34. Prelude (4)
I woke up in the middle of my sleep and blink my eyes while lying down. My head hurt as if my stiff neck muscles were pressing on my nerves. After a while of relieving the pain, I turned my head. Seol Yi-soo was sleeping soundly on the bed across from me.
'Seol Yi-soo must be tired too.'
I held back a sigh, conscious of the camera. When I stood up, supporting myself on the mattress with my elbows, my dazed mind cleared up. I quietly went out of the room, making as little noise as possible.
"Uh."
"Uh."
Lee A-ram, who was also coming out to the living room, made a stupid sound. When I put my index finger to my lips, Lee A-ram nodded.
I checked the wall clock in the living room, and the small hands were crawling towards '5'.
I sat next to Lee A-ram and said in a 100% air-like tone.
"Hyung, you woke up early?"
"Oh. My eyes are wide open today."
"Should I wake the kids at 5 o'clock?"
"Okay."
I drank water in the kitchen and checked the mission note stuck on the refrigerator again.
I wiped my mouth and read the text. The first mission was ordinary. It was just a hint of new content called MT and a gathering order.
After washing up, Aram came to me with the prepared cam.
"Who are you going to wake up first?"
"Since Yi-soo hyung sleeps the lightest, let's go to my room first and then go to your room in order."
"Okay."
I ended up listening to the cam. Aram said it was burdensome and handed it to me.
I heard my voice and fell into thought.
'...This is literally reality show.'
In the past, even when filming reality TV shows, the script was already set. Like, you just woke up and put on makeup, or you direct the situation the way the writer wants. That kind of stuff.
'It's not like that these days, right?'
As is typical for idols who have been on the show for a long time, Planet hasn't done a reality show for a long time, so it wasn't very adaptive. Maybe that's why it felt a little new and exciting.
Knock Knock, I opened the door and approached Seol Yi-soo. Fortunately, it seemed like he hadn't noticed us until now.
It was fine up until here, but how should I wake him up? I exchanged glances with Aram and reached out to grab Seol Yisoo's shoulder.
"Hyung, wake up......"
As soon as I grabbed Seol Yisoo's shoulder, he gasped and grabbed my hand.
After staring blankly for a while, he blinked quickly at us and the camera in surprise. He then covered his face with both hands. His ears were red.
"Uh... hyung?"
"No, sorry. I'm a little embarrassed."
"I, I didn't mean to startle you."
"Yeah, I know."
Seol Yi-soo, who had been quiet for a while, smiled awkwardly. He raised his upper body, rolled his eyes, and began to understand the situation.
"Um....... Were you waking up the kids?"
"Yes, hyung, you're first."
"Aram woke up early too."
"...Hyung, are you tired?"
"No, ah. I'm fine."
Seol Yi-soo quickly came to his senses and got up. His face was full of motivation.
I, who was holding the camera, squinted my eyes and looked at Seol Yi-soo from an angle where the camera couldn't be seen.
'What is with that cold sweat......'
As I kept my mouth shut, Aram tapped my arm. It was a signal to just move on.
"Where should we go next?"
"My room."
"Then... Kyeon and Jeongwoo."
Seol Yi-soo stretched with a playful face. We joined Seol Yi-soo, who was full of enthusiasm, and headed to the next room.
Unlike our room, which had two beds attached to each end of the room, the next room had one bunk bed. There was no choice since there were three of them.
"Aram, since you're sleeping alone in the bed, the other two will have the bunk beds."
"Right. Hwang Bo-kyun is sleeping on the first floor, and Ahn Jung-woo is sleeping on the second floor."
"Right."
Aram became bolder than before and opened the door wide and went into the room. According to him, once they fall asleep, they don't wake up easily.
First, he approached Hwang Bo-kyun on the first floor. Lee Aram lifted the blanket that was covering his head... and covered him again.
"Hey, go back. Go back, this... This guy isn't wearing any clothes."
I hastily pulled the camera back. No, doesn't this guy realize that it was recording?
