Chapter 102
The year-end music festivals of the three major broadcasting stations didn't show as much buzz as they used to.
Nevertheless, a few stages began to spread rapidly through SNS and online communities after the festivals ended.
[MBS Gayo Daejejeon Today's Cross Stage Compilation - They Were Serious]
The group that first sparked the most buzz at this year-end music festival was none other than Cross.
-Cross swept this year-end music festival.
-Looks like they had a bone to pick because Wieuseu got more articles than Cross when they won the Grand Prize last time hahaha
└True ㅋㅋㅋ The Cross members have crazy competitive spirits. The atmosphere must have been murderous after the award ceremony ended.
-I waited until the end of the festival without changing channels just to see Cross's stage.
-For a music festival, you have to admit this is truly a legendary-level stage.
As if proving their popularity, Cross, who took the final ending stage of all the music festivals, showed a stage performance reminiscent of a concert, and stood at the center of online buzz every time a festival ended.
Of course, there were idols other than Cross who radiated their unique charms through this music festival.
-We all know Cross puts on good stages, right? I don't think I'd call it legendary.
-There was a separate truly legendary stage... Everyone who saw it live probably knows...
└Are you talking about *that* stage? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I think I know what it is.
└Don't tell me you're talking about the stage created by three people with the expressions of a fallen nation and one crazy dog?
└Crazy ㅋㅋㅋㅋ "Expressions of a fallen nation" ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
A video that began to spread by word of mouth, creeping up from the dark corners of the community.
It was the video of the 'Aing' team, consisting of four male members, from the MBS Gayo Daejejeon.
[Magic Puppy Kang A-jin's Legendary Comments Compilation]
A compilation video of comments posted on YouTube that became even more viral than the original stage video.
This video, which combined the video quality that blatantly captured the contrast between Kang A-jin and the other members' expressions with the legendary comment reactions attached to the original video...
...surpassed 1 million views in an instant, beating out Cross's stage video and taking 1st place on the rapidly rising popular videos.
-It's the victory of the Magic Puppy! Cross, step aside!
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Crazy, so funny
-A-jin is truly a heavenly idol. He was definitely born to be an idol...
-It's even funnier thinking about how the Wieuseu members probably squeezed their eyes shut while watching A-jin's stage ㅋㅋㅋ
└I feel a bit of secondhand embarrassment too... but he's so cute ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-A-jin, let's destroy the universe with magic!!!
Wieuseu's fans, who had been slightly annoyed by the three major terrestrial broadcasters' subtle discrimination against groups from cable networks...
...were relieving the stress they had accumulated by enthusiastically promoting Kang A-jin's cuteness to the general public at this opportunity.
***
The current time was 11:59 PM. With only one minute left until we welcomed the new year, we were currently on stage at the KBC Gayo Daejejeon, preparing for the New Year's countdown.
"Yes, everyone, you've all worked so hard this past year. The new year will soon dawn..."
On the stage crowded with singers, we fittingly moved to the very side according to our seniority, waving our hands to the fans who were occasionally visible, waving blue lightsticks.
The singers who had been zoning out backstage until just a moment ago seemed to be full of energy, at least for this very moment, putting on energetic expressions as they waited for the new year.
"Alright, let's start the countdown!"
Ooooh-
At the main MC's words, cheers erupted from the surroundings.
I wasn't sure if these cheers were because they were truly happy about the new year approaching, or because of the joy of finally being able to get off work.
"5! 4! 3! 2! 1!"
"Happy New Year!"
Waaaaaaaah-
As soon as the countdown ended, I faced each of the members one by one, sharing a strange sense of emotion, and greeted them with a light hug.
It was a relationship that had already easily surpassed a year if counted from the auditions. Now, just by looking at their faces, I could roughly tell what the other person was thinking.
"You really worked hard."
"You worked hard too, Yoojin."
When I finished greeting Kim Yoojin, I could see the smooth-talking Sim Seong-ha and Woo Jung-woo exchanging greetings with the singers around us.
"Have a blessed New Year."
"Yeah, thanks."
Bu Ji-seok, who was nearby, approached me and held out his fist, and I lightly bumped my fist against his.
While exchanging greetings with Bu Ji-seok, I saw the members of Black Jack, whom we had shared a stage with before, waving at us from afar.
