Jacan 25: 24 – Step Twenty-Four : J ?
Jacan 24
Step Twenty-Four
:: J ?
Jacan ::
Whenever someone raised a point, there would always be those who gather information to analyze the accuracy.
Good netizens shouldn’t be easily swayed by the crowd.
Seeing praise and following suit, or seeing criticism and joining in, was not the behavior of a wise person.
Comment: If he really is J hyung, why didn’t he say so from the first episode?
Comment: Exactly, maybe he didn’t say anything because he’s not.
Candies, let’s stay rational.
Comment: I think it is him.
I compared Jacan’s stage performances with old HJ songs.
While the singing techniques are slightly different, the voice is exactly the same.
Comment: But there are still some differences, aren’t there?
Comment: J…
Jacan.
That’s enough for me.
Comment: The comment above, J could come from Jackson too.
Let’s base our assumptions on facts.
Comment: Whether he’s J or not, I feel a connection with Jacan.
I’ll go vote for him.
Comment: Hmph, is this a ploy to get votes?
Spreading rumors that he’s like a senior artist to get their fans’ votes.
That’s not nice.
Comment: Hold on.
My votes are my own.
I can vote for whoever I want.
Whether Jacan is our J hyung or not, I want to vote for him.
What’s it to you?
Comment: I tried using a voice adjustment program.
Here’s what I got…
(attached voice clip)
Comment: OMG, it’s exactly the same!
Comment: Aaaaahhh, J oppa is back!
No, it’s Jacan!
Aaahhh, voting now!!
Comment: There was a previous rumor that Shinsu nuna sent someone off at the airport.
At the time, we speculated it was J hyung.
And this Jacan guy looks mixed-race too.
It’s very possible that J hyung went home to gather his thoughts and, missing us, decided to come back and try to debut again.
It has to be!
I write fanfiction; I’m good at connecting the dots.
This has to be the plot!
Comment: Bowing to the imagination of the above comment, but it’s possible.
When there was a buzz on social media speculating that J from HJ might be Jacan, one of the contestants on Star Fight, fans of other trainees began to feel uneasy.
If a celebrity of that caliber was their competition, even gaining ten thousand more fans wouldn’t be enough to compete.
Comment: Seriously?
J is Jacan?
Who could compete with that?
Comment: It’s like the first place spot is nailed down.
Sigh.
Comment: This is so unfair to the trainees who don’t have an established fanbase.
Comment: So, there are only four debut spots left now.
Comment: Oh, so he wore a mask all this time because he’s a foreigner?
Sigh, his personality probably isn’t as good as his looks, which is why he had to wear a mask.
Poor Shinsu, having to partner with someone like that.
Comment: Even if your personality is a bit lacking, thank you for confirming our J oppa is good-looking.
“Shinsu unnie, have you seen this news?” The manager of the famous actress handed a tablet to her after she took a break from filming in the afternoon and returned to rest in her private trailer.
“Netizens are having a field day with this.
What do you think about it?” Even she, who had been with this actress for two years, had never seen J’s face either.
“News about me?” Shinsu took the tablet and read through it once, feeling at a loss on how to deflect attention from her younger brother.
How could she forget that netizens are always sharp-eyed and quick to make connections?
“So, what do you think?
Is it true?”
“Let J handle his own affairs,” the actress replied, not knowing how to continue covering it up.
Letting one more person know wouldn’t hurt.
“And please don’t talk about this elsewhere.
Let him speak for himself.”
“Aaahh!
Oh my gosh, really?
I can’t believe I get to see J’s face before I die!” Now she could die in peace!!
“That’s an exaggeration,” the actress laughed at her young manager’s over-the-top reaction.
“Shinsu unnie, don’t you know?
J’s face under the mask is one of the biggest mysteries in the entertainment industry.”
“Mystery??” Her brother was a person, not a ghost.
“Because even the makeup artists, who are basically the gossip queens, have never seen it.
It’s a mystery that has never been revealed.
Even when the group faced issues, his face was never shown to the fans.
How could it not be considered a mystery?” In the entertainment industry, if even the makeup artists didn’t know, who else could?
“Well, now you know,” Han Shinsu laughed, not sure whether to cry or laugh.
She never thought her close younger brother would be seen that way by others in the industry.
“Okay, I’ll zip my lips shut,” the young manager said, mimicking zipping her mouth.
“But…
I never thought J would be so good-looking.
Why did he wear a mask back then?”
“It’s a long story, but I have to get back to the set now.”
“Oh, let’s go then!” The manager jolted, quickly opening the curtain to see the crew approaching the trailer.
