It passed by without much incident.
Interviews with actors who had come as attendees.
Stages of secondhand rookies who were finally seeing the light.
Stages of rising rookies from major agencies.
Even the meaningful stages of veterans.
Nothing much notable happened.
At most, our faces had been briefly shown as Rookie Award candidates.
[Congratulations! Ailli!]
Of course, Ailli had taken the Female Rookie Award.
"Hey, give her a kimchi clap."
"I am clapping. As if I don't know you."
I smiled from beginning to end.
It wasn't because I was conscious of the cameras.
Ailli's results had been good, after all.
Though I was aware of the restless feeling lingering in a corner of my heart, having never once missed out on first place in this life,
I had decided not to let it bother me anymore.
I could just receive the Daesang at the Water Melon Award anyway.
And so, the long Part 1 ended and we moved into Part 2.
I met all the Seven members who had prepared a special stage together.
"Congrats. What, did Yeeun unnie cry?"
"Dohui, I did cry...!"
"Sure, come here unnie, I'll give you a hug."
"...Really!? What's this? Dohui has changed!"
"Y-you became kinder!? Then I... I want a hug too!"
I offered my congratulations on the Rookie Award to Hana unnie, Sera unnie, and Yeeun unnie.
I also performed on stage with the former members, feeling like old times.
A medley of three of Seven's many hit songs.
A feeling of memories welling up.
Especially the heated cheers were truly wonderful.
After more and more stages passed by once again,
the prominence of the people who came out as presenters changed.
[The next award goes to the song that received the most love this year, the song that captivated the hearts of K-pop fans worldwide.]
It was the first Daesang category.
[Song of the Year!]
The camera caught the Daesang nominees.
Not like we would win anyway.
But the camera was shining on us briefly again.
"We're nominees!"
Of course we are nominees.
[...Ailli! Congratulations!]
Confetti burst.
Cheers erupted.
The music blared loudly.
Familiar faces appeared on the electronic display.
Ailli members again, following the Rookie Award.
Faces that had been dazed changed to joy, and again, eyes grew red.
It was the very sight I had witnessed by their side two years ago.
[For such an undeserved award... I am happy and honored.]
Hana unnie had done the same when she won her first Daesang, but this time too, she took care of everyone one by one—from the fans to the staff, to her father who was alone.
[And our friends who are all doing their best in their respective places. I don't think we could have stood on this stage without our friends. Thank you always...]
And she even made eye contact with us former members as she mentioned us.
That wouldn't do her any good now that she had launched a new group, but
that was precisely why I listened all the more closely to Hana unnie's sincere acceptance speech.
"Why are you crying, unnie. Are you crying just because she mentioned us?"
"What are you talking about, I'm not crying...?"
Seoyun unnie trickled tears like a fool, as if she didn't even remember missing out on the award.
[...Thank you once again.]
Still, they were my members who were more than qualified for the Daesang. Even if they were former members.
Again, many stages passed by.
As Part 2 was drawing to a close,
another presenter took the stage.
[This year as well, countless artists across diverse genres have added color to our daily lives with outstanding music.]
Once again, a grand introductory remark began.
[This is an award given to an artist who achieved particularly outstanding success among them, an artist who enriched emotions and memories beyond mere musical accomplishment.]
Artist of the Year.
It seemed like the award we should win was being presented at this very moment.
—Thump, thump!
And indeed, it wasn't.
[Congratulations, Ailli!]
Ailli's double crown.
[When I fir, first began to dream...]
But this time, Yeeun unnie burst into tears and mentioned us in her acceptance speech like a fool again.
[The people who were al-always with me... I wish we could always be together.]
"Crybaby?"
"So what, shut up..."
Seeing Kim Seoyun, the ENFP, crying in empathy again, I didn't feel too bad.
"It's okay, we came to celebrate today anyway."
Seoyun unnie acting as if crying in front of me, the youngest, hurt her pride—her cute demeanor was quite a source of energy for me.
* * *
"Wow! This is fucking absurd! Throwing away Debonair?!"
Even after returning to the lodgings they had booked nearby, Bae Hayeong was shouting at the top of her lungs, spraying spit everywhere.
"No, of course Ailli did great and Innerus did great as Seven's successor boy group. But if they were going to do this, they should have at least handed Debonair a decent award earlier!"
"Exactly. World Record and stuff obviously belongs to NND! And the Album Award usually goes to a boy group so Innerus could get it, but Artist of the Year was really almost a given!"
"Besides, Dohui is an idol even elders know these days!"
