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Chapter 157: New York
Translator: Enuma ID
[Top Idols Iam Take Over the Airport!!!]
(A group photo of the Iam members taken in a corner of the airport)
「Ahead of their late-July comeback, top idols Iam struck poses for reporters at the airport before departing for the United States to shoot their music video.
Appearing at the airport with every member dressed in Thom Browne, the Iam members surprisingly moved locations out of consideration for other travelers....」
Ẇе b́ň ǒ v e l̀ Ê ńŭ_m̆ ӓ
↳wait...where did our Iam kids go? these are full-on celebrities!!!
↳they're seriously super gorgeous
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↳why on earth have these gorgeous kids been dressing however they wanted all this time?
↳fr looking at these airport pics is making me develop complaints I never had before
↳no idea who the stylist was but I want to give them like 100 gold star stickers! it's a perfect match for the kids' image!!!
Lately, Iam had been called a treasure trove among reporters.
Ѐ nu m а̃
-Just write up anything and post it! The clicks copy themselves!
Why are there so many online newspapers that put out entertainment news?
It was because no online news guarantees clicks like news about celebrities.
And news about celebrities, idols above all, always racked up high click counts, making it a crucial cash source for online newspapers.
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And lately, articles about Iam, the group drawing the most public attention not just among girl groups but across all idols, got clicked by fans and ordinary people alike the moment they went up, so the nickname "treasure trove" wasn't an exaggeration.
[Iam Member Working a Part-Time Job at a Pork Cutlet Shop?]
Ӗ n umа_
[Iam Spotted at a Gangwon-do Pension]
[Lee Si-on Subdues Assailant Mid-Fansign in Myeongdong!]
On top of that, there wasn't a single reporter who could dislike Iam, who endlessly churned out story material.
Lee Si-on in particular caused some incident nearly every single day, so just jotting down what she did gave them more than enough to write about.
Maybe that was why an unusually large crowd of reporters had gathered for Iam's first-ever departure scene.
-Tsk. Even if it's Lee Si-on, can she really pull off something at an airport photo op?
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Of course, the thought did cross their minds that even Lee Si-on might end this one with nothing more than an ordinary airport photo, but they couldn't afford to miss the scene on the off chance, and so they'd come.
And their expectations were rewarded.
[Iam Collaborates with High-End Clothing Brand Thom Browne]
「The members of Iam announced an official collaboration with the global high-end brand Thom Browne, drawing widespread attention.
Appearing at today's departure scene in clothes sponsored by Thom Browne for the very first time, the Iam members....
It was announced that not only their upcoming music video outfits but also their actual stage costumes will be in collaboration with Thom Browne, raising anticipation.
Ѐ n̆ ú_mа .іď
Unlike existing luxury brands whose involvement stopped at sponsorship, Iam and Thom Browne share a mutual vision....」
↳so that's why the kids were all wearing Thom Browne
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↳maybe it's because Thom Browne has a younger image among high-end brands, but it suits the kids really well
↳whoa..not just sponsorship, they're doing the stage costumes in Thom Browne too?
↳Iam is really blowing up huh, has a rookie group ever gotten this kind of all-out sponsorship?
↳probably a first? even UD, the first idol ever to become a Cha-X ambassador, didn't land it as a rookie
Еn̊u.m̃ а̄
The Iam-and-Thom Browne collaboration, kept secret even from reporters, was only revealed today.
Since both were getting a red-hot response from people in their teens and twenties, an article on the two collaborating was more than enough to draw plenty of attention on its own.
So much so that the number two and three spots on Naver's real-time search rankings were Iam and Thom Browne respectively.
[Iam's Lee Si-on! Crowned Airport Goddess?]
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And number one was none other than Lee Si-on.
[Your Average Korean Idol Crowd-Controlling Reporters and Fans]
Ẁ е b́.n̂ o v̈_e l Е̊n̂ü m а
(A shot of Lee Si-on leading reporters and fans to a quiet spot in the airport)
↳Si-on actually did a great job there, I once nearly missed my flight because of reporters and people swarming to take pictures of celebrities at the airport
↳exactly. I don't get why celebrities insist on taking photos right at the busiest exit
↳apparently the photos come out best there
↳but okay fine for the fans, but the reporters actually followed along that obediently?
↳and it really happened
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↳Si-on the Pied Piper!
