”
The guys who examined Woojoo’s head came to a conclusion.
“But your head is really pretty.”
“Woojoo Hyung’s head is always round...”
“What do you mean by head? His head is the size of a pea.”
Woojoo smiled happily at Rihyuk’s crooked compliment.
The siblings also looked good after sleeping enough for three days.
Everyone had a refreshing expression.
There was only one thing he regretted...
“This... It’s a bit weird without Junghyun.”
“Yeah. It feels a bit empty without him, right?”
“Well. We’re going to see him soon, right?”
They nodded their heads.
The schedule was packed.
The first schedule was to go and pick up Junghyun.
A certain unit in Gyeonggi-do.
They stood with their hands on their chests, along with the ‘Men Go’ production staff.
“He should be out by now, why isn’t he coming out?”
“There’s nothing wrong, right?”
“But did he do well in the training? I’m worried.”
It was like waiting for a child in front of the college entrance exam site.
But they weren’t worried about Junghyun.
“Hanjo-ssi is secretly weak, the members said.”
“Yeah. He has a flea-like stamina.”
“It doesn’t seem like someone else’s business.”
“I’m worried. Namu Hyung said Hanjo-ssi’s muscles are balloon muscles. He shrinks if he doesn’t drink enough water.”
They whispered to each other, conscious of the production staff.
“When are they coming?”
“They said they might be late. The new manager put the wrong navigation,” Jiho whispered as he looked at his phone.
The writer laughed at their anxious appearance.
“Are you worried about Junghyun?”
“No, we’re worried about Hanjo-ssi right now.”
The writer looked at them with a ‘Oh, you’re taking care of the other group too?’ expression.
‘I think you’re misunderstanding something.’
‘You don’t know Junghyun Hyung yet, do you?’
‘He’s the kind of person who would knock down a power pole if he bumped into it...’
They exchanged glances with each other.
Soon, they heard a buzzing sound from inside the camp beyond the infirmary.
Their main vocal, who had sensitive ears, picked up the voice.
“It sounds like a bear talking in a cave.”
“It’s Junghyun!”
They were getting ready to shake the placard that said ‘Junghyun & Hanjo, good job’.
The production crew with the camera surrounded the two trainees and the instructor who came out.
“Junghyun-ah!”
“Hanjo-ssi!”
They turned their heads.
They expected them to wave back at them, but they only greeted them with their eyes.
They looked stiff, like fresh recruits who had just left the training center.
Of course, there was a difference between them.
Unlike Hanjo, who was tense, Junghyun looked relaxed. He had the vibe of a newly commissioned officer or a non-commissioned officer, rather than a recruit.
He smiled leisurely whenever the instructor said something.
Finally, they ran to them as they came out of the main gate.
“Junghyun-ah!”
“Hanjo-ssi!”
They surrounded them at the same time, feeling sorry for Hanjo who had no members, and played rock-paper-scissors while saying ‘Ya-ya~ Ya-ya-ya-ya!’.
The instructor who was watching them said goodbye.
“You guys did a great job.”
“Yes!”
“You did really well. And... I hope you show a good image on ‘Men Go’ in the future. And Junghyun-ssi.”
“Yes.”
The instructor raised his thumb.
“You’re the best soldier I’ve ever seen. If you weren’t a celebrity, I would have asked you to join our unit.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re the first perfect soldier I’ve ever seen. Everything you do is flawless. You have a great military spirit. Oh, what a waste...”
He looked at Junghyun with a greedy expression, saying ‘You have a military aptitude’.
They looked at each other, wondering if they heard wrong.
Woojoo was less surprised because he had heard some rumors during the mobilization training, but their kids were making ‘What... what are you talking about?’ faces in real time.
Forget about the angle. He was armed with a military spirit.
It was absurd.
The person who suited the word ‘free lunch’ more than ‘mental armament’ was their kid.
They were all confused when Junghyun introduced Woojoo as ‘This is Woojoo Hyung’.
“Woojoo?”
The instructor muttered.
Whack!
Woojoo was startled by his head turning like a tank turret at 90 degrees. He came close to Woojoo and blinked his eyes.
“Woojoo?”
“Yes, I’m Woojoo...”
“The famous Woojoo-ssi!”
“Huuuuuuu...”
“Are you tired?”
“Huui, nohohohoho...”
A dazed laughter rang in his ears.
“Have some red ginseng. Red ginseng.”
The composer, Na Sangyoon, teared up at the red ginseng Woojoo handed him.
He looked good when they met after finishing the mobilization training. His cheeks had hollowed out in no time since they met.
Now he looked like a dried worm in the sun.
“Is it hard to work with me?”
“Um, no? That’s not it. I’m really happy to work with you, Woojoo.”
The composer, who was inhaling the red ginseng little by little, gave a faint smile.
“People like me who have no connections and no skills in the industry, it’s rare to have a chance to work while being treated like a human being. I really like that part. It feels like I’m really making music when I work with you, Woojoo.”
“I’m glad. I was a little worried. I’m glad you’re not tired.”
“...Yes?”
“Good.”
Woojoo rubbed his palms and reached out for a high-five.
