Kapitel 48: PR (5)
Mi Yong sat surrounded by Ryeo Hyun, Bo Jaesang, and Reggie. He held his phone out for the small group to see, and displayed on screen was a Witter post full of screenshots from both Joon-woo and Jung Hyun-Ok's lives.
Jung Hyun-Ok sat with his face dark with an unreadable anger and Joon-woo sat with hunched shoulders as embarrassed as could be.
The post read:
@miyongsleft_ball
A thread of screenshots of Joon-woo and Jung Hyun-ok's cosplay lives!!! (thank me later lol)
4.2k reposts 546 quotes 10.4k likes
And in the thread, were both of them wearing different expressions in their respective cosplay characters. Embarrassed, serious, blank-faced and more… Really, Joon-woo wanted to die. He hoped he would never have to see the meme and video products that would come from those lives, at least not until the episode in which the PR lives would be included.
Of course, Mi Yong was dying in a fit of laughter. As was Bo Jaesang and even Reggie had begun to crack up. Ryeo Hyun watched the screen with just a sly smile, but that was enough to break Joon-woo.
"And here! This one! You look so done Joon-woo!" Mi Yong exclaimed, showing the room a specific photo of Joon-woo looking particularly annoyed. The blond wig's ends were fiddled with by Joon-woo's finger as he stared somewhere in the distance with killer eyes. "Really, if I didn't know you I would totally think you were actually a girl!" Mi Yong felt the need to add after another fit of laughter.
Mi Yong swiped to another photo and his laughter continued. At this point he and Bo Jaesang were practically beating upon each other with laughing fits. The next photo was Jung Hyun-Ok staring listlessly to the ground with his usual calm expression. Except in this photo, there was no soul behind his eyes like there usually was.
Jung Hyun-Ok, who had been enduring the ridicule all day and more thanks to his closer connection with Mi Yong, finally stood with his fists clenched at his sides.
One thing about the two, is while the height difference wasn't as drastic as Joon-woo and Reggie's, it was still visible. Mi Yong being a few inches shorter than Jung Hyun-Ok, slightly shriveled under Hyun-Ok's shadow.
Mi Yong, from his seat, raised his hands as if to surrender. "H– Hyun-Ok-Ah?" He questioned, stuttering over laughter.
Bo Jaesang and Reggie's faces paled as they saw Jung Hyun-Ok's expression from their spots next to Mi Yong. Ryeo Hyun even took a step away.
"Hey!" Mi Yong called, noticing the group he was once laughing with flee the scene. He turned back to Jung Hyun-Ok who stood ominously over him. "Sorry, okay? I didn't mean it!" He cried while waving his hands in innocence.
Joon-woo's eyes slightly widened, as suddenly Mi Yong was pinned to the floor, Jung Hyun-Ok over him.
"Hey, hey!" Mi Yong rebelled, the chair he was sitting in pushed aside. He began to break into laughter again, but this time the thing that prompted such was Jung Hyun-Ok's hands ticking at Mi Yong's sides. "S–Stop!" He tried to get out through his laughter.
The rest of the group exchanged glances, and turned towards the dorm door. Really, they should escape the scene before they got caught too…
Bo Jaesang, who had laughed and teased the cosplays almost the same amount as Mi Yong, stood and tiptoed out of the dorm with a nervous expression. He sent glances to the pinned and laughing Mi Yong, then to Jung Hyun-Ok who was still mercilessly tickling at Mi Yong's sides with a dark expression.
Reggie followed Bo Jaesang's steps, signalling Ryeo Hyun, and eventually Joon-woo to leave the dorm to escape the wrath of Jung Hyun-Ok.
"Hey! Where–?" Mi Yong tried to speak, noticing the group leaving him to fend for himself, but he eventually broke out into more laughter. "Stop, stop! Sorry, sorry!" Were the last words the group heard before they entered the hallway…
Bo Jaesang still seemed a bit pale as the laughter became faint behind the closed dorm door. "Remind me never to make fun of Hyun-Ok Hyung ever again…" He spoke.
"Or me!" Joon-woo butt in, because he too had gotten made fun of, maybe even more so than Jung Hyun-Ok. "It was against our will to dress like that!"
Bo Jaesang's gaze read, 'are you serious?' and he sized Joon-woo up with his eyes. "It's my duty as a Hyung to make fun of you." He replied.
Joon-woo's eyes turned red as he went to throw light punches at Bo Jaesang's chest, but his arms were held from swinging by Reggie, who was shaking his head with a smile evident on his face.
"Guys, guys, I think we should go to the stage room now… No violence, no nothing please." Reggie bartyred while waving his hands in between the heated Joon-woo and teasing Bo Jaesang.
Oh, Joon-woo had forgotten that the eliminations were happening in a few… He brought his fists down and stuffed his hands in his pockets, occupying his mind with the thoughts of the next ten eliminations.
Really, his little group was safe. After all they all remained in the top half with their viewer counts. In fact, Joon-woo felt a bit bad as though he hadn't dared to point it out, because anxiety had plagued the expression of the less-known contestants.
Glares had been sent Mi Yong, Jung Hyun-Ok, and Joon-woo's way, as they basically had 'PD Pick' name tags on their chests at this point. Not to mention they got the most media attention by a mile, their viewer counts in the lives proving so.
