[Park Eunju: Team Leader, all the fans are lined up, and we’ve finished checking them in.]
Debonaire’s manager, Yu Yeongho, dropped the members off at the waiting room and headed for the line outside the broadcast station.
Seven years ago, they had been little trainees.
Dohee, who had been eleven, was now eighteen.
Ua, who had been thirteen, was now an adult at twenty.
‘Time really does fly.’
When he had first joined the company, he’d been the lowest-ranking employee on the rookie development team, but before he knew it, he had become a team-leader-level appointee in Management Team 1, in charge of Debonaire.
In a few more years, once Debonaire had grown, perhaps he, too, would become a department head who left the field entirely.
“Cough, cough.”
As he stepped outside the broadcast station, the cold January air made him break into a dry cough.
Even in the dead of winter, the fans stood in neat order by number under the instructions of the new fan manager, Park Eunju.
They had all finished checks on everything from album purchase records to “ideology verification” questions—questions hard to answer unless one was truly a fan—so they were Debonaire’s genuine fans.
Naturally, the topic of conversation among those fans was unified.
The show that had aired last night.
“Wow, I seriously lost it yesterday. I was wheezing in my room.”
“Their variety sense is insane.”
“No, but our girls have been together longer than the Seven members…”
“I feel weirdly upset for no reason…”
“What’s there to be upset about? It’s good if both sides are close.”
“But back during Seven, did they delay debut because the debut members hadn’t been decided?”
“Who knows? They say the project changes every time. Anyway, since they debuted as Seven, I’m kind of glad.”
“Agreed.”
Hearing praise for children who felt like nieces made him feel proud for no reason.
‘Our kids definitely have great variety sense too. I’ve been watching them for so long, so I know. There aren’t any kids as kind as them.’
Of course, he occasionally heard things he couldn’t quite understand.
“Crazy… so noble… Ua and Dohee, an eight-year couple…? No, then what about our Sera, that’s too pitiful… Our Sera…”
‘Hm…?’
Well… he had heard that in those shady communities, people used a homosexual-coded thing called “RPS,” so perhaps it was that.
It was just less common than with boy groups; girl groups had a certain amount of it too.
But it wasn’t as if Yu Yeongho, a mere manager, could step in and say anything.
That was something not only TopEast but even the Big Four agencies tacitly ignored.
Instead, the problem was over here.
A woman in her twenties was holding a placard with Chiyo’s name on it.
It seemed Chiyo had gotten an individual fan as well.
The problem was her whining.
“Hey, did you check the wiki? They updated her nicknames again.”
“Again…? Ha, as if giving a kid that pretty only pretty nicknames wouldn’t be enough. Bridal Mask, Kim Chiyo, Kimuchiyo… Kimchi Sushi? What is she, Ms. Kim Jisoo… Are they insane?”
“But honestly, it’s funny. You laughed, didn’t you?”
“Fuck… That’s the problem.”
“Ahem…”
Yu Yeongho, who had burst out laughing for a moment, needlessly cleared his throat.
In just one day, Chiyo had been saddled with countless strange nicknames.
Considering the nicknames attached to the other newly debuted members… it made sense that a fan whose bias was Chiyo would get angry.
First, Naeun had “Magical Girl Naeun,” taken from the lyrics of her part in the title track, and “Nareun,” derived from her personality.
As for Ua, there were nicknames like “Cozy Wolf Pup,” because her face resembled a baby wolf; “Human Elegance,” taken from her name and aura; and simply “Ua,” because everyone said the name suited her best.
Of course, before that, there was the nickname given to the youngest, Dohee.
It was “Dorahee,” a nickname not only Koreans but even foreigners knew and used.
‘Still, Rahee at least sounds cute. It’s one of those elements people would call moe-fication, so it’s distinctive… But Kim Chiyo is…’
“But aren’t Kim Chiyo and Kimuchiyo cute too?”
“Ha… Now that I keep hearing them, they sound kind of okay. Please, let’s just get rid of Kimchi Sushi somehow…”
“What’s wrong with Ms. Kim Jisoo? I like it. I’m going to call her Jisoo from now on.”
“Will you shut up?”
The Promotional Strategy Planning Office would take care of it, probably…
At any rate, just as the reaction among fans was heated.
Even though it was a YouTube variety show, it was now getting quite a bit of exposure among the general public as well.
First, clips from the broadcast or edited versions of its content were being uploaded constantly to YouTube Shorts.
@Idol_ahee (Subscribed)
—The Doseoz variety sense I keep watching again today lolololol
@GirlIdolArchive (Subscribed)
—Idol Human Theater Debonaire members lololololol
@Idol Issue (Subscribed)
—The member Debonaire’s Dohee revealed she’s spent more than half her life with, even longer than Seoyun
There were even two trending posts on the male-dominated sites he sometimes checked.
Communities where idol-related posts would usually get downvote-bombed as so-called “weeb crap.”
[The first girl group member in history whose nickname is kimchi lolololol]
[The new members introduced by variety-genius Dohee today]
Considering it had only been a single day since the variety show was released, it seemed their variety side would soon become a major topic among the general public too.
‘It’ll hit three million views.’
Smiling in satisfaction again, Yu Yeongho approached the fan manager Park Eunju and said,
“For now, let the fans into the lobby. There are reverse fan-support gifts there, okay? You can hand them out right away. There are hand warmers inside.”
