I Became An Idol To Pay Off My Debt

The fan signing event proceeded smoothly for about two hours without any issues.

Yoo Chang-seon, who was watching the fan signing event from his seat, was worried about any troublesome fans showing up, but thankfully, nothing of the sort happened.

“Thank you so much for coming today!”

“I’ll work hard from now on!”

“Wow-!”

The fan signing event ended on a warm note.

1.8 million won.

For someone like him, recently discharged from the military and about to return to school, it was a tremendous expense…

But he was certain it was the most worthwhile 1.8 million won he had ever spent.

“This hand touched Ye-rin’s hand… heh…”

Not only had he actually talked to Ha Ye-rin, but he also held her hand.

He was still cherishing the hand he held with Ha Ye-rin, taking care of it separately.

At least until tonight, he planned not to wash his hands.

“Ha… I was happy…”

It seemed everyone else was quite satisfied with their first fan signing event with Rookies, all wearing blissful expressions.

Yoo Chang-seon left the Art Hall Center, where the signing took place, surrounded by people with satisfied smiles.

But then it happened.

“Sht…, sht…”

“Um…?”

At the entrance of the Art Hall Center, a man with a disgruntled look on his face stood out from the crowd.

He looked to be around the same age as Yoo Chang-seon, a tall and skinny average guy, but there was something peculiar about him…

‘What happened to his scar…?’

In the past few months, something clearly went down, as he had a large, torn scar on his face.

Moreover…

‘Huh…, is that…’

He was holding a pale pink ticket in his hand.

Yoo Chang-seon immediately recognized what it was.

‘Rookies fan signing event admission ticket…’

It appeared unused.

Seeing that, Yoo Chang-seon thought it was a shame.

Most people here spent anywhere from hundreds of thousands to a few million won just to come to the fan signing.

That person must have done the same.

‘But why is he out there unable to enter the signing?’

The guy looked as though he wanted to see just the tail end of Rookies, peeking at the crowd pouring out of the Art Hall Center…

“Sht…, sht!”

Ultimately, he couldn’t get inside.

Looking around, he shivered as if he feared something.

“What did I do so wrong…? I just wanted to… Ha Ye-rin… f*ck…”

He ended up shouting at the poor wall before leaving.

Yoo Chang-seon thought he was just a crazy person and looked at his back, then…

“Wait, did he just say Ha Ye-rin? Is he a fan of Ye-rin?”

Tilting his head, he just went on his way.

There are some strange people among idol fans, so it didn’t surprise him too much.

‘Well, there’s no way he’s actually causing trouble for Ye-rin.’

So he quickly forgot about the strange fan and happily headed home, stroking the signatures he received today.

“Phew…, finally done.”

“The fan signing events are quite tiring, huh?”

After the signing event ended, the faces of the Rookies members were stained with fatigue.

But more than that…

“But it was good, right?”

“Yeah, everyone was really kind.”

A greater sense of happiness settled on our faces.

I felt the same way.

‘Everyone was really nice…’

It was truly meaningful meeting fans up close like this, after only seeing them from a distance on stage and in their seats.

And among them, the most memorable fan was…

“I didn’t know we had such passionate fans from Japan.”

Of course, it was the Japanese fan.

A person from Japan, whom we couldn’t even communicate with, came all the way to Korea just to see us.

How could we not be thankful?

But…

“Huh? A Japanese fan?”

“Were there any fans from Japan?”

The other members tilted their heads in confusion at the mention of a Japanese fan.

I was puzzled too.

“Um? Didn’t everyone meet a Japanese person?”

“Doesn’t seem like it?”

“Eh?”

“Oh… Ye-rin. That person…”

Only Yoo Seol seemed to know about that Japanese person…

“No, they must have had their reasons…”

She just shook her head with a pitiful expression.

The conversation quickly changed to something else.

“By the way, now that our fan signing event is over, it’s really vacation time, right?”

“That should be it, right? Director Jeong said vacation would start right after the idol sports day and fan signing schedule were done.”

Finally, vacation.

