The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

Chapter 136

Producer Park Soo-Chul left after installing the cameras and broadcasting equipment. The production crew’s accommodation was a straw house about 20 meters away from Siren’s accommodation. After entering the thatched house that was a little bit more outdated than Siren’s accommodation, Park Soo-Chul opened the main room door.

“Ah, you’re here?”

“Sir, close the door because it’s cold outside!”

“Brr, maybe it’s because we’re in the mountains, it’s really cold in the evening.”

The production staff were sitting in front of the monitor, eating potatoes and sweet potatoes. There was a temporary monitoring screen that they had set up to watch over Siren, and they could view Siren’s thatched house from the observation camera installed in front of Siren’s accommodation in real-time. Of course, since there was a risk for invasion of privacy, the area they could monitor was limited to only the thatched house’s yard, and what happened inside was also a complete mystery to them.

“So how about it? Did Siren start making their bench?”

One writer answered Park Soo-Chul’s question. “No, they haven’t started yet.”

“Are they planning not to make it?”

“I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Frankly, they don’t have to make it. I think that would be fun in its own way too.”

“But since we prepared the materials, it would be great if they could utilize it.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Let’s watch them for a bit longer.”

Park Soo-Chul took off his padded jacket and lay on the floor. “Ahh, so nice. Ahhh~”

“Ugh, I hate that.”

“Sir, your feet smell.”

“Be quiet.” Park Soo-Chul lay down and turned his head to look at the monitor. Then he said, “Wake me up when they finish making the bench.” With these words, he turned his head and closed his eyes.

***

The wooden bench bothered me. It bothered me like crazy. Human beings were so easy to manipulate that with just a few words from another person (aka Park Soo-Chul) the wooden bench began to feel like a person to me. Since humans were creative animals, if there was just a path to expand their imagination, endless possibilities could unfold.

“Ahh. The bench. Ughh.”

“Ah, what’s wrong with us?”

“Guys, it’s just wood. Don’t think about it.”

“But Do-Seung, that bench is crying.”

“Yeah Do-Seung, can’t you hear that bench crying...?”

“What the hell is wrong with you both...”

The members and I fell into deep thought about whether to make the bench or not. In the end, our decision was—

“Ah, screw it! I’m going to help the bench!”

It was to make it. Dong-Jun, who was the most empathetic one of us after Yeon-Hoon, was the first one to take action.

“Yeah, let’s help Benchy!” Naturally, Yeon-Hoon was next, and he even gave it a cute nickname.

“Yeah, let’s help it. It looks so pitiful.” Woon also joined in making the bench.

As for Do-Seung and I—

Sigh.

“Then you three make the wooden bench. Tae-Yoon and I’ll make dinner.”

“Yeah!”

“Thank you~”

“Please make it delicious~”

Thus, while Dong-Jun, Woon, and Yeon-Hoon made the bench, Do-Seung and I prepared dinner.

‘Will the three of them do a good job?’ However, I couldn’t help but feel nervous. ‘All three of them are not good with their hands.’

I wondered if those three, who could barely make instant ramen, would be able to make a proper wooden bench.

‘But cooking and furniture assembly are different,” I thought and roughly passed over the matter.

***

“Mr. Park, Mr. Park!”

“Huh? What?”

“Siren just started making the wooden bench.”

“Ohh, really?”

“Yes, come here and check it out.”

Park Soo-Chul, who had been lying down on the heated floor and warming up his body, raised his body and slowly got up from his seat.

Groaaan.

“Are you ok, old man?”

“Be quiet.” After glaring at the writer, who called him an old man, he immediately turned his gaze toward the monitor screen. Then he asked, “Those three are making it? The wooden bench?”

“Yes, it seems like Mr. Tae-Yoon and Mr. Do-Seung will do the cooking.”

“Ohh.” Just judging by appearance and general image, it seemed like Woo Yeon-Hoon and Lee Woon would know how to cook while Kang Do-Seung and Bong Tae-Yoon would know how to make the bench. However, it was more interesting that they went the opposite way. Ah, but judging by the image, Park Dong-Jun seemed like he wouldn’t cook nor make the bench but just annoyingly cheer in the background.

