If you asked whether I liked my sister or not, the answer was obviously the former.
Aside from being my blood relative, my sister was always kind, pretty, and good at everything, making her the pride of our family.
[Older Sister: Doa, big sis is sad today]
[Me: kk]
[Older Sister: If you keep replying with one-word answers, I’m not giving you allowance.]
[Me: Okay]
[Older Sister: I’m not buying you the new Nintendo game, either.]
[Me: Why are you sad today?]
[Older Sister: Because I miss you, Doa ㅠㅠ]
[Me: (Rabbit emoji giving an OK sign)]
"Sheesh..."
Even so, I sometimes sighed, thinking my sister was childish because she was always playing pranks on me.
But I still liked her.
If someone asked me to brag about my sister, I was confident I could talk about her for hours.
Of course, I had never gone out of my way to brag about her.
I had no intention of doing so in the first place.
—I got a Saven album for my birthday from my mom~ Jealous?
—Let’s open the albums! Album unboxing!
—Yay, Lee Dohee photocard!!!
—Whoa, I heard that one’s worth 100,000 won!
Even without me bringing her up, my sister was already an everyday topic of conversation among my school friends.
—But Doa, you really look like Lee Dohee!
—Really?
—Yeah, I think your expressions are similar! And you’re pretty, too!
—I see. Thanks.
More than anything, I hated anything that might become bothersome, which was another reason I kept it a secret.
Regardless, the title of being my sister’s younger sibling filled me with quite a bit of pride.
But there were times when I hated my sister, too.
[Me: So when are you coming?]
[Older Sister: Do you miss your big sis? Hehe]
[Older Sister: But I don’t know ㅠㅠ]
[Older Sister: Maybe in a month or two?]
Since her debut, my sister had claimed she never got any vacation, and the number of times she had come home could be counted on one hand.
That was why I couldn’t help feeling excited on days like today.
"Oppa! Are you dressed? You have to dress nicely!"
"Yeah~ I’m coming!"
A hotel near the concert venue.
Because transportation was inconvenient, our family had booked a place to stay in advance and had been waiting there since the day before. At last, everyone finished getting ready to leave.
"Doa, hold Dad’s hand, please!"
The moment we left the hotel, Dad held out his hand to me.
For some reason, Dad, who was always urging me along, often looked pitiful.
"Fine."
Whenever I held out my hand out of pity, Dad would put on a deeply moved expression.
"Doa, even when you grow up, you have to keep holding Dad’s hand like this, okay?"
"Okay."
It must have been because of my sister.
"Doa, aren’t you hot? Want to get some ice cream on the way?"
"Sure."
The sun we encountered upon leaving the hotel was still blazing, too hot for the beginning of September, the start of early autumn.
"Dohee’s going to be performing in this heat. I should’ve prepared some omija tea and brought it to her in advance."
Mom was worried about my sister, but at least the sky was clear, making it perfect weather for going to a concert.
"You’re happy because we’re going to see your sister’s concert, right?"
I lightly nodded at Dad, who was grinning from ear to ear.
That aside, Mom and Dad looked much more excited than I did.
And so, we headed toward the concert venue with light steps.
The closer we got to the venue, the more rapidly the crowd grew.
"There are so many people here."
"Yeah. I heard all the seats sold out."
Banners hung everywhere.
[Saven 1st Concert 'Link: to Seventh Heaven']
It was my first time at a concert, but the atmosphere was so heated that even the scent in the air had changed, leaving a strong impression on me.
'...This is amazing.'
Not long after we reached the point where the banners came into view, we arrived at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena.
"Doa, there’s your sister! Your sister!"
Photos of the Saven members were displayed all over the venue.
The one that stood out the most was, of course, my sister.
"Yeah, it’s her."
I almost said, “I have eyes, too,” perhaps because I had picked it up from my sister, but I swallowed the words and smiled sweetly at Mom instead.
Mom took out her phone and snapped a picture of my sister before taking my hand this time.
"Do you want to take a picture with Mom in front of your sister?"
"Sure, okay."
"Oppa, come over here, too. Let’s take a selfie with the three of us and send it to Dohee!"
As we posed in front of the poster and took pictures, I began to feel eyes on me.
"Oh my gosh, look over there. Isn’t that kid so cute?"
"Oh my god, she’s freaking adorable..."
At the source of those gazes, two women around college age were chattering away.
"She must’ve come with her parents because she wanted to see the concert. Oh my god!"
"I know, she’s so cute...!"
This was also nothing unusual.
"But doesn’t that kid kind of look like Dohee? Maybe it’s the overall vibe?"
I didn’t mind the attention, but it could become troublesome for no reason.
Once I figured we had taken enough pictures, I tugged on Mom’s hand and spoke.
"Mom, I want to go sit down now. My legs hurt."
"Really? Then let’s go—"
Mom’s gaze locked onto one spot.
"Oh! Doa, do you want to buy some merch with Mom and your sister? Look at that, isn’t it adorable!?"
It was the merchandise booth.
Mom grabbed my hand and quickly led me toward it, visibly excited.
"Sheesh..."