The thing Lee Si-on, who got out of the van last among the members, did to the reporters and fans at the airport was spreading across every community right now in videos and photos.
-Si-on is insane ㅋㅋ she made the reporters and fans at the airport do "everybody, one step back!"
↳I saw that video too, why did they all listen to her?
↳because if you don't listen your jaw gets rearranged or you get judo-thrown
↳ah!
Wѐb̂n о̇ v е̊.l̄ Е̂n u m̄.а
↳still, thanks to Si-on the whole group's getting praised
↳yup tons of articles calling them idols with manners
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Lately, opinions had slowly started cropping up about whether it was really okay for some celebrities to use the airport, which isn't private property, as a runway stage.
There hadn't been any real problems yet, but Lee Si-on saying they should move because other travelers might be inconvenienced was something well worth praising.
Normally one might expect some reporters to get peevish over their carefully planned shot composition being ruined, but,
[Lee Ga-hyun Strikes an Adorable Heart Pose]
Еň ũ m а̊
[The Maknaes' Joint Hand Hearts!]
[Double-Ryu! Flaunting a Chic Look, Turning the Airport into a Runway]
thanks to the Iam members posing wholeheartedly for the reporters who waited at the new spot, no one complained, instead saying they got plenty of great photos, and only praise articles were going up.
On top of that, the fan service and heartwarming stories from Iam greeting the fans who waited at the airport were popping up one after another in the fan community.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
[Why Are the Kids So Sweet?]
「I went to the airport with a letter and gifts to catch a glimpse of the kids this time
W̄ еb̃n̆ о ṽ е̇ l̂ Е́ n u m̀ а
Si-on took the letter but told me to use the gifts myself or return them and buy something tasty to eat
and that wasn't even the end, she apologized for not being able to accept the gifts I worked so hard on and even took a photo with me
(A photo with Lee Si-on, with the poster's own face mosaicked out)
she said in five years she'll be the richest person in Korea so I don't need to give her gifts, just to cheer her on
so from now on I'm gonna use my gift money to buy more of the kids' albums!」
↳Si-on is genuinely so sweet, lately other idol groups' fandoms keep raising the cost of fan tributes because they're competing with rival fandoms
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↳I want to go to a fansign too but I kept hesitating because I don't have money to prepare gifts, after reading this maybe I should just write a letter and go?
↳Si-on Si-on, even if you succeed as an idol and scrape together all the money in the world, being Korea's number one richest person is a stretch
↳ㅋㅋ you never know? unless there's some stock that goes up 100,000% in five years
↳is it because we've been watching the Iam kids since Idol Ground 100? strangely I feel attached to them, and I like the things they do too
Iam, who managed to draw all of the public's attention and become the talk of the town even with the kind of airport photos ordinary idols take.
There had been people waiting for Iam's follow-up activities even before this, but now far more people began taking an interest in the comeback album Iam was about to unveil.
Е̄ ň ū m ǎ .і d̆
[Lee Si-on Declares Defection from KJ Entertainment?]
「Iam member Lee Si-on, in response to a reporter's question at the airport, replied that if they go all the way to America and don't get to do any sightseeing, she'll bolt from the lodgings...」
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↳insane trash journalist! how do you write a headline that makes it sound like she's leaving the company?
↳the problem is me, clicking like I'm hypnotized by the headline every single time even knowing better
↳but I am kinda excited about the kids going to America, Yun-kyung seems good at English so she'll probably film some content over there?
↳Iam's self-produced content is must-watch so there's no way they just go to America to shoot the MV and come back ㅋㅋㅋ
Е ñ umа ._і̆ d̄
↳Great Escape 2, let's go! I want to see Si-on raise hell in America
There were plenty of people already curious about just what the Iam members would get up to in America before they even came back.
***
"Uuugh...."
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When I got off the plane and stretched, a sound effect spilled out of my mouth on its own along with the feeling of my body loosening up.
"Lee Si-on! Didn't I tell you not to make that old-man noise?"
Ӗ n̊ ũ ḿa
The moment Seo Ryu-jin, who was beside me, heard it, she shot me a narrow-eyed glare and pointed it out.
"Let it slide. There aren't any fans or reporters here."
"You do it in Korea too!"
"With each passing day you grow more like Madam Sukja."
"What?"
"There is such a thing."
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A long-haul flight.
