Cheating way through to Stardom chapter 60- Debut amidst the typhoon

We went out to the outdoor stage. While we were preparing indoors, stepping outside revealed something ominous.

We smiled wryly under the hastily erected tent.

“Zenis! Get ready!”

I rushed to my position just like during rehearsals. Then, the drizzle turned into a downpour as if it had been waiting for this moment.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Nice.’

A debut stage in such conditions, I liked it a lot.

Soon, the music started playing through the in-ear monitors. I stood up. Rainwater trickled down my thin pants.

Yeah.

‘Will there be thunder too?’

My body moved lightly. Just then, the rain poured down harder, as if on cue.

I glanced at the audience. Seeing people in raincoats, I made my movements even bigger.

Raindrops splashed with every gesture.

‘Thank you, everyone.’

Watching us here despite the discomfort, they were commendable.

I could see school uniforms under the white raincoats.

‘Oh, of course. They’re not here just to see us.’

I spun around once, my breath catching and then releasing.

‘But what does it matter?’

It was time for me to move forward. I took two steps as planned and smiled at the camera.

‘This is the proposal moment.’

Please become our fans.

‘I won’t disappoint you.’

Water streamed down my forehead. My fellow members were in the same situation.

The wind blew just then, chilling my neck, but the music didn’t stop.

‘I wonder how this looks on camera.’

Thinking about it, I clenched my fists.

‘Don’t think.’

This was the stage. The public broadcast stage I had longed for.

Yes. I wanted this so badly.

‘I wanted to be seen on TV.’

As I thought that, a thrill ran through my mind. Exciting. I felt good. It was as if my whole body was soaring into the sky.

I almost forgot to breathe.

‘I feel like I could die from happiness.’

I sang, but my voice got lost in the wind.

‘Well, it’s not live anyway.’

We had provided the pre-recorded track.

The broadcast would probably use that.

But I could hear Kang Minjae’s singing next to me.

‘Annoying guy.’

Even now, his vocals didn’t falter.

I glanced around. The stage was slippery, and Ki Jaeyun stumbled.

‘Damn!’

I moved half a beat early to support him.

As expected from a good dancer, he quickly regained his balance. I saw his face, disheveled from surprise.

Our eyes met. While moving to the next step, I gestured with my chin.

‘You monkey. Focus on the stage.’

The audience waved their hands in the rain. I smiled and moved through the choreography.

We hadn’t even reached the chorus, but the rain had turned into a flood, making it feel like we were underwater.

‘So, am I swimming now?’

Water dripped through my harness. Yoo Hajin, who was performing his part upfront, matched the beat and moved back.

‘Well, at least our leader looks good.’

I smiled and moved forward again. The audience came back into view.

‘Yeah. Nice.’

Let’s devour this moment.

The choreography was aligned with the angles. We moved nonstop, forming dizzying formations. But I could feel it. Every member was giving their best.

‘Then I must do even more.’

I kicked in time with the chorus. Water arced in the air from my moving leg. It probably splashed the camera, but I didn’t care.

When I came forward again, the sky suddenly lit up.

‘Nice.’

Endorphins surged. I couldn’t hide my smile. Soon, what I had anticipated echoed out.

Rumble-krakoom-

I heard the staff checking the sound. The audience murmured, but I continued with the set choreography, facing the camera.

‘Look here.’

Look at me.

The sky flashed again. But the music didn’t stop.

‘Keep looking at me.’

Because, you see,

We were now entering the main choreography. Jumping in time, I spun around.

Camera 4 zoomed in. I looked at the camera and bounced.

‘I’m proposing.’

Please take care of us, dear viewers. Watch us kindly.

I couldn’t stop smiling. This moment felt so good I could die.

‘I wish it could always be like this.’

Except when I needed a bathroom break, I wished countless cameras would always be on me.

‘If I die, let it be on stage.’

I felt crazy. Or maybe I was going crazy. It didn’t matter.

My regret was that the music was ending.

Soon the chorus came again. Standing straight, smiling brightly, I made arm movements. Like magic, water arced.

I didn’t care about my wet hair. The sky continued to pour rain as if waiting.

The final scene was approaching.

We gathered in the middle. The closing scene required us to bow our heads and remain still.

Thud-

The song composed by Kang Minjae ended. The smell of rainwater filled my breath. The lights went out, and I heard the staff.

“Zenis, exit the stage!”

So harsh.

I made eye contact with a front-row audience member and ran backstage. As the hot and humid stage ended, reality came back.

Ki Jaeyun spoke.

“Crazy…”

Yeah.

‘What a mess.’

Even though the makeup was waterproof, it couldn’t be perfect. The same went for the costumes.

Since it was a white shirt, it was see-through. At least my material was different, but Lee Seungjoon’s shirt clung to him, revealing his body.

‘A wet shirt with a harness…’

Even if parents complained, there was nothing we could do. It was up to the broadcasting station.

‘This was live.’

Our debut stage had already been broadcast.

Just as we were leaving the backstage area,

I heard the director yelling.

“Are you crazy? Broadcasting live in this weather!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

Well, there was lightning too.

“We’re in the same boat.”

It was dangerous. The lights shook in the storm, and the stage was slippery. It was no wonder Jaeyun almost fell.

But the shout we heard was different.

“What if the equipment breaks!”

Huh.

‘Not worried about the people?’

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hahahaha!”

It was truly uncontrollable.

