156 - Upki Girl

< Stop It, You Crazy Guys (Revised) > The issue with Eunbit's disqualification was quietly resolved by editing out the part rather than offering a correction statement. Additionally, I held firm and managed to retain the 10-meter limit for submerged swimming, standing my ground until the end. "We said as long as you don't touch the floor or walk, the swimming style is free, right? Submerged swimming can be considered a style too. If we follow the rules, you could go the full 20 meters submerged, not just 15," I argued logically in front of the other team managers. Producer Jang Ho-joon seemed slightly convinced and settled on the original 15-meter rule. Once the submerged swimming controversy was put to rest, it was smooth sailing for our kids. Seowon's friend Yujin, who apparently had a Triathlon win in the elementary division, emerged as a rival, but she couldn't keep up with the ridiculously talented dolphin-kick of BitGoRe. "Just like in the preliminaries, Eunbit is pulling ahead with her submerged swimming! She’s undeniably fast!" "This is unbeatable. The others should forget about catching Eunbit and aim for the silver!" "Yes! With Upkick Girl’s Eunbit finishing early, it's May Queens’ Yujin who grabs the silver, and Eye Contact's Daon taking the bronze!" Following Uihong’s gold in wrestling, this was our second gold medal. The third event was bowling, with Yonaria participating. Out of the five, only Riya had bowled before, and after some practice, it became clear that Yona had the most talent, earning her the spot as Riya’s partner. Thanks to the fabulous strike streak by Princess Aliya, they safely made it to the finals. "Jinriya, could you share your thoughts on making it to the final?" "I'm reminded of those military hamburgers a soldier gave us during the morale train tour. Initially, the strawberry jam was shocking, but it turned out to be addictive! A perfect sweet-savory snack! BitBit unni, let’s go film 'Beautiful Soldier' now!" Cheering from the side, Eunbit chimed in, shouting, "Militaryhamburger! Yummy!" "Uh, excuse me... I asked for your thoughts on reaching the bowling finals, but suddenly we've switched topics to military burgers... Also, 'Beautiful Soldier' is a program from a different network," commented the seasoned on-site MC, Jang Dal-ho, who was taken aback by the quintessentially unpredictable interview style of the EunbitRiya duo. Thankfully, Yona was her partner. "Our youngest must have seen the orange bowling ball and been reminded of a hamburger bun. Isn’t that right?" “Yes!” "Ah, I see. Well, Yona, a word of encouragement for the fans, please!" "To our supporters! We’ll hold your hands when we win the gold, so hang in there and cheer a bit longer!" Yona’s charming blend of cuteness and coquetry floored the fans, inevitably. "Woooaah!" “Yona! Yonna! Beautiful!” “Yona! Yonna! Beautiful!” In the bowling finals, Yonaria secured victory with a staggering score of 192 to 121. That marked our third gold medal. At this rate, the sports day seemed almost dominated by, dedicated to, and for Upkick Girl alone, but thankfully Jung Yujin clinched first place in the 60-meter dash, ending our near complete takeover. In other events, Upkick Girl returned to its slaughter mode. In the tug-of-war, we clinched gold by defeating Eye Contact in the finals, thanks to Uihong's performance, giving the strength of two people. The final event, added as an e-sports category, was ‘Little Ground’, a first-person shooter with cute characters and easy controls, popular among women. However, Seowon found it uninteresting due to its simplicity and initially quit playing. Upon bringing in five gaming PCs to the dorms, turning it into a makeshift PC café, a week of practice ensued. Game fanatic Seowon managed to raise her skills enough to compete with male players. However, the other four were game novices. Eunbit and Hong managed to form a team with Seowon after some practice. But Seowon wasn't impressed with the team play. She determined that going with a team strategy might lead to mutual destruction, ultimately choosing a ruthless solo playstyle, sacrificing her teammates to rack up kills alone. "Se-Seowon unni, you have to help me! I’m completely surrounded!" "You’re doing great, Eunbit! Just die heroically there! I’ll come clean