Chapter 323 : Stay Strong, Do Seohan (1)
Chapter 323: Stay Strong, Do Seohan (1)
[Stardust's 3rd Full Album 'Figure Out' Continues Its Upward Trend, Enters the "Billboard Hot 100" for the Third Consecutive Week]
According to the latest chart released by the American music publication Billboard, Stardust's 3rd Full Album title track, 'Figure Out,' successfully remained on the Billboard Hot 100 for its third consecutive week, ranking at No. 62. Stardust continues its overseas tour across North America, proving its reputation as a "Global Idol."
[Stardust's North American World Tour Sells Out Every Seat, Europe Is Next....]
Group Stardust resumed the North American leg of its tour in Los Angeles. Following the concert held in Chicago, they once again proved their popularity by selling out every seat at incredible speed. Stardust is scheduled to continue performing in seven cities across the United States, including New York on the 13th and San Francisco on the 17th.
San Francisco marked the end of the North American tour.
We had successfully drawn an audience of 200,000 people in North America alone.
That month disappeared in the blink of an eye.
By the time we reached the final stop of the tour, I couldn't even remember what state of mind I'd been in.
The moment each performance ended, everyone collapsed from exhaustion.
Since I was the one who had stubbornly insisted on this schedule, I couldn't blame anyone else.
Groaning, I threw myself onto the bed.
The entire group passed out like that....
It wasn't until nearly three days later that everyone gradually recovered enough strength to start wandering around the dorm again.
Cha Seongbin casually raised a hand.
“Who's coming with me to eat seasoned galbi~?”
“Hyung, me!!!”
Seo Haim shouted at the top of his lungs as he sprang up onto the sofa.
Cha Seongbin grinned mischievously.
“You know you've gotta oil your throat if you want to sing well, right?”
“I do! I do!”
“Meat? I'm in too.”
“Oh, are we having a team dinner today?”
Ha Junseo asked with interest.
“Not a bad idea.”
“Huh? Siwoo-hyung eats meat too?”
“Meat is protein.”
Even Kang Siwoo chimed in with that ridiculous excuse.
“Exactly~. And we've gotta feed Seohan well.”
Just then, Cha Seongbin wrapped an arm around my shoulders with a grin.
Blinking at his sudden remark, I asked,
“Why?”
“Because you're about to get dragged away.”
Cha Seongbin's eyes sparkled.
At the same time, I let out a short sigh.
“Ah.”
I remembered.
My special appearance for Do Seojun.
“Haa....”
A sigh escaped me naturally.
[Breaking!! Mam-Seohan Scheduled to Appear on PD Do's Program]
Challenge Tour starts this October on SBC!!
Looks like it's a four-week pilot program, and Do Hamjji is going to be on it LOL.
The main PD is PD Do himself!!!
What kind of combination is this? ㅠㅠ
I'm already ridiculously excited.
The description says, "Various hardships and trials have been prepared to help the cast overcome their fears..." Is this for real?
└ Isn't this basically a program tailor-made for Do Seohan? LOL.
└ Legally bullying your own younger brother LOL.
└ PD Do was probably grinning from ear to ear when he submitted this.
Did Do Seohan even have a choice about appearing on this show...?
└ My vote goes to "He got dragged into it."
└ Ah LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL.
└ Hyung: You're coming.
Seohan, if you've been kidnapped, shake your sunflower seeds.
└ ???: Shake shake.
└ LOL That's so adorable.
└ He's probably shaking them frantically right now.
I can't wait to see what PD Do makes Seohan do.
└ I heard it's a Haunted House.
└ ??? They already filmed it?
└ My friend works at Neverland, and apparently the PD came by.
└ LOL Seohan, you have to come back alive...!
└ A weak point only an older brother could exploit.
└ Our poor Hamjji....
.
.
.
.
Meeting with the production staff before filming.
It was a situation I'd experienced countless times over the past three years.
There was no particular reason to be nervous.
But...
Things were a little different when the person sitting across from me was my own older brother.
“Hm....”
His gaze slowly swept over me from head to toe.
Before the camera's red recording light turned on, Do Seojun frowned slightly.
“But can you really do this?”
“You dragged me here, and now you're worried about me....”
Pick one!
Perhaps he sensed the murderous look in my eyes, because Do Seojun cleared his throat awkwardly.
Then he signaled to the cameraman.
The cameraman nodded.
“Yes!”
Moments later, the camera's red recording light came on.
And then—
Do Seojun unexpectedly put on a serious expression as he flipped through the documents in front of him.
In a low, composed voice I'd never heard from him before, he spoke.
