Chapter 25

In the blink of an eye, the time for the Infinite Challenge Song Festival had arrived. Since MBC had already promoted the event appropriately in the lead-up, naturally, some people had become aware of it. For the other six MCs, who were originally comedians, such promotion might not have much significance. However, for Yoon Hyun, who was a singer by origin and was currently starring in a popular idol drama, this promotion naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Yoon Hyun had already more than once asked his fans on his fan café not to gather in groups to watch him. The original plan was for the production team to invite fewer than 100 audience members, and the venue was prepared accordingly. If too many people came, it would put a lot of pressure on both him and the production staff.

However, the fans who hadn't seen Yoon Hyun in a month paid no heed to his well-intentioned request. They enthusiastically discussed in the fan café whether they should all wear light green support outfits and what to write on the banners, as if Yoon Hyun didn't exist.

So Yoon Hyun had to inform the program PD, Kim Tae-ho, about this. To Yoon Hyun's surprise, Kim Tae-ho decided on the spot to have Yoon Hyun and the other six MCs urgently produce a special episode of the show the day before the Song Festival: they would promote the event in three locations—Myeongdong, Hongdae, and the entrance of Yonsei University, inviting the audience to support them on the day of the Song Festival.

Yoon Hyun and Haha drew the entrance of Yonsei University.

Haha was extremely excited about promoting at the entrance of Yonsei Women's University. However, he soon regretted it. Because of Yoon Hyun's performance in "Cafe Prince," his interactions and acting with Yoon Eun-hye were so good that he had gained a significant following at Yonsei Women's University, especially his handsome appearance as Goo Eun-chan, which made him look like a cute boy! The love scenes between two boys... touched something in some women's hearts that couldn't be spoken of...

As a result, throughout the promotion, the bright red support flags representing Yoon Hyun were taken away time and time again, forcing the production team to repeatedly bring more flags from the car. Meanwhile, Haha, who was waving a yellow flag, was almost left alone, with no one paying attention to him...

Then, a few girls asked Yoon Hyun for a hug, but he politely declined. Haha offered to hug them, but the girls looked at him with disdain.

This scene became one of the promotional clips for the special episode...

On the day of the Song Festival, under the Han River Bridge.

The originally small stage looked even smaller against the large enclosed area...

In the backstage, the seven MCs were nervously preparing for the special song written by the contracted musician for their performance. Especially Yoon Hyun, who had not participated in the recording of the other MCs' songs and the music sessions after the initial recording of the Song Festival special, seemed a bit isolated. This was the first time he had seen the song for the group performance.

Fortunately, to accommodate their generally poor singing skills, the song was written very simply.

So, in just over twenty minutes, Yoon Hyun could sing it without any problems.

Next, there were other preparations. For example, in song festival programs, a pre-recorded promotional video is usually played before each singer's performance. The Infinite Challenge production team decided to copy this good tradition. They then started recording various funny introductions.

For example, Park Myung-soo used a large bus for a scene where he tried to confess to his girlfriend on the bus, but was run over by it.

And Yoo Jae-suk recorded a video of himself dancing the Samba.

Yoon Hyun, on the other hand, brought a plastic lounge chair, placed it in the sandbox at a nearby park, set up a sunshade, changed into beachwear, and put on sunglasses he rarely wore, recording a short video similar to the opening of a music video.

After the MCs finished their individual openings, the Song Festival was about to begin.

The seven MCs, hiding behind the stage, were extremely nervous. The cheers from outside the stage indicated that the event had become quite big.

But no matter what, it was already too late to back out.

"If I don't get first place, I'll blow up this stage!" Park Myung-soo, the first to step on stage, declared as he sang his self-composed song "I LOVE YOU."

Yoon Hyun, however, wasn't listening to Park Myung-soo's song. He was encouraging his two slightly nervous backup dancers.

"Wow, Ji-yeon, I didn't know you were so timid."

"Mr. Pervert, you didn't say I had to wear such a short puffy skirt! And there's a male dancer who has to crawl between my legs later. Just thinking about it makes me so shy!" Park Ji-yeon's nervousness was not visible.

On the other side, Lee Ji-eun was so nervous she couldn't even speak.

"In the future, you will be stars who will perform on stage and showcase your charm." Yoon Hyun thought for a moment and changed his approach. "Today is your first stage. Talking about enjoying the stage might be hard for you to understand. So, just watch how these senior comedians perform on stage." He pointed to Yoo Jae-suk, who was so nervous he had become unusually quiet. He was wearing a red tuxedo and a bizarre mustache... "Show what you have on stage, not what others think of you. Those who like you will like you even more, and as for those who don't, let them do what they want!" Yoon Hyun waved his fist.

Lee Ji-eun looked at the camera still focused on the three of them and asked nervously, "OPPA, these words won't be good to broadcast, right?"

Yoon Hyun smiled and waved his hand, speaking in a teacher's tone to Lee Ji-eun. "Life itself is a stage. We only perform for those who like us. As for those who don't, it's just as I said, let them do what they want! Ji-eun, no one is liked by everyone, not even Yoo Jae-suk. We just need to let those who like us see our excellent performance and be happy."

Then, his tone suddenly became very passionate, "Do you have confidence?"