She hurried to make sure Han Shinsu was ready and handed her a thermal bottle for a quick sip.
I’d helped as much as I could, Jacan.
The rest was up to your luck…
Good luck.
…
The Star Fight crew, who constantly monitored the show’s trends, were stunned when they saw the show’s search volume skyrocket on social media, even though they hadn’t yet requested promotion from any platform.
‘What happened?’
“It seems netizens are speculating that J from the duo HJ is actually Jacan, one of our contestants,” the crew immediately reported this to the head producer, unsure if this trend would be beneficial or detrimental to the show.
“HJ, huh…” Im Heewoo stroked his chin.
It was unfortunate that he never got to work with HJ during their peak.
Throughout the filming, he never suspected anything.
“What are those netizens saying?
Are they attacking our show?”
“Mostly they’re arguing among themselves.
Since we never stated from the start that we would only accept inexperienced trainees, there haven’t been many negative comments.
At most, they’re saying that the debut spots are locked because Jacan has a larger fanbase than the other trainees.”
“Hmm…
That’s neither good nor bad.
The next episode will be the voting results announcement.
In that case, let’s reduce Jacan’s airtime in episode 7, when they went orange picking, to mitigate the backlash from netizens.” Heewoo usually considered airtime allocation based on each contestant’s vote count.
Although this wasn’t Jacan’s fault—he was merely seeking an opportunity to return to the idol path—to avoid displeasing other trainees’ fans, Heewoo decided to cut back on Jacan’s screen time.
Otherwise, the young man might unintentionally gain more anti-fans than supporters.
While the production team monitored the ongoing trends, the filming continued as usual.
Today’s harvest went smoothly; every group found their song on the orange tree, and no one had to risk using the backup songs prepared by the show.
Wang Qi and Jiseong ran over, boasting non-stop about getting a hit song that topped the charts three years ago, before being dragged back by their group to discuss song positions.
This round of practice was limited to just seven days, with half of the first day already gone.
Cutting to Kang Manja, besides hitting the jackpot by getting to compete with number one ranked Jacan, he also managed to pick a hit song by IV-Dream, a band that includes senior Park Insa.
The song remained popular today, but there was an invisible pressure hanging in the air.
It was bad luck upon bad luck, making his usually stoic face look noticeably more glum.
Already stern, now he seemed even more so.
Every time Jacan saw him, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the young man.
If Kang Manja just looked back a bit, he’d see a vengeful spirit – cough, no, a senior brimming with experience ready to offer guidance.
…Good luck.
We would be thinking of you.
“…” Kang Manja suddenly felt a chill for no apparent reason.
Meanwhile, Jacan’s team was equally lively.
The two squads of ducklings and four chicks gathered around Lee Hajun, who stood proudly in the center, hands on his hips, with an air of great self-importance.
When he raised the orange with the song’s name above his head, the mischievous group cheered wildly, running in circles like madmen.
The reason for this craziness was that Lee Hajun’s luck had blown their sanity away.
If they could worship this guy, they’d surely get some of that good luck.
They believed they’d absorb some of his lucky aura.
Hail Lee Hajun 99999!
“So, when do we get to go back and practice?” Kim Juwon eyed the white canvas tent the show had set up for the trainees and crew to rest in the shade.
“Yeah, we’ve got our members and our song, but we only have six and a half days left, and it’ll take us another day to travel back,” Gangja started to lose enthusiasm for the outdoor shoot.
It was taking up too much time.
“I think…
we’re not going back to the apartment,” Jacan had a bad feeling since they mentioned filming on JJ Island.
The more he saw the need for a bus and ferry, the more convinced he became.
[Oh, it seems I forgot to mention the most important thing,] Park Insa, sitting among a group of trainees, suddenly grabbed the mic and stood in front.
[We’ll head back to the apartment tomorrow.
So tonight, we’ll be staying here.
As for clothes… just remember, if your heart is clean, there’s no need to shower.
Just flip your underwear inside out.]
“Sunbaenimmmmmmm”
“Yessssss!”
“Jump, jump, jump!”
Splash!
The wails from earlier in the day turned into cheers.
After Park Insa had his fill of teasing the trainees, he revealed that the show had booked six pool villas for them to stay in.
The first villa was for ranks 1-9, and the remaining villas were divided by ten people each according to their ranks.
In addition to providing a pool villa for the trainees to enjoy, there were also ample food and drinks available.
Though the drinks were all healthy options, they were well received since everyone was more focused on playing rather than eating.
“Hajun, jump in already!” Wang Qi, who had jumped into the water first, waved at his new friend from the pool.
