Christmas, at the end of the year, with the New Year just around the corner.
Carols rang out here and there along the streets.
On TV, all sorts of year-end programs were playing, including award ceremonies.
That included SBC’s Song Festival.
Thanks to that, I, who hosted SBC’s Popular Songs, had earned myself a two-week vacation because of the two canceled broadcasts.
‘Score.’
I’d been holding my breath, wondering if I might be chosen to host the year-end stage, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
To be honest, a part of me had hoped to be selected.
If you were judging purely by star quality, it would obviously be me...
‘Why wasn’t it me...? Is it because of my age? Well, the youngest MC on the year-end stage was probably a twenty-year-old adult... Seventeen might be a bit much, even for a broadcasting station.’
Right. There had to be a year-end when I could take a break like this.
‘If it weren’t for my age, I would’ve been picked.’
I came to that conclusion, but I still felt a little disappointed for no reason.
Could it be that I was a workaholic after all?
‘Ha... Lee Dohee, don’t tell me... Are you a professional idol? Phew...’
“Ugh, she’s making that weird face again.”
“Seoyun, Dohee’s at the age where she has a rich imagination and all that. When she’s like that, we need to comfort her instead of teasing her, so our maknae grows up right.”
“No, unnie. Haven’t you seen the onion experiment? The one that gets cursed at grows faster, remember? Seriously.”
Of course, it was also a shame that I wouldn’t be able to show my face to the fans who had been yearning endlessly for Seven.
Right now, hashtags like ‘#SevenYearEndStage,’ ‘#SevenReunion,’ and ‘#I’mInSeventhHeaven’ had already surpassed thousands and tens of thousands of posts on social media.
Fans had been hoping that Seven, who had been active until the beginning of this year, might come together at least once for the year-end stage.
Of course, it was highly unlikely to happen.
Sera, Hana, and Yeeun unnie had already debuted as members of Ailly.
It wasn’t impossible if they put together a special stage, of course.
But with Ailly, and us as well, busy preparing for our debuts, getting ready for a special stage would be no easy task.
So the fans and I had no choice but to sit in front of the TV over the Christmas holiday and watch Ailly’s performance.
ㅡKakaotalk, Kakaotalk, Kakaotalk
In any case, the notification sounds had been going off nonstop for a while now.
[Harang unnie: It feels kind of depressing not being with you guys at the end of the yearㅠㅠ]
[Harang unnie: We spent every year together... Sob sob]
[Harang unnie: I love you, girls... I said I love you!!]
Harang unnie was at it again today, drowning in sentimentality and whining tearfully.
[Chaerin unnie: Who are you with right now, unnie?]
[Harang unnie: My mom and dad...]
[Chaerin unnie: What, then you’re not even lonely]
[Harang unnie: My parents are my parents, and you girls are you girls]
[Harang unnie: How can you say that? Cherry, you’re so heartless]
[Chaerin unnie: ;; Still, we’ll all stand onstage together someday, right?]
[Seoyun unnie: I’m not lonely anyway since I’m with our Rahee hehe]
[Me: Yeah lol]
[Seoyun unnie: Should our maknae get a kiss~?]
[Me: Nope lol]
The unnie sitting beside me thrust her lips forward the moment she sent the message.
“Mwah~ smooch smooch.”
She made some strange noises, too.
I simply shoved the crown of my head into her lips.
“Ah, you didn’t wash your hair!”
“I washed it this morning.”
“You practiced afterward.”
“Still. Too lazy.”
“Ugh, blegh, blegh blegh!”
There wasn’t even any smell. What was she making such a fuss about?
* * *
At last, December 31, the final day of the year, with less than a week remaining until the showcase on Monday, January 6.
It should have been the busiest time of all, but once again, Executive Director Jeong Sohyeon gave the members of Debonair, whose debut schedule was right before their eyes, an unnecessary holiday under the pretext that the employees needed time off too.
Her wish was that the members, who were still children at heart, would spend the holidays and New Year with their families whenever possible.
But on days like this, there was one member who ended up left out instead.
Chiyo had come to Korea at sixteen with dreams of becoming an idol, and was living away from her family in a foreign land.
“Everyone, have a good time with your families!”
Chiyo put on a deliberately mature expression, but inside, she was withering away.
When the sun rose on the following day, Chiyo and her best friend Ua would become adults.
Having the first digit of one’s age change was an exciting prospect, making her heart flutter at all the things to come... but it was also a troubling and melancholy feeling.
And today, she felt even more miserable.
‘I’m going to spend it alone...’
All by herself, without family or friends.
Whether they knew how she felt or not, the other members were cheerfully getting ready to leave.
‘I want to see Mama and Papa too...’
Naeun noticed Chiyo and gently rubbed her shoulder.
“Chiyo, are you sure you’ll be okay alone? Should I stay with you?”
But Chiyo deliberately straightened her shoulders.
“It’s fine. Tomorrow, I’m going to have a drink by myself to celebrate becoming an adult...! Hehe.”
Tomorrow, she would feel perfectly mature and admirable, just like a proper adult!
‘That’s the spirit...!’
Ua, Chiyo’s best friend, who had spent several years by her side twenty-four hours a day, always helping her and never giving her time to feel lonely, casually added her own comment.
“That’s right. Chiyo’s good at playing by herself. Aren’t you?”
Chiyo’s expression turned subtly strange for just a moment.
But she soon smiled brightly.
“That’s right! Chiyo is a mature adult, desu?”
