—Flash on!
With the contestants shooting intense gazes into the camera, every stage came to an end.
-Aaaaaah!!!
-Cha Hun!!!
-Sihwaaaaaaan!!!
-Baekhwiiii!!
And then came the high-pitched voices of female fans, echoing one after another.
“Hey, but he’s pretty good, isn’t he?”
Amid the festival of decibels that made it hard to understand even the person beside you, Seoyun unnie’s voice alone came through clearly.
‘Is this what they call diction?’
“Hey. Can’t you hear me?”
‘If I write a song later, maybe I should have Seoyun unnie rap...’
“Hey! I said, can’t you hear me?”
‘Mm... It might not be bad.’
“5, 4, 3, 2...”
“Yeah. He’s pretty good.”
“Ugh...”
Ignoring Seoyun unnie’s sharp words, I stared at that guy onstage, breathing hard.
Objectively speaking, he was definitely the kind of guy women would like.
Unexpectedly decent singing skills.
Dancing skills that weren’t stiff and clumsy.
And lastly, he had one handsome face.
Damn, that’s annoying.
Coasting on the childhood friend title, ugh.
To be honest, even without the childhood friend title, he probably would’ve been popular.
“Would a big agency like ZY have sent out someone uncompetitive in the first place?”
A rational deduction.
“...? You said he’d be terrible no matter what.”
“I did?”
“Yes.”
“No way.”
“...Sigh. Forget it.”
Once all the contestants came down from the stage, the names in the cheers that had been chanting for them changed.
-Hana! Harang! Chaerin!
-Yeeun, look over here!
-Girls!
They had been calling for us whenever the contestants weren’t around since the live broadcast began.
‘Did they come to see us... or the contestants...’
-Dohee!!! You’re so pretty!!!
Still, I turned my head toward the source of the voice and gave a small wave.
“Yes, that’s me!”
Just then, a grand and tense background track began playing throughout the venue.
—Live broadcast, Just Choose Your Idol Season 4 Final Round!
And MC Jin Taeseop cried out solemnly from the stage.
—We are here at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena, together with ten thousand Choosers in person.
Blue lights shot onto the stage, revealing the contestants all at once.
The suddenly focused attention and the pounding background music were making not only the contestants, but even the viewers feel the tension.
“And the one who got first place amid that tension was Lee Dohee. Me, of course.”
“Aren’t you impressive.”
“I kind of am.”
Kim Seoyun sighed and exaggeratedly clutched her head.
“Haa...”
“Don’t be jealous.”
—And now, all that remains is the final announcement ceremony.
Just as MC Jin Taeseop said, clutching his cue cards.
All that was left today was the announcement of the debut team.
***
Beside me, the MC’s voice rang out thunderously.
“A fierce survival show with ninety-nine trainees! The final ranking chart is right here.”
The contestants, tense to the point of stiffness, were only staring blankly at the ranking seats placed in front of them.
“Who will be the final protagonists to debut, and who will debut in first place? Without delay! We will now begin the final ranking announcement ceremony that will determine the center!”
And I was the same.
My heart felt like it would burst at any moment.
“Ah, there is a delay! Let’s take a short commercial break! Hahaha.”
Only after the cameras briefly turned off and the MC was being booed and jeered by the audience could I finally catch my breath.
“If I get picked today, I’m going to donate once to every god, regardless of religion.”
My mouth started spouting nonsense in an effort to ease the tension.
Cha Hun hyung came over and lightly thumped my chest.
“Wow, Baekhwi, are you humblebragging right now? You’re totally a sure thing. Of course, I’ll donate too, and I’ll even throw in ancestral rites on top of that.”
“Ancestral rites? You’re too irreverent, so you’re eliminated.”
“That’s just how desperate I am...”
But even joking around with the hyungs couldn’t easily calm my heartbeat, not in a situation like this.
‘I just wish it’d end already, whatever happens... Haa...’
-Baekhwi! Let’s debut!!
What helped, at least, were the voices of the fans coming from the audience like that.
I looked down toward the front of the stage and smiled.
And while I was looking one by one at the fans waving my slogans throughout the audience...
Before I knew it, my gaze was drawn to one side as if pulled by gravity.
‘......’
My heart, which had barely calmed down, instantly began pounding without a moment’s rest.
She was there, turned around and waving to the fans.
If I’d seen her face, my heart might have burst.
‘Ah, right.’
It had only been an instant, but afraid she might be affected again for no reason, I naturally turned my head and looked at a fan holding up my slogan.
To be honest, I didn’t even know when I’d started liking her.
She was someone I thought I’d probably vaguely liked since I was five, an age I didn’t even properly remember.
I resolved again that I had to debut.
I waved to the fans and smiled.
***
[Who Is Final 1st Place, Gang Sihwan?]
[The Talk-of-the-Town Show Ends After 3 Months]
[Final Debut Name: “I-NO-US”]
[Under the Same Roof as Seiven, Who Are the Final Debut Members?]
“I told them they should’ve increased staff ages ago if it was going to be like this...”
Manager Oh Hyeonsu was letting out deep sighs.
“Haa... For now, once the boys come in, most of the staff will probably be pulled over that way.”
Manager Dahong unnie’s expression wasn’t bright either.
“Ah, of course Dahong will stay and remain in charge of you girls. Don’t worry about that.”
I had naturally expected that we’d end up under the same roof as the new idol group chosen through Season 4.
Shock Entertainment had been founded for that purpose, and it was the kind of agency that intended to gradually expand in that way.
