translation by mourningmoor
Wooyoung couldn't hold back his boiling anger.
So far, the score was 1 to 1.
First, during the second period, art class, they secured an easy victory.
Never in his life had he seen such shitty hands. While the team was usually gloomy, their drawing skills were so freakish that it rendered even their gloominess insignificant.
Thanks to that, the entire mental state of the L.I.T members was shaken, and MuteSeven easily took the first win.
And then, the third period, music class.
Unfortunately, during music class, he narrowly lost to him.
The Kang Ichan he knew was the type to shrink under attention, but today was different.
He displayed an intense level of focus, correctly guessing the song titles and artists, and even flawlessly performing the dances.
Thus, the situation stood at 1 to 1.
Fourth period. As the game with lunch on the line began, Kang Ichan’s attitude upgraded to another level.
No, it wasn’t just Kang Ichan. The entirety of that sloppy L.I.T. members seemed like they were possessed, answering questions correctly one after another.
It was to the extent that MuteSeven didn’t even get a chance to call out the answers.
At this rate, having the quiz answer sheet in advance was utterly useless.
"Correct."
Confidently shouting the correct answer, Kang Ichan leapt back onto the answer point.
"Metaverse."
Once again, Kang Ichan walked away with the meal voucher.
This time, it was for curry rice, no less.
Looking closely, the only team that hadn’t secured a single meal voucher so far was MuteSeven. Möbius, with help from L.I.T, had managed to get at least one voucher per member.
'This, it’s definitely intentional, isn’t it?'
MuteSeven was basically being told to skip lunch—a blatantly provocative challenge.
And finally, the last quiz began.
Swallowing his anger, Wooyoung sprinted toward the obstacles.
This time, it was a question he had memorized the answer to.
《This time, I’ll get it right. It’s Eulmi Incident. Eulmi Incident, Eulmi Incident...》
It was already his nineteenth time crossing the obstacles, and his breath was ragged, but to beat Kang Ichan, he had to squeeze out every ounce of strength he had.
Crossing the single-log bridge and passing the spinning platform, Wooyoung arrived at the tightrope where the assistant director was waiting.
His legs trembled, and his head spun.
But lo and behold, Kang Ichan had already arrived there first.
"Kim Wooyoung. Welcome."
With an annoyingly fresh face, the guy beamed a bright smile and even had the leisure to wait for our team so we could listen to the question together.
"It's just our two teams left. The other teams either dropped out halfway or gave up."
As it was, the other teams were too exhausted to even make it this far.
And the teams that had already earned their meal tickets didn’t even bother to try.
But why would the guy with the most meal tickets still bother challenging the final question? Why?
"Wouldn't it be nice if you and I solved the question together? It feels meaningful, you know."
Then, he gestured impatiently at the assistant director to hurry up and give the question.
"This is the final question. Japanese assassins infiltrated Gyeongbokgung and Empress Myeongseong..."
It was a question I definitely knew the answer to. All I had to do was shout the correct answer.
All I did was pause briefly, catching my breath.
"Answer."
Once again, Kang Ichan snatched it away.
"Eulmi Incident."
Without even listening to the question until the end, the guy managed to get the correct answer and claimed the final meal ticket as well.
Applause erupted from all directions.
What? This is something worth clapping for?
Even among the production crew, there were people joining in on the applause.
"Wow, at this rate, we might as well call L.I.T. the 'All-Rounder Idols,' don't you think?"
What annoyed me the most was that broadcaster jerk hosting the event.
"I mean, is it even okay for an idol to be this knowledgeable about common sense too?"
Earlier, in the third period, they were calling him a dancing machine, and now they're hyping him up as an all-rounder idol.
'Ugh, this is ridiculous.'
There's no need to pay attention to that kind of host anymore.
They’re definitely someone bought off by Blade Entertainment.
"Now, let's check the results of the 4th period."
Fuming with rage, Wooyoung jumped up from his seat and threw his training jacket off.
"Isn't there some cheating going on?"
He was already sure in his mind.
If the questions hadn't been leaked in advance, it would have been impossible for them to answer so smoothly. And not just one person, but the entire team.
"They must have the answer key too, right?"
If it's someone as rotten as PD Choi, there's a strong possibility they've been bribed as well. That's probably why they recruited such a biased host.
"PD, you said you were only giving it to us. Did you give it to L.I.T. too?"
The atmosphere in the studio immediately turned icy.
PD Choi's face turned bright red, and the writer's eyes widened to the point that there was nothing left they could do.
The other members of MuteSeven were equally stunned.
"What? Why?"
Why is everyone looking at me as if I did something wrong?
Then, Director Kim Chanyeong, who had been watching the filming, quickly ran over.
"Kim Wooyoung."
Chanyeong, pale-faced, glared at me, scolding.
"Are you crazy?"
His teeth were clenched tightly as he grabbed my arm, looking furious.
But that didn’t mean Wooyoung was going to back down easily.
"Did I say something wrong? If it weren’t for something like that, there’s no way they’d get it all right. We all know that that idiot, Ichan, is just a blockhead."
There was no stopping Kim Wooyoung once he let the reins loose.
"I’ve never been outdone by the dog I raised all these years."
Shoving Chanyeong’s hand off, Wooyoung turned his gaze toward Ichan.
That annoying bastard.
Even in moments like this, that guy’s face doesn’t change at all.
From a few steps away, Ichan seemed to watch like a spectator, his expression indifferent. Yet, in his pitch-black eyes, there was a clear contempt that instantly made Wooyoung feel disgusted.
