Variety shows.

It was an inevitable schedule for idols who were on the rise to a certain extent and got good records.

Recently, the popularity of idols themselves had decreased a lot so some have said that it was difficult to be cast on variety shows even if you got a good record, but TeStar did not fall under this category. It was because we were from , which ranked first in variety show buzz last year.

If someone had some interest in the entertainment industry they might have seen or heard the faces or names of the top participants of at least once, even if they didn't know about TeStar.

Last year's promotions must have proved our record, and I knew that we received quite a lot of variety show offers for this comeback.

Thanks to that, I could set the right variety show schedule I wanted.

"Are you nervous?"

"To some extent."

Keun Sejin smiled.

"Hey, I'm also nervous."

Considering that he was also nervous, his eyes were burning with ambition.

'That's understandable.'

The only TeStar members heading to the set were Keun Sejin and me. It was because this variety show was not a format that the entire group could participate in, so the offer came down after going through several discussions, and the two of us won.

It was almost the first time for individual members to be in a variety show like this. And this guy Keun Sejin would never miss an opportunity to appear as an individual.

'I wonder if it ignited him more since the unit stage was a success?'

Well, it wasn't a bad thing anyway.

"You know without telling, right? Greet them properly when you arrive~"

"Yes!"

"Yes."

We nodded to the manager's words and as soon as we arrived, we started by saying hello to the cast.

"Hello!"

It has not even been two years so as expected, there was no one who was a junior to us.

But no one was ignoring us.

"Oh~ TeStar!"

It was because of our certain recognition and results.

'As expected, being on the rise is the answer.'

Still, the fact that Keun Sejin exchanged numbers with three actors in an instant was an extraordinary feat.

Then, I saw a pretty welcoming face in the waiting room.

"Gasp! Sunbae-nim~"

"Ah, nice to see you, you two."

It was Youngrin, the female idol who served as the representative in .

"I'm following your news. It's nice to meet you like this. I wish I could have met the others as well."

Youngrin said some words of blessings and then jokingly added.

"I'm going to release a solo album this year so let's not overlap our promotions."

...It suddenly reminded me of the nightmare that coincided with VTIC at the beginning of our debut.

"Haha! Eyy, we would have to postpone it since we're scared, sunbae-nim~"

"I will look forward to your album a lot."

"Thank you."

Youngrin smiled slightly and nodded her head.

And next to her, um... was someone unexpected.

It was the first time I met her but as soon as we finished greeting each other, she looked at me delightedly.

"Moondae-ssi, right? Wow, we're meeting like this! Let's do well on today's shoot∼"

It was... a member from Fluffysweet.

//TN: Previously just translated as Mallangdalkom which means the same as Fluffysweet.

It was the original singer of , which I danced to in the first ranking evaluation, and , which I changed to a Halloween concept before the first team battle.

And who I just met... hmm, was the only member of Fluffysweet who was active as an actor.

In any case, it meant that she was a senior in terms of years so I bowed my head.

"I look forward to working with you."

'Wait a minute.'

Come to think of it, didn't everyone think that I was a Fluffysweet fan?

'Could this person also think I'm her fan?'

Sure enough, the Fluffysweet member asked with a smile.

"Um, which of our members are you a fan of by any chance? We made a small bet among ourselves."

There was only one correct answer to this.

"...Of course, I'm everyone's fan."

"Eyy, you weren't my fan? You're getting out of here, Moondae-ssi!"

The Fluffysweet member laughed heartily and slapped her thigh.

'She's treating me like a younger cousin or brother.'

It seemed that I... developed a one-sided friendship since I've danced to Popcon so much.

"Of course, I'm kidding! Thanks to Moondae-ssi, we had a lot of fun together after a long time~ Thank you. Let's do well on today's shoot!"

"...Thank you."

At this rate, it seemed like I was going to get a signed CD from Fluffysweet.

Anyway, it was a good thing to see people I had connections with among the cast.

'It's good to have the stories edited here and there.'

Rather than a cast that didn't know each other at all, wasn't it better to have those who could come up with topics for each other for footage?

Since the two of us had such a big difference in years of experience, there was a low probability for an unnecessarily old-fashioned broadcast love story to be edited here.

