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Chapter 9
The first episode was simple. It introduced Ruha and the members of LUMIS, along with snippets of their ordinary daily lives.
There was no flashy editing or provocative development. It was simply a straightforward portrayal of the everyday life of five young men and one child.
The view count was still less than satisfactory, but it was climbing much faster than the teaser had.
And that wasn’t all.
Small sparks were beginning to flare up in the comments section.
— Holy shit, my lost eyesight has returned!!! Who are these guys?
└ They’re a group called LUMIS under Clef Entertainment. They’ve been active for three years and have released four albums so far.
└ Thanks, Speedwagon!
— Ah~ So these guys are LUMIS? They actually look pretty decent when you see them like this.
└ Damn, their visuals are insane.
— So what’s the group’s name?
└ Smith
└ Swiss
└ Rumors
— There was a reason they failed.
└ It’s Yoon Taejin’s fault. He makes good songs for other idols but gives his own company’s idols nothing but weird songs.
— What’s so handsome about them? The days when you could become an idol just because you had a good face are over. You need actual talent.
└ Ugh, another guy drowning in his own inferiority complex. Tsk tsk.
└ LOL, this guy copies and pastes the same comment everywhere.
└ At that level, they’re all handsome.
└ If this isn’t the heavenly tier of visuals, what is?
Unlike the teaser, where most of the reactions had been directed toward PD Lee Geonwoo, Episode 1 was filled with comments about the cast.
“Hmm… Not bad.”
Lee Geonwoo, the PD of The Youngest in Our House, turned his attention away from the screen.
♪♬—
“Gasp, gasp—”
“Hoo, haa—”
Squeak—
The sound of music, ragged breathing, and sneakers scraping against the floor filled the practice room.
“Okay!”
Lee Geonwoo shouted as he raised his hand.
The members of LUMIS stopped moving.
Their backs were soaked with sweat as they desperately caught their breath.
“I think that’s enough. Good work, everyone!”
Lee Geonwoo called out as he took out the bottles of water he had prepared.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Thank you!”
The LUMIS members repeatedly bowed, clutching their trembling legs.
Their faces were obviously exhausted, but at the same time, there was a hint of pride in their expressions.
“RE:VIVAL is next week, right?”
In an instant, the atmosphere in the practice room changed slightly.
Apparently, even the production staff of The Youngest in Our House hadn’t known about it. Several staff members encouraged the group with cries of, “That’s great!”
“Ah… Yes. I heard you went out of your way for us, PD-nim. I should have come to greet you sooner. Thank you so much.”
Leader Baek Doha wiped the sweat running down his cheek and bowed once again.
His voice trembled. He even sounded as though he were about to cry.
There were complicated emotions written across his face.
“Oh, come on. What did I even do?”
Lee Geonwoo waved his hands dismissively.
“If you really want to give someone credit, you should thank Ruha.”
“Excuse me? Ruha?”
At the unexpected name, the members blinked.
“You have no idea how cunning that little brat is.”
Lee Geonwoo spoke playfully, then hurriedly waved his hands.
“Ah, I don’t mean that in a bad way at all.”
He chuckled again before continuing.
“Ruha asked me to let his big brothers appear on RE:VIVAL. He said they’d do well.”
“R-Ruha did? He asked you, PD-nim?”
Baek Doha asked in bewilderment.
Then, as if he had belatedly realized something, his expression changed and he quickly bowed.
“I-I’m sorry! I’ll make sure to teach him properly so that nothing like that happens again!”
“You’ve only spent a few days together, but I guess he really does feel like your little brother?”
Lee Geonwoo smiled playfully.
“Huh?”
“Well, then again… he’s the youngest in our house… so I suppose he’s family, right?”
“Ah…”
Baek Doha smiled awkwardly and scratched his arm.
Lee Geonwoo seemed to fall into thought for a moment as he silently stared at Baek Doha.
“You guys really are such a shame.”
He eventually muttered as he looked around at the members scattered throughout the practice room.
“Visuals, skills, personality. There’s nothing you’re lacking…”
“Th-Thank you.”
“But still, this year isn’t so bad, is it? Maybe it’s because a lucky charm rolled into your lives?”
Baek Doha blinked.
Lee Geonwoo turned toward him and gave a small grin.
“Give it your best shot. It’s not like Ruha has some kind of power and can make you appear on the show himself. Still, it’s true that things have been going well since you met Ruha, isn’t it?”
The practice room fell silent.
It wasn’t wrong.
This year, LUMIS had continued to encounter new opportunities.
Meeting Jin Dohyeon, one of the country’s top producers.
(Though I have no idea where he suddenly disappeared to.)
Appearing on The Youngest in Our House.
(Even if it is only a pilot program.)
And now, they were even getting a chance to appear on a competition program.
(Though we don’t know how far they’ll be able to climb.)
What on earth is all this…?
It really did feel as though, just like PD Lee Geonwoo had said, everything had started going well after Ruha appeared in their lives.
Ruha had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Despite being small and cute, he constantly bossed his big brothers around, swung his back-scratcher at them, and tried to climb onto their heads…
Heh.
The corners of Baek Doha’s lips curved upward.
What a cute little brat.
Just thinking about him made him smile.
“Just pick something.”
“Good grief! Are you really a kid? Why are you whining so much—!”
He really is the kid here.
Ruha scolded the adult, Yoon Taejin.
The two were currently at a toy store in Jongno.
The place was filled with dozens, even hundreds, of toys—merchandise, figurines, assembly robots, remote-controlled cars, and more.
There was only one reason Ruha had dragged Yoon Taejin here.
Whoosh!
Ruha suddenly dashed somewhere.
“I got it!”
With sparkling eyes, he picked up the very last remaining Doremi.
