Entertainment Life With A Camera

Chapter 106:

Chapter 106

Love overflowed on the day of settlement.

The hectic end-of-year schedule was over and the new year had dawned. 

There was not much time to rest as there were several award ceremonies scheduled for the beginning of the year.

“Finally, it’s the day.”

“It’s the day our youngest becomes an adult.”

“It’s been a long time.”

Despite that, the members of Awi, who had received a holiday on the first day of the new year, headed to a convenience store near their dorm as soon as 12 o’clock passed.

Park Jin-hyuk, who had swept up one of each type of alcohol sold at the convenience store, spoke proudly.

“Are you ready for alcohol? You’ll learn from the adults.”

“What’s the difference between you guys and me anyway?”

“Tsk, don’t talk back to the adults.”

What was the concept of this role-play? A father concept? Ian laughed.

The Awi members who had bought a basket full of snacks and came to the dorm excitedly sat on the living room floor.

“Did you guys really never drink alcohol behind my back? Why did you buy so much?”

“We wanted to drink with you.”

“Really?”

Park Seo-dam, who was talking to Park Jin-hyuk, looked at Ian with doubtful eyes.

“Ah, this is delicious.”

“This?”

“If you mix this with that…”

Ian couldn’t finish his sentence and gave Kim Joo-young a thumbs up. His past memories hadn’t gone anywhere. 

Ian rummaged through the bags and gave his reviews on alcohol. 

He seemed to have drunk a lot.

Park Seo-dam’s gaze followed Park Jin-hyuk’s gaze to Ian.

“…Then what about that hyung?”

“What is he really?”

Ian hadn’t gone out alone and eaten anything by himself. He was always with the members when he went out. Park Jin-hyuk shouted.

“Hey, Choi Ian! How do you know so much about alcohol!”

“There’s a way to know everything.”

He felt a bit embarrassed, but he couldn’t say that he had drunk a lot when he was Kim Yong-min, so he decided to go out shamelessly.

“Did you all choose?”

“I chose this.”

The members who had chosen their drinks sat in a circle and held up their glasses filled with alcohol.

“Guys, let’s do well this year too.”

“Cheers!”

The members clinked their glasses and drank. Ian took a shot of soju and exclaimed. 

He stuffed shrimp crackers into his mouth and Jo Tae-woong looked at him with a strange expression.

“He drinks just like my dad.”

“Oh, that’s why I’ve seen him somewhere. My uncle drinks like that.”

Kim Joo-young looked at Ian with curiosity. Kim Joo-young, the group’s eating genius, also drank well.

“It tastes bad…”

Park Seo-dam, who followed Ian and took a shot, frowned. Lee Joo-hyuk laughed. He was weak in alcohol and had a fruit beer in his hand.

“Let’s drink moderately and go to bed. We have to practice tomorrow too.”

“I want to rest more… There are too many award ceremonies in our country.”

“But we also received a lot of awards.”

Awi’s trophies were proudly displayed in the agency’s showcase.

“It was so fun last year. We had hit songs… We went on World Tour too.”

Kim Hyun smiled faintly.

“It was good. I hope this year is like last year too.”

“Well…”

Ian took a sip of alcohol and trailed off at Lee Joo-hyuk’s words. 

This year, he had to write off the first half of the year because of the epidemic. 

Awi’s album, which was scheduled to be released in March, would probably be postponed.

“I’m scared whenever Ian makes that face.”

“What are you thinking about?”

Ian answered softly to Kim Hyun and Jo Tae-woong’s questions.

“Just… I don’t want to expect anything this year.”

“Why are you like that? You were shouting for grand prize last year. Is there something wrong this year?”

Ian mumbled. It was better to use someone else as a shield at times like this.

“No, Shin Hwi and Wang Yi-feng contacted me that an epidemic broke out in China.”

“Hey, don’t tell me that will spread to Korea?”

It will spread. And very strongly.

