After the prerecording of the opening ceremony stage.
On the way back to the waiting room.
“How do you feel about your first stage?”
“Uh, this is my first time as an MC, but... it was so much fun, and I’d like to thank all the fans who came to the recording since early this morning. I’ll continue working hard to become a great MC!”
The Yuhyang Gayo PD personally thrust a behind-the-scenes camera toward me.
“What do you think the Seiben members would say if they saw today’s stage?”
Although it had been quite some time since Seiben disbanded, they were still mentioned often enough that this seemed to be an interview meant to stir up interest.
“Hmm... But I think they’d all react differently.”
“How so?”
I thought about it as I pictured each of them in my head.
There were a few obvious ones to start with.
“Sera unnie is the most predictable. She’d spend all day going, ‘So cute... so cute...’ on an endless loop. Wow, I can already hear her voice.”
At my specific explanation, the PD smiled and urged me to continue.
“Next would be Chaerin unnie? She’d probably say, ‘Dohee, you did well onstage, huh?’”
“Uh, that’s not so much predictable as just ordinary, though?”
“No, there’s a point here. Chaerin unnie didn’t actually watch it because she was asleep, and she just overheard the members talking about me in the living room and said something roughly appropriate.”
“Oh, dear... Does Chaerin unnie sleep often?”
“Yes, usually whenever she has free time. Maybe because she’s secretly lacking in stamina, but whenever she works too, she gets incredibly tired. She’s one of Hana unnie’s main targets for stamina training. She just doesn’t get scolded as much because she dances well.”
“I see. What about the other members?”
The PD seemed to want me to explain every member, so I vaguely recalled the atmosphere at our dorm and continued in a loose, offhand manner.
“If Sera unnie were giggling while watching my fancam, Hana unnie would probably watch it with a smile but take it seriously. Like, ‘Did she work hard? Did she perhaps make any mistakes?’ Ah, but I’ve never actually been given pointers by her.”
“Why not? Because you’re so good?”
“Yes.”
The PD burst into hearty laughter.
He was the one who asked in the first place.
And it was the truth.
“Harang unnie would probably say something casual like, ‘Wow, look at Lee Dohee acting all cute onstage~ That’s crazy.’ But if you think about the meaning behind it, everything she says is praise. She’s actually the most generous with compliments.”
“On the other hand, it’s obvious what Seoyun unnie would do. She’d tease me while pretending to compliment me. When we got back to the dorm today, she’d probably say, ‘Ha... As expected of our youngest, Dohee! As expected of Center Tokking!’ and randomly tack on all sorts of flowery phrases. Good grief...”
“And lastly, there’s Yeeun unnie.”
Actually, this one had the widest variety of possible reactions, so I had no idea.
She was impossible to predict.
Still, the safest guess would be...
“I’m not sure if I should say this, but she’s currently an MC on K Company’s music show. Maybe that’s why, but she’s still burning with rivalry toward me. She even sent me a picture of herself as an MC over KakaoTalk earlier. Anyway, I think she’ll randomly send me a fancam of her special stage over KakaoTalk again today.”
The PD chuckled and nodded, apparently satisfied.
“Thanks for making the interview so fun~ Now go to the MC waiting room and relax until rehearsal~”
“Okay.”
Of course, the waiting room I returned to wasn’t all that comfortable.
“Sunbaenim, your stage was great.”
“Ah...! Yes, yes!”
Because I had to share it with the awkward Yes-Yes Bot again.
* * *
After the prerecording ended, all the audience members—whether they were Aversetoo fans or Dohee fans—received two boxes each as they left.
A sky-blue box with Aversetoo’s logo on it.
And a white box bearing the logo of Dohee’s agency, TopEast, along with rabbit stickers.
Both were reverse fan gifts containing snacks and photocards, expressing the hope that each fandom would continue to look after the other.
Most of the fans viewed the MCs positively, of course.
There had never been a case of friendship between MCs developing into romance in the first place.
Except for the occasional extreme sasaeng fan, MCs getting along was generally something fans welcomed.
Dohee’s fansite master was also one of the clean fans and felt the same way.
In fact, right after the prerecording ended, they had befriended an Aversetoo fan they clicked with and were chatting away.
Aversetoo_쓰 @A_bus_toliz
─My first time seeing Lee Dohee in person) The princess is insane, she’s explosively gorgeous, she’s a visual genius, but where is Seungbin? Dohee, you’ve really blossomed
돌아희 @dol_Ahyee
─@Ail_is_Liz Thank you for the biased praise. Please continue to applaud me enthusiastically in the future. But Seungbin is probably hurt hearing this.
Aversetoo_쓰 @A_bus_toliz
─We have to raise him strictly. We can’t coddle our kid too much
돌아희 @dol_Ahyee
─Oh dear... Our Rahi grew vigorously all on her own even when the fans did nothing but tell her she was doing well...
Aversetoo_쓰 @A_bus_toliz
─But your members are famous for raising her strictly over there
돌아희 @dol_Ahyee
─Seoyun is the main culprit...
