Late at night on Sunday, September 24, after the second day of SAVEN’s domestic concert had come to an end.
The fansite master returned home and collapsed face-first onto her bed, still fully dressed.
“Haah... I’m exhausted...”
The fansite master was experiencing a strange sense of emptiness.
It was because she had been unable to adjust to the drastically changed mood inside and out.
The explosive sound of the venue’s massive speakers.
The cheers of nearly ten thousand fans.
The members’ voices reverberating throughout the venue.
After being in a vast, open space filled with dopamine, returning to a quiet place of her own, enclosed by walls on all four sides, created an internal dissonance she simply couldn’t control.
In fact, the moment right after a concert was often cited as one of the situations in which fans quit being fans.
And since the fansite master had attended both days of the concert and poured out just as much energy as the members, her sense of depletion was well above average.
‘Still, the girls must be feeling the same way... I have to stay strong...’
But she had absolutely no regrets.
The fansite master reached into the shopping bag beside her and pulled out her camera.
‘Wow... These came out really well.’
The data inside proved all the exhilaration she had felt.
She flipped through the album, looking over the photos. She should have rested, but unable to contain the passion boiling up inside her again, she eventually turned on her computer.
Then she quickly uploaded the data from her camera without retouching it.
‘To begin with, this face doesn’t need any retouching...’
==================
[SAVEN Seoul Final Concert Lee Dohee Preview]
(Photo of Dohee playing the piano) (Photo of Dohee acting cute while poking her cheek) (Photo of Dohee being held by the older members) (Photo of Dohee crying)
Shocking... The Ultimate Idol Is Real
#230924 #SAVEN #LeeDohee #BabyBunny #Dohee
==================
Every photo was beautiful, but if she had to choose her favorite among them—
the final concert on the second day.
In other words, a photo of Dohee from just a few hours earlier. Even though she had lifted her head to keep herself from crying, tears had welled up until she finally burst into sobs as if she were utterly heartbroken.
She was so beautiful while crying, like the heroine of a movie, that even the fansite master, who was a woman herself, felt her heart flutter.
“That really was insane...”
Naturally recalling what had happened a few hours earlier, the corners of the fansite master’s mouth split into a grin.
Since it was the second day and the final concert, the fans had prepared an event different from the one on the first day.
During a talk-show game, even though it wasn’t yet time for the fan song, the instrumental began playing, and the fans started singing the fan song in unison before the members could.
A fan song that hadn’t even been officially released yet.
A song that had only been revealed the day before.
If nine thousand fans sang that fan song before them—
there was no way it wouldn’t reach the members’ hearts.
‘Especially for Dohee and Chaerin. Since they composed the song themselves, they must have been so moved.’
The result was a photo of Dohee crying her heart out.
The one fortunate thing for Dohee was that the other members had also ended up with tearful eyes and cried.
- I love how she’s overflowing with maknae energy... She’s such a baby ㅠㅠ
└ Ye-eun cried less than usual this time, though lol
- I shouldn’t say this, but she’s the prettiest when she cries. What do I do? ㅠㅠ
└ Are you a pervert? lol
- I thought she wouldn’t cry because she didn’t cry when they won the Rookie of the Year award.
└ Exactly ㅠㅠ She only cried once, when Naeun was eliminated after the debut group was announced.
└ Seoyoon just posted something in real time on Instagram, and apparently Dohee cried again when she met Naeun after the first concert ended lol
└ LOL what? So she was a crybaby after all.
└ But half of what Seoyoon says is lies and half is truth, so she definitely cried too and only wrote about Lee Dohee crying.
└ LOL for real, what’s with you being such a Seoyoon expert?
- They went straight to the Gymnastics Arena for their first concert? I would’ve cried too.
- A princess showing off her cute tricks♡
Unfortunately, since Dohee had cried the hardest, the title of crybaby ended up belonging to her.
“Come to think of it... Should I check out the community’s reactions?”
Having finished reminiscing, the fansite master quickly shook off her exhaustion, regained her energy, and entered a K-pop community.
Even though several hours had passed since the final concert ended, the message boards were still ablaze with SAVEN-related keywords.
[The fan chant was so moving]
[I went to SAVEN’s concert]
[SAVEN’s concert screen today showed Sera ㅠㅠㅠ]
[The prettiest outfit at SAVEN’s concert today]
[Wow, are these guys really rookies? The legendary survival-show idols?]
[I wrote down the lyrics to “All Kinds of Stars” by hand. The lyrics are seriously so beautiful...]
Entering the Olympic Gymnastics Arena as a girl group was a special achievement accomplished only once in two years, so it had drawn enormous attention from the very beginning. The current reaction was only natural.
As she looked around the community, she found discussions on every topic imaginable: the unit stages, the self-composed fan song, the members crying, and the different solo-stage lineups on the first and second days.
[SAVEN’s “Gong Chaerin” and “Lee Dohee” composed the fan song “All Kinds of Stars,” with lyrics written by the members—expert evaluation]
Just as she was about to check the reactions to the fan song—
her eyes were drawn to a post receiving overwhelmingly more attention above it.
[Finale stage postponed by two days due to Chuseok, to be held with ten thousand audience members at the “Olympic Gymnastics Arena on Sunday, September 31”]
[Finale stage admission tickets completely sold out]
On the female-oriented K-pop community, it was generating more than twice as much buzz as SAVEN.
[Does this mean SAVEN might go to the Gymnastics Arena again to cheer them on, since they were contestants from the previous season?]