'I've gotten to know more people than I thought.'
As we prepared for the music festival stages of the three major broadcasters, it seemed we had formed some kind of connection with most boy idol groups with a similar debut year to ours.
As I was greeting the singers I had built connections with this time...
-Year 1 of activities has ended. Organizing the activity data from this period.
-Level has increased.
'It's been a while.'
It had been a while since I saw a status window message, but it had been even longer since my level increased.
Since the mini 2nd album activities, my level had been stagnated as if I could barely gain any experience points from Korean activities anymore.
Anyway, my mood improved significantly as my level went up right on time like a New Year's gift.
However, the status message didn't end with just the level up.
-You have had a successful debut year.
-As a reward, +1 stat point is given.
-The trait 'Sharp Intuition' has been changed to the 'Danger Detection' trait.
Along with the stat point, a trait change had occurred.
'Danger Detection? Is this an upgraded trait of Sharp Intuition?'
'Sharp Intuition' was a trait I had been using quite usefully during my activities.
It had suddenly changed to a trait called 'Danger Detection'.
Well, since it was given as a reward, I figured it wouldn't be a loss.
'It would have been nice if they gave me a new trait instead.'
I felt a little disappointed, but I decided to look into the trait later.
'I have 2 stat points now.'
With this, I thought it might be possible to raise another stat to S-rank.
I quickly checked my current stats.
Stamina: S-
Vocal: B
Dance: A-
Appearance: S-
Charm: B+
There were two stats that had reached S-rank, and the next highest was the Dance stat.
'Since my Dance stat is A- right now, even if I invest all my stat points... Hmm.'
Unfortunately, confirming that I couldn't raise my Dance stat to S-rank, I put aside my thoughts about the reward I received this time for now.
Since we had already finished our last stage anyway, there was no immediate need to raise my stats.
While I was agonizing over my stats, the closing remarks were still ongoing on stage.
Accordingly, the noisy atmosphere on stage was gradually settling down.
And soon, the accompaniment of the final ending song sung by all the cast members together could be heard.
Finally, the last song signaling the end of the year-end music festival echoed throughout the concert hall.
***
Wieuseu, who welcomed the start of the new year on the music festival stage on January 1st, was finally able to arrive at their dorm long after the festival ended.
Seeing the members pass out as soon as they got in the car heading to the dorm, I thought today would pass without any issues, but that was my delusion.
"Now, a toast to celebrate Si-hyun's 20th birthday!!!"
"Cheers!"
The current time was 4 AM.
The drinking party, which had been going on for over an hour under the pretext of celebrating Baek Si-hyun's 20th birthday, showed no signs of ending.
"Sigh..."
I approached Kim Yoojin, who was sitting in a chair, nodding off in a half-asleep state.
"Yoojin, if you're tired, just go inside and sleep."
"Umm, yes? Ah... should I?"
When I spoke to him, Kim Yoojin, who had slightly come to his senses, answered.
As Kim Yoojin, who had been pondering for a moment, was about to get up from his seat, Woo Jung-woo's voice was heard from beside him.
"You're already leaving? Heh..."
Slam! Chug, chug-
'W-What?'
"No, absolutely not."
At Woo Jung-woo's single provocation, Kim Yoojin, who had instantly downed the beer in front of him, sat back down and glared at Woo Jung-woo.
'Why are they acting like this again?'
As I was looking at the two of them in disbelief, Woo Jung-woo spoke to me with a tongue-twisted pronunciation.
"Do you wan' to join in too, Rin hyung...? The person who goes in firss is the loser. Men muss fight for their pride!"
"No, I'm fine."
Looking at the two's table, it didn't seem like they drank that much, but
it was amazing that they could be in such a state after a few glasses of beer. More than that, Kim Yoojin isn't usually like that. Why does he get so unnecessarily hot-headed when he drinks...
Was he infected by Woo Jung-woo?
"Now, it's a match for Mr. Kim Yoojin...! Ta-da!"
"It's not Kim Yoojin, it's Yoojin Kim...!"
I shook my head at the two's appearances and moved my seat.
Beside us, the protagonist of this party, Baek Si-hyun, was receiving a lot of love from his older brothers. No, looking closely, he was listening to their laments.
