26. Please Take Good Care of Our Prince
"Prince. I'm not a god. I'm just a priestess who serves a god. I can't know everything in the world."
The sea priestess smiled slyly.
On the other hand, Neoul's expression became sullen.
"A liar, a sly, devilish old woman."
Neoul was convinced by the sea priestess's sly attitude. That old woman clearly knew everything but pretended not to know. Somehow, thinking back now, it was strange that she always came at the perfect timing.
"If you knew that I was making a fuss, why did you help me participate in an idol survival program?"
What was your intention?
Neoul's eyes sharpened. He was very suspicious of her hiding the truth and keeping her mouth shut in a situation where the Dragon King had fallen.
The sea priestess responded as if she was upset. "When have I ever done anything that would harm the prince?"
The attitude was so shameless that Neoul searched his memory. There were many times when he was harmed... right?
When Neoul was a baby, the annoying sea priestess would tease Neoul and giggle more than once or twice.
"Do you have no conscience...?"
At Neoul's reaction of furrowing his brow and blinking, the sea priestess giggled again.
After a while, she stopped laughing and made a gentle voice like the spring breeze.
"There is a saying that if you leak the secrets of the heavens, you will be in trouble. A priestess must keep her mouth shut. However, even if she cannot tell everything, she can offer a helping hand. Like now."
She gestured as if to give her the icebox quickly.
Without letting his sullen expression go, Neoul lowered his hand. Then, the sea priestess gently snatched the box away.
The sea priestess checked the contents of the box and said to Neoul.
"It does not suit the prince to worry and fret."
Her long pupils glowed faintly as if they could see right through Neoul's mind.
"Do whatever your heart desires and live. That's okay."
She smiled and turned her gaze to Baek Yuri, who was standing quietly.
"You."
"....?"
"I'll cheer you on."
"Yes...?"
At the sudden cheer of the sea priestess, Baek Yuri forgot the warning that Neoul had given to his not to make a sound and raised his voice.
To the flustered him, the sea priestess smiled and said a word before turning around.
"Please take good care of our prince."
Neoul shook his head repeatedly.
***
On the way back to the dormitory. Baek Yuri carefully asked Neoul.
"Why did you tell me not to talk?"
"The sea priestess is always looking for a good voice."
Seducing? Is she trying to steal my voice?
Baek Yuri's face paled, and he touched the back of his neck. I'm going to make a living from this, so if it's taken away, it'll be a big deal.
"But can you really leave it to her?"
No matter how you look at it, she looks suspicious, is it okay?
He was worried whether the rabbit liver would be delivered to the Dragon King. However, the person in question, Neoul, didn't seem worried at all.
Neoul stopped walking and looked back. He opened his mouth, staring into the distance.
"The sea priestess... likes to hit others on the back of the head, laughs at crying children, and she doesn't seem to care about the Dragon King. She's not afraid of anything, and she's also a thief who occasionally steals the Dragon Palace's jewels, but she's trustworthy."
"...?"
Is that trustworthy...?
Since when did the definition of trustworthy become sarcasm?
If Baek Yuri was in Neoul's position, he would have gone back the way he came, with the rabbit liver, and jumped into the sea himself.
However, he couldn't say anything because the person in question said he would believe her, so he kept his mouth shut.
— ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴄᴀʀᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴏᴜʀ ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇ.
He felt a vague sense of trust, thinking, 'A person who says such things would never betray him.'
Baek Yuri prayed for the Dragon King, whose face he had never even seen, to recover safely.
It seemed like the rabbit liver incident was resolved in a vague way.
It was a long time later that he realized that it wasn't resolved at all.
***
In July, three weeks before the first episode aired.
The individual live performance videos of
The votes were divided into 'voice' and 'dance', but in fact, the original was a video of both dancing and singing.
The law student despaired at seeing the swaying and wriggling Neoul, while showing off his ecstatic vocals.
"Ahhhh... Neoul. Your name was Gal Neoul...."
Oh my. I'm sorry. I couldn't cast my precious vote for your dance...! But I still voted for you in the voice vote?!
The identity of the 13th voice and 5th dance was Gal Neoul.
How can someone have such outstanding talent and such miserable skills at the same time?
"I'm screwed... But you're so cute...."
You have so much humanity!
You're so cute when I find out you're Gal Neoul!
I should have noticed that the video was zoomed out slightly to hide Gal Neoul's tall height and size in the dance video.
The comments under Gal Neoul's video were filled with people who were frustrated, similar to the law student.
—I'm sorry, Neoul-ahㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Your dance is just....
—Aaaaah Neoul-ah I'm sorry I didn't recognize youㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└Aah I'm sorry tooㅠㅠㅜ
└I'm apologizing too..ㅠ
—Somehow you only appeared briefly in the group performance video and only a quick shot.. You can't dance.. Huh..
— If I recognized you but I give you a ticket. This is an insult to the choreographer....