The fansite masters who attended regularly had run into one another once or twice while coming and going, and some had even stanned the same group at one point, which was why such a friendship was possible.
After passing the time chatting about nonsense, Dohee’s fansite master sat down in front of the TV around 3:40 p.m.
The live broadcast was finally beginning.
“It’s starting, it’s starting!”
And then came the special stage.
They had watched it vividly during the prerecording.
But watching it on video was another matter entirely.
The opening instrumental began playing as soon as the broadcast started.
Wearing a sailor-style dress, Dohee leaned her face toward the camera rotating 360 degrees, making mischievous expressions suited to the concept and smiling brightly.
─Oh, the special-stage song is one of my go-to songs
─That old-school 2000s vibe lolololol
─Her face is rotating 360 degrees, but she’s pretty from every angle—is this for real?
Dohee then performed the refreshing stage with perfect chemistry alongside Ju Seungbin, who was wearing scuba goggles, without showing the slightest sign of nervousness.
[Why is it only with me that you keep getting (Man-man!) bigger and bigger!]
[Why did I feel like you were getting (Man-man!) farther and farther away only from me!]
Dohee’s first attempt at a cute rap, along with the choreography where they punched at and dodged one another, matched perfectly.
─Lol why is Dohee’s rap tone so fresh and cute?
─The Yuhyang special stage is great, and her face is hilarious lol
─As expected, music-show MCs should be idols rather than actors
[I’ll let myself go~ to you~]
[My ocean~ my sky~]
[You can hold me and fall asleep just like that~]
Perhaps because of that, they clearly seemed like the owners of the song rather than people performing a cover. Since the new music-show MCs’ stage was one that fans across the idol scene paid close attention to, social media was plastered with posts about the two MCs alongside the hashtag #YuhyangGayo.
─Their visuals are insanely good when you really look at them
─These two suit each other well too...
─Yuhyang’s production team has a good eye. Get paid well
Naturally, Dohee’s fansite master had a large share in that flood of posts.
돌아희 @dol_Ahyee
─Seiben is starting, starting fucking huge, starting with refreshing Dohee blowing a fanfare, the refreshing Dohee festival begins, ocean club opens, ocean Dohee club discount event begins, sailor Dohee event begins, sailor Dohee festival begins, sailor Dohee marching band enters, beautiful girl Dohee enrolls, beautiful girl Dohee graduates and reenrolls, Ionsweat returns to school, Ionsweat party begins, that Ionsweat kid appears
* * *
While the recorded special stage, “Ocean,” was being broadcast...
I went over the cue cards I had read throughout rehearsal in my head.
While I was briefly lost in thought, the PD gave us the cue.
Ju Seungbin immediately grabbed his microphone, waved his hand, and began the opening call.
“Where are you going on Sunday~?”
“Yuhyang Gayo~”
I hurriedly waved my hand as well.
“Live from SBC.”
“Yuhyang Gayo~”
I recited my line just as we had rehearsed.
“Hello, I’m this week’s new Yuhyang Gayo MC, the I of Iju! Lee Dohee~”
“And I’m this week’s Ju! Ju Seungbin!”
“At last, our new MCs are greeting you for the first time through Yuhyang Gayo! Woohoo~”
“Dohee, it’s August now, and the weather is so hot. Can you feel the heat on this stage~?”
“That’s why we worked so hard to prepare something that will blow away that sweltering heat with a cool whoosh.”
I softly sang a line from the special stage, “Ocean,” along with a light little dance.
“My ocean~ My sky~ You all enjoyed the special stage too, right~?”
The audience applauded and cheered.
“What? You’re saying that because we prepared so passionately, the stage became even hotter!?”
“Whoa, Dohee, aren’t you being a little shameless on your first day?”
“Ahem, Seungbin. This is when you just nod.”
“I’m a chick MC, after all... But viewers, you’ll continue to show lots of love to us chick MCs, right?”
I bowed along with the audience’s chorus of yeses.
“Please take good care of us from now on!”
“Well then, Seungbin! Why don’t we put those nervous feelings aside for a moment and have our Iju-z introduce the comeback of ‘Iju’?”
“Yes! The legendary legendary group has returned as a complete group. Super...”
* * *
“Sunbaenim, you worked hard~”
“You too, Dohee. Then I’ll be going!”
“Okay~ See you next week!”
The first broadcast had ended without a hitch.
Perhaps because I felt a sense of accomplishment, I was glad that the awkwardness had eased after only a short while.
More than anything, since I hadn’t made any mistakes like stumbling over my words, I probably wouldn’t have to be teased by the unnies or the fans.
Maybe it was thanks to how often I had appeared on music shows as an idol.
‘I was totally an announcer.’
Of course, I had to speak in the cute, lively tone unique to music-show MCs.
But it hadn’t been particularly difficult.
Maybe because it wasn’t the first or second time I’d forced myself to do it.
I hated how used to it I’d become.
Still, I was going to redebut with Debonair soon.
At that time, when most of our concepts would be cool and stylish...
I had to aim for an image transformation.
‘I should act a little more gentlemanly and composed on variety shows from now on, too... Phew.’
I wished that day would come soon.