UAI Chapter 51

Episode 51

While Sejin and B-One were waiting nearby, the filming preparations were finished.

"We'll be starting the shoot shortly. The restaurant opens at 11:30, so it would be best to begin filming before that. Please wait outside the room, and when our staff gives you the signal, you can open the door and come in."

PD Park approached them and explained.

"Yes, understood. Then we'll step out and wait."

Sejin and B-One went outside the room and waited.

At that moment, Sejin grabbed Hajin's pant leg and shook it.

"Hm? What is it, Sejin? Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

"No. Uncle, we have to wear this."

Sejin took the sunglasses that had been clipped to his shirt and put them on his face.

"Pfft! Sejin, we're indoors. Are you really going to wear sunglasses?"

Hwan asked, bursting into laughter.

"These are couple items, me and the uncles! So the uncles have to wear them too!"

"Huh? We have to wear them too?"

At Sejin's words, the members all started laughing, but in the end, they decided to indulge the child's cuteness.

"Alright. If it's a couple item with Sejin, we have to do it. Come on, everyone, take them out and put them on."

"Yeah. Let's all wear sunglasses together."

One by one, the B-One members pulled out the sunglasses they had tucked into their pockets and put them on.

The staff member standing nearby to give the signal was biting their lips hard, clearly trying not to laugh.

Seeing that, Hwan grinned and said.

"You can laugh. We think this is hilarious too."

At that, the staff member finally burst out laughing.

A moment later, after calming down, the staff member checked their in-ear monitor and then gave B-One the signal to enter.

Knock, knock.

After knocking, B-One and Sejin opened the door and walked into the room.

"Hello! We're B-One!"

"Hellooo! I'm Lee Sejin!"

At the sight of them entering, laughter erupted from all around the production staff.

PD Park Hwanwoong also stepped forward to greet B-One, but he nearly choked from laughing so hard.

"Hahaha! What is this? Is this some kind of concept?"

"Ah… hahaha. Sejin's been really into matching 'couple items' with us lately. He insisted we wear sunglasses today too, so we went along with it."

As Hwan explained with a smile, voices calling them "cute" came from among the staff.

"Alright. But since we do need to film, please take off the sunglasses for now."

At those words, the B-One members removed their sunglasses again and clipped them back onto their shirts.

Hajin also quickly took off Sejin's sunglasses for him.

"Then let's greet properly again. Welcome. We've met a few times before, do you remember me?"

"Hello, PD. Of course we remember. It's nice to see you again after so long."

"Yes. Thank you so much for agreeing to appear. Please, everyone, take a seat."

At PD Park's guidance, Sejin and B-One sat down at the prepared table.

The table, with three people seated on each side, had cameras placed intermittently in between.

With Sejin seated in the middle, Hajin and Jaewon sat beside him. Across from them sat Joomin, Roy, and Hwan.

Watching this, PD Park sat down at a separate table nearby and greeted Sejin.

"So this is our little Lee Sejin. You're Hajin-ssi's nephew, right? Nice to meet you."

Receiving the greeting, Sejin tilted his head in confusion and asked.

"But we already met earlier and said hello. Why are we greeting again?"

At that, the staff burst out laughing.

The B-One members also struggled to hold back their laughter.

Caught off guard, PD Park scratched his head and let out a sigh.

"Ha… this isn't easy…."

That comment finally made everyone who had been holding it in explode into laughter.

After laughing for a while, Hajin and the B-One members explained it to Sejin.

"Sejin, we did greet each other earlier, but the viewers didn't see that. So this is us greeting properly for the show."

"Right. So let's pretend we're meeting for the first time now, okay? Can you greet us again?"

After hearing the explanation, Sejin pretended to think hard.

'Do they really think I don't know that? I'm acting to make it fun for everyone. Hmph!'

After a moment, Sejin nodded and said to PD Park.

"Boss mister! Let's do it again. Sejini will do it better this time!"

"Uh… no, no. I'm sorry instead. Let's just go on like this."

PD Park apologized to Sejin, then turned to the members.

The writers, thinking they'd just captured a great moment, quickly jotted down captions to insert later in their notebooks.

Clearing his throat, PD Park spoke again.

"Well… you shouldn't make a child lie, and I've made a big mistake. Viewers, I sincerely apologize. The truth is, we already met and greeted each other before filming."

At PD Park's confession, laughter broke out once more.

After the brief commotion settled, filming resumed.

"Now, we heard that you hesitated at first when we contacted you about appearing… Was there a reason you suddenly agreed?"

"Ah. Actually, it was because Sejin wanted to do it."

"Sejin did?"

"Yes."

At that, PD Park looked at Sejin with curiosity.

"Sejin, why did you want to come on this show?"

"Umm… 'cause I wanna play with my uncles, and make memories together."

At that answer, soft sounds of admiration spread among the production staff.

"Memories with your uncles?"

"Yes! Sejin-i was sick and stayed in the hospital for a long time, and because of that, Uncle Hajin and the other uncles were really, really sad. But now Sejin-i is healthy, so I want the uncles to stop worrying."

"They still worry about me every day, but I'm okay now. So I want the uncles and Sejin-i to be happy together, live together for a long, long time, and make lots and lots of memories."