***
[SAVEN’s Jeonha performing a deep bow on the airport floor out of nowhere, while Gong Chaerin looks flustered and says, “You only have to bow like that on Lunar New Year...” [HD Photos]]
[SAVEN departs for Manila for their first overseas tour]
[The trendiest idols, SAVEN, have a nonstop schedule even during Chuseok]
The fourteenth day of the eighth month according to the lunar calendar.
Thursday, September 28, the day before Chuseok according to the solar calendar.
We headed for Manila, the Philippines.
“Ah, Mom was really looking forward to seeing whether I’d come to Busan for Chuseok.”
Seoyoon unnie was full of excitement despite her grumbling.
“Can’t be helped. It’s our schedule~ Let’s go eat something delicious in the Philippines!”
And for good reason. Our first overseas tour was beginning with the Manila concert to be held two days later.
Of course, I had no time to chatter excitedly.
“What’s our maknae doing now?”
Even while patting the members, Hana unnie looked over at me and asked.
“Studying the Philippines.”
I opened the book and murmured softly.
-Hmm... The Philippines doesn’t have Luna Day Chuseok. Instead... November 1 is All Saints’ Day...
I was studying in advance for SAVENUEs in the Philippines.
‘I’m such a damn professional idol... So cool...’
“Maybe people who read books are more sensitive. That must be why you cry so much. You cry buckets~”
...How did you get there?
***
- 230930 Manila concert preview (photo)
- It’s been... one week... since I last saw SAVEN moving in person... This is hard... Turn on WE App...
└ Excuse me, they had their Seoul concert last week.
└ I don’t know about that.
└ They even went on WE App after the concert ended.
└ I don’t know about that either. That was ages ago.
└ And “Choose Your Idol” is airing today.
└ Huh? They were in Manila yesterday, and already?
└ Yeah, apparently they’re going straight there after arriving in Korea.
As the community post had said, after finishing our Manila concert the day before, we had to return to Korea and head to the Olympic Gymnastics Arena.
Of course, we had to stop by the salon first.
Thanks to that, an already tight schedule became even more rushed.
“Dohee, what should I do for you today? I’ll do anything!”
“Then please do it like a senior. Completely like a leader.”
“Hmm... Challenge accepted!”
Strangely, even our makeup took a little longer than usual that day.
“This isn’t easy... Should I go with smoky makeup...?”
“...Just make it light, please.”
After finishing our styling, we traveled to the Gymnastics Arena by car.
As soon as we climbed into the van, Team Leader Oh Hyeonsu handed us our scripts.
“Girls, make sure you memorize these, okay?”
Normally, we would have received the scripts earlier, but since all the focus had been on the concert schedule, we were only getting them now.
The lines were probably meant to fill the talk segments between the stages of the finale and buy some time.
“Ten thousand Chusers have come to the Olympic Gymnastics Arena. Wow, the contestants must be incredibly nervous too. Okay, I can memorize that in no time. It’s just one line.”
Harang unnie quickly read through her part of the script.
“Come to think of it, they’re using the Gymnastics Arena too. What a coincidence.”
Sera unnie answered her.
“Yeah, but you’re only realizing that now?”
“That just shows how focused I was on the concert. This is crazy, seriously.”
It did seem crazy.
“We had three thousand people at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium last year...”
Anyway, Harang unnie innocently called it a coincidence.
But if it was the “Choose Your Idol” PD and Mwave that I had seen—
there was no way it was a coincidence.
They had definitely planned it.
It was easy to infer, considering they had used noise marketing by pairing Baek Hwi and me together from the moment the show was launched.
In fact, thanks to that, the ratings had skyrocketed in the early stages, bringing us all the way here.
Moreover, holding the finale at the same dome less than a week after our concert was clearly intentional.
It had probably been decided as soon as SAVEN’s concert schedule was finalized.
And the reason was probably to create this sort of impression:
‘SAVEN only managed to fill the Olympic Gymnastics Arena after scoring a triple hit. But this show is a mega-hit among mega-hits, so it can fill the Olympic Gymnastics Arena with just its finale stage.’
Of course, anyone with even a passing interest in idols would laugh at comparing male and female idols on equal footing.
But the general public, who paid little attention to idols, only looked at the numbers.
And soon, we arrived at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena.
That familiar place was—
—Kyaaaaaaah!!!
—Waaaaah!!
Truly packed with female fans.
‘They even got these ten thousand people to pay for their tickets...’
Of course, the tickets had been relatively inexpensive since this wasn’t a full-scale concert. But the important point was that every seat had sold out.
I had grown accustomed to the idol industry, but only then did I truly feel the power of male idols—and realize just how much their selling power was worth.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘If I were a man, would I have become an idol?’
Probably not.
And yet, at that moment, I found myself envious of male idols and wishing I were a man.
‘It’s men versus women, but aren’t I better...?’
Even though I knew from experience that Season 3 surpassed Season 4 in both buzz and general popularity, I felt jealous of them for filling ten thousand seats already simply because they were male idols.
But jealousy could sometimes become a driving force.
Because a new ambition had taken root in my mind.
‘Someday, I’ll surpass not only male idols, but Coble and even NND. No matter what.’
‘Since I’ve started, I might as well become the best.’
And at that moment, the MC’s voice rang solemnly through the speakers.
—Choose your idol! Just Choose Your Idol, Season 4! I’m MC Jin Taeseop, and I’ll be accompanying you all the way to the end of this magnificent journey! It’s great to meet you!