Chapter 7

Sacred Idol - Chapter 7 (7/902)

7. Back on Stage

How much can you take off?

What kind of talk is this?

Lemblery was shocked and looked at Jong-woo.

However, Jong-woo, who should have given advice, was on the phone with someone again.

"Mr. Won, can't you hear my question?"

Song Daebak asked dryly once more.

Lemblery racked his brain.

A photograph is similar to a painting.

Then, a photographer must be similar to a painter.

By the same logic, being a model for a photographer should be similar to being a model for a painting.

In other words, this guy is asking—

"Are you asking me to be a nude model?!"

As soon as Lemblery shouted, Jong-woo dropped his phone, and the woman carrying the box stumbled as her foot caught on a wire.

Song Daebak took his eyes off the strange machine and looked at Lemblery with a blank expression, then laughed for the first time.

"What are you imagining?"

Confused, Lemblery watched as Song Daebak lowered the machine and scratched his eyebrow awkwardly.

"Topless, swimsuit, lingerie, semi-nude. Something like that. I need to know how far you can go so I can try different things within those limits."

Jong-woo, who finally realized the situation, shouted on Lemblery's behalf, "Swimsuit, swimsuit!"

Song Daebak glanced at Jong-woo and asked Lemblery again.

"Is that right?"

Lemblery, feeling uneasy, couldn't answer.

Song Daebak said, "I'll go with swimsuit," and then put his eye back to the machine and pressed buttons.

Suddenly, a series of popping sounds were heard, and the lights flickered.

When Lemblery squinted because of the brightness, Song Daebak shouted sharply, unlike before.

"Don't close your eyes. Open them!"

"My eyes are hurting. I can't see."

Song Daebak sighed and took his eyes off the machine again.

"I'll count to three. Close your eyes on one and two, and open them on three. Got it?"

Lemblery nodded, and Song Daebak put his eye back to the machine and shouted.

"One, two—three!"

"..."

How many times did they repeat this?

Song Daebak took his eyes off the machine, glanced at a small TV-like screen, and clicked his tongue.

"Why, why? Is something wrong?"

Unable to bear it, Jong-woo approached Song Daebak and asked.

Lemblery, still rubbing his eyes from the lingering flashes, listened to their conversation.

"You keep squinting and your posture is awkward. It's not looking good—"

"But—"

"It turns out well when it's strange."

"R-really? Ha ha, our Yeon-woo has a good camera presence."

"What should I say about the atmosphere? It's unique. Like a priest."

Lemblery, lowering his hand, marveled at Song Daebak.

He had never seen Song Daebak's photos, so he didn't know if he had talent, but his ability to see through the essence was clear.

Jong-woo praised Yeon-woo enthusiastically, and Song Daebak, listening with one ear, gave instructions.

"Now we'll take the main photos. Hye-won, leave that and come help Mr. Yeon-woo!"

"Okay!"

"Make the eye makeup bold. The outfit should be a suit, no tie—oh, and button it up tightly to look a bit suffocating."

* * *

After changing clothes and getting makeup, Lemblery looked in the mirror and gasped.

"How does it look? Pretty cool, right?"

The woman who did the makeup asked proudly, but to Lemblery, it didn't look cool; it looked like a black predator around his eyes.

"Like a tiger."

"You like it!"

"That's not it—doesn't it look a bit scary?"

"Bold makeup looks good in photos."

"What's bold?"

The woman's words were hard to understand, but there was no time to ask more.

Song Daebak shouted for him to hurry up.

The woman who made the "eek" sound pushed Lemblery, and he had to go back to the white temporary wall.

Surprisingly, there was a coffin-like object in front of the white wall, which seemed to have been brought there while he was changing and getting makeup.

Lemblery, wondering why the coffin was there, received instructions from Song Daebak.

"Do you want to lie in the coffin?"

When the shooting ended in this manner,

Lemblery was mentally exhausted.

His body wasn't tired, but Song Daebak's requests were all bizarre.

Lying in a coffin was part of the setting, but why did he have to pose inside it?

Regardless, Jong-woo kept grinning, seemingly enjoying himself.

Song Daebak also seemed to be in a good mood.

After changing clothes again, Lemblery saw the two of them laughing and looking at the small TV together.

When Lemblery approached, Song Daebak praised him.

"You struggle with the lighting, but you don't seem to have a fear of the camera. That's really important. Many people lose out because of camera phobia, even when they have perfect conditions."

"What is a camera?"

"Ha ha, just a joke."

"?"

"Ah, and to commercially leverage the sacred image, it would be better to build some muscle."

"What?"

"Mr. Yeon-woo has a sacred aura. To create a contrast, make your body sexy."

"…I don't really understand…"

Song Daebak, tapping his lips calmly, said,

"If Mr. Yeon-woo speaks beautifully, you can maintain the sacred image. But from the interview, it seems you speak a bit arrogantly?"

