Chapter 1
Everything around was green. The sky, the sea, and even the tall grass and leaves.
A summer where the whole world was covered in green.
While the beach was bustling with vacationers enjoying swimming and sunbathing, staff
members in black clothes were busy setting up cameras and equipment in one corner.
And in the center of it all, boys and young men who still looked youthful stood neatly in four
rows, waiting for filming to begin.
They were participants in the idol survival audition program IDOL TRAVEL, produced by cable channel FLu.
An era where every broadcasting station churned out all kinds of survival programs every year.
IDOL TRAVEL was a “healing” survival program created with the slogan of giving viewers tired of similar formats a different kind of fun.
Something about “A journey to find the best idol.”
The first audition to start not in a studio but at a travel destination. A new format, refreshing visuals and cinematography.
The concept of this program was to make viewers feel comfortable, substantial, and diverse—like they were on a package tour.
“Though for the participants, it’ll be ‘killing’ rather than ‘healing’……”
Participant Baek Yuri, who had bought a plane ticket with his own money to fly to Jeju Island, gazed at the deep blue sea with a self-deprecating smile.
A cool sea breeze carrying saltiness pushed away the humid air.
“We’re starting filming!”
The camera light came on, and a square box was placed in front of the lined-up participants. Whether excited or extremely nervous, everyone focused their gaze on the box.
The PD explained in a comfortable voice, as if filming some rural healing variety show.
“Now, this box contains slips of paper with the names of various props. Please draw one like a lottery. Then, we’ll hand out a self-cam and a sticker board to each of you along with the prop you drew.”
An assistant writer came forward to demonstrate.
“Apple!”
She drew a slip and read it aloud, then spread it out so the camera could capture it clearly.
Then a junior writer pulled a red apple from a large box and handed it to the assistant writer.
“The props are related to fairy tales or folk tales. And 40 participants who arrived before you are
already hiding on the beach with one prop each.”
The PD continued with the detailed explanation.
The first mission was “Find Your Partner and Busk.”
For example, the apple the assistant writer just drew was a prop related to the fairy tale Snow White. So you had to find your “partner” participant hiding on the beach with another prop related to Snow White.
Things like the magic mirror or the poisoned comb that appeared in Snow White.
Whether it was a Western fairy tale or a traditional folk tale, it was a mission advantageous to those who had read many books. Someone muttered under their breath, “I’m already doomed!”
Baek Yuri, who had been a bookworm since childhood, listened to the explanation with inner relief.
“This mission proceeds in teams of two. Participants who find their partner must busk together and collect 30 stickers as quickly as possible.”
This time the assistant writer showed colorful heart-shaped stickers.
“The vacationers currently on the beach are all people we recruited in advance. Each has five stickers. We’ve informed them in advance to give stickers to teams they like after watching the busking. Duplicate voting is allowed.”
Baek Yuri looked around the beach in slight surprise. He had thought they were just people here to play, but that wasn’t the case.
It meant they had rented and controlled the entire beach for filming. Looking closely, people really were holding papers with stickers attached.
There weren’t many restrictions on busking genres. You could sing using the sound equipment the production team had pre-installed, or dance or show off any talent you were confident in.
“For the five teams that collect 30 stickers and return first……!”
The PD paused for emphasis before saying:
“We’ll give you the chance to compete for the center position in the signal song stage!”
Wow!
Gasp! Jackpot!
Excited exclamations burst out here and there. Even Baek Yuri, who had been standing calmly, widened his eyes in surprise.
A signal song center candidate.
This was an opportunity he absolutely couldn’t miss.
The signal song center was such an important position that there was a saying that if you stood there, you were guaranteed to debut.
Just becoming a center candidate meant you could secure screen time in the early episodes.
Since you could start by making a strong impression on viewers, it was advantageous for ranking high in online voting.
“So much for ‘healing’…… It feels like ‘killing’ from the very first shoot.”
The participants lined up and drew lots in turn.
A participant who drew glass slippers shouted “Ah! Ah! Cinderella!” in celebration.
Participants who drew rice sheaves or dried persimmons asked other participants what they were and received warnings.
“The Dutiful Brothers and The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon, I suppose.*
The person who drew the rice sheave would have a partner holding the same rice sheave, and the person who drew the dried persimmon would probably have a partner wearing a tiger doll costume or something.
While matching other participants’ fairy tales and folk tales, Baek Yuri’s turn quickly approached.
He looked at the slip he drew with wide eyes, then spread it out clearly for the camera. Then, like someone thrilled with the prop, he smiled brightly and read the contents.
“Rabbit ear headband! I got it!”
A scene where 40 people drew lots would obviously be mostly edited out.
You had to react big to get cut less.
Baek Yuri waved the slip and moved aside to receive the prop. He put the headband on right away, made a V sign with his hand toward the camera following him, and smiled playfully.
He made sure to convey the atmosphere of “I find this mission very fun and exciting. I’m curious who my partner will be and I’m really looking forward to what’s ahead. I feel so happy and joyful, like I’m on a trip.”
Because this was exactly what the production team, insisting on “healing,” wanted most from the participants.
