LE Entertainment’s music channel, MusicWave.
And the awards ceremony it hosted, the Mwoama (MWMA).
The singers’ final route checks were in full swing.
Taking advantage of a lull in the head PD’s radio calls, the staff member in charge of checking the equipment was leaning against the back of the stage, taking a break with a junior female colleague.
“Did you see her earlier, sunbae? I made eye contact with Minseo, and wow, she was seriously gorgeous—”
“Yeah, Minseo is really pretty.”
“Right? Wow, I can’t believe I’m an MWMA staff member. Just last year, I was sitting in the audience holding a light stick.”
“Take a good look while you can. Once you’re running around until dawn, you won’t even have the energy to see them.”
“Come on, the overtime pay is generous, and we get to see idols too. It’s the best of both worlds.”
“Is that so?”
Considering that he had been exactly the same at first, he couldn’t really fail to understand his junior.
Still, once midnight rolled around, she would be running around in every direction until she collapsed from exhaustion.
“Sunbae, have you ever seen Debonair?”
“Debonair? Why, you haven’t?”
“No. Since I joined, they haven’t come to our station even once. I’ve never had a chance to run into them. So even though everyone keeps saying Dosemin this and Dosemin that, I’ve never seen Lee Dohee either… They say she’s on another level in person.”
“Hm… I suppose that’s true.”
“So have you seen her?”
“Well, I don’t know Debonair, but I saw Lee Dohee and Kim Seoyoon a few times back when they were in Saven. We filmed a few programs together, too.”
“No way, really? What are they like?”
“All the Saven members were nice. Maybe it was because they were rookies.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, Lee Dohee used to drag Park Yeeun around with her, always smiling and greeting people first. She was polite when she spoke, too.”
“Come on…”
“Once you’ve worked here for a long time, you’ll realize how impressive that is. We only have to return greetings, but they go around doing that to dozens, even hundreds of people every day.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I wanted you to tell me more specifically…”
“Well, Kim Seoyoon and Lee Dohee did bicker with each other a little. They were both pretty playful. But I only ever saw them from a distance.”
“So they’re like that normally, too. Then what’s your ranking of the people you’ve seen in person?”
From what he had heard, his junior was a passionate fan of some male idol, but she seemed even more interested in female idols.
Then again, if someone was at the top in terms of buzz, they would be a common topic of interest regardless of gender.
“Well, first…”
The Kim Seoyoon he remembered had a face that suited the phrase “puppy-like” better than anyone else’s.
Her features were large and distinct, but rather than being intense, they leaned toward cuteness—a look that hardly anyone, male or female, could dislike.
“And then? And then?”
Lee Dohee, on the other hand, had a unique aura unlike anything he had encountered in all his years working in the entertainment industry.
“I’m not just talking about her appearance. It’s more like…”
Even back then, when she had been a middle schooler, she had already been famous for her tall stature and unusual bearing, as well as a face that combined a glamorous look with the cuteness of a child whose baby fat had yet to disappear.
Yet despite having the image of a cute youngest member, there was an adult quality to her during filming—a playful smile that seemed to make the people around her feel at ease.
“Anyway, there was just something different about her from the very beginning.”
He suddenly found himself curious about what Lee Dohee looked like in person these days, after seeing her in videos.
They said she had grown even more mature since debuting as Debonair, with sharper, more defined features.
“Oh, I read some recent fan accounts about how she looks in person, and everyone says she’s really, really different. I’m so excited for today. They say Debonair’s coming too—when are they getting here?”
Even so, he still wondered why Debonair was attending the Mwoama in the first place.
“They won’t win an award anyway. Why are they even coming?”
“Huh? Debonair really isn’t going to win anything? Judging by the trends, they might even be in the running for the Grand Prize. Ailly is number one on the charts, of course, but Debonair lined up at second, third, and fourth. Maybe not Song of the Year, but shouldn’t they at least be able to get Artist of the Year?”
“Well… purely based on their results, they do have the numbers to win Artist of the Year.”
Still, they wouldn’t.
“It’s common knowledge that their agency and our company don’t get along.”
“Is it because of that?”
“Honestly, isn’t it obvious? LE is practically ranked tenth among the major conglomerates, while TopEast isn’t even a conglomerate. They’re being arrogant.”
“I see.”
“Though Debonair showing up could be a sort of gesture toward reconciliation. Even so, those girls won’t get the Grand Prize—or even the Rookie Award. They’ll probably just receive some random award to fill out the program—”
“Hello, FD.”
“Huh?”
The junior’s eyes went wide.
A voice had addressed him from behind.
The staff member had no choice but to stiffen like a block of ice.
“Ah, a-Dohee? Haha, hello.”
The familiar voice had belonged to the very person they had been talking about.
‘…Could she have heard us?’
Lee Dohee turned toward them and greeted him with the same smile as before.
That mature smile, with just a hint of mischief in it.
“Come on, FD. You can call me Dohee like before.”
“Ah, I didn’t even realize… Haha.”