Jong-woo nodded.

"My point is, after giving such interviews, trying to act good now would be artificial and funny. So, go for the image of a devil with an angel's face."

"…"

Lemblery, standing there with his mouth open, made Song Daebak frown.

"Is my explanation too difficult? You know, the contrast charm. A chaste face but a decadent body. Like a fallen priest."

"Fallen… I'm still active."

"Exactly, that's why."

Lemblery, a current high priest asked to become a fallen priest, awkwardly scratched his cheek.

There were indeed people in the world with such strange fantasies.

Beautiful priests and priestesses had many followers.

So, he could roughly understand the meaning, but—

No one had ever asked a high priest to create such an image.

Thus, receiving such advice in front of him was bewildering.

"I need the photos quickly, so I'll be working through the night. The photos should be ready in two or four days, so check them out."

* * *

The photos, which were supposed to arrive in two days, didn't come even by Friday.

However, Lemblery didn't have time to sit and wait for the photos.

He immediately resumed practicing dance and singing after the photoshoot.

On Thursday, the dance instructor gave up on making Lemblery's dance smoother and focused on the choreography and group formation.

"At least it's a relief. When everyone dances together, it's less noticeable that you can't dance well."

The dance instructor, seeing Lemblery jumping around among the members, was moved and praised him.

Lemblery's dancing skills were far from good, so this was a generous compliment.

Nonetheless, thanks to his tearful efforts, Lemblery's skills improved to the point where he could blend in with the members.

On the other hand, the vocal trainer almost cried every time he heard Lemblery sing.

"Reminds me of my youth."

"Looks like you got close to alcohol early."

"What?"

"Your singing. It sounds like a man in love, drunk and lamenting."

"No, it's not the lyrics—just your voice has that feeling."

"Is that so?"

"Jong-woo, why don't you give Yeon-woo some more sentimental songs later?"

The vocal trainer appreciated Lemblery's singing more than training it.

Finally, the day of the Sing Sing Sing performance arrived.

Jong-woo came to the dorm early in the morning, woke up the members, and rushed them to wash their faces without breakfast, taking them to a different building.

It was a different building from the one Lemblery went to last week.

Sure enough, the people inside were all new, and they approached the members with tired faces, leading them to various places.

After receiving treatments, they got back into the car and went to another building, different from last week.

The leader, Jung-seo, explained the reason for the different building while walking beside Lemblery.

"The music show we did last Friday and the one today are from different broadcasters."

"Is that so?"

"There are several broadcasters. Do you know what a broadcaster is?"

"I looked it up."

"Oh, but today's music show and last week's are from the same broadcaster and even the same time slot. They don't get along at all."

The broadcaster was different, but the work was similar.

They entered a waiting room, and a stylist came in to help them change clothes.

"Wow, Yeon-woo's bald head really suits him!"

"Much better without the fringe!"

The stylists were a bit nicer than last time.

Why, you might ask, but they occasionally looked at him pitifully, suggesting they had heard about his memory loss.

"Don't be too nervous."

After putting on the clothes, they went to a rehearsal, and after the rehearsal, they received Jong-woo's scolding.

Then, after waiting for a few more hours, they went on stage again.

When he stepped on stage, Lemblery felt a strange sensation.

He remembered being dragged onto the stage last week without knowing the situation, and it felt just like that.

It had only been a week, but it felt like a year had passed.

'Is there a way to go back?'

While lost in these gloomy thoughts, the music, which had become as familiar as a dream, started to play.

Unlike last time when he stood still, Lemblery performed the movements properly.

He started to dance the wooden puppet-like choreography he had practiced.

* * *

– Did you see their performance?

– Yeon-woo's dancing is really bad lol- It wasn't that he didn't dance, but he couldn't dance lol- I'm a fan (can verify) and I went to the broadcasting station to see my idol on the way to work? That's when I saw Yeon-woo.

– How was it?

– He looks amazing in real life.

– Yes, I'm an intern at the agency.

– Our Yeon-woo doesn't even have the money for an intern!

– lol

– I've thought he looked good since the interview- But what's the point? His personality is toxic.

– It would have been funny if he didn't dance today.

– But I've been watching this group since their debut, and Yeon-woo didn't dance this badly before.

– You probably didn't watch closely enough.

– I watched closely. I thought he would become popular just by his looks. His singing is terrible, so I lost interest later.

– What was he like before?

– He danced as well as the dance members. I'm worried something is wrong, like last week...

* * *

After the performance, the members didn't say a word on the way back to the agency.

It was their first performance since the incident, and they were all nervous about the reaction.

Jong-woo was busy checking the reactions on his phone and tablet, but the members couldn't even hold their phones, just shaking their hands nervously.

When they arrived at the agency, the president and a few employees were waiting, which increased their anxiety.

However, the moment the door opened and they got out of the car,

They were greeted by the president's cheers and the employees' applause.