Although the members had grown more accustomed to the stage and developed firmer control over their pacing through their previous concert and tour, they were drenched in sweat and breathing heavily.
They had just performed the title track “I Fell for You” and several B-sides in succession, more intensely than usual, following the opening.
─Then, let’s all greet everyone first!
─I’m in seventh heaven. Hello, we’re Saven!
As though resonating with their leader Hana’s energetic lead and greeting chant.
ㅡWaaaaaa!
The audience erupted into enthusiastic cheers.
─There are so many things we want to say right now, but let’s hold back for the moment! Shall we start with our maknae, Dohee, and have her introduce herself?
─Of course. As a maknae who’s basically the leader and a very polite Confucian girl with excellent manners, I should greet everyone first. Right?
Dohee looked around at the members, seeking their agreement.
─Well, judging by the way you treat your older sisters... Tsk.
─I-I’m not a Confucian girl! You’re always treating me like a little kid...!
Naturally, she did not receive the answer she wanted.
─No, Dohee... she really is a Confucian girl...
Except for one person.
─Ah, whatever, whatever. Fine!
Dohee took one step forward at the center of the stage.
And the cheers of the “SavenU” came bursting out hotter than ever today.
Dohee hesitated slightly at the resounding noise, then broke into a bright smile and waved her hand.
─Yes, I’m Lee Dohee, the maknae who wants to become the leader at the top of the pecking order, but unfortunately is still the youngest. Hello!
While Dohee waved her hand incessantly, the members casually fixed their hair and drank bottled water.
The other members then introduced themselves one after another.
─Okay, I say Harang! You say Rang? Ah, wait, I got my words tangled. Again, again!
When Harang stepped forward, a noticeably louder cheer burst from the audience compared to those for the preceding members.
─I say Ha! You say Rang! Here we go!
The fans laughed that Harang was still doing this even on the final day, but followed her request.
─Ha!
ㅡRang!
─Ha!
ㅡRang!
ㅡGood, good! As expected, our Shavenu are the best!
When Jeon Harang hopped around in every direction and sent heart gestures with her hands, the fans responded by waving their light sticks wildly.
Thanks to that, Chaerin, who was next, was having the time of her life.
Because of the pressure.
─Ah, I can’t do things like that.
─Why can’t you? Let’s show them what Gong Chaerin’s got! You prepared something, didn’t you?
─When did I prepare anything? It’s just a greeting!
─Gasp, was that really just a simple greeting to you? In front of twenty thousand fans!?
Harang always had to say something that fanned the flames at times like this. Chaerin shot her a resentful look, and her face appeared on the big screen.
Laughter erupted from all around at the duo’s banter.
A moment later, Chaerin stepped forward as if she had made a great decision, and encouraging cheers poured out.
ㅡWaaaaa!
However, Chaerin’s expression grew even more rigid.
─Ah, I can’t do it when you put pressure on me! I don’t know, forget it! Hello, I’m Gong Chaerin! Gong Chaerin!
Now that she had squeezed her eyes shut tight, the fans burst into even louder cheers and laughter.
The members in the back were laughing hysterically as well.
By the time they finished their greetings, the members had cooled down somewhat and calmly recited the lines they had prepared.
─All right! Welcome to our monumental solo concert at Gocheok Sky Dome!
ㅡWaaaaaaaaa!
But Seoyun suddenly put on a downcast expression.
─But there’s a very serious problem.
While the fans looked puzzled by her unexpected appearance, the members ran out to the center of the stage again, leaving Seoyun behind, despite having only just drunk water and cooled down.
─We’re going straight into another stage without any time to rest! Hey! Come on!
And Seoyun ran after them a moment later.
At the same time, lively brass instruments filled the concert hall.
It was the beat intro of “Rhapsody,” rearranged by Dohee and Chaerin.
The members settled into their positions at the center and began chatting with one another, as if recreating the music video intro of “Rhapsody.”
They actually chatted, making it clear that this was a stage, that these were live microphones.