For a moment, he found himself irrationally resenting the fact that Lee Dohee always went around greeting people first.
“Wow, she’s even prettier in person… I really, really love Debonair!”
“Oh, really? Thank you.”
“I even have three of Dohee’s photocards at home!”
The junior beside him leaned forward and began showing off her fan spirit.
“New writer, FD, we’ll be in your care today. We have to go check our routes, so we’ll be off.”
After quickly finishing her greetings, Lee Dohee went to join her members.
“No, sunbae, she’s so much prettier in person—like, way prettier… The prettiest person I’ve ever seen!”
The staff member spoke as casually as he could.
“Maybe it’s because she’s matured… She’s gotten even prettier… Yeah.”
Inside, he let out a sigh of relief, thinking that the noise onstage had probably prevented her from hearing him.
* * *
“Dohee, why do you look so upset?”
“My heart suddenly started aching.”
“Really? Did someone say something mean?”
“Because U-ah unnie’s loveliness is number one, my chest just… Ugh.”
“What is this~? Dohee keeps trying to seduce me these days.”
“Why, why do only the two of you keep doing that?! Let me, let me join in too!”
“No.”
“And U-ah-chan was originally my partner!”
“Who knows~ Dohee keeps seducing me~”
They had known from the beginning that they might not receive an award, but if even the staff were talking like that, it was probably time to give up on whatever faint hope they had been harboring.
Of course, she didn’t let any of that show to the older girls.
“Hm. My love can only be received by good people.”
“If I’m not good, then who is?!”
“Hm…”
Before Debonair’s first awards ceremony, the MWMA, began, the members had finished all their preparations in the waiting room. They were half-nervous, but still excited.
“You’re all having such a grand old time. Aren’t they, Naeun unnie?”
“You should go play with them~ You’re no different~”
“…Unnie? Hello?”
Even though she had already hinted that they probably wouldn’t receive a single award once they went out there, given their results, it would have been stranger not to hope for at least one.
Even so, their leader approached her and said:
“Dohee, no matter what the result is, let’s not doubt that we worked hard and did well this year.”
“Hm? Why all of a sudden?”
“It is sudden, but we did work hard. And we’ll work hard next year, too.”
Had she shown even the slightest sign of disappointment?
“I’m only saying this because I know that our Dohee always works harder than anyone.”
“But, unnie, I’m the person with the clearest self-awareness in the world. The moment I came out of my mother’s womb, I walked seven steps and loudly declared, ‘Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am supreme.’”
“Sure, sure. Now, everyone, let’s gather around and shout ‘fighting’ together!”
“No, Naeun unnie! That was supposed to be my line! I even came up with a whole ‘heave-ho’ speech!”
“What’s a ‘heave-ho’ speech…? Then, Chiyo, why don’t you try again?”
“No! That ruins the feeling!”
Naeun unnie had tried to encourage the members as their leader, but we were people who lived according to our own whims, so she failed.
Still, the atmosphere was pretty good.
“Come to think of it, we still just end with ‘Debonair, fighting!’ Shouldn’t we come up with some kind of chant?”
Kim Seoyoon had arrived too, humming as she checked her pitch one last time, never one to stay out of discussions like this.
She was clearly doing it all the more because she knew how many times I had opposed cheesy fighting chants.
“Dohee, we should do something like ‘Wake the Saven!’ Right?”
“Oh, that was Saven’s chant?!”
That smug grin said everything.
“Yeah. Actually, I think it’d be nice if we had something too. Every team ought to have at least one chant.”
“…If Naeun unnie is going that far, then fine.”
“Ha. I really want to punish Lee Dohee one of these days for only ever listening to Naeun unnie.”
“Unfortunately, Kim Seoyoon, you’re a little lacking to receive my respect.”
In the middle of the chaos, Chiyo unnie had been muttering to herself after hearing Saven’s chant. Then she suddenly shot her hand into the air.
“Everyone, how about this for our chant?!”
“What is it?”
“Debonel! Debonay! Debonese! Debonessa! Debono~ fighting!”
“…My God.”
She had come up with a horrific chant.
“For reference, since Lee Dohee is the youngest, she’s Debono No. 5, okay?”
“I mean… it’s not bad?”
“Honestly, the creativity gets a hundred points.”
“Okay, everyone, let’s go with this!”
Everyone seemed to be losing their minds from nervousness before the awards ceremony.
How could that abomination of a chant possibly lead to a positive conclusion?
“No, this isn’t it. Seriously.”
“Come on, everyone, please continue to take care of us from now on! Naeun unnie, let’s go!”
Kim Seoyoon forcibly grabbed me by the neck.
She formed a circle and shoved my head into the middle.
It was the kind of chant formation that every athlete found romantic.
“Fine, I’ll do it. Debonel!”
But please, not this chant.
“Debonayyy—khak.”
Was this supposed to be funny?
“Debonese~”
“Debonessa!”
Seriously, what the hell.
“Hey, hurry up.”
“Debono…”
【Fighting!】
Seriously, what the hell.