translation by mourningmoor
It had been three days since the photo of Kang Ichan's nosebleed was posted.
A notice appeared on the fan cafe.
Announcement: Tonight at 6:30 PM, join L.I.T for a company dinner on N Live ~ Filaments assemble
So, L.I.T is doing a mukbang live broadcast now?
The Filaments immediately got busy.
Those who had plans to go out canceled them, and each chose a dinner menu to prepare while waiting for the time to come.
Juhee and Yoojung, who had been chatting and catching up after a long time, also headed to the mart together.
L.I.T N Live? It's been so long.
"Don't you think they're going to eat meat?"
"That's what I think too. They're probably going to eat meat to reassure us."
Standing in front of the meat section at the mart, Juhee and Yoojung scanned the display cases with sharp eyes, wondering what kind of meat L.I.T would eat.
"Beef? Pork?"
"Beef!"
"Okay."
"Let's get pork too. We don't know what they'll eat."
"Good idea."
Nodding at Juhee's words, Yoojung filled the shopping cart with beef and pork. Then, with a satisfied smile, she pointed her index finger forward.
"Let's go. Time for the company dinner."
* * *
At 6:30 PM.
The scheduled time arrived, and the N Live finally began.
The first to appear on screen was Roa.
Roa's face filled the screen as he adjusted the camera angle.
The live chat immediately heated up.
Ooh, it's Roa! His chubby cheeks are bulging, like a baby squirrel.
He's so cute, it's like he's holding a candy in his mouth ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
After setting the angle, Roa hopped back to his seat. The sight of him hopping like a squirrel elicited a series of adoring comments.
Once Roa sat at the end of the table, the full scene finally came into view.
The space on screen wasn't their dorm. Nor was it the practice room.
Where is that? Is it the company?
Looks like a restaurant.
It's a barbecue place. Our boys are finally eating meat ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
I'm eating meat too. Let's eat together.
At the head of the long table sat Ichan, the leader. To his left were Hanjoon and Siu, and to his right were Jaewon and Roa.
Soon, what appeared to be a restaurant employee came in and placed meat on the grill.
Jaewon, who had been fidgeting with his chopsticks, looked at Ichan.
"Hyung, when do we start?"
"Jeongsoo hyung said to start once we get close to a thousand viewers."
At Ichan's response, Roa's eyes widened.
"Huh? We already passed a thousand a while ago."
"Right now… eight thousand nine hundred… no, nine thousand… whoa, we're over ten thousand."
Siu, who had been checking the live broadcast stats on his tablet, blinked rapidly, seemingly flustered.
"Then let's start."
At Ichan's word, the members turned their gazes toward the camera.
Then, they immediately formed finger guns and pointed them at their chests.
"Two, three, hello. We're L.I.T."
Hi, oppas! It's been so long! I skipped school to watch this.
Ahhh, it's been a month since I last saw you guysㅜㅜㅜㅜ
I missed you so much.
"Yes, we missed you all too. Filaments, how have you all been?"
At Ichan's question, over ten thousand Filaments began responding simultaneously. No, the viewer count was now approaching twenty thousand.
"Wow, so many of you have joined. We've already passed twenty thousand, and the hearts… you're sending so many. Thank you."
I love your default expression, Ichan oppa.
Noㅋㅋㅋㅋ Hanjoondaeng-nim already started the mukbang by himself.
Look at Roa's face while Hanjoon eats alone. It's like, 'What is this nonsense?'
Oppa, what meat are you eating today?
"Today, the company… specially bought us beef."
At Ichan's response to the Filaments' question, he gestured for the members to start eating, and they all eagerly picked up their chopsticks.
"Hey, Hanjoon hyung-nim. Are you just going to eat by yourself like that? Let's eat together."
"Yah. Beef is best eaten when it's still bleeding. If it cooks too much, it loses its flavor."
That's right. Beef gets tough if it's overcooked. Hanjoon knows what's up.
Ichan oppa, eat a lot. Don't bleed from your noseㅠㅠㅠ
As if reading the quickly scrolling comments, Ichan picked up a piece of meat, dipped it generously in sauce.
"I'll eat a lot."
Then, he ate it with obvious relish.
"The meat here is tender and delicious. It's even better with the onion sauce."
"Yeah, it's really good. It just melts in your mouth."
At Ichan's comment, Jaewon gave a thumbs-up.
Then, Siu cautiously asked,
"By the way, what are you all having for dinner?"
Meat.
I'm having meat too, samgyeopsal.
Chicken for me.
Oppa, I'm having beef too.
Dumplings. The thumbnail was dumplings, so I thought you were having dumplings. I also ordered jajangmyeon.
"Looks like everyone's having meat. Uh… dumplings."
As Siu's tone drooped, Jaewon immediately picked up a piece of meat and rushed toward the camera.
"Let's eat together. Ah…."
Ah, seriously, I opened my mouth looking at the screenㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Kids, eat a lot.
Yeah, even if you don't say anything, just eat a lot.
Hanjoon oppa, say something too. I want to hear your voice.
After reading the comments, Siu whispered something in Hanjoon's ear, and Hanjoon put down his chopsticks. He seemed to ponder for a moment before finally speaking.
"Um, everyone was worried because Ichan had a nosebleed recently. But you don't have to worry."
Then, he glanced at Ichan, who was quietly eating his meat.