Seungjoon and Minjae also heard them. The two, who had serious expressions, stared blankly at me as I laughed.

Then, as if they had been waiting for it, they covered their mouths and laughed.

“Puhaha!”

Even Hajin ended up laughing contagiously. Jaeyun stood there blankly, then he also laughed.

The sound of the members’ laughter echoed around us.

Hajin muttered.

“This is crazy.”

Minjae wiped his rain-soaked eyes and said.

“They’re only worried about the equipment, right? That?”

I wrung out my clothes. Water streamed down.

“Of course. There are plenty of idols waiting to be on music shows. Even if we catch pneumonia from being in the rain, what does it matter?”

There are always replacements.

Hajin shook his head. I chuckled.

Soon, our manager came running.

“Are you okay?”

“Other than being wet, yes.”

“Hurry up and change your clothes!”

Our coordinator quickly brought us new clothes. We wrapped ourselves in towels and dried our hair, but we were still in the hallway. We changed clothes behind a partition and got into the van.

“Next schedule is an interview, so wash up at the dorm. It’ll be a problem if you catch a cold.”

“Yes.”

Maybe because it was early summer, it wasn’t too cold. I quietly leaned my head against the window.

‘I think we nailed the stage, but how’s the reaction?’

I quietly stretched. The world flashed again, and there was the sound of thunder.

***

“This is insane! Insane!”

Director Joo immediately grabbed her smartphone. The ringing didn’t stop.

“Director, there’s an interview request from S newspaper!”

“Hold on. I need to finish this call with T Cable!”

The PR manager nodded and went back.

“Ah, Director. Of course, we’ll do it. You’re featuring Zenis? The kids are good-looking and well-mannered. Plus, they’ve got a lot of entertainment potential. Yes, I’ll call you back. Okay!”

Director Joo hung up and rubbed her forehead.

“What have they done now!”

She hurriedly checked the trending search terms.

-Zenis

-Soaking wet idol

-Live idol

-Debut in torrential rain

-Zenis GIF

-Localized downpour idol

-Wet idol

She let out a dry laugh.

“This is crazy!”

In a good way!

Articles started pouring in. Most were about ‘Zenis’ debuting during the torrential rain.

She searched for ‘Zenis GIF’ among the trending terms. Soon, numerous moving images of Zenis appeared on social media.

“This definitely deserves GIFs.”

When they gestured in the storm, water droplets flew. The intense choreography made the water splash like an action movie.

‘So that’s why they’re called localized downpour idols.’

The rain poured throughout the entire performance. Luckily, the kids’ makeup was waterproof. Otherwise, they’d look like horror idols or Picasso idols by now.

“But what’s with ‘wet idol’?”

She searched and found images of soaked Zenis. Director Joo sighed as she looked at the screen.

“This needs to be taken down.”

Maybe it was a problem that they wore somewhat revealing clothes because they had good bodies. The wet clothes clung to them, and since they were white, their skin showed subtly.

‘Important parts of their upper bodies are hidden by the harnesses, though.’

What should she call this?

‘Unintentional exposure?’

Does that even make sense?

All the Zenis members were soaked and in that state.

“I didn’t plan to promote them with their bodies. Damn it.”

The phone rang again. This time it was a different TV producer.

Director Joo reluctantly answered. She wasn’t thrilled, but she could feel it. The land of opportunity was approaching.

Unfortunately, she had plenty prepared. She could roll out a lot.

‘Kids!’

Now, I’ll make sure no one in Korea doesn’t know your faces.

“Yes, Director! How can I help you? A program? Zenis? They’re hot right now. No, it wasn’t intentional, they’re just naturally talented.”

All sorts of managers ran into Director Joo’s office. While on the phone, she welcomed them. It had been a long time since such success, and she was thrilled.

***

-Wow, look at that body.

-I want those arms to crush me. Remember, oppa? You crushed me into jelly.

-Why is it raining so much?

-There was a localized downpour that day, haha. That’s why their nickname is ‘localized idol,’ㅋㅋㅋ.

-Friends Entertainment’s new group is Zenis. There’s a member who was in YUMI’s music video.

-Oh, the music video,ㅋㅋㅋ. Did you watch it?

-That music video is otherworldly,ㅋㅋㅋ. The brother-in-law and the sister-in-law cheat,ㅋㅋㅋ. The agency is insane,ㅋㅋㅋ.

-The director’s intentions are too obvious,ㅋㅋㅋ. His personal desire is like a big fluffy cloud,ㅋㅋㅋ.

I tilted my head, reading the SNS comments.

‘What are they saying?’

I could only understand half of it. Why does everyone speak in code?

“What do you think?”

Seungjoon sat on my bed. I handed him my smartphone.

“I don’t understand what they’re saying.”

“Hmm, it looks like the reaction is good?”

“You can understand this?”

“Yeah.”

Why can he do what I can’t?

“Isn’t it like a code?”

“It’s not that hard. Basically, they’re saying we’re doing well.”

That’s a relief.

“I use SNS a lot, but I don’t get what they’re saying.”

“It’s funny that the youngest one says that.”

He laughed and handed back my smartphone.

“With this kind of reaction, what happens next?”

“I think we’ve made it.”

I blinked.

“This means we’ve made it?”

“The company must be in chaos. Just look at our music video views. They’re skyrocketing.”

I groaned.

“Are we starting to shine now?”

I squinted my eyes.

“Now we can freely perform on stage, right?”

“You might even get tired of it by now, though.”