After Story 122

There were people gathered outside YBS’s new building. He could see a few cameras as well. It seemed to be for some kind of TV show. Maru headed to the underground parking lot in his car.

“I’m Han Maru. I should be registered as a guest for ‘The Night with the Sound,’” he said to the parking lot manager.

The manager flipped through a list of guests before waving at him to go inside.

For a moment, he recalled the days when he would pass by freely whenever he was in his own car thanks to everyone recognizing his license plate.

After parking, he went to the first-floor lobby. He could see some celebrities entering the building alongside cameras. He saw something similar when he first came to YBS for the practice recording for the voiceover. That TV show’s opening seemed to be taken in front of the new building every time.

“Today, our youths of ‘Hot-Blooded Youths’ will be working here in the TV station. It’s not just celebrities that work in TV stations. There are many different people with a variety of jobs here, from guides to shoot assistants. We’ll show you everything here in Hot-Blooded Youths,” said the man who seemed to be the main host.

Maru moved sideways a little to see the face of the main host. It was Choi Myungho. He remembered back to his previous life. That man was between B and A tier when it came to entertainment shows. As for the guests surrounding him, he couldn’t recognize any of them. They were all in their early to mid-twenties.

He watched for a while. There was still some time left until the radio broadcast.

Choi Myungho livened up the mood and introduced the program. There was a mix of new actors, comedians, and idols. Two girl idols came forward and introduced themselves in turns. The way they shouted indicated that they were nervous.

Maru looked up ‘Hot-Blooded Youths’ on the internet. It was an entertainment show that aired at 11 p.m. on Friday, and the viewing rate was around 3%, quite low due to the concurrent shows from RBS and MBS being quite popular.

Still, it seemed to have formed a fanbase and there were many articles on the internet. It seemed that the fact that people could see new actors and idols, who were hard to see in popular programs, had stimulated the hearts of the minority.

“Then let us proceed with the lots that will decide today’s fate.”

The intensity of the work seemed to have been split into high, mid, and low. The guests rushed over to a box. They glanced at each other before quickly putting their hands into the box when the song ended.

Maru turned around after looking at that. He had gotten a call from the writer of the radio.

-I’m writer Sobam who called you yesterday. Have you arrived at the station?

“I’m waiting in the lobby on the first floor.”

-Then I’ll go down now. Please wait just a moment.

Five minutes later, a woman with the employee ID around her neck appeared in the lobby, looking around. Maru approached the woman.

“Mr. Han Maru?”

“Yes.”

“Come quickly. Let me tell you a few things before the live broadcast begins.”

They took the employee-only elevator. They got off the 4th floor and Maru followed the writer.

As he walked while looking at the posters of the main radio shows here, he found himself in front of the studio.

The writer opened the door and told him to come in. The production staff was directing the host inside the booth.

Maru looked at the woman reading a script by herself on the other side of the glass window. It was Kim Suyeon.

“First, the corner you’ll be appearing in is ‘Off-work candidness,’ and once you sit down next to Miss Suyeon, you’ll see a monitor in front of you. There will be text messages and live forum posts, so you can proceed based on those. Actually, there’s not much you need to do. Miss Suyeon will do most of them.”

“Is there anything I should watch out for?”

“Since it’s a live broadcast, you need to watch your language. Swear words are naturally out of the question, and try to use as little slang as possible, especially internet slang that gained traction recently. You might be able to use them depending on the situation, but Miss Suyeon and the producer will decide that for you. First of all, though, the most important thing is that you don’t get nervous.”

“I should stay calm then,” Maru smiled.

A woman in her late thirties sitting in front of the console desk waved at him. She seemed to be the producer. Maru walked over along with the writer.

“Welcome. I’m sorry for asking this as soon as we met, but your throat is doing okay, right?”

“Thankfully, I’m good.”

“Good. Don’t be nervous just because this is live, and take it easy. It’d be easier if you think like you are acting while looking at the script.”

“Okay, I will.”

10 seconds until commercial – said a man.

“Go inside the booth. Say hello to Suyeon too.”

The writer opened the door to the booth. He could see Suyeon stand up.

“Miss Suyeon. This is Mr. Han Maru, the guest for today.”

“I heard. Nice to meet you, Mr. Han. Kim Suyeon.”

After exchanging greetings, he sat down on the seat the writer told him to. In front of him was a monitor that was around 27 inches. On the left of the screen were real-time text messages, and on the right were messages sent by the production crew.

“You don’t have to put your mouth too close to the mic, so relax.”

“Okay.”

Outside, the producer called for the writer. The writer opened the door and left. The booth was filled with the sound of commercials of chauffeur service, fried chicken, and travel packages. There was even one for throat candy.

“I’m not that sociable,” said Suyeon, who had been staying quiet the whole time.

She, who had faint makeup on, looked slightly exhausted. No, she seemed sleepy. She gave off a different impression from the person in his previous life. While he had come across calm-like-the-seas Kim Suyeon a few times, the majority of Kim Suyeons were closer to being active volcanoes.

