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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: A Surprise Guest Appearance
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Seojun, who had been playing alone stacking blocks until his mom arrived, perked up his ears and shot up from his spot. The teacher, who was finishing up her work, asked.
"What is it, Seojun?"
"I think Mom's here!"
"Really? Shall we go see?"
When he took the teacher's hand and went outside, his mother was there, just as he'd said.
The teacher, who had thought it was just a child's whim, looked at Seojun in surprise, but he had already run into his mother's arms.
"I'm sorry for being late. You should be heading home."
"It's alright. I still have some work to finish."
Seo Eunhye handed a paper bag to the teacher. It was a snack she had bought at the airport.
"Please have this. I saw a lot of tasty things at the airport."
"Thank you. I'll enjoy it."
"Of course. Thank you. Seojun, you should say thank you, too."
"Thank you!"
"Well, we'll be on our way then."
"Ah, just a moment, Seojun's mother."
The teacher took a handout from Seojun's bag and showed it to her. The colorfully decorated flyer looked just like something from a daycare.
It was filled with drawings of a brightly smiling Santa Claus in a red suit and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
* * *
"A festival?"
Lee Minjun, who was scooping the meat out of the soy-marinated crab and placing it on Seojun's spoon, tilted his head. Seo Eunhye recalled the contents of the flyer.
"It's a Grand Children's Festival on Christmas Eve. They'll have food stalls, toys, and amusement rides."
"Sounds like fun. Seojun, do you want to go?"
Seojun, who had been thoroughly chewing and swallowing the sweet and savory crab with fluffy white rice, nodded his head.
"Yeah!"
"No, no. Wait. You can't. Not Seojun!"
Seo Eunchan, who had shown up unexpectedly at dinner with soy-marinated and spicy-marinated crab, waved his hand dismissively as he listened to the couple and Seojun talk.
Seojun and his parents, who had been eagerly devouring the crab, tilted their heads. Seo Eunchan placed a hand on his forehead.
"Seojun's still young, I get it, but Hyung and Nuna, do you not realize how famous he is?"
At Seo Eunchan's words, Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun's eyes met. Seo Eunhye shrugged and answered.
"Of course, I do. It was chaos on his first day of kindergarten, too. The teachers were just standing there with their mouths open, the parents didn't know what to do, and the kids were crying at the sight of their parents acting like that."
Putting down the crab shell, Seo Eunhye shook her head. Seojun nodded, happily eating the crab meat his father placed on his spoon. It's my first time eating soy-marinated crab, and it's so delicious.
"He was all over the news, too. That *The Devil* surpassed six million viewers. There were even reports in the U.S. that Seojun might be cast as William. Things have quieted down a bit now, but until a few months ago, stories about Seojun were on TV every few days."
Lee Minjun asked if he wanted some spicy-marinated crab. Seojun nodded. What does the spicy kind taste like? [Slime's Digestive Ability], which had been unusable for three days while he was making talismans, kicked into high gear.
"And you want to take Seojun to a Grand Children's Festival?"
"Hasn't it died down a bit now? The kindergarten teachers seem used to it, and they treat him the same as the other kids. The other parents just say a quick hello and go on their way, right?"
Frustrated, Seo Eunchan gulped down some water.
"That's because they've gotten used to seeing him. The Grand Children's Festival will be full of people who have never seen Seojun before. In other words, it'll be a repeat of his first day of kindergarten."
The first day. The faces of Seojun and his parents, who had been enthusiastically eating the spicy-marinated crab with wide eyes, instantly hardened. Enough time had passed that they could laugh about it now, but they couldn't go through that again.
Seo Eunchan shook his head.
"No, it'll be worse. It might be called a children's festival, but do you really think only kids Seojun's age will show up? Relatives will come, grandparents will come. The vendors will be expecting that, right? They'll advertise like crazy. Then students will come, college students will come, and in the end, it'll just become a massive Christmas Eve festival."
Seojun and his parents swallowed hard.
