The program made a special ‘Deep Dive into KK’ segment and about 20 minutes of it was going to be on the actual broadcast.
Based on the fact alone that they were willing to allocate that much time for KK who is not a local star, you could clearly see that KK’s popularity had gone up to some extent in Japan too.
When they entered the studio, the male MC welcomed KK.
Watanabe Shinichi, the sole MC for today’s broadcast, was a famous Japanese comedian who was loved as an MC by a wide range of people, from the younger generation to people in their 50’s.
He was in charge of three programs, and all three had quite good ratings.
Although he was a comedian, he was also popular among women for his clean-cut middle-aged appearance. He was a star who made people laugh with his words rather than through physical comedy that would damage his body and, in the entertainment world, he was called the embodiment of ‘ツッコミ(Tsukomi)’ and rose to the position of MC.
Originally ‘Boke and Tsukomi’ was a two-man group often used by Japanese comedy duos. To put it simply, Boke was the role of the victim and Tsukomi was the role of the abuser.
They spread laughter through a mean and abusive relationship.
Watanabe didn’t work as a duo, but as an MC he often had ‘Tsukomi’-like characteristics towards his guests, making the guests flustered and using the flustered guest to make the program entertaining.
However, there were Japanese entertainment program MCs who frequently sexually harassed female participants, so part of Watanabe’s way of proceeding was to be seen as a ‘gentleman’.
He might overwhelm the guests a little, but it wasn’t at the level of making up fake stories.
Watanabe waved at KK, who were entering, with a clearly mischievous smile.
Watanabe had been very gentlemanly when he had asked to shake the KK members’ hands when they had been greeting each other in advance in the waiting room. Once he had entered the studio, he had become professional.
The KK members greeted Watanabe again in the studio and then began introducing themselves to the camera.
They had done the same self introduction during the morning broadcast, so they were able to do it more naturally this time.
“Oh, nice to meet you! Korean idol group KK is currently the most popular group in Korea, right?”
Watanabe asked the KK members who were standing in a line.
Jung Yoon Ki, who quickly understood the question because it was the same as the scripted question, replied with a vague smile,
“Ahh…we are grateful…that you would call us that.”
When Jung Yoon Ki stuttered a reply, Watanabe smiled and responded,
“As expected! The KK leader, singing self-praise that they’re the best!”
When Jung Yoon Ki gave a slightly panicked expression in response to what Watanabe said, the camera in front of Jung Yoon Ki did a close up of his panicked face.
“We’ll become the best!”
Kim Won yelled as he cut in.
The enthusiastic exclamation made Watanabe say “Good, good! Let’s give it our all!” and move on.
In addition to the microphone, the members whose Japanese skills weren’t perfect also had earbuds with them to hear the interpreter. There were no issues with important communication thanks to it, but it took an extra second for them to understand the question.
Ahn Hyung Seo, whose Japanese was the weakest, and Park Tae Hyung, Jung Yoon Ki, and Suk Ji Hoon, who still struggled to fully understand when locals talk, were wearing earbuds.
Once the MC and the members sat in the seats prepared in the studio, the interview continued in full swing.
“First, we’ll look into how popular KK is in Korea!”
Along with Watanabe’s introduction, the prepared video played from the VCR in the studio.
It was a video that explained KK’s popularity.
KK’s concert venue, lines and lines of fans waiting to see KK, and KK receiving first place trophies from various broadcasts were shown one after the other.
Furthermore, they introduced the KK members’ activities, including what area each of them were doing their individual activities in.
Adjectives like ‘cool’, ‘amazing’, and ‘extraordinary’ were written in huge Japanese subtitles.
The KK members also focused on the video outlining their activities.
Lastly, it wrapped up with a video of them winning the grand prize at the TBN Awards just last week.
“Wow! Incredible! I see you got the top prize in Korea! Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
As the leader, Jung Yoon Ki responded to Watanabe’s praise.
“You appeared like a comet from the beginning, and now it feels like you’ve become the sun itself!”
Do Wook laughed and responded when Watanabe gave an over-the-top comment,
“I’m flattered. We’re not the sun, just…”
“The moon?”