└Why insult;; But he didn't make any mistakes until the end and did well.
└└Isn't it too different from Woo Cheong's dance to say he didn't make any mistakes?ㅋ
└└└Woo Cheong is just a dancer ㅋㅋ He's a dancer compared to someone who is at the level of a Tal-idol.
[Tal-Idol. A compound word of 脫 + IDOL. It is used when an idol member has outstanding singing ability or looks, or when they have the skills of a full-fledged genre musician.]
└└└└These days, all idols are good at dancing, so what the heck is this 'Tal idol' crap ㅋㅋㅋ Woo Cheong also came out because he wanted to be an idol, but it seems really annoying that people call someone a tal-idol just because he's good at something.
└└└└Yeah, these days, idol music show encores are a punishment~
└└└└└No, that's not true. There are many kids who are good at it, but it's too narrow-minded to think that way by looking at people who are bad at it or at manipulated videos. (Link) Also, check this out.
└└└└└└Yeah, can't do that.
└└└└└└└What the f*ck, you fucking XXXX, you can't even watch the video and leave a comment, and you only believe in the maliciously manipulated MR removed video and keep complaining.
└└└└└└└Stop fighting in my comments and get out.
Despite the commenter's words to get out, the fight became more and more heated and now it had crossed the line.
"Oh. At this point, you could sue."
The law student was fed up with the useless fight where they bit each other viciously and passed over it.
As she scrolled down the comments, she finally found a comment that she could laugh at and sympathize with.
—The way he was flailing around was so cuteㅋㅋㅋ
—Wowㅠㅠ his voice is crazyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ he's out of breath and shaking a little because he's dancing, but his voice is really amazing..
└It's so good when I close my eyes and listen, but when I open my eyes, I can't concentrate because of the unique dance movesㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└I think I'll keep thinking about it even in my dreamsㅋㅋㅋ
└└2222ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—He's trying so hard to dance like a pro, but he can't do it ㅋㅋㅋ It's hilarious. No, actually it's not funny
—No wayㅠㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠㅠ I failed at votingㅠㅜㅠ
└ㅋㅋㅋ me tooㅠㅠ
└Ha...
—By the way, his name is pretty too ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I guess it's a Korean name.
— He can't dance, but it was cute.. ㅎㅎ
└ㅋㅋ큐ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Ah, I'm about to become a fan. The video hasn't ended in 2 hours!
└FR. Why is his feet shaking in the middle? It's so cute I could die
—Gal Neoul's physical is crazy..
└To be honest, these days, all the girl groups and male groups are just skin and bones ㅎ Their schedules are murderous, but do they eat and go? It's sad... Neoul is really dependable and I don't have any worries ㅋㅋ It seems like I can fangirl without worrying
└From head to toe, it's really unrealistic.
└Agreed. Baek Gi-yeom Gal Neoul, debut!! You guys have to continue the lineage of the beast idols that disappeared!!
└Toktok. Baek Yuri of Clear has been my favorite since he was the youngest and I still cheer for him as Mission (Clear fandom name)! Yuri also has an awesome physique! Even though his face looks soft, he said that his body has been built up from swimming and taekwondo since he was young! Baek Yuri, Baek Gi-yeom's family members are all black belts, and it's a tradition to win at least one elementary school swimming gold medal..!
└Huh? Are Baek Yuri and Baek Gi-yeom from the same family?
└└Yes! They're cousins! Giyeom was in the swimming club until middle school, and Yuri quit swimming after winning a medal in elementary school and prepared to be an idol!
└└└Oh my, thank you for letting me knowㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ They both have broad shoulders somehow..
└└└└I was in elementary school with them and they're famous in the neighborhood. Baek Yuri, his twin Baek Namoo, and Baek Gi-yeom were all together, and the three of them swept the elementary swimming division medals in backstroke, freestyle, butterfly, and medley (they seemed like crazy guys)...
Anyway, they're really kind and polite, but also handsome, so everyone in the class liked them and they're popular with the teachers and parents. At the time, some kids were jealous because their moms compared them, but those kids were allies because of Baek Namoo and Baek Gi-yeom's crazy friendliness.
To be honest, Baek Yuri was a quiet bookworm, and Baek Namoo was the most talented and outgoing, so he was really popular. He was good at singing and dancing, so I just thought he was born to be an idol. He said he was going to be an idol himself, and he started being a trainee in the 5th grade.
Baek Yuri followed Baek Namoo because he asked him to do it with him, but he had no talent, so he cried sometimes at school. At that time, I naturally thought that Baek Namoo would become an idol, but I never imagined that Baek Yuri would debut on his own and appear in a program like this.
└└└└└Wow, I thought Baek Yuri was a genius idol, but he's a hard worker..
└└└└└Is this real? Wow.... I wish all three of them would debut and meet on TVㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└└└└└└They couldn't meet. Baek Namoo became a star in the sky 5 years ago.
