‘…something different?’
The other members, including Do Wook, opened their eyes wide, surprised by Ahn Hyung Seo’s sudden words.
‘Did Ahn Hyung Seo have another individual talent?’
With a slightly worried expression, Do Wook looked at Ahn Hyung Seo. He was worried that Ahn Hyung Seo might have fallen for Watanabe’s provocation.
However, seeing the look in Ahn Hyung Seo’s eyes, Do Wook quickly put his worries aside for the time being.
The look in Ahn Hyung Seo’s eyes was filled with a will to absolutely not end the recording while looking like a fool.
Of course, not everything is possible by will alone. However, Ahn Hyung Seo was someone with enough skills and talent. Do Wook had faith that he would do well no matter what.
Watanabe asked, interested,
“Something else? What is it? I’m curious what Hyung Seo, who is only in charge of social media, can possibly do!”
Watanabe’s condescending tone towards Ahn Hyung Seo couldn’t be seen as socially acceptable. However, he wasn’t being dismissive towards Ahn Hyung Seo, whom he’d only met today, just to harass him.
It could be considered Watanabe’s method of making things fun. There were definitely viewers who felt pleasure in watching someone be belittled and teased.
However, the guest had the choice and ability to decide whether they would finish the recording without fighting back or to attack Watanabe back.
Even if he used the same method, each guest was bound to have a different reaction.
If Ahn Hyung Seo wanted to do something, Watanabe was willing to give him a chance. If he couldn’t do it well, it would at least make a funnier situation. In fact, if he failed in a funny way it’d be a huge success.
If he couldn’t be even vaguely funny, Ahn Hyung Seo truly would become a laughingstock.
“I…that….cola…”
Ahn Hyung Seo shouted energetically, but that didn’t make his Japanese skills suddenly improve. Ahn Hyung Seo fumbled, pointing to the coke bottle at the MC’s seat placed there for indirect advertisement.
When Do Wook, who was sitting next to Ahn Hyung Seo, perked his ears up, Ahn Hyung Seo explained to Do Wook in Korean what he was going to do as his individual talent.
“You can do that?”
“Yeah. I was able to do it just one time…”
Do Wook frowned a little. Just thinking about it made his throat dry.
However, since Ahn Hyung Seo said he wanted to do it, Do Wook looked at Watanabe and explained in Japanese,
“Would you be able to get us some cola? He says his individual talent is singing immediately after drinking a whole bottle of cola in one sitting.”
“Oh?!”
When Do Wook explained, Watanabe looked at Ahn Hyung Seo with interest.
The coke for indirect advertisement prepared on the MC’s seat was in a 400 ml plastic bottle. 400 ml of cola, which has a lot of carbonation, is not an easy amount to drink even normally. However, it was interesting to hear that he would sing right after drinking the coke.
Even if he failed to drink coke due to the pain from carbonic acid, it would probably be good TV
for viewers who like sadistic things to some extent.
When Do Wook explained, the other members looked at Ahn Hyung Seo with a slightly surprised or worried expression. Kim Won seemed to think that he should help if he was going to do it anyway.
“I’ve seen it! I was there when he was doing it and he was successful that time.”
Taking on the role of a wingman, he got people hyped up.
Ahn Hyung Seo chuckled.
He tried it as a joke while having chicken and coke in the dorm with Kim Won. He didn’t know he would show it as an individual talent like this.
Watanabe took the coke from the MC’s seat and handed it to Ahn Hyung Seo personally.
“I’m looking forward to it since you said you can do it!”
Ahn Hyung Seo, who received the coke, breathed carefully and prepared to drink the coke.
Even the members next to him did not know whether Ahn Hyung Seo would indeed be able to do it or not. Only Jung Yoon Ki was thinking that he hoped Ahn Hyung Seo would not tarnish their image by spitting it out or burping while drinking coke.
It was a nerve-wracking moment even though it was just one individual talent on an entertainment program.
For some reason they were determined to show Watanabe, who had belittled Ahn Hyung Seo, their prestige.
“Ok…start!”
Watanabe announced the start at the same time Ahn Hyung Seo opened the lid.
“Huuuup!”