“One that’s trying to become a sun…”
“A baby sun?”
“Haha, yes. I would like it to be at that level. Because there’s still a long way to go and a lot of music we still want to do.”
Watanabe nodded his head to Do Wook’s reply.
“As expected, words worthy of KK’s key member and producer.”
“Thank you.”
“That said, there’s a tremendous number of questions directed towards you, Do Wook. Please wait a moment. First, there’s something I want to ask KK as a whole…what do you think is the secret to your popularity?”
Kim Won answered Watanabe’s question in fluent Japanese.
“We don’t do the music that the company tells us to do, we do the music that we want to do at that moment with Do Wook as the main focus. So we can follow trends quickly and genuinely enjoy it.”
“Oh…that seems nice.”
“Also, we try very hard to communicate with the fans. Through social media.”
“I see. Then which member is the best at using social media?”
“Definitely Hyung Seo.”
“Hyung Seo?”
Watanabe scanned the members as if asking which member is ‘Hyung Seo’.
The interpreter had not finished translating yet, but Ahn Hyung Seo raised his hand when he heard his name, waving the name tag that was on his chest.
Subsequently, he learned that it was a question about which member is the best at using social media.
“Oh, you said you’re the vocals, right?”
“Yes!”
You could tell Ahn Hyung Seo was nervous by the tone of his voice when he said “hai”*. Ahn Hyung Seo was the most active and talkative when doing entertainment shows in Korea, but the language barrier was very big.
(TL Note: “Yes” in Japanese)
“How do you use social media?”
Stuttering, Ahn Hyung Seo answered Watanabe’s question with all the Japanese words he knew.
“Picture…video…replies…”
It was only three words, but fortunately Watanabe seemed to understand what it meant.
“Do you answer fans’ questions and talk to them often?”
“Yes!”
Ahn Hyung Seo replied again. Watanabe asked with a chuckle,
“Do you tend to reply more to fans who took pretty profile pictures?”
“No! Not at all!”
“Oh, my…You’re flustered. Your face is red.”
Ahn Hyung Seo was very panicked because it was a situation where he could not properly refute Watanabe’s provoking question. Watanabe seemed to have decided to tease Ahn Hyung Seo when he heard Ahn Hyung Seo’s clumsy Japanese.
“A lot of our fans use our faces as their profile picture rather than their own face. So on social media, we can’t tell what they look like.”
Do Wook answered skillfully on behalf of Ahn Hyung Seo.
Watanabe shrugged as if he cooled down a bit, then moved on to the next question.
“I heard that Do Wook is a producer as well as a composer, song writer, vocalist…dancer as well as actor.”
Do Wook showed a humble expression and thanked Watanabe for his praise.
“You’ve even been to Cannes!”
“Yes. It was an incredible honor.”
“Actually, one of my acquaintances said he watched ‘Blue Sky’ that you starred in. He said it left a huge impression.”
“Wow…Thank you.”
“Are you interested in doing more acting? I think doing solo activities would be good for you, rather than team activities.”
“What?”
“You don’t have to split the profit if you go solo, right?!”
When Watanabe’s question was asked, Do Wook’s expression briefly hardened when he heard Watanabe’s question. However, it was very brief.
“No, My team is very precious to me too, so…I want to do well in both team and solo activities.”
“Mmmmm…I feel like it’s a waste on your behalf.”
“Haha.”
Do Wook laughed awkwardly at Watanabe’s words.
“We can’t do it without Do Wook~!”
Kim Won relaxed the atmosphere in the studio by chiming in at the right moment. Watanabe smiled at Kim Won.
Even Watanabe knew that it would be difficult to embarrass professional singers such as KK with such questions anyway. They just played it off as light fun.
“Then, I want to ask Ji Hoon, who is the youngest, as well. Is Do Wook really a member the team can’t do without?”
“Of course! Definitely!”
Suk Ji Hoon answered confidently. Then Watanabe asked again.
“Then who is the member…you feel is not needed on the team?”
“Huh?”
Suk Ji Hoon said in Korean, panicked. They had never been asked this question on Korean entertainment shows and it was not in the script either.
