The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

The current time was 5:30 a.m. The sun was about to set and the mountains were embodying a soft glow.

“It’s my first time wearing this...do I look all right?”

“This is what my Korean history teacher used to wear...”

“Oh...This is comfortable though?”

Regardless of how pretty our background was, the clothes we were given weren’t visually appealing. Still, it was very comfortable, and I understood why older people loved these types of clothing. Besides, I couldn’t think of any idol who shot a reality show while wearing daily-wear hanbok.

“Is everyone here?” Producer Park Soo-Chul approached us just then.

“Ah, yes.”

“We're here...”

“Haha...”

We made awkward smiles while replying to Park Soo-Chul. At this point, we were already paying all our respects by not cursing at him to his face. Since we were shooting a reality program, we were expecting to film ourselves having fun and enjoying healing moments.

I especially pictured this since I had memories of Only One filming this reality show in my past life. I remembered them staying in an expensive villa and sleeping and playing there. Yet, this house with a straw roof in the deep mountains was far from a nice villa.

“Is this a house with a thatching?”

“...I’ve never seen a house like this in my life before.”

“The inside of the house is modern, so you all don’t have to worry so much. The walls block the wind well, and the floor is warm.”

Of course, that was the minimum they should provide if they were still human. I forcefully tried to calm my boiling anger.

“We will attach the mikes onto you first~”

After attaching our mikes, we sat at the edge of the house’s porch. Perhaps, it was because all five of us were wearing clay-colored, daily-wear hanbok and sitting right next to each other, the staff burst into laughter.

“Do we look that funny! You are all too much!” Yeon-Hoon appeared peeved by the staff’s response, but even his response was met with laughter.

“Hahaha!”

Then, after some period of laughing, the official shooting began.

“Okay, Siren! Do you all know the reason why you came here?”

“...No? We don’t know at all...”

“You all came to film the reality program as a special for winning The Showcase 2! Wooo!”

“...Wooow.”

“The theme of this program is healing! I’m sure your minds and bodies must be exhausted after filming The Showcase 2, so we are providing you with this content so that you all can spend a week at this place to recharge and rest!”

“...Hahaha.”

“...How nice...”

“.... Health...yeah, that sounds good...”

“You can’t order delivery here right?”

“Haa...”

Perhaps, it was because all our responses were very poor, but Park Soo Chul glared at us. In the end, we had no choice but to increase our enthusiasm for the show.

“Hm! Uh, um, well, now that I look around, the scenery is very nice!”

“Uh! What is this bug...!” fr eenovelkiss.com

“Ahhhh!”

Yeon-Hoon tried to take the lead and bring up the mood but a bug crawled over the floor and distracted his flow. In the city, that bug would’ve been a hundred percent a cockroach but things were different because we were deep in the mountains.

“Isn’t that a beetle?”

“A beetle...?”

“Did a beetle just pass by...?”

“I’ve never seen a beetle before in real life.”

Now, a beetle passed by us instead of a cockroach.

“Haha, yes. That’s proof that the water and air are very clear here. You won’t be able to experience something like this in the city,” Park Soo-Chul didn’t miss this chance to tell us the perks of rural living. “This is a very nice place. Try taking a deep breath and exhale. The air is different.”

“I smell e-cig from somewhere...”

“...Hmph.”

Woon, with his good sense of smell, caught a waft of e-cig smell while inhaling and producer Park Soo-Chul fake-coughed and turned his head. There would probably be no other reality program with such a disorderly opening like this.

Sigh. "I give up. You all just look around!” Park Soo-Chul said exasperatedly in the end and seemed to have given up on shooting the opening scene. Since we were filming a reality program now, there was no need for us to follow the script exactly, so variations could happen like this.

“Wow, we just canceled the opening.”

My members and I laughed, feeling baffled and looked around. We saw the scenery on our way up here, but the view was astounding. There were a lot of trees and a stream flowed below. There was just the right amount of thicket of trees so that we could see the sunset from the ridge of the mountain too.

“Oh! The floor really is warm!”

“It’s not just warm but hot...?”

“Did someone leave potatoes and sweet potatoes here?”

“We can eat this right?”

When we opened the door and went inside the first room, we found out the floor was really warm, as Park Soo-Chul said. The size of the floor was quite spacious so that all five of us could lay down together. There was also a blanket and TV set up for us.

“We can just pile these up like this and use it as a sofa.”

And because the blankets were so thick, they looked like they could be used as a sofa.

“There’s another room at the side!” Yeon-Hoon found a second room we could enter through the side door. This room was attached to the kitchen.

“This area feels like the living room.”

“And is that the bedroom then?”

“There is actual structure to this house.”

“Thank goodness the bathroom is modern.”

“Yeah...if even this part isn’t modern, I...”

Then, after we finished our room tour and returned to the living room, we found Dong-Jun smoldered under a pile of blankets and eating potatoes while watching TV.

“Wow, this potato is so soft,” Dong-Jun said.

“Ahh! It’s so warm!” Yeon-Hoon also dropped to the floor and rubbed his body on the ground.

“I feel like I will easily be able to go to sleep if I lie down.”

“Now that I don’t smell the e-cig anymore, I can really feel how nice the air is.”

Woon and Do-Seung both sat on the floor and began to converse. When we first came here, we had been wondering whether we had come to the right place.

‘But why are these guys so fast at adjusting?’ It looked as if everyone already made this place their home.