I was certain Mom really was a carbon copy of my sister.
With no other choice, I calmly waited for Mom to finish shopping.
Our house was already filled with my sister’s things. I couldn’t understand why Mom kept buying more.
Of course, Mom simply had the warm desire to collect records of her daughter.
But Doa was still only a fifth-grade elementary school student, too young to understand her mother’s feelings.
Only after Mom had filled both hands with shopping bags did Doa enter the venue, with plenty of time to spare.
The seats reserved for our family were in a special section set aside for invited guests.
Not long afterward, a familiar face came into view, and Doa’s brow furrowed slightly.
"Doa!"
A high school-aged girl ran toward me and hugged me tightly.
"Oh my, U-a! Long time no see!"
It was U-a, whom I had met several times with my sister.
Two more girls followed behind her.
"Hello, ma’am and sir~"
Naeun bowed at the waist in greeting, while—
"Hello, ma’am and sirㅡ"
Chiyo playfully greeted them in Japanese before—
"Hey, Chiyo."
"Kim Chiyo, you have to speak proper Korean and use honorifics in front of their parents."
—being scolded by Naeun and U-a.
"Eh...? Kim Chiyo...? That’s too much... I don’t know Korean very well... I’m not Kim Chiyo, I’m Kimuchiyo..."
Chiyo was strange in her own way, just as much as—or perhaps even more than—my sister.
***
"Wow, there are so many people. Like, so, so many...!"
Kim Seoyun, who repeatedly went to the bathroom whenever she got nervous, must have taken a quick look at the audience. Unable even to catch her breath properly, she exclaimed in an agitated tone.
"Did you take a calming pill?"
Worried that she might have forgotten again this time, I had bought her an entire box in advance.
"Yeah, on an empty stomach before I came."
That was a relief.
"But, unni, are you sure you don’t need to eat anything?"
"Did you eat anything?"
"Just something simple, like a salad."
"I can’t get anything down right now. Whew... Seriously, as soon as this concert ends, I’m going to eat the most delicious meal ever."
During rehearsal, the audience had been kept from entering, so we had only been able to gauge their numbers from the murmuring outside. But now that she was facing the stands packed with spectators, the nerves must have hit her hard.
'Well, it is our first solo concert, with nine thousand people.'
I recalled an article I had seen a few days ago.
[Saven’s First Concert Completely Sells Out All 18,000 Seats Across Two Days]
[Saven Concert Causes Temporary Server Outage]
Of course, not everything beneath the headline of a complete sellout had been good news.
If the area behind the stage was excluded, the Olympic Gymnastics Arena had a maximum capacity of 11,000 people.
But the number of tickets we had sold was 9,000 per day.
—Why is the capacity only 9,000?
└That’s just what companies do lol. Reduce the capacity and jack up the prices to maximize profits.
└It’s true, though. Does it make sense for the starting ticket price to be 150,000 won?
└For real, LE is so crazy about money lol. Big companies are even worse.
└I was about to completely lose my affection for the agency because of what they’re doing, but then I see the girls ㅠ It’s my fault for falling in love with them, sigh ㅠ
Fans had also been furious over the tyranny of LE, the higher-ups at the agency.
"We really have to do well. We need to put on a performance worth at least the ticket price."
That was why the members were even more fired up.
"Yeah. We practiced a lot."
Harang, who had gotten caught playing a game by Hana and then practiced harder than anyone else, looked pale.
"We really... practiced... a lot..."
That was how thoroughly we had prepared.
Not once had we made a mistake with our positioning during rehearsal, and even our eye contact had been perfect.
"By the way, where did Yeeun go?"
"Her? She said she was going to listen to some video—or was it music? Anyway, she went to the bathroom."
"Huh?"
A few minutes later, Yeeun returned, looking brimming with confidence.
"Everyone move! Park Yeeun is coming through!"
Once the members had finished getting ready one by one and gathered in one of the waiting rooms, Hana reached her hand toward the center with a sly grin.
"Then should we all put our hands together? We have to shout the cheer."
I really didn’t want to do this.
"Ah, I told you, this is embarrassing."
"Doing aegyo all the time isn’t embarrassing?"
"Look in the mirror."
"Yeah, I’m Kim Seoyun. A cool-beauty goddess. You’re Lee Dohee, and you’re going to act cute onstage today, too."
"Shut up."
"Information update: you’re doing it tomorrow, too."
...Fuck.
"I think Dohee is cute when she does that..."
...Come on.
In the middle of this, Chaerin placed her hand over Hana’s and spoke.
"Guys, put your hands together before Hana gets annoyed again."
"Hey, Gong Chaerin. When did I ever get annoyed?"
And after Hana’s aggrieved outcry—one that nobody could sympathize with—was met with a moment of silence, hands covered in elaborate nail art gathered in one place.
"One, two, three!"
—Make the heaven wake the Saven! Fighting!
The staff laughed every time we did it.
It was embarrassing and mortifying... but after doing it, it didn’t feel all that bad.
"Forty minutes until the opening!"
Until every empty seat in the audience was filled—
There was less than an hour left.