The cheers had died down, but—
‘This is seriously freaking fun.’
The fansite master still couldn’t contain the excitement swelling in his chest.
The staging had made the most of the cramped Square Hall stage.
Five members who had drawn every eye perfectly.
As if to prove it, the members themselves were breathing hard onstage.
Of course, the fansite master’s gaze was fixed almost entirely on Dohee.
‘Damn, I’m going to watch the replay a hundred times.’
Above all, the mature suits tailored to fit the concept and her bold makeup…
The fansite master nodded along with his friend.
“She’s a woman…”
“She’s a woman, but…?”
“She’s a woman…”
Of course, there was still clear evidence of her adorable cuteness plastered across her face, impossible to hide even with makeup.
‘Those chubby cheeks… soft, squishy glutinous rice cakes…’
Meanwhile, staff members hurriedly set up chairs onstage.
The announcer serving as MC came up onto the stage and rekindled the atmosphere with an excited voice on behalf of the fans.
“Wow, seriously. Seriously! I watched you for so long my eyes nearly fell out. Are you really rookies? No, there’s no way, right, everyone? There’s no way to believe you’re rookies!”
“Yeeeeah!”
The audience responded fervently.
As the members smiled, sat down in their chairs, and picked up the microphones placed there, the MC smoothly began the proceedings.
“First of all, our members! We should have each of them introduce themselves, right?”
The first to take the microphone was Dohee, seated closest to the MC.
“Yes, hello. I’m Debonair’s youngest member and…”
Dohee flashed a bold smile.
“Leader!”
Cheers erupted from all around in an instant.
‘W-w-wait, what? Seriously!?’
“—the youngest member who still wants to become one. I’m Lee Dohee. Yes.”
‘Agh, Dorahee.’
Even though he knew there was no way that could be true, he hated himself for getting his hopes up for no reason.
He had wondered if, just maybe…
‘No, who messes around at their own debut showcase in the first place?’
But why was it that—
A few people who might actually do it came to mind.
Dohee, or… Seoyoon, or… Harang…
‘Why are they all members of Seiben…?’
More importantly, only two of them were on this stage.
“You nearly fooled me for a second! I thought Dohee was the leader even though she’s the youngest!”
“Whew, seriously… if only I were older!!”
Even as he spoke, Dohee’s exaggerated gestures were so cute that the fansite master grinned so widely the corners of his mouth nearly split.
‘I hate myself… But she’s driving me crazy… She’s cute… She’s pretty… She’s overflowing with charm… She’s an eternal idol…’
At that moment, another strong candidate—
Seoyoon couldn’t hold back either and snatched up her microphone.
“Our Dohee thinks she can’t do things because she’s young. She just can’t do them.”
“Why can’t I?”
“Because you’re stupid.”
“I’m not. I’m actually really, really smart.”
“Sure, I guess. If she says she isn’t, then she isn’t.”
Thanks to the playful antics of the two veteran rookies, there was no need for the MC to forcefully loosen up the atmosphere.
“Oh, you two! This isn’t the time to bicker! There are so many things we still have to introduce! The fans are curious too, so hurry up and introduce the next member! The next member, please!”
Of course, their actions had been deliberate.
To soften the stage’s intense atmosphere and ease the tension.
Thanks to them, the rookie members were able to continue in a more relaxed mood.
“Yes, hello-there. I’m Debonair’s rapper and…”
That didn’t mean the two had stopped butting in.
“Foreigner.”
“Scatterbrained.”
“That’s not it. I’m in charge of a completely unique and epic kind of charm! I’m Chiyo!”
Laughter cheerfully echoed through the audience.
“You two! Are you going to keep doing this? From now on, when the other members are speaking, just react. Got it? Just react!”
The MC gently scolded the two in the distinctive tone of an announcer.
“Yes, ma’am.” “Yes, ma’am.”
“You have to keep your promise, all right? Promise! Now, hurry up and introduce the next member!”
