6. Baby Dolphin
When Baek Yuri shouted again with an amazing voice, PD Seok Oh-young checked the tablet PC once and then looked at their faces again.
'Hmm? I know Baek Yuri, but I don't remember the contestant named Neoul. Is he one of the contestants selected locally?'
In line with the program concept, the production team filled the 65 contestants with the preliminaries that received applications in advance, and casted the remaining 15 regular people upon arriving at Jeju Island to select additional participants.
Isn't one of the great fun of 'travel' 'chance encounters with new people'?
That's why the program was planned to operate flexibly until the first team battle filming, by selecting more good talents.
It wasn't easy to gather regular people, but we were told that 15 people had been selected, and we brought them straight to this beach and started filming. Their application forms were to be filled out after the beach filming was over and they arrived at their accommodations.
The general participants were randomly selected based on their faces without having to write detailed profiles.
How old are they, do they have a job, are they students, are they on summer vacation, are they Jeju residents, etc. The more diverse the participants' characteristics are, the more interesting the pictures will be.
The fun of getting to know them can also be captured on camera.
PD Seok Oh-young expected the ordinary contestants to show off a unique charm that was different from the trainees who were trained from start to finish.
'Honestly, I didn't expect much from their singing skills.'
If they did well, they discovered good talent, and if they didn't, they could be used for funny or stimulating scenes, so it didn't matter.
It was okay even if all the ordinary contestants were eliminated. Their roles were just to add fun and enjoyment to the show. They didn't have high expectations for their skills in the first place.
The ordinary contestants themselves probably didn't take the casting seriously, and they probably just lightly accepted because it seemed fun.
It was enough to just have them play the role of stimulating the heated competitive atmosphere. But...
'It's better than expected?'
He never thought that a vocal talent would roll in among the additional contestants.
'I'll have to check this out later.'
PD Seok Oh-young wrote down the names of the two people on his tablet PC.
[Baek Yuri, Neoul]
First mission passed.
***
The ten candidates selected as the Signal Song Center boarded the bus before the other contestants.
They went to their accommodations and were given the benefit of watching the signal song guide and choreography video first.
The remaining participants continued busking a little more to secure some time, and once the participants who had not yet found partners found partners, they planned to move all at once.
Baek Yuri retrieved the rabbit ears and put it on his head, returning the selfie camera. Then, he received his luggage from the staff who was guarding the participants' luggage and loaded it onto the bus.
Since they gathered at the filming location right after arriving in Jeju Island, they had to take care of their own luggage.
"Don't you have any luggage, Neoul ssi?"
"Luggage?"
Neoul lifted the bag he was carrying on his shoulder.
"My luggage is here."
"Is that all your luggage?"
"Yes."
Baek Yuri was taken aback by the confident answer.
It wasn't because his bag was small for someone who had come to the training camp for nearly two weeks. Anyway, when they go to the dorm, they will give a practice uniform, and they will be wearing it for most of the filming except when they sleep.
The only problem was that Neoul was soaking wet from head to toe, and water was dripping from his bag.
Baek Yuri opened his luggage and took out a towel and handed it to Neoul.
"If you want to get on the bus... I think you should dry yourself first."
Neoul took the towel and flipped it over and played with it. The soft and fluffy texture was fun.
"Where are your shoes? Did you lose them?"
Baek Yuri asked, looking at Neoul's bare feet.
"Shoes?"
Neoul saw that Baek Yuri kept looking at his feet, and guessed what his shoes were. Baek Yuri was wearing white sneakers.
"No shoes."
Neoul shook his head and wiggled his toes. Do you have to wear shoes on land?
"Get on quickly! We're leaving!"
At that moment, a staff member came over after checking the time and urged the two people on.
Baek Yuri tried to get on the bus quickly, but stopped and grabbed the staff member.
"Excuse me! Can I borrow a thermometer?"
"A thermometer? There isn't one here, but there will be one at your accommodation. Ask later."
Ah, at the accommodations.......
There are already 80 participants and a lot of production staff, so shouldn't you always bring a first aid kit and basic medical supplies?
"Then do you have any spare shoes or slippers?"
"Just a moment."
The staff brought a pair of green slippers. The fashion of the slippers Neoul was wearing became even more bizarre. Neoul held a towel and awkwardly wiped the moisture off his feet, which were trapped in the slippers.
