The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

We arrived at the restaurant that Kang Hyun-Sung chose for Willy Freedman. The address that Kang Hyun-Sung gave me wasn’t in Seoul but in Gyeonggi-do. It was near the mountain outskirts of Gyeonggi-do and was one of the restaurants where hikers often came to drink and eat. It was the largest and cleanest one of its kind and all the workers there from the restaurant owner to the servers were at least 60 years old. There wasn’t a separate room or anything, but the place was quite empty since it was a weekday.

Yet, I thought I understood Kang Hyung-Sung’s reason for choosing this restaurant.

“Wow…I feel like no one would recognize us here…”

“This is amazing.”

Ever since we came out more on television, I had been reluctant to go to restaurants if it didn’t have a separate room, but this place was an exception. Since the employees were much older than average servers, they probably didn’t know who we were. And even when we came in, they simply murmured something along the lines, ‘My goodness, a bunch of handsome young guys came at once,’ and didn’t show more response besides that.

“Everyone, let’s sit.” Kang Hyun-Sung guided us to the biggest table in the corner. Willy Freedman sat in the center and Kang Hyun-Sung sat beside him while I sat in front. My members took their seats in suitable locations that allowed them to talk to Willy Freedman. My members seemed unable to believe their situation even while sitting in their spots and continued to blink bafflingly.

“Hi guys. I’ve heard so much about you guys. Nice to meet you.[1]”

My members tried to reply in their limited English somehow while grabbing Willy’s large hands.

“N-Nice to meet you.”

“Welcome to Korea.”

“You look handsome.”

Willy Freedman seemed pleased by my members’ English and smiled brighter than before. Meanwhile, Dong-Jun even showed the courage to say ‘You look handsome’ as a first greeting. But perhaps, Kang Hyun-Sung caught on that we couldn’t speak English well and whispered into Willy’s ears and said, “Could you please speak in Korean? My friends can’t speak English.”

Though Kang Hyun-Sung had spoken quietly, we all heard because we sat right beside each other. My members slightly lowered their heads in shame, yet I wondered why they were acting like it was a crime that they didn’t know English. It was natural that they weren’t good at it since they lived in Korea all their lives. I wanted to tell my members to not feel down but I didn’t know if it was fitting to speak up in this situation. Yet, the truly surprising part was Willy Freedman’s Korean skills.

“Oh, I should’ve known. Sorry everyone.”

“…?”

“What?”

“Mr. Freedman…?”

“How are you so good at Korean…?”

His Korean was good enough to sound like he had lived a couple of years in Korea. There hadn’t been this kind of information when we received education about Willy Freedman from our company. In information relating to Korea, all we learned was that Willy Freedman was an American top celebrity who liked K-pop. As we all stood in shock, Willy Freedman explained.

“I took Korean language classes in college. I have been a Kpop fan since I was young.” According to him, he was a Kpop fan since he was young and took Korean language classes in college because of that.

“I take Korean language classes with Hyung-Sung once a week. I like Korea. Hahaha!” Furthermore, a native like Kang Hyun-Sung was giving him personal lessons once a week. No wonder he was so good at Korean.

‘They told me he was smart, it’s true.’

Willy Freedman was a graduate of a top American college. In the first place, he was able to quickly learn another language because he had a good head on his shoulders.

“You are so good at Korean.”

“You are so cool.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried that we won’t be able to talk properly.”

Because our language barrier disappeared, the atmosphere became significantly softer.

“Let’s order from the menu first.” With Kang Hyung-Sung’s lead, we chose our menu. Hanbang samgye-tang[2], seafood vegetable pancake, buckwheat pancakes, and grilled pollack. Though they were all tasty dishes, I wondered if they were too ‘local’ for a foreigner. Yet, my worries quickly disappeared as Willy began.

“It’s really good. I like Korean food.” With almost perfect chopstick skills, Willy ate his meal like a Korean. And because Willy was too focused on eating, I asked Kang Hyun-Sung about Willy’s eating habits.

“Willy always liked Korean food and eats it at home too. He probably goes to the Korean grocery more than a Korean.”

“It’s not to that level.”

“You eat Korean food at least once a week though.”

“That’s true.”

“Yeah.”

As expected, data collected from external sources was useless. I was aware that Willy Freedman liked Korea but not at this level. I was glad that a famous celebrity in the US liked Korea this much, but it gave me a strange feeling because it felt like I was watching some common nationalistic Utube content.

‘I thought people made it up for video content but there are really people like this.’ And I thought if someone took a video and put a picture of Willy Freedman scooping a big bowl of hanbang samgye-tang and gulping it down as the thumbnail, it could get a couple million views. Then, I decided to stop thinking about random nonsense and focus on the present situation. While eating, we didn’t bring up work-related matters since this meal was supposed to be personal. It would break the mood if we talked about work here suddenly.

But of course, I could talk about things of this level. “Did you prepare for your concert tomorrow? I feel like you will be such an expert performer now.”

“I prepared for it well. I’m going to perform like I usually do and am looking forward to it.”

