The third Sunday of November.
SBC Popular Songs Studio.
Today was the final day.
“Everyone, today marks the end of our promotions!”
WE Live was broadcasting on the screen in front of us.
Since it was the final day of promotions for our debut song, I was overwhelmed by mixed emotions.
Liberation, regret, and pride.
“Shabenu, thank you so much for these three weeks! You’ll keep staying with us from now on too, right?”
Three weeks of promotions had taken a serious toll on us physically.
We had cut our sleep down to the bare minimum.
That didn’t mean exhaustion was all that remained, though.
With ten music-show wins, it was no exaggeration to say we had achieved the best results a rookie group could hope for.
Of course, it had only been possible because we were a project girl group that had started out with an established fanbase.
Or maybe it was because of my visuals…
Either way, there was still one thing I regretted.
We had failed to sweep all three terrestrial networks.
What we had missed was first place on KBC’s Melody Bank.
The reason was the broadcast score, which accounted for a large percentage of Melody Bank’s rankings.
The broadcast score was exactly what it sounded like: points you could only receive by appearing on KBC programs. Since we had been forced to prepare for our debut within the short span of a month, we naturally hadn’t had the time to get any exposure on KBC.
We had squeezed in the occasional radio appearance between prerecordings and live music broadcasts, but it had clearly been insufficient.
Still, considering our ten wins—
Even after our promotions ended, we took first place on Mpulse once more, claiming the top spot for three consecutive weeks. We had achieved undeniably excellent results, so I had no lingering regrets.
Now that our promotions were over…
Harang unnie spoke in a serious, low voice.
“We’re fucked.”
She was right.
We were fucked.
“Harang, let’s filter your words a little, even in everyday life.”
Yes, we did need to filter what we said.
Since you never knew when or where you might make a verbal blunder, you had to speak prettily at all times.
Of course, I was an elegant person who didn’t swear in everyday life.
“Unnie Hana, I’m telling you, we’re fucked!”
“You’re hopeless when it comes to words.”
“Fucked. Hana angry.”
Anyway, we were fucked… No, ruined. That much was true.
It was already the end of November.
In other words, it was the end of the year.
Year-end events were something idols couldn’t avoid.
The three major music award shows.
The WMA (Watermelon Music Awards).
The MWMA (Music Wave Music Awards).
And the Golden Disc Awards.
The SBC, KBC, and MBS music festivals.
Various other award ceremonies, including the Asian Artist Awards.
There were more year-end stages ahead than we could count.
And naturally, we had to prepare something different for every single one of them.
Stages featuring various arrangements of our title track, “Fallen for You,” and our debut song, “Rose Nebula”; joint performances with other groups; special stages covering songs by senior artists—there was a mountain of work to prepare.
In the end, whether we were promoting or not, cutting down on sleep was unavoidable.
And WMA was starting this very week… Phew…
That wasn’t even the end of it.
There were also commercial shoots to fit in wherever we could.
First, there were group advertisements for contact lenses and outdoor wear.
The agency had already sifted through everything, keeping only the most lucrative advertisements in consideration of our busy schedules, so we couldn’t exactly turn them down.
Then there were the two of us who had received individual solo advertisements.
Me and Sera unnie.
I would be advertising body lotion, while Sera unnie would become a hair model.
Since they were individual schedules, we could probably make time for them somehow, but they would still be exhausting.
In truth, individual advertisements had been the inevitable result according to the rankings.
An entertainment news article posted online two days ago.
[Sei7n’s Lee Dohee, Girl Group Individual Brand… November]
The Korean Corporate Reputation Research Institute analyzed brand big data from 554 individual girl-group members through November 18 in order to analyze girl-group individual brand reputation…
.
.
.
The brand reputation index was analyzed.
