Two weeks after filming wrapped.
The Friday the MV teaser dropped.
I was eating with Seoyun and Ua unni at the company, refreshing our agency's YouTube channel.
At 6 PM, a new video went up.
[ X1 TRES 'Thinking of You' TEASER ]
"It's out."
I tapped the video immediately.
Seoyun unni and Ua unni, who had been watching me from the side, said,
"What, it's out? Let's watch together."
"I wanna see too!"
Ua unni and Seoyun unni leaned their heads close to mine and started looking at my phone screen.
It was a teaser, a short video less than 30 seconds.
The video mostly showed the X1 sunbaenim, and my appearance was just once at the very end, from the back.
"Aw, you barely appear."
"For real."
"Ah, it's because this is the teaser, the teaser."
After answering the unnis, I left a comment below the video.
[Even just the teaser, this song is a hit, right? And who's the girl at the end? You can tell she's pretty even from her back.]
Seoyun unni and Ua unni looked at me leaving the comment.
"What."
Seoyun unni and Ua unni let out a sigh and said one after another,
"Shameless."
"Agreed."
So what?
"Hurry up and leave comments too, unnis."
.
.
.
Two days later, the Sunday the full MV was scheduled to drop.
A loud alarm blared in my room early in the morning.
Ugh, so loud.
Since I sleep in on Sundays, I definitely hadn't set an alarm for the morning.
When I picked up my phone to check, it was 6 AM.
Ah...
I thought I'd set the alarm for 6 PM when the MV and song would be released, but I guess I accidentally set it for 6 AM.
Since I was already awake, I went out for a morning jog.
Just kidding. I turned off the alarm as usual and went back to sleep.
Rest is important too, you know.
When I opened my eyes, it was 12:14 PM.
I feel refreshed.
It was Sunday anyway, so lazing around at home was the plan.
When I opened the door and went out, the smell of cooking rice greeted me.
Mom was setting the table in the kitchen.
Dad was nowhere to be seen, so he must still be sleeping.
Mom saw me coming out of the room and said,
"Our daughter's up?"
"Yepp. What's for lunch?"
"The stir-fried pork you were singing about~"
I was happy inside but let out a sigh as I spoke to Mom.
"Haa... Mom, you really ruined my diet."
Mom said with a straight face,
"I made it because you said you wanted it, and now you're making a fuss. Then don't eat."
"That's not what I mean."
Afraid I'd get scolded for no reason, I slipped away from Mom and went to Doa, who was lying on the living room couch watching TV.
And I climbed on top of Doa.
Doa got annoyed as soon as I got on her and said,
"Ah~ Unni! You're heavy!"
"Aww, but you like it inside, don't you? Doa's a shy one~"
"No, I said you're heavy!"
"I don't care~ I wanna stay like this with Doa."
Doa let out a screech.
"BBbbaaaek—"
"I said you're heavy!"
"Unni is light~"
Hmm... Am I not?
166 cm and 51 kg seems fine to me.
I let Doa go for a moment, then took out my phone and searched online.
'166 cm female celebrity weight'
The heights and weights of the celebrities that came up were as follows:
168 cm, 50 kg.
168 cm, 46 kg.
166 cm, 49 kg.
Hmm...
Looks like I really need to go on a diet.
They say dieting is the hardest when you're about to debut...
I'm screwed.
I searched online for fat-burning diets, diets where you can eat, and so on.
While looking through various posts, Mom called me.
"Dohui, the food's ready, so wake up Dad."
"Yes~"
I went into the master bedroom to wake up Dad.
Dad was lying in bed as quiet as a mouse.
I called out to Dad from afar.
"Daddy~ wake up-shuu~"
"Wake up~"
"Mister, you can't sleep here."
Dad didn't even twitch no matter how nicely I spoke.
I had no choice but to climb onto the bed and shake Dad's head.
"Wake up!"
Dad finally woke up and hugged me tight as I was shaking his head.
I said to Dad,
"You awake?"
Without answering, Dad gave my cheek a kiss.
*Smooch*
"Ah, your breath stinks. Stop it."
*Smooch*
Dad held me tight and wouldn't let go.
"Ah, I said your breath stinks!"
"I don't care~ Daddy's breath doesn't stink."
"Ah, let gooo!"
Dad didn't let me go until he was satisfied.
After Dad had his fill, I finally broke free and trudged to the dining table.
I said as I sat in the dining chair,
"Ah, it was a refreshing morning, but now it's ruined."
Mom placed rice in front of me and said,
"It's lunch."
"Ah, I don't know~ The time I woke up is my morning~"
Dad came out and said to us,
"Good morning~"
*Sigh.*
Everyone sat at the table and started eating.
Mom said to me during the meal,
"I made the stir-fried pork you asked for, so why are you picking at it like that?"
"I think I need to go on a diet."
"You? You don't have an ounce of fat to lose. Just eat."
"No, I'm 166 cm and 51 kg right now? But when I look at other celebrities, they're like 168 cm and 47 or 49 kg?"
Dad said,
"Our daughter is still growing, so it's okay to put on some weight. And you're way too skinny right now anyway."
True.
He had a point.
"Right? So I can just eat, yeah?"
"Yeah. Hurry up and eat."
Right, I'll eat quickly and grow big, then repay Mom with a big chest.
Dad continued,
"So you said the MV comes out today?"
"Yeah, at 6 today."
"Shall we all watch it together in the living room?"
"Yepp."
Doa said, her eyes sparkling,
"Unni, so are you a celebrity now?"
Mom said,
"What kind of celebrity has no fans? You're just a normal person."
"Oh-ho. Why wouldn't I have fans."
"What, you have some?"
