Entertainment Life With A Camera - Chapter 41

You Remind Me of Someone.

Grade B Translation: A mix of MTL and Human Translation. Translated and interpreted as best as I can.

Mixed with some Korean terms. Misinterpretation may occur due to limited comprehensive ability.

Awkward English, bad grammar, and typos may often occur as Translator is not fluent in English and not edited by Editor nor proofed by Proofreader.

Park Seo Dam flipped the cue card and asked the members a question.

“Which member do you want to introduce to your younger sister?”

“Oh, the answer has already come out.”

Ian pointed to Lee Joo Hyuk. The other members also did the same. Lee Joo Hyuk smiled shyly. Meanwhile, he chose Ian.

“Joo Hyuk hyung has a really good personality. He’s the kind of brother I want to resemble.”

“As expected of the leader.”

When Kim Ju Young said that, Kim Hyun and Park Jin Hyuk on both sides nodded. Jo Tae Woong picked up the microphone.

“There’s no need to go that far. If I were a girl, I would date Joo Hyuk hyung.”

“Oh, that’s a bit…”

“Why Hyung. Do you not like me?”

When Lee Joo Hyuk shook his head and refused, Jo Tae Woong stared at him seriously.

“This. We should also listen to Joo Hyuk hyung’s opinion.”

“Why? Everyone. I’m good, right?”

As Jo Tae Woong walked toward the audience, fans cheered and applauded. He shrugged at the cheers. The reaction was more interesting than expected, so Jo Tae Woong had become a crowd-pleaser within the group for a long time already.

“Let’s move on to the next question.”

Park Seo Dam flipped the cue card.

“Is there anything you want to do with fans this year? I want to have a fan meeting.”

“Right, we already have an official fanclub!”

“Concert for me!”

“Reverse tribute for fans!”

As the members spoke with enthusiasm, their voices overlapped and it was hard to tell who said what. There were responses on the real-time Y-app calling them beagles and found them cute.

Then, after the question time about the album work was over, Awy changed their outfit while the MV’s behind-the-scenes video played on the screen.

Once again, they received a song with strong beats and choreography with a strong performance. For the sake of the dance formation’s picturesque, it required the move of lying down to the floor as if collapsing and putting the upper body backward to turn the body back and stand up only with core strength. Those were high-level movements.

‘We have to become famous soon.’

After the song was over, Ian gasped while preventing his breathing from entering the microphone then vowed. When a singer becomes famous, their influence in the agency increases, and their right to speak increases by itself.

‘Become famous then get rid of all choreography like this.’

The high-level moves were Ian and the main dancers’ portions. Like Ian, the panting Kim Ju Young and Kim Hyun exchanged glances with each other.

‘If they ask us to do this again for the next promotion, let’s go on strike.’

The three who read each other’s thoughts nodded at the same time.

translated by maroonmaru.xyz

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After the showcase, music show activities began in earnest. This time, they finally got a solo pre-recording with 300 fans rather than a joint pre-recording with other groups.

“Wow, what is that over there?”

People densely lined up in the square across the street.

“Isn’t that Mydear?”

“I guess so.”

Mydear has over 1,000 attendees for their pre-recordings. That made Awy, who was happy about having a solo pre-recording with 300 fans seem insignificant.

“The fan manager¹They’re staff that manages fans. To decide who comes in first, to calm those who go over the line, to direct fans when there’s an event by fans, to kick out sasaeng listed in the blacklist, and many other things. over there must be tired too.”

Fan managers have to manage such a large number of people, checking each fan’s album²To watch pre-recording you must apply and win the chance(lottery/first-come-first-serve). And if you win it you must bring some requirements: an opened album from that promotion, an identity card to prove that you come yourself, and songs download proof from a streaming site. Fanclub membership and lightstick are sometimes also required., identity card, and even determining admission numbers individually, while also dealing with those who try to cut the line after coming late and sending them to the back of the queue.

［There, the fan manager and a fan are fighting. So much fun.]

As Ian saw Jin shake the popcorn pail, he sighed.

For this comeback, Awy was nominated for first place. The excitement of being nominated was short-lived because the members did not expect to win first place.