“Mr. Seohan, you've already heard the general concept of the program, correct?”
“…….”
“Hm?”
Ah.
Sorry.
I couldn't manage my expression.
“Yes... I've heard about it.”
Watching my brother switch into business mode was so difficult that I kept my eyes lowered as much as possible.
Listening only to his voice was much easier.
“To begin with... your appearance on the program is planned to span two episodes.”
Do Seojun's Challenge Tour.
It was a pilot program scheduled to run on SBC for about a month.
As far as I knew, it had been created to fill the gap left by a seasonal variety show.
The concept was to help the cast overcome their fears through a variety of challenges.
Do Seojun smiled broadly before taking a breath.
“We asked you to freely write down things you've always wanted to challenge yourself with, and you filled it out so sincerely! We're truly grateful.”
“Haha.”
“On the very first line, you even wrote down 'Experience Working Part-time at a Haunted House.'”
Because Do Seojun threatened me....
With trembling fingertips, I picked up the paper.
“Could it be that I filled it out incorrectly?”
“Haha, it looks perfectly correct~.”
“That's strange. Maybe it's a typo.”
“Oh, is that so? Let's take another look.”
Do Seojun snatched the paper out of my hands.
Slowly stroking his chin, he muttered,
“Ah... was it 'Experience a Haunted House' instead...?”
“Huh?”
“How about going around it about three times? We've picked out only the scariest ones.”
Maybe working there would actually be better.
It would be better to scare people than be the one getting scared, wouldn't it?
As I frowned, he piled on even more.
“Or, if not that, how about living inside a Haunted House?”
“Excuse me.”
This is an unfair contract!
Unable to watch any longer, I reached out toward him.
“Come on, give it back.”
“Why? You said there was a typo.”
“I said give it back.”
Grumbling, I snatched the paper back.
However...
There weren't many parts of it that I could realistically negotiate.
My speech came to a halt when I saw 'Experience the Aoji Coal Mine' proudly occupying item number three.
He'd obviously slipped that in just to mess with me, then planned to edit it out perfectly afterward.
That's exactly why PDs are terrifying.
In the end, I let out a deep sigh and shook my head.
My defeated voice sounded completely drained.
“I'll just do the part-time worker experience....”
“Excellent.”
Yeah...
I definitely got played.
As a former ghost, let me add something....
Actually, ghosts and humans might be far more alike than you'd think.
I can say with absolute certainty that even if I hadn't regressed and had continued wandering this world as a ghost....
I still wouldn't have gone anywhere near a Haunted House.
Because it's scary.
Even ghosts are afraid of Haunted Houses.
Paradoxically, that makes a Haunted House the safest place for a ghost.
—or at least, that was the conclusion I'd reached to comfort myself.
The moment I entered the waiting room, a Neverland staff member greeted me with a bright smile.
“Wow, hello!”
“Hello.”
With a tense expression, I awkwardly shuffled forward.
Walking beside me, the staff member cheerfully added,
“I'm actually a huge fan of yours, Seohan!”
“I'll give you an autograph later....”
“……?”
Even when I tried my best to raise my energy...
It just wouldn't happen.
The Neverland staff member glanced at me before laughing softly.
“So you're really scared, aren't you...!”
“Huh? No, I'm not.”
“You don't have to be nervous already! It's even scarier inside!”
“Yes, thank you fo....”
...Huh?
Still smiling as if nothing was wrong, the staff member led me toward the wardrobe room.
Half absent-minded, I trudged after them.
From behind, I probably looked like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse.
I barely registered what the staff member was saying, but I did my best to pretend I was listening.
“We'll handle your makeup here. Since we can't reveal the inside of the attraction, you won't be able to move around much! Once you go inside, you'll stay in one spot and scare whoever comes by!”
There were restrictions on filming inside.
After receiving permission at the entrance, they planned to focus mostly on filming people's reactions.
I nodded reflexively, occasionally blurting out a response.
“Wow.”
“So.”
“Scary.”
“But I think.”
“I can do it.”
Something like that.
I was worried people might accuse me of having an attitude problem.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—my hands refused to lie.
Tremble... Tremble...
“Seohan, you're going to spill your water bottle...!”
“Ah!”
Coming back to my senses, I listened to the rest of the explanation.
It covered the precautions inside and a few simple rules that were easy to remember.
Just as the one-day part-time worker orientation was coming to an end...
The Neverland staff member's eyes suddenly sparkled with meaning.
Her lips parted carefully.
“Oh, and this is just off the record....”
Lowering her voice, she leaned close to my ear and whispered,
“They say... an actual ghost sometimes appears in there.”