Chapter 273: For Success (1)
“Mr. Ryuhei, are you okay?”
For a moment, he had blanked out.
At the sound of someone calling him, Producer Ryuhei belatedly lifted his head.
A female employee from the same team was looking down at him with worried eyes.
He had gotten cursed at a lot.
And very thoroughly too.
* An incompetent PD should quit
* Fuck, that PD bastard fed our boys vinegar soy sauce, if he comes to Korea I’m dipping him in chojang for real;;
* Don’t you dare enter Korea, you’ll seriously die
* What did Stardust ever do to you? This program has no manners
So many vicious messages had flooded his DMs that Ryuhei eventually deactivated his SNS account entirely.
[K-pop Idol Disrespected in Japan]
[Action! Variety Real Trap, Was There No Consideration for Foreign Members?]
He thought the issue would die down quickly, but judging by how articles kept coming out, things would apparently stay noisy for quite some time.
Should he call it a kind of noise marketing for Stardust?
In the end, it had somehow only benefited them, but right now there was something else bothering Ryuhei even more than that.
“Ah, how did the casting for the new guest go?”
A man with a polished-looking face entered the office.
Flipping rapidly through a notebook with one hand, the man sat down across from Ryuhei.
Kento.
A PD who had recently joined NHD Broadcasting Station.
Officially he was a rookie, but in reality he was a seasoned PD who had rolled around at another broadcasting station for years before being brought over.
A rolling stone knocks out the embedded stone.
The very first program Kento took charge of after joining NHD became a massive hit.
Unlike the other PDs who constantly watched Ryuhei’s mood, Kento never lowered himself despite having fewer years of experience.
He was a young PD overflowing with confidence in himself.
That was exactly what irritated Ryuhei at every turn.
As expected of the reliable mercenary NHD had newly recruited.
At this point, Kento was the person Ryuhei found most irritating.
And then—
“You mean Stardust?”
An irritating person brought up an irritating name.
Without realizing it, Ryuhei’s face twisted into a deep frown.
“Their album reactions are good this time too, right? Itsuki-san said he wanted to meet them once.”
“They’re certainly a hot topic in many ways.”
The added remark was obviously meant to provoke him.
Trying not to reveal his discomfort, Producer Ryuhei fixed his gaze on the monitor.
Even so, his ears still worked perfectly, and information he didn’t want to hear kept stabbing into them.
“Did you contact Doubles?”
“Of course. Though… I’m not sure if they’ll accept the offer. Thanks to ‘someone,’ they’re apparently in quite a difficult situation.”
He was clearly saying it loudly on purpose for Ryuhei to hear.
Ryuhei’s gaze turned toward Kento.
His face openly twisted in irritation.
This time he completely revealed his displeasure, but unfortunately it didn’t affect Kento at all.
If anything, Kento pushed even further.
“Programs that can’t even show basic courtesy to their guests should disappear. No matter what kind of program they are.”
“Hey.”
“Ah.”
Kento shook his head with a mocking smile lingering around his lips.
“I’m not necessarily talking only about you, Mr. Ryuhei. There are plenty of programs like that. The timing just happened to be unfortunate.”
Ryuhei shot Kento a murderous glare.
“…….”
It looked like he might grab him by the collar at any second, but fortunately neither of them were the type to throw punches first.
Kento shrugged and turned toward the female employee.
“Still, if possible, I plan to bring them onto our program.”
It wasn’t solely to needle Ryuhei.
In fact, ever since Stardust showed remarkable album performance, Kento had genuinely wanted to cast them on the talk show he was producing.
In the end, the only people nervously reading the room during the tense standoff between the two were the surrounding employees.
“Hoo.”
Unable to suppress his irritation, Ryuhei stood up to make himself some coffee.
“I really hope they reply….”
Kento muttered quietly while clearly remaining conscious of Ryuhei’s presence.
---
This was our second variety show appearance in Japan.
I pretended to stay calm on the outside, but it had been a long time since I’d been tense enough to stiffen my neck like this.
With a smile on my face, I awkwardly avoided the camera in a way that wasn’t like me at all.
A week had passed since the <Action! Variety Real Trap> incident.
This was an unfamiliar Japanese studio.
The filming set of <Itsuki’s Music Talk Show>.
‘The offer came in, so I’m only telling you out of courtesy. If you don’t want to go, refuse it.’
Doubles had openly given us a choice.
If anything, they actually leaned more toward hoping we wouldn’t appear.
‘One or two variety show appearances aren’t that important, and there’s no reason to force yourselves. Things are noisy lately because of that incident too, so the company’s position is awkward….’
Manager Lee Jaeyoon’s explanation became lengthy.
The company’s opinion was that since our Japanese performance was already good, it might be better to build recognition gradually through future dome tours rather than recklessly pushing ourselves in unfamiliar territory.
But my own position felt more urgent.
‘I want to do it.’
Maybe it was greed, but I didn’t have that much time left.
I wanted to take everything I possibly could from these Japanese promotions.
Just because I was afraid didn’t mean I should avoid it and run away.
Since the decision had practically been made because of my opinion, I felt even more nervous.
I kept worrying we might get edited out again like last time.
“Hello!”
While I was worrying, the cameras finally turned on.
The program host, Itsuki, greeted us with a bright smile.
