It boasted viewership ratings as high as a regular variety show, which was unusual for something billed as a girl group reality program, and garnered significant attention.
And the teaser revealed alongside the reality show was also building anticipation for Saven's title track, *[Eum (Melody)]*, which they would be releasing in three days.
But Saven wasn't the only one benefiting from this level of attention.
A keyword that was becoming a hot topic right along with it.
The trigger was another commercial that aired alongside the preview for episode 2 as the broadcast was ending.
Text appeared on a black screen, and a wistful acoustic version of JUSTDOL3's title track "Banhaesseo" began to play.
Then the screen transitioned with a fade-in.
Against a backdrop of fluttering confetti and paper scraps, Dohee and Seoyun were weeping and sobbing as they hugged Naeun.
Next were the members of Saven, their eyes turning red as they received the WMMA Rookie Award.
["We're so grateful to our members even though it was a short time. To those who chose us..."]
As the song shifted to something hopeful.
Male contestants appeared, greeting the camera in a pre-meeting room.
["Hello, I'm a trainee who's been training for 1 year and 5 months."]
["8 months."]
["4 years."]
["I'm a 2 years and 6 months trainee (beep---)."]
["I debuted in 2017 with (beep--)."]
["I trained at Paramax for about 2 years."]
Then came the narration of Jintaeseop, a popular freelance announcer who was serving as the MC again this year after last year.
["Chooser-nim, won't you cheer on someone's dream once more? Please choose your boy."]
It was a show that viewers called "Justdol," since it featured men.
A program commonly referred to as "jot-dol."
***
"Ah, so it's airing next week."
"Right? Somehow it already feels like the distant past."
"Dohee, who took care of me at the dorm on the first day... She was so cute..."
"You think I took care of you?"
As the broadcast ended and the commercial for the new season played, some of the members rambled on, reminiscing about last year.
"That's right. I was in the same room with Dohee, Sera, and Seyeon, the four of us. I wonder what Seyeon is up to these days. Harang, do you keep in touch with Seyeon?"
It seemed Hana unni had thought of Seyeon unni, who had been one of the people sharing their room at the dorm on the first day, and asked Harang unni—who was under the same agency, Haru Entertainment—about how she was doing.
"I do, from time to time."
But unlike usual, Harang unni's expression wasn't exactly cheerful.
"Why, did something happen?"
"She just said she's having a hard time as a trainee. I feel bad contacting her for no reason..."
Fellow contestants who had struggled alongside us naturally came to mind when thinking back to last year.
"Right? It's become kind of uncomfortable to reach out. We were all so close..."
The reason I felt a pang of emotion watching the commercial was probably because the contestants who would struggle this year overlapped in my mind with the contestants who had been eliminated last year.
I was holding back because it might feel like mockery if we, who had already debuted successfully, expressed worry.
Still, I missed the unnis.
For some reason, my eyes stung.
"But the fans will watch this a lot too, right?"
"Wouldn't they?"
Separate from my churning emotions, I had a premonition in one corner of my heart that I would suffer being tied to the new season.
Just as we grew wistful thinking back on last year's survival show through the commercial, the viewers would obviously project their emotions onto the new season while recalling the past.
Of course, there would be multiple versions of the commercial.
But this particular commercial gave the impression that they were succeeding us.
Honestly, the broadcast schedule had been blatant from the start.
The former was on Fridays at 9:30 PM.
The latter was on Fridays at 11:00 PM.
It was structured so that viewers who came to watch Saven's reality show would naturally tune in. In other words, they intended to absorb Saven's fandom directly as the viewership.
So even the reason they were filming season 2 so abruptly had been planned.
Of course, from the advertiser's perspective, it made sense.
Because there was no better keyword than Saven to serve as bait to draw in initial viewers.
Last year's season had been a megahit when it aired.
Not only did they debut, but they swept rookie awards, and even at the beginning of this year, they hit it big with an album, recording back-to-back number ones on the music charts.
The problem was that we kept getting tied to them.
If this situation ended after a one-off, it wouldn't be a big problem.
But the longer we were tied together, the worse it was for us.
'Because the risk of losing fans would increase immediately.'
Currently, half of Saven's fandom was female.