'There must have been a camera in the room too.'
As if he saw something unbearable, Lee Aram closed his eyes and held himself back. Seol Yi-soo and I, who were behind him, quietly watched.
Seol Yi-soo picked up Hwang Bo-kyun's clothes that were scattered on the floor.
"Let's just wake him up and put his clothes in."
"Hey, hey. Wake up."
Lee Aram, who was now not sincere, woke Hwang Bo-kyun up in disgust. Hwang Bo-kyun unconsciously tried to pull down the blanket but was stopped by Lee Aram.
"...?"
"Get dressed and get up."
"Huh...?"
Hwang Bo-kyun, who was brushing his hair in a daze, stopped moving when he found the camera. His face changed color in a second.
After he figured out the situation, he covered his chest with both hands. Even in that situation, Seol Yi-soo was affectionate.
"Put this on."
"Thank you, hyung."
Hwang Bo-kyun, who was wiggling under the blanket and putting on his clothes, said confidently.
"Actually, I'm working out, so it's okay if you film it."
"Haa......."
Lee A-ram sighed deeply. It looked like he wanted to hit him. For some reason, I understood Lee A-ram's feelings.
'He must have slept with his underwear on. Okay, let's think of it that way.'
For the sake of my mental health, I deleted the previous scene from my head.
Because it was such a mess down there, Ahn Jung-woo also woke up and stuck his head out. Only after Ahn Jung-woo, who was half asleep, got out of bed, could we head to the next room.
"But why did you sleep with your clothes off?"
"Because it was stuffy? I don't remember well because I was asleep."
An Jung-woo asked, rubbing his eyes, and Hwang Bo-kyun shrugged.
I pretended not to hear as much as possible and opened the next door. Then Hwang Bo-kyun suddenly popped out.
"Let's play a game while waking up the kids."
"...Okay."
Lee A-ram nodded nervously. We watched Hwang Bo-kyun quietly, wondering what he was doing.
Hwang Bo-kyun turned to Baek Han-gyul and whispered softly in his ear.
"Wake up, warrior.... !"
[https://namu.wiki/w/깨어나세요%2C 용사여!]
What are you talking about? Everyone paused for a moment and stared at Hwang Bo-kyun. Before any doubts could sprout, Baek Han-gyul, who had been sleeping soundly, mumbled.
"Heuk, go... princess."
"Get up, warrior. You must not submit to Zenon."
"Yes, yes...! I understand!"
Then, without opening his eyes, he raised his upper body. Hwang Bo-kyun patted Baek Han-gyul on the back.
"One, two, three, open your eyes. One, two, three!"
"Heuk."
As soon as he opened his eyes, Baek Han-gyul met the camera lens I was holding and opened his mouth. Hwang Bo-kyun held back laughter at the bewildered Baek Han-gyul.
"Ahaha... Kuha, hahaha, it's so funny I'm crying."
"What the... !"
Hwang Bo-kyun bit his lips and whispered softly to the camera.
"Han-gyul has been playing games in the dorm lately."
"Ah, ah...! Hyung-nim...!"
Baek Han-gyul suddenly got up and kneeled down. He screamed after being caught playing games in the dorm on top of his embarrassing history.
'You played games whenever I wasn't at the dorm.'
I stared at Baek Han-gyul getting up and shaking his body. Let's talk about this later; there was still one person left to wake up.
Hwang Bo-kyun stood still and thought for a moment, then went to Ryu Hyun-seung. Ryu Hyun-seung was even wearing his sleep mask carefully.
"Hyun-seung, wake up! We're late for our schedule!"
"...Huh?"
Ryu Hyun-seung frowned and turned the blanket over his head. However, Hwang Bo-kyun stubbornly clung to him.
"Don't close your eyes again~ Get up. I told you we're late?"
"I know you're joking."
Ryu Hyun-seung spoke without hesitation. Even though he was half asleep, he seemed certain that it was a joke. This was the first time I'd seen him like that.
