The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 163

I thought the group commercial shoot with all of CENTIX would be finished quickly.

But strangely, every producer we met seemed to be overflowing with passion, and they had apparently already planned individual cut filming as well.

Naturally, the shooting time got longer, and the amount each of us had to shoot increased.

So somehow we ended up in a camping site in the forest, even lighting a fire while taking a break and healing.

“Mmm, this is delicious.”

Chae Ha-ru, who had been tasting all the snacks provided by the staff, was completely hooked on one biscuit.

He had already emptied two bags in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, perhaps feeling it was too wasteful to just let his bubbling tension go to waste, Yu Ha-woon grabbed my arm and said,

“Brother, I’m bored!”

“You eat some snacks too.”

“You know I don’t snack much in the morning! Instead of just sitting here, let’s go see how Brother Seon-woo and Brother Si-hyeok are doing.”

“They’re obviously going to be struggling miserably.”

“You’re not going to watch that fun spectacle?”

Yu Ha-woon radiated an expression of disbelief.

While doing so, he turned on his phone gallery and waved it in front of my eyes.

“One of my new goals this year is to make a Brother Seon-woo embarrassing photo collection.”

“……That’s a bad hobby.”

“When I posted a few on Stargram for Brother Seon-woo’s birthday, the fans’ reactions were so good! I was planning to work hard collecting them so I could post over 10 for his next birthday.”

Kang Seon-woo always got unconsciously beaten up by other members, but when it came to genuinely beating him up with pure intentions, Yu Ha-woon was the best.

Now that the youngest was starting to make a fuss like this, I knew well there was no escape.

I got up from my seat and threw a question to Chae Ha-ru, who was still munching on biscuits.

“What are you going to do, Ha-ru? You and Hwi are next, so it might be better to stay here.”

“Bruffer Hwi wenf fo fhe baffroom so I’m bord. I wanf fo go foo.”

I made a face saying I couldn’t understand what he was saying, so Yu Ha-woon translated from the side.

“Brother Hwi went to the bathroom so he’s bored and wants to come with us.”

“How did you understand that?”

“When we shared a room, Brother Ha-ru always talked to me while eating something. So naturally I learned to understand him……”

These members keep developing increasingly weird abilities.

Since catching a cold would be a big problem, we each wrapped blankets tightly around our shoulders and walked to where Kang Seon-woo and Ma Si-hyeok’s cut filming was taking place.

The point where thick tree trunks gradually disappeared and a small clearing appeared.

In the clearing where filming was in full swing, a strangely familiar song was playing.

“Director! Huff, huff. I don’t think I can do this?”

Kang Seon-woo, wearing a light gray training suit set, collapsed with a tearful expression.

He was even holding a racket that real professional players would use in his right hand, so he looked quite convincing from the outside, but his pale face had no presence at all.

The filming director applauded and encouraged him.

“It’s fine, you have much more feeling than at the beginning! I think we’ll get a good shot with just one or two more tries, so let’s put in a little more effort, all right?”

“Yes, I understand— Wait, hold on. Why are you guys here?”

“Ha-woon said he was bored.”

Kang Seon-woo, who belatedly spotted us settling in among the staff with a nonchalant atmosphere, gaped his mouth open.

When Yu Ha-woon cheerfully threw up a peace sign, his already ridiculous face gradually spread like Munch’s Scream.

“Don’t you dare film me falling! Got it? This isn’t a request, it’s an order. Okay?”

“Yes, yes.”

“I won’t film, Brother!”

“Your mouth says you won’t, but your hand is already going to your phone, our lovely youngest?”

Kang Seon-woo’s struggle came to an end as filming continued.

Listening to the scene the director ordered, I immediately understood why Kang Seon-woo had said not to film him falling.

A cut of jumping sideways while coolly swinging the racket, like implementing tennis players’ rallies.

Knowing Kang Seon-woo’s desperately poor athletic ability better than anyone, I was already watching the scene in a half-given-up state.

