Although, to be honest, no one had been fooled in the slightest.
Goodbye!
Thank youuu~
The members deliberately waved their hands as they descended from the stage.
─Encore! Encore!
Bae Hayoung joined the college students in pretending to be fooled and sang her heart out.
Only then, apparently satisfied, the members of Debonair climbed back onto the stage with bright smiles and began their encore with their remaining song, “Born Ideals.”
Still smiling along with them, Bae Hayoung diligently filmed Dohee with her camera, capturing everything from her face to the stage performance, where the choreography fit together flawlessly.
Fan cams and photographs alike.
─Click! Click!
“As expected, today’s atmosphere is freaking amazing...!”
Rainwater scattered in every direction with Dohee’s powerful movements!
“Yes! This is it!!”
The rain, a natural special effect, had brought back the girl we had loved in those days.
What was more, the sound system was incredible today.
Her voice rang out with unusual clarity.
It was loud enough to break through the AR, as if proving that she was singing live.
Except when she was using falsetto, of course.
At any rate, when Seoyun belted out a high note in her chest voice, the venue had even stirred with cheers.
It was a little disappointing that, being rookies who had only debuted recently, they had just one encore song, but Bae Hayoung instinctively sensed it.
‘The views are a given, and photos and fan cams are going to be floating around all kinds of communities!’
Debonair had scored a solid victory at this festival—
─Thud!
A loud thudding sound suddenly rang out.
“Uh...!”
The fansite master forgot to take pictures for a moment at the dizzying sight.
There was no need to turn her head. Chiyo was sitting on the ground beside Dohee, both hands planted on the floor.
It happened in an instant, but it seemed she had stepped on the slippery stage floor, lost her balance, and fallen.
“Ah, because of the rain...!”
Fortunately, Chiyo had managed to put her hands out in time, preventing the catastrophe of falling completely flat on her face.
‘S-She’s not hurt, right...?’
But in the process of bracing herself against the floor, her microphone had struck the ground with a loud crack, and the impact had obviously traveled up into her wrist.
“To get hurt during the final encore after doing so well...”
* * *
On the way back to the dorm after finishing all their schedules.
The inside of the car was filled with the scent of pain-relief patches.
“Is your wrist okay?”
“It’s okay...”
The mood inside was just as gloomy.
There was one reason.
“She could fall, you know.”
“Yeah. This is the same girl who threw a ball at her own member while throwing the first pitch.”
“Why are you bringing that up here?”
“It was one of the most impactful moments of my life. I probably won’t ever forget it until the day I die...”
“Want me to give you amnesia?”
“Tsk, there’s nothing you won’t say to your unnie.”
Chiyo unnie had gotten up right away and continued the performance, but the microphone she had slammed into the floor had broken and stopped working.
In truth, it was not such a serious problem.
Even though her microphone had broken, the AR had still been playing, so there had been no gap in the sound or vocals.
Besides, falling was just the sort of familiar stage mishap that could happen on a rainy day.
“It’s not like you panicked and stopped lip-syncing, either. You handled it sensibly. For your first event, you did it like a professional.”
Even so, the gloomy mood in the car came from Chiyo unnie’s crestfallen expression over making a mistake.
“Hey, even I couldn’t have done any better. And the fans are probably more worried about you right now. They’re probably asking if our Kim Chiyo is hurt. Hurry up and post on the official account that you’re okay.”
“Yeah, let’s post it now.”
Seoyun unnie and I tried to tease Chiyo unnie between us in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“Someone commented on the official account asking if you’ve become water kimchi.”
“Lee Dohee, you want to read that kind of thing at a time like this?”
“No, it’s just kind of funny—”
“Sniff...”
“No, it’s not. Yeah. Sorry.”
All we got in response was Chiyo unnie’s answer, which made it clear that her mood had not improved at all.
Even when Naeun unnie tried to comfort her in earnest—
“Chiyo, it’s really okay. Who in this world never makes a mistake? Even perfect people make mistakes. If it’s really bothering you, you can just work harder from now on, right?”
“Yesh...”
And even when U-a unnie tried to comfort her—
“All you have to do is work harder from now on. Let’s go home, eat something delicious, and get some sleep together.”
It was the same.
“Yesh...”
Chiyo unnie could only sigh repeatedly, her face filled with complicated emotions.
“Phew...”
Then, once we finally arrived at the dorm, she briskly locked her bedroom door and went inside.
─Knock, knock.
“Chiyo.”
U-a unnie knocked on the locked door to comfort her, looking especially troubled today.
─Leave me alooone...
Come to think of it, U-a unnie had always been unusually kindhearted for her age. Thoughtful and conscientious, too.
“Nothing we can do about it. You’re soaked as well, so you might catch a cold. Go to your room, change your clothes, and wash up.”
U-a unnie looked at me and nodded.
“This is my room.”
“Oh, right.”
* * *
My room was perfectly soundproof, so there was no way even the slightest sign of movement from outside could reach it.
In fact, I could not hear a thing.
But I rose from my bed and walked out.
It had not even been a week since I had seen Chiyo unnie acting so miserable in the living room.
Chiyo unnie had seemed to regain her energy during dinner and eventually acted as lively as ever.
But people who appeared excessively cheerful and full of vitality on the outside were often not so cheerful on the inside.
And Chiyo unnie was still young enough for that to show plainly.