Hwang Bo-kyun rubbed the back of his neck. And then he said, "Ah~ I'm not fooling around. Have I been playing too many pranks lately?"
He says.
I hold back a sigh and approach Ryu Hyunseung. As I sit down on the edge of the bed, the mattress is pressed to one side.
"Hyung, it's not too late, but you should get up soon."
"...Really?"
"Seung-ah, your reaction is so different from when this hyung wakes you up?"
"Hyung.... No."
Ryu Hyun-seung, who had been babbling for a while, got up. As he got out of bed like a magpie, the blanket slid down. He didn't seem to notice the camera in my hand because he was so sleepy.
"Are you all up?"
"Yes, I think we should wash up and go down in order."
Except for A-ram, who had already washed up, we decided on the order of washing up. Baek Han-gyul glanced at me and whispered.
"Well, I don't play games often."
"Okay."
***
"I got the phone."
Ji Young-heon and the staff who had been waiting in advance came into the dorm. Ji Young-heon handed out phones to each member, and the other staff members set up the microphone audio again.
In the meantime, I checked the contacts that had come in yesterday, one by one.
[(Rebel) Senior Woobin: I heard about it]
[(Rebel) Senior Woobin: Are you okay?]
The first thing that caught my eye was Woobin. There were also greetings from other people.
I kept my mouth shut and then raised my head to look at Ji Young-heon. Ji Young-heon started reporting as if he had been waiting.
"The article was blocked. However, the people around there filmed the video and spread it."
"How's the atmosphere?"
"Overall, it's not bad. There are some people who try to manipulate public opinion strangely, but if we do it well, I think it will pass quietly."
I wrinkled my nose and then cleared it. Ji Young-heon, who saw my expression, pressed his eyes shut and continued.
"After checking, the person who jumped into the car was not from our group but from another group."
"A different group...?"
"Yes. I don't know the exact reason, but that person was asked to do it by an acquaintance from the beginning."
Also, since the other person only made threats and did not directly harm anyone, that person was only warned by the police and released.
The situation was more complicated than expected.
'If we do this wrong, it will only make things worse for us.'
If you just look at the video that has spread, it would be easy to mistake this incident for a sasaeng riot. In other words, on the surface, the perpetrator appears to be a fan.
However, there was no way to explain it. If we say, 'The other person is not actually our fan, but a sasaeng from another group, and that person was ordered to jump into our car, haha', how would we, the group, and the fandom look?
If they don't think of us and the group and fandom as troublemakers, then that's fortunate.
"We're looking into the person who gave the order, but it'll probably take some time."
"And?"
"We can't delay the official position any longer, so we're going to emphasize that the members are safe and that there are no injuries. We'll keep everything else vague. I think it's best to wait and see what happens and then take action."
"Yes, I understand."
Judging from Ji Young-heon's dark circles, it seemed like he worked overtime with his colleagues yesterday.
I tried to comfort him a little and turned my gaze back to my phone.
[Me: Yes, it's okay, senior.]
[Me: Thank you for worrying about me.]
I replied to all the other messages and turned off my phone. It was because I've been getting calls from unknown numbers lately.
Not only were there calls with caller ID blocked, but I was also getting text messages like that obsessively.
'But I guess my number was sold late.'
The other guys had already changed their phone numbers once.
I didn't have many people who knew my phone number, so this situation came late. But now, I felt like it was time to change my number.
"The filming will take place tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, don't worry, and come and go comfortably."
Ji Young-heon said with a forced smile. He didn't say anything about the camera at all, so it seemed like he thought I would be anxious.
'Well, since the content is MT for reality shows, it'll be ordinary.'
I wonder if Director Kwak In-hyuk foolishly prepared it. Even though I'm not confident in entertainment, I've experienced this kind of thing before, so I wasn't particularly anxious or nervous.
Ji Young-heon looked at me once and nodded.
A staff member who had finished checking the cameras in the distance raised his hand to get our attention.
"We're leaving soon! We'll start filming from the bus arriving, so please gather together!"
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