Chapter 230: Again After Rainfall (6)

“Fuck, I’m in trouble.” ??Lee Cheol-Min realized he was screwed.

“Yeah..."

“Don't you dare swear! You son of a bi-a-shhh"

“Daniele! You are the one swearing..."

“Good thing no one is around... It's so embarrassing. Let's take him inside before anyone sees us."

Lee Cheol-Min tried to keep a straight face and said, “Fuck off, you guys. Please get the fuck off!"

He had only pulled Suh Hyun-Woo outside to express his gratitude. Despite his pride and the embarrassment it brought him, he just wanted to thank Suh Hyun-Woo privately and ask for his number…

‘How did it end up like this? Damn it. Ugh, geez.'

He just wanted to disappear from the situation as he wondered what went wrong, but the answer was pretty simple.

When he took Suh Hyun-Woo outside, they were stopped by several groups from the filming crew. The filming crew usually left the regular cast members to their own devices and occasionally called over Suh Hyun-Woo and Goh Yoo-Joon. Since both were newcomers to the industry and both sides were likely to cross paths often, they offered the two of them drinks along with some encouraging words. This happened a few times even as Lee Cheol-Min was taking Suh Hyun-Woo outside.

Suh Hyun-Woo usually stuck to drinking soda by claiming he couldn't handle alcohol well. However, he found it hard to refuse drinks offered by adults and ended up having several rounds of soju. By the time they stepped outside, he was already slightly tipsy. Now, after having four more drinks outside, making it six in total, Suh Hyun-Woo seemed thoroughly drunk.

“Do you progress through stages of drunkenness or something?"

Suh Hyun-Woo responded to Lee Cheol-Min's irritated question. “Uh… yeah… I guess so…”

“First, you are lashing out with chopsticks, and now what?"

The real spectacle wasn't just Suh Hyun-Woo's behavior. If he had been the only drunk one, Lee Cheol-Min could have just sucked it up, taken him back inside, and handed him over to his manager...

However, Lee Cheol-Min's real trial and tribulation started when Goh Yoo-Joon and Daniele followed them outside. On top of that, Jeong Hee-Su and Yoo Joon-Hwan also tagged along to calm Daniele down. Here they were, making a ruckus in front of Lee Cheol-Min.

“Su-Hwan hyung said he won't let you off the hook tomorrow."

“Yeah..."

“It's just a wrap with meat. Would you eat it if I wrapped it for you? Huh? You would, right? We are Chronos, aren't we? Right?"

“Yeah."

“I will wrap it for you then!" Goh Yoo-Joon was overly affectionate toward Suh Hyun-Woo.

“Where are you going!? Joon! Don't go! Stay here! There's no wrap! What? Wrap? Isn't that a swear word? Oh no!"

“Hey, Daniele, you are no small-time swearer yourself! Ease up! Use pretty words!"

This one was swearing about not swearing while holding bottles of alcohol.

At least, Jeong Hee-Su and Yoo Joon-Hwan seemed somewhat sober, but Lee Cheol-Min felt out of place among them.

Lee Cheol-Min stood up and sighed, “Anyway, what I wanted to say was."

He raised his voice a bit, and everyone except a drowsy Suh Hyun-Woo turned to look at him.

“Hey, this is meant for you to hear."

However, Suh Hyun-Woo seemed half asleep.

‘

This is ridiculous.’

Lee Cheol-Min looked at him and said, “Thanks. That's it. I've said it."

His cheeks flushed red, and he intended to step back into the restaurant. However, Goh Yoo-Joon and Jeong Hee-Su rushed over with mischievous smiles and clung to him.

“Where are you going? Why leave when you have no other friends but us? Are you going to grill meat all by yourself?"

“Ah, fuck. I don't want to be here, okay?"

“No way, that's not happening."

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

“What do you mean?"

“Let's go back in when you sober up a bit. Where are you off to after all?"

Lee Cheol-Min was forcibly seated by the two. Except for a quietly seething Lee Cheol-Min and a drowsy Suh Hyun-Woo, the kids were making quite the ruckus. Lee Cheol-Min felt a pang of bitterness, realizing the kids were this lively even in the absence of On Ki-Hoon and himself. He had always wanted to create memories with people like them. That was his intention right until he first set foot on the path to

Graduating.

How did things end up like this?

“Hey." Lee Cheol-Min's voice brought the noisy crowd to silence. After hesitating for a while, he finally said. “Thanks to all of you too. I know you might not have the best feelings toward me, but I appreciate you looking out for me like this."

“Ah, come on, that's what friends are for."

“Friends are supposed to fight and make up. That was the life lesson I got. To be honest, I didn't have friends in high school, so I just learned it from this program."

“You too? Me too. Hahaha! Anyway, now you are just another friend among us, Cheol-Min."

“Wow, how can you guys be so nice? I seriously love you guys so much. May our friendship last forever—"

Jeong Hee-Su interrupted Goh Yoo-Joon and pushed him toward Suh Hyun-Woo. “You both are going to get scolded by your manager tomorrow. Keep it down for now, okay?"