***

While Siren was enjoying their ‘healing’ time at a thatched house, a single picture was uploaded onto The Showcase 2’s official social media page.

—Siren members are regaining their health (Siren members gathered in front of the porch.jpg)

It was a picture of all the members sitting together in daily-wear hanbok. Siren fans rushed in to see the picture suddenly uploaded onto the page.

—???

—:((((( Dong-Jun, our puppy is so cute~~

—I like how they are trying to become healthier but when did they go to this place?

—Did they already start their reality shooting??

Reply: Yup, the first episode is going to come up this week

Reply: Wow, isn’t that too fast?

People began to share the uploaded image everywhere and comment.

—Yeon-Hoon looks like a kid who came on a school field trip

—Our princess has crazy eyes hahaha look at his half-crazed smile

—Our black cat Do-Seung is angry because he was dragged to the mountains when he has to go to the gym. So cute!

—Dong-Jun is the only one who looks so excited hahaha

—Why does Tae-Yoon look like he lost the world?

Reply: Tae-Yoon please smile hahaha

Because that single picture showcased each of the members’ personalities so clearly, it spread across the internet rapidly. Of course, not all responses were simply positive.

—Sh** It hasn’t been long since their survival shooting ended and they are shooting another program right away?

—A straw house...? Soo-Chul, get a grip

—Our guys are too nice to say anything so they must really think they can do anything :(

—Get them a five-star hotel you bastards

For the fans who wished to see Siren have fun in a nice place, the condition of a thatched house deep in the mountains appeared too rough.

—But you gotta admit that those bastards have talent; I can already tell this reality will be super fun

Reply: Agreed. Soo-Chul made a reality program of another idol group before, and that was hilarious

The majority of people expressed their high expectations for the show, but all in all, Siren fans simply wanted their idols to be happy. Whether they stayed in a thatched house or a high-class hotel, all that mattered was that Siren enjoyed their time there. But in reality, Siren members were suffering from Producer Park Soo-Chul’s unbelievable requests.

“...What do you want us to make again, producer?”

“A wooden bench, a bench.”

“We will...?”

“Yes, here we will give you the blueprint and all the ingredients.”

***

I began to feel that the thatched house and the fact that we were deep in the mountains were fine. I also learned the charm of this daily wear hanbok after continuously wearing it. I didn’t expect to adjust to living in this place so fast, and we quickly found ourselves eating loads of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and tangerines while lying in the living room.

“Ah, the tangerines are sweet.”

“Are these the last tangerines in season?”

“Yeah, since it’s spring now.”

“If we just have dongchimi[1] and kimchi here, it will be perfect.” After finishing two potatoes and sweet potatoes each already, Dong-Jun lamented that we didn’t have side dishes to add saltiness to our dishes.

Up to this point, this was all still an enjoyable experience. Though we were taken aback by the house at first, this style of living also had its charm and appeal. Yet, soon, Producer Park Soo-Chul called us from outside.

“Can everyone come out here for a bit?”

“Hm?”

“What?”

We did as we were told. Since it was 6:30 p.m., I supposed that he called us to make dinner, but that wasn’t it.

“What is this...producer...?”

“It’s a wooden bench.”

“But I’m only seeing pieces of lumber, wooden boards, hammers, and nails?”

“Those parts are going to be a wooden bench.”

“Are you all going to make it?”

“No, you guys are.”

There were also food ingredients set nearby.

“...What do you want us to make again, producer?”

“A wooden bench, a bench.”

“We will...?”

“Yes, here we will give you the blueprint and all the ingredients,” Park Soo-Chul said and showed us the blueprint. Seeing the map, it didn’t appear too hard since all the materials have been prepared for us. We simply needed to attach the wood pieces with a hammer.

“All pieces of furniture are DIY these days. This is the same thing. There’s nothing hard about this.”

“Seriously?”

But who could’ve guessed that we would be making a wooden bench deep in the mountains while wearing daily-wear hanbok?

“If we don’t make the table, will we not be able to eat dinner?”

“Come on, of course not. We called you all here to give you a healing time. Why won’t we give food? Here, take these ingredients and cook them."

“Then, the bench...?”

“It’s fine if you make it and fine if you don’t. It’s all up to you. But these pieces will stay here the whole time...longing and waiting when it can finally become a real wooden bench”

This crazy guy was trying to make us sympathize with these wood pieces now to make us work. I shuddered at his evilness, but Yeon-Hoon fell for his tricks.

“Ah, how pitiful,” Yeon-Hoon said.

“What is? How?" I asked.

“Then, we will leave all these materials and ingredients here so you all can do what you want!” Park Soo-Chul said and backed away, leaving the goods in the yard.

“Let’s get the food first,” I suggested. Then, we all placed the food into a basket and went to the porch. There were chicken, pork, beef, plenty of leafy greens, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. In addition, there was a variety of sauces, spices, and MSGs. It felt as if we were given a whole kitchen.

“With this much, we won’t have any problem cooking.”

“Yeah.”

Do-Seung and I discussed this while organizing the food ingredients.

“Hm.”

“Um.

“I wonder what dinner should be...? Maybe dak-bokkeum-tang[2]...?” we discussed. But as I thought this—perhaps, it was because of the strange things that Producer Park Soo-Chul said but the wooden pieces on the ground began to really look pitiful to me. My eyes kept lingering around it for some reason.

1. Water Kimchi ?

2. Braised chicken dish ?

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m 𝒇𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