So when Joon-woo, followed by Ryeo Hyun, Reggie, and Bo Jaesang entered the stage room, all eyes fell upon them. It freaked Joon-woo out at first, his heart dropping at the attention. But when Reggie loosely hung his arm around Joon-woo's shoulder, offering a kind smile, he slightly calmed.
But still, he felt a bit bad. If Ha-rin hadn't killed herself and taken over the body of Park Joon-woo, would someone else more deserving get the chance to be a front running contestant? Would someone else go viral? Would someone else get all these chances that Joon-woo was getting placed at his feet?
Really, did he actually deserve any of this?
The thought spread like a plague through his mind. Truthfully it had always existed. Yelling at him whenever it caught a smile or laugh escaping his mouth, whenever his heart felt full. But it really tended to take charge in a room of jealous eyes.
Their group was whistled over by a few stray makeup artists. They dabbled at their faces with various concealers to hide eyebags or acne, light blush and shading to exaggerate puffy or thin cheeks. Joon-woo found the process familiar, pulling his hair into a small ponytail pre-makeup and allowing the makeup artists to do their jobs without flinching or shifting to the touch of brushes like the unfamiliarized male trainees.
The artist who had usually worked with him smiled at him, "You're like a natural at this, Joon-woo. Were you a girl in your past life?" She joked, as she dabbled blush along Joon-woo's cheek.
Joon-woo shuddered at the pinpoint accuracy of her words, granted she was just joking. "...Haha, maybe yeah…" He replied anxiously.
Stumbling through the stage room doors, then, were Mi Yong and Jung Hyun-Ok. Mi Yong's hair was a bit disheveled, as were his clothes. Joon-woo and the others' knew that it was likely from Jung Hyun-Ok's tortuous revenge, but with the way they had entered a few minutes late, suspicious gazes shifted their ways.
Mainly jealous eyes, of course, as they were the top two contestants in the eyes of both fans and staff. They were eye candy with talent under their belts and Mi Yong, idol experience. Really, weren't they easy to be jealous of?
Even Joon-woo's make-up artist cooed at the sight of the two, her cheeks reddening.
"Aren't they ready-made idols?" She questioned amidst her admiration.
Joon-woo nodded along, "Quite so." He replied, because they truly were.
Mi Yong and Jung Hyun-Ok began their way over to the various make-up artists and by proxy, Joon-woo and the others'. Mi Yong bowed, muttering apologies to the artists for their late arrival and disheveled appearances.
Just as the two took their seats with blush and concealer being brushed just lightly against their faces, Joon-woo was finished.
He stood and sent them waves, thanking the make-up artist that had worked on him before re-entering the main stage room. He was ready to watch the eliminations…
–+–
"Ahh, I feel bad…" Reggie said, as he and Joon-woo watched from their rank chairs, contestants crying into each other's arms. They had been eliminated. Ten new people, ten dreams crushed.
Joon-woo nodded.
"I just wish every contestant could debut, you know? Every trainee." Reggie continued as if the cameras weren't panning on them.
Among the eliminated contestants was Rank 26, Joon-woo's worst tormentor so far into the show. Truthfully he was happy to see the bully go. Now no one would have to suffer at his hands, not Joon-woo and not anyone that happened to push at his buttons.
"Don't you think so too, Joon-woo?" Reggie asked, questioning Joon-woo's silence.
Life wasn't fair. And even more so, the K-Pop industry. As Ha-rin, she had seen many talented trainees slip through the cracks. Whether it was nepotism, favoritism among trainees, or simply bad luck.
She had seen trainees, after years of harsh diet and overworking their bodies dead, collapse at the feet of trainers, managers, CEOs, begging for a chance. She had seen them and only used such scenes as motivation to stay ahead of the curve. Eventually, she became numb to such sights.
So really, survival shows were only such scenes, but televised. Joon-woo watched as the eliminated contestants were being embraced by friends, by others eliminated, and faked a look of pity.
"It's quite sad," Joon-woo replied, "But as long as they work hard another chance will come." He lied. And the lies ate at his vocal chords, his words. Because life wasn't fair and the K-Pop industry was worse.
Reggie nodded, "I hope so…" He nodded along.
Joon-woo imagined how Reggie's words would be edited, if at all. Joon-woo couldn't imagine a way any of Reggie's words could be twisted into evil editing. Unlike Joon-woo, Reggie was quite expressive and pure hearted. A combination only given to angels… But really, wasn't that fitting?
Joon-woo pictured the taller man with a yellow halo and white elaborate wings. Reggie tilted his head as Joon-woo non-verbally imagined such. Yeah, it was quite fitting.
"Break! Let's break for five minutes and then we will resume shooting!" Producer Jang-Soo suddenly called from the floor.
Joon-woo and Reggie exchanged tired glances. These breaks were never actually breaks. There was just enough time to get your make-up touched up after hours of recording, maybe use the bathroom, and sometimes enough time to get a drink of water.
And that's what Joon-woo planned to do, as he hadn't drinken much or at all, and the water-less hours were clocking in on his health. But as he should, cautioning Reggie out of his way as he began down the stairs, a familiar red microphone fogged his vision.
Producer Jang-Soo. Joon-woo gulped.
"Joon-woo, can I have a word with you?" Producer Jang-Soo asked, face unreadable, but definitely not happy.
"You… May…" Joon-woo replied, nervous as could be.
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