Chapter 256:


    Trantor: MarcTempest


    Editor: Rxel


    Chapter 256


    Five minutes before the broadcast.


    As expected of a popr variety show on Thursday, the inte was aze with heated discussions.


    -Oh, today’s guests are idols?


    -Idols are boring. I remember thest time they had an idol special, it was a disaster.


    -I feel like idols always ruin the vibe somehow.


    –?, well, that’s obvious. You only remember the cases where you liked the idols, but there were many cases where you didn’t.-Why idols again? Are the ratings droppingtely?


    The atmosphere was generally low on expectations.


    And it was understandable.


    Thest idol special was a legendary flop, filled with the MCs’ blunders and the guests’ stiff reactions.


    After the broadcast, there were a series of critical articles asking, ‘What’s wrong with Shintoki these days?’


    The loyal viewers were not happy with that.


    -Who are the guests today?


    -It’s an idol leader special.


    -Here’s the list. “On this day, Shintoki (nickname) will feature TNT’s Seonwoong, Teen Spirit’s Hwiyeon, Wild’s Woosan, Street Boys’ Hanjo, New ck’s Woojoo, and more.”


    -Oh, that’s a pretty major lineup, isn’t it?


    -I think I’ve heard of all those group names.


    Even the Shintoki viewers who were not interested in idols recognized the lineup.


    TNT and Teen Spirit were names that anyone with a school-age acquaintance would know.


    Wild was also known as a sporty idol who often appeared on athletic variety shows.


    New ck was…


    -New ck??. Aren’t they the funny ones?


    -Somehow I feel happy?. I just watched something on YouTube.


    -Is the one who cosyed as Cheok Jungyeonging today? He was the funniest.


    -He’s not the leader.


    -He’s Junghyun and this is Woojoo. Wait… how do I know the names of male idols…?


    -I sang along to their song Deoksoon-ah at the karaoke yesterday. Nice to see them??.


    When the viewers who initially reacted negatively to the idol keyword showed interest in the word ‘New ck’.


    The broadcast finally began.


    Meanwhile, a hrious preview that seemed to have overdosed on drugs flowed out, sweeping away the negative predictions.


    –????. Today’s gonna be epic.


    –????????


    -There’s never been a time when the preview was this good and the show was boring????.


    The opening of Shintoki started with the MCs’ments.


    The guests appeared and introduced themselves, and the MCs added theirments.


    New ck’s Woojoo appeared with a bright smile.


    -He’s so handsome…


    -He must have spent a lot of money on customizing his face.


    -I’m so annoyed that my face keeps reflecting on the monitor.


    -Look at the writers’ reactions.


    The camera showed the writers pping and cheering for themselves behind the scenes, and Woojoo’s smiling face.


    [Hello, I’m New ck’s Woojoo.]


    After a nd introduction, the MCs’ments were added.


    At the same time, the flower CG in the bright background started to wither one by one, revealing the twist.


    Scenes of his past mistakes flowed for almost a minute.


    Like the opening of a movie where the world news scenes flow, his ck history was shown one after another.


    The problem of hisment on the fan club name being Soufflé.


    Thement he made when he won first ce, saying ‘Oh, really?’


    The scene where he thought he was drunk on a non-alcoholic drink on a music variety show.


    The idol variety show where he shouted ‘Deoksoon is mine’ to a cat. And finally, the legendary Woo Jenmin that appeared on Taiwanese news.


    A calligraphic caption appeared under Woojoo’s face, like a human documentary.


    「Seon Woojoo (23 years old, ck history master)」


    While the guests opened their mouths in shock and the person in question looked at the ceiling, the viewers burst intoughter.


    -You passed.


    –????. Passed.


    -An idol born for Shintoki??????


    -This ce is a ck history paradise.


    -Ordered one serving, got five servings.


    -What are the PDs doing? Go and get him some more cushions.


    -They had to bring him????


    -The funniest thing is that all this happened in less than a year?????.


    The Shintoki viewers apuded and admired his achievements in just one year of his debut.


