The office was so noisy today that even Chiyo-unnie’s booming voice was nearly drowned out.
“Why do you keep pretending you can’t hear meee!”
Ah, my ears.
“So the Pastel Love sunbaenims are really disbanding in the end.”
Sounds of regret and bittersweet relief filled the air.
“Lee Dohee punch! Ttussi, ttussi!!”
After seven years under their original contract and another three years on their renewal—
Pastel Love had finally decided, after much discussion, to disband, bringing their ten-year group career to an end.
Pastel Love had been one of Top East’s main sources of income, to the point that it would be impossible to deny them even if they confidently claimed they had built the pillars of the company’s headquarters themselves.
The Xten sunbaenims, who debuted after them, had supposedly surpassed their sales, but Pastel Love was still the most respected group in Top East.
But now, it was time for the generations to change.
The company decided to hold one last gathering to thank the Pastel Love sunbaenims for all their years of hard work.
“Unnie, are you feeling sad?”
“Nooo~ It’s not like that.”
Unlike her bright voice, Ua-unnie’s expression held a faint sense of dissonance, making it impossible for her to hide her unsettled feelings.
The Pastel Love sunbaenims, who had been Ua-unnie’s direct seniors, had always meant a lot to her.
Ever since the early days when there had only been the two of us as trainees, we had often run into the sunbaenims and been especially doted on by them. On top of that, Unnie had admired them and nurtured her dream because of them.
“You can just go and say goodbye. It’s not like today is the last time you’ll ever see them. You’ll run into them again while promoting, anyway.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll do that.”
* * *
A barbecue restaurant near the company building.
“Ah~ You don’t need to give her a soju glass! She’s a baby! A minor! Underage! The only high schooler in Top East! The maknae! A baby!”
I endured the Pastel Love sunbaenims’ merciless teasing as they pinched and tugged at my cheeks from every direction.
“Aww~ So cuuute~”
The one consolation was that I wasn’t the only victim. Most of our members were in the same situation.
“Our Chiyo, I saw you flying all over the place on YouTube. You were amazing.”
“Nom nom... Meat. Meat.”
Unlike their original concept, the Pastel Love sunbaenims had an image that was more on the tough-unnie side, so it was amusing to see Chiyo-unnie quietly working her chopsticks without a single complaint.
Of course, they were all kind people and sunbaenims we had known for a long time.
“Vita-unnie, my cheeks hurt.”
I could make that demand with confidence!
“Oh, really? Dohee’s cheeks were just so soft, I couldn’t stop~”
Vita-sunbaenim, who would whine whenever I didn’t call her unnie, quickly rubbed her cheek against mine before leaving.
“I’ll be back soon, okay? I’m just going to have a drink with CEO Widong.”
Today was a farewell party, but it also had the nature of one of the company’s rare occasions for mingling, so rather than sitting with our own members again, everyone soon mixed together at different tables.
Top East was a small company compared to the major agencies, so everyone knew one another from passing by, and besides, there was alcohol here.
So at the table where I was sitting—
“Hey, I told you. I knew our Dohee was going to make it big.”
Vita-sunbaenim kept emptying her glass with a silly grin on her face.
“Don’t say it like you’re the only one who knew.”
“Come to think of it, you know Dohee’s first public appearance was in our music video, right? We raised her. Dohee, back me up.”
Siryoo-sunbaenim from Xten, as well as Howon-sunbaenim, was sitting there too.
“No, I really did think she’d make it big in all sorts of ways, okay? Right, Dohee?”
“You did say something like that...”
They had all achieved success in their own ways and were generous with their praise, but with them constantly building me up, I felt too embarrassed to raise my head.
I kept fiddling with my glass of water.
“Huh? Your glass is empty? Then your unnie should pour you a drink!”
“Are you drunk, Noona? Why are you talking about an empty glass to a minor?”
“Ah~ Right. I thought she’d finished growing already! Hahaha!”
For some reason, I felt like Vita-sunbaenim’s eyes were glancing down at my chest.
She had seemed especially fond of me earlier, hugging me over and over.
“Noona, just eat this...”
Siryoo-sunbaenim poured Vita-sunbaenim a drink before speaking to me.
“Dohee, I watched the in-house YouTube content that went up yesterday. It was really funny. We might have to hand over Top East’s original ‘funny spoon’ title to you.”
Howon-sunbaenim also threw back his shot of soju.
“Whew... That’s right, that’s right. I heard you guys hit number one on the trending videos with your in-house content this time?”
The response really had been so good that I felt proud myself.
Of course, like a rice plant bowing its head once the grains have ripened—
I was an idol who always maintained a humble attitude.
“I didn’t do anything. It’s all because my unnies are funny...”
“Ah, I saw it too! Dohee’s guitar playing was no joke! Hahaha! I laughed for ages when I saw you singing.”
“Exactly. Your batting at the batting center was no joke either, was it? How about we go play baseball together sometime? Let’s have a Top East team-building event and sports day! Of course, Dohee can be the batter, not the pitcher!”
“CEO Widong! Did you hear that? A team-building event... Ah! To celebrate your promotion to division head, I’ll pour you a drink!”
...As things grew noisy in every sense, I took a gulp of bottled water to cool my insides and discreetly checked my phone.
I already had a flood of messages waiting.
[Harang-unnie: Ah, I laughed so hard watching it lololol What a belly-button thief you are hahahaha]
[Chaerin-unnie: What is she even doing;]
Aside from the Seiven group chat, I had received messages from all over saying that they had enjoyed watching our in-house variety content.
─[DEB: ON AIR 2 | Ep.2] #1 on Trending Videos
That was how hot the response had been.
It seemed to have become a major topic on the online communities as well.