While doing schedules was nice, to be honest, it had been tiring to work non-stop.

We chatted about where we would go for vacation and what we would do while getting into the car.

However…

“Hey guys, I think we should go to the company first before heading to the dormitory.”

“……Huh?”

Even though all the schedules were done, our manager turned the car toward the company instead of the dorm.

“…Huh?”

“Weren’t we done with everything?”

As the sudden company detour puzzled the members and me…

“Haha, I wonder why I was called to the company all of a sudden? I don’t know either…”

“……”

Our manager just awkwardly smiled.

He really wasn’t good at acting.

As soon as we realized he was hiding something, we couldn’t help but feel anxious.

And that anxiety became reality.

As we walked into the NAS Entertainment headquarters’ Rookies office, a group of cameras awaited us, reminiscent of the Na Ah Ah days.

“Oh? Haha…”

“Suddenly cameras… What could this be about…”

Although taken aback by the sudden appearance of cameras, we had gotten used to Na Ah Ah and smiled skillfully.

Among the crowd of cameras, Director Jeong was smiling sheepishly with an apologetic look.

“Rookies! Please open up the banner folded on the desk.”

“A banner?”

“Is this it?”

We opened the rolled-up banner in the middle of the office desk, at Director Jeong’s request.

And we were shocked by the words written inside.

< Rookies worked hard! Off to the rural area! >

“Rookies worked hard…”

“Off to the rural area…?”

“I said I’d give you a vacation, didn’t I?”

“Don’t tell me that vacation is…”

“Yes.”

At that moment, Director Jeong looked as annoying as he had ever been.

“Have you heard of farm work?”

Of course, Director Jeong wasn’t breaking his promise about granting a vacation.

It was just that this vacation was a reality show broadcasted with cameras instead.

The next day.

The place we arrived at was a rural village in Gangwon-do.

“Wow.”

“The weather is really nice.”

Escaping the chaotic Seoul, it felt good to see the lovely countryside again—clean air, beautiful scenery, and my mind felt at ease.

Rustle.

Of course, it would have been better without those dozens of cameras filming us.

“This will be where Rookies will stay.”

“Ooh… um?”

Director Jeong, or rather today’s deceitful “Director Jeong,” led us to a house that looked like it could collapse any moment.

The kitchen had a cauldron, and though there were tiles on the roof, there were doubts about whether electricity even worked. It was undoubtedly an ancient farmhouse.

“……”

“……”

Most members of Rookies were born in Seoul.

Only Na Han-na came from Daejeon, but even Daejeon is considered a metropolitan city.

So we were all from cities.

Especially Seo Yoo-jin, who was raised in a wealthy home, couldn’t believe the situation and asked Director Jeong.

“Are we really going to sleep here…?”

“Yes, you’ll be living here self-sufficiently for two nights and three days.”

“Self-sufficiently?”

In fact, we didn’t know much beyond just living in the countryside for a few days.

But self-sufficiently…?

Quickly sensing that something was off, Yoo Seol raised her hand to ask Director Jeong.

“So, does that mean we have to figure out our own food?”

Grin.

At Yoo Seol’s question, Director Jeong flashed a wicked smile and pointed to one spot.

There was a massive field.

“That field is filled with sweet potatoes. We already asked for permission, so feel free to dig them up.”

“…Sweet potatoes? You mean we have to eat just sweet potatoes for two nights and three days…?”

“Of course, that’s not the case. Here, you can exchange sweet potatoes for various things! Let’s take a look!”

Director Jeong said this while pulling out a prepared list showing what could be traded for sweet potatoes.

For example, he showed us:

“You can exchange 3 kg of sweet potatoes for 1 serving of rice!”

“Toothpaste and toothbrush for 1 kg of sweet potatoes…? You’re not giving them for free? How stingy…!”

“5 kg of sweet potatoes for a jar of kimchi, 1 kg for mosquito repellent… Huh? There’s no mosquito repellent here?”

The members grumbled at the surprisingly high prices.

In our eyes, something immediately stood out.

