Pentaring.
They are the next-generation secret weapon of the large entertainment company PMC and were almost given the name ‘Pentanyl,’ which would have been quite the catastrophic group name if it weren’t for my not-so-serious joke.
The fans were really funny too. Who would have thought they’d go all out over something we posted just to make them laugh?
And we’re not some kind of drug-promoting ambassador or anything.
If the company hadn’t exercised some last-second restraint, we might’ve ended up with a truly absurd group name.
But after taking a closer look at these members, they’re all really cute.
Like, if we were to put them into animal terms, they’re kind of like rabbits or puppies?
There’s also a slightly strange fox in the mix, which is amusing, but let’s be honest—foxes are technically canines, so I’d say they’re all somewhat similar.
Perhaps the reason the company pushed hard for aGirls’ Crush concept at first but eventually gave it up was because these girls just don’t radiate that kind of vibe.
Come to think of it, the only one who did crush on them seems to have been my mom’s daughter. Still, she’s done a great job of disguising her true nature so that it’s not obvious even when she’s among them.
That said, according to Moon Suyeon, the K-pop industry has been gradually moving away from the strong girl group concept and is leaning more toward the previous idol era. That makes me think Pentaring might be quite suitable for the current trend.
That might be why I recall the newly debuted girl group from PMC doing rather well.
Now, when I say “recall,” it’s not so much because I personally remember, but rather because I often heard our mom’s daughter, Mo-jiri, lamenting that her spot should have been there. She would often sigh deeply.
Sure, there’s this Mo-jiri girl in the mix now, which has slightly lowered the overall quality, but since they’re from a large entertainment company, they’ll probably do alright.
“…Wow, Senior Luna…”
“…Se…Senior Heavenly Yuah…”
Anyway, our soon-to-be spectacular idols, Pentar—Pentanyl, are at a complete loss before the sudden appearance of the two top stars on set.
It’s like they’re fans meeting their ultimate idol at an event.
They were so confident that being welcomed was something that came naturally to them, and it turned out they weren’t wrong.
The two stars might be quite strict with others, but with these young friends still in their teenage years, they’re surprisingly gentle, giving plenty of encouragement.
Unlike their usual behavior, they’re even offering kind words of support. But the way they keep glancing over at my mom’s daughter is a bit strange.
Still, it seems like they could become worthy motivations for these girls to endure the hardships during their debut days.
They’ll also have this little episode to share if they’re ever on a variety show in the future.
“…”
“…”
Our mom’s daughter keeps looking over at me, completely bewildered, as if to ask, “Why the hell are you here? And who are these two?”
She’s clearly very flustered, unable to approach her idol Heavenly Yuah, though she’s venting frustration on me.
As always, she is a truly obnoxious person.
“Alright, we’ll begin shooting now. You’ve gone over the content, correct? So, how we’re going to shoot…”
Idol music videos all follow a similar format.
Half of it is the idol performance with dancing and singing, and the other half often includes a simple storyline.
Nowadays, the storyline part is often skipped, and the video is filled solely with the idol members themselves.
However, PMC seemed to have some reason for bringing in external support to fill out the storyline, and I happened to be the chosen one for this.
But this point is really not too significant. There’s nothing about this side that demands some incredible acting skill. The scene is also fairly short, so they just need me to act appropriately.
Since we have brought an outsider in, the scenes with me will be shot all at once. It’ll save time.
I’ll consider the sight of that twisted face enough compensation for my role in the music video, so I’ll just do my part carefully and be out.
“…Hmm?”
Until I understood exactly what scenes I had to shoot today, that’s how I felt.
But this shoot turned out to be far from simple.
The preppy look with thick glasses and sloppy outfits suits my character, a nerd, so that part was fine.
And the parts where Pentaring members check my outfit are just fun and games, easily acted out with a smile.
But if the climax scene involves me, in glasses, returning the adorably shy, “Ay-ing~♡” from my mom’s daughter with a warm smile, then this scene isn’t of normal difficulty.
Damn, was “Ay-ing” really the key point?
So much so that it had to be inserted into the MV?
-Ay-ing~♡
-…Ugh.
And just as expected, we got an NG on the very first try.
I mean, come on. For her to try an “Ay-ing” in front of me, that face?
I nearly retaliated with a New Religion punch right there.
Although I controlled my New Religion punch through sheer discipline, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling nauseous.
Honestly, I’ve always had a bit of confidence in my own acting abilities.
And yet this was something I could never have imagined I’d be filming in my life.
“Um, everything was doing well until now. Please focus, please focus.”
At least the relief is that my mom’s daughter isn’t feeling any better either.
Until now, she’s managed to avoid looking directly at me while playing a bright, fresh-girl group member, but when she’s supposed to do this in front of my face, she just simply couldn’t.
Her face soured, making it quite obvious.
In reality, it was her side that called for the NG just before I started gagging.
She’s also clearly unable to endure this situation.
“Ugh, I’m about to lose it.”
Several retakes followed with no improvement.
It was too obvious that shooting this scene was bound to fail.
The increasingly red-faced Director Kang approached the two top stars who were watching the shoot for some suggestions.
“Uh, actress Heavenly Yuah.”
“…Yes?”
“Would you be able to give us a quick demo, if possible?”
“…A demo? For this scene just now?”
Then Director Kang shamelessly asked for a really silly and unreasonable favor from Heavenly Yuah.