─I heard Saven prepared a lot of stages that can only be seen at today’s concert?
─A whole lot! We filled three hours!
─Hmm... But we can’t just show them to you... We need a little more enthusiasm?
─Shouldn’t the cheers be starting by now!?
The fans, filled with anticipation, raised a tremendous roar that echoed throughout the venue.
And in response, as the instrumental intro ended, the members sharply turned their heads toward the audience and began the choreography for “Rhapsody.”
「The situation’s serious, when I’m with you
But I know there’s such a thing as fate」
They rolled their shoulders to the rhythm.
Threw out their arms.
Moved with nimble footwork in time with the beat.
At times, they stopped abruptly, signaling a change in the rhythm.
「Baby, perhaps we’re a twisted fantasy
An adventure that still hasn’t ended
But we’re still side by side」
All seven of them continued the lively, exhilarating girl-crush hip-hop choreography.
The dances, matched to the song’s bright progression and festive nighttime atmosphere, were so enjoyable to watch that they naturally brought smiles to one’s face.
It truly was a festival, not a funeral.
* * *
The moment the stage went dark, the backstage area where the members hurriedly ran down was no different from a battlefield.
I sat in a chair and leaned back.
I was breathing far too hard.
Someone patted me on the shoulder.
It seemed to be one of the staff sisters asking whether I was all right.
“Want an inhaler?”
I lifted my upper body.
“I-I’ll be okay if I rest a little, but—huff...”
All the members except Hana were already using inhalers.
Then I should use one too.
There was no point pretending to be tough.
“Yes, yes. Please.”
I nodded and put on the oxygen mask.
Honestly, I didn’t feel like it was helping much.
Still, it had to be better than doing nothing.
In the meantime, I felt someone wiping my face with a cloth.
“Dohee, your clothes!”
The stylists pulled apart the Velcro that had been temporarily holding our costumes together.
Then they quickly brought me a new outfit.
Everyone moved frantically.
It hadn’t originally been supposed to be this hectic.
But all of this had been planned in advance.
Because it was the final concert.
The mindset had been that even if the set list was a little demanding, even if we were out of breath and exhausted, we should give it a try.
It was only two days. There was no way we couldn’t endure it.
Instead, the members conserved their energy by conserving their words.
“Time to go up!”
Even so, before stepping onto the stage lift again, we each shouted our chant once at the top of our lungs.
ㅡLet’s go! Make the heaven, wake the Saven!
Strictly speaking, this too was part of the set list—the final performance belonging only to us.
* * *
The members came out to the extended stages at intervals and enjoyed the concert together with me.
The moments we spent with the fans kept us moving without pause.
The concert remained bright and exhilarating.
And interspersed throughout the set list were solo and unit stages where the members could rest in between.
Hana and Harang were the first to perform.
True to their name, the Haha duo—normally the two members who laughed the most—appeared in completely different forms.
The song they performed in matching casual gray suits was a provocative co-ed dance number.
Without overtly appealing to their sexiness, the two still brought out a subtle sensuality to perfection, heating up the concert hall.
Although Seoyun and Yeeun were considered part of the vocal line, they covered a dance-pop song.
Saven’s choreography had never been easy, and Seoyun, who had always been good at dancing, had developed even more beautiful lines. Yeeun’s skill, in particular, had grown beyond comparison to when she first started.
Together, they put on a highly polished performance.
Chaerin, who was widely praised by the fans as the best dancer, unexpectedly appeared with an electric guitar strapped over her shoulder.
The fans knew Chaerin played guitar, but this was their first time seeing her perform with one, and their hearts fluttered.
Then she revealed a solo song she had written herself.
Though it was an electric guitar piece, the song was built on a simple folk rhythm. It was easy to listen to without being complicated, and pleasant in its own right, infused with her own sensibility and emotions.
As every member performed a solo stage showing an image the fans had never seen before, their anticipation rose without limit.
