Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus – Chapter 147

Author: LyraDhani

‘What’s with him? If he was this good, then what was all that about? Seriously?

“…….”

‘Was it just a self-staged drama because he wanted to be comforted?’

“…….”

‘Is that really what it was?’

Looking at the performance unfolding before my eyes right now, I couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

It was even more so considering how things were at the start. In fact, when we first began filming and the members were introducing themselves, Kim Taeyeol was barely an afterthought. I distinctly remembered it that way.

Personally, I had found it a little disappointing, especially after I’d gone through all that effort to comfort him, but it wasn’t as if I could blame the PD or the writers. The things viewers were curious about were already set, and for the sake of ratings, they had to make certain choices.

The hottest topic right now was Lee Unha, and the thing viewers were most curious about was also Lee Unha. Since the aftermath of Ten-Million Actor Diner hadn’t even faded yet, it was inevitable that interest would be concentrated on me.

Regardless of my own disappointment, filming was simply following market demand.

‘But he actually flipped the script.’

To be honest, for the first two hours of filming, I was worried that I might need to take more time later to comfort Kim Taeyeol again…. That was how one-sided the spotlight had felt.

But not anymore.

‘What’s with him?’

Now that filming was in full swing, he was receiving overwhelmingly more attention than the other members. Just looking at the bright smiles on the staff and cast, and the way they were reacting, it was obvious how much Kim Taeyeol was carrying the show.

“Our Taeyeol! You’re doing great! So good!”

“Hyaaaaah!”

“Taeyeol’s doing great!”

“Arrrggghhhh-grrrgh!”

“Wait! Wasn’t this guy an idol? He feels like one of our people. Why is he so natural at this?”

“Hyaaaaaaaah!”

“Taeyeol hyung, manage your expressions! You’re an idol!”

“I don’t want to loooose!!!”

“Taeyeol, just a little more strength!!!”

“Huff! Pant! Gasp! Huff!”

Everyone was grinning from ear to ear. The main MC was even clapping and giggling. Judging by their faces, they hadn’t expected things to turn out like this when the shoot started.

‘Well, I didn’t expect it either, so how could they?’

I wasn’t sure whether this was a good thing for an idol, but he’d completely committed to throwing away his image. Without a care for what others thought or how he looked on screen, he was grimacing and pulling the rope with everything he had. On the other side, Joo Wooyoung was pretending to struggle as he tugged on the rope.

“You’re already handsome!!! Just let me win once!! Wooyoung!!! Arrrggghhh! I’m begging youuuu!!!”

“That’s it! That’s the way! Taeyeol!”

“Hey, Wooyoung, let him win! You’re already handsome! Do you really have to have everything?!”

“Pwahahahaha!”

“Arrrggghhhh!!!”

Even seeing it again now, I could hardly believe what I was watching.

‘Was this all planned?’

I already know it wasn’t planned. It wasn’t calculated; he just threw himself into the flow. You could say the Main MC skillfully led the direction and Kim Taeyeol simply embraced the role.

Even so, that MC probably hadn’t expected Kim Taeyeol to throw away his idol image completely or to play the perfect punching bag with such impeccable comedic timing. Judging by the smile plastered across the MC’s face, he definitely thought the shoot was going incredibly well.

The fact that Kim Taeyeol wasn’t afraid to make a fool of himself—completely unlike a typical idol—seemed to be winning everyone over.

‘He’s… doing fine on his own?’

“Hyaaaaaah!”

‘I thought I’d have to look after him a little… but he’s seriously doing just fine by himself.’

At that moment, Joo Wooyoung deliberately let go of the rope with an obviously exaggerated performance.

And then,

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

Kim Taeyeol let out a triumphant roar.

“I won!!! Hyaaa! I won!!! I’m the Mercenary of <Fantasia>!”

“Waaaah!! Taeyeol!!!”

“Taeyeol!!!!”

“No, wait, was that mercenary thing for real?”

“Somebody stop him! Isn’t he getting way too into this?! You’re on the same team! Same team!”

“There’s no such thing as teammates in a competition!”

“Ah! Nice job, Taeyeol! That’s it!”

“The next mission! We have to go do the next mission!”

“Ah! Move! Move!!!”

‘At this rate, I’m going to get completely overshadowed.’

I immediately walked over to Joo Wooyoung, who was still putting on his clumsy act, and called out loudly.

“Wooyoung hyung! Get up! We have to do the next mission!”

“Ah! Right!!”

“What are you doing? Unha, you’re on the other side! Wooyoung is the enemy!”

“Ah, that’s right!”

“Pwahahahaha!”

“Seriously, what’s wrong with <Fantasia>! How are you guys going to protect the Hidden World like this?!”

“D-Don’t bring up the Hidden World!!!”

“Watch out. Unha’s going to transform into a Dark Mage again.”

“Hahahahahaha!”

“I’m not doing it. I wouldn’t do it even if you made me.”

It was obvious to anyone watching—the shoot had found its rhythm.

That wasn’t just me saying it.

The show genuinely felt like it was hitting its stride. It was a very simple format where the regulars and the members of <Fantasia> mixed teams to do missions, but under the main MC’s confident direction, each member gradually settled into a role that suited them, and the constant back-and-forth between everyone made for an undeniably entertaining dynamic.