Lee Hajun, still with a sausage in his mouth, quickly stuffed it all in and chewed for a bit before downing some carrot juice.
He then prepared to run, but before he could start, Kang Manja grabbed him by the collar.
“No running by the pool.
You’ll crack your head open,” Kang Manja said, carrying him to the diving board instead, indicating that he should jump in from there if he wanted to play.
“That’s no fun,” Wang Qi pouted at Lee Sangah.
“If you keep messing around, it won’t be fun at all,” Im Kureum said, biting into a big piece of grilled chicken and pointing the drumstick bone at the kids.
“See the cameras?
If you slip and crack your head open, it’ll turn into a social media drama for sure.” With that warning, the three mischievous kids calmed down and played safely in the water.
While all the kids were having fun, Jacan felt something was off.
It seemed like the staff’s eyes were on him more than usual.
‘Is there some drama about me on social media?’ Jacan frowned.
If it was positive attention, that was fine, but if it wasn’t…
he needed to check it out.
“Excuse me, I need some muscle relaxant cream.
Which way is the medical team’s room?” Jacan limped slightly towards the staff closest to the exit, choosing one who had their hands full.
“Hmm, are you hurt?”
“My calf is a bit sore from all the walking.
I just need some cream to rub on before bed.”
“I’ll go get it for you,” the staff offered generously, despite carrying a box.
“That’s alright, just tell me where to go, and I’ll get it myself.
There’s a medical team, right?” Jacan looked at the staff’s burdened hands, trying to be considerate.
“Alright then.
Walk to the third house from here; it’s the staff’s quarters.
You can ask for the cream there and mention I sent you,” the staff member said, showing his ID badge to ensure Jacan wouldn’t get in trouble for going there without permission.
“Thank you very much.” Jacan bowed and then limped towards the house as directed.
The show would never let the trainees leave the designated area, so Jacan encountered many staff members along the way.
Whenever someone asked, he explained his purpose and mentioned the name of the first staff member he spoke to.
When he reached the medical unit, Jacan remembered well that the on-site doctor was quite easy to coax information from and wasn’t good at hiding emotions.
Last time when the spotlight fell, Jacan managed to gather a lot of useful information.
“Oh, what’s wrong?”
“I feel some pain in my calf muscles.
I was hoping to get some muscle relaxant cream.”
“Really?
Let me take a look.” The doctor motioned for him to lie down on the bed and reached out to massage his calf, looking for the sore spot.
Jacan cooperated by grimacing slightly, making sure it didn’t look too overacted.
“Hmm… your muscles seem fine, but I’ll give you some cream to rub in before bed.” The doctor stood up to search for the cream in his medical bag.
“Thank you very much.” Jacan nodded, even though the doctor couldn’t see him.
His sea-blue eyes glanced at the doctor’s phone left on the table.
“Seeing your phone reminds me that I haven’t used mine in ages.
Before joining the show, I used to have it with me all the time.
People say phones are like an extension of our bodies, and it’s true.
It felt weird not using it at first, but now I’m used to it.” He started gathering information by making small talk.
“Phones do eat up our time,” the doctor replied, finding the tube of cream and returning to his seat.
“I’ll give you a hot type muscle relaxant cream.
Rub it on the sore spot before bed.”
“Thanks.” Jacan took the cream, then leaned in slightly and whispered, “Hey, do you have any news about Han Shinsu lately?
I’m a fan.”
“Huh?” The doctor raised an eyebrow, looking at Jacan as if he were a curious specimen.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jacan wondered.
“Uh… ahem.
You said you’re a fan of Han Shinsu?”
“Yes, I love her dramas.
Unless you don’t like her, then I won’t ask to avoid any awkwardness.”
“Of course I like her.
She’s a hit in everything she stars in.
I’ve liked Shinsu since she was in the duo HJ, but I wouldn’t call myself a Candy.
What about you?
Have you liked her since then, or did you start following her after she became an actress?” The doctor asked back, observing the younger man’s expression.
If the netizens’ speculation was true, the person in front of him was the mysterious man behind the mask who had never shown his face in the five years he was in the industry.
Holy crap!
This was so exciting.
It was like discovering a world secret!
“I’ve followed her work since she was in HJ.
I think she’s incredibly talented.
When she became an actress, I continued to support her,” Jacan praised without a hint of hesitation or suspicion, making the doctor wonder if the social media rumors were just netizens’ wild imaginations.
“It’s a pity that no one has ever seen J’s face before,”
“After all this time, he might have revealed his face somewhere,” the doctor replied, glancing at the clock on the wall.
“I should get back to my accommodation now.
