By Zephyria “Tae-kyung, just unbutton one more. Huh?”
“Noona, please. Who goes around with their school uniform unbuttoned like this?”
With the recording time not far away, I had to continue my war of nerves with stylist Da-hyun Noona.
“If you unbutton just one more, you’ll be a complete delinquent, it’s such a waste!”
“Noona, please bear with me.”
A delinquent, huh. I’m definitely refusing from now on.
I’ve understood and accepted the fact that the Noonas have been demanding excessive concepts from me because of the team’s image, which seems to be full of model students.
But I think I’ve heard the ‘you look like you play around’ line enough now.
“No, Tae-kyung. Just because you button up all the way and wear a tie doesn’t mean you’ll change much, you know?”
I ignored Da-hyun Noona, who was adjusting my tie, and looked around at the members. Jeong-min, who met my eyes first, raised his thumb.
“Hyung, you look cool. Like a student disciplinary officer.”
“Tae-kyung Hyung, you look like a prickly student disciplinary officer.”
“You look like a slightly playful student council president, Tae-kyung Hyungnim.”
I was smiling contentedly at the reactions of my younger brothers when the waiting room door burst open.
“Guys, let’s bring these in.”
As Doo-hyun Hyung began to carry in the boxes placed in front of the waiting room, the staff and members quickly helped. Gun-woo Hyung looked into a shopping bag and asked with a surprised expression.
“Are these all lunch boxes? Did Hyung prepare them?”
“The Perfect Fandom prepared them, and it seems they’re giving them to the entire production team.”
Everyone in the waiting room exclaimed at Doo-hyun Hyung’s words.
“Wow… for the fandom to give all of this out, they’re really amazing!”
“Since the fandom is big, the scale is also big! Guys, don’t forget to say thank you for the meal later. Got it?”
Stylist Da-hyun Noona and Miran Noona took out the lunch boxes and gestured to us.
“It’ll be filling to eat before going into the recording. Let’s eat quickly.”
“There’s only about 30 minutes left, so eat quickly. Come on, guys.”
I wasn’t hungry, but I squeezed onto the narrow sofa between the members.
“Wow, look at this. Abalone butter grill, ribs, eel! They’re all stamina-boosting foods!”
“This is the best quality lunch box I’ve ever seen? Right?”
The Noonas and Hyungs who opened the lunch boxes continued to exclaim. I had eaten a sandwich two hours ago, but as I watched them eating deliciously, I also picked up my chopsticks.
“It feels so good to eat hot soup.”
I nodded at Gun-woo Hyung’s words. I hadn’t been feeling very comfortable because I had been eating bread, but eating warm food made me feel like I was recharging my energy.
Sung Se-han must be eating these warm and delicious foods right now, right?
Even though he’s a guy who holds grudges, I still hope he eats a lot and gains strength.
There was a bad smell in the dark, long hallway where we were waiting.
The unpleasantness of smelling perfume sprayed to cover up mold made my head ache. But since the other members didn’t say anything, it seemed like I was the only one who was nervous.
“Sky Blue, please enter!”
My heart began to pound at the assistant director’s instruction. As I slowly entered the set where bright light was seeping out, I lightly patted the shoulders of my younger brothers.
Surprisingly, Soo-in and Ho-soo were calm, while Jeong-min and Gun-woo Hyung were stiff with tension.
“Wow!”
“Heol, amazing!”
The moment we entered the set according to the writer Noonas’ instructions, we exclaimed to our heart’s content. Perhaps even if the Noonas hadn’t told us to, we would have exclaimed automatically, overwhelmed by the splendor of the set.
“Really… it’s so flashy!”
As someone who had already watched Star Light last time, I couldn’t help but be genuinely surprised.
This was because the recording set had completely changed from what I remembered. First of all, the size of the set seemed to be more than twice as large as last time, and the quality of the decoration, which resembled a European royal palace, was incomparable to the last time.
“Amazing…!”
Even while looking around absentmindedly, I didn’t give my attention to the dozens of cameras in front of the set. Still, I was fully aware that the staff and PD Bae Dong-yeon were watching us with hawk eyes.
“Guys, I think our seats are over there….”
Gun-woo Hyung carefully pointed to the far right.
