Chapter 220: Stranger (1)
At the music video shoot.
The final produced version hadn’t co out yet, but filming had already begun early.
Because the MV team had their own envisioned scenes in mind, we were planning to shoot a few scenes in New York in advance.
“We’ll start filming!”
“Okay—.”
As the red light on the cara turned on, Seo Haim, dressed in pastel-toned clothes, bounced a basketball and dashed across the court.
He had no real talent for sports, but on screen, the scene looked pretty cool.
The video was shot in extre slow motion, so it would look even more convincing once fast-forwarded.
The cara director nodded with a pleased smile.
“Oh, cut! We’ll go with this.”
“Was it okay?”
“Yeah, the shot ca out great. The pose was nice too.”
“Heheh. Thank you…!”
It was a single album featuring the refreshing concept fans had been waiting for for quite a long ti.
The mbers’ faces as they fild were equally bright.
“Condition’s not bad today, huh?”
Seo Haim grinned and bounced the basketball a couple of tis.
As expected, it flew off in a completely different direction than intended.
“Ahk!”
Seo Haim yelped as the ball hit his chin and rolled away, and he scurried after it.
In the end, it was Jin Sehyun who grabbed the basketball instead.
“Agh, you klutz….”
“You’re bad at basketball too!”
“Yeah, but I’m better than you.”
The maknae line bickered as usual.
Jin Sehyun smiled brightly and threw the basketball far.
A single shot… and it was in.
“Did you see that?”
“What the—are you a forr athlete or sothing?”
“Just an average guy, I guess—.”
anwhile, Cha Seongbin, who was preparing for the next cut, had a serious expression.
This single, in particular, reflected a lot of Cha Seongbin’s input.
The company had fully set the stage, telling him to do whatever he wanted, and I’d hyped things up by ntioning Billboard and whatnot—so with his ocean sunfish-like personality, he was probably feeling pressured.
Normally, he’d be joking around with the maknae line, but today, he was fully focused on monitoring.
He probably wanted to finish the entire song production with the highest quality possible.
That was likely his biggest concern right now.
Of course….
I had my own dilemma to deal with.
What should I do about this?
I swallowed dryly, staring blankly up at the basketball court.
Right then—
A worried voice ca from beside .
“Seohan, what’s wrong…?”
“Ah.”
After sitting with a serious expression for quite a while, Ha Junseo approached with a surprised look.
He wore a kitschy basketball uniform with a pure white headband tied around his head.
Contrary to his bright and refreshing outfit, he was an angelic hyung whose face fell the mont a teammate looked troubled.
Honestly, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
But our variety PD, Do Seojun….
His vibe had changed a bit after filming .
Then suddenly.
His words from last week popped into my head—words he’d said, hesitant but determined.
—“It’s a bit burdenso, but doing another appearance might not be so bad….”
Despite saying it was a burden, he was more enthusiastic than anyone about joining the shoot.
“Ah.”
—“If you have ti, maybe we can do a livestream together soti….”
Typical of a PD, he was already thinking about the next filming schedule.
Seeing that, I was sure of it.
“This hyung is serious.”
That Do Seojun.
The great Do Seojun… was a total attention-seeker.
To be honest, I’d been so shocked at first that I was speechless.
I thought he’d find it burdenso and hate it, but… this… this was sothing else.
I gulped and spoke.
“I think he really enjoys the attention.”
“Huh?”
“I didn’t expect him to enjoy it this much….”
He reopened his previously private SNS account…!!
He started doing Q&As again…!!
“Argh.”
I clutched my throbbing head and let out a deep sigh.
“Well, it’s not like he’s the type to cause a scandal or anything, so it’s fine. But still, still….”
Regardless of whether he was good at setting boundaries, it was just an instinctive sense of rejection.
How should I put this?
I just didn’t want to see my one and only blood relative basking in narcissism!
Shaking my head, I opened my mouth.
“I’m sure of this—he definitely thinks he’s really handso.”
“Hmm… he kinda does.”
“People keep saying that around him, so he becos that way!”
“Pfft.”
Ha Junseo bit his lower lip, trying to hold back a laugh.
“But hey, Seohan.”
“I’m serious. From what I can tell, he’s showing early signs of celebrity syndro. Yesterday, he even pitched this idea for ‘Do PD’s Talk Show’... it’s seriously dizzying.”
Is this right?
Is this seriously happening?
“Sigh….”
Seeing how grave my face had beco, Ha Junseo patted my shoulder and said—
Calmly, but with weight.
“…I think it might be in his genes.”
“What?”
No way.
I frowned reflexively at Ha Junseo’s blunt remark.
Because a certain mory resurfaced like an afterimage.
A sense of déjà vu surged up from deep in my chest.
, intoxicated by sexy concepts….
Maybe it’s not all that different?
I shook my head and waved my hands.
“No way.”
“Co on, think about it.”
“Yeah, no, there’s no way…”
The more I tried to deny it, the more it pulled in.
With a reluctant expression, I carefully opened my mouth.
“…I think you’re right.”
This wasn’t the kind of brutal self-awareness I was hoping for….
Strangers aren’t always welco, no matter the town.
Mac Fred, who had never left New York since the day he was born, believed that.