Maru couldn’t help but smile at the appearance of a different-from-normal Kim Suyeon.

“That’s okay. People have their character.”

“I did hear about this from the president. I was told to look after you. I’m sorry I’m not a reliable senior. But I’ll help you so that you can say as much as you want when the show resumes.”

“Thank you for looking out for me.”

Suyeon nodded in response and covered her mouth before yawning.

“You seem tired.”

“I had a shoot until early in the morning. It was a sudden change in schedule, so I didn’t get much sleep.”

“If you’d like, would you like some of this? It won’t chase away sleep, but it will make you feel better.”

He handed her a throat candy. Suyeon thanked him and accepted it.

“There are about 8 minutes left of the commercial, so I guess it’s okay to eat it.”

Suyeon looked outside the booth before standing up. It seemed the producer had called for her. Maru listened to the commercials and looked at the new messages that came up on the monitor.

‘Off-work candidness’ was a segment for workers. People would send in their stories of events that happened during work today, and the radio DJ would read them and give a solution or just sympathize with them, sometimes swearing with them.

Of course, within the scope of what was permitted to be broadcasted.

As he read the stories that contained the frustrations of the workers, the commercial break started coming close to an end.

“Mr. Maru. Recommend me a song. I should’ve gotten it beforehand, but I forgot.”

“Jian’s ‘Like Today’. Is that okay?”

“I’ll go with that.”

Maru drank some water that the writer left behind. He exercised his vocal cords and got ready to speak.

Suyeon, who went outside the booth, had returned as well.

“You weren’t lonely by yourself, were you?” Suyeon asked as she sat down.

“The stories that came up on the screen were all so fascinating that I didn’t have any time for that.”

“If you find any interesting stories, you should keep about three of them to the side. You can read them out loud when I ask you to. If there’s a specific one the producer asks you to read, then read that one.”

Maru nodded.

“Have you ever been on the radio before?”

“No, this is my first time doing something live too.”

“Don’t freeze up even if you make a mistake midway. I’ll try to help you out as much as possible,” Suyeon said as she smiled. Her smile didn’t have the slightest pretense.

Maru also smiled without a word when he saw a familiar, yet unfamiliar response.

Perhaps because the memories of his previous life remained the most intensely, the figure of docile Suyeon was very interesting.

“Ten seconds until the end of the commercials,” he heard from outside.

Maru closed his mouth and looked at the side of Suyeon’s face. Ten seconds later, Suyeon put on her headphones and started speaking,

“That’s the end of the commercial segment. I think it was longer than usual today. We’re growing bigger and bigger thanks to all of you. The next segment is for all the salarymen and salarywomen out there. It’s Off-work candidness. If you send any difficulties or frustrations you had today, I’ll chew that person for you. You can send it via text, and you can also send in your stories through the YBS Radio app.”

Suyeon paused for a moment there. Her voice was very pleasing to listen to.

Maru was also enchanted for a moment when he heard the whisper-like sounds right at his ears. This program probably had a high proportion of males in the audience. He could tell for sure.

“While we wait for a story, let me put on some music. It was recommended by Mr. Han Maru, our guest for today. ‘Like Today’ by Jian. I really like this song too, let’s listen to it together.”

As the song came out, Suyeon took off her headphones.

“Have you picked the stories?”

“Yes. I picked three.”

Following that, the writer from before came in. Maru showed her the three stories he picked. The writer edited parts of them and put them on his screen.

“You can read those, and when it’s time to say some short stories in the middle, you can read the text messages that come up real-time. Don’t read any of the strange ones though.”

He read the text that the writer put on his monitor. As this program was intended to keep a close distance between the hosts and the listeners, there shouldn’t be a need to speak in a voice-actor tone.

A new window popped up on his monitor.

-Mr. Maru. Read this with the tone you used for the documentary. Make it sound like you’re caressing the exhausted listeners.

It was a request from the PD. The norm in live broadcasts was to refrain from having a new person do anything, but it seemed that the documentary had left a deep impression on the producer.

He looked outside the booth and nodded. He was getting air time, so there was no reason to refuse.

“You can take it slow,” Suyeon said before the song ended.

When the song ended, Suyeon raised her hand to indicate that it was time to start.

“I’d like to say this to the workers who are going back home with their exhausted bodies in buses, trains, and cars: Good work, it’s okay. I’m sure things will go well. Try breathing in a little bit of the chilly air and then breathing out slowly. Let out your bitterness, your depression, your anger, and your sadness. It’ll make you feel a little better.”

He took his head away from the pop filter and looked at Suyeon.

Suyeon, who was looking at him in a daze with her hands on her headphones, nodded once before speaking,

“The start of part 3 was opened by actor Han Maru. Isn’t his voice great everyone? I was listening from the side, and it startled me. It made my heart warm and fluffy.”

“Thank you,” he responded.

The window on the left of the monitor was changing rapidly. There was a sudden influx of text messages.

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