45. Be careful with your mouth, whether you're asleep or awake
'They told me to call Secretary Song when I am done.'
After taking off his name tag and changing clothes, Neoul was a little surprised to see that he had over twenty missed calls piled up on his smartphone.
At that moment, the incoming call screen appeared on his smartphone, which he had set to silent mode. The moment Neoul picked up the phone, he heard Won Hashin's scream.
—Hey! Why are you picking up now! Where did you learn to hang up on the phone, you ill-mannered fish!
"My ears are itchy. Please speak quietly."
—You! You! I sent Secretary Song, so don't go astray and come straight home! Huh? Got it?!
"I'm not deaf. Please speak softly."
—Ah! I'm pissed! Just do this! You're not done yet, are you? Huh? Do you believe it? Huh? No, more than that, why don't you tell me which kid recommended that to you?!
The voice of Won Hashin was so loud that Baek Yuri, who had been sneaking up on him, hesitated and took a step back.
Neoul replied, putting his smartphone away.
"I was just asking because I was curious."
—Why are you curious about that? Don't be curious! Don't even think about it! Just erase it from your mind!
Neoul shook his head. How can he not even ask questions about things he doesn't know?
'What a useless human being.'
As he was about to end the call, he suddenly thought of Ha On-ha and Yeo Do-bin, who had nowhere to go.
"CEO Won Hashin."
-Why!
"Can I bring some humans into my house on the first broadcast day?"
-Huh? Watching the first broadcast with friends? Friends......? They?
It doesn't seem like they've become that close. Neoul has never really built a deep bond with them that could be called friends.
"They're not friends, they're just 'humans I know.'"
And they're still more like 'competitors.' They're filming a survival program for their debut.
- Wow.... The 'humans you know' who hear it must be upset. So am I a 'middle-aged man you know?'
"That's right."
- What do you mean 'that' is 'right'! You ungrateful fish! How many meals have I made for you, man! Throw it all up!
"Uh...…."
With an embarrassed expression, Neoul slightly took the smartphone away from his ear, looked at the screen, and then put it back to his ear.
"Can you handle it?"
- Aaaah! This is crazy!
I could vaguely hear him putting his smartphone away and spouting unintelligible swear words. After a while, he returned, panting and responding in an angry voice.
-Bring those damn 'humans'!
"Thank you for allowing me. I like it because the TV is bigger than I thought, even though the CEO Won Hashin seems small."
- Oh, I hate you!
Won Hashin added with a shudder.
- Hey! By the way, you shouldn't bring kids who gave you drugs?! They're trash that can't be recycled! Do you understand?!
Just as Neoul was about to answer that no one gave him drugs, the call suddenly hung up.
The screen where the call ended showed that he was desperate to somehow hang up before Neoul. It was revenge for Neoul hanging up first.
Whether he wanted to get revenge or not.
Neoul happily put his smartphone in his pocket.
At that moment, his eyes met with Baek Yuri's, who had walked away a few steps. Baek Yuri paused for a moment, keeping the distance between them, and then asked.
"Neoul."
"Yes?"
"Baek Gi-yeom wants to ask for your opinion on the first broadcast when the first team battle team members gather together."
"...? Why didn't he ask me directly?"
"He went to ask the other kids one by one."
"Why don't you ask in the single rabbit room?"
"Not a single rabbit, but a group chat. If you talk in a group chat, there might be people who want to refuse but get caught up in the atmosphere and say yes, so he asked each person one by one. There might be people who want to watch it with other friends or at home with their families."
[단토끼
단톡
Why?
Neoul thought Baek Gi-yeom's consideration was excessive, but he didn't point it out. Instead, he opened his mouth because he had something to ask Baek Yu-ri.
"Sir Baek Yu-ri. What is drug...."
"Whoa!"
"Dr.."
"Whoa! Neoul ssi, you wanted to eat drug To! ast! Ahaha. If you wanted To! ast! you should have told me earlier. They sell some around here, so you can buy some when you go out later. Right?"
"...."
Baek Yuri emphasized 'toast' again in a loud voice and quickly scanned the staff walking around with his eyes. Then, with a scary look, he forced Neoul to close his mouth.
