LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 105
Chapter 105
Anyway, the mention of not getting something delicious must have snapped everyone to attention, as they started searching for other candidates.
“Hyung, you totally have a fruity look, don’t you? Here are apples, cherries, strawberries, peaches, oranges. There are so many.”
Gyun Seong-ha hurriedly threw out the words, making me wonder how sincere he was.
“Ji-woo hyung’s image is kind of… like a herbivore. Like a rabbit or a squirrel. But the problem is, he looks like a herbivore but eats like a carnivore.”
“Raon-ah, we usually call that an omnivore.”
“Oh, right.”
“The other day, a fan said Ji-woo hyung looks like a red panda.”
Hearing Seo Moon-gyeol’s words, we promptly searched on YouTube for a video titled “The Ferociousness of the Deadly Red Panda.”
“Wow… that’s so ferocious.”
“Yeah, how can it look so menacing with those adorable little hands?”
“It’s deadly….”
Even in this world, red pandas were cute.
“Are they saying that adorable creature is… Ji-woo?”
After watching the entire video, Ban Yo-han asked with reluctance.
He clearly had a hard time acknowledging the cuteness of our troublesome friend.
“Honestly, I think they look alike, but the problem is, there’s no red panda emoji here.”
“Then let’s use a raccoon as a substitute….”
Seo Moon-gyeol trailed off while searching for a raccoon.
I continued for him.
“Wow, this raccoon looks really, raccoon-like.”
Meaning, it looked quite bad.
“But do we really have to pick just one of these?”
The production team generously allowed, “You can choose several.”
It seemed like they wanted to let us do whatever we wanted.
So, our choices were as follows.
[mark01mark02mark03mark04mark05]
In order: raccoon, cherry, rice, tree, squirrel.
“The representative emoji among these is the raccoon! It’s actually supposed to be a red panda, but since we don’t have one, it’s like using a chicken instead of a pheasant.”
Kang Ji-woo liked it, saying raccoons are cute too and he didn’t really mind rice.
Next was Ban Yo-han’s turn.
“Fox!”
As soon as Ban Yo-han sat where Kang Ji-woo had been, I shouted.
I understood a bit more why Ban Yo-han had wished for my elimination during the Pick Heart shooting period.
But that didn’t change the fact that he looked like a fox.
“Isn’t Yo-han a deer?”
“Yo-han hyung’s more of a deer, isn’t he?”
Seo Moon-gyeol was right.
When thinking of a fox, one usually imagines someone with narrow eyes or a sharp impression.
With his large, gentle, and kind-looking eyes, Ban Yo-han had been known as baby deer Bambi among fans for a long time. Ugh….
Putting that aside.
“A person’s appearance isn’t everything. When deciding on something like this, the inner self should also be considered.”
Quick-witted, never taking a loss, while also being socially adept.
Even though I hadn’t known him for half a year, even I could notice, so how could Kang Ji-woo not?
Kang Ji-woo looked as if he had a great realization.
As expected, a decade-old friend understood my words faster than anyone else.
Of course, I wasn’t sincerely hoping for controversy over Ban Yo-han’s character, so I added some words while looking at the camera.
“When I say he’s like a fox, I mean, if he wants something from me, he subtly treats me well, and once he gets it, he just leaves.”
“What did I do? I’ve always treated you well.”
Ban Yo-han protested openly.
“You’re like a fox….”
With that one action, Gyun Seong-ha was swayed.
Meanwhile, Seo Moon-gyeol was watching a video on his phone.
“Hyung, what are you watching?”
“I thought it looked like Yo-han hyung.”
Seo Moon-gyeol was watching not a fox cub… but a video titled “The Cutest Fennec Fox in the World.”
Following that, a video titled “The Cutest Fox with the Best Aegyo” played automatically.
The fox’s yipping was so cute that no one thought to stop the video.
“I always thought foxes looked sly, but they’re so cute….”
“Fox eyes are really sparkling, aren’t they?”
“They look like Yo-han hyung.”
To think they’d associate something this cute with Ban Yo-han?
“What. Why. What.”
……In any case, since Seo Moon-gyeol also agreed that the fox in the video resembled Ban Yo-han, his representative emoji became the fox.
Over the next seven years, Ban Yo-han’s fox-like nature would gradually become apparent, and everyone would be amazed by my insight, right?
We chose a total of five emojis for Ban Yo-han, just like we did for Kang Ji-woo.
Otherwise, he’d surely sulk, asking why he got fewer than Kang Ji-woo.
[mark06mark07mark08mark09mark10]
In order: fox, chocolate, deer, perfect score, ice cream, and he seemed satisfied.
“Now it’s Gyeol’s turn.”
Seo Moon-gyeol stepped aside, as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
“Bear.”
“Sloth.”
“Peace symbol dove or unicorn.”
Among the sluggish and peaceful animals listed by Kang Ji-woo, Ban Yo-han, and me, Gyun Seong-ha protested.
“What are you all talking about? Gyeol hyung is obviously a cool wolf.”
“The youngest’s idea to consider the inner self left a deep impression on me….”
Gyun Seong-ha glanced at Seo Moon-gyeol, who was waiting quietly for us to decide, and lost his words, but still insisted that a wolf suited him best.
“Let’s say it’s a gentle and well-mannered wolf.”
Although we reached a slight compromise on the image.
In the end, Seo Moon-gyeol’s representative emoji became the wolf.
The rest were carefully chosen to match Seo Moon-gyeol’s characteristics.
[mark11mark12mark13mark14mark15]
Wolf, Moai statue, polar bear, palette, peace symbol dove.
