KBC had one long-standing tradition.
The commute to work.
The “commute to work” that became a hot topic during the third competition had originated at KBC.
It all began with KBC’s practice of having singers enter openly through the front, unlike other broadcasters that secretly brought them in through the parking lot.
No one could say for certain how the “commute to work” culture had started, but the common assumption was that the singers’ bare-faced appearances on their way to work, contrasting with their glamorous looks onstage, had been reported on and attracted the public’s attention.
After that, fans and reporters naturally became increasingly interested in the “commute to work” itself. As K-pop’s popularity soared along with it, reports began appearing in 2012 of fans waiting in front of the KBC building to cheer them on.
Then, in 2013, KBC finally began livestreaming the arrival of singers appearing on its programs in real time, causing the commute-to-work culture among fans to spread even further.
Eventually, for safety reasons, KBC began managing the commute to work directly.
Thanks to that, the “commute to work” took on its current form, with reporters and fans taking pictures in an orderly fashion from behind galvanized metal barricades.
Of course, the commute-to-work culture also meant that singers had to stop by the salon earlier, creating its own share of hardships.
Even the pre-recordings that began at dawn and continued into the morning.
Nevertheless, at six in the morning.
The commute to work was in full swing in front of the KBC building, just as it was every day.
Amid the murmuring crowd.
A black Carnival arrived.
—Kyaaaah!
—Guys!
Cheers and countless shutter sounds rang out.
The van door opened.
And the members appeared, dressed in their everyday clothes.
The sound of shutters filled the space like a downpour.
—One, two, three!
—Hello! We’re SAVEN, Im in seventh heaven!
Since it was their first commute to work, everyone was dressed to the nines.
“Dohee!”
“Dohee! Lee Dohee!”
“Dohee, over here!”
“Dohee, wait a second!”
“Dohee...?”
That would have been the case, if Dohee hadn’t been there in a white hoodie and sweatpants.
***
After making the rounds of the waiting rooms and finishing our greetings.
We finally returned to our own waiting room.
We were having a simple breakfast before the pre-recording.
‘Broccoli... I really don’t want to eat this. Do they at least have some ssamjang...?’
Seoyun unnie suddenly held out her screen to me.
“Hey, they’re calling you the worst dressed today.”
“...?”
There was an article displayed on the screen.
The reporters must have already turned it into a story.
[“I dressed comfortably!” Lee Dohee’s Fresh First Commute to Work]
(Photo) (Photo) (Photo)
(Seoul = News1) SAVEN’s Lee Dohee is attending the pre-recording of KBC2’s “Melody Bank” (Melbank), held at KBC in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 4th.
Wow... She’s pretty today, too.
“But where does it say ‘worst dressed’?”
“You just are the worst dressed.”
...?
“Your face.”
“Yeah, my face is gorgeous.”
“Yeah, that’s my face.”
“Your face, Lee Dohee.”
“Thanks.”
Chaerin unnie covered her face as though embarrassed.
“Guys...”
“What does it matter? It’s just us.”
Just as she said, we never shared our waiting room with another group.
At least not today.
They’d said KBC might throw its weight around as a terrestrial broadcaster, but being number one on the charts really was the best.
Ah, of course, the managers were there too...
But that was only natural.
“That’s right. And if it weren’t for me, who would play with our Dohee?”
“...? I’m the one playing with you.”
“Your face.”
“Yeah, my face is gorgeous.”
Chaerin unnie let out a deep sigh.
“Haa... I wonder how hard it must have been for Naeun unnie.”
Naeun unnie really had suffered a lot because of Chiyo unnie and Seoyun unnie.
It would have been easier if she’d had only members like me.
Meanwhile, Harang unnie, who was eating salad beside us, began fake-gagging.
“Urk... What should I do... I think I have anorexia.”
“Really...? What do we do... Manager!”
Yaeun unnie was so innocent.
“Oh, no... Am I going to waste away like this? Am I... a tragic heroine?”
Of course, Harang unnie’s whole performance was brought to an end by Hana unnie.
“Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and finish your broccoli.”
Having been exposed, Harang unnie started throwing a tantrum.
“Ah, I don’t wanna eat it! I’m not gonna eaaat it!”
“Now, if our Harang keeps whining, should we increase your practice time tonight~?”
“Don’t knooow! Change my roommaaaate!”
Jeez... At her age, she was still fussing over side dishes.
One ought to remain calm and composed, like me.
“Dohee... you’re not eating your broccoli?”
Sera unnie, completely oblivious to the situation, pointed at my lunchbox.
Then Hana unnie stood up.
She strode toward me.
“What? You’re skipping broccoli, one of the world’s ten superfoods?”
Ah.
“I don’t wanna eat it... I’m not gonna eaaat it...”
A piece of broccoli was shoved into my mouth.
“So cute...”
***
—Mpulse (Mwave, Thursday)
—Melody Bank (KBC, Friday)
—Popular Songs (SBC, Saturday)
—Show! Music Center (MBS, Sunday)
Today was the only day of the week when we had no scheduled music show.
Of course, it wasn’t a day off.
There was reality-show filming and choreography practice.
And then.
—Ding!
[SAVEN’s first WE Live!]
[Hello! We’re SAVEN!]
We had our first broadcast on the live app.
Since it was our first live, I felt awkward, embarrassed, and restless all at once.
“It hasn’t started yet, right?”
“Has it started?”
The manager handed us a tablet.
Only then could we see the comments.
“Whoa. Whoa, this is crazy.”
—Yeah, girls, it started lol
—Lol they’re rookies, it’s their first time, they’re so awkward
—Wow, their first live ㅠㅠ
—I love you guys!
—It’s my birthday today. How did you know and prepare such a gift for me ㅠㅠ
—Please tell Junsik to study hard
—Seha
.