I'd just emerged after being trapped motionless inside a plane for a full fifteen hours, and here she was nagging me over a measly old-man noise.
More and more, the image of Madam Sukja nitpicking my every little action started to overlap with Seo Ryu-jin.
-Is the sofa part of your body?! How can you stay glued to that couch all day with zero intention of moving?!
Madam Sukja, who scolded me for so much as breathing.
But for a moment, the beautiful memory of how she'd turned into a gentle little kitten during the surprise gift incident last time came back to me.
Е ṅ u m̌ а̌
After bickering with Seo Ryu-jin like that and clearing immigration and the checkpoint along with the managers, stylists, and the music video crew, I noticed bright morning sunlight pouring in through the windows.
"So this is jet lag?"
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"It's 7 in the morning in America right now."
"So this is global time."
We had clearly boarded a morning flight in Korea, flown over ten hours, and arrived in America to find it was still daytime, a reality hard to believe.
Raon PD told me about jet lag with a fed-up look, saying she'd once gone to America so often it was like a daily commute, but I couldn't help being thrilled.
Е n ù m̃ а
And it wasn't just me, the other members were excited about arriving in America too, all of them chattering away.
"This is my first time back since last year."
Yun-kyung, as if to show off that this wasn't her first trip to America, put on the sunglasses she'd brought and gave off the air of a melancholy little old soul, like she was revisiting the school she'd graduated from.
"Wow...it's really America."
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"This is wild, everything's so big and wide."
"Why does the morning sun look cooler here when it's the same one we see in Korea?"
W ēb̀ n̈o v e l̆ Ѐǹu m̈ а́
The rest of us, me included, were excitedly taking in the airport.
After that our suitcases arrived, and stepping outside revealed an even more spectacular airport view.
We couldn't let this view slip away, so we went ahead and snapped some photos first with the airport, which even had the name John F. Kennedy attached to it, as our backdrop.
"Alright, now that we've got our pictures, shall we head to the lodgings?"
"I looked it up and there's a subway, can we just take that?"
"What nonsense? With how many people are in our group, it'd be a hassle and exhausting."
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"Then how do we get there?"
Once the photo session wrapped up, Raon PD said we should head to the lodgings for now.
But just our members alone numbered seven, and including the company staff and the shooting crew it came to dozens of people, so I wondered how on earth we were supposed to get around.
However,
"Obviously I rented a bus and cars. The staff will move the equipment by bus, and me and you kids will travel by car."
"Wow!!!"
W е b no ṽеl̊ Ė n u m ӓ
Astonishingly, the company had already perfectly arranged transportation on site as well.
"That must've cost an insane amount, huh?"
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"Why are you suddenly talking about money?"
"There are things you kids don't know."
I shook my head side to side at Lee Ga-hyun's naive remark.
'Then again, I'm the only one of us who's seen the settlement statement.'
Ӗ_n u m̈ а̄. і d̃
The settlement breakdown that had come along when we received our payment from the company this time.
One of the biggest portions of it had been the music video production cost.
But this time it wasn't even Korea, it was America. And on top of that, it was being shot with dozens of people staying in America, so the thought that it would cost far more than before already gave me goosebumps.
'Where is the company getting this confidence?'
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Sure, it was money we'd have to pay back, but the company was the one fronting it, and yet here they were making such a bold investment.
I caught a deeply suspicious whiff of something.
Wěb́ nоv̆еl̄ Е n um̆а̃
"Sniff sniff."
"Why are you sniffing now?"
A deeply suspicious smell only I could detect.
Even after boarding the American van with the members, I didn't let my guard down.
-Don't panic! This is Kongming's trap!
Sima Yi had seen through Zhuge Liang's trap and yet was duped into it anyway because of Zhang He's prodding, but this body, the Zhuge Liang of Haandong, had no intention of making such a mistake.
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"They're being too good to us."
"Commander, what have you been trying to find this whole time?"
"A hidden camera."
"Huh?"
"Something seems off."
"Like what?"
Е̄n̆ ǔ m̊_а
Yun-kyung still didn't know the malice of people.
I didn't believe for one second that they'd made such a huge investment just for a simple MV shoot.
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-We have to film footage worth putting on YouTube while we shoot the music video, so we'll be tagging along.
The content team accompanying our MV shoot.
The justification was that they'd come to film our trip to New York to make footage for the fans, but strangely they kept avoiding us and huddling together to whisper about something, which was extremely suspicious.