In the end, Neoul asked without a subject.
"What is it that makes humans go crazy?"
"It was trending on SNS once. Do you want to see it?"
Baek Yuri picked up his smartphone, typed so fast that his fingers were invisible, and showed it to Neoul.
[You absolutely must not do this. It is illegal, but it is also destructive to people. You can become addicted, so you should not touch it out of curiosity.]
Neoul looked at him with an expression that said, "Why can't you even bring it up?" Baek Yuri wrote down the following sentence.
[There are many people who listen. There are short-term part-time workers among the staff, and even if you sign a confidentiality agreement, they can leak stories they hear here. There are many people who are curious about stories that don't appear on the broadcast. It's like you are interested in drugs.]
Baek Yuri moved his finger ceaselessly across his smartphone screen.
[If you get caught, there could be an article with a meaningful title like '
Then, the cyber rekka who see the article will create all kinds of false rumor videos with provocative titles.
[사이버 렉카
People who watched the video might not even judge the truth and just label Neoul as a 'idol aspirant who looks for drugs before even debuting'.
Wouldn't a title like 'Hungry Gal Neoul want to eat drug toast' be much safer than that? Baek Yuri was worried about the innocent mermaid prince Neoul who knew nothing about the world.
"Of course, it could be a rash worry. I could be overly sensitive. But....."
Baek Yuri spoke in a voice so small that only Neoul could hear.
"If you always imagine the worst case scenario and act accordingly, you'll end up in a slightly better situation than that."
Neoul, who had been listening quietly, slowly blinked.
Then, as if it was hard to understand, he asked.
"Sir Baek Yuri."
"Yes?"
"If you always imagine the worst case scenario... doesn't it make you feel bad?"
Neoul noticed Yeo Do-bin and Ha On-ha approaching from the other side and glanced at them, then stared at Baek Yuri again.
Baek Yuri froze without saying anything. It felt like he'd been hit hard in the head.
Neoul opened his mouth again.
"I know you're saying that being careful isn't bad. But I think it would be really hard for me. If you make it a habit to imagine bad things, your heart will eventually burn black like ink."
"..."
"There are many things that will burn naturally as you live, so why burn them in advance? You should save them and preserve them."
After finishing speaking, Neoul lowered his eyes and smiled faintly. His shadowed face looked like he had a story. However, he soon raised his chin as if nothing had happened.
"Thank you for your help. I will contact Sir Baek Gi-yeom directly."
Neoul walked away, leaving Baek Yu-ri behind. He approached Ha On-ha and Yeo Do-bin, who were far away, and talked to them.
Baek Yu-ri stood there, silently mulling over the words that Neoul had left behind.
***
Yeo Do-bin immediately warned Neoul.
"Be careful of Kim Ji-rok!..!"
"Huh?"
"He's after you."
"What are you talking about?"
"He tried to use violence! He's a bad person!"
"I know that Kim Ji-rok is bad."
"Oh, you know......?"
"Since he's rotten in the soul, he'll definitely be tied up by the oratjul rope of the grim reaper and dragged when he dies. That'll be bad."
When Neoul said it casually, Yeo Do-bin opened his eyes wide.
"Oratjul? What is Oratjul? Who's pulling it?"
"The grim reaper is pulling it."
"Hahahaha! You're really good at cursing~?"
Ha On-ha laughed heartily and exclaimed in admiration.
"Better yet, come to the house where I'm staying to film reactions. I've already gotten permission from the landlord."
Neoul invited the two to the house of Won Hashin.
***
"Oh, PD. The turtle friend wants to stop. Let's eat first."
"Oh, uh. Wait a minute."
FLu headquarters editing room. PD Seok Oh-young, who had been constantly watching videos, took his eyes off the monitor at the assistant director's call.
He took the packaged food bag and put it down next to him, groaning while pressing the stiff nape of his neck and shoulders where his turtle neck was.
"Oh. I'm dying."
The assistant director's face was also pale. While sitting side by side and stuffing kimbap into their mouths in a hurry and chewing, the two's eyes were soon fixed on the monitor again.
PD Seok Oh-young asked.
"We've almost figured out the direction, but strangely, don't you feel something is missing...? I think we could put a little more MSG on it."
