CH 33

“Wow, I should have chosen archery, too. Aren’t the gears sick?”

Muttered Ian. Awy members who came out for archery wore black chest guards with tight black sportswear.

Holding black bows in that state, they dressed in something that would come out in a game.

“Hiyeol~ So stylish. Only the top.”

“Hyung, let’s pretend we didn’t see the bottom.”

Ian replied to Park Jin Hyuk’s words. It was pretty cool on the top, but they were still wearing the fluorescent purple tracksuit on the bottom.

It can be said that the most popular sport of iLympics is archery. 

Because it is a static sport where the camera scans the entire body and zooms in on the face.

So many groups changed their clothes to cosplay, but Awy couldn’t prepare it because they were busy preparing for ‘With the Legend’.

“How were their grades when they practiced before?”

Due to the preparation for the one-act drama, Ian decided to only participate in running and did not participate at all during the practice to select archery participants.

“Those Hyungs all scored 10 points. Wow, I thought they were pro archers.”

“Wow, somehow all of them said so confidently to just trust themselves.”

Park Seo Dam’s answer raised expectations for no reason. Just in time, the order of the previous team was over and Awy’s order came.

Kim Hyun made his first start. He stared at the target with serious eyes. He draws the bowstring and strikes a pose. Kim Hyun’s face was filled on the display.

“Uh?”

Kim Hyun’s arrow hit the blue part of the target.

For reference, the distance of the target of iLympics is about 20 m. Six points that could be hit by Ian even with closed eyes came from Kim Hyun, who was properly positioned.

“Didn’t you say they’re good?”

“Heh? Hyungs really did a great job before.”

“Then, is his condition bad?”

Kim Hyun fired his second arrow. 7 points. It should be a total of 4 shots, but the opponent has already scored 8 and 9 points in a row.

“Hyun must have been nervous. The other kids will do well, right.”

Said Park Jin Hyuk. However, it didn’t go as he said.

The following Jo Tae Woong scored 7 points. It was starting to feel uneasy. Next, Kim Ju Young also scored 7 points.

“Ah, it’s doomed.”

At Lee Joo Hyuk’s words, the four people who did not participate crossed their arms and crossed one leg. They are getting ready to berate.

* * *

“Awy is eliminated from the qualifying round.”

“All of them are friends with good physiques, so I thought they would easily pass the qualifying round.”

“I heard that 10 points came out in practice… They must have been nervous!”

The host pretended to be regretful and turned the topic to the winning team.

The three greeted the opposing team and trudged toward the members.

All four who did not participate were seated while holding their pose. The three people who were walking naturally fell to their knees. 

“Please give us your mercy!”1

The camera focused on Awy who automatically entered a situational drama.

Lee Joo Hyuk got up without a word and moved to a place where the singers were waiting. The chair had to be used by the next qualifying team.

Starting with that, Park Jin Hyuk, Park Seo Dam, and Ian followed Lee Joo Hyuk as if they were his attending secretaries.

“Please give us your mercy!”

When the remaining three followed them on their knees and took three steps in unison, the four members burst out laughing and raised them.

The singers and fans who were watching Awy immersed in the situational drama let out small laughter.

When archery is being held, all idols, except for the teams playing the match, form their groups and don’t pay attention to the match.

“Didn’t you tell us to trust you. Didn’t you say you’ll be like Jumong.”

“It must be Jumeong, not Jumong.”2

As the other teams stretched out, Awy also stretched out the same way. They passed their time by teasing the archer trio.

“Ah, I am sorry.”

Ian also jumped into the atmosphere and chatted with the members, when he slightly bumped into the person behind him.

“It is all right.”

The person who received the apology had an awkward pronunciation. Top Five’s Chen Xinhui3, by the look of the name it seems he’s Chinese.

[Uh?]

Confirming his name, Jin suddenly pointed his lens toward Chen Xinhui’s face.

‘What, why’s it?’

[Any thoughts of being friends with him?]

‘That’s really out of the blue, what’s the reason?’