Then Park Soo-Chul noticed a strange sight. “Huh? What’s that?”

“What?”

“That’s not how you assemble it.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Where is the assembly instruction?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s right. I don’t see the assembly instructions on screen.”

“Then what are they looking at to make that?”

“Are they making it without looking at anything...?”

“...?” Park Soo-Chul stared at the monitor screen with curiosity and then smirked. “It’s better this way,” he said with an evil smile.

***

There was nothing hard about cooking with Do-Seung. We both knew how to cook and since we lived together, we worked seamlessly as a team.

Do-Seung said, “Pass me the onion over there.”

I answered, “Yes.”

“Did you cut the green onions?”

“Yes.”

“We need to make the sauce...”

“I made it, here.”

“Nice.”

“Do you want to taste it?”

“No, you must have done a good job.”

Our menu today was spicy stir-fried pork. We first planned on making braised spicy chicken, but since potatoes and carrots took a while to cook, we changed the menu. After all, if we wanted to make a chicken braise dish properly, we would have to eat at around 9 pm. Thus, something like spicy stir-fried pork, which we could quickly make and eat, was a better option.

Do-Seung asked, “You haven’t stirred the rice yet, right?”

I answered, “Yes. But it’s my first time making rice in a cauldron, so I hope it doesn’t come out hard.”

“It would probably turn out fine if we controlled the fire well.”

We quickly finished making the spicy stir-fried.

“Wow, the rice is done well.”

“Yes, it really is.”

The rice turned out much better than I expected, and I put the rice and stir-fried pork on the plate and bowls we prepared. Then we also took out the kimchi the production crew bought us and put it on the table. We also washed lettuce and put it in a basket.

I said, “It looks decent.”

“We did a good job considering we cooked in a different kitchen from usual.”

Do-Seung and I naturally moved our gazes outside as soon as we were done with our work—or more precisely, towards the three who were making the wooden bench.

I asked, “They’re probably fine, right?”

“Yeah, it seems like it.”

“I’ll go check on how they’re doing.” I walked towards the side making the wooden bench and asked, “How are you guys doing?”

“Uh? Tae-Yoon! Are you guys done cooking?”

“Yes, we finished dinner. How is making the bench going along?”

“Well, we’re just assembling and screwing this and that, but I think everything is starting to fall in place.”

“I told you we can do a good job even without the assembly instruction~”

The members said they didn’t have any major problems making the bench. However, there was one thing that bothered me—it was what Dong-Jun said about not having the assembly instructions. “Did you just say you didn’t use the assembly instructions?”

“Ah, yep! We tried to look at it, but the wind snatched it away.”

“...What?” I stared blankly at Yeon-Hoon, who was speaking brightly. I couldn’t even get mad because of how brightly he spoke to me, so I answered, “I...got it. Well, all right.”

“We just have to wrap things up now. It’s almost over, so go and rest.”

“Let’s finish making the bench!”

“Yes!”

The members held up the hammer in their hands, grabbed the bench, and began working again.

Sigh.

‘I’ll just go.’

I wondered if it was okay for me to just leave, but I decided to trust my members.

***

I shouldn’t have trusted my members. Do-Seung and I put the prepared food on a round tin table and headed towards the wooden bench as we planned to eat on top of the completed bench. However, when we came out with the food—

“I think this is going to collapse, Yeon-Hoon.”

“...No.”

“It’s strong...our benchy...”

“It’s sturdy...probably?”

The members looked elsewhere and spoke in a roundabout way. However, the condition of the wooden bench was too extreme for me to ignore. The biggest problem was—

“Why is it not on level?” The level of the bench was crooked. Then I added, “Did you guys use different materials for the legs?”

“...Probably not.”

“Yeon-Hoon, we shouldn’t be hearing the word ‘probably’ from you.” I didn’t know how the bench could work if the center of gravity was different for each leg.