‘I wonder if we can finish all the commercials today.’

Still, perhaps because we came, Kang Seon-woo threw his body around earnestly with an attitude that he couldn’t show himself falling apart any more.

After 30 minutes passed, the director finally gave an OK sign, and everyone seemed satisfied with the final quality.

“Huff, hugh. I almost really died.”

“Good work.”

I patted his back while removing the grass stuck to Kang Seon-woo’s head.

“Now you can sit here and comfortably watch Si-hyeok zip up his jacket.”

“I really feel a severe sense of relative deprivation!”

Ma Si-hyeok’s styling was already different from his usual appearance.

His bangs, which always covered his forehead densely, were styled to look half-parted, and the makeup that emphasized his fierce eyes was also relatively light.

As a result, instead of an overwhelming aura, an atmosphere with a slight hint of decadence was created.

“Brother Si-hyeok is handsome!”

“Brother, you should also wear your bangs up sometimes like me.”

“Is, is it really that good? This is my first time parting my bangs.”

“I’ll take photos to show you!”

While Yu Ha-woon passionately entered photographer mode, the scene that always appears in outerwear commercials was being directed.

Even bringing in a machine that creates thick fog, it looked like climbing an incredibly high mountain.

When Ma Si-hyeok, breathing heavily and zipping his padding up to his neck, looked at the camera, an OK was called before long.

“Really? It ends this quickly?”

“Cheer up, Brother.”

“Still, from brother’s perspective watching, it was probably the most fun!”

We dragged the completely melted-down Kang Seon-woo to the location where Seong-hwi and Chae Ha-ru, who were next in line, would be filming.

The product they would mainly advertise was highly stretchable jersey.

This filming would include a lot of extreme close-up shots, according to the director, and Seong-hwi and Chae Ha-ru nodded, saying they liked that instead.

“There were many people who found it burdensome instead—”

“Ahaha, we’ve done ending fairy shots a lot before, so we’re used to it.”

“Since it’s utilizing our strengths, it’s fine.”

Chae Ha-ru, who used to hide his face with messy hair in the old days, had now reached the level of shamelessly saying his visuals were his strength.

As for Seong-hwi……. he was originally the one in charge of being shameless in CENTIX, so it was a natural progression.

They perfectly captured the two-shot of them running through the misty trees and turning back with slight smiles.

The staff monitoring were even murmuring to each other, naturally impressed by the visual combination.

I clicked my tongue while watching Seong-hwi, who had even added ad-libs like suggesting they run together.

“You really have talent for that, talent.”

“Why, brother, it seems like that kind of thing comes naturally to you without effort too.”

“For me, it’s not natural but comes out very consciously.”

“But to other people watching, it looks natural, so don’t worry. So did that shot turn out well?”

I silently nodded.

I didn’t want to inflate the confidence of this crazy narcissist, but I had to acknowledge what deserved acknowledgment.

Then Seong-hwi put his arm around my shoulder as if I was cute and slyly left for the camping site.

After a brief rest period, filming for the last turn—me and Yu Ha-woon—began.

Yu Ha-woon carefully tied the laces of his fluorescent soccer shoes and attempted light juggling.

I was internally surprised to see the soccer ball not bouncing off his feet much.

‘I thought he couldn’t kick a ball at all.’

Was it premature to judge based solely on dodgeball skills?

Seeing Yu Ha-woon’s juggling, the director suggested bouncing the ball up and then trying to shoot.

“Think you can do it?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I was putting Ha-woon’s athletic ability on the same level as Brother Seon-woo, but he’s surprisingly good at kicking balls?”

“Should I start going to the gym……”

“Sorry, but brother, going to the gym won’t magically improve your basic athletic ability.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t hurt me with realistic words, Ha-ru.”

The members wrapped in colorful blankets had somehow gathered together to watch Yu Ha-woon’s filming.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one surprised by the unexpected soccer skills the youngest showed.