"He's still the devil instructor, after all."
At Hanjoon's words, Jaewon nodded vigorously in agreement.
The comment section exploded. "What's a devil instructor?", "Why is Ichan the devil instructor?", and even a flood of question marks appeared.
Yet, Ichan showed no particular reaction, continuing to eat his meat with a calm expression.
Jae-won, glancing at Ichan, whispered to the camera,
"You know how there are those training instructors who come back from hell? That's exactly what this hyung is like."
While Hanjoon set the stage, it was Jaewon who ended up running with it.
"As soon as he opens his eyes, it's practice, practice, practice. If you don't meet the practice quota, forget about sleeping. He's a real devil. Right?"
Feeling embarrassed for rambling on his own, he looked at Hanjoon across the table for confirmation. Hanjoon, with his mouth full of meat, nodded.
"I don’t know about anything else, but he's definitely not human."
Devil instructor from hell = King Ichan
No matter how much they talk, Ichan just keeps eating meatㅋㅋㅋ
Noㅋㅋ If he's not human, what is he?
Where are the humans in L.I.T? They're all fairies.
Oppas, I'm curious about your recent activities. Did the CF shoot go well?
"Recent activities?"
Jaewon, who had just swallowed a mouthful of meat, quickly answered.
"The CF shoot went well. Right now, we're busy preparing for our mini album."
The CF was initially supposed to be kept secret by the company, but the advertiser leaked it to the press, so it was no longer a secret. And the new song preparations had already been revealed by PD Pyo, so that wasn't a secret either.
"Our debut album choreography was really hard, right? But the title track choreography this time is even harder. Teacher Gong Seokho…."
Just then, a piece of meat wrap was shoved into Jaewon's mouth.
It was Ichan, who had carefully wrapped the meat and used it to silence Jaewon.
"Stop talking and eat. Let's eat a lot, okay?"
Then, Roa, with a serious expression, quickly added.
"Yeah. You're going to spoil it. Just eat."
Tell us more about the new song.
Noㅋㅋ The hyungs just gagged Jaewon.
Jaewonㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The spoiler rabbit has been silenced.
So, is the song done?
Siu glanced at Ichan, who nodded. Then, Siu smiled shyly and began to answer.
"It's coming together step by step. Oh, and we're starting the music video shoot at the end of this month. Like with 'Promise,' the members are participating in the idea meetings this time too. We'll be able to show you something good soon."
Then you must be really busyㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Make sure to take your vitamins.
After exchanging glances to decide who would answer, Roa spoke up.
"We took a two-day break, and since then, we've been really busy. Actually, Ichan hyung-nim has been the busiest. He's been working really hard preparing the album. But the songs are really good, worth all the effort."
Roa gave a thumbs-up and smiled brightly. Jaewon, with a similar smile, also raised his thumb.
"They're really, really good. The title track is great, and the sub-title track is too. Especially the title track, it's amazing. The drop part hooks you right away, you know? But that doesn't mean the sub-title track is bad. It's more like…."
Once again, a meat wrap was shoved into Jae-won's mouth.
Realizing his mistake, Jaewon widened his eyes and covered his mouth with both hands. Immediately, a wave of criticism poured in.
"Wow, you can't let your guard down for even a second."
"From now on, Kim Jaewon is banned from speaking."
At Roa and Hanjoon's words, Jaewon's eyes drooped sadly. Meanwhile, comments calling him cute flooded the chat.
In the midst of this, Siu showed Ichan something on the tablet and whispered to him. Ichan nodded and then addressed the camera.
"A lot of you have been asking about vitamins."
A significant portion of the comments were concerns about Ichan's health.
The photo of Ichan's nosebleed had caused immense stress for the Filaments.
"I've been taking vitamins and such for a while now. PD Pyo even specially prepared some herbal medicine for me, and I started taking it yesterday."
Ichan, who had put down his chopsticks, smiled warmly at the camera.
"Everyone was really worried because of my nosebleed, right?"
I couldn't sleep because I was so worriedㅠㅠㅠㅠ Please don't get sick, Leader Kang.
ㅠㅠ Eat a lot and sleep a lot.
My heart almost burstㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
"I guess I've been a bit too greedy lately, pushing myself too hard. I didn't mean to worry anyone, but then the nosebleed happened, and I ended up causing concern unintentionally."
A faint smile appeared on Ichan's usually cool default expression.
"Right after the nosebleed, PD Pyo dragged me to the hospital and made me get vitamin shots and herbal medicine."
Ichan quickly dismissed the criticism of PD Pyo that had flooded the Blade Entertainment forum.
"He takes care of me like a father. If anything, I'm the one causing him trouble."
The other members nodded vigorously in agreement.
Only then did comments thanking PD Pyo start appearing in the live chat.
Thank you, PD Pyo.
Please take good care of our L.I.T from now on.
All Filaments want from the company is for them to take good care of the members.
L.I.T saved PD Pyo. The bulbs almost stormed the company.
As Ichan read the comments with care, he smiled and continued.
"But the best medicine is still the Filaments."
The comment section exploded again.
The number of viewers watching L.I.T's N Live had now reached 52,000.
For a rookie group, this was a significant number of viewers. By any measure, it was a success.
Seemingly pleased with the situation, Ichan smiled brightly and took it a step further.
"Let's see each other like this often from now on. We'll make time to visit you."