And last came Dohee and Sera’s turn.
White lights shot across the stage, and fog poured down.
The screen at the very center split apart and opened.
A roar of cheers erupted as if the venue were going mad.
Although every member had shown them a unique unit or solo stage,
the stage the fans still wanted from Dohee was only one thing.
The piano.
Of course, Dohee, unaware of the fans’ needs, had no intention of doing that.
-This time, I’m really going to show them a male dance song.
-Dohee, the response to your piano stage last time was really good. Should we do that again?
-Ah, I said I didn’t want to!
-Okay, Dohee’s doing piano~
That was also one of the reasons she had once again resolved to become the leader.
Still, with every member showing a new side of themselves, she felt that simply playing the piano as before would be a little disappointing. In the end, what she chose was—
Sera sitting perched atop the piano.
The two of them appeared on the big screen, facing each other.
Every member was beautiful and cute.
But the combination of these two, who were both called representative visuals of the fourth generation—
‘Holy crap, this is insane.’
‘They’re going to part like this...? Should I just die?’
‘This is paradise.’
Their mere appearance drew gasps from the audience.
Then, accompanied by nothing more than Dohee’s piano accompaniment, the two sang a serenade together.
It was a tranquil, emotional stage dedicated to the fans.
The joyful performances that had allowed no time to rest vanished for a moment.
When Dohee’s beautiful playing and the two voices layered together to create a melody,
when the eyes they had exchanged throughout the performance turned toward the fans,
the emotions conveyed made the fans, who had been vaguely forgetting about the impending farewell, realize that the concert had reached its final stretch.
* * *
─Let’s sit down here for a moment and talk.
─Wow, that sounded exactly like something my mom says before scolding me.
We chatted with forced cheerfulness.
─Harang must have gotten scolded a lot.
─Yeah, you too, Dohee!
─But I was a model student, so I never had anything like that happen?
─What are you talking about? Your mother already officially announced that she had scolded you plenty herself.
─Ah.
We sat down on chairs onstage.
Now only the final song remained.
But the encore was still to come.
It was still okay to be a little all right.
─We’re about to perform our final song, Shavenu.
Hana took the microphone.
─A great many people helped us get to this stage. I feel like I’m copying Dohee’s award acceptance speech somehow, heehee.
─That’s plagiarism.
─Be quiet. Anyway, it would have been impossible without all of you. Thank you, truly, truly. We have nothing but happy memories.
We put off our final remarks.
If we said them now, we might cry before we even sang.
─Did you have fun?
Perhaps knowing how we felt—
ㅡYeeeeeeeees!!!
The response was louder and more powerful than ever.
─Then, we’ll perform the final title track, “A New Day,” which we’re revealing for the first time today.
An acoustic guitar accompaniment rang out.
The soft melodic intro came to an end.
Seoyun’s gentle vocal delivery spread through the air, accompanied by the trembling of her breath.
Chaerin met each person’s gaze one by one and smiled.
Harang, who had been waving her hands, now held her breath and continued singing.
Yeeun gripped the microphone with both hands and sang, pressing her emotions firmly into every word.
Hana lowered her head while singing.
Sera began crying openly.
「As we spend the day we shared happily
On the new day that comes
Sometimes anxiety would wrap around me
What did I look like back then?
What did you think when you looked at me?
The moments we laughed together
The road we walked while hiding our fear
Were you perhaps as anxious as I was?
When the sun rises, we’ll no longer be here
Because there is no such thing as forever
But what does it matter? When our eyes meet
We have no thoughts of what comes next
Don’t cry in the bright morning
I’ll comfort you by becoming rain
I’ll embrace you warmly by becoming sunlight
I’ll always shine for you by becoming a star
I’ll become a new day
That keeps our story safe
Will you become one too?」
I tried to sing calmly as I carefully took in the sight of every member and every part of the audience.
Then I saw the card-section event the fans had prepared.
The words filling the fourth floor of Gocheok Sky Dome.
