Chapter 299: A Useless Talent
Surprisingly, a drunken confession was effective.
From the very beginning, I never expected anyone to believe the words that would sound absurd to anyone who heard them.
So no matter how the hyungs reacted, it didn't really matter.
I had only played that card to verify Kim Woochan's theory... yet it ended up producing an unexpected effect.
Just saying what had been bottled up inside made me feel much more at ease.
It was something like that refreshing feeling of shouting everything out in a bamboo forest.
As if proving it, I felt better today than I had in a long time.
According to the hyungs, even my complexion looked much brighter.
That was enough.
Smiling in satisfaction, I read through a short script.
It was a script for a variety show that Manager Lee Jaeyoon had given me.
Since it was written entirely in English from beginning to end, it took me a while to read it.
“What is all this supposed to mean...?”
Flip-.
Just as I turned another page, Cha Seongbin came out of the room.
“What's that?”
“The script for The Lylin Show. They said they picked out a few expected questions for us.”
“Oh, I guess they're taking care of us because we're foreigners.”
Come to think of it, Kang Siwoo had been looking for it earlier.
It seemed he'd been working on music until four in the morning yesterday and had been passed out asleep ever since.
I handed the extra copy of the script to Cha Seongbin.
“Want to read it too, hyung?”
“Thanks. Whew, what's all this~.”
He said that,
But enthusiasm was practically overflowing from his sparkling eyes.
It made sense.
With one piece of good news after another, the members' excitement was currently at its peak.
When news of Stardust appearing on The Lylin Show first reached Korea, the community had roughly reacted like this.
[Wow, Stardust has really made it big.]
They're going on The Lylin Show, wow....
Isn't this the first Korean boy group to appear on it?
Is appearing on The Lylin Show really that big of a deal? They've already charted on Billboard.
└ It's the highest-rated program in America. They don't just invite anyone.
└ Not just Americaㅋㅋㅋㅋ This program is insanely popular in Europe too.
└ Cosmic Dust is appearing on one famous program after anotherㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That's amazing.
What's The Lylin Show?
└ It's an American talk show. They promote songs and do interviews.
└ It got revamped recently and exploded in Europe too. Pretty sure it ranked #1 in overall ratings.
Didn't The Way almost appear on it before, but it fell through? There's no way The Way canceled, so did they get rejected?
└ Guess they weren't at that level.
└ ?????
└ Comparing The Way with Stardust is a bit muchㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ I think they're comparable now.
└ Comparable?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Don't be ridiculousㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Are you instant bibim noodles?
└ Mad because I stated facts? ^^
└ What's factual about that?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Even if Stardust has gotten big, there's still a huge difference in status. What's your first-week sales?
└ They only released a single recently and you're talking about first-week salesㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Keep comforting yourself over your group's slowing growth.
└ Woochan and Seohan get along great, but the fans are out here having a full-on war....
Here they go hyping up another no-name talk show.
└ It's not some no-name talk show.
└ Leave them alone. Everyone's excited.
└ No matter how much people try to drag them down, Dustys are too busy running around beating gongs in celebration.
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The hate isn't affecting them at all, huh?
We had landed a great opportunity.
The fact that people were making such a fuss in the first place was proof of just how successful The Lylin Show was.
A talk show currently thriving not only in America but throughout Europe.
And we had secured an official chance to promote our song there.
It would've been nice to perform the recently well-received <Dream the star>,
But since it was also a collaboration song, we thought it'd be better to promote our original title track instead.
So we chose our debut song, <Spacewalk>.
To accommodate our overseas schedule, Cha Seongbin worked incredibly hard adding English parts and polishing the original arrangement.
“How's the song?”
“I practically finished it yesterday. Want to hear it?”
Without question, Cha Seongbin was the composer I trusted the most.
He hadn't even been given much time,
Yet he'd managed to produce such a clean arrangement in barely half a day.
The moment I finished listening to the remix version, an exclamation escaped me.
“Wow....”
“What do you think? Pretty good, right?”
I gave him a thumbs-up.
“You're a genius, hyung.”
“Come on, you're flattering me too much~.”
He waved his hands dismissively,
But I definitely saw the corners of his mouth stretching all the way to his ears.
“What's this, what's this? Seongbin hyung made another insane arrangement?”
Scamper.
When Seo Haim joined in with another round of compliments, Cha Seongbin looked like he might actually die from happiness.
“What's with you guys.... Is today my birthday?”
“Your birthday's still a long way off, hyung.”
Cha Seongbin's birthday was still half a year away.
Apparently embarrassed by all the praise, he laughed awkwardly before changing the subject.
“Alright, alright, let's prepare for the talk show first~. But what's this question?”
“A question?”
I read the part Cha Seongbin was pointing at.
The very first line on the second page of the script...
Was something I had never expected.
“So your impressions are famous all the way in America now?”
“Huh?”
It was the section for individual member questions.
Among all the music-related questions—
What kind of music did you like?
Which musicians influenced your artistic direction?
There was one sentence casually mixed in.
“Seriously.”
Q. We heard that Mr. Do Seohan has a talent for impressions. Could you show us one you're confident in here today?
It was real....
