As the one camera in that staff's hand started rolling, they gave us one very simple order:
To open the envelopes.
Now, I had only seen a glimpse of the words inside since the letters of my name and the warning on the outside ended up covering most of them, but a word that stood out to me was this: work.
It was written on Dojun's envelope, too. I checked Mahesha's and Daniel's, and the results were...
I was genuinely pissed for the rest of the ride. The only reason I didn't leave the bus at the first stop was because I was still sulking.
But now that we're off to this nowhere land? I can already guess what's in the envelope.
And the worst thing is: I can't avoid reality anymore.
I watched the nine other participants open them first. I saw their faces turn from confusion to horror, yet I couldn't do anything for them.
With a deep sigh, I opened the damn envelope and took out the letter inside.
"Congratulations on finishing the choreography for Make Your Idol's theme song. In order to perform your results on stage, you must not only think of performance, but also fashion..."
"...thus, producer Bang has given you time to earn the money and buy all the items you deem necessary to perform in the upcoming days. Do any work you want, good luck!"
I read the last part in a mock-cheery tone in spite of that stupid exclamation mark, finishing the letter in front of the camera.
For a moment, nobody said anything. I mean, I get it. I'm in sheer disbelief, too. Even the staff won't say a damn thing except 'follow the letter.'
"...so," Mahesha finally broke off the silence.
Then he closed his mouth again.
But then he spoke again,
"Does anyone here only sleep well at night when their ID's with them? No, no one?"
Everyone shook their heads seriously. Internally, I'm sure we were all cursing the PD off.
He's been good and normal his whole career, why frustrate sixty different guys where there are minors among them?
I even shivered at a conversation I had with Nicholas and Kato.
- I heard the youngest one here is 16.
- Seriously? God, the world is scary.
- This industry is even scarier.
The worst part is that everyone else thought it was a completely normal age to start working your bones off.
Scary indeed, coming from someone a whole decade older than that kid.
"Well, it's not like we can just ask some restaurant owner to let us work for a few days," Kato answered in attempt to stay positive.
I sighed. This really isn't the time to have a fit within oneself. As an adult who came to this show paid, I have to pull my weight for the others, too.
I decided to leave the bus parking lot, because yes, that's where we were dropped off, and looked around.
Damn... I really don't know where this is–
"Wait, I see something familiar."
At my 'excitement', the other guys followed out and looked to the place across the street I was pointing at.
"What, what are you telling us?"
That store, the one over there!
"...Strawberry Clothingline?"
Indeed so!
All hail the work of art that is social interaction!
"Chan's ability to make up a topic is top notch..."
"Didn't he start by talking about rice cakes? How did we get a job at a thrift store again?"
Meanwhile, I was confirming some things with Berry, because yes, this is happening. If you don't remember her, she's the person who I helped back at the Strawberry Clothingline chapter.
"I'm really sorry. I just so happened to be short-staffed for the week, but I can take five of you at most..."
"That's more than enough, Berry. You don't need to pay for it, as long as they get the clothes as we agreed."
Once again, connections helped me with life. Not only did Berry not mind taking in so many people to 'work' at her store, she also recommended other jobs that won't take long.
- Anyone here has siblings? I have a neighbor that needs urgent babysitting for two days. Maybe they'll hire two!
She said that, staring straight into the eyes of ten adult men. Well, we're young, but still.
"Not all of us look like we belong in a family, so we need to think about it for a bit, Berry."
That being said, none of these people look like they've had a job before.
First of all, I asked everyone if they had any idea of what type of clothing they would want.
This was part of the challenge as well, since none of the groups had any discussions on specific types of clothing, so every participant spread across could only decide by the theme of their songs.
Those who had a vision will work in Berry's store, so they get to claim the outfits they want and work for them.
That doesn't leave many of us.
"So... I can barely take care of myself," I started, backing away from the babysitting offer.
"I'm an only child," Dojun raised his hand awkwardly, his real reason less blunt but the same as mine.
So that leaves Mahesha, Akira, and...
"Daniel, no hard feelings, but let those two take care of children."
This guy's isn't the type to get refused by the front door if you bring him to your parents' door. His real personality isn't like that of someone in a motor gang, but he sure fits the bad boy look.
If it was petsitting, he'd be one on one with a dog. But these are fun-sized humans we're talking about.
And fortunately, Daniel held no hard feelings.
"Huh? Okay."
And that's how the three of us ended up back on the streets.