up!" "Se-Seowon, the base is being destroyed?" "Okay, that’s a good thing! Hong, you keep holding the front! I just need to stay alive!" "Seowon unni, you’re so cold!" "Shut up, Yoon Eunbit. Selfishness is a skill. And in this world, the selfish folks prosper! Little Ground is life itself! Don’t you understand yet?" “Wah, you’re too much… I want to have fun too…” "If you want to enjoy, spend your time improving skills instead of whining!" She was incredibly cold. As cold as the glaciers of Alaska. Seowon’s heartless strategizing, announced clearly through the mic, had the audience rolling in laughter. "Yeonhong, what are you doing! Get over there and act as the meat shield! Move! Move!" "I-I’m going now! The meat shield is on the move! Wooaaah!" "Good job! You’re truly the best meat shield on our team!" "Hehe..." Oh no, Hong has been tamed! In the end, Seowon was right. Her skills proved it. It was a brilliant strategy comparable to MacArthur's Incheon Landing Operation. "Seowon survives alone again and pulls off another reverse all-kill! How many times is this already?" "Yes, at this point, Upkick Girl’s strategy is basically 'Just Shut Up and Let Seowon Do It'." "Shut Up and Seowon, Shut-Seo!" Seowon single-handedly took on three opponents, gifting the team their fifth gold medal with her hard-carrying. Thus, Upkick Girl secured 5 gold medals and 1 silver, racking up 34 points only from the sports day, boasting a total of 64 points. Even though Eye Contact managed to gather small points during the sports day and climbed to second place in the overall ranking, their total points only reached 21. Upkick Girl (64) >>>> Unreachable >>>> Eye Contact (21) > May Queens (13) Contrary to expectations that it would end by dawn, the recording of the sports day, which started at 7 AM, wrapped up by 10 PM. Other teams held simple fan meetings, but Upkick Girl’s meeting, presided over by Riya, was on a whole different level. "Seowon is the light!" "Yeonhong is my truth!" “You all worked so hard! From now on, the club president is treating everyone, so no one gets left behind! Let’s all go wild!” “Yaaaay!” “President Jin! President Jin!” We rented three buses to transport 100 fans to a pre-booked restaurant where we held the fan meeting, providing travel expenses and accommodation, thus cementing our reputation as generous idols. And three days later, the first episode of Replay Girl, which would determine Upkick Girl’s fate, finally aired. *** Writer Jung So-jin: [Does Cheongsimhwan really help you relax if you’re tense? I’ve never tried it...] Yona: [I didn’t really feel much from it.] Seowon: [It helped me a bit.] Eunbit: [Writer unni, you must be really nervous, haha.] Writer Jung So-jin: [We’re all gathered here with the staff, waiting. The atmosphere is intense, I feel like my heart’s going to burst, haha.] Ten minutes before the broadcast started. We, too, gathered in the office, humming and munching on snacks, waiting for the first broadcast. I heard from Writer Jung So-jin that they received some decent ad spots solely based on the superstar panel of judges. Even the confections company, part of Aliya’s hotel group, produced their first-ever TV ad to air before and after Replay Girl. “Package delivery!” “Huh? A delivery at this hour?” “Yeah, these days they deliver late. I’ll go get it.” The package Jangwoo brought in contained four issues of Maxim magazine featuring Hong and Seowon on the cover. Though officially released tomorrow, Maxim sent us copies in advance. Due to teamwork leading to a nickname "Maxim idols", the first and second pre-orders sold out in just two days. The Maxim editor even posted on social media, praising Upkick Girl, comparing their feat to that of Japan's gravure idol Aizaki Shino, achieving this milestone in record time for a local model. “Wow, wow, wow!” “Let’s look together!” “Hey, move your heads.” Twelve people, four magazines. Naturally, the competition for viewing was fierce. “Got it!” Seowon swiftly snatched her S-type cover and pulled me to a corner of the office. “Hey, why!” “Let’s look together. Just the two of us.” “Come on, I saw it all during the shoot.” “There’s a world of difference between the original and the edited versions.” “Seowon unni, it’s different, not wrong...” “Yeah, it’s different! Different!” Yona, our