There were chairs on both sides of the set where three teams each could sit, and our team’s seat was the third from the right, starting from the host’s seat.
“Hyungs, we can just sit down and wait, right?”
“Wow, the chairs are nice…!”
Thanks to my younger brothers, who confidently found their seats without being conscious of the cameras everywhere, the tension was gradually easing.
As we had discussed in advance, Gun-woo Hyung and I sat in the front chairs, and my younger brothers sat side by side in the back.
“We’re the newest, so I guess we came out first.”
“Because it hasn’t even been a month since our debut.”
“The Sunbaes will keep coming out now. Wow! I’m nervous…!”
It was okay not to follow the script exactly, but because my younger brothers were reciting the lines, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Oh, I think the Sunbaes are coming out?”
Jeong-min nudged my shoulder and pointed towards the set entrance. When all the members craned their necks to look, the Asla team, wearing matching magenta-colored uniforms, was entering.
“Guys.”
We stood up from our chairs and waited for the Sunbaes to come to their seats. The five members of the Asla team, who were constantly exclaiming as they looked at the set, slowly moved to the opposite seats.
“Sunbaenims, hello.”
“Hello! We’re Sky Blue.”
“Wow! So you’re the Sky Blue members!”
“Hello! Nice to meet you.”
We greeted each other again as if we were meeting for the first time, even though we had greeted each other three hours ago, and then took our seats.
Asla’s leader, Dae-hoo, covered his mouth with his hand and said to us.
“I guess True Heart will come out next?”
“Ah… it seems like that’s the order.”
I know that Asla, who debuted 8 months ago, and True Heart are rivals, but they’re also very close.
Suddenly, the entrance became noisy, and the six members of the True Heart team entered in a rush.
“Wow! Cool!”
“What is this? It’s beyond imagination?”
As the True Heart members, wearing glittering gold uniforms, entered, the set quickly became noisy and lively.
“Oh! Asla, you were here first!”
“Welcome. We were waiting.”
After the Asla team and the True Heart team shook hands and we politely greeted them, Sun & Moon entered immediately.
Sun & Moon was close to their 2nd debut anniversary, so they were actually the most senior team among the teams participating in the survival show.
Everyone stood up from their seats and bowed deeply in the direction Sun & Moon was entering. As we watched the four members wearing matching dark gray suits find their seats, suddenly one member walked towards us.
“Oh, the Sunbae is coming this way…?”
While we were bewildered by the unexpected action, Gun-woo Hyung went down one step and took the hand of the Sun & Moon member.
“Hey, it’s nice to see you here.”
“Hehe, it feels strange to see you, Gun-woo.”
All of us, who didn’t know that Sun & Moon’s vocalist, Leeb, and Gun-woo Hyung were friends, were surprised.
No, why hasn’t Gun-woo Hyung ever said anything like that….
“Sky Blue members, hello. Nice to meet you.”
Because Liv Sunbae greeted us first, we hurriedly bowed.
“Hello! Sunbaenim, we’re Sky Blue!”
“We greet you. We’re Sky Blue!”
The cameras were busily turning as we exchanged close greetings. In the meantime, Liv Sunbae walked over to me and held out his hand.
“I’m a fan of Tae-kyung-ssi’s vocals.”
“Wow, thank you! It’s an honor, Sunbaenim. I also like Sunbae’s vocals….”
“Tae-kyung-ssi doesn’t like cotton candy vocals like mine, right?”
As I was speechless and my mouth was wide open, laughter was heard from the filming team. I looked back and forth between Gun-woo Hyung and Liv Sunbae and laughed awkwardly.
Wow, this Sunbae is greedy for screen time?
“Gun-woo Hyung… I think he conveyed it wrong. That’s not what I meant….”
Thinking that these scenes would be edited out anyway, I thought I should move on naturally, but Liv Sunbae wrapped my hand with both of his hands.
“Let’s have fun filming, Tae-kyung-ssi.”
Liv Sunbae, who showed a smile as soft as his vocals, held my hand tightly before letting go. And then he naturally greeted the surrounding teams before returning to his seat. It was next to the Asla team.
After taking our seats again, Gun-woo Hyung covered his mouth and whispered softly.
“My friend is handsome, right?”