TL by Myoni
Edited by Myoni & Yoni
“It’s morning, but there are a lot of people in front of the studio.”
As soon as they arrived at the studio, Gunyoung stuck his head out the back seat window. Unlike before, I was in the driver’s seat while Gunyoung was at the back. And next to him was LJ, in full makeup, tapping her foot with her legs crossed.
It was a little unfair.
“Ah… Most of them are here for BYG. They have a comeback today.”
“The live broadcast is at night, but they are already waiting?”
“BYG will have to come for rehearsal as well. They are waiting for them to come so they can take pictures.”
There were many fans holding camcorders and huge cameras crowding the front of the studio. I thought only kids did these things, but most were adults. There were even women in heels who looked like they were going to work.
“Those ‘Someone’s work outfit preview’ pictures on Twitter are all uploaded by those Chikduk[1].”
“Chikduk?”
What are these work outfit previews and what is this Chikduk?
“Picture taking Dukhu[2]. Some of them take better quality pictures than those you find on new articles. Some take pictures to share, while others create a photo book to sell to other fans.”
Our pictures were taken while we were on our way inside after parking the van. I was nervous as I imagined people jumping over the fence to ask for autographs and handshakes, but in reality, it was embarrassingly quiet.
While they did look at us, no one shouted out our names. On the other hand, Neptune members were happily greeting other group’s fans.
“Hello everyone, we are Neptune!”
“We’re Neptune!”
As the four brightly smiled and waved their hands, the amount of people taking pictures grew. A few even returned their greetings.
“What are you doing. Smile, both of you.”
Hyunjo poked the sides of Gunyoung and me. He already had a bright smile on his face.
“A post on Twitter saying ‘I saw Neptune today and they were pretty good’ is better than most publicity stunts.”
I kept greeting people, without knowing who they were.
“Ah, right. Also…”
As soon as we entered the lobby, Hyunjo advised us.
“You can’t swear in front of fans who come to watch the broadcast.”
“Sorry?”
“There are still some stereotypes that celebrity managers are gangsters, so we have to be careful. Just don’t do anything that turn into controversy. Don’t even touch anyone. ‘Today, the manager of Neptune or whatever pushed me. Just my luck.’ If comments like these are circulated, the image of our kids will worsen.”
“Ah… okay.”
“And keep greeting people.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know who you have to greet?”
I was speechless. How would I know that?
“You don’t know?”
“Yes, I don’t.”
“Since you don’t know, just greet everyone you meet. Especially those with photo-badges, when you meet an employee, say these words exactly, ‘Hello, I am (name) from W&U. Currently, I am working with a girl group called Neptune. Please take care of us.’ Easy right? Memorize it.”
Gunyoung was already muttering the words as he memorized them. I did the same as we made our way to the waiting room. Hello, I am… Hello, I am….
As if this was funny, Seoyoung laughed behind me.
“You said you are Jung Sunwoo oppa?”
Who is Jung Sunwoo oppa? Oh, it’s me.
“Yeah.”
“Since you wore a suit, every person you greet is going to think you’re the chief. You look like Hyunjo oppa’s superior.”
“Ah… Do I? Do I?”[3]
“You should have worn a necktie.”
“My necktie’s in my bag.”
Seoyoung laughed even harder. It felt like something was tickling my ears. Her laugh sounded completely different from how she sounded when she nagged her members. Her cotton candy-like sweet voice, her eyes that closed into half-moon shapes, she was very cute.
I just wanted to put her in my pock… Cough cough.
The waiting room for KpopCon was located in the basement. As we got off the elevator, there were tons of people bustling around already. I couldn’t tell who was a manager and who was a staff member just by looking. I couldn’t even tell the difference between back dancers and singers.
What was certain was that there was no one prettier than the members of Neptune, especially Songha. It wasn’t because I am working with them, really.
“Where is our dressing room?”
“Over there. Second last one at the end.”
Along the narrow hallway, there were doors spread tightly on either side. Neptune’s waiting room was the second last one on the right. A paper with ‘Neptune’ written on it was stuck on the door.
Curious as to how a studio waiting room might look like, I opened the door with anticipation…
It was a chicken coop. It was smaller than my one-room.
Wait. Four members of Neptune, three managers including myself, later, when stylists and makeup artists come to fix their makeup, there wasn’t going to be a place to sit.