Suk Ji Hoon said again in Japanese,
“Ah, there isn’t one!”
“It’s no fun if we do the broadcast like this. Do you want KK to be a boring group?”
Watanabe provoked, but Suk Ji Hoon actually had experience surviving among mischievous professional entertainers through ‘Camping 48 Hours’.
“We’re boring, but we’re a group with the bond of friendship.”
Watanabe exclaimed “oh ho” to Suk Ji Hoon’s answer, overacting to show his admiration.
“Your teamwork is amazing. The best idol group in Korea! Then, I’d appreciate it if each of you could show us your individual ‘I can’t be left out of this team’ talent.”
Watanabe seamlessly moved on to the next segment, where they’d each showcase their individual talent.
The filming briefly stopped as they were moving on to the next segment and the set was rearranged.
The rearranged set had a small stage-like platform in the center and chairs in the back.
Kim Won and Jung Yoon Ki were the first to step up to the platform.
Kim Won and Jung Yoon Ki had prepared the first verse of American rapstar AMINEM’s hit song ‘Standing’.
The melody started to play and Kim Won and Jung Yoon Ki perfectly performed ‘Standing’. It was one of the songs they had in their repertoire in their trainee days, but they had practiced it again as they prepared for the Japanese entertainment show.
They could have performed their individual talents they had always done in Korea, but the ambitious members wanted to continue showing something new at each broadcast.
Moreover, it was Japan, where it was difficult to get a great response with Korean songs.
Once Kim Won and Jung Yoon Ki’s rap performance ended, Watanabe applauded, satisfied. Kim Won’s fast rapping and good English pronunciation was especially impressive.
Afterwards, there was a ‘dance break’ moment that Park Tae Hyung and Suk Ji Hoon had prepared.
In particular, even the camera staff were filled with admiration when Park Tae Hyung came down from the platform and did a flip in midair.
Ahn Hyung Seo was next. Ahn Hyung Seo sang a song known in Korea as ‘Star’s Flower’ in original Japanese. It was a sorrowful ballad so it brought down the mood a little, but it wasn’t bad for showing off Ahn Hyung Seo’s outstanding vocal skills.
Last was Do Wook. Do Wook had prepared lines of Naoki, the main character from the Japanese drama currently hailed as the national treasure ‘Hanjo Naoki’.
‘Hanjo Naoki’ was about a normal banker who dreamed of becoming a bank president and avenged his parents’ enemies.
He was actually going to prepare a song, but the program wanted to focus more on the fact that he had participated in the ‘Cannes Film Festival’, so they asked Do Wook to prepare some acting.
Do Wook acted out Naoki’s angry lines with fierce focus like he really was Naoki. When Do Wook showed a wide-eyed glare, characteristic of acting out Naoki, Watanabe shook his head and gestured that he was truly amazing.
“Wow…you could be called the Naoki of Korea. No, maybe the son of Naoki.”
Watanabe’s praise made Do Wook a shy young man again when he came down from the platform. Do Wook thanked him.
“As expected from someone who’s been to Cannes! But…Hyung Seo’s ‘Star’s Flower’ was a little…perhaps he practiced far too little.”
Instantly, the faces of all the KK members hardened.
It was true that Ahn Hyung Seo’s Japanese was lacking, but his singing was flawless. He always practiced hard and did well during performances, so they had never heard this response before and nobody knew how to answer.
“I practiced hard…”
Ahn Hyung Seo replied, a little hurt.
“…I don’t know,”
Watanabe muttered as if he were skeptical. He had an expression that didn’t need to be translated.
‘If the recording ends like this, Hyung Seo’s image will be…the fans will be angry, but for the Japanese people who don’t know KK very well…’
Do Wook quickly racked his brain.
Ahn Hyung Seo was also thinking that they couldn’t end the shoot like this with him being branded as the most incompetent KK member.
Ahn Hyung Seo suddenly shot his hand up in the air.
“I’ll…! I’ll do something else! I’ll try…something else!”
—
Next chapter: Hyung Seo tries his best to prove the MC wrong