'Still, it would be more comfortable if they were of the same gender.'

It was unfortunate but among the rest of the cast, I didn't see anyone who had overlapping activities or were acquaintances.

...Is what I thought up to that point.

However, as their schedules seemed to be quite busy, there were some people who arrived just before the filming began.

"Hello~"

They were the two members from VTIC.

'Fuck.'

Why were these bastards here?

If they appeared as a group, why did they come out when they weren't even in the middle of promotions, since even if this variety show changed its format they were at a level where they could organize their own solo special?

At that moment, Keun Sejin, who came wearing a microphone, poked me in the back and whispered.

"Wow, LeTi seems to be doing well."

"LeTi?"

LeTi Entertainment. It was VTIC and Fluffysweet's agency.

Keun Sejin glanced at them. They were the actors whose numbers he got.

"That group of actors, they are Sweetfluffy Suhyun sunbae-nim's first starring movie team."

"...!"

"They're in the same agency. The show probably agreed for them to make an appearance as a group by adding VTIC."

...Did the cast come out as a group to promote the movie?

Thanks to that, it seemed that the two VTIC members who were on a break came out personally.

They also owned shares in the company so it was only natural that they would be generous with promoting celebrities belonging to the same company.

Keun Sejin laughed slightly.

"But isn't it good, Moondae?"

"What is?"

"I can't see that sunbae-nim who's in charge of Moondae's social life~"

"..."

It seemed like he noticed a long ago that I was uncomfortable with Chungryeo.

Well, it seemed like he only guessed to the extent of 'I guess that guy was bossier than I thought.'

I smiled and shook my head.

"No, it doesn't really matter."

"Oh, really?"

That's right.

It wasn't like Chungryeo would slam me in the head with a sledgehammer with this many people on the set.

It would just... be a bit annoying and tiring to meet the lunatic.

'It doesn't matter if he's here or not.'

The problem was that... VTIC itself came out. We were in the same position as male idols but there was a difference in our level.

I spoke frankly.

"I'm worried about the screentime."

"Huh?"

Keun Sejin burst out laughing.

"Wow, so Moondae is worried about the screentime on a variety show! But don't worry too much~"

"...?"

Keun Sejin lowered his voice and whispered.

"Those two sunbae-nims don't talk very well in variety shows."

"...!!"

"It seemed like they sent out anyone who said yes in a hurry. Well, wouldn't they just do enough and leave?"

It meant that they were not very motivated since they were the members who did not have much interest in variety shows.

To be honest, I was a little impressed.

'This bastard's head works really well.'

Gathering information and thinking about it, this amazing guy really was amazing.

I nodded my head.

"We should try hard."

"Let's do our best."

We exchanged rare useless fist bumps.

The mic was turned on, and filming soon began.

* * *

"Sensational Saturday! We invite you to a weekend night's fun, !"

"Whoaah!!"

was a full-fledged variety show hosted by a national MC.

As you could guess from the name, it was a very boring program, but it ended in the late 2000s and was revived a few years ago due to the retro craze.

A program with high ratings and aired on Saturdays at 8:50 pm. In other words, it was an extremely popular variety show.

There wouldn't be an unnecessary family background topic of guests coming out and you could show your personality in a few scenes with fun and impact.

It had all the elements I was looking for.

Although... the process of letting go of myself was necessary.

Because the concept needed resistance to cringyness.

Dudumchit, dudumchit!

Right now, the MC was DJing in the 80's style DJ booth while shaking his bobbed hair.

He seemed very into it. The professionalism was great.

"Today's party concept?!"

Words that were notified in advance came out.

"Only~ a pair of identical party people! Today's stage where only clones can enter! Our party people, please appear now!"

Because of this, I matched my clothes and hairstyle with Keun Sejin.

...For reference, whether they were conscious of this concept or not, one of the member combinations that the company thought of was the 'Keun Sejin-Bae Sejin' pair.

Of course, thanks to Bae Sejin's active freakout, it was canceled even before the discussion.

"Our turn."

"Yeah."

It was time for me and Keun Sejin to appear on the set.