The problem was that I had, of course, assumed they would hire new personnel dedicated to them.
“Still, I’ll probably end up handling both teams.”
Manager Oh lowered his head deeply, as if apologetic.
“We’re fine, but... won’t your workload increase too much? That sounds so exhausting...”
At my words, Manager Oh Hyeonsu lifted his head, and before long, his eyes had reddened.
“Our youngest... How is your heart this pretty too? I’m someone who doesn’t cry easily, but... I feel like tears are about to come out...”
...Ah, Lee Dohee pretending to be nice was great.
“No, Manager, you still don’t know Dohee? I told you, that’s all acting.”
“Ahem, please don’t slander my sincerity.”
Meanwhile, Yeeun unnie, who had been blinking and staring straight at me, boldly opened her mouth.
“Gasp...! It’s acting...!”
What are you?
“Dohee.”
Sera unnie tugged lightly at my sleeve.
“Act for unnie too...?”
What are you, now?
And I said it wasn’t acting.
“I feel energized thanks to Dohee!”
Ah, maybe it was acting?
“Manager, then are you not hiring any new staff?”
Hana unnie asked.
“Ah, I was about to ask that. As a Jeon Harang leader moment.”
“I find the thought of unnie becoming leader more horrifying than Dohee becoming leader.”
Chaerin unnie once again scolded Harang unnie.
“My feelings...”
The manager swept his gaze over the noisy members once, smiled, and said,
“Of course we’ll hire new staff. It’s just that experienced people at my level—head manager or team leader and above—will be split up. I probably won’t be able to stay with you like before. I’m sorry for being too capable!”
“Wow, Manager, do you have Dohee-itis too?”
“...? Slander beyond all limits. How much must I tolerate?”
“Still, I’ll follow you until the end of this tour, so don’t worry! Let’s work hard and prepare for the rest of the tour too! Fighting!”
“Yes!”
Our meeting ended in a bright mood, with light jokes like that, but I could roughly guess.
The higher-ups at the agency, or the main company above them, had chosen the new group.
Hana unnie and Chaerin unnie, who were quick on the uptake, seemed to have realized it to some extent too.
‘In the end, we only have half a year left...’
They probably hadn’t intended to increase personnel in the first place.
Other agencies also tended to let go of groups with only half a year left unless they planned to hand them a renewal contract.
It was just that Seiven was popular enough to be counted among the top three girl groups, so they didn’t want to be cursed out by fans and were only now hurriedly recruiting.
On top of that, they had witnessed the newly incoming group fill the Olympic Gymnastics Arena to capacity before even debuting, so they had nothing to be disappointed about.
A boy group of that level would probably easily surpass 1.5 million first-week sales too.
Of course, I had nothing to be disappointed about either.
Once we finished the tour and the upcoming award ceremonies, there would really only be a few months left.
Still, there was one thought that hadn’t changed, one that made me hesitate.
The staff members and fans we had grown close to.
And the desire to leave good memories for our unnies.
That was why I didn’t want to just sit back and do nothing.
So I moved my feet and headed to the A&R team.
‘I’ll do it.’
***
In October, Seiven’s news was all about the tour.
[231007 Seiven Singapore Concert Preview]
[231014 Eun Sera Bangkok Concert Preview]
[231021, 22 Yokohama Concert Preview]
Even Chaerin’s birthday party on October 22 was uploaded together as part of the concert behind-the-scenes video.
That didn’t mean they were only overseas.
[Seiven Returns to Korea Gracefully [HD Photo]]
[Seiven’s Lee Dohee, “A Warm Greeting Toward Fans Who Came to Meet Her” - Chosun Photo]
They returned to Korea in between stops during the tour.
But fans had no way of knowing what the members were doing in Korea.
Perhaps because of that, people naturally began appearing in fan communities, expressing concern.
-There isn’t much time left for them now... I’m worried there won’t be any content throughout the tour ㅠ
-Even without looking, it’s obvious those bastards at that tiny agency Shock Ent are taking staff away from Seiven since there’s not much time left and are too busy taking care of I-NO-US or Huggies diapers or whatever to make new content
└fr lol (photo) You can tell how short on staff they are just from the job postings... And I-NO-US has 11 members, so they’re gonna be seriously understaffed, right?
In truth, since the tour behind-the-scenes videos had continued to be uploaded, it was far too early for talk like this to come out. It hadn’t even been a full month in the first place.
But the problem was that the fans had grown used to Seiven pouring out updates every single day.
Of course, behind that had been the members, who had forced their bodies to match their schedules and overworked themselves.
Moreover, with less than half a year left on Seiven’s contract, the fans had no choice but to feel even more desperate.
Even so, out of their last remaining conscience, the fans couldn’t tell Seiven’s members to work themselves to the bone.
So the final solution they came up with was this.
-Should I at least go to an overseas concert?
-Anyone want to go to the Tokyo tour together! Seiven tour ㄱㄱ
-(photo) I already bought tickets ㅠㅠ I have to make memories somehow
└I’m jealous ㅠㅠ Respect for the dedication
└Actually my girlfriend is a Shavenu too, so we’re going to Japan as a couple’s trip and watching Seiven while we’re there, bye lol Yen is cheap, so it’s a huge win
└You bastard
And internally, that was being evaluated as quite a reasonable(?) solution.
But a single day was enough to flip public opinion.
[Seiven November Comeback, Their 3rd Comeback This Year Planned]
Because the comeback schedule had been announced at a timing even the fans hadn’t expected.