Just as I expected, Chiyo unnie was there when I stepped out of my room.
Even today, she had considered her roommate U-a unnie and sat alone in a dining chair.
Crying without a sound. Tears slid down along her tightly clenched jaw.
It was not the first time I had seen her cry.
Actually, rather than having seen it myself, I should say I had heard about it from U-a unnie, who had often witnessed Chiyo unnie swallowing her tears alone since their trainee days.
“I’m tired.”
As expected, Chiyo unnie only sniffed after I made my presence known.
“Sniff... Are you not sleeping?”
“No. And I don’t think everyone else is asleep, either. After a day like today, when you get blasted with dopamine onstage, it’s hard to fall asleep. Even when your body is tired, your heart keeps churning and churning against your will.”
They were probably all tossing and turning in bed, trying to get to sleep.
“...Really?”
“Yeah. Seoyun unnie and I are used to it, but today’s stage was even the older members’ first time, wasn’t it?”
“...I-I should go inside and sleep.”
Chiyo unnie turned her head, wiped her face several times with her sleeve, and stood up. She must have felt bad about U-a unnie pretending not to notice her leaving.
But I had no intention of letting her go.
“...W-What are you doing?”
“Unnie, sleeping is good, but tonight, let’s sleep together in my room. I feel a little lonely now that the stage is over. Indulge your younger member a little.”
I dragged her over and laid her down on my bed.
The room was perfectly soundproof, so no sound would leak out.
* * *
Our bodies huddled together on the single bed.
The only sound was Chiyo unnie’s lips parting and closing again and again.
Silence flowed endlessly through the still darkness.
“Unnie.”
“...Yesh.”
“If you don’t say anything, I can’t help you.”
And the quiet continued once more.
What finally broke the long silence was a hazy voice somewhere between sleep and reason.
“Does Dohee... Does Dohee usually read comments about herself...?”
“Hmm... I don’t know. These days, sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. But when Jeodol came out and during Seven’s early debut days, I read them like crazy. Most of them were positive back then, you see.”
.
.
.
“But, unnie, when you hear only that kind of thing, it gets you all hyped up, you know? People become like they’re drunk. At some point, when you’re drunk, it feels like the whole world is spinning around you.”
.
.
.
“But you don’t realize it then. What’s actually spinning is your own field of vision. Then, the moment you read a malicious comment, your cold reason gradually returns, like you’ve drunk some water.”
“...Has Dohee-jjang ever been drunk?”
“That’s not the important part right now.”
“...Yesh.”
After I sighed softly, Chiyo unnie spoke first.
“But... saying malicious comments are water...”
“You think it doesn’t make sense?”
The silhouette of her expressionless face nodded silently.
“It doesn’t, I guess. But when I read malicious comments closely, I sometimes think their essence really is water.”
“...Why?”
“It’s more plausible than you’d think. Among malicious comments, there are a few that even I can acknowledge in some way. They’re a little harsh, but you could call them justified, rational criticism wearing the mask of condemnation. And reason itself happens to possess the qualities of water.”
“...Then what should I do?”
“What else can you do? Once you’re standing onstage, you just have to let the rain fall on you. You can’t use an umbrella. Insults are the same. Once you’re onstage, you can’t be afraid of being cursed at.”
“......”
“Of course, most of them are condemnation rather than criticism, and there’s more malice resembling pleasure than reason. But you did well today, didn’t you? You didn’t stop dancing just because you were afraid of falling in the rain, did you?”
“...Yesh.”
“You got back up because you had a job to do and wanted to work hard enough to earn your pay. You even lip-synced without letting it show, whether with the AR or whatever, right?”
“Yesh.”
I massaged Chiyo unnie’s shoulders.
“That’s all you have to do. From now on, keep relying on the members like this, talking things out, and letting out your stress.”
“Yesh...”
Perhaps feeling much lighter, Chiyo unnie’s voice grew drowsy.
“Sometimes, Dohee-jjang seems like an unnie...”
“Sure, sure.”
Then Chiyo unnie suddenly nestled herself against my chest.
“You’re an unnie here, too...”
“...Phew.”
You worked hard, so I’ll let it slide just for today.
“Now, let’s go to sleep.”
“But I have another worry...”
“...What is it?”
“Our album is coming out next week, isn’t it...?”
“Yeah.”
“The rest of the title tracks will be revealed too... But the concept is exactly the same situation as today...”
She had a point. Our second title track was a dance summer song that openly targeted the arrival of June.
Just like today’s stage, the music video was also scheduled to include scenes of us splashing around and dancing on puddles.
“But why is that a problem?”
“I’m worried that when people listen to the song and watch the music video, they’ll keep thinking about me falling onstage today...”
“...That is something to worry about.”
In truth, this song featured Chiyo unnie—the team’s only rapper—as the main role and the most prominent member, so Chiyo unnie’s image was especially important.
But Chiyo unnie on the water had already left a vivid impression, whether people liked it or not, thanks to her fall.
‘Water kimchi and all that.’
So if a similar scene was staged in the music video, quite a lot of people might be reminded of her falling.
Of course—
“I do have an idea that might be enough to overwrite that image...”
“...Really?”
I could not see Chiyo unnie’s expression, but the way she threw herself noisily against my chest again suggested that her mood had improved considerably.
* * *
“Ha, you’re having a damn hard time because you met the wrong members.”
“That’s too mean...”