"Hey, Ichan. Be honest. You did it on purpose to make us go hungry, didn't you? You gave the answers and exchanged coupons to everyone else..."
"Wooyoung."
As Wooyoung ranted, Ichan slowly approached.
Holding up an exchange coupon nonchalantly, Ichan spoke with a calm expression.
"Take this. I was going to give it to you anyway."
Ichan handed the ticket to him.
It felt like the sound of his pride cracking was about to pierce his eardrums.
"What the hell is this bastard saying? Does he think I'm a beggar?"
Furious, Wooyoung grabbed Ichan by the collar with one hand. But Ichan, instead of being intimidated, just smirked and curled the corner of his lips upward, laughing.
He easily shrugged off Wooyoung's hand that gripped his collar.
"And by the way, I'm not the same Kang Ichan of the past."
He tilted his head slightly, staring at Wooyoung with a chilling gaze.
“Blockhead, you say? I studied really hard, though.”
And now, Ichan’s gaze no longer lingered on Wooyoung.
"Because of someone, I had to drop out of school..."
Ichan's gaze remained fixed on Director Kim Chanyeong of HS.
"And had to take the GED."
* * *
The notification on the phone of Yoojung, who proudly declared herself as L.I.T's number one fan, went off.
It was an alert from the official L.I.T SNS account, announcing that there was a new post.
"What’s this? What’s going on with the kids?"
According to the schedule posted on the official website, the group was currently filming a pilot episode for their reality variety show.
L.I.T's first ever variety show, huh.
Although I didn't know the exact broadcast date, the thought of being able to see the kids on a variety show filled me with infinite joy, yet at the same time, I felt a sense of unease.
L.I.T, still without an official fan club, was a complete newcomer with no solid backing.
This meant that if they were to be torn apart on a wild variety show like Serengeti, there would be no one to shield them with the blood shield of protection.
MuteSeven was under the large agency HS, and Möbius, though from a smaller company, had leader Kim Jeongsoo, who was the younger brother of the national actor Kim Hyunsoo. Both teams already had official fan clubs.
Even though they were all rookies, the level of support was entirely different.
Moreover, the PD in charge was Choi Chiguk, the king of malicious editing and favoritism.
"That bastard, he buried a whole group during season 1."
I couldn't focus on anything all day, wondering what might happen if they were subjected to such ruthless editing.
"If anything happens to the kids, I won't stand by and do nothing."
With trembling fingers, I pressed the notification.
Notice: Support L.I.T, now turned show hosts!
"Huh? What’s this about? Show hosts?"
Yoojung tilted her head, confused by the strange message, and clicked on the notice.
At 6 PM today, a cyber marketplace will be held on TVH NewTube live. Check out L.I.T’s skills in selling walnuts as they transform into show hosts!
"Whoa, it’s going live in real-time?"
Crazy. This is crazy. What’s going on at Blade Entertainment?
They should’ve informed us about this sooner.
Yoojung immediately entered the group chat and sent a message along with the link.
Filaments, L.I.T is going live at 6 PM tonight, so let’s all light up the place!
* * *
A commotion broke out.
The managers, who had been waiting in a corner of the filming set, officially protested to the production team.
Both MuteSeven and the production crew had left the set, and somehow, only L.I.T and Möbius were left eating together.
"Seriously, what was that saying? Where there's smoke, there's fire."
"Would there be smoke coming from a chimney if there was no fire?"
T.N.: A Korean proverb meaning "There must be a reason for the rumor or situation," akin to the English "Where there's smoke, there's fire."
"Yeah, that."
Jaewon nodded at Roa's words and continued.
"They say PD Choi Chiguk's nickname is Choi Chibu (Cheat Sheet Choi), and it looks like he really sold the quiz answers."
T.N.: 최치부 (Choi Chibu): A play on his name, likening him to a "cheat sheet" (부, likely short for "부정행위," which means "cheating").
Then Roa vigorously nodded in agreement.
Normally, he would have added ten more words, but right now, he was silent, stuffing his mouth full of sweet and sour pork.
Roa, who had swallowed the food with difficulty, took a sip of water and opened his mouth.
"By the way, today, Ichan hyung-nim, Hanjoon hyung-nim, Jaewon... you all were amazing. How did you know all those difficult questions?"
It wasn't just Roa.
Siu, along with the members of Möbius, were all in awe, adding their own amazement.
"Right? How did they get all of them right? It's seriously amazing."
"Amazing... really? Usually, I just read a lot of news... books, stuff like that..."
Jaewon, who had answered excitedly, quickly shut his mouth. Even as he was speaking, he seemed to realize it wasn’t quite the right explanation.
“Actually, I was kind of amazed too. I felt like I had heard some of the questions before, but they didn’t come to me that easily, you know?”
Jaewon chuckled awkwardly, scratching his head.
“But today... it was like someone was feeding me the answers. Everything just came to me.”
Of course. I whispered it in your ear.
This is called ‘telepathy.’
The medium was my earring.
I get that it was an exciting experience, but I covered your mouth because if I left it like this, all sorts of weird noises would start coming out.
“Rabbit on drugs, it’s noisy, so just finish eating. Don’t whine about being hungry while filming later.”
Then, Jeongsoo looked at me and asked.
"Do you think the filming... will resume?"
"Not sure."
It's 3 PM now. According to the plan, the cyber market will open in a few hours. I saw earlier that people from the Gapyeong Specialty Goods Center were waiting with the items they were going to sell. If things go like this, will it cause them harm too?
"What do you think we should do?"
It was then.
"Ichan-ah."
HS Kim Chanyeong, the director, quietly called me.
"Can we talk for a moment?"