Wanting to hear what he was saying, Ian fell out of chatting with the members.

[I think you can ride a Chinese coin.]

‘Ah, that inversion, seriously… Give me a subject.’

[Around the end of this year, their company went bankrupt and Top Five disbanded. Chen Xinhui will go back and be active in his country, you know?]

‘Oh yeah?’

A rare Chinese person who is not a dulgi. Jin snapped the shutter a few times and continued.

[It’s the time when BL dramas were in full swing there, so Chen Xinhui also shot a BL drama and entered the ranks of top actors with the rising popularity.]

‘What? BL drama?’

[Ah, slip of the tongue. A drama based on a BL novel.]4

Is that BL what I think it is? Ian tilted his head.

Jin continued to explain whether he had noticed the question.

[The first drama produced based on a BL original went hit and after that, those sprang up everywhere like mushrooms after rain.]

‘It’s China tho? In that communist country?’

[Of course, it’s adapted and produced into a passionate friendship.]

‘Still, the original is BL. Can it be aired?’

[Even if it can’t be aired on broadcast, it can come out as a web drama. Because that place has hundreds of millions of views as basic.]

Isn’t he more capitalistic than anyone else? Ian’s eyes glistened with interest.

[Anyway, as Chen Xinhui’s popularity skyrockets, Chinese kids dig up Chen Xinhui’s past like miners, and in the process, Top Five members also gain popularity. Even other Korean celebrities that he’s close to.]

‘Just how much he succeeded it went that far…’

[He’ll successfully advance to Hollywood later on, so he’s a very useful network to know.]

That makes sense. Ian stretched out and pondered what game he would play to attract Top Five at dinner time.

* * *

When Awy came out to the hallway after dinner, there was a subtle atmosphere like lunchtime.

They came out to the stadium early to avoid the atmosphere, gave a lot of fanservice at the fan seat, and then went back down to the stadium.

“When MyKit kids come?”

“They were fooling around with Pinky Lady earlier, though?”

“What?”

Lee Joo Hyuk lied down, saying that they were going crazy.

“Can they do that already?”

“Well, it’s up to them. Will they hear what we say?”

MyKit’s agency was free-spirited in a good way, and not managed in a bad way.

“Woah… It’s not like someone not dating because they don’t want to.”5

Said Lee Joo Hyuk jokingly. At the same time, it seemed to be a mixture of worry and a little envy about MyKit.

[He’s here.]

Just in time, Top Five was entering the stadium.

“Hyung, shall we play with them then? There’s a lot of time left too.”

“Shall we?”

It was fortunate that all the members were extroverts.

When Ian approached Top Five and suggested a game, they nodded gladly.

It turned out that they were one of the groups that participated in nonsense kung kung ta.

“Since there is someone from China too… Let’s do something classic.”

“What will we do?”

“First of all, let’s simply go with ‘Red Light Green Light’.6“

It didn’t take as long to get close as expected.

* * *

“Ddaeng!”

“Run!”

When the tagger Ian ran, everyone scattered away.

Fans, who were bored with the long preparation period, watched their game and filmed videos.

“I’ll have to cast them again next time.”

Words that Awy and fans would be horrified to hear came out of iLympics PD’s mouth.

“When I searched, it seems that Awy is called game hotspot?”

“Oh yeah?”

“If they come out, how about shooting a live broadcast during Chuseok’s break time? If we live stream it on Y-App or something, I think it’ll get some attention.”

More horrifying words came from the assistant director. The PD nodded.

Awy was running around excitedly without even knowing that.

* * *

As they moved their bodies even after MyKit joined, it was already time for the last game, but it happened to be a 400m relay.

“You guys, is your stamina okay.”

“No.”

Everyone laughed dejectedly.

“Are you guys also making comeback in March?”

“Yes, Hyung.”

“Same with us. We’ll meet at music shows then.”

Ian achieved his intended purpose. He decided to be brothers with Chen Xinhui, who was a year younger, and spoke informally.

“But can we run 400m well?”

“We play too seriously, right?”

