The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

Time quickly passed until it became time for us to do our live broadcast. This was the time when The Showcase 2 aired every Friday evening. By choosing this time to go on live, the strategy was to pull all The Showcase 2s avid viewers to watch this show.

As a matter of fact, this live broadcast had been promoted quite many times on the programs official social media page. And though I expected this broadcast to feel looser and more casual than our other shows because it was started in haste, the show was more official than I imagined it to be. Woon also temporarily took off the cast on his foot for today after receiving permission from the doctor that he could loosen it up as long as he was careful.

Cant he just leave it on? I wondered if Woon really had to go so far as to hide his injury, but Woon was firm in his intention not to show this side of him to his fans.

After working on our album until lunch, we got our hair and makeup done at the salon. Another thing that changed when we transferred to this company was our salon. We had been using the salon that Ms. Hyunas friend ran until now, and I felt disappointed about this change.

I thought about asking if we could use the previous one, but I couldnt when I recalled how the people from our last salon had gotten up earlier than they usually would do to open the shop for us. They only opened up their salon early in the morning during the period of The Showcase, but they didnt usually work at that time nor did makeup and hair for celebrities. Thus, in the end, we had no choice but to go to the famous salon in Gangnam Cheongdam where all the other celebrities went.

I heard that you all are going on a live broadcast today. I wont go overboard then and go for the more natural look this time. But even this place seemed to be full of capable people, and they did their work cleanly and with good sense.

They just do their workwithout us needing to intervene

Though the last place didnt lag behind in terms of hair and makeup skills, this place felt like it provided a more high-end service, and their attitude was that they only dealt exclusively with celebrities. But whether it was this place or the last place, all my hair stylists had a hard time dealing with me.

Umhello, Mr. Tae-Yoon

Yescould I touch your hair?

Thats what I came here for?

Ah!

Since a male stylist was placed in charge of me this time, I thought he would have an easier time talking to me, but instead, he was even more careful than the previous one.

You look cool today too, Mr. Tae-Yoon!

Thank you?

He just gave me a compliment suddenly, admired his own work, and dived back to what he was doing again. And when our hair and makeup were almost done, I saw five familiar faces walk towards us.

Huh?

Hm?

What?

Ohhh!

They were the five members of Only One. They had finished their makeup and hair and came to greet us.

Hello!

Wow! Its been a while!

Dong-Jun, who finished earlier than us, greeted the Only One members as our representative. My members and I shortly greeted them with just our eyes because we were still getting our makeup done.

We are using the same salon as them? I thought in shock while greeting them with my eyes. Since this was a salon that many idols used, I thought I could meet other entertainers in the same industry as me.

But I didnt imagine that to be Only One. At this point, Only One and we seemed to be destined for each other.

Did you all come here to prepare for your live broadcast? One of the Only One members asked.

Ah, yes! Did you all prepare for yours well? Are you going to show something amazing today too?

Come on, theres nothing like that. We just do what we planned.

Hahaha!

Hahahaha!

Dong-Jun talked to Only Ones Kim Ju-Hyun like some mid-sized company boss. Kim Ju-Hyun also talked to Dong-Jun like another companys boss.

It wasnt only the shows winners that were doing todays live broadcast. Five different groups would conduct their own channels at the same time. But though I expected to see some familiar faces when we arrived at the live broadcast studio, this was earlier than I expected. We ended up meeting people who I wanted to see last. It was then that one person approached me.

Mr. Tae-Yoon, how have you been?

Ah, hello.

It was Park Young-Ho. I wanted to reply longer, but I couldnt when a makeup brush kept coming towards my face.

Ah, lets exchange greetings later since you are getting your makeup done.

Park Young-Ho was about to leave when my makeup artist announced, Your makeup is done..! and collected his brush and took his supplies away.

Oh, its done, I said. Ah, yes! Park Young-Hos face brightened momentarily. Then, I wondered what he wanted to say to me. We werent so close to have much to talk about.

Will you like to have some? he asked me then.

?

Its a cookiemy dad gave it to me.

Aha cookie. I took the cookie he gave me. It was a big one with large chocolate chips. It was like any cookie that could be found in a cafe, but the words on it were unusual.

[Come to me, all who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28]

The days are getting warmer. How about taking a short rest with Jesus gracious words with a cookie?

Yedam Church 02-xxxx-xxxx

It was an evangelism cookie.

Oh, did your dad give it to you to evangelize?

Ahyes! He said there were many people to evangelize on the broadcast setand asked me to hand these out But since I only had one choco-chip left, I was saving it to give it to a close friend! Its really tasty.

I was thankful that he thought of me as one of his close friends, but I was taken aback to receive an evangelism cookie for the first time. I never even had that common recruit or street evangelism encounter before in my life and didnt dream of getting one while I was at a salon.

I suppose the gospel isnt restricted to any place. I was impressed by how far Gods disciples seemed to reach.