And so Uah, who had been snickering,
“Pfft… Mm… Ah, hello… Just a moment! Ahem, ahem.”
was pushed forward by the announcer-teacher and began her introduction right away.
“Yes, I’m Uah, Debonair’s all-rounder, equipped not only with the elegance that expresses the very word ‘Debonair,’ but also with chicness~”
Seoyoon and Dohee.
Like good children, they kept the announcer-teacher’s instructions and diligently limited themselves to exclamations of admiration.
“Uah~” “Uah~”
“You two. Are you going to keep doing that?”
“Don’t make those aggrieved faces!”
Their expressions seemed to say, ‘We only reacted like you promised, so why…?’
“Yes, ma’am…” “Yes, ma’am…”
‘Ah, seriously, because of those two… My cheeks hurt.’
Fortunately, when it was time for the leader, Naeun, the antics stopped.
“Hello~ I’m Naeun, Debonair’s leader and lead vocalist! Please take good care of us~”
Instead, the two obedient younger members seemed to keep their mouths firmly shut.
Still, they looked like well-behaved little sisters who knew to watch their leader.
‘It kind of looks like Naeun has those two completely under control?’
Perhaps being weak to their leader was a trait shared by both of them, passed down through the generations.
But why did Naeun look faintly disappointed?
And then, finally, it was Seoyoon’s turn.
“I’m Seoyoon, Debonair’s tone fairy and main vocalist~”
At last, the MC began the main proceedings.
“Whew, now I can finally speak. I sincerely congratulate Debonair on their debut!! Yahoo! Now, let’s hear what each of you thinks…”
“Debonair is such a unique team name. It’s fresh, too. It keeps lingering in my head. What does it mean?”
“You all must have listened through the album that was released an hour ago. Now, we can answer the questions our fans have…”
“Ah~ So the meaning of the album ID is both ‘identity,’ just as the word suggests, and an abbreviation of ‘I Debonair’? It seems to have so many hidden meanings. The fans will probably have fun discovering each one of them.”
Naturally, since this was a showcase, the album remained at the center of the discussion.
“All right, from this point on, we’ll listen to the songs included in the ID album together and talk with the members about each one.”
The announcer flipped over a cue card, smiled contentedly, and nodded.
“First track. Anyone who came here today, myself included, and all the fans watching in real time obviously couldn’t possibly be unaware of it.”
Lights came on across the electronic screen behind them, and with the appearance of Debonair’s logo, the distinctive, majestic first note of the piano rang out.
“This song stood at the center of attention! It was used in the trailer, wasn’t it? I’ll direct the question to a specific member. Dohee, what kind of song is it?”
“Waaah!”
Cheers from the fans rumbled through the hall.
At the same time, Dohee’s expression grew triumphant as she puckered her lips, looking as though she was itching to talk about it.
Even so, perhaps out of instinctive embarrassment, her cheeks and ears reddened.
At that gap, Dohee’s fansite master began rambling to his friend once again.
“She’s a baby…”
“She’s a baby, but…?”
“She’s a baby…”
Unaware of any of that, Dohee answered with her face still flushed.
“Yes, As Fickle As Fortune is the intro track of our first album, so it also contains Debonair’s identity. It’s a song that powerfully expresses, using only the piano, how Debonair’s indescribably diverse charms change as capriciously as fortune.”
“Exactly. Of course, I listened to it too. The opening is incredibly powerful, so it gives you an impression that pulls you in after just one phrase. Actually, it’s surprising enough that an idol would release a purely piano piece, but what’s even more surprising is that you worked on this song alone last year… and you’re only a first-year high school student!”
Dohee’s ears reddened even further, and the corners of her mouth slowly lifted.
“Did anything memorable happen while you were writing the song? Or was there some particular intention behind it?”
The other members exchanged glances and let out sighs as though they shared some common understanding, but Dohee didn’t notice at all and began speaking in a soft, rambling voice.