—It's so cute how they're all happy and proud ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜ
└(Death) It's so harmless but it's harmful to the heart. Smiling with violence.
—Oh, what should I do? It seems like I'm going to be one of Galfans alreadyㅋㅋㅋ
Following that,
[The production crew is leaving after filming at the beach, but!]
[The tube suddenly starts to shake!]
[There was a trainee who got left behind?!]
[They're urgently calling the dorm.]
[Writer Yoon: All 80 people have arrived?]
[(Scary atmosphere sound effect)]
[PD Seok: Y-y-you're not a ghost, are you?]
[??? Participant: No!?]
[PD Seok: So, is one of the 80 people over there a ghost...?]
[Writer Yoon: ...…!]
[The production staff and participants are in a state of mental breakdown!]
—ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋWhat's with the content?
—A special feature that's so captivatingㅋㅋㅋ
—This is the first time I've seen an idol survival show like thisㅋㅋㅋㅋ It's so fun
—There were originally 80 people? But there were 81 people in the voting?
└Crazy
└ㅎㄷㄷㄷㄷ What the heck, what's going on?
└Goosebumps....
—The production team's acting is so obviousㅋ It's all scripted.
└Your life is also a fabrication~
└└I think it's the script. What's wrong with you.
***
The concept of Woo Cheong's team, which started with Byeoljubujeon, had to undergo drastic revisions in the middle.
At first, Woo Cheong took the lead in choreographing and everything went smoothly until they distributed the parts amicably.
They tried to express Byeoljubujeon, who is trying to lure a rabbit into the sea, in a languid and dreamy atmosphere.
However, the problem was immediately revealed as soon as they started practicing in earnest. The minors in the team were too cute.
Japanese Daiki habitually acted a bit too cute, and middle school student Go Woon-goo, with his bright eyes, just looked like a kid.
Fortunately, Woo Cheong choreographed the dance himself, and he was tall and had long arms and legs, so it suited him, but.....
"Are you guys really okay like this?"
The bitter words of trainer Hal A, who came to check up on them, stung.
"To me, you don't look like a team right now. Go Woon-goo and Daiki. You two are playing too separately. I'm not sure if this is the right direction for the concept."
Even though Neoul had a blank expression, his black eyes gave off a sense of sadness, so he was said to match the song quite well even if he just smiled slightly.
In fact, since it was his first time acting, Neoul wasn't that good objectively. There was a tendency for minors to get a lot of attention, and Neoul to quietly fade away.
The face and voice are so amazing that no matter what expression he makes, you can't help but get lost in it.
In the end, the Woo Cheong team went into a meeting to decide on a concept again.
"Is it right to just go with a cute younger guy concept?"
Go Woon-goo answered Woo Cheong's question gloomily.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't do it properly..."
"I'm sorry."
Daiki was also depressed.
"Oh, no. Kids. When I was your age, I looked like a cute baby lion, so this feeling didn't suit me. It's natural that it's difficult. We should've considered it first."
Baek Gi-yeom hurriedly consoled his teammates and lightened the mood.
"Baby lion.... In his own words..."
"Giyeomi hyung, are you still trying to promote the lion image? Raccoon hyung said it wasn't a lion! But you do look a bit like one!"
Go Woon-goo's bright eyes momentarily lost focus, and Woo Cheong burst out laughing.
"Right? Mom said I had a dream that I was a lion too. And I was wearing a colorful, cold crown."
Baek Gi-yeom smiled with satisfaction as the mood lightened a bit.
"It's important to create a stage that everyone can enjoy. Don't be upset, and think of it as an opportunity to create a better stage. Got it?"
"Yes."
"Yes! I like it~!"
At that time, Daiki spoke in broken Korean.
"Wearing Hanbok is good. What's the concopt? Concipt? Concept?"
Woo Cheong added his opinion.
"I also want to keep the keywords 'Hanbok' and 'temptation'. Is there anything strong?"
Strong?
Neoul just listened to the team members' stories blankly, and then thought back to when they went to the folk village.
The people bleeding there weren't injured, they were just pretending to be ghosts and scaring people.
I remembered how the coward Ha On-ha trembled and was scared even though it was fake.
At that moment, I heard a whisper from the ceiling. When I raised my head, the two middle school girl ghosts I saw at the folk village were hanging upside down from the ceiling.
[Look here. Look here. Come here. Come here. I'll cheer you on. I'll cheer you on. Let's go together. Let's go together.]
I heard a whispering sound from above my head, as if my earhole was constantly tickling.
"Ghost?"
Neoul blinked, pointing to the ceiling.
"What if we put on ghost makeup?"
Of course, it wasn't scary at all to Neoul, but the humans seemed quite scared.
"Oh, ghost! Neoul, I got a good idea when I heard you! There's one that fits perfectly among Korean ghosts!"
Baek Gi-yeom suddenly got up from his seat.
—