1st: Sei7n’s Lee Dohee
2nd: Coral Blue’s Rira
3rd: Sei7n’s Eun Sera
4th: Three M’s Minseo
5th: Coral Blue’s Bini
6th: Sei7n’s Jeon Harang
7th: Sei7n’s Kim Seoyun
8th: Coral Blue’s Jina
9th: Pastel Love’s Vita
10th: Sei7n’s Gong Chaerin
11th: Sei7n’s Kwon Hana
12th: Sei7n’s Park Yeeun
13th: Pure Girl’s Lucy
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.
.
The dormitory had been filled with a festive atmosphere on the day the individual girl-group brand reputation rankings were released.
I brushed my hair back with one hand and walked with flair.
“What? You’re asking if first place in the girl-group individual brand reputation rankings wasn’t Lee Dohee?”
The key point was my bright, innocent smile.
“Yes, that’s right~ An idol with an angelic beauty! That’s me~ Hahot!”
Kim Seoyun looked at me with an extremely displeased expression.
It was a scene I felt like I had seen somewhere before.
Was this déjà vu?
“Oh my? Number Seven! Aren’t you Ms. Kim Seoyun?”
“Ah, I seriously hate this. Why is she in first place?”
Seventh place was actually an extremely high ranking too.
And then there was this person smiling…
“Dohee, congratulations on first place. We’re on the same team, aren’t we?”
It was an obviously self-protective fake smile.
“Ms. Jeon Harang in sixth place? Puhahaha.”
“……Lee Dohee. One day, you will definitely pay the price.”
Hana unnie gave me a little nod from her seat, as if to say, “Just you wait.”
“Dohee, are you going to tease me for being in eleventh place too?”
Of course, I had no intention of messing with Hana unnie.
“Oh, come on. Our leader unnie is obviously number one in my heart.”
“Right? Ah, my cute youngest! There’s no way I could not adore you.”
Hana unnie pulled me into a tight hug.
Though, I’d thought this every time, but this unnie really seemed like a C cup.
Equal to mine, or perhaps even larger.
“What about me…?”
“Twelfth place.”
“That’s too meeean…”
Chaerin unnie.
“You know you’re number zero in my heart, right?”
“Sure, sure.”
I couldn’t tease her, nor did I have any desire to.
“Heheh, Dohee, what about me?”
“You and I are a one-two punch.”
“Hehe, I like that!”
It was a festive atmosphere.
At least for me.
***
“Ah! The CSAT is finally over!”
Hyunwoo, a third-year high school student who had just finished taking the CSAT, was overwhelmed by the feeling of freedom.
Hyunwoo, a devoted listener of , and his classmates had endured their grueling lives as exam takers by chatting during breaks and passing around behind-the-scenes photos and performance videos.
He was also the kind of student who uploaded pictures of the members to the exam-taker forums and refreshed every day.
As such a passionate fan, the first thing he booked as soon as the CSAT ended was a ticket to the WMA festival.
He wasn’t going to take the essay entrance exam, either. All that remained was to go wild and have fun.
Naturally, his anticipation and excitement for the year-end stages had reached their peak.
The problem was—
“Damn, it’s fucking cold.”
“Endure it through sheer grit!”
Winter in Korea, not long after the CSAT ended, was no less brutal than Siberia.
‘Coming to Gocheok Sky Dome in this weather is a bit much.’
I wondered if the members were cold.
Even in the middle of this, I was worried about the members.
I seemed to have fallen in far too deeply.
“Thank you!”
The indie band’s performance ended, and all the lights went out.
Perhaps because the previous stage had been decorated with brilliant lighting, the darkness seemed even deeper by comparison.
In the blackened space, only the word ‘SAVEN’ appeared on the electronic screen.
At last, it was time for SAVEN’s stage.
The intro began playing on the screen.
The front gate of a school I had seen countless times during the day appeared.
‘Ah, that’s the school from the title-track music video.’
Then, in an instant, the school became shrouded in night.
Along with the clicking sound of dress shoes, feet could be seen walking through the school in the dead of night.