“Um… it wasn’t like inspiration suddenly came to me, or I wrote it all in an instant… If I couldn’t think of anything, I’d just watch the older girls while spacing out and try to imagine their personalities. Then I’d end up envying the genius composers from long ago for no reason, and wonder how they had written their music… I’d think about that, and then just draw the notes one by one…”
Her mumbling about how she’d struggled to produce the song, trying this and that because nothing came together, was admirable, yet somehow a little heartrending too.
“I see~ And yet, several pianists praised it as a piece containing a great deal of intention and technical sophistication.”
She was embarrassed by the continued cheers and praise from the audience, but the way she couldn’t stop herself from grinning shyly was a little foolish.
‘She’s so damn cute it drives me insane. That’s all that matters.’
“Then of course we can’t leave without hearing the composer perform it, can we? Let’s listen to just a short bit!”
And the serious performance she soon gave, seated at the piano prepared at the edge of the stage, was once again the image of the genius who had swept up every award.
‘Ah, this is giving me bipolar disorder.’
He had no choice but to be completely swept along.
* * *
Before the final title track was introduced.
A sudden hunch struck the fansite master.
He pulled out his phone.
‘Exactly eight o’clock.’
The song released at six would have been updated for the second time by now.
The real-time chart’s HOT100.
The one that showed the trend of the daily chart.
Essentially, the daily chart—TOP100.
Both rankings should have been updated by now.
He opened Watermelon.
First… the Top 100.
—TOP100
23) ▲34【Debonair - Debonair】
Up thirty-four places to number twenty-three at the present moment.
The important one was Hot 100.
After all, every chart would soon catch up with the real-time rankings.
If you compared it to stocks, it was like a one-minute candlestick chart.
—HOT 100
1) ▲12【Debonair - Debonair】
‘Nice…!’
They were number one.
If they could hold this for several days—
They could reach number one on the TOP100 chart before long.
If they maintained it for a week, they might even take first place on the daily chart.
‘Ailee does have strong cumulative numbers, but… it’s been two months, so she’s probably starting to lose steam.’
Then the fansite master dragged the chart down, looking for the Top 100 and Hot 100 listings.
—TOP100
89) —New【Debonair - As Fickle As Fortune】
—HOT100
6) ▲10【Debonair - As Fickle As Fortune】
This was actually more shocking.
Debonair’s debut had been at the center of attention, so if the quality of their songs lived up to the hype, number one had practically been guaranteed.
But…
‘Isn’t this the first time a piano piece has reached number six?’
Of course, it could be dismissed as the opening boost from an idol fandom listening to a classical piece.
‘But it’s still a first.’
Perhaps the MC had heard the news as well, because she scanned the audience and spoke.
“We’ve just received some incredibly good news!”
Even as the members tilted their heads in confusion, the MC carefully controlled the pace.
“The fans all know, right~ Don’t you?”
Dohee and Seoyoon, already familiar with the news, were grinning from ear to ear.
The news reached them soon enough.
“Not only are all the songs ranking high on the other charts, but Debonair has taken first place on Watermelon’s Hot 100, the biggest platform!”
The members hugged one another, overwhelmed with joy.
Though Dohee was forcibly pulled into the embrace.
Her expression still seemed to be asking what came next…
“Moreover, both B-sides have charted as well! They’re in sixth and eighth place on Hot 100, respectively!”
Dohee slipped right into the older girls’ arms.
Sometimes she pretended to be composed and mature on the outside, but she clearly couldn’t hide it.
“Looks like she was secretly really worried people might not like it.”
“I know… Seriously…”
One way or another, Dohee was still—
“She’s a baby…”
“She’s a baby, but…?”
“She’s a baby…”
“She’s a baby…”
The fansite master and his friend nodded.
* * *
‘Wow, this song didn’t have an outside lyricist or anything, so doesn’t that mean I get almost all the royalties myself?’
He was an adult.