Damn Idol — Episode 103
The song had started out of nowhere, but the viewers’ reactions were nothing short of excellent.
There was only one reason.
Because good music has power.
-Wow, something about this puts me in a good mood.
-Feels like a song you’d sing on a trip with friends lol
-Wow, Han Sion is really talented. How did he whip this up so fast? It’s barely been any time since Coming Up Next ended.
-Bedroom pop, huh.
-What’s that?
-It means music made in a bedroom, and this is exactly that vibe. Psychedelic and warm.
-Yeah, it’s been trending quite a bit in the US lately.
Moreover, the video felt like it was done in one take, which made it fun to watch.
From the second verse, there were scenes where each member danced one by one, but the directing itself was nothing special.
The members sat in a row on the living room sofa, and when their part came, they’d get up and dance lightly.
It was like a talent show, or like a choreography meeting.
Aside from the key moves that Choe Jaeseong had made earlier being included, it seemed like everyone was dancing however they felt like.
Even Han Sion danced intensely, twisting his joints excessively in a way that didn’t suit the melodic song, but his voice cracked on the last phrase.
He coughed and hacked, missing the end of the song, and the members burst into laughter.
-Fake lip-syncing like it’s live
-What are you talking about. Anyone can tell it’s live lolololol
-Can’t you tell at a glance that the track’s been auto-tuned in post? Well, what would a layman like you know anyway
-lolololol you’re talking nonsense. Earlier, when Choe Jaeseong went flat during his part, Han Sion glared at him lol
-lololol Oh, then the echo when I Ion sings in the bathroom is reverb effects too?
-Just drink bleach and shut up.
By 2017 standards, bedroom pop wasn’t a mainstream genre.
But it would become mainstream in just a few years, and there was a reason for that.
For a while, the domestic and international music scenes had been dominated by heavy-sounding music led by hip-hop.
Bedroom pop had risen as a counterbalance to this, and it was something possible even in Korea at the present time.
It was a bit different from Billboard, which had been taken over by hip-hop, but current K-pop was also dominated by electronic music and black music.
-Great song.
-Feels like it’s been ages since I’ve heard this vibe. It’s really good.
-Pure easy listening.
-Ah, I was wondering where I’d heard this before. It’s from the intro to Narak Detector.
-Oh, really?
-Yeah, it plays really briefly.
-Were they building hype even back then?
In the meantime, the live performance reached its end.
The ending was Han Sion playing the guitar while leaving the keyboard to Choe Jaeseong.
The fact that Choe Jaeseong kept messing up his playing was a point of laughter, yet not quite a point of laughter.
[Finished!][Waaaaah!][Everyone applaud!]
The members clapped as soon as the song ended.
But the applause was brief, and the mood quickly grew ominous.
Han Sion, who had been quietly looking around at the members, opened his mouth.
[We’ll start with confessions.]
[Me, once.]
[Me too, once.]
[What do you mean. Choe Jaeseong, you messed up four times.]
[Wait, are you even counting mistakes like that? Then Taehwan-hyeong’s rhythm was off too?]
[I just had an impulse that it sounded better that way. It’s not a mistake.]
The members began bickering back and forth.
As it turned out, they had agreed to receive forehead flicks equal to the number of mistakes they made during this live performance.
In summary, Onsaemiro, I Ion, and Gu Taehwan had one each; Han Sion had zero; and Choe Jaeseong was sentenced to four.
At that moment, Choe Jaeseong appealed.
[No way. Sion-hyeong messed up too!]
[Me? When did I?]
[The coughing!]
[That was……]
[Now that I think about it, you’re right. Why were we trying to overlook the voice crack?]
One forehead flick was added for Han Sion.
The scene of them receiving forehead flicks played in fast-forward, and finally, it was Han Sion’s turn to be hit.
[Who should hit me?]
[Me!]
[Me.]
[Me too.]
[I believe it is the youngest’s duty to discipline the leader.]
All the members coveted Han Sion’s forehead.
They even seemed sincere rather than joking.
Because the subtitles displayed:
It was when Han Sion was staring at the members with eyes feeling a strange sense of betrayal.
Ding-dong.
-Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
Han Sion sprang up from his seat and headed toward the front door.
-lolololololol
-Looks like Han Leader really doesn’t want to get hit.
-Han Sion seems a bit selfish. He was all excited when he was the one hitting others.
-What are you talking about, you bastard. You don’t have any friends, do you?
The members, as if unable to give up on the forehead flick, rushed after Han Sion…….
Everyone froze together.
[A-ah, hello!]
[Hello!]
Because the ones entering through the front door were Drop Out.
The chat window shook.
-Finally!!!
-Oh right. I came here to watch this. The song was so good I forgot.
-Me too, I was about to rewind the video to listen again and got startled.
Soon, the screen jumped, and Drop Out and Sedalbaegil were sitting side by side in the living room.
In a slightly awkward atmosphere, Han Sion’s mouth opened…….
And a commercial began.
-??????????
-Huh?
-Sudden ad???
It was a real commercial.
But the items the five members were holding were bottled water with the labels removed.
[We drink water.]
[Water is so very precious.]
[The water Sedalbaegil drinks. Shall we drink it together?]
Beneath the soulless and will-less commercial, subtitles scrolled by.
-No, I felt it when they were assigning rooms with Seotda. Aren’t these bastards a bit weird?
-What kind of idol group openly begs for ads like this lolololol
-But it looks like they really don’t have a company? Since it says they make music from ad revenue.