"I can't believe Si-hyun is already twenty..."
"Kya... Time really goes by so fast. Isn't it? Back in my day..."
Kang A-jin and Sim Seong-ha, who had just turned 21, seemed to feel the impermanence of life as they talked as if they had lived their whole lives.
Baek Si-hyun was quietly listening to the two while sipping his beer, and Park Han-hwi was watching the three of them with a satisfied expression.
'It'll be a while before this ends too.'
"Our Si-hyun... really was a little bit small until last year..."
"Now our Si-hyun has all grown up! In fact, we raised him."
"Yep, absolutely...!"
When the two's banter, enthusiastically claiming their rights to raising Baek Si-hyun, was reaching its peak.
Baek Si-hyun, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, spoke in a low voice.
"I was originally taller than you guys, though...?"
"..."
"...!"
The table fell into a momentary silence due to Baek Si-hyun touching a taboo.
I looked at Sim Seong-ha and Kang A-jin, who were so shocked they couldn't speak, and turned my back to head to my room.
"Baek Si-hyun! Do you know the sorrow of putting two insoles in your shoes...?!!"
"It's not that we're small, it's that the members are all too tall... I hate wearing insoles too...!"
The voices of the two guys running wild could be heard from behind me.
As I was trying to quickly escape from the area.
Thud-
"W-What?"
"Si-hyun?"
Suddenly, a voice calling for Baek Si-hyun came from behind me.
When I turned around at the sound, I saw Baek Si-hyun passed out with his head buried in the table.
"He's completely out..."
I had no choice but to turn my steps and approach Baek Si-hyun.
"How much did you guys feed him?"
"Si-hyun? He only had one can of beer, I think...?"
"One can?"
While I was shocked by Baek Si-hyun's staggering alcohol tolerance.
"Rin, help me carry him on my back."
Park Han-hwi, who had asked me for help, carried Baek Si-hyun on his back and went into the room.
"Well, now that the birthday boy is out cold, let's clean up quickly and go inside..."
"W-Wait a minute! Rin hyung, there's still an important issue!"
Just as I was talking quickly, thinking I could finally end this drinking party, Sim Seong-ha suddenly spoke to me urgently.
"Important issue? What is it?"
"That's..."
Sim Seong-ha, who had been so urgent just a moment ago, hesitated for a long time when I asked for the reason, and then carefully spoke.
"Rin hyung, do you perhaps..."
"Perhaps?"
"You don't look down on us for being short, do you?"
"What...?"
While I was looking at Sim Seong-ha with disbelief for a moment, Kang A-jin chimed in from the side.
"Hyung, we saw you holding back your laughter when we were putting in our insoles...!"
"Honestly, I saw the corners of your mouth go up at Si-hyun's comment earlier too!"
'They saw that?'
I was momentarily flustered by the instantaneous aura radiating from the two, but I soon managed my expression and spoke seriously.
"Hmm, it seems there was a bit of a misunderstanding. Looking at your usual heights, I have never thought you were short."
"Really...?"
"Then what did you think normally?"
"That's..."
Looking at the two who were still suspicious and interrogating me with their eyes.
I racked my brain as much as possible to come up with a euphemism for 'short'.
"Your heights aren't small, but... you could say they're stable."
"Uwaaaaaah!"
"You... deceiver! Rin hyung is a deceiver!"
My answer actually had the opposite effect.
The sight of two highly excited puppies running wild could be seen.
"No, wait a minute, calm down...!"
"We can't forgive you!"
"Apologize!"
The dorm instantly turned into a mess.
Park Han-hwi must have gone into his room, as there was no sign of him coming back.
"Uwaa, I'm running away!"
"Stay with us! Hyung!"
In the end, I had no choice but to flee.
And meanwhile.
The two men who couldn't care less about their surroundings.
In the living room where only Woo Jung-woo and Yoojin Kim remained.
Thud-
Yoojin Kim, who couldn't hold back his drowsiness any longer, raised the white flag first and collapsed.
"My name is Woo Jung-woo, read forwards it's Woo Jung-woo, read backwards it's Woo Jung-woo..."
It was said that the song of victory echoed throughout the empty living room all night long.