'T-Holic's Show Business' was a studio entertainment show that had largely disappeared due to observational entertainment shows.
Unlike observational entertainment shows that created interesting situations through editing, it also meant that only the really funny guys were able to survive.
"Ahahaha!! This is driving me crazy."
"Why, why?"
"No… Do you know what Wonseok hyung just said? 'Do all idols these days look like that?'"
Laughter erupted even among the staff at the plausible impersonation. The member who was called spoke awkwardly.
"No, I'm not the only one who's surprised."
"What? That's right."
"You didn't know? If we had debuted now, we would have been doomed, guys. Don't forget that and be humble."
"No, isn't it our talent that we were born with this generation?"
"Stop it! It makes me sad!"
There were comments pouring out as soon as the camera started to roll.
There were no professional entertainers, but perhaps thanks to their idol image, that itself became a character.
Whether it was prejudice or generosity.
'So it's bound to be a burden for a single guest to play an active role here.'
In the show they created, and in the composition where they took the spotlight, the guests had no choice but to rely on the other person in general.
These guys were quite the seniors. Most performers would lose in the seniority category.
"Wow, people were born after millennials?"
"You guys are so cute."
Of course, considering the atmosphere, T-Holic would make a gesture of spreading a plate and scooping it up for their hoobaenims, and then their image would be like this.
-Wow, T-Holic is really good at complimenting ㅋㅋ
-It's been a while since I've seen them talk so comfortably on a show ㅠㅠ Thank you! ♡
-As expected, if you appear on a TV show, you can cure shyness
The moment the momentum was pushed, attention was lost, and the guest's presence was reduced as one of the components of the show.
But if there was someone who didn't care much, the situation would be a little different.
"I'm only cute by a small amount! I'm cool!"
"Huh?"
Cha Eugene raised his hand and shouted.
The T-Holic member opened his mouth, perhaps because it was the first time he received such a violent (?) rejection from the beginning.
'I knew it would be like this.'
Cha Eugene didn't know T-Holic very well.
To him, they were just his seniors and he didn't care very much, so he was just talking hard as usual.
And there wasn't a sense of disrespect. Because he was a foreigner.
"That, is that so?"
"Yes! I'm a tiger."
"I see. Our friend Cha Eugene is a tiger."
"That's right! Tiger~ Like a T!"
"T!"
"Hyung, don't ride the rhythm to look cool."
So no matter how hard it was, people would get over it. Because Cha Eugene's American sensibility was already famous.
'And these guys will take care of the rest.'
The T-holic guys, who were accustomed to making the atmosphere lively by having fun with the program, couldn't be serious or clumsy with Cha Eugene.
'Besides, there is a person who will neutralize it next to me.'
"Cha Eugene! If they say you're cute, you should be thankful!"
It was Kim Raebin.
He whispered it in his own way, but since he was wearing a microphone, it was useless.
"I know! I didn't refuse!"
"You reduced it to only being a small amount. It could sound rude!"
"It means that I'm cool by a bigger amount! Thank you for calling me cute."
"Uh, uh, uh."
"No, we got it! I understand!"
"Thank you so much for your understanding! I'll show you my best today."
"Is that so?"
The figure of the T-Holic guy lowering his head together with Cha Eugene and Kim Raebin who also lowered their heads… It was funny.
'The impact is good.'
And I confirmed that some of the other T-Holic guys who had fallen behind laughed and made eye contact.
It seemed that they came to the conclusion that the structure they struggled with in the beginning would be fun.
"Yes, very cute, cute, cool TeStar!"
"Hehe."
"Hey, is this Generation Z? Do you think we are a little old?"
"Hyung, all of us are idols in our 30s. We have already entered the coffin in that industry."
The structure was set in such a way that T-Holic, who did not understand the new generation, was trying to somehow adapt to the new sensibility.
He took advantage of Cha Eugene's unstoppable momentum.
'The focus is still T-Holic.'
TeStar were now popular idols, sneaking up on the other side of T-Holic.
And I was faithfully fulfilling the role of a quiet person with common sense.
"Then, Moondae-ssi is the main vocalist, right?"
"Yes. That's right."
"Ah, my song! I heard you sang 'Party in me' very well."
"Don't lie, you were in the army!"
"No! I heard it while I was on vacation!"
"Ah, what an honor. Thank you."
"Yeah~ Moondae hyung sings really well!"
I received a request, so I sang a line of the song and received applause.
It was said that idols who appeared for publicity did everything they could to get even the smallest amount of money.
It was going to be rough.
'Ah, this guy's sensibility is a bit ordinary, so we can go like this and draw a story from those two.'
As they were familiar with such broadcasts, the price would have come out quickly.
'Well, I don't think these guys would have watched our variety show before checking us out.'
At most, they would have checked our recent activities and results, but the more they thought of me as a calm personality, the better.
"Now, the self-introduction is over!"
They thought they had picked enough funny scenes from Cha Eugene and Kim Raebin's small talk, so they moved on.
Virtually, the main corner.
It was a full-fledged humor, mainly accompanied by games.
Well, there were things like playing basketball without a ball, chairs flying into ball pits, drawing portraits with feet, and guessing who it was.
"Now, we are in part 2 of 'Show Business', it's time to play our mind game!"
Since it was the main corner, I came up with a few predictions for the type of game, but the one that seemed most likely was…
"The game we are going to play with TeStar this time is~
"Ahem."
Okay. That was it.
I cleared my throat, which was about to be snatched away … I couldn't help it because it was a phrase I had heard many times.
'It was good to find out in advance.'
The first time I saw that on WeTube, I almost spat out the water I was drinking.
"Hyung, hydration is important."
Yes, thank you. I listened to the dazzling progress of T-Holic while drinking the water Kim Raebin handed me.