"Si-on the best is way too paranoid!"
Ẇѐ b̈ nо vӗ l En̆ũ ṁ a
"Right. We came all the way to America, it'd be a waste to only shoot the MV, so of course they're filming footage."
"Exactly! There's no way the company people came all the way to America just to play a trick on us."
As I laid out my speculations, the members, whose minds had already been conquered by America's sweet air, let my words go in one ear and out the other.
'How foolish. That is precisely what the enemy wants!'
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I felt anew that this must be the frustration of a prophet.
No matter how I looked at it, the enemy's trap was plain to see, and yet Sima Yi still had to walk into it. Was this how he'd felt?
W̃еbňоṽе l È n ǔm̈ а̇
Despite my worries, the car zoomed down the American roads and arrived at the lodgings in the heart of New York.
"This place may look run-down on the outside, but the inside is modern."
"Hoh."
"Cool, right?"
The view of New York I took in after getting out of the car was incredibly cool.
More people than in Seoul were walking down the streets at a brisk pace, as if in some great hurry, each holding a phone in one hand and what looked like a drink in the other, just like a scene out of a movie.
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On top of that, the buildings soared so high I had to crane my neck up until it ached.
But unlike in Korea, the buildings carried a sense of age.
Our lodgings, situated in the heart of that New York, were also an old, or rather an antique-looking, building, but just as Raon PD had said, when we went inside it was all gleaming and dazzling, completely different from its exterior.
Since we and the staff were staying in different places, only the members, the managers, and Raon PD would be staying here together.
So Raon PD went straight to the front desk and struck up a conversation with the staff.
"Raon PD is good at English too."
Е n̊ u̇ m ã . і d̄
"A bit worse than me, but she's good."
"Uh, there's a staff member coming over here!"
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"Go forth! Yun-kyung-mon!" [TL: a Pokémon-style command, treating Yun-kyung like a creature being sent into battle.]
"You said you were good at English, Commander!"
"I have an allergy to foreigners, so I can't get close."
A staff member who'd suddenly approached.
Е ǹū ḿ a
But upon seeing us, he just gave a bright smile and simply took our luggage.
"A bandit?"
Unable to let our luggage be stolen right before my eyes, the instant I quietly went to clench my fist, Raon PD, who'd come back from the counter at some point, smacked me on the back.
"He's a hotel bellboy! They're the ones who carry your luggage, so hand it over and come on out! I already gave the tip."
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"Aha!"
Only then did I realize the staff member was a kind employee who'd come to carry our luggage.
Е̄ num̄ а
And so, having narrowly dodged the crisis of being dragged off to prison the moment I arrived in America, the members and I followed Raon PD straight back out of the hotel.
"Weren't we shooting starting tomorrow?"
"Now that we're in America, shouldn't we try some American food?"
"Food?!"
I'd been a little disappointed at being told to come right back out without even going to our rooms, but the moment the word "meal" came out of Raon PD's mouth, our eyes lit up.
Sure, we'd had the in-flight meals, but everyone was equally curious about the local food.
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Soon, after walking a short while, we came to a serene-looking restaurant that Raon PD introduced as a great brunch spot.
The "great spot" label clearly wasn't a lie, as the place was bustling with people.
"You're here?"
"Yeah. Any seats?"
"Yes. I just grabbed one."
The content team had arrived ahead of us, and with the table and cameras already set up, it seemed they'd come straight to the restaurant without even unpacking.
Е n u_m̃а́
"Order whatever you want to eat, to your heart's content!"
"Really?"
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"Yeah. The real shoot starts tomorrow, so today we should play to our hearts' content, right?"
"Great Hero!!!"
It seemed I'd had a big misunderstanding about our company's people after all.
Honestly, I'd been planning to film The Spring of New York on the spot if they had us do something weird in the name of shooting content the second we arrived. [TL: a play on "The Spring of Seoul", a Korean film about the 1979 military coup; Si-on means she'd have staged a violent uprising.]
Е̇n̆u m_а .і̌ d
'I've become too jaded by the ways of the world.'
Here they'd worked so hard preparing all this for us, and I'd been thinking such nasty thoughts.
The content team, who really did just film with contented smiles as we ordered to our hearts' content, as if this were genuinely only a meal.
Our New York beginning was off to a very good start.
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*****
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