# Chapter 90
“Still no answer, huh?”
Seo Irun sighed deeply as he spoke, and I had similar thoughts.
“Team Leader, instead of doing that, what if we have them cast an actor who’s good at acting and we cover some of the costs? That seems like the cleanest solution.”
When I said this, the other members supported my opinion, saying that would indeed be the best way to handle it.
“Right. That would be better. Sorry for bringing this up. I’d appreciate if we could just pretend I never mentioned this. I’m sorry.”
Team Leader Hyun hurriedly said this and then smiled awkwardly.
“I can provide the money, so don’t worry about it.”
“No, Team Leader. Since this is something we agreed to do, we should be the ones to pay.”
Even though Crop Five tried to stop him, Team Leader Hyun seemed to have already firmly made up his mind.
This made the situation awkward.
Wouldn’t they feel uncomfortable accepting money from us?
It’s not like we’re giving charity, and I was worried it might look like we’re looking down on a new agency for not having money.
If possible, making a guest appearance would be perfect.
With that thought, I looked at Crop Five again.
But still, there was no clear answer.
“Let’s take a look at the lyrics. It’s not like everyone has to appear. The other members could just have brief passing roles, and only those who can act could take on the acting parts.”
Team Leader Hyun’s face brightened at Sijin’s words.
“Really? Then would you like to see the lyrics?”
He showed us the lyrics, and we huddled together to read them.
Somehow, they were extremely lyrical and dramatic.
If done well, it could create a touching drama, and the success of the music video could help promote the song.
‘If done well.’
That’s the problem—such an enormous premise…
“Should we at least try? If it really doesn’t work out, then we’d have something to say. We tried, but our acting just wasn’t good enough. So we couldn’t help. If we say that, wouldn’t they understand? They’d also appreciate that the Team Leader wanted to help.”
“I think so too. Not to brag, but just the news that Crop Five stepped up to help with the music video would already give them some points.”
When Yeonwoo and Dagyeong spoke, Team Leader Hyun nodded.
“Alright. Let’s give it a try. And thank you. Really, thank you. I’m truly proud that you’re so proactive about this. I feel like I haven’t lived in vain. I’m moved.”
He didn’t need to say that.
His thoughts were completely visible on his face.
Hyung found this whole situation amusing.
Ki Hyunshin, who also heard about it, showed confidence saying he could act a bit and could help too.
Hyung understood the situation and asked if we could make this into content, and Team Leader Hyun agreed that it wasn’t a bad idea.
He flinched briefly at hyung’s suggestion that Team Leader Hyun would have to be at the forefront, but he seemed to think it was worth it for Pepper Mix.
While Crop Five’s light had been too bright to notice, Team Leader Hyun had become quite well-known through his appearances on various broadcasts with Crop Five.
When we did the program named “Crop Five,” I stepped down midway, and Team Leader Hyun took over Crop Five and participated in the program for a while, so among Crop Five’s early fans, there were many who liked Team Leader Hyun.
They knew he was someone who had dedicated himself to leading Crop Five, even though he was compared to me.
Content that covers Team Leader Hyun’s narrative.
A trainee who had to leave the stage for various reasons, someone who always felt indebted for not being able to care for them until the end.
That trainee returned to the stage as a re-debut artist to fulfill their dream again, and to encourage them, preparing a music video with Crop Five—this was a touching narrative just by itself.
Anyone hearing this story would naturally have no choice but to support Pepper Mix.
Fans had been hoping that Crop Five would do the namesake program “Crop Five” again.
These days, many people wanted to continue seeing the current story of “Crop Five,” and this new content might fulfill that wish.
“It’s like ‘Crop Five Epilogue,’ so to speak.”
At my casual remark, hyung raised his head and looked at me.
Crop Five did the same.
“Seomin, that’s good!”
“I just got goosebumps.”
Following Team Leader Hyun, even Ki Hyunshin was enthusiastic.
“Is it actually good?”
Suddenly, everyone was looking at me, and I thought they’d say it was terrible.
But unexpectedly, the response was positive.
“No, make your expression a bit brighter if you like it. You look nervous.”
“How can I make it any brighter than this?”