"Now, imagine Seojun, Hyung, and Nuna in the middle of all that. Wouldn't that be like a family of mice that fell into a snake pit?"
Countless snake eyes glinted sharply, long tongues flicking in and out. Faced with gleaming white fangs, the mouse family huddled together, trembling.
At the image that flashed through his mind, Seojun quietly put down his spoon and said.
"...I don't want to go."
"Dad agrees."
"Me too."
Seojun and his parents raised their hands. It was just Seo Eunchan's speculation, but it felt plausible.
The zombie movie they had watched a few days ago came to their minds. It wouldn't be that bad, surely. But if a celebrity like Seojun went to such a festival without any precautions, an accident could happen.
'Maybe I'm the one who needs [Firefly's Averting Misfortune]?'
Seojun considered drawing a talisman for himself.
Seo Eunhye sighed.
"So Seojun can't go to festivals like that anymore? That's a shame. He should be making lots of memories and taking pictures at places like that."
"Should we wear masks?"
"It's winter, so maybe we could cover up with a hat and scarf?"
Still, the couple felt disappointed at the thought of not being able to go and started throwing out ideas. Seo Eunchan cleared his throat.
"So, I have a great suggestion…"
"I knew it. I was wondering why you brought both soy-marinated and spicy-marinated crab. It was a bribe, wasn't it?"
"Eunchan, how come your repertoire never changes?"
"Seriously!"
Seo Eunchan gave an embarrassed laugh as Seojun and his parents nodded as if they had expected it. They were all too sharp.
"On Christmas Eve, my boys are doing an outdoor music show. How about appearing as a guest? A special appearance!"
"With the hyungs?"
"Yep. With the Brown Black guys. You could sing a song or just come out and say hello. Their choreography is too intense, so dancing is out."
"Hmm."
Seojun fell into thought. Seo Eunchan smiled slyly and gently coaxed him.
"You've never been on a live broadcast before, have you, Seojun? This is a live show on a major national channel. Plus, there's going to be a huge audience."
"I'll do it!"
A live broadcast!
When else will I get to be on a live broadcast!
Seo Eunchan cheered internally. He could kill two birds with one stone: satisfy the Brown Black members who were clamoring to see Seojun, and appease the broadcast station PDs who had been begging for just one, just a single appearance from him.
"Do you want to sing? Or just say hello?"
"I want to sing!"
At Seojun's words, everyone nodded before tilting their heads. Even Seo Eunchan, who had suggested it, suddenly wondered. Had Seojun ever sung before?
The next day.
Seojun held Seo Eunchan's hand and headed to Cocoa Entertainment.
Seojun looked up at the three-story building. This was the agency for Brown Black, said to be the top idol group today? Seojun frowned.
"It's small."
"Ahaha."
He was right. It had been five years since Brown Black's debut. For a company whose idol group had held the number one spot for five straight years, it was far too small.
Seojun tried to think positively. A three-story building is fine. It's just the exterior; the inside must be well-equipped.
But contrary to Seojun's expectations, the first floor of the building was a restaurant, and the second floor was a Taekwondo academy.
Shouts of "One! Two!" echoed up the stairs. Seojun's expression soured.
Cocoa Entertainment only occupied the third floor. What is this? Why is it like this? Seojun's eyes wavered. Seo Eunchan sighed to himself. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but…
Looking at the main entrance of Cocoa Entertainment, Seojun carefully opened his mouth.
"Samchon, do you get paid properly?"
"Yeah. It comes in on time."
"Do the hyungs get paid well too?"
"They get paid exactly according to their contracts."
Was it just his imagination, or did the word 'contracts' sound unusually loud? At Seojun's question, Seo Eunchan finally let out a sigh and spoke.
"Seojun. Do you remember hearing that our company was launching a new idol group?"
"Yeah. Yejun hyung was so excited about getting juniors."
Was it two or three years ago? Hwang Yejun had called, shouting excitedly throughout the entire conversation. Seojun had listened for a bit before his ears started to hurt and he just hung up.