The group they were competing against was Mydear, which could confidently be said to be the current No. 1 boy group in Korea if you were to rank them.

“This week’s first place is… Mydear! Congratulations!”

Of course, Mydear ranked first and Awy ranked second. Even so, there was an enormous gap in the scores and it was safe to think that it was almost Mydear’s dominance.

“Wow. Still, we got second place.”

“We can do it next time, right?”

The members hid their disappointment and clapped.

Ian watched Mydear’s back as they gave their acceptance speech familiarly and sang an encore.

‘We’ll definitely win first next time.’

We didn’t expect it, but it still felt disappointing. Ian turned around and went down the stage with the members.

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During the promotion period, they came out early in the morning to go around music shows and then followed by fan signing events without rest. Their average sleep time was three hours.

This schedule must continue for four weeks. There were even two consecutive fan signing events on Sunday.

Ian and the members took a nap in the waiting room.

［Your fan signing cut went up. Everyone bought more than 30 copies.]

‘Really?’

Still, the good news is that the fan signing cut had also increased due to the rise of Awy.

［Even so, the album sales can’t make much money.]

Of course, Jin wasn’t willing to just let go of Ian being happy. But Ian actually didn’t even hear him.

Fan signing cut was like an indicator of an increase in the number of fans. It was a huge rebound that over 20 copies went up compared to before.

“Hello, Noona! You’re here again.”

“Hi, long time no see. Congratulations on your comeback.”

Ian smiled brightly as he looked at Jang Min Hee, who was almost always present now. Unconsciously, Ian asked Jang Min Hee while signing the album.

“Why did Noona start liking us? Did you like the busking in Daehak-ro back then so much?”

“It’s true it started from then.”

“Ah. Is it kind of hard to ask about this?”

The moment when Ian tried to move on to another topic after blaming his wandering mind. Jang Min Hee mumbled low as if it had many meanings.

“Actually, you remind me of someone when I see you.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

Oh? Is that me, perhaps?

Ian looked up at Jang Min Hee. Behind him, the fan manager said, “Please move on to the next table”.

“I’ll be back next time.”

Jang Min Hee smiled faintly and went over to the side.

‘What’s it…’

It felt strange.

Maybe she found traces of Kim Yong Min in Ian’s trivial habits or manners?

Without knowing that, he felt guilty because he remembered previously when he wanted her to remember and like Kim Yong Min until the end.

translated by maroonmaru.xyz

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Jang Min Hee was star-struck when she happened to see Kim Yong Min, a trainee at MI Entertainment.

Even after learning that Kim Yong Min was released and went to another company, she continued to search for traces of him.

The first impression of the boy group ‘Diamond’ was that they were a group she thought would collapse soon because the name was lame, the concept was also lame, and even the agency was also lacking.

And despite not being exceptionally handsome and not having such perfect skills, Kim Yong Min just stood out.

‘Let’s buy a cannon³NOT A TYPO. A slang (in Korean) for those cameras with big telephoto lenses, because it’s so big and like a cannon.…!’

Eventually, after a long period of denial, she bought a camera and followed all of his schedules.

As she piled up full attendance and members recognized her, she felt superior.

‘Noona has liked me since back then?’

In particular, whenever she saw Kim Yong Min looking at her gratefully, she felt proud and even thought, ‘Yeah, I should fill my singer’s pride’.

‘I have to hang a birthday ad soon, but.’

‘How much tribute do I put in?’

‘How many years do I have to spend to follow events?’

She did not have pseudo-romance feelings toward Kim Yong Min. She wanted to run with him toward success.

She wanted to see him succeed as an idol. And she wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment and vicarious satisfaction that she and other fans paved that way.

‘What’s wrong with you when I’m doing this much?’

‘His skill is getting better, but… They said luck is also a skill, but why isn’t it working out for him?’

‘Why came out on such a program?’

As she became more and more engrossed in stanning, she became too immersed in the singer. As a result, her stanning life that began with pure fan spirit gradually distorted. Although she belittled the ugly Kim Yong Min, she followed his schedules, thinking that he wouldn’t have any homma if it wasn’t her.