When hyung said that, Crop Five agreed that he was right, taking his side for once in a long time.
“Then we need to create a script and look at the acting first? It’s going to be a Crop Five acting audition, right?”
Hyung spoke while calling people in.
I thought he was talking to us, but it turned out he was just talking to himself.
As if trying to prove that Grand Tamer wasn’t just an agency for singers, he called in the hidden talents from the acting team.
And we quickly summarized what we had discussed in the meantime.
One of the acting team members, whom we hadn’t seen much compared to the singer team, asked with sparkling eyes.
“It seems the CEO finally remembered that Grand Tamer has an acting team too.”
Hyung quietly turned his head away from the actor’s biting remark, and that’s when the serious meeting began.
“Well, let’s start filming now. Even if you have something to say, don’t say it yet. Once the camera is rolling, then you can speak. That’s all money.”
There was no basis to argue against hyung’s words.
Just as “Crop Five” had made the current Crop Five what they are, no one knew what kind of miracle this new “Crop Five Epilogue” might create.
Soon cameras were set up, and right there we resumed the meeting that had briefly paused.
Although Pepper Mix’s name wasn’t directly mentioned, almost everything else was openly named, and Crop Five’s acting audition proceeded smoothly.
People watching this broadcast would realize that we were up to something again and would be curious about what we were planning.
“I hope we can do this quickly.”
When Jeong Chan said this, Dagyeong stared at him.
“If we do it quickly, you’ll probably fail, hyung.”
“Why are you like this? Did you forget how people praised my facial expressions on stage?”
“Come on. Facial expressions on stage and real acting are different. Oh right, Sijin hyung might have an advantage. Sijin hyung’s diction is famously good.”
“Hyunshin sunbaenim would also have an advantage. Sunbaenim’s emotional expression is unparalleled.”
Yeonwoo joined in the conversation between the two, and Seo Irun, who had been quiet, also added a comment.
“Isn’t acting half about your face? In that sense, I think I have the biggest advantage.”
The room fell silent at Irun’s remark.
Hyung looked at Irun as if wondering how he ended up like this, while Irun remained confident.
“Seomin is also participating in the audition, right?”
Team Leader Hyun suddenly said that, and I looked at him wondering what he was talking about.
I didn’t think I needed to respond.
This was a stage for Crop Five, and adding Ki Hyunshin would be enough.
But having already found success by featuring me in “Crop Five” before, Team Leader Hyun insisted I couldn’t be left out, and everyone present agreed with that opinion.
Even hyung did.
“When Crop Five does missions, you have to be there too. That makes the picture much richer. And when you’re with Crop Five, there’s no empty space in the audio.”
I tried to refute this, but I couldn’t.
After being apart for a few days and meeting again, they were talking so much that I could hardly bear the noise, and Team Leader Hyun kept mentioning it.
He said that he thought they had forgotten how to speak, but they were chattering endlessly like children who just met their mother.
I kept quiet since it seemed no one would listen to me anyway, and it looked like it had been decided that I would also participate in the audition.
They were truly ridiculous people.
If I pass the audition, would I appear in the music video?
How would that help?
The purpose was to help Pepper Mix’s album by having Crop Five appear, but had everyone forgotten why we were gathered here in the first place?
I was thinking about this alone, but no one seemed interested in my concerns.
“So how should we proceed? First, let’s quickly create a script and decide which roles each person wants? That’s what we should do, right? Then we’ll do acting training and hold auditions. This should be fun, right?”
The acting team exerted their presence after a long time, and Crop Five’s eyes sparkled.
“When writing the script, please create a character who dies gloriously. I think I’d be really good at dying.”
When Jeong Chan said this, all the Crop Five members suddenly coveted that role.
“Ah… I think I’d be good at that.”
“My face already looks like it has a lot of stories to tell. If I die, won’t it leave a lasting impression?”
“How long is a music video that you want to leave a lasting impression? Don’t try to steal scenes. Let’s be fair and just do what we’re supposed to do.”
So many voices burst out simultaneously that it was impossible to tell who was saying what.
Hyung’s statement that there would be no empty audio had certainly come true.