    Next, a simple talk corner with a lie detector.


    While the male-dominatedmunity of Shintoki had a lukewarm response, the idolmunity was hot.


    -Hwiyeon is so cute????


    -Sigh… He’s the treasure and truth of the world. That smile is everything.


    -Hwiyeon probably never swore in his life, right??


    -Woosan looks like the sports club guy that everyone had a crush on in school.


    -Seonwoong drinking water is like a bear.


    The fans of each group were happy andmented whenever their idols’ faces appeared on the screen.


    In between, there were posts like ‘Did New ck exin their maniption?’, ‘The rigged idols are cosying as popr ones’, but they were pushed away by the tearful efforts of the Soufflé fans who posted things like ‘My love, you’re the universe’, ‘Gyuho brushing his hair.jpg’.


    In this atmosphere where everyone wasughing and enjoying their idols’ weaknesses being revealed.


    A scene that caught the attention of the idol fans began to appear.


    [Let me try to guess.]


    It was a scene where New ck’s Woojoo guessed the voices of the Street Boys and TNT members.


    A shoddy Sherlock Holmes costume was superimposed on Woojoo and the background music of a detective movie yed.


    -How can he guess that??


    -I listen to my kids’ voices more than my own blood, but;;


    -They distorted the voices so annoyingly, how can he tell??


    -Even the same group members are puzzled right now?


    Everyone was making negative predictions, but Woojoo started to guess the voices of each group member urately.


    Not only that, but he also exined the characteristics of each voice.


    [Try it with the viewers!] The production team alsoid out a board and challenged them to try it with a caption.


    But there were few people who got the answer right.<ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">I have no idea</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">I’m a concert king, but I only know one or two of our Stbo kids’ voices</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">I’m a Together… I thought it was Taehyun, but it was Jihun f***</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">All wrong????</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">If you listen, that voice sounds like that voice…</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">Let’s reflect on ourselves</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">??????</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">How does he… no, how does he guess?</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">What is this</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">Is he beating the fans in guessing his own group members’ voices right now? ????????</li></ul></li></ul>


    The reaction was quiet when it was Street Boys, but the board started to boil when TNT appeared.


    The fans who had dered themselves as the real fans of the scene also failed to guess them all.


    The more they failed, the more mystery piled up.


    ‘How does he know?’


    TNT’s fans had already reyed the video that spread on SNS, but they just shook their heads every time.


    They guessed the voices of some members who were easy to distinguish, but as soon as the difficulty level went up a bit, they got it wrong.


    They thought it was this member, but it was that member.


    They thought it was that member, but it was this member.


    Some members had their voices distorted so much that they said ‘I have no idea’ when they heard them.


    After trying 10 times, they finally grasped the clue and said ‘Ah…’.


    TNT and Street Boys’ fans looked at the screen with nk faces.


    Every time Woojoo, who was sitting on the TV, smiled faintly, it seemed like he was saying ‘You can’t do this, can you?’


    ‘Wow…’


    The eyes of the fans who had not paid attention to the other idols on the screen began to move.


    Meanwhile, there was another reason why TNT’s fans were amazed.


    [We’re close!]


    It was because TNT’s younger line mentioned that they were close to New ck’s Woojoo first.


    Unlike the older line, who was known for having a widework and being called a yardstick, the younger line was famous for being shy.


    They had an interview answer that said it took a long time to get close to someone, but once they did, they were informal.


    So it was surprising that they said ‘Eek, don’t do that, Sunbae-nim!’ and said they were close first.<ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">Our kids are not the ones who say they’re close to someone</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">They must be really close? Amazing</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">I’ve seen others say they’re close to someone to get attention, but I’ve never seen our kids say they’re close to someone first??</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">Yeah, kind of likeable</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">If I was close to TNT, I would brag about it every time I went on a show</li></ul></li></ul><ul><li><ul><li aria-level="1">My mouth is itching</li></ul></li></ul>


    Along with thement that they hoped they would do well since they were trainees, the testimonies of TNT members were briefly edited and aired.