"If I come on this show, then later, when Sejin-i grows up, I can watch how Sejin-i and the uncles looked right now. That's why I wanted to come. We're family."

This was Sejin's pure, honest heart.

Unlike his past life, where he had no family, now not only Hajin, but all the other members were his true family.

Unlike his previous life, where he didn't even have a single family photo, in this life he wanted to take lots of pictures, leave behind videos like this, and later, when he grew up, watch them together with his uncles and remember these moments.

At his answer, all the adults in the room were left speechless.

The B-One members' eyes reddened one by one, and Hajin covered his mouth with his hand, trying to hold back the tears that were about to spill.

To give everyone time to compose themselves, filming was paused for a moment.

When Hajin finally broke down crying, Sejin hugged him.

"Uncle… don't cry. Are you crying because of Sejin?"

"Hh… no. It's not because of you. It's just that… Uncle didn't know you were thinking such things, and I was so moved… that's why the tears came out. Uncle won't cry anymore."

Hajin gently pulled Sejin back, met his eyes, and spoke softly.

After wiping his tears with the tissue Jaewon handed him and drinking some water, Hajin calmed himself down.

The other members also wiped their tears and tried to regain their composure.

Once everyone seemed a bit more settled, filming resumed.

"Ahem… so there was such a deep meaning behind it? Did the B-One members know Sejin was thinking like this?"

After clearing his throat to steady his voice, PD Park directed the question to B-One.

"Uh… just a moment."

Jaewon, who was about to answer, picked up the glass in front of him and took a sip of water.

"Ahem. Sorry. Honestly, we didn't know he was thinking this way. Sejin has said for a while that he wanted to be on TV, so we just thought he wanted to become a celebrity. This time too, we thought that was why he wanted to appear on a show."

"He did mention casually that he wanted to make memories with us, but we had no idea he meant it with thoughts like that."

"Oh! Does Sejin want to become a celebrity?"

"Yes. He says he wants to be an actor."

At that, voices of admiration, "Oooh!", rose from the production staff.

"So in the end, you decided to appear because of Sejin, then? Sejin really saved us here. Haha! Since it's almost lunchtime and you must be hungry, shall we eat first and continue the conversation afterward?"

"Yes, sounds good."

"We're actually pretty hungry too. Haha!"

"We were going to let you choose the menu, but the chef said she knows your tastes and prepared everything herself. Would that be okay?"

At the question, the members nodded.

"Yes, that's fine. Sejin, the auntie says she'll decide the food herself, do you have anything you especially want to eat?"

At Joomin's question, Sejin thought for a moment before answering.

"Hmm. It's okay. I'll eat whatever auntie gives me."

"Is that okay?"

"Mm-hmm."

Seeing that, PD Park's eyes lit up as he asked.

"Hold on a second. You just called the chef 'auntie.' Do you know her personally?"

At the sly question, everyone burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! PD, you're good at acting. Yes, we're very close in our private lives."

"Privately? Isn't that a dangerous statement?"

"We share the same family registry. She's our parents' daughter."

At Joomin's answer, laughter erupted throughout the room.

"Haha, I see. So she's your older sister?"

"Yes."

"Thank you again for providing the location on such short notice. We're all very grateful. I briefly met her earlier, and your sister is very beautiful."

At that comment, Joomin's expression turned awkward.

Compared to other siblings, they were quite close, but praising his sister's looks out loud himself made it hard for the words to come out of Joomin's mouth.

Seeing Joomin's unusually awkward expression, the members burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Look at Joomin hyung's face! That's the face of someone who doesn't want to admit his sister is pretty!"

"Exactly. We should definitely tell noona about this later!"

At his younger members' teasing, Joomin quickly fixed his expression.

"Ahem! Well… yes. Since she looks like me, she's decent enough."

"Huh? Isn't that backwards? It seems more like you look like your sister."

At PD Park's playful remark, Joomin finally surrendered.

"Haa… You're really making me say it myself. She takes after our parents, so yes, my sister is beautiful. Satisfied?"

"Hahaha! Yes! Thank you for your answer!"

As they continued chatting casually, staff members knocked and entered, placing the food on the table.

The floor manager came in as well, pushing a rolling cart.

"This is something our chef prepared. She said it would be hard for the production team to eat while filming, so she made some simple sandwiches. There are drinks too, please take one each and enjoy."

"Ooooh!!!"

"Thank you! We'll enjoy it!"

At Joo-ah's thoughtfulness, the production staff cheered and loudly expressed their gratitude.

Although this was a shoot, the B-One members had felt a bit guilty about being the only ones eating, so seeing that eased their minds.

Once the staff each took a sandwich and drink and returned to their positions, PD Park said to Joomin,

"We'll thank her properly later as well, but please be sure to tell your sister how grateful we are."

"Haha. Of course."

"Then please enjoy your meal for now, and shall we continue the interview afterward?"

After giving Sejin and the members time to eat, PD Park picked up his own sandwich.

Unwrapping it and taking a bite, it was just as he had expected from the look, this wasn't store-bought, but a handmade sandwich.

Not only the care put into it, but the excellent taste made all the staff marvel as they ate.

The B-One members also ate while looking after Sejin.