"Where on earth are we going?"
The assistant director was so shocked that he almost dropped the kimbap he was eating.
Quality? Good. Didn't they receive so much investment from UJ Group that they even went all the way to Jeju? The theme song was well-chosen, and the promotional video and editing quality were impeccable.
Narrative? Not enough, but overflowing.
Like child actor Lee Gal-chae, who dreamed of becoming an idol but was finally able to fulfill his dream that was put on hold due to realistic issues.
The splendid appearance of Baek Yu-ri, who suffered setbacks but did not give up and is aiming for a re-debut.
The stories of global trainees who flew in from all over the world to become Korean idols.
The youngest contestant, Go Woon-goo, who is a middle school student but does not lose heart among his older brothers and does his part.
Even the various ordinary contestants selected from Jeju Island.
The story flowed like a waterfall.
Conflict? This was also quite a lot.
It was precarious from the team selection, and in the end, one side was shouting and the other side was in tears.
The assistant director couldn't figure out where the seasoning was lacking.
"I mean the contestant Gal Neoul."
The assistant director listened intently to PD Seok Oh-young's words that suddenly came out, as if asking him to explain in detail.
"Why the contestant Gal Neoul?"
"What should I say? It was edited... but the contestant's charm was rather lacking? It became a bit bland."
A vocal genius discovered by chance in Jeju Island.
The character of Neoul was captured as if it were a 'reclusive master'. PD Seok Oh-young focused on Neoul's special tone and outstanding vocal skills.
He was considering that he could push growth a little by showing his efforts, even though he can't dance.
In fact, he didn't have any expectations for the ordinary contestants at first. Their role was only to highlight the program's unique features.
However, he began to have some expectations after seeing Gal Neoul's amazing vocal skills and the way he put all his effort into practicing dance.
'Wow. Is he really going to debut?'
The ordinary contestants who were just entertainment show extras are now the main characters of the program.
Just imagining it makes me excited!
To achieve that grand picture, PD Seok Oh-young cut out the scene where he swore at Kim Ji-rok and Gye Tae-seok on the bus. Anyone could see that it was edited in a way that was friendly to Gal Neoul.
However, when he looked back at the edited version, he felt regretful, as if something important had been missed. PD Seok Oh-young snapped his fingers while watching the original video that had not been edited.
"I shouldn't cut it, I should try to keep it as much as possible. Let's go with a rival, an enemy structure."
The more I watch the video, the more I see that Gal Neoul is a gentle participant to everyone. Although his words are direct, he seems to be gentle by nature. However, he seemed hostile and wary to participants Kim Ji-rok and Gye Tae-seok
It's like a wild animal that distinguishes good people from bad people with its keen senses.
Gye Tae-seok didn't really care whether Gal Neoul was wary or not.
However, there were many scenes where participant Kim Ji-rok pretended not to show it, but he was secretly restraining Gal Neoul or feeling bad. His emotions were faintly expressed in his expression, but he didn't seem to know.
"Is it okay...?"
"It's not even a bad thing, so what?"
It's their fault for not being careful when they appeared on TV.
Whether the two get cursed at or the viewers get divided into two and fight. PD Seok Oh-young just needs to take care of the viewer ratings.
If they fight too often, there's a risk that viewers will get tired and leave, but moderate fights tend to draw attention.
"And that's the original purpose of bringing in ordinary participants. To show honest and unfiltered words and actions."
"Right...? That's refreshing."
"Yeah. But now that they're only showing their perfect sides, it actually makes them seem less fresh and charming. It feels like a lie that they're ordinary people, and it makes people doubt the authenticity of the program."
PD Seok Oh-young stretched out his arms, stretched, and grabbed the mouse again.
His eyes flared up.
"I think it's right to go with the original intention."
Although he said it nicely, saying 'as originally intended', in the end, he meant that he would not care about the contestants' image and would focus on the viewer ratings.
He also created a confrontational structure with Kim Ji-rok.
Neoul will definitely get some criticism for his words and actions on the bus But that will be covered up by his excellent vocals and hard work. He is a very attractive contestant.
'I might take care of his image later after seeing the viewers' reactions.'
—