Since he would find out later anyway, Ian didn’t say anything else and chewed on potato chips.

‘I should buy some masks soon.’

Park Jin-hyuk, who was opening a snack bag, looked at the members with a serious expression.

“Speaking of grand prize… Don’t we have a chance to aim for it this year?”

“Hey, hyung. Grand prize is impossible.”

Park Seodam threw popcorn at Park Jinhyuk. 

The other members also threw snacks at him, overreacting. 

Park Jinhyuk caught the snacks with his hand and put them in his mouth as he spoke.

“No, Mydia is going to the army this year, right? Then we have a chance too?”

“But there are a lot of other seniors too.”

“Ah, true. There’s Miracle and Endless too.”

Ian sighed deeply as he thought of Lee Minha when he heard Miracle. 

He had been sending him messages every day since the music awards.

[Are you still in touch with Lee Minha?]

‘Oh, was he impressed by me saving him that time?’

[Maybe he can’t stand not repaying you. He’s a good connection to have anyway, so get some expensive food from him.]

‘Should I… But why are you so nice lately?’

[I’ve always been nice.]

‘You?’

Ian snorted as he was about to pour himself some alcohol. 

Jo Taewoong, who was sitting next to him, snatched the bottle from Ian’s hand.

“Hey, no self-writing. Don’t make Jinhyuk hyung unlucky.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Park Jinhyuk was sitting across from Ian. Park Seodam, who was picking up snacks, asked.

“They say that if you self-write, the person across from you will be unlucky for three years.”

“Huh? I heard that it means you’ll be single for three years.”

“That doesn’t affect us.”

“Ah…”

If anyone of them got a girlfriend within the contract period, there would be six people who would watch them with fire in their eyes.

“It’s just a superstition, there’s no evidence.”

“I see…”

Jo Taewoong once said, ‘As long as you don’t get caught, you can date.’ He got glares from the other members. He was beaten up instead for saying, ‘You just don’t have to make anything that can be caught.’

Jo Taewoong shivered as he remembered that time.

“Seodam, are you not drunk? Are you not dizzy?”

Park Seodam was drinking different kinds of alcohol and eating snacks. Before long, there were empty bottles next to Park Seodam. Lee Juhyuk felt sick and took the beer can from Park Seodam’s hand.

“Stop drinking now.”

“I’m fine.”

Park Seodam’s face didn’t turn red, nor did she stagger as she headed to the bathroom. Jo Taewoong stared at Park Seodam’s back and muttered.

“She looks fine. Juhyuk hyung, how much did she drink?”

“She drank a lot. When did she drink so much?”

“And she’s like that? Is it because she’s young and her liver is healthy?”

Jin, who was watching from afar, chuckled. It was funny that they were talking about liver health when they were only a few years apart.

***

The short break of the new year was over, and Awi attended the awards ceremony. It was Gocheok Dome again. 

Awi won both the digital music award and the album award.

“The digital music award… goes to Mydia!”

Mydia, who had already won the album award, got up again and walked to the stage. The fans screamed.

‘They must be used to winning awards by now.’

Ian blankly watched Mydia go up to receive the award as if it was natural and familiar. 

Mydia swept the awards again and secured their position as the top idol group in Korea. And they would enlist together after this great achievement.

‘Objectively speaking, it’s a pity. Wouldn’t it be better if the oldest one went first?’

[There’s no merit unless they’re a group. Especially them.]

‘Is that so.’

[They make so much money from group tours. Even if they don’t get along, they should enlist together and shorten their military service.]

Ian snickered. It was ridiculous to worry about princes when he was poor.

‘Well, it’s good news for us anyway.’

The awards ceremony ended with Mydia’s stage. Ian took the digital music trophy and headed to the waiting room.

“By the way, I-One didn’t come?”

“They have a concert. Their last concert. They must have been preparing for that.”

“Ah…”

And I-One would go back to their respective agencies after their last concert next week. The military service of a big idol group, and their disbandment. It was a good time to attract fans.

