WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

I'm a Reporter, Please let me get off the Stage

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Chapter 50

“Hah, it’s way too cold.”

“I want cup ramen.”

“……Do they even sell that at the store here?”

Right now, it was 5:57 am.

The guy standing next to me was Baekgyeom.

He was saying exactly the kind of stuff you would expect from him.

“How about we have breakfast together?”

“Do you really think we have time for breakfast……?”

This place…… was freezing.

Far removed from the cozy warmth of a blanket.

It’s been ages since I had been outside this early.

Not since I had to stake out an actor’s officetel in shifts with my senior back when I was a reporter.

So where exactly was I right now?

……In front of the practice room.

I was here to reserve today’s practice slot.

Lee Kyubin said reservations opened at 6 am, so I made sure to come in person.

Baekgyeom got dragged along as punishment for being late yesterday. (Honestly, I was going to make him come alone, but then I thought ‘Why should I trust a guy who was late to stand guard properly?’ so I came with him)

The early winter morning in the mountains was bitterly cold.

And…… kind of terrifying.

The thick fog made it impossible to see even 100 meters ahead.

The sun hadn’t risen yet, leaving everything shrouded in a darkness, which made this place seem kind of creepy.

It was the kind of place where seeing another person would feel more unnatural, like the type of place where you would expect to come across a ton of ghosts.

“Ah! Yuyoung-hyung!””

“Uwaargh!?”

Something suddenly popped up right in front of me.

I was so surprised I even let out a weird noise.

Dammit, why’d they have to call me right when I was thinking about creepy stuff……?

When I pulled myself together and took another look I saw Loop7’s Heerae before me.

His face was puffy, probably because he hadn’t washed up yet, and for some reason, he gave off this warm vibe.

“Heerae, Hi~.”

Baekgyeom greeted him cheerfully.

“Oh, hello. I came out to line up as well. I thought more people would be here, but…… It’s just you two, huh? Anyway, I’m lining up as well. First come, first served. hehe.”

Heerae naturally turned to the camera and gave a little interview.

‘So that’s how it’s done……’

Watching him smile and casually act cutesy for the camera, I unintentionally picked up another lesson in how to work the lens.

Urgh, I should have at least tried vlogging when I was younger.

I still wasn’t used to having cameras constantly zooming in on me like this.

“By the way, seriously, no one else is coming? It’s already 6 am. We’re the only ones who showed up early. What time did you guys get here?”

Heerae turned toward me with a curious look.

“Baekgyeom and I got here at 5:30.”

“Gasp. That's crazy early. Weren’t there any other teams here before you?”

“Yeah. We’ve been standing here all this time.”

Hearing my response, Baekgyeom cut in between us.

“See? There was no real reason for us to be doing this. Each team gets four hours per session, right? If we take the first slot, we’ll have it from 7 am to 11 am. Then the next team goes in from 11 am to 3 pm, the next from 3pm to 6 pm, then 6 pm to 10 pm, and finally, the last team gets 10 pm to 2 am. Right?”

“Yeah.”

“So that means all five teams will get at least one session. There’s no need to come this early. Wouldn’t it be better to save our stamina instead?”

He wasn’t wrong.

A day had 24 hours. With five teams, each getting four hours, that made 20 hours. It was a workable schedule.

But for that to actually happen, there was one key condition.

“There’s no guarantee that the first team will start at 7 am.”

“……That’s true.”

If we booked the room at some awkward time, say 9 am, then the schedule would shift.

We’d have the room from 9 am to 1 pm, the next team from 1 pm to 5 pm, the next from 5 pm to 9 pm, and the next from 9 pm to midnight.

And the last team?

They would have to become owls.

There wasn’t a single team that could survive training from midnight to 4 am.

Even if they could, considering the next recording session started early in the morning, it would be a massive disadvantage.

Baekgyeom, sensing the weight of the conversation, hesitated a little before leaning in.

He subtly glanced around to check for any cameras.

“……So, hyung, does that mean we have to book the 7 am slot?”

He whispered into my ear in the quietest voice possible.

As expected, he was quick-witted and had a solid grasp of the situation.

I glanced at Baekgyeom once and gave him a slight shrug.

Even with just that subtle, nonverbal gesture, he should have understood exactly what I meant.

‘I absolutely won’t let this slip, but at the same time, we can’t book a slot so blatantly that it screws over the others.’

My deeply profound plan.

“Good morning…… WEEKANIZ. What time do you want to reserve?”

The practice room door opened, and a staff member stepped out.

It looked like they had been checking the camera setup inside.

Letting out a long yawn, the staff member glanced at me with bleary eyes.

Judging by their exhausted expression, they must have pulled an all-nighter as well.

The reality of working life in South Korea was truly bleak.

“Hmm, We’ll take the 3 pm slot.”

“Oh.”

Baekgyeom looked pleased.

3 pm. Truly a prime-time slot.

This was why we had endured the freezing cold since the crack of dawn.

“Alright 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Got it. Next…… Loop7. What time would you like?”

“We’ll take…… 10 am to 2 pm!”

“Okay. 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Noted.”

‘Wait, hold on……’

If Loop7 had 10 am to 2 pm, and WEEKANIZ had 3 pm to 7 pm, then…… that meant there would be an awkward one-hour gap from 2 pm to 3 pm.

