Second Try Idol

She suddenly stopped as Suh Hyun-Woo\'s face appeared briefly in the corner of the game screen. She hit the ← button with a heavy sigh and replayed the parts featuring Hyun-Woo over and over.

“Ah, damn it. This is frustrating. His screen time is barely three minutes in total. If only On Jeong-Woo had less screen time, it wouldn\'t feel so unjust."

It seemed like all the hard work was on Hyun-Woo\'s shoulders, though.

Newbie Crew had just started their promotions. The news had been a beacon of excitement for the Rings, especially with the announcement that Suh Hyun-Woo would be appearing right before the final episode of Again After Rainfall.

With Chronos on a lengthy hiatus and Again After Rainfall coming to an end, Rings wouldn\'t have many more chances to see their favorite idols outside of their official BlueBird social media posts.

The news of Park Yoon-Chan’s drama appearance had been reported, but it seemed that it would take a while until it aired. Thus, the Rings thought they’d have to spend three months rewatching videos they had already seen.

In such a situation, the timely release of Newbie Crew featured crazy promotions announcing the participation of Suh Hyun-Woo from Chronos and Woo Ji-Hyuk from High Tension.

[Hey, Engineer! Just a little longer! D-31!]

Besides On Jeong-Woo, Suh Hyun-Woo, and Woo Ji-Hyuk, the rest of the cast didn\'t really have much popularity or recognition, yet the production team had leveraged the solid fanbases of Chronos and High Tension to even craft the nickname Engineer for the show’s viewers.

The Rings were only interested in Suh Hyun-Woo and High Tension’s fans in Woo Ji-Hyuk, and they had little interest in the other participants. However, the production team was already busy selling merchandise. It was irksome to see the broadcasters chugging along with their wishful thinking, but what was there to be done? The fans bought merchandise featuring their idols\' symbols while freely cursing the production team.

“Just try to at least have half the editing quality of Again After Rainfall. Ugh."

This program\'s approach was a stark contrast to the considerate handling of Chronos throughout Again After Rainfall, making everything all the more frustrating.

Anyway, time passed and, with a month left until the premiere, the official UTube

channel for Newbie Crew unexpectedly released a video.

[Newbie Crew\'s First In-Game Meetup! One Hours First Play Edited Version Released!]

For a pre-release, the video was unusually lengthy since it was about thirty minutes long. The Rings had high hopes since Suh Hyun-Woo had been heavily promoted. Therefore, their disappointment was immediate.

\'Why are they hiding the younger cast members’ faces?\'

Maybe it was just because Kim Go-Ri was solely focused on spotting Suh Hyun-Woo, but in a thirty-minute video, Suh Hyun-Woo\'s screen time was frustratingly brief. The bulk of the footage featured On Jeong-Woo and his comedian juniors, and even Woo Ji-Hyuk was awkwardly managing to get screen time by fumbling through his performances.

\'And what about my baby?\'

Suh Hyun-Woo was too earnest, sitting diligently and playing the game. His problem was that he was too focused, leading his team and carrying them single-handedly. His earnestness resulted in minimal reactions, and this left little footage suitable for the broadcast.

On the other hand, he had the most screen time while in game, so it was a slight relief that his name popped up the most in the subtitles.

“Hyun-Woo... Ah."

It was frustrating that the production team didn’t realize that just showing his face would be entertaining enough, instead of simply exploiting Suh Hyun-Woo’s name to boost their ratings. Kim Go-Ri dreaded the thought of having three months with nothing much to watch.

She scrolled down, and the comments section was filled with criticism about the distribution of screen time and the poor editing skills.

“Exactly. They are all correct. These damn producers. No matter how much I think about it..."

Ding!

As irritation with Newbie Crew grew, a surprising notification sound diverted Kim Go-Ri\'s attention. “BlueBird?"

She only followed the Chronos account on the BlueBird platform, so it had to be something uploaded by the official Chronos account. But Kim Go-Ri wasn’t hopeful.

\'It’s probably just about Newbie Crew’s updates.\'

What else could it be during their vacation? They were probably all resting at their dorms or homes.

“...Huh?" A sound of surprise involuntarily escaped Kim Go-Ri’s lips as she experienced a sudden rush of emotion. She instinctively tapped on the newly uploaded photo.

And there it was. A beautiful silhouette of five members plus a well-known figure in the background was filling the screen. Chronos had posted a group selfie taken by Goh Yoo-Joon outdoors in the sun.

The colors seemed particularly vivid, and the members looked exceptionally cheerful. Was it the subtle glow of the sunset that made the difference?

Kang Joo-Han and Goh Yoo-Joon were both wearing sunglasses, and they were clearly enjoying the moment. Goh Yoo-Joon was holding up the camera with his trademark wide grin, ready to capture the view. Just behind him, Suh Hyun-Woo, Park Yoon-Chan, and Lee Jin-Sung were posing with evident enthusiasm.