Ahn Hyung Seo began to chug down the coke. The camera got a close-up of Ahn Hyung Seo’s neck area as he chaotically gulped down the coke.
“ugghhhh…”
Watching him drink the coke was more painful than for him to drink it. Just thinking about it made their throats burn. Suk Ji Hoon frowned as if he himself were drinking the coke and turned his gaze away from Ahn Hyung Seo.
Watanabe, who was dissatisfied because he felt the filming was progressing too smoothly without a big funny incident, gave a content smile and looked at Ahn Hyung Seo with interest.
The image of Ahn Hyung Seo struggling while drinking coke as best as he could wasn’t bad. The shot definitely turned out well.
There were only about two sips left of the coke.
“Hang in there!”
“Hang in there…!”
Kim Won and Park Tae Hyung cheered on Ahn Hyung Seo in Japanese.
“Gulp hmph gulp….!”
With people cheering him on, Ahn Hyung Seo, who poured the rest of the coke into his mouth, held his breath to forcibly push down the carbonic acid that was rising up from his chest.
He then immediately started to sing.
“Wooooaahhh―!”
It was the ‘Star’s Flower’ that Watanabe had criticized for seemingly not having been practiced enough by him.
Ahn Hyung Seo sang a line from the chorus of ‘Star’s Flower’ splendidly. Of course he was out of breath right after drinking a whole bottle of coke, but even the lack of breath was handled as if it were for emotional effect.
“….haaaa. That’s…all,”
Ahn Hyung Seo said, looking at Watanabe, when he finished his song.
It wasn’t until the song was over that Ahn Hyung Seo pounded on his chest and tried to quickly digest the coke that hadn’t completely gone down yet.
“You’re incredible…”
The members, who were watching, instinctively started applauding Ahn Hyung Seo’s individual talent.
It was true for Watanabe too.
“It’s an amazing individual talent! You should have shown us this from the beginning!”
He still included a cheeky comment, but Watanabe also praised Ahn Hyung Seo as he clapped.
***
“Buuurp.”
“Ugh! That’s disgusting!”
Inside the car on their way back after finishing the recording. Jung Yoon Ki, who was sitting next to Ahn Hyung Seo, freaked out and pushed him away when Ahn Hyung Seo couldn’t hold it in and burped.
“Ahh, how could you push me after I worked so hard?!”
“Man, no one told you to do that. You’re the one that volunteered to do it.”
“Wow…if you’re going to be like that, I’m going to get revenge.”
“You two are the oldest ones, why are you guys always acting like that? Be quiet.”
When Manager Oh Baek Ho, who was sitting in the passenger seat, said that, bickering Jung Yoon Ki and Ahn Hyung Seo stopped talking. Even then, Ahn Hyung Seo kept pounding his chest because he kept needing to burp.
“You did great, Hyung Seo,”
Do Wook, who was sitting on the other side, said to Ahn Hyung Seo. Ahn Hyung Seo gave a proud smile and made a V-shape with both his hands.
“Hmm. It’s true that you did great. Still, don’t burp right next to me.”
When Jung Yoon Ki added that comment, Ahn Hyung Seo glared at him and didn’t say anything else. Honestly, all the members were amazed and surprised by the individual talent Ahn Hyung Seo demonstrated today. They also felt like they understood why Ahn Hyung Seo did an individual talent that he hadn’t done before.
‘Watanabe probably got him motivated…’
After the recording, Watanabe sought out Ahn Hyung Seo privately and, through a translator, praised Hyung Seo that he had saved today’s broadcast.
Ahn Hyung Seo also knew that Watanabe did not belittle him out of personal feelings. Anyway, Ahn Hyung Seo was also satisfied because they got a good shot that would bring in a lot of interest thanks to Watanabe making him motivated.
Ahn Hyung Seo asked Watanabe for a photo without any bad feelings and after taking a group photo with the members, he uploaded it on social media with a message saying to look forward to the upcoming program.
The program PD also gave a very positive evaluation to the members and Manager Oh Baek Ho regarding the recording. He conveyed to them that they probably could air all of the members’ individual talents without editing.
They also said that since the contents of the broadcast was substantial and the end was fun and surprising, they planned on increasing the time to 25 minutes.