He had come here specifically to buy a figurine from Doremi the Piano Fairy.
It was a tiny, adorable fairy character about the size of a palm.
Sparkling eyes, elaborate decorations. It was a design that clearly appealed to young children.
“Eek—!”
The corners of Ruha’s mouth, which had been curving upward, suddenly drooped into a frown.
“Why?”
“D-Does this make any sense?”
Ruha frowned and looked up at Yoon Taejin.
“How can a little piece of plastic the size of my palm cost twenty thousand won?”
“That’s how things are these days. There’s a reason parents have nicknamed it ‘Empty-Bank-Account Fairy Doremi.’”
Taejin chuckled and crossed his arms.
“…Empty bank account?”
It was a new slang term that had recently appeared among parents with young children.
There weren’t that many characters in Doremi the Piano Fairy, but when you included their pre-transformation forms, transformed forms, and the items used by the fairies, there were already dozens of different products.
And that wasn’t all.
As new seasons continued to come out, new characters and items were constantly being released, causing the merchandise lineup to grow by dozens of products at a time.
If parents kept collecting these goods one by one, their bank accounts would become completely empty.
Hence the rather bittersweet nickname parents had given it.
“How do you even know that?”
“I have a niece too. A real niece, not you.”
“Good grief. Look at this amazing uncle showing off.”
Ruha clicked his tongue.
After thinking for a moment, he put down several of the items he had been holding.
“What? You’re going to buy something else instead?”
“I have a conscience, you know. I can’t completely empty your bank account.”
“Oh.”
Taejin chuckled.
“Well, that’s unexpected.”
Beep, beep—
The sound of barcodes being scanned rang loudly.
Two items the size of a palm.
Three items about the size of a finger.
He only had five pieces of merchandise in total, but the price was enough to require both hands to count.
“W-Wait, it’s over one hundred thousand won?!”
Ruha was horrified.
He took a deep breath, hypnotized himself into accepting reality, then looked up at Yoon Taejin.
“Uncleee— paaaay—”
“…”
Taejin shook his head and pulled out his wallet.
Only at times like this did he become an uncle—and an adult.
“Hehehe!”
Ruha beamed as he looked at the toys filling his arms.
“Are you really that happy?”
“Of course I’m happy. They’re free.”
Has his mental age really gotten younger too?
It was ridiculous that something so tiny could make him smile like this.
Ruha suddenly stopped walking and pointed somewhere with one short finger.
“Ah! Let’s stop by there too.”
It was the Nakwon Musical Instrument Arcade.
If you were interested in music, it was a holy site you absolutely had to visit at least once.
A place where you could find every sound and every kind of musical instrument in the world.
“I have no money!”
“…I’ll buy it with my money, so let’s just go.”
Ruha dragged Yoon Taejin into the arcade.
“Mmm~ Smell.”
The moment they entered, Ruha took a deep breath.
A satisfied expression immediately appeared on his face.
It was different from the expression he had worn at the toy store earlier.
Yoon Taejin glanced at Ruha and thought to himself.
This place definitely suits him better.
There were tiny stores barely ten pyeong in size, as well as huge shops spanning more than thirty pyeong. They were packed tightly together.
Guitars, basses, keyboards, drums, synthesizers, controllers, speakers, and even the latest recording equipment.
There was nothing they didn’t have.
It truly was a paradise for musicians.
Without hesitation, Ruha entered one of the stores.
It was a shop he had frequently visited while living in Jin Dohyeon’s body—a regular haunt of his.
“Hello, boss~!”
Ruha greeted the owner familiarly.
“Heh heh heh. What a cheeky little kid.”
The owner, of course, had no way of recognizing the young Ruha and simply patted his head affectionately.
Oh, right.
Ruha had forgotten because he was too excited.
He wasn’t Jin Dohyeon right now.
The store was as familiar as ever.
The instruments were neatly arranged, while new and popular products were packed along the walls.
“Is there something you want to buy?”
“I’m just looking around. You never know, right? Maybe there’ll be another good one.”
Ruha wandered excitedly around the store.
Then he stopped in front of the area where the pianos and keyboards were displayed.
“Hmm.”
He rubbed his chin with his tiny hand.
“Should I buy a keyboard…?”
Because his body had become smaller, he had been experiencing some inconvenience when working with the equipment he already owned.
Sure, he could still use it, but with his hands and fingers having become shorter, moving back and forth across a long keyboard and playing it had become quite difficult.
“All right. Let’s buy one.”
I think I need equipment that suits this body.
Even a 61-key keyboard seemed like it might be too large…
Maybe 37 keys would be about right?
After finishing the calculations in his head, he hurried over to where the keyboards were gathered.
“Hmm…”
He pressed various keys and listened to their sounds.
Then—
♪♬—
A beautiful melody drifted in from somewhere.
“…?”
Ruha’s ears perked up.
That was one of Nakwon Musical Instrument Arcade’s greatest charms.
Being able to try instruments and listen to them firsthand.
That’s simply how musical instruments were.
With brands and designs varying wildly, every product had its own unique strengths and weaknesses.
If they were cheap, you could buy and sell them repeatedly until you found one that suited you.
But musical instruments were far from cheap.
That was why musicians came here, tried the instruments themselves, and listened to their sounds before buying.
Hearing someone playing an instrument here was an extremely common occurrence.
But the melody he was hearing now was somewhat different from the melodies normally heard around here.
It had a raw quality, as though the player hadn’t been properly trained, yet there was something strangely captivating about it.
Ruha’s curiosity was piqued.
Before he even realized it, his feet were carrying him toward the source of the sound.
Eventually, Ruha stopped walking and tilted his head.
“What? Why is that guy here?”