“Huh…! There’s pork belly on here!”

“……!”

It was the Korean soul food, pork belly.

While our Rookies diets had included beef and chicken pretty often, we had never seen anything as fatty as pork belly.

But here, there was pork belly.

The fact that we could eat pork belly if we just dug up sweet potatoes ignited the members’ determination.

However…

“Huh…! But it takes 40 kg of sweet potatoes for a pound of pork belly?”

“How much is 40 kg?”

“About two big boxes worth.”

“Ugh…, this is too much. How long is it gonna take to dig that many sweet potatoes…!”

Indeed, it seemed like the dream of pork belly was just a cruel joke, as it required an insane amount of sweet potatoes.

Seeing us look miserable, Director Jeong grinned again.

“Still, we’ll provide work clothes and hoes for free!”

“Is that supposed to be a good thing?”

“Okay, everyone! If you want to eat some rice and kimchi for lunch, you’ll have to get moving now! Let’s go!”

It looked like Director Jeong wanted to capture our suffering on camera.

We had no choice but to change into work clothes and head out to the fields with hoes in hand.

Of course, the resolution was nowhere in sight even in front of the field.

The six city girls let out sighs as they gazed at the vast sweet potato field before them.

“…Unnie, have you ever dug sweet potatoes before?”

“Of course not…”

“Still, I did a rural experience back in elementary school, so I know a little.”

As we just stared helplessly, Yoo Seol took the initiative and began digging a few sweet potatoes.

I watched her doing that, then picked up a hoe to join her by digging alongside her.

Thunk, thunk.

I couldn’t help but think this filming might be the hardest we had ever experienced among all the shows Rookies had done.

Director Jeong was originally a broadcasting variety show PD who had transitioned to R&D at NAS Entertainment.

That was why he could take charge of PD duties like this in a pinch.

“Huh…, everything’s ready.”

He looked at the games he had prepared with satisfaction.

He felt fulfilled to resurrect ideas he had shelved when he stopped being a PD.

“I should call the members back.”

The weak Rookies members, who had no experience in farming, surely wouldn’t be familiar with digging sweet potatoes.

The sweet potato field was actually a decoy.

The real main event was the games Director Jeong had prepared, and through these, he planned to supply the members with the food and items they needed.

He had prepared various and interesting games, surely to produce plenty of footage.

Smiling brightly, Director Jeong headed toward the sweet potato field where the members were.

But then…

“Huh…?”

Director Jeong spotted something happening far off in the sweet potato field.

With his poor eyesight, he could see clumps of dirt swirling as if a massive mole were digging.

As he approached the field with a dazed expression, what he saw was…

Thud thud-

“Wow-!!! Unnie, amazing-!!! Here! Over here too!!”

“Hurry and put the sweet potatoes in the box that Ye-rin dug!!”

It was Ha Ye-rin, rolling in the dirt with a hoe, showcasing her sweet potato digging mad movie.

“Hehe, where should I sell these next?”

Seemingly delighted by the members’ praise, Ha Ye-rin was covered in dirt, beaming as she held the sweet potatoes in her arms.

“Here! Please dig here!”

“Got it!”

Thud thud-

Every time Ha Ye-rin moved her hands, great mounds of dirt were being cleared, revealing sweet potatoes dropping in abundance.

“Wow-!! Already six boxes!”

“That’s two and a half pounds of pork belly!”

“Ye-rin is the best!”

“Hehe.”

Thud thud-

Director Jeong was left watching Ha Ye-rin’s efforts with disbelief.

‘Did she trick me, Ye-rin…?’

She was clearly a Seoul native who had never lived outside Seoul, and yet…

How could a Seoul-born idol be digging that fast?

Her skill could undoubtedly be compared to guerrilla fighters…

“Wow-!! Six boxes!”

Meanwhile, Ha Ye-rin diligently dug more sweet potatoes, and thus Rookies’ rural life unexpectedly turned into a sweet potato bonanza.

Watching this unfold, Director Jeong couldn’t help but smile wryly.

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