Chapter 289
Thanks to the members' efforts, our plan to advance to Japan started in mid-June, not the original target of late June.
"Wow, last time I went to Japan, it was mid-winter, but this time it's so hot."
"That's right. Time flies so fast."
Arriving at Incheon Airport, we recalled last year's KAMA and felt the time passing by so quickly.
At that time, it was our first time doing a schedule overseas, so we all felt a new feeling.
This time, we felt the same excitement as before.
'Well, it's not a schedule with other idols; it's just us.'
I thought to myself as I went through the procedures.
KAMA was a year-end event. There were quite a few other idol groups that left on the same date, and we weren't the only ones preparing a special stage.
But this departure is different. We are going to have our own stage.
The other guys all seem excited at the thought of starting a new leap.
"I brought this to play on the plane!"
Yoo Min-ha proudly showed us the portable game console.
The logo on the screen looked very familiar.
"Isn't this the game we always played on Playbox?"
"Yes! I can play it on Swatch too, so I'm going to use this to get used to the map in advance. These days, Si-yoon Hyung and Yoon-chul have been playing a lot, so my position is very precarious."
"Hmm."
I thought deeply about the past memories.
If my memory is not wrong, I know that Yoo Min-ha's gaming skills have been behind Kang Si-yoon and Ji Yoon-chul for a long time.
First of all, let's not mention it to our younger brother, who is smiling brightly.
"You have to work hard, Min-ha."
"Yes! That's why I'm going to do this every now and then."
"That's a good idea."
"Hehe!"
Even though Yoo Min-ha spoke confidently like this,
About 15 minutes after the plane took off, he immediately went into sleep mode.
"..... Hyung."
"Oh, you want this? Wait a minute."
As soon as Ji Yoon-chul saw Yoo Min-ha sleeping, he looked at Heo Yu-bin, who was sitting next to Yoo Min-ha, with sparkling eyes.
Heo Yu-bin carefully took the game console out of Yoo Min-ha's hands so as not to wake him up.
"Aiya."
As Ji Yoon-chul got the Swatch, unfortunately, Yoo Min-ha and Ji Yoon-chul's gaming skills seemed to grow further apart.
I followed Yoo Min-ha, who was fast asleep, and took a short nap.
After a short flight of about 2 hours, the plane carrying us arrived in Tokyo.
After we got all our luggage, we quickly left the crowded airport lobby.
Manager Hyung delivered a few announcements to the members who had safely boarded the van.
"First, the official schedule will start tomorrow. There will be a live talk show tomorrow evening and a rehearsal and performance the next day. Then, we will fly to Nagoya in 3 days......."
Overall, it's a very busy schedule.
We'll be staying in Japan for 9 days, doing talk shows, YouTube filming, and concerts.
This is the first day we've come to Japan, and it's one of the few days we have left to rest.
"...Anyway, let's rest a little today to recharge our energy and work hard starting tomorrow. Okay?"
"Yes!"
After the official schedule is over, we are also given two days to rest, so we have no choice but to run hard, as our manager said.
The members gathered their hands and shouted, "Oh~!" and immediately took a nap while heading to the hotel.
We had now acquired the ability to fall asleep easily, anytime, anywhere.
When we arrived at the hotel where we would be staying, the sun was already setting.
"Oh, I'm hungry."
"Didn't we say we were going to eat at 7:30?"
"That's right.... No, but why are we all gathered in my room again?"
We gathered in Chae Eun-gyu's room to discuss what we would do before eating dinner.
Is it because of the memory of everyone gathering in Chae Eun-gyu's room during KAMA and having a birthday party and even a Star Us live?
Even though no one had said anything in advance, everyone naturally gathered in Chae Eun-gyu's room one by one.
Chae Eun-gyu spoke to the members who had taken the bed, dumbfounded, but Kang Si-yoon pretended not to hear him while roughly covering his ears.
"We still have a little over an hour, right? Everyone's hungry, so how about we use the break to rob a convenience store?"
"Oh, good idea. I regret not being able to rob a convenience store properly when we came to Japan last year."
Song Hyung-bin immediately agreed with Kang Si-yoon's opinion and sent a text message on his cell phone.
"Hyung, who are you sending it to?"
"Changmin hyung. I'm going to ask for a credit card."
"Wow, the leader is different. He's really fast."
"So, is it a decision to go to the convenience store? Without any other opinions?"
Heo Yu-bin asked Kang Si-yoon and Song Hyung-bin, who were bumping fists, if they needed any other opinions.
Then Yoo Min-ha slapped him on the back and laughed.
"What are you doing, Yu-bin? Put on your jacket quickly. Aren't we going to the convenience store?"
"I-It's already been decided!"
After receiving the company card from our manager hyung, we headed to the convenience store near the hotel with dignity.
The door opened with the sound typical of Japanese convenience stores, and we quietly exclaimed in admiration as we looked at the interior, where various items were neatly displayed.
"Wow, there's so much to eat!"
"Let's start here first!"
The members each turned their steps to the corner that caught their attention.
I headed to the sales counter filled with snacks and candies with Heo Yu-bin and Chae Eun-gyu.
"Let's see where, what's delicious~."
Heo Yu-bin hummed a little while looking at the candies on display at the counter.
But he immediately ran into a snag.
"I, I don't know what this says at all."
"I only know a few kanji characters, and I don't know the rest at all."