“Understood.”
Then he turned back toward the waiting room.
But before he could even pass through the hallway and open the waiting room door—
“Are we becoming number-one singers today—!?”
Chiyo’s excited voice pierced through from beyond the door.
It seemed a staff member had told them they were candidates for first place.
‘I was going to tell them. Haha.’
Then he opened the waiting room door.
“Nope. I’m a Daesang-winning singer, you know?”
Dohee’s taunting voice rang out too.
“Me too, you know.”
Seoyun as well.
Chiyo, making a crying face, ran to Naeun and threw herself into her arms.
“Those no-good peopolls are teasing me, waah waah.”
“There, there~”
Whether she did or not, Dohee and Seoyun were happily facing each other, pointing at each other with finger-gun gestures.
“Youuu↝?”
“Yes, Me-ee↝”
They had the vibe of American high school girls you’d see on Netflix. Whether they shot a teen concept or a drama, they’d do well, really.
“Those, those… no-good peopolls are no good, waah waah.”
“There, there~ Chiyo, let’s endure it~”
‘Hm…’
In any case, everyone seemed to be in a good mood.
Of course, there hadn’t seemed to be a single day since debut when they weren’t.
Still, today, they looked especially happy.
Even if it was SBC MTV’s One Show, not a terrestrial broadcast.
Because a first-ever first place was something to be very happy about.
Seeing the members, who must have waited a long time for this moment, Yu Yeongho couldn’t help but laugh.
* * *
Ua unnie, who had been smiling softly beside me, linked arms with me.
“Must be nice to be a Daesang-winning singer~ Are you going to make unnie a Daesang-winning singer too, Dohee?”
At Ua unnie’s pleased smile, I quickly nodded.
“Yeah, I have to win a Daesang with you someday too.”
“Really?”
Of course I meant it.
“Me, Lee Dohee? Have I ever missed out on a Daesang in my life? I have not.”
Still, even I felt a little embarrassed by such shameless narcissism.
‘Why is Manager Yeongho suddenly looking at me like that…?’
So I teased Seoyun unnie for no reason too.
“Simply born with trophy-winning DNA. It will overcome even Kim Seoyun’s fifth-place DNA.”
But unlike usual, when she would react with something like “Your face,” or “Rahee’s excited again,” Seoyun unnie was quiet this time.
‘What is it?’
Feeling a sense of déjà vu, I turned my head to look, and Seoyun unnie was pointing somewhere with her eyes.
“Ah.”
There stood Naeun unnie, who had placed eighth in the final ranking.
The one who had unfortunately failed to debut with Seven.
“Hm?”
Of course, our kind Naeun unnie—
“What~ Are you suddenly watching my reaction? Since when have you guys ever done that~”
With a fresh laugh, she gestured that she didn’t mind.
“Eing… How no-good of you…”
The kimchi in her arms was the only one teasing us in her place.
* * *
As expected, there was no upset.
“Today’s One Show Special One is!”
Thump, thump!
“Congratulations! Debonaire!”
—Bang!
Even when the members flinched in surprise at the confetti that burst from both sides, I smiled brightly, because I had even predicted the timing of the fireworks.
“Congratulations on first place. Let’s hear your thoughts!”
And since I had expected at least a first place all week, I smiled brightly as usual.
What I hadn’t expected was that the members would cry.
When I turned around, the unnies kept touching the corners of their eyes, and emotion seemed to be gathering in them.
Even when our eyes met and they smiled, droplets of moisture fell.
Still, Naeun unnie, who had promised to give the speech, calmly took the microphone.
After lifting and lowering her head several times, Naeun unnie thanked everyone, even the fans, in a choked voice, then looked around.
“Our members…”
At the same time, Ua unnie must have burst into tears, because she covered her eyes with both hands, and Chiyo unnie was outright wailing…
I knew.
While watching me and Seoyun unnie rise higher and higher as Seven, even if they hadn’t said it, how anxious and mentally worn down they must have been.
Because we were precious to each other, they had acted calm, wanting to be considerate so they wouldn’t make us worry, but in this moment, they couldn’t hide it.
That was what it meant to choke up from happiness.
Still, I had no intention of crying.
I thought I could only say I’d grown if I stayed a little calm.
Actually, it was because I was afraid the fans would once again brand me a crybaby.
‘If my eyes are only a little red, that should be fine.’
My eyes met Seoyun unnie’s.
She suddenly nodded.
‘What?’
Then she took the microphone from Naeun unnie.
“Even though it must have been exhausting and hard, our members always waited for us… To the girls who will be with us from now on too, thank you so much… I love you…”
Then Seoyun unnie said her own thoughts as she pleased and burst into tears.
Thanks to that, the atmosphere became strange.
It created an air where I felt like I had to cry too.
‘The first-place encore live is soon… If I don’t cry, I feel like I’ll end up having to sing by myself…’
Of course, the idea that without in-ears, the cheers would bury the MR and my pitch and make the live unstable—that only applied to other people.
For me, with perfect pitch that remembered notes precisely, whether I had in-ears or not didn’t particularly matter.
‘Then should I just sing alone? Show them what I can do?’
But the problem was that every time Ua unnie kept squeezing my hand tightly,
my emotions were stirred.
‘Ha… We’re going to turn on a live broadcast to celebrate first place today too… My eyes can’t get swollen…’