Among them, the male fans could be considered a fixed core.
People are generally designed to be attracted to the opposite sex rather than the same sex.
Female fans who had started stanning us could easily start stanning them too.
I picked up my phone and checked the music charts.
That trend was already being reflected to some extent.
—Daily Ranking
▲ 27 [JUSTDOL4 - Dazzling]
The season 4 title track that had been pre-released a few weeks ago along with the contestants' performances.
Even before the main broadcast, the song and stage reactions were rising quickly, clearly showing that they were starting with high interest thanks to the halo effect of season 3.
If they even hit it big amidst all this, it was safe to say fan attrition was almost guaranteed.
'Sigh... Should I just not care?'
Of course, one might think what does it matter since we're disbanding next year.
Since we've already become a top-tier girl group, our mass appeal is solid.
There wouldn't be any change in earnings or daily life.
But this year, our goal is the Daesang.
If the goal was the Daesang, things were different.
We had to be in the spotlight all year round.
Even Shock Entertainment, which had proposed the Daesang as our goal, was skeptical.
It almost felt like the Daesang had been proposed as a pretext to pack our schedules tight in the first place.
'Because in the end, the work we're taking on now is focused on making money.'
The members were busy day by day too, and just doing their best each day seemed to drain their energy.
But I couldn't give up.
There was personal desire too.
But more than anything, since parting ways next year was an inevitable course of events for both the fans and members.
I had resolved to leave good memories so that when we looked back on the past, we could remember ourselves as a once-in-a-generation group.
So every day, I was doing my best to aim for the Daesang, whether the members were aware of it or not.
Of course, the Daesang was an utterly absurd goal for a group that hadn't even reached its first debut anniversary.
-K-Pop's best girl group, 'Coral Blue.'
-K-Pop's best group and an unrivaled icon boy group, NND (Night N Day).
-Na Gangmin, the trot emperor who held the full attention of Korea's middle-aged and elderly.
Those three were dominating the Korean music industry and the charts.
Still, considering Saven's current momentum and the craze surrounding us, it wasn't entirely impossible.
'For one, there's me, still ranked number one in individual brand reputation among girl group members.'
"Why is that Lee Dohee smirking by herself again?"
Because the Daesang wasn't a single award.
First, Artist of the Year.
An award given to the most iconic artist of the year.
In other words, an award given to the most popular singer.
The likely winners for this award had already been narrowed down to two.
NND and Na Gangmin.
To beat those two.
You'd have to stop a passing citizen and ask, "Who is the most popular singer in Korea?"
And hear them answer, "Saven."
Meaning there was no chance.
At the very least, we would need three times our current years in the industry for it to be possible. Or NND would have to get dragged off for military service, and Na Gangmin would have to go on hiatus at the same time.
The second Daesang, Album of the Year.
It was expected to go to either NND or Na Gangmin, just the same.
And for good reason—whenever their albums came out, a lineup phenomenon occurred on the charts, with their title tracks and even their b-sides charting.
Their first-week sales were in the millions too.
Their fandom's firepower was on a different level; we couldn't beat that.
The third Daesang, Record of the Year or World Icon Award.
NND was slated to win this unconditionally.
Because it was literally an award reflecting records and overseas popularity.
'Or maybe, with low probability, Coral Blue could win.'
The last Daesang, Song of the Year.
An award you could receive if even just one song maintained the top of the charts for a long time. In other words, it was an award highly likely to go to a girl group with high public appeal.
—Yearly Ranking
— 1 [NND - Pretty]
▲ 2 [SAVEN - Unsatisfied]
Right now, Unsatisfied (or "Unsetti" as it was commonly called) was ranked second on the yearly chart, so if we could just maintain the top of the daily chart and overtake first place, it was certainly worth a shot.
The problem was that Coral Blue was making a comeback soon.
Coral Blue had never left the top of the yearly chart since debut, so if we got shaken up by being tied to JUSTDOL4 on top of this situation.
So if we faltered even once.
We would miss the Daesang.
"Rahi, are you acting all serious again?"
"It's because of you, because of you."
Kim Seoyun picked up a pillow.
"Did you just say 'you' to me?"
I just felt like enjoying life too.