    [Don’t act like you don’t know us because we’re rookies!]


    [Yeah!]


    [Please act friendly on the official seats! You’re too formal!]


    While TNT members testified that Woojoo deliberately didn’t talk about their friendship in case they would get hurt.


    Woojoo smiled awkwardly on the screen.


    The fans of TNT started to look at the members of New ck with softer eyes.


    –??so that’s why they were startled every time he called him Sunbae-nim in Legendary Song Discovery


    -Mystery solved


    -What’s his name? Woojoo?


    -But if he’s TJ’s younger brother, he must have had a lot of fans. Why didn’t I know his name?


    When stories about Woojoo started to circte on idolmunities and SNS, and a voice challenge game where people had to guess the members’ voices was popr.


    Finally, Woojoo’s elementary school ssmate appeared.


    The story of his prince syndrome in his elementary school days made everyoneugh on and off the screen.


    -He’s so cute…


    –??I don’t know much about idols, but I think I’ll remember him


    -Wasn’t he the one who blew up the board at the awards showst year? The nose-scrunch guy


    -Yeah, that’s him


    –????prince syndrome


    -Why do I rte to this ????


    -But it’s funny… but kind of unlucky??


    When his past activities and fan sign episodes came out, there wereughs but also some reactions like ‘he’s kind of unlucky…’.


    [What did you look like when you were young that made you act like that?]


    One of the MCs asked, and the production team showed a prepared photo.


    […Wow.]


    The MCs widened their eyes in surprise.


    The young Woojoo sitting in a flower bed and smiling brightly.


    He looked like a child actor’s pictorial.


    His eyes were rounder and shinier than foreign child models. His skin was snow-white. His nose was sharp even when he was young.


    -This is like the children’s hope edition


    -I was the despair edition


    The people watching on their phones tried to save the image without knowing, and the people who pressed the capture screen were sad to see the ck screenshot due to the prevention function.


    Variousmunities started to explode with posts.


    -I epted it in one second


    -Well… with that level of looks, he had to have prince syndrome


    -That’s why the kids pped for everything he did


    -Kids love handsome and pretty things


    -The ones who said he was unlucky,e out and apologize


    -Apologize


    -I… wrote something without knowing. I’m sorry…


    -p! p! Novice crime! Novice crime…!


    –?????


    -But he’s really handsome, super handsome…


    -He’s not a millennium stone, he’s a millennium baby


    -You’re my wallpaper from today


    -If the agency has any sense, they’ll release his baby photos


    In a short time, the young Woojoo’s photo spread everywhere.


    And the production team of Shintoki, who was monitoring this reaction, blinked their eyes.


    “PD-nim. The reaction ising from an unexpected ce.”


    “…”


    “They’re only talking about the photo…”


    The reaction was exploding from a different ce than the parts they had spent over 10 hours editing.


    From onemunity to another.


    From Koreanmunity to K-popmunity.


    From K-popmunity to other foreign inte sites.


    A photo of an unknown child was spreading everywhere.


    Han Taehyun [Hey Korean baby]


    Han Taehyun [??Korean baby??]


    Woojoo [It’s child]


    Woojoo [You’re blocked for today]


    Han Taehyun [No, I]


    Woojoo pressed the block button and the messages stopped.


    How many times had he done this?


    Woojoo had probably blocked at least five people so far.


    “Phew…”


    The part where Woojoo appeared on Shintoki yesterday was a huge topic.


    “Woojoo, Woojoo. You’re a hit!”


    As soon as he visited the promotion team, they greeted him with ‘Oh, our fairy’.


    They said Woojoo got a good response from the main viewers of Shintoki, the 2030 men and women.


    The men liked the expression of Woojoo and Hanjo being dragged by the PD of Men Go…


    No. Why did they like that kind of thing?


    Every time he saw an article that said ‘Woojoo, confirmed to star in Men Go’, he felt like exploding with rage and tearing off his clothes.


    “Do you want to see thements? They’re positive.”


    “I don’t want to.”


    The situation of an idol who had to go to the army again afterpleting his reserve dutyst year.