Baek Yuri got on the bus first. The eight people who had already gotten on the bus and taken their seats cheered when Baek Yuri and Neoul entered.
"Hello! Hello!"
"Wow, the center candidates are already full!"
"I opened the window on the bus and listened to your song! You're so good!"
There was a camera installed inside the bus, one per person. Maybe that's why everyone reacted so exaggeratedly.
Baek Yuri smiled and greeted everyone and hurried to sit down. However, he found Neoul climbing the stairs with his arms instead of his legs, so he went back and helped him up.
"Please sit here."
Baek Yuri guided Neoul to the empty window seat where the camera was installed, and sat down next to him.
'If you're not hurt, why can't you walk properly? You couldn't keep your balance earlier and fell... The temperature is also like ice... Did your shoes get swept away by the waves?'
He suspected that he was lying because he had to go to the hospital but couldn't miss filming.
If he missed the first filming, he might have missed the entire first episode...... The PD must have noticed.
'If he had missed, he wouldn't have been a candidate for the Signal Song Center.'
In a situation where even managing one's condition is a skill, he might have been afraid that he would be told to leave if he acted sick.
Baek Yuri knew the earnestness of that kind of person.
Knowing better than anyone else, he couldn't bring himself to advise Neoul that health was more important than filming or debuting.
The longer you leave illness and injury untreated, the more irreversible it becomes. Even if you give up this survival and wait for another chance, it was right to treat it properly first.
'After filming is over today, I'll have to recommend that you go to the hospital again.'
Baek Yuri, who doesn't even know that he's not being treated as a human. The misunderstanding deepens.
Neoul looked around the bus with his head turned here and there with a towel around his neck.
It was strange to see cold air coming out of a strange hole in the ceiling. The four chairs installed in a row were so cramped that his shoulders kept bumping into the person next to him.
The camera installed on the chair in front looked similar to the one he saw at the beach earlier, but it was a little smaller.
Neoul blinked slowly and stared intently at the camera lens.
The square machine that the sea priestess had put on Neoul and pushed him into had something similar in appearance, although different in size.
—ꜱᴇᴀ ᴘʀɪᴇꜱᴛᴇꜱꜱ. ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ?
—ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴀ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜱᴛᴏʀᴇꜱ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀɪᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ. ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴘᴀʀᴛ ʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇ 'ᴇʏᴇ' ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ.
—ᴇʏᴇ?
—ʏᴇᴀʜ. ʟᴏᴏᴋ ʜᴇʀᴇ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ ɪꜱ ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴛᴏʀɪɴɢ ɪᴛ ɪɴ ɪᴛꜱ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀʏ.
—ᴡʜʏ?
—ɪᴛ'ꜱ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ꜰᴜɴɴʏ~
Neoul tilted his head as he recalled the words of the sea priestess.
'Does it look at me because I'm funny...?'
Whenever Abamama and his subjects saw me, they all praised me, saying, 'You're handsome.', 'You're so handsome.', 'If you just keep your mouth shut, you'll look so manly.'
I couldn't tell if the Dragon Palace family was being too sly, or if they were flattering me with their words, or if the Sea Priestess was lying.
'Don't just look at me being funny, look at me kindly.'
Neoul muttered to himself and smiled slightly, then turned his eyes out the window.
Just as the Sea Priestess had said, everyone on land was dressed up.
There were other animals among the humans, and they had fluffy ears. Some had triangular ears, while others had round ears.
Most of the humans and animals on the beach had dark hair, but some had bright or colorful hair.
Neoul saw people singing, dancing, and acting strangely, and people watching them.
I don't know why the singing stick has to be held to the mouth, but the large, square machine next to it had surprised Neoul a moment ago.
'There must be a person inside there who is small in size, but has a very loud voice.'
Someone was imitating Neoul's voice and calling louder through the holes that were hollowed out like basalt.
"Fasten your seatbelt!"
The bus started off with the bus driver's voice.
As his body tilted backwards, Neoul was startled and hurriedly grabbed the window and the back of the front seat.
As the bus shook and moved forward, the scenery outside the window continued to move and change.
'Humans make vehicles and travel the sea as if it were their home, and they make things like this and ride them on land too.'