'Anyway, the expected corner came out.'
Recently, it was a corner that appeared once every 3 episodes, and the response was very good, so I thought it would be used for us.
[Looks like you're right!]
Just hearing this title would seem like persuading the opponent like the trait I had. It was similar but a little different.
The maknae of T-Holic held a voice-changing microphone and acted seriously.
"Each team chooses one of two captains to convince their opponents. The game ends when one team is logically persuaded. A terrifying penalty awaits the losing team."
"Whoever wins the mini-game gets to pick a captain first. Then, good luck."
Did the content sound normal? These guys put a trap in every game.
That came out when they revealed it after the mini-game had passed.
"Voila!"
[Goals our team will achieve next year]
[Receiving 1 billion won VS Being in distres]
"…???"
"Ahahahaha!! You must be crazy, really!!"
"Guys, welcome to 'Show Business'!"
The balance was completely ruined.
After winning the mini-game, T-Holic happily chose the former.
"One billion! 10 billion!"
"I will show the bitter taste to Generation Z who chose distress~"
Looking at it from afar, it may seem like the image would be boring. It would be a one-sided beating of the guests.
However, during the next timing, the second trap was revealed again.
"Everyone, I told you that if you're 'logically persuaded', the game is over, right?"
"Hey, no way?"
"That's right! The most plausible! The team that is logically persuaded wins."
It was, so to speak, a sophistical debate.
The goal was to reasonably yield to the opponent's argument.
What this meant was that we had to understand what the other person was saying while explaining the side we are defending in as absurd a way as possible.
In other words, now T-Holic could win only when they were persuaded by the side that said, 'I will suffer in distress instead of getting 1 billion won.'
On the other hand, TeStar just needed to accept the obvious proposition, 'I will receive 1 billion instead of being in distress'.
"Isn't that a scam??"
"No!"
'They planned it out well.'
It was an image that made them win by sliding and laughing, and the guest position would have to mindlessly entertain to win.
'As expected, it reflects the best comments on WeTube.'
-I think it will be fun even if the team that is persuaded wins
-It's true that it will be legendary… Please make it like beef bone soup! ㅋㅋㅋ
Just like startup companies that had just launched, the production crew here seemed to pay more attention to communication than necessary.
It was common to see the best comments on a video being reflected around the next episode.
So I looked at the videos and anticipated some variations, and it worked.
The flow after that was obvious.
"Uh? That… When you suddenly receive a lot of money, you'll be a bit broken. If you want to retire now, I think you should receive 1 billion!"
"Yes, yes!"
"I hate retirement! I want to do this for a long time!"
"Okay, then what will you do? Uh? Do you have any answers left?"
"I won't retire after receiving 1 billion won! I'm not broken. Our members are strong!"
"Wow, that's really bold…"
"But money is really scary~ No, but I'm not saying to not accept 1 billion won!"
Those guys would be restless for no reason, even while teasing guests who talked common sense while brazenly making absurd claims.
It was a picture that warmly loses after eating the guest's reaction to their actions like that.
'Then those guys take all the flow.'
I didn't come here for them to use it all on their own…
I chuckled.
'How to best play this game?'
Simple. We just needed to reinforce our opponent's logic. This was the way the production team would have expected it to be played.
If we rode the flow of common sense, we would be swept away by them.
So… we needed to go the other way.
I put my hands on the table and interlocked them.
"Sunbaenim."
"Yes, Moondae-ssi, speak up~"
"In order to win, I tried to understand the argument of the other side as much as possible, but…"
I solemnly declared.
"No matter how you think about it, the claim we received is the correct one."
"… ??"
"I think our team members would choose to be in distress over 1 billion."
"Yes??"
"W-what are you talking about?"
I answered seriously.
"Because you can learn something more valuable from being distressed than with money."
"What?"
"What are we learning?"
I gave a clear answer to Cha Eugene, who asked a small question with a tap.
"Realistically, the places where we can be in distress right now are places where we can be rescued within a few days. In the meantime, we learn new experiences."
"Aha! That's right."
Cha Eugene coolly nodded.
"Then, distress is fine! I like it!"
"….??"
T-Holic's maknae, who served as the MC, intervened.
"Wait! If we go on like this, what are you trying to say?"
"I can't give up my beliefs because of this one issue."
"Do you have faith in being distressed??"
"Guys, why… I'm scared."
When the maknae of T-Holic was frightened at the crazy game, even Kim Raebin nodded earnestly.
"I think so too."
"What?"
"Yes."
"Yes. It's because we actually got into trouble while filming a variety show."
Kim Raebin said with his eyes sparkling.
"And I learned a lot from that experience."
"Wait a minute."
"I made the title of our last album during that distress. I am concerned that choosing the former between a billion won and being in distress is in line with the act of abandoning musical achievements in pursuit of money!"
"Why are you concerned about that?!"
Kim Raebin was not conscious of the fact that it was a variety show, and began to express his opinion seriously.
I knew it would happen if he immersed himself in the topic itself.
"No… Think about it guys. Does this make sense? What kind of trouble is this??"
"How much do you get paid to refuse 1 billion won!"
I raised my hand.
"Come to think of it, the amount of settlement increased with the title song created by Raebin at the time of distress, so in fact, some financial gains were included in that choice…"
"Oh~"
"Yes!"
"Please don't react like it makes sense, uhhhhhh."
And the set started to fall into chaos
It was as planned.
• * *
A few days later on a weekday night.
"Wow! It's here too~"
The graduate student smiled at the picture of Moondae on the thumbnail and watched the pre-released video of 'T-Holic's Show Business,' which had been uploaded as a popular video.
And 1 minute later…
"Puhhh!"
The graduate student spat out the coffee she was drinking.