I was worried he might roll on the ground creating variety show scenes like Kang Seon-woo.

Thwack!

“That pose was good! Could you make your expression a bit, um, how should I put it. Like an arrogant expression full of confidence that you’re world-class?”

“World-class sounds good!”

Yu Ha-woon received a passing grade in one shot with stable juggling followed by a shot that landed precisely on his instep.

Looking at the result through the screen, the camera director had captured even the sweat droplets faintly scattering from the ends of his hair.

Combined with Yu Ha-woon’s boyish visuals, it instantly created a scene from a youth sports manga.

“The feeling is so good?”

“Let’s go with this.”

That left only my turn as the last one.

Having changed into all of Kaipol’s latest clothing, I stretched my body here and there, feeling embarrassed for no reason.

It was fortunate that Cerberus stayed at the dorm saying he was tired today—if he had seen me performing high jumps in a situation that wasn’t even a real game, he definitely would have made fun of me.

But I had forgotten that my main enemy is always nearby.

“As expected of CENTIX’s leader! Ryu Si-hwan is so cool!”

“I still remember that! When you suddenly yelled at Brother Si-hyeok to throw it high, I was curious what you’d do, and then you jumped right there! I should have captured that as a photo.”

“It was an honor to be able to make that assist.”

“Ahaha, and it was an honor for me to get hit by that amazing attack.”

‘I can hear you, you guys.’

I quietly shook my clenched fist toward the members who were dragging out old dodgeball stories like grandfathers gathered at a neighborhood spring.

Whether I sent threats or not, they lightly ignored me and continued their usual chatter, so I quietly turned my head to the director.

“I’ll try to finish as quickly as possible.”

“Ha, haha, you don’t need to be that impatient—”

“I’ll finish quickly.”

I had to run first to emphasize the outerwear scene.

I had to perform high jumps to emphasize the shoes equipped with new materials.

If you just looked at the simple picture, it could be very uncool, but let’s close both eyes tight and only think about the final result.

‘Embarrassment is temporary, settlement is forever. Embarrassment is temporary, settlement is forever. Embarrassment is temporary, settlement is forever—!’

Reciting that incantation in my mind, I succeeded in getting an OK sign from the director in 10 minutes.

“Si-hwan, you didn’t professionally learn sports somewhere, did you? Your jumping skills aren’t at an ordinary person’s level. You could even play basketball!”

“Haha…… No. You’re flattering me.”

“If this commercial does well, I’ll definitely tell the president to extend CENTIX’s advertising model contract! Just thinking about being able to see such cool scenes with my own eyes again makes me so happy.”

My spine is already tingling thinking about what impossible requests they’ll make later.

With the scene of all six of us shouting Kaipol’s catchphrase in unison, we who had worked hard since morning could finally get on the van heading to the dorm.

Basking in the heater turned up full blast, everyone made groaning sounds in unison.

“I hope I don’t get muscle pain when we run music shows tomorrow.”

“Brother Seon-woo, if you get muscle pain just from that, you can’t be an idol.”

“Ha-ru, why are you trying to steal my rice bowl on your own?”

“Everyone stop bickering and just sleep.”

“Yes!”

Fortunately, the members listened to me and quickly boarded the express train to dreamland.

I also closed my tired eyes and loosely released the tension.

‘Should I skip one practice session today?’

I considered skipping one of the long practice schedules planned for this afternoon as a reward.

But when we returned to the company, a much more serious matter than practice was waiting for us.

“Senior, what should we do?”

“Huh? What about?”

“Well, that is.”

The junior manager, with restless eyes, quickly whispered to the manager brother who had gotten out of the car.

Watching the manager’s expression gradually harden as he listened, I felt greater anxiety than ever before assault me.

His eyes, which had been rolling around busily, came to a standstill while staring blankly at one of us.

“……Si-hyeok.”