I made a flower-cup pose with a dazzling expression and said,
"Me. I'm my own number-one fan~"
"*Sigh...*"
Dad said,
"Then Dad will be your number-two fan~"
I put on a serious face, reached my hand out to Dad, and said,
"I'm sorry, but our fan club requires a paid membership."
Dad grabbed my arm and peppered kisses from the back of my hand all the way up my arm.
"Ah, what are you doing!"
I withdrew my arm.
When I brought my nose to the arm I'd taken back, it smelled like stir-fried pork.
Ah.
.
.
.
Eight minutes before the MV and song release—5:52 PM.
Our whole family sat in front of the living room [TV].
And the TV was connected to a phone with YouTube playing.
*Ding-dong*
The doorbell rang.
"Delivery here~"
"Yes, coming out~"
I went to the entryway and received the chicken.
Having received the chicken, I put it on the living room table and set up to eat it.
*Hoo...* Gotta tear into some chicken on a monumental day like this.
I tore into the chicken while waiting for 6 o'clock.
And at exactly 6.
I endlessly refreshed Top East Entertainment's official YouTube channel.
And the MV went up.
[ X1 TRES 'Thinking of You' Official MV ]
*Whew.*
This is nerve-wracking.
"Should I press it?"
Mom answered,
"Yeah, press it quickly."
Calming my pounding heart, I pressed the video.
Let's go!
Ah.
An ad.
I really need to sign up for YouTube Premium.
After waiting 15 seconds, I quickly pressed the skip button.
This time, the real MV came on.
It started with a subjective point-of-view shot of someone standing in an empty white hallway as a calm bass line played.
The POV walked down the hallway and opened a classroom door.
As the door opened, the song began with a wistful voice, and the screen switched to the X1 sunbaenim performing a band set on stage.
And returning to the classroom, what came into view was my side profile, studying with one arm propped up at a desk by the window in the very back row.
The filtered screen made the sunlight hitting me through the window stand out clearly.
The POV slowly zoomed in from the outer edge of the classroom, drawing closer to my side profile.
Having drawn closer to the POV, I put down my pen and stretched my arms out wide.
While stretching, I felt a presence, turned my head, and smiled brightly right at the center of the screen.
'Kuh... Crazy, this is crazy. I think I just caught the fanbug.'
The screen cut to the notebook I was writing in.
On the notebook were traces of handwriting and doodles of hearts.
And cutting back to a wide shot of the classroom, only my notebook and workbook remained on the desk—I had disappeared.
Cross-cut again to the X1 sunbaenim's stage performance for about five seconds, then this time I appeared running on the track field in a short-sleeved T-shirt and gym pants, my hair in a ponytail.
And the camera chased after me from behind.
Tired from running, I collapsed onto the grass, and the camera looked down at me from directly above.
Lying down like that... my chest was making its presence known, if I do say so myself.
Cross-cut back to the X1 sunbaenim's stage, then back to the classroom where I was shown sitting on the windowsill, looking outside.
This scene of me looking outside looked even more wistful, perhaps thanks to the blue-toned filter.
And as the song reached its highlight, a scene came up of me holding castanets and dancing freely.
My freestyle dancing contrasted with the previous wistful scenes, making it appear cuter, yet somehow also more wistful.
Then, cross-cut sequentially with the X1 sunbaenim's stage performance, various scenes of my school daily life came up.
Me playing the piano in the music room.
Me walking around the track and playing around by splashing water at a faucet.
Me spinning a globe in the science lab.
And the song's final highlight part.
Returning to the classroom once more, the POV gradually zoomed in on my brightly smiling face, and when my face filled the center of the screen, it faded out.
In the center of the black screen after the fade-out, the song title "Thinking of You" was stamped, and the MV ended.
I clapped lightly and said,
"This is great. I really love it."
Mom said,
"Was it originally supposed to be this much screen time?"
"I dunno, I only heard I'd be the female lead; I didn't know I'd appear this much. Let's watch it again."
Doa, who had been watching the screen with her mouth open in a daze, said,
"I wanna be a celebrity like unni too!"
Hmm...
But Doa is supposed to only look at me forever...
.
.
.
I replayed the MV on loop until bedtime, then lay in bed checking comments that mentioned me.
[I'm a fan of another group passing by... Isn't the song and MV so prettyㅠㅜ The kids made a comeback so I'm busy with streaming, but I happened to listen to "Thinking of You" and it seems like a song made for the public's taste, so I think I'll listen to it every dayㅠㅠ Especially the female lead is so prettyㅠㅠ]
[X1's first unitㅠㅠ So good... Heart fluttering... Really... This is insane, number one on the charts, let's go. But who's the female lead?]
[Is the female lead's beauty for real... I'm speechless]
[Wow, I'm a girl too but I think I'd fall for her. Isn't her face really too pretty? The song is good too, and isn't the female lead too pretty... Is this a movie?]
[I was smiling the whole time watching the MV... Ha The female lead is so pretty, she's an angel..]
[Wow, it's so wistful. The MV is amazing because the female lead really feels like a first loveㅠㅠ It feels like they captured the brilliant moments of first love and melted them straight into the MV...]
*Heheh.*
Ah, I can't stand it.
I have to leave a comment too.
[The female lead is crazy. I think I fell in love with the female leadㅠㅠ]
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.
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The next day, I went to work.
I entered the choreography practice room.
I thought I'd arrived first, but Seoyun unni was there.
"You're here?"
"Yepp."
"I saw the MV yesterday. You were pretty."
I smiled at her words, then covered my mouth with my hand and said,
"Oh my! Did you see it?"
"Ah, why is she like that again."
Then I swept my hair back with my hand, walked forward, and shouted,
"That's right~ That's correct~! The female lead with a face like an angel. That's me~"
Seoyun unni looked at me with an extremely displeased expression, but whatever.
I was satisfied, so that was enough~
I wish I could debut already.