No way, has this guy lost his mind? There’s no way Heavenly Yuah would agree to—
“…Alright.”
“Ah, thank you really. It’d be wonderful if you could give a good lesson to the juniors.”
…Huh? Wait… How is this happening?
While I stood there stunned, Heavenly Yuah walks over to us, with her usual confident and dignified air.
And then…
“Ay-ing~♡”
“…Huff.”
She proceeded to do an “Ay-ing~” right in front of me.
What the hell, this is… cute?
“Good! Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. Siwoo’s expression is amazing too! Please, just like that.”
I unconsciously gave her a cheesy smile, and Director Kang was thrilled.
Wow, Heavenly Yuah truly is an actress to be reckoned with.
Despite the last-minute request, she perfectly captured the emotion needed.
“Let me try as well.”
“Whoa, Luna. That’s wonderful.”
Just as I was admiring the adorable “Ay-ing” by Heavenly Yuah, Moon Suyeon also came over.
She insisted on trying it herself, and Director Kang nodded, allowing her to have a go.
“A~y-ing~♡”
“…Gulp.”
“Kya~ Excellent, excellent!”
Moon Suyeon’s “Ay-ing” was quite different from Heavenly Yuah’s.
While Heavenly Yuah’s was cute and lively, this one had an adult vibe to it.
It wasn’t exactly girly idol material but had its own charm, and Director Kang truly appreciated it, cheering her on.
It seems Director Kang prefers the sexy style over the cute.
“Ho, alright then. That’s good enough. Let’s take a short break. Both ladies, remember to come back with the right emotions.”
With the thought that filming won’t go smoothly for now, Director Kang decided to take a short break.
The three of us quickly retreated to our side van to regroup, devising a new strategy since we believed filming like this would be impossible.
“Ha ha…”
“Ah, it’s hilarious. Siwoo, you really hate it, don’t you.”
“Your expression was a work of art. I wanted to capture it in a photo.”
“Hmph, beyond the question of whether I like it or not, doing something like this with family doesn’t feel right. Everyone would probably understand if they were in my shoes.”
After everyone cleared out, the two of them burst into laughter.
Apparently my face looked like I had eaten rotten fruit, which they found extremely amusing.
To me, it felt like a threat to life, yet they were laughing like that.
Truly, in this world, chivalry and justice no longer exist.
“Then, you should’ve just told the director. There should be another way.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Why not?”
“Because the other side is holding her tongue too. If I spoke up first, I would lose.”
“…What does that mean?”
“There tends to exist something like that. I think she’s likely gnashing her teeth right now, thinking of ways to get the “Ay-ing” right.”
“…Wow, childish.”
“…People are inherently childish.”
After a hearty laugh, Heavenly Yuah suggested telling the director about the situation.
The director is a person too, so she wouldn’t assign such a scene to us if she learns of our relationship.
If it doesn’t work out, dividing the scene into two parts, and each of us shooting separately, would be the quickest solution.
However, you know, there are times when a man must stand his ground.
The other side has kept quiet the entire time right?
If I reveal our family connection first, she’ll think she’s won.
That would feel like losing to me as an actor.
There’s just no way I could accept that.
“Still, I got some good hints from Senior Yuah’s performance earlier.”
“…You did?”
“Yes, please help me.”
“…How so?”
“It’s nothing much. Can you just “Ay-ing” once behind that girl?”
“…An “Ay-ing”?’
“Yes.”
“…Alright, I guess.”
Heavenly Yuah’s “Ay-ing” is surprisingly powerful, making me smile even just by looking at it.
Normally, I could easily act naturally just by imagining it, but with that girl’s face in front, it’s impossible to do a normal take.
Hence, I’ll borrow the divine Heavenly-Demon Ay-ing power in this situation to mask her obnoxious face.
Once I manage to see the Heavenly-Demon’s Ay-ing through blurred vision, avoiding that girl’s face, I am confident I can give a performance that pleases the director.
“…Then what about me?”
“…Senior Suyeon’s expression is too…”
“…Too?”
“…Too overbearing.”
“…What?”
Moon Suyeon protests upon seeing my choice of Heavenly Yuah.
But Moon Suyeon quietly staying silent is helping me.
It’s already embarrassing enough having to smile like an idiot in front of that girl, but if Moon Suyeon gets involved…
So, you see, I know too much about this woman.
Especially the expression she gave earlier, which reminded me of that sultry moonlit night by the lake.
My mind might be okay, but my 20-something-year-old body still burns with youthful energy, so a disaster might happen.
Really, just thinking about it makes me want to die. Let’s just set Moon Suyeon aside for now.
“A…y-ING.”
“…”
“NG!”
Once again, an NG was called.
But this time, it was entirely her fault.
With the unstoppable Heavenly-Demon Ay-ing in my arsenal, I performed a fairly decent act while ignoring her grotesque face with blurred vision.
Feeling like I’ve truly won, I arrogantly gazed at her, only to see her face completely crumpled like a piece of paper.
She knows, she knows she lost.
“…Alright, that’s enough. Let’s go with that.”
Overwhelmed by the bitterness of failure, she made one last stand.
After two more NGs, she finally successfully performed an “Ay-ing~♡”.
It wasn’t particularly impressive, but it was passable.
In the future, if our blood sibling connections come to light, people might describe this music video with the following phrases:
The power of capitalism, or Real Business.
Whatever may come of it, this was an absolutely horrifying experience that I do not ever wish to repeat.