‘If only it wasn’t for Corona.’

Ian clicked his tongue.

-Did you see I-One’s last concert production?

Are they retiring? They can’t even support their new beginnings, let alone watch the production.

└Typical of that broadcasting station ㄷㄷ

└Look at Juwon being left alone at the endㅠㅠㅜㅠㅜI’m mentally brokenㅠㅜㅠㅜ

└They should have gone in together at the endㅠㅜㅜThe production was so weirdㅠㅠ

└Look at them going in one by one according to their fan power ranking. Crazy.

└But not only I-One, other sub-groups from N-net also had the same productionㅋㅋㅋㅋ

***

Awi had to attend the award ceremony scheduled until February. But his schedule was more relaxed than last year’s end. He finally got a holiday for the New Year.

“Are you going home this time?”

“Yeah, I have to.”

The quarantine for incoming travelers would start in a few months. He thought it was better to go now since he wouldn’t be able to go for a while. 

He packed hand sanitizer, masks, and even latex gloves, not knowing where he might catch something.

Kim Joo-young, who was watching Ian pack his luggage, said.

“Take some pictures of the cat. Do you need anything else?”

“Uh… maybe?”

“Take the fan letters with you. There’s no more room for them here.”

As he was about to take the fan letters after hearing Kim Joo-young’s words, a notification sound came from Ian’s phone. Ian looked at his phone and then at Kim Joo-young.

“Wow. Hey, check out the bank app.”

Kim Joo-young, who didn’t have any notification settings on, turned on the bank app after hearing Ian’s words. 

As soon as Kim Joo-young checked the amount, he got a text message.

[BHL Entertainment Settlement] Tour settlement has been deposited. For more details…

“Did you see it!”

“Yeah!”

Kim Hyun and Park Jin-hyuk burst open the door and shouted. 

Jo Tae-woong, who came out of the bathroom, jumped on the floor and pounced on Park Jin-hyuk’s back.

“Hyung! Let’s go for a long time!”

“Yeah!”

Kim Hyun shook his head at their disgusting sight.

“They’re overflowing with love every time they get settled.”

“What should we do with this money?”

Kim Joo-young counted the amount seriously. It was still a nine-digit number even after counting it again.

“Hyung, what should I ask the real estate agent?”

“Hmm… let’s go with Dong-soo hyung and me first. Should we take grandma and our siblings?”

“Yes. I think it would be easier for our siblings to go to school here…”

“I’ll help you.”

Lee Joo-hyuk tapped Park Seo-dam’s back, who was worried. He had quite a lot of experience in living alone, so he was good at real estate contracts.

Park Dong-soo, who opened the door and came in, chuckled at the members who were in high spirits.

“Guys, don’t get too relaxed just because you got settled. Save some money.”

“Yes.”

“If the bank or people around you ask you to sign up for products, just refuse first.”

“Yes.”

“Just don’t trust anyone.”

Park Dong-soo warned Ian firmly as he took his luggage. Ian declined, but he insisted on taking Ian to the airport and came all the way to the dorm.

“Ian, have a good trip.”

“Rest well and come back. You know I won’t like you if you come back empty-handed, right?”

The members gathered at the front door to see Ian off.

“Have a good New Year everyone.”

Ian waved his hand too. Park Dong-soo, who was about to close the front door, said to the members.

“Oh, by the way, you guys have to clean up all your stuff here after you come back from vacation. Take as much as you can to your home if you have anything to take.”

“Why?”

“We’re moving out of the dorm.”

“What? Really?!”

Awi had been living in a small house with two rooms, a living room, and one bathroom with seven people since he was a trainee.

The room that was full when they put in bunk beds had no place to put clothes, so they had to install a hanger in the living room.

“Where?”

“Not Seoul… but there are many rooms and three bathrooms…”

“Wow!”

“Finally!”

The members knelt down. 

Park Dong-soo laughed at their more intense reaction than when they got settled.