“Hyung, do you like it?”
“Yes. I like anything you guys and the hyungs choose for me.”
Seo Moon-gyeol’s thoughtless remark made all of us, including myself, clutch our chests and collapse.
Even a few of the production staff flinched at that moment.
“Don’t go around saying stuff like that to just anyone.”
“Yeah. If you’re going to say it, only say it to the fans.”
Seo Moon-gyeol nodded, understanding my words.
Now it was Gyun Seong-ha’s turn.
“Just don’t choose anything weird.”
Gyun Seong-ha looked rather uneasy.
“Trust me.”
“You’re the one I trust the least….”
What was with this distrust?
“Our Seong-ha has the image of a big dog? When he’s not smiling, he’s like a husky; when he is, he’s like a malamute…. And his last name is Gyun, which means dog.”
Listening to Kang Ji-woo, Gyun Seong-ha grumbled that his last name wasn’t the same “dog” character.
“But isn’t his personality more like a cat?”
“Seong-ha is really good at sports, too.”
“He’s a crybaby, so let’s put a water drop.”
“Hey, On Raon!”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. How about a lion?”
At the mention of a cool animal, Gyun Seong-ha quieted down a bit.
“The one from The Wizard of Oz….”
I hesitated, wondering if anyone here was familiar with The Wizard of Oz.
While I was stuck, Kang Ji-woo spoke up.
“Oh, you mean the Cowardly Lion from there?”
“That fits, that fits.”
“…On Raon! You really!”
Thank goodness. Someone knew.
Secretly relieved, I said smugly.
“Why get mad? I’ll give you courage!”
Gyun Seong-ha tried to come at me, but fortunately, the production team stopped him, saying he couldn’t interfere until we chose the emojis.
“On Raon… you haven’t forgotten that you’re next, right?”
Gyun Seong-ha warned ominously.
Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t scared at all.
“I’ll trust you, Gyeol hyung.”
I had Seo Moon-gyeol, who was unbeatable against Gyun Seong-ha.
“So unfair…!”
Anyway, Gyun Seong-ha’s emojis were decided as follows.
[mark16mark17mark18mark19mark20]
Dog, soccer ball, lion, game console, and cat.
And because of his last name, dog was chosen as the representative emoji.
I pushed for the lion, but I couldn’t win against Kang Ji-woo and Ban Yo-han, who teamed up.
It seemed a bit off to have both a dog and a cat, but the production team didn’t stop us, so it should be fine.
“Last is our youngest.”
“Gyeol hyung, I’m counting on you.”
“That hurts. Why do you only trust Gyeol?”
“Oh, I trust Ji-woo hyung too.”
Of course, I didn’t trust the other two.
They didn’t even bother asking why I didn’t trust them, unlike Kang Ji-woo.
“Our youngest looks like a puppy, doesn’t he?”
“Kind of like a rabbit.”
Kang Ji-woo and Seo Moon-gyeol started with normal animals.
But after seeing the puppy and rabbit emojis on social media, they quickly changed their minds.
“The emojis look kind of… silly.”
“We can’t give our main visual such ugly emojis.”
“Let’s choose again.”
“Let’s choose again, as Gyeol hyung said.”
I watched them, slightly taken aback.
“No way…. It’s not like I actually look like those puppies or rabbits, it’s just symbolic. Who cares about such details?”
“Yeah. It’s okay for us, but not for you.”
Ban Yo-han, who had firmly rejected it, meticulously looked through the emoji list.
“What about this one?”
“No…. It’s not good enough for such handsomeness….”
The more they looked, the more it seemed they weren’t joking, which made it even funnier.
Seeing the final choices and hearing their reasons made me burst out laughing.
“Hahaha!”
“Don’t laugh. We were serious.”
“Yeah. We were serious.”
“I know. Haha… it’s too funny. Fans will also find this hilarious later.”
“The fans will surely appreciate our efforts to protect your honor.”
Thus, we finished choosing the emojis for each member.
After playing the image game, we each wrote our profiles, wrapping up our first reality shoot.
They said today’s filming was for one episode, but I wasn’t sure if we discussed the group’s future as Kang Ji-woo mentioned.
Still, we seemed to have achieved our goal of showing what kind of group we were and what kind of people we were through the reality show.
* * *
We continued to shoot the reality show intermittently while preparing for our debut, leading busy days.
It was Gyun Seong-ha’s birthday recently, and we held a simple party at the dorm right at midnight, making him cry again.
That moment was fully captured by the self-camera the reality production team had given us.
In retrospect, if I’d known he cried this often, I wouldn’t have worried so much when he cried in the vocal practice room.
Back then, I thought something terrible had happened, but it turns out crying was just part of his routine.
Seo Moon-gyeol’s self-composed song, which had been rejected by Ban Ga-eul seven times over the past month, finally made it into the debut album.
Early September.
“You’re doing a debut showcase.”
Director Joo Yul-eum, looking haggard, announced.
A reality show and a showcase in this small company.
Rather than excitement, I felt worry at the surreal news.
‘Isn’t the company going to go bankrupt?’
Judging by the similar expressions on everyone’s faces, I wasn’t the only one thinking that.
Seeing this, Director Joo Yul-eum said,
“Don’t worry. We’re doing it because we think it will work out, and even if it doesn’t, it’s not something you should be concerned about. Although I know you will be.”
Taking a sip of his coffee, Director Joo Yul-eum muttered ominously about how he had worked so hard that he wouldn’t let the company fail.
It was a little scary.
“Not that this is a condition, but.”
Regaining his composure, Director Joo Yul-eum asked,
“You can perform live for your debut stage, right?”