"Yes!" the two girls answered in unison.

Then the three of them laughed together.

The three of them returned to the TV screen in the backstage area showing the performance.

Park Myung-soo's dance made everyone laugh, and no one remembered being nervous anymore.

Next, Jung Hoon-dong's song, which Yoon Hyun never quite understood the name of, but only heard a bunch of "fat" references, ended rather indifferently.

Haha, although a senior in the music industry and very passionate about music, had very limited talent... Yoon Hyun only remembered the "ya-ho" sounds he made while dancing to "The Song of the Shorty."

Jung Jun-ho's "My Way" was a heartfelt song, but the funny lyrics and his face, which looked like it had too much Botox, made the song incredibly funny.

And when Lu Hong-zhe roared on stage with "Girl"... if we can still call this performance singing, Yoo Jae-suk's comical "Samba Charm" had already been completely forgotten.

Lu Hong-zhe's "Girl" was so powerful that the entire venue was left in a state of exhaustion after laughing uncontrollably.

Finally, it was Yoon Hyun's turn.

"To all my seniors, I'm going to restore the last bit of dignity for Infinite Challenge." In the midst of Park Myung-soo's curses, Yoon Hyun, dressed in a sharp D&G black suit, stepped onto the stage with a tragic air, as if he were about to cross the Yalu River.

As Yoon Hyun stepped on stage, the audience, which had been quiet, immediately erupted.

And only then did Yoon Hyun see how many people had come. Looking around, he estimated there were nearly a thousand people!

"Sorry, everyone." Yoon Hyun bowed deeply to the audience, "As a musician, I am ashamed to have seen such embarrassing performances before." Yoon Hyun's words made the PD and the other MCs backstage freeze, unsure of what he was planning.

"I believe the audience here is here to see my performance. Oh, I should have kicked them off the stage earlier. They took up so much time on the stage that it compressed my performance to just one song. I'm really sorry, everyone. Please rest assured, I will educate them properly when I get back!"

As the audience burst into laughter, everyone realized Yoon Hyun was joking and immediately made various angry expressions. Lu Hong-zhe even tried to rush onto the stage.

"Alright, to cleanse your ears, which have been polluted by those performances that can't even be called performances," Yoon Hyun even pretended to clean his ears, "I will bring a song I prepared. Let me explain, this song was originally less than four minutes, but considering the suffering everyone has endured, especially the noise from the person before me..."

The audience burst into laughter again, and in the backstage, Lu Hong-zhe was held down by Haha, Jung Hoon-dong, and Jung Jun-ho, preventing him from rushing onto the stage.

"...I extended the song to seven minutes. Everyone, sing along with me!" Yoon Hyun stylishly took off his sunglasses, put them on his head, and waved to the audience. Lee Ji-eun and Park Ji-yeon, along with their male dance partners, stepped onto the stage.

The music started.

The audience, holding light green balloons, began to sway to the music.

"OPPA Gangnam Style!"

Almost everyone in the venue started to move their bodies with Yoon Hyun. When the horse-riding dance came, everyone laughed and awkwardly joined in.

After three minutes, the song had played through once, and the music returned to the opening loop. Yoon Hyun suddenly said, "Alright, everyone, you've heard the song once. Do you know it? Sing along with me! Also, the way you danced just now was wrong. Come, follow me, spread your legs and squat, then bend your left hand and place it on your chest, raise your right hand and wave it! You're waving a horse's reins! Do it together, one, two, three, four... Next, place both hands in front of you, make a fist, and move your wrists up and down! You're holding the reins of a horse! Do it together, one, two, three, four... Got it? The music is coming..."

The music returned to the beginning of the song, as if it were a live performance.

"OPPA Gangnam Style!"

Almost everyone in the venue, thousands of people, shouted together.

"During the day, very warm and humane..."

Yoon Hyun extended the microphone to the audience.

"Women!" The audience responded enthusiastically.

"Those who know the value of taking a break for a cup of coffee..."

"Women!"

...

"I am..."

"Men!" The audience loved this interaction.

"During the day, as warm as you..."

"Men!"

"Even when drinking coffee, it's a toast..."

"Men!"

...

Finally, it was the chorus.

"O, O, O, OPPA Gangnam Style!" Thousands of people in the venue shouted and danced the horse-riding dance with Yoon Hyun.

PD Kim Tae-ho, watching all this, had already crumpled his script into a ball. What is perfection? This is perfection!

"Damn! Why didn't I apply for two more cranes and a helicopter earlier!" Kim Tae-ho's roar was barely audible amidst the audience's singing.

Although the program was scheduled to air nearly a month later, the videos of thousands of people swaying to the music, taken on their phones, spread across all Korean search engines that night with the catchy melody.

"What is this!" Almost everyone who watched these shaky, blurry videos would exclaim in frustration. But even after closing the video, the melody continued to echo in their minds, like a spell that couldn't be shaken off.

This was true addiction.

That night, the official Infinite Challenge forum was flooded with requests for clear versions of the video...

But this grand scene had little to do with two people.

One was PD Kim Tae-ho. From the end of the filming to his return to the editing room, it had been almost three hours. He was still immersed in regret over not requesting more cranes and helicopters. Such a scene of the entire venue dancing, not just for a variety show, but even for a music