    They said that the veterans were sympathetic, but to Woojoo, they all looked like they wereughing behind their hands.


    It was a relief that the part where Eunsung ruined everything was postponed to the second half of next week.


    But the point where the most heated reactions wereing from was really unexpected.


    “The cutest child in the world…?”


    Why was his picture circting on some South American site?


    A photo titled ‘New ck Woojoo’s Childhood’ that started from an overseas K-popmunity was spreading everywhere.


    “Where is this?”


    “Ennd.”


    “And this?”


    “It’s a personal SNS, but they say it’s South Africa?”


    Some foreign news sites also posted gossip articles asking ‘Who is this child?’ with a screenshot of a Taiwanese broadcast that wrote his name as ‘Woo Jenmin’.


    “Ha…”


    Woojoo chuckled bitterly as he watched the fake news that was spreading around.


    There was also someone who posted a picture of Actor Lee Gyeonwoo in response to a question asking who the Korean celebrity was.


    Woojoo clicked the mouse next to Assistant Manager Hong’sptop and asked, “What’s this about the skin color?”


    “They say it’s too pale…”


    They said that Koreans don’t have skin that pale, and wondered if the photo was overly edited.


    Love yourself, huh…


    “And this…?”


    “Oh, this is because the Japanese people are spreading it around as a Japanese baby…”


    How many nationalities did he have?


    The Chinese people said it was a Chinese baby, the Japanese people said it was a Japanese baby.


    As the scale grew, the scale of the fake information also grew.


    Wouldn’t there be a conspiracy theory in the Americanmunity that there was a virus hidden in the photo of the Korean child that was spreading now?


    Woojoo rolled his tongue as he looked at the reactions to the photo.


    It really spread everywhere.


    He had only heard of the global era, but this was the first time he experienced it like this.


    Would his childhood photo be more famous than him…?


    Woojoo sighed deeply as he looked at the photo that was spread on various inte sites around the world.


    “Why, are you unhappy?”


    “No. I just wish I had debuted as a kid.”


    The PR staff allughed at Woojoo’s words.


    They joked that they should time travel and gather the members of their group when they were in elementary school and debut as ‘Kids ck’.


    “Right, Woojoo. You were on the real-time search several times yesterday.”


    “Oh. Really?”


    The screen they showed Woojoo had search terms like ‘New ck Woojoo army’, ‘Woojoo goes to be a man’ and so on.


    “I won’t buy you coffee next time.”


    The PR staffughed among themselves.


    They talked about the new ads that came in thanks to this rabbit for a while, when someone asked Woojoo, “By the way, Woojoo.”


    “Yes?”


    “There’s someone who ims to be your elementary school ssmate and is spreading a rumor. Do you want us to take action from thepany?”


    “A rumor?”


    One of the staff asked cautiously, “Yeah. They say you were really bad at dancing when you were in elementary school and they’re spreading some ridiculous rumors.”


    “…”


    “Our fans took screenshots and reported it to us, but we need to check the facts first.”


    “No, no. It’s true. I was really bad at dancing when I was in elementary school.”


    “…Really?”


    “Yes. I really was.”


    Woojoo exined to the people who asked him several times that ‘I had such a time’ and left the office.


    And his phone screen shed.


    Ha Eunsung [Boss]


    Ha Eunsung [By any chance…]


    Ha Eunseong [Are you a famous Korean baby???????]


    “…”


    Woojoo tapped my finger on the screen.


    Woojoo [Your zipper is open]


    Ha Eunseong [Really?]


    Ha Eunseong [Where are you watching me from?]


    Ha Eunseong [No, it’s not. No way]


    Woojoo [??]


    Woojoo [Be nice to people]


    He replied with a barrage of messages, but Woojoo just blocked him with a smile.


    This was the sixth time.


    “Sigh…”


    But sadly, the ones he wanted to block the most were impossible to block.


    The studio on the second floor.


    As soon as Woojoo opened the door and entered, a pack of hyenas greeted him.


    “Baby Jenmin!”


    “Kekeke!”