Willy Freedman came to Korea not just to eat a meal with us but to tour in Korea. Thus, it was easy for us to still mention his tour, and soon, Willy also showed interest in us too.

“I listened to all of Siren’s songs on the airplane. You all have talent, especially Do-Seung? You are so good at producing songs.”

It appeared Willy quite liked Do-Seung’s song-producing skills. Perhaps, because he was acknowledged by a world-famous singer, Do-Seung looked genuinely touched.

“Thank you for recognizing my skill.”

“Of course.”

Do-Seung and Willy exchanged lines that sounded like they would come out of a movie. The meal continued in a light manner. I was worried that the atmosphere would be awkward the whole time because we couldn’t drink since I was still underaged, yet Willy said he couldn’t drink before a concert tomorrow anyways, and my members were already expert in playing without any alcohol.

“Do you know how people in Korea describe hot food, Willy?”

“What do they say?”

“They say it’s refreshing and cool.”

“…?”

“It’s a form of expression. You probably won’t learn stuff like that in your language classes. Follow me. Haa~ So refreshing.”

“…It’s strange.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Dong-Jun tried to make a cliché foreigner joke but failed. Yet, his attempt was quite funny and helped soften the dining atmosphere. The majority of the conversation was about how long Willy liked K-Pop and what part of the genre made him like it. As expected of a top-class artist, Willy had a high inclination for beautiful and cool things and sought them out since he was young. And when he saw K-pop for the first time, it gave him a shock of sorts and from then on, he began to murmur along K-pop songs and this was actually what got him into music.

He was a rare case where his interest started with K-Pop and ended in a larger dream of music. Regardless, the fact that an artist that had a lot of interest in K-Pop and had a positive reception to it was eating samgye-tang with us right now was truly an opportunity right now. Yet, near the end of the meal, I heard something I didn’t expect. Since everyone was basically done with their meal, Do-Seung took the chance to invite Willy to his studio to talk about music.

Since Do-Seung also had a home gym, he suggested that they could also do light exercises together too. Willy’s hobby was exercising so this was a compelling suggestion.

“Oh, that sounds good. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to exercise properly at the hotel. Thank you.” Willy Freedman probably would have a difficult time using the hotel gym at his level of fame. Everything was good up to this point, and Kang Hyun-Sung even caught onto what was happening and left the scene saying he had a schedule to attend to.

Now, all we had to do was to bring Willy to Do-Seung’s studio and try to lead him into the recording room. It would be game over then…

“I’m telling you all in advance, but I don’t make songs with K-pop artists.”

“…”

“…Sorry?”

“…Willy?”

“…What?”

It was what Willy said after we left the restaurant, and we were about to get into the car. We all froze in our spots with Willy’s words. But because we knew it would unnecessarily pressure Willy if we stood frozen like that, my members tapped each other and immediately changed their expressions.

“It’s all right! You don’t have to make a song with us.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Hahaha.”

“It’s totally fine.”

After assuring Willy, my members brought him into our car.

“Okay, let’s go.” Then, we headed to Do-Seung’s studio but on our way there, my members and I discussed our change of plan through text.

—What do we do? This wasn’t within our predictions.

—I mean who could’ve guessed that he won’t work with us…

—He said he liked idols. Why won’t he work with us then…?

This was quite the emergency for us. I put my phone down. There was no way a solution would arise just because we discussed plans in a chatroom. Thus, I asked Willy as he sat in the passenger seat.

“Can I ask why you don’t make songs with Korean idols even though you like K-pop?”

Though I was speaking quite bluntly, I thought the day would end fruitlessly if I didn’t ask this question. My members looked at me in shock and then looked back to Willy for an answer. If this had to do something about having pride as an artist from the homeland of Pop, it wouldn’t feel good, but it couldn’t be helped. There was no point in hanging over someone who set his mind to not work with us.

Yet, Willy’s response was simple. “I think K-Pop is most beautiful when Korean people do it. Of course, people who aren’t Korean can also be K-pop artists but it’s only fine because they received the proper training for a long time. But since I never received training as a K-pop artist, I don’t think I will suit the scene.” Willy explained that it was because he thought he didn’t fit K-pop well. “I don’t want to disrupt the music I like.”

I thought it was understandable that he had this sort of opinion as somebody who liked K-Pop for a long time. He might have thought his voice didn’t suit K-pop. I began to better understand why he hadn’t had a collaboration with a Korean idol yet. After all, if he liked Korean idols this much, he should’ve made a collaboration song with Kang Hyun-Sung a long time ago. Nevertheless, I thought Willy’s reply was positive not just for me but the whole team.

Knowing this, Do-Seung made an adventurous smile and asked Willy, “So, that means you do like K-Pop music?”

“I love it.”

“And do you like our songs?”

“They are really impressive, especially the song, ‘Blue Ocean’. I almost want to steal that from you.”

“Then, that’s enough.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Let’s go there first.”

Like that, we took Willy who had a confused look on his face and headed to Do-Seung’s studio.

1. Italicized sentences are originally in English. ☜

2. Whole chicken soup stuffed with sticky rice, Asian herbs, and ginseng ☜

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