Since the Itsuki Show was broadcast live, fans’ comments could be checked in real time.
* Kids please come back to Koreaㅠㅠ
* Ah it’s Stardust today
* Ha Junseo is so cuteㅠㅠ he looks like a teddy bearㅠㅠ I want to marry himwww
Kang Siwoo spoke up loudly.
“First, let us greet you. Shine bright!”
“Hello, we are Stardust!”
* Waaaaaaaah
* Welcome to the Itsuki Show, guys!
* Junseo’s smile is adorable, I’m going to marry him
* Excited little chick!
* Would Ha Junseo accept naturalized citizens as wives too?
Wow, Ha Junseo was really popular.
No wonder he was called a shoujo manga visual—he was extremely well received in Japan.
“Hyung, hyung, your name’s there!”
Seo Haim poked Ha Junseo’s shoulder while chattering quietly.
Meanwhile, MC Itsuki grabbed the microphone.
“I’ve heard your name many times. K-pop artists, Stardust! Personally, I listen to your songs often too.”
“Wow, our songs?”
“Yes. I love K-pop.”
Itsuki smiled warmly and shrugged.
He was a man with slightly tanned skin, a sharp jawline, tall stature, and a cheerful impression.
“Believe me or not, but I even know U-Ply. Tiple and The Way too.”
“Hup….”
Familiar names came out of Itsuki’s mouth, causing Seo Haim to gasp.
“You really know a lot.”
“Of course. That’s why the moment I heard Stardust debuted in Japan, I really wanted to meet you.”
* Itsuki genuinely loves K-pop
* Mm, those are the eyes of a successful fan
* Choco Haim is cute!! He’s smiling so brightly
“How do you feel about appearing on the Itsuki Show?”
“I’m really excited.”
“This studio feels unfamiliar… but warm somehow? And… um. We’ll do our best!”
Jin Sehyun carefully spoke in Japanese with a bright smile.
Immediately, heated reactions poured in.
* Sehyunie is shy again today!!! Totally a baby squirrel…!
Ah.
So this was how the misunderstanding happened.
Since I kept staring at the comment window, Jin Sehyun looked at me curiously.
“…Why?”
“I saw a comment calling you a baby squirrel, hyung.”
“Keh.”
He seemed to be carefully managing his image, so I decided to let it slide.
“Sehyun-hyung is shyer than he looks.”
* Shyer than he looks…? He’s obviously shy!
* Cute baby Sehyun again todayㅠㅠ
“…Huh?”
Sorry.
I failed at expression management.
“He’s shyer than he looks, but he’s absolutely not actually shy.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
Don’t pretend you don’t know.
While I clicked my tongue in disbelief, Seo Ian beside us was trying hard to suppress his laughter.
“It’s nice seeing you bicker.”
Meanwhile, Itsuki simply watched the scene with a pleased expression.
It didn’t look like the misunderstanding would be corrected anytime soon.
What a shame.
“Now then!”
When the microphone returned to his hand, Itsuki spoke energetically.
“Then shall we hear a song first? This is Stardust’s performance of Silence.”
.
.
.
.
* The song is so goodㅠㅠ I love you guys
* Junseo’s face is extraordinary again todaywww
* Don’t go to another country and destroy the stage like this guys;; I’m jealous
* Please come back to Koreaㅠㅠ Please… Doubles give us content….
Comments rapidly flooded in live.
The Japanese version performance of Mini 3rd Album <Silence> had been shown briefly.
I really had been nervous, so I worried a little, but every member finished the stage without making mistakes.
Coming to a foreign country somehow made me feel like a rookie only one month after debut again.
I felt like I had to do my absolute best, so I overexerted myself a little from the very first stage.
“Haa… haa.”
Breathing slightly heavily, I stepped down from the stage.
MC Itsuki greeted the members with a bright smile.
“The performance was incredible.”
“Thank you.”
We still had the Japanese debut song stage left.
I moistened my throat with water for condition management and smiled softly.
Itsuki’s voice rose excitedly.
“How should I put it, it felt like the performance rushed right at me? Ah, though of course, I actually watched it right in front of me.”
Itsuki grinned mischievously as he added,
“I believe this incredible energy probably pierced straight through the screen and reached countless Dustys.”
“Thank you!”
“That’s such wonderful praise to hear.”
“Because it’s true!”
With that, the first stage wrapped up, and Itsuki turned toward the cameras.
“Next up is the following segment. It’s the ‘Member Quiz Show!’”
<Itsuki Show> boasted overwhelmingly high ratings among Japanese music talk programs.
Even without deliberately researching it, I had already seen clips of this “Member Quiz Show” segment floating around several times.
Itsuki glanced briefly at the script before speaking smoothly.
“The production team interviewed the members beforehand and carefully selected questions!”
“Questions related to the members?”
“Yes! Questions that you should definitely be able to answer if you know each other well… that kind of thing!”
The member who answered the most quizzes correctly would receive a prize prepared by the production team.
They hadn’t revealed what it was, but as long as it wasn’t vinegar soy sauce, I didn’t care.
Anyway….
“First question. Please begin!”
[Member Ha Junseo drank a total of three cups of coffee yesterday. What was the total caffeine shot count inside them?]
Huh?
“3!”
“2!”
“1!”
“Me!”
Ah, these people were seriously competitive.