-Ah lolol am I the only one who finds this hilarious? I only watched the stage clips from Coming Up Next, so I didn’t know they were such funny guys lolololol
-They give off a subtle madness, it’s hilarious lolol
-Subtle X, blatant O.
Meanwhile, the five members held up their bottled water and gulped it down.
With soulless eyes.
-Is this an Arisu ad lolol
-Milk! Drink milk! Spill a little!
-Fuck off, you pervert lol. But should I say it sounds tempting?
-Crazy lolol
-Ew, that’s really dirty. But if I Ion did that, I think I’d faint?
-lolololololol
Even Sedalbaegil’s fans were unexpectedly satisfied with the fun self-produced content.
For one, the public’s reaction was good, wasn’t it?
Reading the chat, everyone was saying the music was good or that Sedalbaegil was funny.
Thinking about it, this self-produced content was incredibly clever from planning to structure.
They attached Drop Out to the negative issue stemming from Han Sion, stoking curiosity.
Those harboring that curiosity flooded into the self-produced content, and using that as an opportunity, they showed off Sedalbaegil’s charm.
That said, the members weren’t trying too hard to appeal, pretending to be cute or cool.
There wasn’t a single piece of directing that emphasized individual cuts; it was ordinary.
Nevertheless, the reason the charm appeal worked properly was because the main content was music.
It was impressive how they showed the live performance without dragging it out.
Their musical skills went without saying.
‘Who planned this?’
While Sedalbaegil’s fandoms shared similar impressions, the commercial that had been praising fresh oxygen right after water came to an end.
- From the entire production staff>
On the returned screen, Drop Out and Sedalbaegil were captured together.
However, Han Sion cleanly stood up and apologized, rendering all the drawn-out hype leading up to this pointless.
[I’m sorry. I spoke carelessly about your seniors’ music and mentioned your activities thoughtlessly. I apologize.]
Xido, leader of Drop Out, upon receiving Han Sion’s apology, shook his head with a smile.
[No. That can happen. As an avid viewer of Narak Detector, I understand the special circumstances.]
-Wow, but Xido is really classy.
-Yeah honestly, a group more popular than Drop Out might appear someday, but I don’t think an idol more fitting as a leader than Xido will.
-What about our Han Leader?
-No way. Even now, he rushed to the front door because he didn’t want to get the forehead flick, then brought up the main point straight away.
-Ah, you’re right lolololol
-No way, is this apology the end?
-Whether it’s a variety show or whatever, they said their song was better than Selfish’s. That’s a fact, isn’t it?
-Yeah, it came out as true on the lie detector.
-No way, for real?
Of course not.
Because Han Sion, after expressing his gratitude to Xido for understanding with a generous heart, opened his mouth again.
[If you don’t mind, may I explain why I thought that way?]
[The reason why Sedalbaegil is better than Selfish?]
[Yes.]
-Yo, shit. The abyss is showing signs again lolol
-Don’t tell me he’s going to analyze every song and explain why Sedalbaegil is better?
-Guys, get a grip. This is real-time streaming, but it’s not a real live broadcast. It’s edited.
-Ah right. I got too immersed. Thx.
-I’m curious what he’ll say.
But Han Sion’s following words were difficult for the general public to easily understand.
[Selfish is a song made by the composer alone, but Sedalbaegil’s song isn’t. First, the one who gave the motif for the song was Onsaemiro.]
[While talking with Onsaemiro, I said a sentence containing a certain nuance, and the song was made from that.]
[Also, the members contributed a lot of ideas during the arrangement process.]
[The genre called tropical house was decided by my friend, Choe Jaeseong. The style of the intro was decided by Gu Taehwan, and thanks to Ion-hyeong, a great pre-hook was born.]
[So from my perspective, I think I had the mindset that the song made with Sedalbaegil had to be better than Selfish, which was composed alone.]
[I apologize once again.]
-????? What kind of nonsense is this??
-So??? If the Selfish composer heard this, it would probably sound like crazy talk, right?
-Isn’t the Selfish composer Xido? Drop Out always self-produces their title tracks.
-Yeah, it’s probably Xido.
-Han Sion really seems to have zero social skills. He’s basically asking for understanding because their song has more meaning, right in front of the composer.
-Really lol. Is he insane?
But it was at that very moment.
Drop Out’s lead vocalist, Day, shook his head and opened his mouth.
[No. From a composer’s standpoint, it’s perfectly reasonable to think that. Rather, we are grateful that you gave us a good song.]
-Hold on.
-What is he saying???
Day continued with a playful expression.
[Actually, we really wanted to meet the composer, didn’t we? Because the song was so good?]
[Ah… I’m sorry.]
[No, it’s fine. It’s because we didn’t know you were a junior idol. If we had known, we wouldn’t have contacted you so persistently.]
-No way???
-Really???
The viewers arrived at the one and only assumption that could follow the flow of conversation.
But it was such an unbelievable assumption that no one could readily type it out in chat.
At that moment, Xido turned the viewers’ assumption into truth.
[The song is so good that all the members are satisfied. How did you happen to make this song?]
-Yo, crazy!!!!!!!!
-Han Sion is the Selfish composer??
-Yo, fuck, I just checked the streaming site and the composer name is ZION.
-Oh my god right. I saw that too. I thought it was Zion.
-That’s...
-Han Sion?
It was a moment in which the entire situation was reversed in an instant.