I’ve been out for too long, and those kids might start asking questions.
Thanks for this,” he added, holding up the tube of cream.
“Walk carefully,”
“Will do,” Jacan replied, bowing once more before leaving.
As Jacan walked back to his accommodation, he greeted the staff members who inquired about his condition.
When he returned, he saw the kids still playing in the pool and decided to head upstairs to rest.
“Looks like Brother Jay is tired today.
Hey!
What are you doing?
You got me all wet!” Yeo Unche, who had just taken a big gulp of coconut water, dodged a water bomb attack.
“Well, I invited you to play, but you didn’t come,” Wang Qi pouted.
“Aren’t the people in the pool playing with you?
My absence won’t make the water turn red,” Yeo Unche said, feeling the urge to knock some sense into the mischievous kid.
The pool already had Im Ku-rum, Lee Hajun, Eiji, Lee Sangah, and Kim Jiseong.
What more could he want?
“It’s more fun if everyone plays together,”
“You’ve been playing for almost two hours.
Get out and change your clothes,” Kang Manja said, emerging from the house with enough towels for everyone in the pool.
“But we still want to play,” the mischievous gang whined, turning to swim towards the duck-shaped float.
“If you get sick, you won’t be able to film the show,” the older boy said, raising an eyebrow.
“Do you really want your rankings to drop?”
“Come to think of it, we’ve been playing for a while,” Lee Hajun, knowing when to quit, swam to the pool ladder and quickly climbed out.
He grabbed a towel to dry off and headed back to his room.
“What about the rest of you?” nodding towards the clock that showed it was nearly 8 PM.
“Alright, let’s get out.
Catching a cold would be bad,” Im Ku-rum, the oldest in the pool, decided to set a good example by climbing out.
The others followed, heading to their respective rooms to take care of personal matters.
“You really are like the eldest brother,” Yeo Unche, who had only recently gotten to know Kang Manja, looked at him with admiration.
In less than ten minutes, Kang Manja had managed to get all the troublemakers out of the pool.
He bowed respectfully to the crew members who were still filming, subtly suggesting they take a break and leave the monitoring to the cameras installed around the house.
When the younger ones had showered and retreated to their rooms, Jacan, who had been pretending to be asleep, opened his eyes in the darkness.
His blue eyes, showing no signs of sleepiness, stared up at the ceiling in confusion.
While he was in the medical room, he had talked about his sister, but a regular person who knew and followed Han Shinsu’s work would have mentioned her latest series or solo projects, not the duo HJ.
Everyone knew that the breakup of the duo was not a pleasant event.
It was a painful wound still festering for the Candies who felt the injustice.
Moreover, the doctor had been observing his expression closely, as if trying to catch him in a lie.
Catch someone in a lie?
Him?
Jacan’s eyebrows furrowed.
The pieces of the puzzle slowly came together.
When the final piece, HJ, was placed, it wasn’t hard to deduce that the internet must be buzzing with connections between him and J, the former duo singer.
Soon, there would be devoted Candies trying to prove his identity to casual netizens enjoying the speculation.
As his vote count increased, fans of other trainees in the show would start to get upset.
Right now, there must be a heated debate among netizens.
If it spiraled out of control, his airtime from today’s orange-picking session could be cut by about 20%.
Jacan lay there, analyzing the situation, and finally sighed in acceptance.
He couldn’t hide from his past anymore.
He would have to face it.
The fact that his identity hadn’t been revealed until now meant that Shinsu must have been working hard behind the scenes.
Since the Candies were watching, he would have to try even harder.
…
The next morning, the trainees were woken up at dawn to catch the first ferry.
They headed back to the apartment where filming took place.
The entire bus was filled with the scent of orange peels because the under-18 trainees were having fun squeezing the peels to spray each other.
“Are we filming a show or taking kids on a field trip?” Yeo Unche turned around to look at the chaos in the middle of the bus, which resembled a mini war with orange peels.
One kid would squeeze juice into another’s eyes, and the other would retaliate by doing the same.
It was like a group of monkeys escaped from their cage.
“They’re probably still hyped from the pool villa yesterday.”
“I don’t get why they suddenly decided to film on location,” one of the boys wondered about the unpredictable schedule of the show.
They just decided to go out whenever they felt like it, like when they went to the amusement park.
But getting some fresh air outside from yesterday to today had lightened the stress from the first voting elimination round quite a bit…
Maybe that was the main reason.
“Don’t you think you should stop them?” Yeo Unche asked, noticing Jacan and Kang Manja merely glancing at the chaos with a smile, showing no intention of scolding the boys like they usually did when things got out of hand.