As soon as the whistle blew, participants who had received their props, self-cams, and sticker boards ran out onto the beach. The voices of participants searching for their partners were noisy.
Baek Yuri didn’t forget to look at the self-cam and explain as he moved.
“Hello, I’m Baek Yuri. When I think of rabbits, I think of The Rabbit and the Turtle, The Tiger Who Ate a Stone Rice Cake, and “The Song of the Rabbit’s Liver.” …… So my partner should be among the turtle, tiger, or terrapins, right?”
Even if this scene didn’t make it into the main broadcast, it could be edited separately and uploaded to MeTube. He couldn’t let anything pass by carelessly.
These days, there were probably more people who wanted to watch clip videos on MeTube and OTT platforms at their convenience rather than sitting in front of the TV waiting to catch the live broadcast.
As participants found their partners one by one, Baek Yuri grew increasingly anxious. The tiger had already been taken by the participant who drew the dried persimmon, and there was no sign of the turtle or terrapin.
“Excuse me, are you from The Song of the Rabbit’s Liver?”
“No? I’m not!”
He asked someone wearing a green hat, but it wasn’t them. As he was running around
searching for his partner, someone shouted loudly.
“Raaaaaaabbit!”
He turned toward the voice and saw a very tall person with classical features and a distinct presence standing there. His skin was pale, and jet-black hair covered his nape.
Even from a distance, an extraordinary aura could be felt.
‘A participant!’
But he was soaked from head to toe as if he had fallen into the sea, looking exactly like a water ghost.
Moreover, he was wearing a durumagi hanbok on top and flashy floral-patterned pants on the bottom, which was extremely bewildering.
‘He tied the ribbons strangely too……!’
Since the first shoot was in casual clothes, some participants had dressed to stand out, but this was…… Wasn’t it too unbalanced?
“Raaaaaaabbit! My teeeeacherrr!”
Still, since he was looking for a rabbit, he must be the partner, Baek Yuri thought, quickly approaching him. However, the other person wasn’t holding any prop like a turtle shell or terrapin doll.
Was there a folk tale like The Rabbit and the Water Ghost?
Puzzled, as he got closer, the other person spoke.
“Teacher! I am Neoul, the second son of the Dragon King, come from the Dragon Palace. I have come to find Teacher Rabbit. Are you Teacher Rabbit?”
Dragon Palace! It was The Song of the Rabbit’s Liver!
‘But why the sudden situational acting……?’
He glanced back and saw a camera filming this direction, probably because the situation looked interesting.
“Hm…… Yes!”
He decided to play along with the situational acting for now and answered confidently. Then the other person knelt down and began begging desperately for his liver.
‘This must be something the production team set up?’
It seemed the prop had been replaced with the durumagi instead of a terrapin shell. It was strange enough to see someone in hanbok at the beach out of nowhere. It couldn’t be anything other than a prop given by the production team to wear.
‘A Dragon King’s son concept……’
Up close, he looked like a textbook handsome man from the legendary peak years of male actors.
It wasn’t an overreach to give him a prince concept.
“Um…… This is The Song of the Rabbit’s Liver, right? But are you okay? You look like you fell into the water.”
He asked to confirm, but got a question back about whether he knew The Turtle Court Official.
What was this? Normally when you ask if something is right, you get a “yes” or “no” answer, don’t you?
Besides, I asked first? Of course I know, that’s why I asked?
And if a participant fell into the water, shouldn’t someone have brought a towel or something? He’s completely soaked?
In the confusion, the other person continued the situational acting.
“If you give me your liver, I will surely repay the favor. I can let you live in luxury and glory for the rest of your life in the Dragon Palace.”
“What? No! I don’t need…… blood.”
Whoops.
He wasn’t used to situational acting, so he had answered too honestly by reflex. Moreover, during that, he had been distracted by the other person kneeling on the stone floor, completely ruining the immersion.
Wouldn’t that hurt, kneeling like that on such hard ground?
No matter if the production team told him to do it, he should do it within limits where he wouldn’t get hurt. If he hurt his knee like that, it would be trouble when dancing.
The older you get, the more precious each and every joint becomes.
When he urged him to get up, the other person obediently straightened his body. Then he skillfully delivered his lines and led the situational acting again.
“Then what must I do for you to give me your liver?”
He must have been an aspiring actor or have acting experience. His facial acting was truly top-notch.
‘What should I say?’
He had to play along with the situational acting, but was it okay to just say “okay” and hand over his liver? Should he say he left it at home? That he didn’t have it? What should he say to not be cliché?
Countless thoughts passed through Baek Yuri’s mind in a short time.
“I’ll give it to you if we succeed in debuting……!”
Great. Let’s go with a youth movie vibe.
It was better to show a picture of competitors cheering each other on and working hard together rather than being hostile. Since idols were groups, not individuals.
Satisfied that he had answered and moved on quite well, Baek Yuri offered a handshake to the self-proclaimed “Dragon King’s son.”
Without knowing in his wildest dreams how dangerous a statement “I’ll give you my liver if we succeed in debuting” was as a joke.