    “Did our millennium babye? Kyakyakya!”


    Junghyun, who was holding a handy cam, narrated ‘Today, the mood of Woojoo Hyung is not good’ as his brothers pped andughed.


    Woojoo ignored them and opened hisptop to work on the song.


    He even put on headphones and was editing the song, when Bijoo poked his back.


    “Ah, right. Hyung.”


    “Hmm?”


    “I got a message from Street Boys, and they said to deliver this to you.”


    Bijoo handed Woojoo a printed A4 paper.


    At first, Woojoo thought it was some kind of certificate, but he couldn’t helpughing when he saw it.


    [Honorary Concrete Member: Seon Woojoo] was written on it.


    “They said they were really impressed by how you guessed the voices of Street Boys members yesterday. Their fans made this for you.”


    Woojooughed as he saw the phrase ‘We support the friendship of the Mint Choco-dan’ on it.


    Woojoo asked as he looked at the appointment letter, “Are there any benefits?”


    “You can enter the broadcast. They said this came from thepany.”


    Soon, Junghyun showed Woojoo the screen and heughed.


    DNS Media announced theeback showcase of Street Boys and wrote ‘Honorary Concrete Member, New ck’s Woojoo can also enter’.


    The people in the PR Team over there were good at business.


    Woojoo smiled and turned his eyes back to theptop, when he suddenly remembered something he had been meaning to ask.


    “By the way, Bijoo.”


    “Yes?”


    “Do you have anything you want to do next Monday?”


    They would prepare some events separately, but it would be right to do what the birthday boy wanted as well.


    Bijoo thought for a moment and opened his lips.


    “I want to go there.”


    “Where?”


    “Family restaurant.”


    “Family restaurant?”


    “When I was young, my parents used to take me there on my birthday.”


    He seemed to have not been able to go there since Minjun got sick.


    Even when Junghyun suggested going together after bing a trainee, he said he felt guilty about having fun by himself while thinking of his brother.


    Woojoo nodded as he saw Bijoo’s expression, which hinted at his story.


    “Okay. Let’s go.”


    There was no music show on Monday.


    Thepany also left the day empty and told them to just rest and do nothing.


    They had plenty of time.


    “Then I’ll make a reservation in advance.”


    Family restaurant.


    The staff at the counter received a phone call.


    A pleasant voice in his ear wanted to make a reservation.


    “Oh, a reservation. Monday?”


    -Yes.


    “Your name is…?”


    -Seo Woojoo.


    Then the other person asked.


    -By the way, do you have any menu items that kids can eat there? Something sweet and sticky. I’ve never been to a family restaurant before…


    “Yes. We do. We have a separate children’s menu.”


    -Ah, I mean from the regr menu, not the kids’ menu. Our kids only order the kids’ menu when they want to get those toy goodies…


    The staff member noticed something.


    ‘Our kids?’


    He imagined elementary school kids saying ‘I’m not a kid!’ in his head.


    He smiled and exined the various menu options.


    ‘Is he bringing his nieces or siblings?’


    She told him in a pleasant voice.


    “Do you need a separate chair?”


    -A chair?


    “Yes, to make it morefortable to sit…”


    -Oh, I didn’t know you had such chairs.


    He showed a curious reaction and she nodded.


    -Is itfortable? Then please prepare one.


    The staff member wrote ‘kids’ chair’ on her note and checked it with a v.


    -And what else do you have? Uh… uh, ah… You said there’s a birthday celebration event at the family restaurant, right?


    “Yes, we do.”


    He took out a form and put his pen on the part that said ‘child’s name: ???’.


    “What’s the name?”


    -Kim Bijoo.


    “Okay, Kim… Bijoo.”


    -Do you also give balloons? What? You want one too…? Wait a minute. Our kid is asking if…


    “Yes, that’s fine.”


    It seemed like someone was nagging him from the side.


    “Then we’ll prepare it for you.”


    -Thank you, I appreciate it.


    They hung up the phone with a smile.


    But they had no idea that they were talking aboutpletely different things.