One unlucky team was going to get stuck with a split session instead of a continuous four-hour block.

I had only intended to secure a ‘reasonably’ good time slot without causing too much trouble, but with Loop7 wedging themselves in, it ended up affecting the other teams more than I expected.

Would this be okay?

“Urgh, I’m awake now. Might as well eat a cup of ramen.”

“It’ll make your face swell up.”

Baekgyeom yawned so hard it looked like his jaw might snap, then disappeared into his room.

I also headed back to my room to try and get some more sleep.

There was no group recording today, just some pre-broadcast interviews followed by individual ones.

And tomorrow was the first main broadcast.

“Sigh……”

One thing was bothering me though. I hadn’t done the pre-interview.

I asked Heerae, and he said he hadn’t done one either.

The only thing we had in common was that we were both leaders.

Maybe while the leaders were attending the production press conference, the staff had conducted pre-interviews with the members left at the dorm.

……But why exclude the leaders?

The question kept circling in my mind, but thinking about it too much was exhausting.

I suddenly started to feel drowsy.

I pulled the blanket over my head and let myself drift off.

* * *

That morning, we gathered at the studio once again.

Since we had agreed on a meeting time the night before, getting everyone together was easy.

However since there wasn’t any filming scheduled for the day, we all looked like unemployed guys stepping outside for some fresh air.

Even if there was no official recording, the cameras were still rolling and I was sure this footage would be edited and used later……

I had at least done some basic skincare before coming out, but there were guys here who made me question whether they had even washed their faces.

The only one who looked flawless and radiant was Yoon Sanho.

“We should just go with a full military concept.”

Haram’s proposal was straightforward.

“Military? That sounds kind of old-fashioned.”

Baekgyeom looked skeptical.

“That’s exactly the point. If it’s too playful, it might rub people the wrong way. And I mean, this kind of concept has been done before.”

“So basically, you're saying…… we need to make sure it doesn’t come off as gimmicky?”

“Exactly!”

Haram clapped his hands together, pleased with my summary.

“I mean, obviously, we can’t bring real guns…… But that doesn’t mean we should just use cheap plastic ones either. It’ll be too obvious. We need to put effort into the props as well.”

“You’re planning to use props?”

“Of course. What kind of soldier doesn’t carry a weapon?”

Haram answered Yoon Sanho’s question without missing a beat.

“……But they’re just props, and they’ll only be used for a short time. Will people really notice the difference?”

Tae Oh asked, sounding kind of doubtful.

Honestly, I also agreed somewhat.

The main audience for this performance would be women who had never served in the military.

Wouldn’t they care more about our visuals than the realism of the props?

“It won’t just be about whether the audience notices, it’s about whether we notice.”

Haram spoke with conviction.

“If we don't fully embrace this concept from the bottom of our hearts, it’s going to show. At the same time, if we go overboard, like Baekgyeom just fanboying about it, it’ll feel forced and unnatural.”

“Urgh, that’s harsh.”

Baekgyeom rubbed the back of his head, answering playfully.

I nodded in agreement but couldn’t shake my lingering doubts.

“So what exactly are you saying Haram……? That we should fire actual guns or something?”

My tone came out sharper than I intended, but Haram was too focused on his own thoughts to take offense.

“I’ll take care of getting the props by afternoon. I know a way. For the arrangement, I’ll need Haedun and Baekgyeom’s help. Yuyoung-hyung, you should pitch in too. Ire, you’ll need to handle securing the costumes. They are just as important.”

“Got it.”

“Yessir.”

Haram’s expression was so resolute that no one dared to argue.

Those eyes were practically pleading with me to trust him.

I had never seen that kind of determination in him before.

* * *

“We should wear uniforms.”

It was during a short 10-minute break when everyone else had left the room.

As Haram sat deep in thought, I casually tossed the idea his way.

“……Uniforms?”

“Yeah. They’d be perfect. Hmm…… Hold on a sec.”

I grabbed a pen and some paper, sitting down right next to him.

“How about we mix in some gaming elements? We can’t make it overly playful, but we’ll need dynamic motion. And if we’re using props, nothing works better than a shooting game concept.”

“Hmm……”

“What?”

Haram hesitated for a moment before speaking up.

“……I don’t think my dad would like that very much.”

“Come on.”

He really had to say something that made me feel like I swallowed a hundred raw sweet potatoes.

“The fans will love it. And if your fans love it, your dad will be happy for you too.”

I started spewing every argument I could think of at him.

“……Is that so?”

Fortunately, Haram was soft-hearted and let himself be persuaded without much resistance.

“To be honest, I wanted to suggest a game concept too, but I felt kind of guilty about it……”

“You’re not an actual soldier, so what’s there to feel guilty about? It’s fine.”

Haram was visibly warming up to the idea.

Fortunately he also liked the concept.

“Where are you planning to get the props?”

“I already talked to the production staff and got permission to contact my dad. They said external contacts are allowed for things like prop and costume sourcing. He’s going to prepare everything for us.”

“Your dad is getting them……?”

Huh?

A military officer is providing props?

“Hold on.”

I stared at Haram in shock, but he only looked back at me with a puzzled expression, as if wondering what the problem was.

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