“But how did you hold it in during the show? How did you sing right away? I think it will be a hit if you did it in Korea too…”
Suk Ji Hoon, who was sitting in the back seat, asked.
He asked because if Ahn Hyung Seo happened to have any tips, Suk Ji Hoon wanted to learn it so he could do it on ‘Camping 48 Hours’.
“What do you mean how did I put up with it…you just do it!”
However, there was no way there that he would have any tips. Ahn Hyung Seo exclaimed,
“I can’t do it in Korea! It’s a single-use individual talent that can only be done once!”
***
A few days later.
KK was in the spotlight by doing things like short interviews and performances on broadcasts. The KK members were packing to go back to Korea after finishing their short yet packed Japanese activities.
When the entertainment program with Watanabe aired, they got a bigger reaction than other broadcasts.
Watanabe was an MC who was very much like a Tsukomi, a character well known by Japanese people. Nevertheless, there was a lot of praise for the KK members who showed a lot of sensibility when they answered his questions without getting too flustered. Also, the individual talent they showed during that segment was very impressive.
It was definitively shown that they were a talented group that had the whole package: singing, dancing, everything.
Additionally, the fact that Do Wook had participated in the ‘Cannes Film Festival’ caught the eyes of Japanese people who weren’t fans. Just like in Korea, Japanese people tend to give generous treatment to a person ‘recognized abroad’.
Do Wook’s performance of ‘Hanjo Naoki’ was truly excellent. It was just one of the many programs he appeared in, but the fact that he prepared a special performance from a popular Japanese drama for the program was enough to melt the hearts of the Japanese people.
Thanks to that, Naoki was added to Do Wook’s Japanese nickname Wookie to create a new nickname ‘Woo-oki’.
Also, as expected, it was Ahn Hyung Seo’s ‘Drinking Coke and Singing’ individual talent that brought in the most avid response when the edited video was posted on Mytube.
As it became viral as a funny video, it was drawing in a lot of interest not only from ordinary Japanese but also in Korea as well.
When Korean fans saw how hard KK was trying in Japan, a part of them felt emotional.
At the same time, they felt proud that KK, who was talented and had a good personality, was Korean.
Ahn Hyung Seo’s video of drinking coke received tens of thousands of views. It became trendy among MyTubers to upload videos of them copying Ahn Hyung Seo’s individual talent. Some people spit out the coke, and many people said they just couldn’t do it. Thanks to this, Ahn Hyung Seo’s individual talent was hailed as a legendary video.
Manager Oh Baek Ho told KK, who had packed their belongings from their hotel rooms and came out, some good news.
“Guys.”
When Manager Oh Baek Ho called the members over in a low voice, they looked at him with excited expressions. It was clear from Manager Oh Baek Ho’s vibe that it was good news.
“It’s done.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“It’s in March.”
When they heard that it’d be in March, the members all looked at Manager Oh Baek Ho, dazed and with their jaws dropped.
“The dome tour. It’s confirmed.”
The Japanese fan base was growing exponentially, and album sales were soaring. They were popular to begin with, so if their popularity had increased it was definitely possible.
The dome tour, which was the big goal of the recent Japanese activities, was confirmed. It was an indescribably huge achievement.
Among Korean singers, there was still only one group that reached the dome tour.
“Wow!”
Kim Won exclaimed. It was good news. From observing the singers around them, the KK members knew well how hard it was to go from an arena tour to a dome tour even if one is established in Japan to a certain degree.
It was possible because KK had succeeded, going from a small concert venue to an arena tour by laying down the foundations in Japan one step at a time too.
‘The dome…’
Do Wook also stood dazed, unable to hide his joy. The car that was to drive the KK members arrived, but everyone was only thinking about how happy they were that the dome tour was confirmed instead of thinking of getting in the car.
The domes were a place to show off Korea’s large concert halls and were another level of prestige in terms of size and facilities. The thought of performing there made Do Wook’s heart race.
At that moment, the cell phone vibrated in Do Wook’s pocket. There was a notification from the mail app that a new mail had arrived.
—
Next chapter: New York Fashion Week. Cannes Film Festival. They made strides in their conquest of Asia so it may be time to focus on opportunities in different continents.