And tears fell, one after another.
The sound of sobbing echoing throughout all of Gocheok Sky Dome—
I felt there would never be another time in my life when I would hear so many people sobbing at once.
And I felt I would never forget it for as long as I lived.
* * *
After the final performance, the members left the stage.
In the vast concert hall, a dim encore chant began to echo.
A moment later, a quiet and peaceful accompaniment began to flow.
「You and I, who made everything special
Before we knew it, we’ve become each other’s stars」
Saven’s Fan Song.
A video featuring the seven members’ younger days was shown on the electronic display, edited together in alternating scenes.
[Hello. I’m Kim Seoyun, an 18-year-old trainee at Top East Entertainment! I look forward to your support!]
[Hello~ I’m Harang from Haru Entertainment! My goal is to become like our seniors, Coral Blue! I’m confident in my rapping!]
[Hello! I’m Lee Dohee, a 15-year-old fourth-year trainee at Top East Entertainment!]
First came the members’ first audition videos.
[Uh... hello, I’m Kwon Hana from Pudding Entertainment. I never dreamed that I’d get injured as an athlete and then successfully debut as an idol...]
[I’m Gong Chaerin. I’m truly always grateful, and I will strive to become a singer who knows how to remain humble and thankful in every moment. Thank you.]
[My mom told me not to come here. She was afraid I’d get hurt. But, Mom, I don’t get hurt. Rather, I’ve met so many good people... Thank you to all the contestants. Thank you to the production staff. Thank you so much, Chusers. I’ll work hard...!]
[At first, I received harsh criticism from the trainers in Tier 5... But thanks to so many older sisters, Dohee, and our trainers... I think I was able to make it this far. Just being able to become a candidate was already such tremendous progress for me, so... thank you.]
Then came the live broadcast, and the announcement of Saven’s final rankings.
The Savenues’ hearts grew heavy.
The fans’ eyes became unbearably misty.
And then, Saven’s first debut.
Saven’s first fan signing event.
Saven’s first year-end stage, and their acceptance speech for the Rookie of the Year award.
Saven’s first concert.
Saven’s first tour.
Moments filled with firsts.
And Dohee’s first—and last—Grand Prize acceptance speech as a member of Saven.
[When we look back on Saven someday. When we remember it. I hope that those who helped us and loved us... will be able to think that they were fortunate to have loved this group... I will become a Saven member who always works hard, anytime and anywhere.]
At the end of the VCR.
The members came up onstage.
Returning to the beginning, they performed Saven’s title track, “I Fell for You.”
And finally, the members shared their thoughts by reading aloud the letters they had written to their fans.
The entire place became a sea of tears.
I hadn’t cried even once during all the preparation.
But at the concert, in front of the fans,
all the tears I had been unable to shed until then burst out at once.
I cried so hard that I nearly fell to my knees.
Because I cried even more than the members themselves,
the youngest member earned the title of Crybaby.
But I didn’t care.
I cried because the tears came.
Sometimes, crying felt good.
* * *
[Saven concludes 1 year and 6 months of activities... Officially disbands on the 1st]
Saven, who had continued their activities by steadily releasing albums, held their final group performance on the 23rd and 24th. At the time, the members of Saven bid farewell to their fans, saying, “It was nothing but truly happy memories.”
Afterward, on April 1, 2024, the project girl group Saven concluded their activities and disbanded as scheduled.
.
.
.
Beginning with their debut song “Rose Nebula,” Saven released songs such as “Unsatisfied,” “Eum (Melody),” “Rhapsody,” and “A New Day.”
They received immense love, winning not only the Rookie of the Year award but also several Grand Prizes.
Now, after completing a year and six months of activities as Saven, the seven members are setting out on their own.
Fans and industry insiders alike are watching closely to see what kind of accomplishments they will continue to achieve in the music industry.
This reporter also hopes that the members will meet again someday.
I look forward to the future activities of the Saven members.
Reporter Lee Hyemi [email protected]