But to think they didn't receive a single award at MWMA.
Actually, they did receive one.
Something like this.
"But seriously, they could have given the Rookie Award to two teams regardless of gender. No matter how bad relations are, this is way too blatant."
Anger flared at the sense of injustice.
Of course, it wasn't that they were denying Ailli's achievements.
"I mean, the cumulative might be a little lacking, but the peak performance was far better than Ailli's, so how does this make sense!"
That's why she had thought the two groups would amicably divide and sweep the Daesangs at this year's ceremony.
Moreover, the Debonair members had been placed in Part 3, the latter half of the cue sheet, despite being rookies.
"They decide who gets the awards and then arrange the cue sheet. Putting them in the back half and not giving them a single Daesang is basically a straight-up—"
"Fuck-you."
"Right? I mean, did Widong really stab the Mwave CEO in the back or something?"
Even while fuming like that, Bae Hayeong stopped being angry.
Because Dohui, in the waiting area Bae Hayeong was filming, hadn't frowned even once and was watching the stage with her usual bright smile.
"Ha, our kid seems so composed and unfazed... What are we even doing like this."
"I know right..."
Even though all the Daesangs they had clearly aimed for had gone down the drain,
Dohui calmly got on stage and was even beautiful.
Together with her members, , , a medley of annual chart 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place songs was performed so perfectly it was almost sacred.
"That's exactly the kind of thing that makes you fall for her more, but..."
"Dohui... has a real pro mentality."
Maybe that was why.
It felt like only their own hearts were burning to a crisp.
Anyway, the two of them, having taken delivery food and alcohol, spent a long time pouring out curses about Mwave, LE Entertainment, and CEO Kim Widong.
Starting from the lament, "It was weird from the start since they're archenemies with Mwave."
To the consolation, "But WMA (Water Melon Award) and Golden Disc will give them proper awards..."
To the conclusion, "In the end, Dohui will win everything anyway..."
And the very next day.
The two of them woke up half-asleep to check out and were forced to see a new topic of conversation because of a feed that was burning up.
"Hey, hey, look at this."
"What... what is it..."
The friend shoved the screen in front of her face the moment she woke up.
—[Info/News] WMA Cue Sheet
There, a photo of the stage order for the Water Melon Award, the second main award ceremony to be held two days later, had been posted.
By this time, it was an annual occurrence for a daily staff part-timer to secretly take and post such photos from somewhere, so it wasn't particularly surprising. Bae Hayeong calmly looked over the list.
"The kids are performing in the latter half of Part 1."
Usually Daesang candidates are pushed toward the back... but since rookies often perform early.
"They'll get the Daesang, right? If they really don't give it this time, it's truly ridiculous."
"No, that's true too, but put that aside for now. Look at the latter half of Part 2, the latter half of Part 2."
"Latter half of Part 2?"
"Yeah, yeah, hurry."
Bae Hayeong listened to her rushing friend and slowly let her gaze drop down again.
Having just woken up, her vision was still a bit blurry, but.
Past the nominees' VCR order, Best OST, Best Collaboration award, the winner's speech...
The part where several solo singers took turns performing on stage.
"What is this?"
Dohui's name was written there.
[Lee Dohui]
Placed right there together with a "new song" label and the song title.
[New Song / I DO (到喜)]
"Don't tell me this is a solo song...?"
"...Seems like it."
With a dazed feeling, though it was a bit obvious, the two made eye contact for a moment and then uniformly logged into the community.
And clicked.
Straight to the top.
The posts about Dohui that had instantly plastered the board.
[Crazy, Lee Dohui's solo song reveal, so fucking hyped lolllll]
[They haven't debuted that long ago, so I'm bewildered by a solo song]
[In the end, it's another Lee Dohui push lol that's why they can't get the Daesang]
[Is that Dohui's Hanja name? 'Arrive' Do and 'joy' Hui?]
[How is it that even Dohui's Hanja name feels so like her]
[Lee Dohui's Instagram name is Just_Do_hee too lollll]
And those posts were proving it.
That no matter what anyone said, Dohui was currently the hottest idol in the K-pop community.
MWMA was quickly buried before even a full day had passed, and people's attention swiftly shifted to WMA.
* * *
"Hey, Kim Seoyun."
"Ah, she's speaking informally again. Do you really want to die?"
"Shall we go get it soon? The Daesang trophy."
"You're really hopeless. I've been more than patient."
"A-ack! Why are you like this! It was just a joke! Ms. Naeun, this person is using violence!!"