"I should have studied some Japanese......"
Heo Yu-bin and Chae Eun-gyu were both blocked by the wall of Japanese and couldn't properly figure out what kind of candy this was or what kind of bread this was.
However, I was in a completely opposite situation to them.
'This is also really difficult.'
Thanks to the language-related skill 'Foreign Language Magician' that I acquired during
Up until now, I had given the impression that I had studied English, Estonian, and Korean to a near-perfect level.
English and Estonian can be easily explained as being possible because of my foreign nationality, and Korean was solved by the premise that I studied hard on my own to become an idol.
But what if I also showed perfect Japanese here?
An idol who is fluent in four languages would be extremely rare. It would be even stranger if it was an idol from Estonia.
I pondered over the Japanese brands that read naturally as if they were translated by a machine.
What would be the most appropriate way to do it?
"Hyung-nim, do you know what this says?"
"Hmmm....."
While I was pondering, Heo Yu-bin handed me a bag of candy and asked.
Usually, if there was a picture or photo on the packaging, it would be possible to infer, but the candy Heo Yu-bin chose didn't have any signs, so it seemed like he had no idea what it was.
I was silent for a while and then made a decision.
"I'm sorry. I don't know either. I know a little bit, but I can't read anything written in pure Japanese like this."
"I thought you would know, hyung-nim. It's too bad."
"I just watched anime and learned conversation a little bit. I don't know the letters well."
If you set up that you're perfect in Japanese, it's too much.
I think it would be more appropriate to say that I use my otaku-like personality to just learn conversation a little bit through anime and that I don't know the letters at all.
When Heo Yu-bin expressed his regret, Chae Eun-gyu, who was watching, tilted his head slightly and gave a clear answer.
"But if you just run it through a translator, it's over?"
"That's true! But then it's not fun!"
"It's not fun?"
Heo Yu-bin, who was crouching and observing the candies on the bottom row, raised his head and nodded vigorously.
"I think it would be fun to pick one that catches your eye and eat it."
"Have you gotten addicted to gacha from Siyoon too...?"
"Hyung, pick one too! Randomly!"
"Me too?"
So Heo Yu-bin and Chae Eun-gyu each picked a candy they liked.
I secretly read the words on the packaging and felt a little sorry.
Chae Eun-gyu was lucky enough to pick a coffee-flavored candy, but Heo Yoo-bin picked a licorice-flavored candy.
Yoo Min-ha heard that our corner was noisy and came over with a bunch of breads in his arms.
Then he looked at the black candy bag Heo Yu-bin was holding and questioned it.
"Why did you pick black? If you're going to pick it anyway, wouldn't it be better if it was a little brighter and silver?"
"What if it tastes weirder if I change it? I'm just going to go with the one I picked first."
"Aha!"
Unfortunately, it was right to change it now. Yu Bin-ah.
I continued to watch Heo Yu-bin with a pitiful look as he bought a whole bag of licorice-flavored candies.
"Then, should we try it?"
"I somehow think he chose something weird."
"No, he may have chosen surprisingly well."
Before we knew it, the news of Heo Yu-bin's candy luck spread to all the members.
As soon as Heo Yu-bin came out of the convenience store, he took out a candy and put it in his mouth.
"Hmm? Hmm....... Hmm. Hmm?"
After rolling the licorice-flavored candy in his mouth a few times, Heo Yu-bin didn't react much at first.
However, his expression soon became extremely frowning.
"W, wah! What the heck does this taste like! Eww!"
"Hey, what's wrong with you!"
"Hyung, Yubin's hands are shaking!"
"What on earth did he buy to be like this?"
Unable to overcome his curiosity, Kang Siyoon used a translator on his phone.
"No, hahahaha! Even if you choose randomly, how can you choose licorice flavor, licorice flavor!"
"Licorice?"
"I've only heard that in games. What on earth does that taste like?"
"Let's ask Yubin."
The members all turned their heads toward Heo Yubin.
Heo Yubin, who was still unable to recover from the aftershock of the licorice-flavored candy, spoke in a tone full of sincerity.
"It's a little bit. How should I put it. It feels like I ate something I shouldn't? It tastes like oil and shampoo. I just ate something I really shouldn't. Ahh!"
Judging from Heo Yubin's reaction, it seemed like the scent of licorice was rising from his throat even as he spoke.
Kang Si-yoon smiled while shaking Heo Yu-bin's licorice-flavored candy.
"If it's like that, we can make this a penalty when we bet later? The loser eats the licorice candy."
"Wow, that's seriously not something a human would do, hyung! Seriously!"
"Now that you say that, I have to do more."
"Oh, I told you it really can't be done!"
"If you don't get caught, it's a jackpot, right?"
After getting an item that would be useful in a game bet later, we returned to the hotel and filled our hungry stomachs with bread and snacks we had bought from a convenience store.
After spending some time chatting in Chae Eun-gyu's room, we went out for dinner.
"This is the first time I've seen a tower of pork cutlets like this."
"Isn't it the first time everyone's seen it?"
"Oh, my mouth is watering."
We finished off our first day perfectly with a huge tonkatsu [pork cutlet] tower that you can only taste in Japan.
I ate the tender tenderloin tonkatsu while thinking about the forced march that would unfold starting tomorrow.
'I should think about what I'll show on the talk show in advance.'
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