Ina of Three M, an idol group close to Seoyun-unnie, had even posted:
[What are you watching on YouTube?]
└These days, Debonair’s in-house variety content... It’s so funny. You have to watch it!
She had recommended our content to a fan who asked her on Instagram.
Thanks to that, the number of YouTube subscribers was increasing at a faster rate than before.
‘I didn’t expect people to discover us through in-house content rather than music.’
What if I released my masterstroke self-composed title track here!?
“Whew...”
“What is it? Who was it? Who gave Dohee alcohol?”
“No one gave me anything.”
“Anyway, let’s make a toast to celebrate! Dohee, you drink some soda too! Ah, zero-calorie, of course! You’re an active idol on an intense diet! Hahaha!”
Before I knew it, the sunbaenims had turned my table into another party.
“Ah, I don’t know if it’s okay for us to drink in front of a minor like this~”
“Come on~ You guys are going to the army soon, so you should drink plenty while you can! Hahaha!”
Ah... The sunbaenims were going to the army, weren’t they?
“Ah, don’t bring that up. I don’t even want to think about it.”
“Exactly. You’re making Dohee look so sorry for us.”
“So when are you going?”
“Howowon and I are going around November and December this year, and all the others are going next year.”
November and December? Even though the service period had gotten shorter, and they no longer had to worry about doing both winter training and the obstacle course twice, the army in winter...
If they went to basic training in summer, they could at least ban outdoor activities flexibly during heat waves, move training indoors when there was heavy rain, and wear lighter uniforms with air conditioning available.
But winter... No matter how many layers you put on, it was cold. And once you layered up, your body became sluggish. On top of that, your pack was heavier when you went out for training, the outdoors was freezing, and you couldn’t sleep...
Aagh!
“What’s this? I feel like I just received some very specific sympathy from Dohee’s eyes.”
“What does a kid know? She’s just kind enough to feel sorry for her sunbaenims being dragged away by the Ministry of National Defense. Sob sob. Dohee, we’re pitiful, aren’t we?”
“That’s right, men! Since we’re pitiful, let’s have another drink!”
The alcohol went down smoothly.
None of them seemed anywhere near getting drunk, perhaps because they all had high tolerances.
Then again, almost everyone here except me was in their late twenties or older.
They were all old enough to know exactly how much they could hold.
I wanted to have a drink too, for the first time in a while.
That pleasantly tipsy feeling was just right.
Maybe I could sneak a drink...
“Ah!”
“Yes?”
“Hm? Not you, Dohee. Are you guys renewing your contracts?”
Come to think of it, the Xten sunbaenims were in their seventh year now.
As far as I knew, the time for their contract renewals was probably at the end of this year.
After glancing around cautiously and briefly making eye contact with Siryoo-sunbaenim, Howon-sunbaenim nodded.
“Ah, it’s confidential, but... whether we renew or not, we want to keep doing group activities. We aren’t trying to coordinate our enlistments for no reason, either.”
“Exactly! Unless we’re going to start our own individual agencies, we like our company~ We worked like oxen and now want to leave so we can rest, but our company still has a certain human warmth. The employees are nice, the settlements are clean, and if you want to act, there’s also the Actors Division Two! It’s just... a little, or rather, quite a lot, lacking in publicity and systematic operations... Right?”
The sunbaenims, who had been whispering and nodding, turned their eyes to me and sought my agreement.
“...A little?”
“See!”
“Well, so... we arranged our own year-end stage, and handled the album release method, the concept, the music video, and the outfits ourselves. We had a little more time than you unnies, so it was possible.”
“That’s true. Debonair looks like they’re even busier than we were. As far as I know, Dohee is also the advertising queen of the fourth generation. Right?”
“Ah, haha...”
It was true that I ranked first in the number of advertisements, and I was probably first in fees as well...
But having them gild me with praise again made me embarrassed.
“Right, you’re so busy. When would you ever have time to take care of all that yourselves? The company needs to change in that regard...”
“That’s true too.”
The mood at the drinking table suddenly became serious.
Alcohol could make things float up into the air, but it could also bring them back down.
“That’s why if you leave, Dohee will be the only idol left here and have an even harder time. The kids need you around so they can watch and learn.”
That was true. For an entertainment company to stay healthy, it needed to have several idols under its wing.
“Still, if Inners disbands, they’ll probably debut another boy group with those trainees, won’t they?”
That was true as well. Inners had Top East trainees, including Baekhwi.
“Is that really the same as having rookies?”
“For now, we’re going to focus on perfectly finishing our autumn promotions, then think about it again afterward.”
The company would certainly try to hold on to the Xten sunbaenims, especially now that the Pastel Love sunbaenims were leaving.
“Yeah, yeah. It might be your final promotion, so prepare well. Let’s make a legendary album.”
“We should. Everyone’s been busy composing.”
No wonder the A&R team seemed even busier than usual lately. They must have been working together.
As far as I knew, almost half of the Xten sunbaenims were composers.
These two in front of me were composing members as well.
Of course, whether they were actually good at writing songs was another matter.
“Oh, right. Come to think of it, Dohee, aren’t you learning to compose too? It looks like you’ve been taking lessons from Producer Yosep.”
“Really? Then is Dohee writing a song for the comeback?”
“Come on, she must be as busy as you said, Noona. When would she have had time to write one?”
“But Sohyeon-unnie became a director, didn’t she? She might have taken care of it for her. Knowing her personality.”
...It was true that I had composed a song. But this was a top-secret matter, classified even from the sunbaenims.
“Nom nom... Meat. Meat.”
I had to act like Chiyo-unnie.
“What’s with you? It’s so obvious.”
“She composed something. She definitely did!”
“The corners of her mouth are twitching upward. Don’t tell me it’s the title track?”
Ah, I wanted to go around telling everyone already.