Thank you. I will treasure it.

No problem, Park Young-Ho smiled shyly.

Lets go now. Its not polite to stay for so long too. It was then that Kang Hyun-Sung, who had been surveying the situation quietly until now, spoke.

Oh, thats right.

We were so glad to see you all after so long that we took so much of your time. Haha.

With that, the Only One members began to move away from us.

We should go now. Lets see each other again at the studio! Park Young-Ho did likewise and returned to Kang Hyun-Sung.

Lets see each other at the studio~

It was nice to see you again~

Like that, Only One members left the salon looking giddy. On their way out, I met eyes with Kang Hyun-Sung.

Whats with him? I didnt understand why he was glaring at me instead of just coming up to talk to me.

Ha, that was kind of hectic. After all that commotion, I felt my blood sugar level drop and opened up the choco-chip cookie package that I received from Park Young-Ho. I took a bite and realized that it was homemade instead of just bought from a store.

The quality and texture of this cookie werent comparable to factory cookies that saved on ingredients.

Guys, try this, I said and divided the large cookie and shared it with my members.

Oh!

Mmm!

Wow, this is so tasty! freewebno(v)el

Is this made by a cookie master?

Everyone covered their mouths in shock after taking a bite each. Since we at least got this cookie, I supposed there was something we gained from this abrupt meeting.

***

After getting our hair and makeup done, we got into our car. I still couldnt get used to how big and nice our car became as I sat on a seat in the third row.

We will start now~ Ms. Seung-Yeon stepped on the gas pedal and started the car.

Ah, I want to eat that cookie again. It was so tasty.

That was the best cookie I ever ate in my life.

Dong-Jun and Yeon-Hoon talked about the cookie we ate even after we got on the car.

Should we try making it ourselves?

Ah, really?

They went as far as talking about making the cookies themselves when I cut them off. You both screwed up the wooden bench last time. What else are you going to ruin?

Ahhh!

Dont mention Benchy again!

Yeon-Hoon and Dong-Jun lashed back in anger. Like that, we moved in a fun and bright atmosphere.

Hm. But as I expected, Do-Seung and Woon remained quiet. It seemed I wasnt the only one who noticed. Dong-Jun and Yeon-Hoon kept glancing at Do-Seung even while they were joking around. They tried to also brighten up the mood by talking to them.

Woon, do you want to have some too?

What is it?

Ginseng.

No.

Ok.

Is your leg all right?

Yeah, its fine.

Of course, they werent acting so outwardly depressed to not worry about us, but this was even worse in a way. Ever since the incident with Hwang Jun-Gyul and Yoon Dong-Hyuk, they seemed to have less energy and appeared constantly down. We couldve talked about it if they made their feelings obvious, but they seemed intent on keeping their feelings hidden.

Its not like I can just bring it up out of the blueespecially since they seem not to want to show it. Yet, it was obvious the two would be worried about Hwang Jun-Gyul and Yoon Dong-Hyuk. The two were probably concerning themselves about those two evil Vision members and thinking about them in their own minds.

Though we decided just to keep quiet about the issue, it probably weighed heavily on them.

Haaa. It seemed we needed a clear breakthrough in this situation.

***

At Seongsu, Seoul, there was a music academy considered legendary among the Practical Music college prep students. Practical Music department commonly had a competition rate of a couple hundred to one, so whether one majored in Vocals or Instrument, entering it was like trying to shoot for the stars; and getting accepted to a Practical Music department of a high-ranking art college was like shooting for the brightest star among those stars.

Yet, this music academy managed to produce successful applicants to these competitive art colleges every year. Furthermore, they were said to accept students who were nowhere near the brightest students and send them to perhaps, not top art colleges but still near them. Thus, it was inevitable that this academy would be well-known and news of it would spread.

After finishing his afternoon class, the academys young director sat in front of his office desk. When evening came, students who were applying to colleges for the first time would come to listen to class. Thus, he needed to prepare for it, but he was wondering if he should postpone the class from 6 pm to an hour later.

Hmmm.

Its been so long since I sawKang Do-Seung. I feel like I should see him. Do-Seung was the disciple he taught when he was young and who had now progressed into his own song producer. He wasnt planning to see Do-Seung in person but see Do-Seungs live broadcast.

He had been too busy to check up on how Do-Seung was doing, but a couple of days ago when he was surfing the internet, he happened to find Do-Seung. After that, he had been keeping up with Do-Seungs works.

Simultaneously, he also checked how another person was doing.

Yoon Dong-Hyukthat bastard is still living like this? This was the person who made him change from a song-producing trainer to a teacher at a music academy. Hyun Sung-Junthe music academys teacher and Kang Do-Seungs past teacherlooked at the screen with a conflicted expression.

This was the last disciple he had as an idol trainer. He wondered what he could do for Do-Seung.

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