We were going to go up to the stage and dance prepared with the MC's amazing introduction.

This was because the MC reproduced the cheesy variety show captions that were popular as memes in the past with his mouth while the performers danced.

The funny point seemed to be that the cast members, who couldn't stand the sound that resonated in the venue through the microphone, collapsed.

However, I didn't think that I nor Keun Sejin could collapse in a very funny way. I wondered if Ryu Chungwoo and Seon Ahyun would know if they appeared.

So we decided to do it in reverse.

Me and Keun Sejin stealthily surrounded the DJ booth while dancing.

"...?!"

The MC was a little flustered.

"Wow, the best national MC!"

"He will show you what hosting is! He is the host!"

"A presence that even a booth cannot confine! A light that moves the whole country!"

"Shaking the Saturday evening. This is the great person's talk."

"The only person in the DJ seat who can move you and make you laugh at the same time!"

The MC collapsed instead.

He seemed a little flustered at first but knew to keep in tune with us.

'Thank god.'

It was a relief that I didn't have to say more excessive words.

However, Keun Sejin smiled next to me and shook off all the remaining comments.

"The history of variety shows in Korea is divided into before and after Choi Hosu. He is the standard of entertainment!"

"..."

That was how the dance stage ended.

The MC, who came to his senses, held back a few laughs and left a gem-like ending comment.

"Taking over the stage as they appear! This is entertainment! Passion, spirit, love, and peace!"

"Thank you!"

Keun Sejin and I came down the stage.

'...Phew.'

For now... I did everything I was aiming for in this part. Seeing even the production crew smiling, the impact was good.

However, as soon as I sat down in the chair for the cast, the agony came.

Even when I was prepared for the broadcast before appearing, I was amazed at how variety shows could test people's cringe resistance to such an extent.

'There are many people who longed for this kind of format.'

I couldn't believe it. But the ratings didn't lie.

'Let's just react.'

I gave a big round of applause to the VTIC guys who took the stage last.

As Keun Sejin said, they didn't seem to have any special intentions in the variety show and didn't seem like they prepared anything big.

"Heavenly good looks!"

After all 12 cast members appeared, the program began at full-scale.

"Actually, the reason we had this party today is... to find a fake!"

"No, wasn't it weird that there were so many clones? One must be a doppelganger! A fake!"

...With this concept, the people who appeared together split up and played a 6:6 team match, which was what I heard.

"The decisive person who made the team lose! That person... will be penalized!"

And the moment the penalty was selected in the first game, the real intention was revealed.

"Huh? Why isn't our Juho, who entered with me, coming out?"

"Huh, what?!"

"Since we have the same body, we should be punished together~ Since we're doppelgangers! So, !"

"...!"

That's right.

When a penalty was issued, the doppelganger of that person on the opposing team was also punished.

"No, gosh!"

"Then I shouldn't aim for that side?"

"No, team wins are important! Let's just accept the penalty~"

Surprisingly, no one was notified about this, so the cast was really surprised.

In the gap between the whispers, I met Keun Sejin's eyes.

'Let's get a penalty.'

'Okay.'

The reaction in a critical situation like the penalty was a good way to show your character. I absolutely had to take this.

"The penalty for this team match is... a water balloon bomb!"

"Huh!"

Hmm, I think that level would be fine.

However, when the opportunity came, an obstacle came in.

The situation became one-on-one in a disco ball dodgeball. The lineup consisted of me and a VTIC member.

'The last person eliminated gets the penalty.'

Due to the nature of this program, they 100 percent did that to make the look of unfairness funny.

'You didn't win even though you were left until the end, so you're the cause of the defeat~'

...Is what they would say. There were also many cases of that.

'I can get hit here.'

I was ready to get hit by the ball.

"It's done!"

"Hit him there!!"

But the VTIC member on the other side started acting crazy.

He gave me a vague look, and while pretending to throw the ball, he stepped on the line and was eliminated.

"...??"

"Oops! I made a mistake!"

'What the.'

What was that guy doing?

He even winked at me and signaled when our eyes met.

He looked like a high school senior who was covering for a freshman in some presentation.

'What the hell was that?'