language maven, was swiftly subdued by this slight error correction. Seowon smugly placed the magazine on my lap. Seowon, in the first shoot's white see-through dress, posed sitting on the club stairs with crossed legs. Hmm… These editors really know what appeals to men. Even though she wore safety shorts and the dress wasn’t excessively short, a subtle erotic vibe exuded. Two points stood out. First, the soft Y-line flesh folded between the bent thigh and calf. Second, the shoe barely hanging on the toes and the teasing glimpse of stocking-covered toes. My gaze on the magazine in my lap, Seowon’s eyes fixated on my face. She asked, “How is it?” “Well, it came out better than I thought. You nailed the pose.” “Ah, I saw you swallow your saliva just now. Which part drives you wild?” “What, can’t a person swallow their saliva?” “I heard you have a thing for stockings?” “Who said that?” “Riya said so. That you admired photos of celebrities in stockings at the sports day shoot? Right, Riya? You said that, didn’t you?” “Yes, I saw it. He was murmuring in a really appreciative tone, calling them the Queen of Stockings, the Queen of Stockings!” “Oh, come on…” Did she have to report that? But I should be grateful for not outright saying it was editor Jung Ah-yoon and shielding by referring to them as celebrities... “Didn’t someone say you enjoy ripping stockings? Like making a hole with your canines then slowly tearing them with your nails?” Not a chance! “I didn’t! Don’t fabricate detailed stories on your own!” Eunbit chimed in too. “Oh, right. Isn’t there a folder named ‘Leg Beauty Paradise’ on your drive? Seems like you like legs in general rather than just stockings.” “No, no! That was randomly received and mixed in with others…” “Yeah, you might just be at the age where anything womanly is appealing… Oppa, instead of looking at those, why not meet a real woman? I’d be ashamed to face Ssingssing Girl and Kim Gyudon!” “Why you… What do you even…” Just as I was glaring at Alga and Eunbit, blaming them inwardly, Hong by Riya’s side raised her hand, looking at me with eager eyes like a student waiting to present her answer. “Yes, Hong, what is it?” With unparalleled confidence, she declared, “When I did the Maxim shoot, I wore torn black stockings! It’s on page 75!” “Wow, turning someone into a pervert in an instant, aren’t you? What’s with you all?” “Why is liking stockings considered perverted? Don’t most guys like them?” “They’re sexy. I particularly like beige ones.” “Come on, any guy would say black stockings are the truth.” Thankfully Yeom and Hoonmin hyung covered for me, dispersing attention. While I, the one inadvertently in the spotlight, had no interest in the topic, it seemed like every man in our office had a fondness for stockings. Hyundong, Beacon hyung, and even Jangwoo engaged in a serious discussion about their preferences, appearing more earnest than during meetings. However, the two women from the PR team seemed perplexed and a bit disdainful about why men were so into such nylon things, shaking their heads. Yes, that’s the reasonable reaction. The Upkick Girl rascals were just too unabashedly open about it, being so young and all… Just when it seemed the stocking debate was ending, Yona, who had been silent until now, casually chimed in as if she were offering to swipe a bus pass for me. “Chief, if you ever need stockings, just let me know. Don’t embarrass yourself trying to get them elsewhere.” “Stop it, you crazy guys!” “Kekeke…” In the midst of this, the first episode of Replay Girl had already begun. It started with interviews of the judges, who were described via subtitles as an “Avengers-level panel.” Each judge shared the purpose of the program and their aspirations, followed by the introduction of each of the 15 teams, the stories of why they joined, and teaser performance footage. Near the end of Part 1, which led into a commercial break, I received a message from Writer Jung So-jin. Fantastic news came through that we were leading the viewer ratings among simultaneous programs across public and cable channels. However, Upkick Girl’s footage hadn’t aired yet. Currently, the team attracting the most attention online with their wild name was Ladybug, holding the top spot in real-time searches. < Stop It, You Crazy Guys (Revised) > End.