I Became An Idol To Pay Off My Debt

“Alright, cut-!”

“……!”

As soon as Han Si-woo announced that the next song was coming up, we jumped, and suddenly Director Jeong burst in shouting cut.

Swish.

All the camera operators lowered their cameras at Director Jeong’s command.

“Director Jeong…? What’s going on…?”

Tilting my head in confusion at the sudden situation, Director Jeong smiled and explained to us.

“Yes, actually the purpose of this reality program is to promote the next digital single of Rookies. We’re cutting it here and going to broadcast the rest.”

“Promotion….”

Just as I expected, this reality show was a build-up for Rookies’ next song.

I couldn’t help but feel flustered by the unexpectedly large scale.

‘Are they really going this far just to promote the next song?’

Do they really know how successful the next song will be to set such high expectations?

What was even more ridiculous was that Han Si-woo had come all this way just to film one cut.

“So, Producer Han Si-woo, did you come all this way for this? In the evening?”

“…Yes, I was quite baffled when I first got the request from Director Jeong. Of course, even though I’m now with NAS, this is a bit…, haha.”

To think that a top star in Korea is being treated like this, it must be a big company.

Han Si-woo sighed and shook his head a couple of times with an expression of resignation.

“Ha… still, it’s nice to finally see the Rookies after a long time.”

“That’s true.”

“We’re glad to see you after so long!”

As Han Si-woo smiled faintly, we welcomed him back with smiles too.

It was true we hadn’t met because he’d been busy lately.

“You’ll see me often again when we start preparing for activities. Oh, I shouldn’t be standing around; I brought a song, so let’s listen to it together.”

Han Si-woo said that and turned on his phone.

By the way, the camera wasn’t rolling at this moment.

He was revealing Rookies’ next activity song and their first digital single to us first.

“This song’s concept is ‘Deviance,’ and the title is [Breaking Bad].”

Deviance and [Breaking Bad].

The feel was already different from [Secret Girl].

♪♬♬-!

Finally, the guide recording flowed out with the melody.

Our reactions were….

“…!”

“Nice…!”

It was very positive.

This wasn’t just pretending to be nice; the song was genuinely good.

If [Secret Girl] had a dreamy pure feeling, this [Breaking Bad] had a girl crush and hip-hop vibe, right?

Overall, the powerful feeling pierced our ears, and it was catchy enough that we could hum it after just one listen.

But one thing I was worried about….

‘This is so YW-like….’

[Breaking Bad] smelled too much like YW.

Of course, Han Si-woo had been with YW for over ten years, and most of YW’s current image was created by him…, but we Rookies weren’t YW, were we?

If we’re not careful, Rookies might get labeled as copycats of Python.

“…….”

Maybe aware of this, except for the excited younger members, Yoo Seol and Lee Hye-jeong looked a bit gloomy.

And it seemed that Han Si-woo felt this too, as he dropped the laughter and spoke seriously.

“Actually, the success of this song depends on your capabilities. Especially Ye-rin and Han-na?”

“Yes.”

“Yep.”

“The highlight of this song will be the high-difficulty dance break in the middle. This time, you two’s roles are very important.”

It was clear that dancers would play a major role in such a hip-hop dance song’s performance.

In response, Na Ah Ah and I nodded simultaneously.

“Leave it to us.”

After seeing our determination, Han Si-woo looked around at the Rookies and said.

“I just said the success of this song depends on the members’ capabilities, but I genuinely believe our Rookies have enough talent to pull it off.”

“…….”

“So let’s work hard this time again to reward our fans who support us.”

“Yes-!”

“I’ll do my best!”

As Han Si-woo pumped us up, Director Jeong stepped forward one last time.

“Alright, Rookies, you’ll sleep here for the night and head up to Seoul tomorrow morning. Thank you for your hard work filming until now!”

“Wow-!”

With that, the filming wrapped up and just as the situation was coming to a close…

“Um, but Director Jeong?”

“Yes?”

Na Han-na caught holds of Director Jeong, who was about to leave.

“When do we start preparing for the next song? Next week? Or maybe take it easy next month?”

The question about when we would begin practicing for the next song perked up everyone’s ears.

“Oh come on, Han-na, why are you asking something like that~”

Director Jeong chuckled for a moment at the question….

“Tomorrow.”

“……Pardon?”

“We’ll start from tomorrow.”

…he responded with a serious face.

‘As I thought….’

I knew this would happen.

That damn corporation wouldn’t let us have a break.

However, Na Han-na, unable to believe the current situation, turned pale and questioned Director Jeong again.

“Wait, what about vacation? You’re not saying we’re going to count this filming as our vacation, right?”

“Han-na, there’s a saying in this world.”

Of course….

“Sleep only when you’re dead.”

“…….”

“Let’s really try hard until the moment we die. I’ll always be with you members.”