Why was this here?
“Wahahaha! Wahaha!”
Cha Seongbin burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.
“Hey, are you seriously going to do impressions on The Lylin Show?”
“I really don't want to.”
Would my overseas image really survive this?
But if they actually asked me the question, it'd be awkward to dodge it.
Especially since there'd apparently be a live audience.
“Aagh....”
I clutched my head and groaned.
Seeing my reaction, Seo Haim laughed so hard he nearly lost his breath.
Cha Seongbin smiled and patted my shoulder.
“But you can't skip something like this~. Over there, we're complete rookies. Just close your eyes and give it everything you've got, okay...?”
“Seohan, now that it's come to this, just enjoy it!”
How was I supposed to enjoy this?!
“No, seriously. This is too much.”
“No, you can do it. Have confidence!!”
“Forget about whether you're doing it. Start thinking about what you're going to do. You're not getting out of this~.”
I wanted to cry,
But Cha Seongbin was right.
What I hated even more was that my brain was already working overtime trying to figure out what to perform....
“Hah.”
Letting out a deep sigh, I faced reality.
“What should I do?”
I had my guaranteed crowd-pleaser—the cicada impression.
The problem was that I'd used it so many times it was practically overdone.
It would probably still seem fresh to Americans,
But I just didn't feel like doing it.
Besides,
It was still far too early for midsummer.
“I'm not doing the cicada. It's the wrong season.”
“You were actually taking the season into account?”
Cha Seongbin burst out laughing in disbelief.
“You know plenty of impressions. What about that sparrow one?”
“Ah, I have to protect my voice.”
That one was too high-pitched.
If it was an American talk show, we'd definitely be performing live.
Blowing out my voice while chirping like a sparrow would be a disaster.
“...Protecting your voice is important.”
The corner of Cha Seongbin's mouth twitched.
The moment I noticed that subtle movement, I frowned.
“Hyung, don't laugh at me.”
“Pfft. Hey, sorry. It's just funny that you're worrying about vocal health while talking about doing impressions....”
“Puhahaha! Ahaha!”
Seo Haim openly laughed at me.
“Do a chick! A chick!”
“You do it instead, hyung.”
“No way. I'm going to America pretending to be cool!”
As if.
Clicking my tongue, I continued thinking.
I had bigger problems to worry about.
What kind of impression would actually work overseas...?
“What's something completely fresh?”
“Mmm....”
They might tease me nonstop,
But when it came to serious concerns, they always offered genuine suggestions.
As we brainstormed together, ideas started coming one after another.
“How about an armadillo's cry?”
“What does an armadillo even sound like?”
“What about a hippo? Or a panda? They're trendy these days!”
It sounded like the lineup from a wildlife documentary.
“Do a water deer. A water deer.”
“That's straight-up horror~.”
The power of collective intelligence was truly remarkable.
One usable impression after another kept appearing.
Right then.
“What about this?”
The one who quietly joined the conversation was Seo Ian, who had been sitting on the sofa sipping banana milk.
“A cockroach's cry...?”
For a moment,
Silence filled the living room.
“......”
Feeling the chilly stares from every direction, Soft Tofu awkwardly cleared his throat.
“My bad....”
.
.
.
That night.
Because we'd been rehearsing the rearranged version of <Spacewalk> for The Lylin Show, the members practiced until late into the night.
The moment we returned to the dorm, everyone collapsed.
Even Cha Seongbin, the king of late-night work, skipped composing for once.
The instant he lay down on his bed, his whole body ached as though he'd been beaten.
His eyelids felt unusually heavy.
It seemed like he'd pass out at any moment.
Groaning, Cha Seongbin closed his eyes.
“Ugh....”
The dorm was silent in the early hours after the lights went out.
Even though he was physically exhausted, Cha Seongbin didn't dislike the feeling of his body aching as though it'd been pummeled.
Because it was proof of his effort.
It felt as though it was telling him he'd worked hard today.
That was why he could peacefully close his eyes and rest.
“Mmm....”
Right then.
Just as Cha Seongbin was drifting comfortably toward dreamland,
An unpleasant sound pulled him back.
Scratch, scratch, scratch-.
Hm?
Cha Seongbin's eyes snapped open.
If he hadn't imagined it....
Scratch, scratch, scratch-.
“......!”
Hearing something crawling near his ear, Cha Seongbin jolted upright in terror.
It was pure instinct.
“Aaaah! What was that?!”
He shot up and frantically shook out his blanket.
The dorm was normally pretty clean.
Had some bug wandered in and ruined his sleep?
He wasn't sleeping until he caught it.
Cha Seongbin's face instantly turned pale.
Then,
Another figure slowly sat up in the darkness.
“Ah. That was me.”
It was Do Seohan.
Unable to process that completely random statement, Cha Seongbin frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“I made the sound....”
No way.
‘A cockroach's cry...?’
The tiny spark that Seo Ian had started.
Seohan scratched his head awkwardly with an embarrassed smile.
Unbelievable.
“...Don't practice things like that!”
Cha Seongbin clenched his fist tightly.