Ian has already come out for 60m, so he will not participate in the relay.

Instead, Lee Joo Hyuk, Park Jin Hyuk, Park Seo Dam, and Jo Tae Woong went out. But they went to the track with their shoulders hanging down as if they were not confident.

Naturally, they were eliminated in the preliminary round.

* * *

After all the long iLympics games, only the closing ceremony and closing declaration are left. But as expected, there was free time because of the camera and podium setting. 

Awy sat in a circle between MyKit and Top Five, who had become close at one point, and chatted with them.

“You guys comeback next month?”

“Uh, there’s Pyeongchang next month.”

The real Olympics will come after the iLympics. It was the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

At this time, pre-arranged programs were often canceled due to the game schedule, and music shows were no exception.

“So the CEO said to rob the empty house and that we should win first at least on cable shows.”

For this reason, singers scheduled to make a comeback tended to avoid such global events.

[I don’t think that guy cares much about his singers, but his strategy isn’t bad.]

‘I know right.’

There is a huge difference between a singer who ranked first and one who doesn’t. This is because there is a difference in the appearance fee for events.

“Are you guys in March?”

“Uh.”

“We’ll meet later then. But will it be okay?”

The Olympics were over in March, and it was a situation where it was unknown how many singers would make a comeback to avoid that. It may overlap with big singers.

“Somehow it happened that way.”

Lee Joo Hyuk shrugged his shoulders.

Awy’s agency was seriously trying to make 3 comebacks in 1 year a reality.

It was a big picture to win the Rookie of the Year award by combining album sales.

“We don’t know when our next album will come out if it’s not this time.”

Top Five Lee Do Yoon, sitting next to Chen Xinhui, sighed deeply.

Everyone became solemn at once.

“No, you guys will be fine too.”

Ian, who knows their future through Jin, comforted them with a big smile.

“Can I go to bathroom now?”

“I guess? Go quickly.”

Kim Ju Young jumped up and disappeared out of the stadium.

[Kim Young Jun is following Kim Ju Young.]

‘Oh yeah?’

“Me too bathroom.”

According to other members, Kim Ju Young and Kim Young Jun were two best friends.

Ian got up from his seat as he remembered Kim Young Jun’s gaze, which had been following them for a while.

* * *

“Hi, long time no see.”

“What’s it? But I can’t say hi.”

It was when Kim Ju Young came out of the bathroom and was snooping around the vending machine.

Kim Young Jun appeared out of the blue and stood in front of Kim Ju Young.

“Wasn’t it a bit chaotic after I left the company?”

“It wasn’t chaotic, it was a fking bomb. All officials know that the debut was pushed back because you ran away.”

Why would you say that7. Kim Ju Young frowned.

Even Kim Ju Young also felt that he was looking at Awy with longing eyes just before. Our teamwork looks good, so it’s regrettable now that’s it?

Kim Ju Young put money into the vending machine and chose an ion drink. He leaned against the wall with the thought to listen to what piece of crap this bastard will say.

“That’s… I’m sorry.”

“Not just to me, but to Hyungs and other kids too.”

I get mad when talking about it. Kim Ju Young shot back.

“But, what’ve you been doing since earlier? You’re not even an ex-boyfriend asking ‘are you sleeping’ at 2 a.m. Hey, if you want to apologize, do it properly. Not only to us but also to our company employees.”

Kim Ju Young exhaled long.

“Think of it as fortunate that CEO Lee didn’t ask to pay the penalty, you bastard.”

The delay of the debut was also the cause of his embarrassing past of doing such a thing to Choi Ian.

At that thought, Kim Ju Young sighed again when he saw Kim Young Jun hesitating even though he tried to say something more.

“Still, I’m grateful to you.”

“What?”

“Someone better than you came in because you left, you know?”

At his words, Kim Young Jun’s expression showed jealousy of not having a bond among the group members.

Kim Ju Young thought ‘was I like that back then?’ and put his head to the back.

‘This punk. You’ve grown up.’

And Ian, who had been listening to the situation secretly, quietly left the place.