.
.
—SAVEN, fighting!
—Junsik, let’s just watch SAVEN~
The comments were flying by.
The number of viewers was increasing frighteningly fast, second by second in real time.
The manager in front of us gave us the OK sign.
Hana unnie led the greeting.
“Yes! Let’s introduce ourselves! One, two, three!”
“““Im in seventh heaven, hello! We’re SAVEN!”””
As soon as we greeted everyone, the comments began increasing faster and faster, until they were moving too quickly to follow with the naked eye.
We’d have to leave the comments for later.
Hana unnie began hosting.
“Then should we introduce ourselves one by one first?”
And so began introduction time.
We greeted the fans in the order we were seated.
Then we followed that up by mentioning our first-week sales record and thanking everyone.
“Our album sales from last Monday through yesterday, Sunday, have been tallied, right? Our first-week sales were...!”
“330,000 copies!”
330,000 copies in the first week.
Of course, the world’s greatest K-pop girl groups had first-week records of 1.5 million copies, while boy groups had records of four million.
Even among top-class girl groups that had been active for several years, there were groups that sold 400,000 copies as a baseline, 600,000 or 700,000 at most, and sometimes even reached the million-selling mark.
So in absolute terms, 330,000 was not an overwhelming figure.
Even so, first-week sales of 330,000 copies for a debut album were, quite literally, unprecedented.
“Waaah~”
“Thank you!”
Of course, thanking the fans who had bought the album was the natural thing to do.
“So what do we do now?”
The problem was that this was where the script ended.
Not that anyone had told her to say it out loud.
But Harang unnie was hopelessly oblivious.
“Hmm... talk about what we’ve been up to? I’ve seen our seniors do that on live broadcasts!”
“What have we been up to besides music shows and sleeping?”
“That’s true? Then... it’s time to read comments!”
And so, with Hana unnie’s natural(?) hosting, comment-reading time began.
The members huddled together, bringing their faces close to the tablet.
Their faces were practically bumping into one another.
They could have just opened WE Live separately on their phones, like I had.
Idiots.
Harang unnie read a comment first.
“Harang, you’re really, really pretty! Ah~ Thank you!”
...?
“I didn’t see a comment like that. Oh!? Dohee, it says you’re the prettiest? Hah, thank you~”
Kim Seoyun pointed at us incredulously.
“Wow... look at them making comments up as a group. Oh? It says Seoyun is the prettiest in the world? I think so too! Thank you~”
—Lol what is with these shameless girls lol
—Are they idols or a girl group lololol
—That’s right, girls, you’re the prettiest lol
—They’re both idols and a girl group;;
Yaeun unnie, who had been watching us carefully, followed suit.
“Gasp. Yaeun is... the cutest of all...! Thank you...”
“Yaeun unnie, I don’t think that one really exists.”
Hana unnie and Sera unnie immediately joined in, backing me up.
“That’s right, Yaeun. I don’t think you really saw that one.”
“Hmm... Maybe you read Sera as Yaeun?”
Yaeun unnie, singled out and attacked from all sides, began bouncing up and down in her seat.
“Nooo... It’s there... I saw it...!”
—Lol Yaeun is freaking adorable
—Is Yaeun the group’s tank?
—Lol Tank Yaeun lol
—Sand ‘Bak’ Yaeun lol
—Please tell Junsik to study hard!
Chaerin unnie read the comments diligently.
“Junsik, study hard!”
—Gasp, Junsik is my father’s name...
—Apparently Junsik is in his forties
—This might become controversial
—Girl-group member speaking informally to an elder;;
“I’m sorry...”
—Please tell Seungjun to do his best too!
“Uh... Mr. Seungjun, fighting!”
—Apparently Seungjun is an elementary school student
—You can speak informally to him
—Lol seriously
—Lol, is this Chaerin’s first taste of live-broadcast comments?
We continued reading comments and making small talk until the manager signaled us.
Before we knew it, nearly forty minutes had passed.
We had a reality-show shoot scheduled next, so it was about time to wrap things up.
“Everyone, unfortunately, I think we have to go now.”
At Hana unnie’s words, the comment section began roiling violently.
—Nooo ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Don’t gooo
—Why are you leaving already ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
—I haven’t even studied for my exam and I’m watching this ㅠㅠㅠ
“It’s a shame, but we’ll be coming to see you more often through live broadcasts and doing our best to communicate with you!”
Chaerin unnie tried to soothe them, but the crying comments showed no sign of stopping.
“Ah! And so that you won’t be too disappointed, we prepared something for the end, right? Right, Dohee?”
Harang unnie’s words came completely out of nowhere.
I played along to comfort the crying viewers.
“That’s right! We prepared something!”
Harang unnie must have prepared something after all.
“And that is!”
Harang unnie pointed at me with both hands.
“Cute maknae Dohee’s aegyo~”
“Huh?”
“Yes!”
“What?”
“Yes!”
Seoyun unnie, her face blooming with laughter, began egging her on.
“Come on, Dohee! You worked so hard preparing this! Applause!”
“““Waaah~”””
The comment section, which had been crying just a moment ago, fell silent.
—Lol, Dohee aegyo, let’s go!
—Unnie, ten seconds until I die of a heart attack ㅠㅋ큐ㅠㅠㅠ
—Show us the baby’s aegyo lol
—Lolol, show us~
...Ah.
***
“Phew......”
Dohee held her tiny fists beneath her chin, having held her breath.
Then she tilted her head slightly and made a childish, lisping sound.
“Dohee랑 da-eum-e tto boneungeoyeyo? Aratjyo?”
[The live broadcast has ended.]
—??? Lolololol
—Lol where did she go?
—Lol, Dohee hit the end button freaking fast lol
—Adorbs lololol
—I feel like kissing her lol