The feet entered a classroom.
It was the exact same classroom from the music video.
Written on the blackboard were the words: ‘SAVEN IS WAKEN.’
The owner of the feet, Dohee, walked over to the window and finally looked through the telescope.
And the view inside the telescope—
It was pointed at Gocheok Sky Dome.
The fans’ swaying light sticks glittered like starlight.
Then, on the screen, a gigantic whale emerged between the stars.
The ceiling resembled a water’s surface illuminated by sunlight.
The venue became a place impossible to distinguish as either outer space or underwater, with dark light blending together with rippling light.
At the beginning of the dazzling stage, which used augmented-reality technology, gasps of admiration escaped from all around the venue.
“Whoa…”
“Wow… That’s insane…”
Then the screen returned to the stage.
Gong Chaerin could be seen swimming through outer space, through the sea.
In reality, she was lying on the floor and performing elegant movements with fluid gestures.
The ripple-patterned lights shining across the stage floor, along with animations of fish swimming through the water—
The lines of Gong Chaerin’s body spread softly, as though meeting resistance underwater, creating the illusion that she was gliding through the sea.
The stage zoomed in. Two members approached Gong Chaerin from either side with their arms extended. When Gong Chaerin grabbed their arms and pulled them in, two more members approached. Then two more.
At last, every member appeared on the screen.
One by one, the members kicked their feet as though rising to the surface.
The lighting on the floor changed from blue to the color of the sky.
They rose from the sea into the sky.
Then the sky-colored light became the Milky Way.
The members lay with their heads together, facing seven different directions against the backdrop of the Milky Way, forming a star.
White lights illuminated the members.
The brightest first-magnitude stars in the Milky Way.
Then, as though a supernova had exploded from the center of the members—
The lights instantly burst out in all directions with blinding intensity before the stage plunged into darkness.
Before the audience could even voice their admiration for the visually stunning intro performance, the opening notes of “Rose Nebula” rang out.
The sound of bass and sirens.
When the lights came on, the members, arranged in a seven-person formation, began a more intense synchronized dance than usual, the powerful cheers echoing through the venue serving as their signal.
***
[These Sei7n girls are fucking good lol]
Is this the best-case scenario for an audition program? LOL
They’re lacking nothing, from visuals to talent. Seriously.
More than anything, I applaud the production.
The stage was fucking delicious lol
-For real, holy shit, they absolutely tore up the stage.
-They’re clearly young girls, so why are they this cool? LOL
└“Fallen for You” was just cute lol Dohee’s facial expressions as center were insane.
└For real, it wasn’t a rebellious vibe today—it was just pure girl crush, and then they hit us twice with the cute “Fallen for You” stage lol
[Why Sei7n is the greatest girl group of all time.eu]
First, three aces carefully selected from the Big Four agencies.
Jeon Harang, Gong Chaerin, and Eun Sera.
Kim Seoyun and Lee Dohee, miraculous members produced after a major top-tier agency ground them down and honed them to perfection.
And finally, Kwon Hana and Park Yeeun, members who beat out all the major agencies to make their debut.
(Group photo of the members)
It would be weird if they weren’t good lol
-For real lol They’re a girl group that shattered rookie records.
-Listening to “Fallen for You” makes me think of this summer, and seriously… it was summer.
-This is what a girl group is lol
As one of Korea’s biggest music award ceremonies, the WMA had drawn the attention of countless viewers.
The seven members, who had overcome fierce competition to debut, put on an impressive performance and once again caught the attention of a large number of viewers.
In this favorable atmosphere, the fans enjoyed the festival with more happiness than they could have asked for.
-??? Pure Girl?
-What the hell is SSSN???
-No, don’t fuck with me.
-Why is Pure Girl winning Rookie of the Year???
-Ah, WMA’s causing another shitshow lol
-Is WMA starting this again? LOL
In the end, they exploded in anger.