The extreme workaholic Director Jeong casually fired back at Na Han-na.

“More work again…. This is ridiculous….”

With that, Na Han-na collapsed at the reality of having to start working again right after our first activity….

And we comforted her, kicking off our preparations for Rookies’ next activity.

After Rookies’ debut was over.

-Oh, I already miss the kids again…

-I can’t stop watching [Secret Girl] music video like 30 times a day.

-What are we going to do about the loss of Rookies…

Rookies’ fans immediately felt their loss.

They searched for Rookies’ first music show stage, each member’s fancam videos, and even Na Ah Ah’s old videos to try to ease the loss of Rookies.

Then, news broke that Rookies would appear on the Nnet pilot program [Idol Heart Sports Day]… and the Rookies fans flocked there, excited but…

[Ha Ye-rin (Blue Team): Ugh…]
[The blue team’s Ha Ye-rin participant falls down…]
[Ha Ye-rin (Blue Team): …Yes, I’m okay…, ugh…]
-No, Ye-rin, ㅠㅠ
-Is your shin bleeding…? You don’t look okay…

[An unexpected situation occurs during the palm push!]
Slap!
[Yoo Seol (White Team): Aah…!]
[Yoo Seol (White Team) gets slapped by Blue Team’s Shin Si-woo’s palm!]

As the Rookies members got injured on the program, public opinion exploded.

-No, what the hell is this trashy program that made our kids get hurt?
-It hurts to see the kids getting hurt…
-Especially since they’re going through hard times already.

There was also the blame directed at Shin Si-woo, who had injured Ha Ye-rin and Yoo Seol.

-What’s that punk doing to make our kids get hurt?
-That psycho, did he do it on purpose?
-I’m really pissed.

Of course, Shin Si-woo’s group, Black Night, also had a solid fanbase, so Shin Si-woo’s fans didn’t just sit back and watch the Rookies fans’ criticism.

-What are you saying? They fell and bumped their face on their own.
-ㅠㅠ Why are you taking it out on our Si-woo?
-Our oppa, who got mixed up with those kids, is actually the victim.

So, amid the chaos between the Rookies fandom and the Black Night fandom…

-Ah, does NAS not do its job? We just want to see our kids.
-10 months from now, we won’t be able to see our kids anymore ㅠㅠ We want to see them as much as possible before that.

When the dissatisfaction of Rookies fans gradually piled up, a video was uploaded on the Rookies’ official account.

[The hardworking Rookies! Off to the rural area! – ep1]

It was their very own reality entertainment program.

Amidst the disputes with the Black Night fandom, the Rookies fandom forgot their anger and flocked to the video.

[Seo Yoo-jin: This is where we’re going to sleep…?]
[Director Jeong: Yes, you’ll be self-sufficient here for two nights and three days.]
-Haha, Yoo-jin’s expression, lol.
-It’s like a rich girl shocked to see a goshiwon room, lol.
└Fact: Seo Yoo-jin is indeed a rich girl; her dad is a famous company president.
└Oh really? She’s actually a rich girl, lol.
-Yoo-jin’s shocked face is hilarious, lol.

People laughed and enjoyed watching the Rookies’ rural self-sufficient life.

Of course, the highlight of the first episode was this part.

[Wudada-]
[Ha Ye-rin (Seoul native) is running like crazy in the sweet potato field.]
[Park Yoo-jung: Wow-!!! Unni, awesome-!!! Here!! Over here too!!]
[Yoo Seol: Quick, pack it in the box Ye-rin dug!!]
[Ha Ye-rin, unaware of the dirt on her face, feels proud.]
[Ha Ye-rin: Hehe, where else should I sell this?]
-Ah, hahahaha Ye-rin, lol.
-Why is she so good at digging sweet potatoes? Hahahaha.
-Is she really a Seoul native? Looking at her now, she seems like she has never been to Seoul before, lol.
-Rookies’ leader has evolved into a rural girl!
-Why is she so cute with her face all covered in dirt? Hahaha.

It was just delightful to see the usually cold city girl image of Ha Ye-rin show such an impressive charm while digging sweet potatoes, and people went wild for it.

But Ha Ye-rin’s potential didn’t end there…

[Next episode preview]
[Director Jeong: Today’s last corner is courage training.]
[Director Jeong: You’ll be going in pairs to visit three abandoned houses. It’ll be a good memory you’ll never forget, haha.]
[Ha Ye-rin’s face freezes at the mention of courage training.]
-Ah, why is it already over, damn it.
-It’s uploaded every Monday… how do I wait a week…?
-Look at Ye-rin’s scared expression, so cute, haha.
└Isn’t that just her usual expression? She looks expressionless.
└Is that so?
└Yeah, I feel like Ha Ye-rin wouldn’t get scared of this at all.

Ha Ye-rin’s true value would be fully displayed in the next episode.

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