“Let them have their fun.
Once we’re back to filming, they won’t have another chance,” Jacan replied, turning to look out the window at the cityscape that had changed significantly in the two years he had been home.
“And what’s up with you?
You look like you’ve lost all hope,” Yeo Unche diverted his attention to Kang Manja, who sat looking dejected and hopeless.
“Don’t even get me started,” Kang Manja raised a hand to massage his forehead.
Last night, after successfully sending the younger ones off to bed, he had gone downstairs for a drink.
The downstairs area was pitch dark with no team members around, so he didn’t bother turning on the lights and headed straight to the fridge.
But as he was drinking, he glimpsed a shadowy figure in the corner of his eye.
When he turned around, nothing was there, so he thought it was his imagination.
However, when he raised his head to drink again, he saw senior Park Insa sitting on top of the fridge!
Pfoooo
He spat out his water in shock.
“What are you doing up there, senior?!”
“You never come to consult me, so I had to come to you myself,” Park Insa jumped down from the fridge, only to bend over and hold his back in pain.
“Ouch.”
“Are you okay?”
“No, no, I’m fine.
Ouch.
Help me to the sofa,” Kang Manja assisted the elder to the sofa and then called the staff to help.
“Do you realize how dangerous that was?
What if you had gotten seriously hurt?” The doctor, the same one who had given Jacan the ointment, scolded him sternly.
“It was just a bit of fun,” the culprit turned away, looking slightly abashed.
“You go rest.
I’ll take care of Mr.
Park,” the doctor said, not wanting the trainee to lose more rest time because of this foolishness.
“You’re so mean, Doc,” Park Insa teased, showing no sign of being upset.
“Should I help take him to the medical room?” Kang Manja offered, noting that although the doctor was tall and strong, Park Insa wasn’t exactly lightweight.
“No need.
I can manage.
You go rest.
We have an early start tomorrow.
Don’t bother yourself with someone who brings trouble on himself,” the doctor grabbed Park Insa’s arm and slung it over his shoulder.
“Well, if you put it that way, you might as well just kick me,” Park Insa joked, though he winced as he stood up, feeling a sharp pain in his back.
But he managed to walk without needing a stretcher.
“See you tomorrow.
I’ll come to check on your practice—uh, I mean, give some advice on song selection.”
“Just get through today first,” the doctor grumbled, as the other could barely walk, not sure if he’d need to send him to the hospital tomorrow.
Kang Manja watched as the two left the villa.
He stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do next.
Just now…
what exactly happened?
The eldest brother walked back to his room.
Reaching the bed, he covered himself in the blanket up to his shoulders, blocking out everything.
Maybe he was just sleepwalking earlier.
Now that he’s awake, he should sleep…
yes, time to sleep.
…
The next morning, Kang Manja tried glancing around for the program’s host who always came out to prank the participants, but today he was nowhere to be seen.
It wasn’t until Im Heewoo announced that Park Insa had a minor accident and had already left by helicopter earlier and he would only return on the day of the live performance stage.
“It feels strange without Park Insa sunbaenim here to tease us,” Yeo Unche made conversation, since they were on the same team anyway.
Besides wanting to get to know him, this older brother had a warm aura, being around him felt comforting.
“I wonder what he did to get into an accident bad enough to be sent to the mainland hospital in the middle of the night.”
“I don’t know, but if he can still continue the program, it can’t be too serious,” Kang Manja replied, as if he had no idea about the fridge jumping incident whatsoever.
“So senior Park won’t be able to come teach us anymore,” the young man pouted, looking disappointed.
“Did he tell you he’d teach you?”
“Yeah, he went around telling everyone since yesterday evening.
Didn’t he go see you?” Yeo Unche furrowed his brows, asking back.
“Yes, he did,” in a strange way too.
“What a shame,” the younger one who had encountered the senior in a normal manner could only sigh regretfully.
“It might be better that he can’t come to teach,” Kang Manja muttered to himself quietly.
“Huh?
What did you say?”
“Nothing, I just want to rest a bit.
You should pretend to sleep too, those troublemakers will come bother you to play otherwise,” he nodded towards the back of the bus, where they were still gleefully engaged in the orange peel spray war, which would sting the eyes momentarily if you got hit.
“Brother Unche, come play with us!!!!” Wang Qi shouted loudly, his favorite messy bun hairstyle had tangerine peels stuck in it, looking like an iced orange americano from afar.
Next to him, Lee Sangah was opening a water bottle to rinse his eyes that had been sneak attacked by the other trainees.
“I think…
I’ll just sleep,” no way was he going to play with them.