“Shall we sprint then~?”
“...”
“Fighting?”
“Yeees...”
Woojoo recharged him with delicious drinks and coffee while preparing for the album.
It was fast because he used external manpower.
At this rate, if Junghyun joined them... If they worked together, it would be over by the middle of next month.
Woojoo checked the progress of the album while stopping by the company from time to time.
He went to a local specialty event and sang trot with the elders.
He visited the pediatric ward where Bijoo’s younger brother Minjun was hospitalized and performed for the children there.
It was thanks to Professor Choi, who contacted him after a long time.
-Could you please do a short performance for the children if you have time or if it’s possible?
Woojoo agreed to do it as a goodwill ambassador for a good campaign proposed by the hospital.
The performance format was improvisational theater.
Junghyun was the tin woodman, Jihyo was Dorothy. Ryuk was the stepmother. Bijoo was the goblin and Woojoo was the talking goblin stick.
“Hi, I’m a talking goblin club.”
“How can a club talk?”
“Your words hurt my heart, Madam. I have human rights too.”
The theme was human rights.
They improvised most of the performance, but the kids laughed and the parents joined them. It seemed like they had captured their interest.
After the show, they also had some time to do fan service for the kids.
“Who are you guys?”
“History Discovery, right?”
“I don’t know!”
“...You don’t?”
It was an educational program made for kids, but somehow the adults seemed to know it better.
Woojoo figured they wouldn’t know even if he told them, so he just imitated some famous characters and played with them.
Because of that, by the end of the event, all the kids were following them around like chicks.
It was a fun experience in many ways.
“Here, take this. My father asked me to deliver it to you.”
Woojoo also received a gift from Professor Choi Yongjae.
It was meat that Grandpa Choi Ikhyun, whom he had saved, had sent to their members.
He also said that he was working hard to promote New Black at the nursing home, which made them smile.
After taking the beef set, Woojoo’s steps were very light.
“That’s how the world works. Good deeds bring good results, and bad deeds bring bad ones.”
“We’re in trouble.”
“Why?”
“You did a lot of bad things to the A&R Team, didn’t you?”
“Jiho, you just eat soup or soy sauce braised here.”
“Then you don’t eat the spicy chicken ribs that my dad sent.”
They had a friendly conversation and crossed off one big schedule after another from the list.
The last one was PBS’s ‘Music On – 2015 Mid-Year Review.’
It was a time to invite the singers who ranked first in the first half of the year and show their stages, and they recorded it in advance on a separate stage with a fancy stage device.
“Wow...!”
The waving light sticks in the dark were so bright, beautiful, and dazzling.
“Guys, guys, I’m crying.”
“Me too.”
“It’s so bright...”
The moonlight was so bright.
The singers cried, the fans cried, and the staff nearby cried.
After a few trials and errors, they concluded that the third level out of ten was appropriate.
On the other hand, the mid-year review was a meaningful time for both the Soufflé and all of them.
They showed their changed position to other fandoms.
As the singers changed, titles like ‘1st place in the 1st week of February’ or ‘1st place in the 2nd and 3rd week of March’ popped up above the song titles, but their Windflower made the other singers and fandoms pause.
【1st place in the 4th week of April & 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th week of May】
▷ New Black – Windflower
They had three lines when others had one.
It was like the title of a king who was ‘the dignified king of the kingdom, the guardian of the land of something, and the lawful something’.
It was the first time Woojoo felt like a king of the end as they walked around.
He felt the taste of success.
But the best part of the mid-year review was not that success, but the time they spent with Soufflé at the mini fan meeting.
There was no happier moment in the world than when the singer and the fan looked into each other’s eyes and felt connected.
“Okay, let’s try it when I count to three!”
“Yes!”
“Here we go. One, two, three!”
The singer and the fan shouted together.
“Soufflé!”
“New Black!”
They held their light sticks like a ‘cross’.
“Yap!”
“Yap!”
Flash-
They closed their eyes and shook their king sticks, and Soufflé also closed their eyes and shook their Kim Bongdal enthusiastically.
Oh, the moonlight. Well.
The pedestrians walking on the street stopped and looked at them with a bewildered expression.
There was someone who was filming in the middle, so maybe they would see a title like ‘The Frenzy of Idol Flash Mob’ on YouTube.
And then it was so funny.
They laughed and talked with hundreds of fans for a long time and decorated the end of the first half.
All the major schedules had passed and the heat of Windflower that sang of spring was slowly fading away.
The days were getting more humid and hot.
People’s clothes were getting lighter, and the news was talking about the heat wave and monsoon for this summer.
Finally, the recording of ‘Men Go’ was approaching.
But...
“What? Where?”
“Where, sir?”
The meeting place that the production team had told Seokhwan Hyung was somewhere Woojoo never expected.
“...Airport?”
Junghyun blinked at the following story.
"They told us to bring our passports too?
“Passports? Why?”
“You guys take a look.”
Seokhwan Hyung showed them the message from the production team and Junghyun and Woojoo blinked.
Airport.
The place where they would shoot the opening of the recording was Incheon Airport.