Lurking in the background were several suitcases piled up, hinting that they were ready to leave. Among the luggage and members, the famously dubbed Manager Lee, Lee Su-Hwan, known to be often asked by fans to share pictures of the members from his phone gallery, was partially visible. This added a touch of behind-the-scenes reality to the shot.

“What\'s this? Is this supposed to be their vacation trip?"

Was this yet another work trip disguised as a holiday?

Kim Go-Ri flipped through the photos and found herself caught between joy and skepticism. Her expression softened into a smile as she read the caption that came into view. It seemed to capture the light-hearted spirit of their outing, adding a personal touch that resonated with fans and followers alike.

[We are heading out on a Chronos group trip to celebrate the vacation~ It’s not a work trip, so don’t worry~ We will post more soon! -YJ]

“Waaaah!" Kim Go-Ri let out an involuntary shriek. Goh Yoo-Joon indeed knew exactly how to keep Rings on their toes, just like Kang Joo-Han. Following that, the Rings were bombarded with a flurry of posts from both Goh Yoo-Joon and Kang Joo-Han, the number so high that they had to pull an all-nighter to look at every single picture carefully.

***

“All posts are up. It seems like the Rings were really waiting for us to post. Reactions are flooding in!"

“Well then, let\'s get going."

Everyone piled into the car. Thanks to Tae-Seong, who had turned on the air conditioning beforehand, the members collectively sighed in relief as they settled into the cool interior.

“Man, we should have gotten in here sooner! I thought I was going to melt out there!"

“That’s because Goh Yoo-Joon insisted on taking a picture in that spot right there.”

“It\'s not stubbornness, it was just Yoo-Joon hyung being playful.”

“Damn you—"

“Hey, watch your language!" Goh Yoo-Joon quickly cut off Joo-Han\'s impending curse directed at him and connected his phone to the car’s audio system. True to his role as the mood maker of Chronos, he chose a track that Jin-Sung could really get into. The song was Jin-Sung’s karaoke favorite, and he began belting it out as expected while losing himself in the music.

“Dance at!!! End of the world!!!"

“‘Dance at the end of the world?’ When you think about it, the lyrics are really something. The world\'s ending, and someone\'s just lost a dance-off?" Joo-Han commented, seemingly amused as he pictured the scenario in his mind. He was also suppressing his laughter.

It had been a while since the car had been this loud. The vibe was reminiscent of our "Joy" days. A weird sense of nostalgia mixed with happiness defined the atmosphere, likely because there was no performance schedule the next day and everyone was in peak condition for a break.

The journey to the lodge was a long one. Jin-Sung managed about seven songs before exhaustion overtook him, and the others drifted off to sleep one by one.

“Don\'t worry about us, just go to sleep. But you guys are handling the barbecue at the lodge."

It wasn’t a scheduled trip, so staying awake seemed unnecessary. However, Joo-Han and I stayed up even though Su-Hwan told us to just rest.

“I’m not really sleepy," Joo-Han said. He started listening to a song he was working on. I waited a bit longer before taking over the driving at a rest stop.

***

Again, this wasn’t a trip for work, and there was no reason the managers always had to be the ones driving. Therefore, having driven as routinely as eating in the past, I took over the wheel.

Su-Hwan had seen me drive before and trusted me enough to hand it over. “I’m not sure, but just start filming."

“Sure."

“But, hey, the middle seat belt feels a bit loose."

“Nah, you’re just imagining it."

But as ridiculous as it was, the members who had been sound asleep suddenly perked up and focused on me the moment I took the wheel.

Even Yoon-Chan seemed a bit anxious. “Wow, it\'s so weird seeing you drive."

Though I was quite confident in my driving skills, it seemed like no one really trusted me. This was a bit saddening. Even Tae-Seong seemed poised to swap places with me at any moment, judging by how he kept glancing at the steering wheel.

With everyone\'s nervous eyes on me, I heard a barrage of taps and sound effects as they took photos and videos.

“Hyun-Woo, you look cool. Doing great, man. Can I upload this to BlueBird?"

“…Sure!"

“Done, uploaded it."

I answered grumpily, but drove so safely to the destination that any worries were unnecessary.

“Wow, what’s this? Are we using all of this? Not just one room?"

“Yes."

Jin-Sung immediately got out and started frolicking around. I watched him for a moment before parking. I looked up at the lodge.

“Wow…"

The place we arrived at was more luxurious than expected. Su-Hwan casually surveyed the exterior and commented, “It’s nice. The owner is an acquaintance of the CEO. He said it\'s a villa he\'s put up."

“…It\'s not a regular house?”

“It’s used as a lodge now. Apparently, it’s popular among tycoons for private parties."

It was essentially a large, private party venue. As I was chatting with Su-Hwan, Joo-Han caught up from behind and said with a look of awe, “Feels like we’re successful now. This is insane. This is the most capitalistic place I’ve ever been to.”