They are truly mysterious creatures.
But where are we going...?
When Baek Yuri, who was sitting next to him, put on his seatbelt, Neoul watched his actions closely and followed suit. The seatbelt clicked and locked.
Neoul put both hands on the window and clung to it, watching the scenery change every moment.
The land, which was completely different from the sea, was truly a different world.
While Neoul was distracted by the window, the bus quickly became a noisy place of friendship.
"I know that senior Baek Yuri!"
The one who knows Baek Yuri was a blue-haired person. He was holding a small bluebird model in his hand.
"Debut song
"...! How did you know?"
"I watched the choreography video diligently because I like dancing!"
The blue-haired person answered Baek Yuri, who was wide-eyed.
[Pure Lover Lover Lover
Be my lover
Twilight without a single shadow
On the road where no one is
I want to walk with you.]
Yee~
The blue-haired human was dancing and humming a song while flapping his arms and legs with his waist tied with a seat belt.
He looked just like a baby dolphin who was caught in a net but didn't know it was dangerous and was playing around.
"I memorized all that choreography!"
Seeing him show off his complicated dance moves and smile with a proud expression, Baek Yuri was touched.
"Wow! Thank you for remembering me! I didn't know anyone would know since we debuted and disbanded only 6 months ago....."
Baek Yuri suddenly felt emotional and his mouth twitched as if his throat was choked up. Then he cleared his throat and continued.
"We're both contestants who are challenging the audition survival show, so please just call me by my name instead of senior."
"Yap! Yap! Yuri hyung-nim!"
Neoul, who was listening to the conversation from the side, pricked up his ears.
'Audition' survival?
A new word appeared before survival. However, the word audition was not translated.
I didn't know if it was because it wasn't in Yonggung or because it was a word that was hard to translate.
[Yonggung. A palace from folk tales or legends, said to be inhabited by the sea king.]
'I'll remember it and ask.'
Anyway, judging from the atmosphere, it seemed like the mission was successful, so now all that was left was to make a debut. Neoul hugged the bag containing Sang-sang and Stardust and quietly eavesdropped on the conversation.
"I've also seen a lot of Woo Cheong ssi's dance cover videos. It's so nice to meet you here."
"Wow, you saw the videos! It's so amazing! Hyung-nim, call me Cheong too! It's okay to talk to me without formality!"
His hair is blue, and his name is 'Cheong'. It was an easy name to remember.
Woo Cheong closed his eyes tightly and laughed. The size of his double eyelids were different, but when he smiled, one eye folded narrower.
Whether he was sociable or not, Woo Cheong also talked to Neoul, who was sitting next to Baek Yu-ri.
"What's your name, Long-Haired hyung-nim? You're my hyung-nim, right? I'm eighteen! My name is Woo Cheong! The humming just now was really amazing and awesome! But how tall are you? You look like a basketball player!"
He spoke too fast and had too many sentences.
'What's basketball...?'
Neoul only half-understood what Woo-cheong said and nodded in response.
"My name is Neoul...."
"Ul hyung-nim!"
"No, not Ul, but Neoul...."
"Aha, Neoul-i hyung-nim! I thought your last name was Neo and your first name was a one name like mine! People think I have a different last name and my first name is Woo-cheong. Hyung-nim, are you over 190?"
"I haven't measured my height in a long time, so I don't know."
"Really? I'm 182.6cm, but you look half a span taller than me! But hyung-nim, long hair suits you so well! I want to have long hair too, but my mom told me that it won't suit me."
"...?"
Neoul fiddled with his hair in a puzzled manner.
His hair wasn't very long, but it was just long enough to cover his neck. It was an ambiguous length that just brushed his shoulders.
'Can this be called long...? Isn't long hair supposed to be long like Abamama's?'
By the way, there were quite a few people with long hair on the beach, but among the people, rabbits, and mermaids in the bus, Neoul's hair was the longest.
In particular, most of the bangs were trimmed to a length that seemed to poke their eyes or touch their eyebrows. Baek Yuri and Woo Cheong's hair was long enough to poke their eyes.
'Why are they poking their eyes like that? Isn't that uncomfortable?'
Neoul observed with a curious gaze.
Woo Cheong wrinkled his face as if trying to expand his nose and bring his facial features to the center.
—