All the members could do was nod as they watched her.
“Sure~ Chiyo unnie isn’t a kid anymore. Why worry about her?”
Even the adorable maknae, Dohee, waved her hand as if to say they should let it go, since Chiyo was an adult now.
‘The members... don’t know me at all... I’m super, unbelievably, terribly sad...’
Chiyo had been eagerly awaiting the day she became an adult.
She had imagined setting out a drinking table in front of the underage maknae Dohee, who couldn’t drink, and teasing her mercilessly for being a baby.
Then the five of them would chat together, raise a toast, and enjoy a small, cozy party—a coming-of-age celebration.
For no reason, she found herself resenting Executive Director Sohyeon for giving the members time off.
“Uff-cha~”
Seoyun unnie came out of the room, dragging a suitcase that looked as though she had packed half her possessions inside.
Dohee predictably grumbled at her.
“Are you evacuating or something? We’re only going for two days. Why did you pack so much?”
“Is this my first time doing this?”
“That’s exactly why. Because it’s not your first or second time.”
“Ha, you don’t understand. Being popular is my burden, my burden. I tell you this every time, but whenever I go to Busan, I’m insanely popular... You, Lee Dohee, don’t even come close!”
“That ‘Daughter of Busan’ nonsense again... Sheesh.”
“You still don’t believe me, do you? Even bringing this much merchandise won’t be enough. Just handing it out to my relatives will use it all up. Apparently, everyone’s gathering at my house just to see me.”
Watching her, Chiyo swallowed the words in her heart.
‘I’m... super popular in Fukuoka too...’
Once they had finished preparing, the members gathered their luggage and put on their shoes at the entrance.
“I’ll bring you something tasty when I come back~ I’ve got Busan souvenirs, you know?”
“What, mackerel?”
“Ha, this is why Seoul country girls are hopeless. Why would it be mackerel?”
“Then what is it?”
“Busan’s got something once you get there. Busan does.”
The two of them bickered as they left the dorm first.
“Chiyo, guard the dorm well~”
Ua opened the front door, teasing her as she spoke.
And... Naeun unnie also hugged Chiyo tightly before leaving the dorm.
The dorm was left all alone.
It was too spacious.
A fifty-pyeong apartment, far too large for rookies to live in.
It had been wonderful.
But the space that had always been filled with the members’ voices seemed especially large and empty today.
Chiyo trudged toward the living room.
She found the remote.
She turned on the TV and switched to a loud, boisterous program.
On December 31, MBS was airing its Song Festival.
The sparkling performances of the senior singers played across the screen.
Chiyo had been captivated by stages like those and dreamed of standing on one herself.
She could endure at least one day like this.
After all, Chiyo would soon be an adult.
At times like this, she needed to fill her stomach properly.
‘Koreans run on the strength of rice...!’
She went to the refrigerator and opened it.
[Be sure to heat this up before you eat it! Congratulations on becoming an adult, our beloved Chiyo~♡]
ㅡFrom your always-loving Naeun unnie!
Inside was Naeun’s kimchi fried rice, one of Chiyo’s favorites, with the note stuck to it.
Chiyo stared at the note for a long while before taking out a bowl and placing it in the microwave.
She also found a whiskey bottle in the cupboard. It was still full, to the point that there was no evidence Seoyun had ever touched it, despite occasionally showing off in front of the underage members and drinking it as “the taste of adulthood.”
Chiyo knew that whiskey was a very strong distilled liquor.
For someone trying alcohol for the first time upon becoming an adult, it was an extremely strong drink.
But today, Chiyo planned to get thoroughly drunk, using the kimchi fried rice as her drinking snack.
‘I wish I could go to sleep and wake up to find that the day had passed...’
She took out a glass and filled it with ice from the ice dispenser.
Then she carried the glass and whiskey into the living room.
The microwave beeped.
Chiyo took out the heated kimchi fried rice, picked up a spoon, and walked back.
After sitting down, she poured herself a generous amount of whiskey and called out a toast all by herself.
“It’s Chiyo the Superstar’s coming-of-age ceremony, desu!”
Of course, she hadn’t actually started drinking yet.
‘There are two hours left until the New Year...’
The time felt unbearably long.
Chiyo drooped for no reason and buried her face in her arms.
Just then, a beeping sound came from somewhere.
It wasn’t the microwave.
It was the distinctive sound of the front-door lock, moving incredibly quickly.
‘Either impatient Seoyun unnie or Dohee...!’
She heard the door opening.
Without even thinking to hide the whiskey, Chiyo jumped up in delight and scampered toward the entrance.
And when she faced the entrance, her eyes grew red.
All the members were there.
Regardless, Dohee and Seoyun unnie casually kicked off their shoes and ran into the living room.
“Aaaah!!”
Seoyun unnie’s scream rang out.
“See? I told you this unnie would pretend to drink all alone, acting like she was lonely!”
“No, wait. Wow. You already opened this? Hold on. This is even my alcohol!”
“Whatever. You lost. For the next month, I get to shower first.”
“Argh... Hey, Kim Chiyo! Why are you drinking my alcohol!”
The dorm had already grown noisy.
Chiyo smiled brightly!
But that wasn’t the end.
Naeun unnie turned Chiyo’s head toward the entrance.
A figure hidden behind Ua cautiously poked out her head and smiled.
“...Mama?”
With her eyes still red, Chiyo dashed toward her mother.
It was the present Executive Director Jeong Sohyeon had prepared for Chiyo—and a surprise planned by the members.