"We invested a lot in that idol group, but they flopped not long after."
And it was because two of the five members were found to have committed crimes.
When the truth came out, the CEO quickly disbanded the group before Brown Black, Cocoa Entertainment's only source of income, could be dragged through the mud with them. If it had been a matter of skill, he would have kept them for a few more years.
"And then a year later, he said he was making another idol group, but, haaah."
This time, a song one of the members presented as self-composed turned out to be plagiarized.
They had already filmed the music video, released the track, and were about to have their debut stage when the plagiarism allegations surfaced.
It was a song by an unknown indie group from overseas, which had become known in Korea after the group blew up on N-tube.
Since Brown Black also promoted with songs self-composed by Hwang Yejun and Park Seojin, the company disbanded the new group before they could get entangled in the mess.
Since then, the CEO and employees had been reluctant to create new idol groups.
Seo Eunchan was frustrated by this. They had to keep investing. They couldn't rely solely on Brown Black forever.
"We kept spending the money we earned, so there's nothing left. That's why the company is like this."
"Where do the hyungs practice?"
"There's a practice room here, but that's what they used before their debut. The facilities aren't great, so the hyungs used the money they earned to get a place closer to their dorm."
Seo Eunchan shook his head. Making singers build a practice room with their own money… he could only sigh at the company's situation.
"Then why are we here?"
Seojun tilted his head.
If they have a separate practice room, shouldn't they go there?
"To get a camera. The one the hyungs use for practice is broken. They need to buy a new one, and they're busy searching online for a good one."
"Are you going to upload my practice to N-tube?"
"Yep. After the music show is over. If we upload it now, we can't have a surprise, can we?"
Seojun nodded. A new video will be up on the [JUN] channel.
"Seojun!"
"It's been a while since we've seen you in person!"
"You've gotten so big."
Brown Black was in a clean practice room inside a ten-story building. Seojun ran to them in a flash, and Kevin swooped him up, lifting him high into the air. Seojun laughed, "Ahaha." The other members took turns lifting him up as well.
After the energetic greetings, they got down to business.
"What kind of songs do you like, Seojun?"
"If Seojun is going to sing, maybe a ballad would be good?"
"An upbeat song would definitely be difficult."
Listening to Brown Black's songs that had been uploaded to N-tube, Seojun and the members eliminated them one by one.
Finally, they found a song. From their second mini-album. It was called TODAY.
"It's calm, so it's good for listening to at Christmas."
"The lyrics aren't too difficult either, so it's perfect."
"Alright, shall we start practicing?"
The lead vocalist, Park Seojin, taught Seojun the song line by line. Seojun did his best to follow along.
"Higher here."
"A little slower."
"You need to pronounce the lyrics more clearly."
Seojun sang just as Park Seojin instructed. He sang his heart out along with the flowing instrumental track.
How was it? Did I do well? Seeing the pride filling Seojun's face, Park Seojin's eyes widened and trembled.
Pfft.
Seojun whipped his head around to see Samchon Eunchan curled up in a corner of the practice room, shaking.
He looked around and saw the other hyungs were the same. They all had their mouths covered, but their eyes were crinkled with laughter.
That's… Seojun's eyes narrowed.
"Puhahaha!"
Seo Eunchan was the first to burst out laughing. Then, one after another, the members of Brown Black started laughing too. His face turning bright red, Seojun stomped his feet.
"Don't laugh, Samchon! It's just because it's my first time!"
"Ahaha. I have to show this to Nuna!"
"Right. It's your first time, Seojun. It'll be fine with practice. You guys, stop laughing too!"
Park Seojin tried his best to console Seojun, but his words didn't reach him.
Watching his stifling uncle and the hyungs, who were clearly struggling not to laugh, Seojun's eyes sharpened.
Don't be fooled by my appearance; I'm destined to be a superstar. Singing? What's so hard about that!
"Seojin hyung. Play the music."
Seojun said, his face full of determination.
There was one week left until the live broadcast on Christmas Eve.
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