There wasn’t even any need for me to analyze it.

‘Professional entertainers really are on another level. No wonder these people have stayed relevant for so long.’

Like I said before, the staff who produced this show and the veteran cast who had kept it alive all these years seemed to understand that better than anyone. They were the ones enthusiastically setting the stage first. The Fantasia members only had to fool around on that stage a little before laughter erupted from every direction.

Even during filming breaks or downtime, they kept talking with the members, doing everything they could to help them relax. When I saw the comedians practically assigning themselves to Kim Taeyeol—who was carrying Fantasia throughout the shoot—I found myself nodding without realizing it.

‘it’s okay to think this turned out well, right?’

Kim Taeyeol himself seemed to realize that he’d become the center of today’s shoot. It hadn’t been written into the original script, of course, but he clearly knew he was doing well. The fact that the writers were revising the script on the spot and handing it over was proof of that.

Sure enough, when our eyes met for a second, I saw him giving me an eye-smile and a thumbs-up.

‘Did I actually do something right?’

Thinking about it now… I was glad I’d swallowed my embarrassment and gone over to comfort Kim Taeyeol, even if my comfort had been awkward at best. It was a little embarrassing, but I couldn’t help feeling sentimental. I knew it wasn’t right to praise myself and over-hype Lee Unha for being helpful, but for a moment, just a tiny moment, I felt a little closer to the Lee Unha of Earth than the Joy of the other world.

Of course, separate from that….

‘Honestly, I’m a little jealous.’

I was jealous of Kim Taeyeol. Not for any complicated reason.

“…….”

Lee Unha was obviously working just as hard in his own way…

‘Why do only actors keep flocking to me?’

What bothered me was that, for some reason, only actors were drawn to me. Since I figured connections were power in the broadcasting world, I wanted to get close to professional entertainers this time, but they were all snatched away by Kim Taeyeol.

And this time was no different. The only actor among the regular cast of Every Single Day was once again hovering around me. As soon as there was a brief break in filming, they came over and warmly took a seat beside me.

‘Actually… it’s not even Kim Taeyeol’s fault. This person keeps sticking so close to me that I don’t even have time to talk to the comedians.’

That seemed certain.

“Unha.”

“Ah! Sunbaenim!”

“Come on, why are you being so formal? I told you to just call me noona.”

“Ah… Sorry. I’m just not used to calling you noona yet. Once I get used to calling someone something, it’s hard for me to change…”

“No, that’s fine. More importantly, I came to tell you I was really impressed by your acting earlier.”

‘You already told me that before.’

“You mean during the opening? Come on, compared to the other actors, mine was nothing special. What I did was just… more like a little joke. I think you’re giving me way too much credit. Hehe…”

“No. Honestly, if someone asked any of us to act here… no, not just me, but most actors would find it hard. To jump into acting mode and focus like that… it’s by no means an easy task. Even for veterans, it’s tough… maybe the actors on Ten-Million Actor Diner can do it, but generally speaking, that’s not something people can just do.”

‘So why am I talking about acting again here?’

“By the way, I heard you have plans for an acting project.”

“Pardon? An acting project…?”

“Yeah.”

“Acting… that’s still a long way off. No, rather than a long way off, honestly, I’ve never even imagined it. Right now, I have to focus on group activities.”

“Huh? Really? Isn’t your promotion period pretty short?”

“Yes. The promotion period is short… but because it’s short, the comeback cycle is also short. There’s a lot to do. we have to do video-call fan-signs, we haven’t even had a fan meeting yet… and I think we’ll go straight into a single or another mini-album after that.”

“Already?”

“Yeah. That’s how it’s usually done. We put out another mini-album after 3 months, or 4 or 5 at the latest. If an album doesn’t do well, there’s no telling when the next will come, but since this mini-album is doing so well… I think we’ll keep pushing ahead while the momentum is there. Not just the fans, but the general public seems to have gotten used to our music….”

“Ahhh. Sorry, I don’t know much about that side of things….”

“No, it’s okay. I didn’t know much about it either. But between preparing albums and promoting them, I don’t think I’ll have time to act or do anything else. I don’t think the company would encourage me to start acting either.”

“No, no. Wait a second… Unha.”

“Yes? What is it, sunbaenim?”

“That’s a little different from what I heard.”

“Pardon?”

“Actually, a bit earlier… I asked. Well, my manager asked the <Fantasia> managers… I guess they heard me saying I wanted to try acting alongside Unha.”

“Ah?”

‘Why would your side even ask about that?’

“I heard you’re currently choosing a project… did you not know?”

‘And even if that were true, what kind of madman would say that?’

“Huh?”

“They said you’re already receiving scripts…”

“Huh?”

“They said you’ve gotten a lot of good offers. Even one from Director Park.”

The situation was completely absurd.

I’d barely finished dealing with the Kim Taeyeol situation, and now I heard news of something progressing without my knowledge….

A hollow laugh escaped me.

‘No. Are these people messing with me? At a time like this… what kind of acting… do they expect me to do?’