Amidst the laughter-filled conversation, Lee Cheol-Min couldn't bring himself to smile. His mind was flooded with all the wrongs he had done to them up until now. After much contemplation and lip-biting, Lee Cheol-Min finally managed to blurt out, “Can I text you guys sometimes? Like, when I want to drink? Since I don't have many friends."

“You can call anytime."

Only then did Lee Cheol-Min manage to eke out a small smile, his ears turning red. And so, the last night at Memory High came to a close.

***

“Being able to feel all your love right until the end has been truly gratifying. We will return with even better music and performances. Thank you!"

“Thank you so much!"

- Yes, congratulations to Chronos on your win. Please get ready for your encore performance!

- Oh, also we are finally welcoming them back, aren't we?

- Yes, indeed! The comeback of High Tension is next week! We are looking forward to their comeback stage, so please stay tuned! We will be back next week with another great lineup.

- Live show

Music Case

! See you next time! Goodbye!"

As the MCs bid farewell, the intro to "Joy" started to play, and we followed our planned first-place celebration by lying down on the stage and starting our song.

“Rings, we are truly grateful! Thank you so much!"

“Just wait a bit longer, okay? We will be back before you know it!"

The end of "Joy" schedules followed the wrap-up of

Graduating.

While it did not capture the same mainstream success as “Blue Room Party,” it was an incredibly precious time that definitely bolstered Chronos's growth. It was our first time juggling both stage performances and variety show appearances, and it was fantastically fun.

“Great job, everyone!!!"

“

Phew

!!!"

“Thank you for your hard work!"

After finishing the encore, we were greeted in the dressing room by a cake celebrating the end of our activities. We took photos with the cake and shared our final thoughts on camera, concluding our second album promotions.

As soon as we wrapped up our second album, our next destination was the meeting place for

Again After Rainfall

.

***

Again After Rainfall

was a variety show where a single celebrity became the manager for multiple singers and arranged international stages for them. The plot was broadly divided into two parts:

1. The celebrity in the manager role had to promote the singers to international producers, planners, and stage personnel, aiming to secure performances for them.

2. The singers would perform on stages and in guerrilla street concerts, drawing reactions from the crowd with their singing prowess.

In Season One, the role of the manager was played by a comedian and actor who added fun to the show by making impromptu decisions to break through and set up stages. They even shed tears in the process. The singers were some of the most renowned solo artists in South Korea, bringing musical delight to the audience.

Again After Rainfall

garnered significant public acclaim, leading to the inception of Season Two. The confirmed participants for Season Two were none other than us, Chronos, and Reina.

“For Season Two, we aim to explore a different kind of concept than Season One."

“What kind of different concept...?"

The writer answered Joo-Han's question, “National pride."

“Excuse me?"

The writer explained, “National pride. Considering the popularity of K-POP abroad, we thought, how about showing off idols who are perfect not just in singing but in dancing too? They can perform on the streets and on stages, fit to be presented to international producers."

The director nodded in agreement to the writer's idea and said, “The manager role was given to Reina because she had reached out to us directly. We thought Reina would bring more interesting scenes to the show, so we asked her in line with what the writer suggested."

I looked through the proposal. Unlike Season One, which was quite improvised, this season already had bookings with famous international figures and venues, not counting producers and event planners Reina had personally reached out to for meetings. I wondered if it was okay to cast us, who had relatively low international recognition, in such a heavily invested program.

Then Reina said, “I volunteered for the manager role because I have a keen interest in producing and managing singers. It seems like a great opportunity in many ways. Beyond just being a part of a show, I plan to raise Chronos’s international recognition as high as possible."

“Wow... Oh,

heup

." Jin-Sung couldn't help but let out an impressed exclamation before covering his mouth.

“I am sorry."

The producer smiled contentedly and said, “We trust Reina. We will give her as much freedom as possible. Please take good care of it."

“Yes, for sure. Leave it to me," replied Reina. After that, she looked at Su-Hwan. “First of all, the proposal has been prepared by the producer, the writer, and myself. What we'd like to ask YMM is to focus on vocal and dance practices for the cast, along with English and Japanese lessons."

“Ah, yes, understood." Su-Hwan quickly noted down Reina's requests.

“Even if they can't converse fluently, please focus on simple greetings and the pronunciation of the songs they will perform. We'd also appreciate it if you could arrange for a language teacher to accompany them on-site to help with song pronunciations."

“...Wow! Ah! I am sorry." Yoon-Chan let out an impressed exclamation before hastily apologizing.

‘Is this the charisma of an award-winning singer?’

Reina had the influence to participate in planning, the unconditional trust of industry insiders, and well-founded confidence... With such an impressive individual promising to boost our recognition through the broadcast, what could we do? Of course, it was to express our gratitude and dedication.

“Thank you! We are counting on you! We will do our best!"

Our only task was not to ruin Reina’s reputation and effort. We had to fervently polish our skills and ensure that we didn't become a burden.