“Still, we’ve made it, so let’s get on top of it.”

“Hmm.”

“What if the food spills and drops?”

“Come on, that won’t happen.”

“Yeah, no matter how badly we made it, it’s still a bench!”

Do-Seung and I looked suspicious until the end, but the three members actively appealed that it would be okay. I decided to leave the food on the floor for a bit in case there could be a problem. When I slowly went up and sat down—

“Hmm?”

“See, I told you! It’s strong!”

It didn’t collapse instantly.

“Guys, try coming up too,” I called the other guys to get on the bench.

“I’m telling you, there’s no problem with it. Trust me.”

“Don't worry, Tae-Yoon~”

The older members climbed onto the floor with strange confidence. As for Do-Seung—

He said, “I’m not going on top of that.”

“Why!”

“It looks dangerous.” Do-Seung did not get on top of the wooden bench even till the very end.

The very moment all four of us sat on top of the wooden bench, excluding Do-Seung, Yeon-Hoon shouted, “See! It’s all right!”

Although it seemed fine at first—

Crackk.

I heard the sound of lumber breaking and—

“Uh, huhhhh?”

One of the legs snapped in an instant.

“Aghhh!”

The wooden bench collapsed on one side.

“Aghhhh!”

“Eeck!”

“Kyahhh!”

...Sigh.

Naturally, we all rolled in one direction and fell in the yard. The wooden bench had only been about 50 cm high, so we didn't sustain any serious injuries, but it was my first time rolling around the floor from sitting on a wooden bench.

“Let’s never make something like this ever again,” I said, lying on the floor and looking up at the sky.

***

The production crew applauded and smiled in glee the moment they saw the members rolling on the floor after the wooden bench collapsed.

“Ah! They did it!”

“Horray!”

“Mr. Yeon-Hoon! I believed in you!”

Although it must have been a disastrous event for Siren, the production team was celebrating that the highlight scene for the first episode had come out.

“Hahaha! Who in the world makes such a sloppy bench.” Park Soo-Chul particularly liked their misfortune and laughed while clutching his stomach. It was to the point that the other production staff looked at him curiously, as they had rarely seen him laugh like this.

Paying no heed to their inquisitive gazes, Park Soo-Chul laughed for a long time while looking at the monitor screen and finally stopped laughing. Then he said, “Ah, I really hope they keep going with this energy.”

Did his wish come true? Siren’s reality shooting continued with all kinds of incidents and happenings just like he wished.

***

While Siren took care of their “health” in a mountain valley in Gangwon-do, Yoon Seung-Yeon and Lee Hyuna were working at WD Entertainment’s office in Seoul. No, rather than working, they were sitting in the room while nervously glancing around. After the incident at the concert hall, Yoon Tae-Hyung did not come to work.

They didn’t know whether he was fired or he left on his own, but it seemed reasonable to think that he was probably fired since the day Yoon Tae-Hyun did not go to work, CEO Kim Dong-Hyun came to the office and worked, and people from big corporations wearing suits frequently visited the company. It felt like they were pressing the accelerator full-on for the establishment of a joint venture between WD Entertainment and JI ENM. Kim Dong-Hyun coordinated the details with JI ENM’s people on behalf of the CEOs.

“This is the stake that will go to you and the other CEOs at WD Entertainment...We would like to set this amount of expenses in consideration of the expenses spent on caring for and nurturing Siren. How about we go with this amount?”

“Hmm. Raising Siren took a lot more capital than we expected...”

“Then if you send me the documents on where the capital went in, we will adjust the amount accordingly and provide a new estimate.”

“But it’s impossible to prove everything in writing for work like this...”

“We can’t make reports without the documents.”

“Why don’t we be more flexible in our business?

Yoon Seung-Yeon and Lee Hyuna felt gloomy as they listened to the conversation between Jaeil Group and CEO Kim Dong-Hyun. It was ironic that although it was a joint venture for Siren, there was no one who really cared about Siren’s interest.