At least, he thought New York’s music market wasn’t a warm place for outsiders.
Maybe it was prejudice, or maybe it was just an excuse—but Mac Fred frowned deeply as he repeated those words to himself.
“K-pop, huh?”
Lately, K-pop idols had been appearing more frequently on his talk show.
, hosted by the NBN Broadcasting Station.
It was a popular music program boasting the highest ratings in its ti slot, so only carefully selected guests had been accepted so far.
Yet for so reason, the production team had increased their recruitnt of K-pop artists since last year.
To him, it was not a welco developnt.
“Sigh…”
Mac Fred let out a long sigh and shook his head.
His stylist, Emily, smiled brightly as she observed his mood.
“Who’s coming today?”
“So group I’ve never even heard of.”
He was almost offended that the prestige of the Fred Show had dropped to the point of inviting such low-level singers.
“I told you before, K-pop idols aren’t musicians. It’s a market that debuts a string of young nobodies who can’t even perform properly, relying 100% on lip-syncing.”
“…But they said they’re doing it live today?”
“Ha, Emily. And then they’ll whine afterward asking for post-editing. It’s not like we haven’t seen it before.”
As if he’d seen that scenario more than once, Mac Fred clicked his tongue in disgust.
‘Didn’t seem that bad to , though….’
The guests she’d seen so far had impressive pinpoint-sync group choreography and could manage live vocals to a decent extent.
Of course, they couldn’t be compared to musicians who only sang without dancing, but still.
Though Emily thought that, she didn’t want to upset Mac Fred, so she kept quiet.
Instead, she looked at the clock hanging on the waiting room wall.
8 p.m.
It was almost ti for the guests to arrive.
It was also ti for Mac Fred to head to the studio.
As she expected, Fred imdiately began getting ready.
“Ti to go. See you in a bit.”
Fred got up with a sweet voice, as if he hadn’t been grumbling just monts before. Emily returned the gesture with a gentle smile.
Just as he was about to head to the studio—
“……?”
Clack—.
As he opened the door, unfamiliar faces stood in front of the waiting room.
‘I really want to et Mr. Mac Fred before the broadcast.’
He’s soone I personally respect.
It had been exhausting trying to add ridiculous excuses like how I always watched his show.
New York wasn’t a place where visiting waiting rooms was common, which made it all the more awkward.
With a smile on his lips, Seohan walked toward Mac Fred’s waiting room.
The reason for initiating such an obviously awkward eting was simple.
‘I need to secure so kind of insurance.’
Seohan didn’t like high-risk broadcasts.
But things don’t always go the way you want.
During the scheduling process, Doubles hadn’t especially asked the mbers for input… but there probably weren’t any other options.
Among the music talk shows that occasionally featured K-pop artists, Mac Fred’s was the most well-known.
It was a place where they could prove their live skills, and with its high ratings, the buzz would be substantial too.
No one expected that one performance here would shoot them straight to Billboard, but in terms of recognition, it was better than not appearing at all.
But that’s where the problems began.
First, the host Mac Fred was a notorious racist who hated K-pop.
He attached all kinds of excuses—K-pop is childish, etc.—but fundantally, he just didn’t like East Asians.
There were a few famous quotes of his….
And many more scandals ca out later on.
Second, the talk show was live.
If Mac Fred were to grit his teeth and throw out so hostile questions, there was a high chance soone would get caught off guard.
The kind of questions anyone would recognize as bait.
Sure, brushing them off with wit was Hollywood flair—but would our soft-hearted mbers be able to handle that?
Like I said, I’m really not the type to take risks.
“Shall we go in?”
I ca here to deliver a warning shot.
.
.
.
“Hello, I’m Do Seohan from Stardust.”
Mac Fred looked up at us with a noticeably flustered expression.
After blinking a few tis, he gave a stiff smile and opened his mouth.
“Oh. This kind of greeting feels unfamiliar. Is it Chinese style?”
He’s doing this knowing we’re K-pop idols.
Seo Haim cheerfully responded with a sunny smile.
“Korean style!”
“…….”
“Nice to et you!”
That side responded innocently, but the faces of the two fluent English speakers had darkened—Kang Siwoo and Cha Seongbin.
Because clearly, that was a passive-aggressive jab.
Kang Siwoo calmly seed to be figuring out how to smooth over the situation, while I was standing next to him thinking about how to screw Fred over.
“…….”
In the future I knew, Mac Fred was quite the celebrity.
To be precise, he was famous for being embroiled in all kinds of scandals.
Sorry to say this… but Lee Dokyung couldn’t hold a candle to him.
How many partners was it again?
He was practically octopus-level with all his affairs.
So.
The stylist standing behind him was probably one of his mistresses.
No—she definitely was.
I stepped forward and offered my hand to Mac Fred.
“I ca because I really wanted to et you. I’m a huge fan.”
“Ah….”
“I used to watch the Fred Show almost every day back in Korea. And…”
I approached the young stylist who had quietly co up beside Mac Fred.
Emily. I glanced at her na tag and smiled gently.
“You two really suit each other well. Like a married couple.”
“……!”
For the record, Mr. Mac Fred is already married.
He probably… even has kids.
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