‘Diamond’ Minjoon’s Speeding Marriage, Group’s Comeback Canceled.

‘Diamond Yongmin’ Participated in the Album’s Song-Concept-Choreography, But Regrettable Comeback Cancellation.

Fans like their singer’s dazzling appearance. However, Kim Yong Min was unable to be like that.

When he unfortunately failed to join the Korean Wave group Jupiter and when he debuted with a member who caused trouble. Jang Min Hee felt dejected by the sight of everything he touched going awry. Fans also grow tired when liking an unfortunate idol.

Jang Min Hee followed other celebrities’ events besides Kim Yong Min for no reason and also went to other rookie groups’ showcases. However, there was no one she came to like as much as Kim Yong Min.

‘Diamond’ Practically Going Through the Disbanding Process.

‘Diamond’ Some Members Disappeared After Agency Went Bankrupt…

And she realized too late that she was ruining herself by immersing herself vainly in a singer. She had been hoping for his success but ended up thinking of him as she pleased and trying to change things on her own.

‘Still. He should at least let us know where and what he’s doing at the fancafe before going… No. I have to let him go now.’

It may seem ridiculous to think about letting go between a singer and a fan, but at least Jang Min Hee thought that she had been holding him back.

She went back to her original resolution when she first became his fan. Now, she just wished he could be happy wherever he is even if he didn’t succeed. At the same time, she also wanted Kim Yong Min to remember that she was a special fan.

Then one day, when she was visiting Daehak-ro with her husband.

“There are a lot of people over there. Shall we go take a look, too?”

Jang Min Hee stared blankly at the idol trainees’ performance that she happened to see. She liked the energy unique to the rookies.

‘Yong Min couldn’t dance either…’

Especially, the most handsome guy on the far left was so busy following the dance that his eyebrows slanted. But strangely enough, he looked like someone she knew even though he had a face on a completely different dimension.

“Wow… They sing well.”

“Huh. This is my favorite song.”

After the dance time was over, the trainees held up the microphones and sang. Jang Min Hee listened to Ian’s song blankly.

‘Yong Min also liked that song.’

Eventually she approached Ian, who was helping with the cleaning up, and asked him when they would debut. Awy, December… It’s in December?

As she also ended up watching dramas starring Ian as a minor role, she went to Awy’s debut showcase as well as their fan signing events.

‘Hei. I won’t become a fan again, at this age….’

All the while, she vowed that she would never become a fan inwardly. Despite having already gone through a period of denial before, she was oblivious.

“Ah, I shouldn’t do this.”

Jang Min Hee kept opening and closing the drawer for no reason.

At that moment, Awy’s comeback teaser came up on notification.

‘Was my preference actually a terribly good face?’

It was the thought of Jang Min Hee, who clicked the comeback teaser alarm. Eventually, she entered the living bedroom as if she had made up her mind.

Even if there’s a break from stanning, there’s no quitting! It was the moment when Jang Min Hee took out the cannon camera from the drawer.

I shouldn’t get too immersed this time. She vowed and then she completely became a fan.

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Having received all the members’ autographs, she returned to her seat and pressed the shutter again.

She had no intention of being a hardcore fan like when she was a fan of Kim Yong Min. She planned to simply enjoy fangirl life while living as a photographer fan.

‘Today’s preview came out well.’

Jang Min Hee giggled lightly as she posted real-time photos of the site. And Ian, who was watching her appearance on Jin’s screen, also smirked.

‘If I had saved my country in my previous life, wouldn’t that Noona be among the relationships in my previous life?’

［Maybe so.]

If you think about it like that, it was a pretty strange relationship. Ian shook off his guilt.

Instead, I have to make her like a successful singer this time. He smiled happily as he made up his mind like that.

Red cross marks appeared explosively from the front. And at that very moment, the greatest pictures that would be talked about over and over again came out, calling it Choi Ian’s legendary fan signing day.

While Awy was busy continuing their comeback activities, ‘I Want to Hear Your Sound’, starring Ian as the lead, aired.