Fuck.
"This is what I get for being helpful..."
The staff guy ended up following Mahesha and Akira, afraid they might just be false hope for kids, and handed the two other groups a smaller camera.
"What is wrong with this company..."
I glanced into the glass doors of Strawberry Clothingline one last time. I mean, Emery's Korean, and Kato isn't so bad with it. The other three could take turns playing cashier...
"They're really gonna huddle up behind the counter and sleep there?" Dojun asked, laughing without realizing he was deep into more shit than them.
"Speak for yourself. The other two have the staff's phone and get to sleep in a real house. We don't even know what to do."
Daniel was at least being helpful, looking around the block trying to find something.
Meanwhile, Dojun? He's holding the camera, so I have to watch my words.
"Actually, Chan, I had an idea since earlier."
"What? You do? Say the word, I'm getting desperate."
And when Dojun leaned down to whisper his idea into my ears, as if anyone else would want to hear it...
I almost smacked the brain juices out of this guy.
"No, I am not busking!"
.
So.. guess who got a job as a street performer?
Not me, cause I'm a beggar straining his voice.
As much as I hated the idea, especially since Dojun brought up that 'Hongdae Siren' bullshit-ery again, I had no other choice.
Why?
Because we have nowhere to spend the night at.
I thought about making Daniel dance instead, but the only instrument we could borrow was Berry's acoustic guitar, and the melody from that isn't something you can breakdance to.
So now Daniel is moving around first row with the camera, filming me and Dojun perform in front of a big crowd at a random Tuesday.
How I badly wanted to spoil MYI's theme song instead, but Dojun held me back by saying he doesn't know what chords to play. In which, he is a fucking liar.
This guy can do any song I sang. And I don't mean he had them all memorized, Dojun's clearly made up a chorus he hadn't heard before on our rehearsal!
"I guess there's a reason why he's part of the lineup..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Are you done preparing? I promise we'll buy water for the first few thousand we get. And snacks, if possible."
"Yeah! Let's do it, our Hongdae Sir-"
Anyway, I sang as loud as I could on key. I even used the same songs from that 'Hongdae Siren' thing to catch attention, in case some people knew of me.
I only trended on the internet for a short time, but now I've got the legendary trainee of Cone Entertainment—Kim Dojun—with me and our faces out.
Let's hope we get paid big time, because one way or another, we're going famous.
But woah, we must've grinded for hours on...
By the time it was evening, I couldn't feel my throat.
"Phew... We got less than I expected. This is enough for one of us, at most."
"Yeah, well, back then I was on a busy street on a good day. If we did this any later, the residents might yell at us."
Dojun pouted at my explanation, holding all our hard-earned money in hand. Daniel took charge counting our earnings and getting food, so I chose it was time for me to film them.
"What do we do? Should we really sleep on the streets..?"
"I mean, most stores will close soon, so let's just find the least sketchy looking alleyway and take a nap," I offered, taking a bite of the cup ramen Daniel bought. It reminded me of my daily life at home, which isn't a good thing, honestly.
"You sound like a veteran, Chan."
"I just have a lot of ideas. Don't worry about it."
Anyways, with the excuse of 'going to search for a not suspicious alley', I ventured off alone, leaving Dojun and Daniel to eat under the street lights. And since the staff told us not to turn the cameras off, I just placed it beside them and went off.
Once I hid myself well enough, I discovered an actual alley and took out the potato phone in my back pocket—the one and only hope I had held onto the whole day.
I first turned the flashlight on, checking the alley thoroughly. Once I found there wasn't anything too negative, I turned the flashlight off for the sake of battery life and rang Admin-nim.
This bitch picked up in less than three rings, which is exactly what should be done unless she wants me to abandon these guys and walk home.
"Hello," I greeted, my voice deep and laced woth irritation.
I didn't think the day would come so soon, but this usually stern Admin-nim actually had an apologetic tone for once.
"Hey, I promise you, I only knew of this now."
"Uh-huh."
As if I'd believe that.
"I only knew from overhearing people. Then I spoke to the producer after that," Admin-nim responded, clearly pleading her innocence.
It's not that I didn't buy it, I simply don't understand what position this woman is in to have but also lack the information she has.
So now it feels like she's hiding things on purpose sometimes.
"I'll tell you everything I got, so bear with me here."
Hearing Admin-nim's attempt to convince me, I decided it wouldn't be a loss to hear what she has to say.