Chapter 77
Around the time We:uS was working hard on their comeback preparations.
The music industry in July was already heating up.
The biggest topic of conversation was the news of Cross's advancement into the US, who were currently considered the top among the Big 3 idol groups.
[Cross ranks 10th on the US Billboard Main Album Chart. The signal for a successful US advancement.]
'Cross', having conquered the Asian market and aiming for the US market, reached 10th place on the Billboard 200 chart not long after their US advancement.
Fans of Cross in Korea cheered at the tremendous achievement, but it wasn't all positive reactions.
-Isn't the album chart just forcefully raised by album bundling?
-Isn't it too early to say the US advancement is a success when they haven't even entered the Hot 100 yet?
-Getting ahead of themselves a bit early, aren't they... The media play is too severe.
Because there had been a lot of media play and controversy regarding overseas advancements, it was a sensitive topic for K-pop fans.
In fact, as the comments suggested, Cross's US advancement still had many shortcomings to be called a success.
Of course, despite this, since it was the first time in almost 5 years that a Korean singer entered the top ranks of the Billboard main chart after 'OFF', the only K-pop group to ever rank 1st on Billboard.
Many K-pop fans were watching and cheering for Cross's US advancement.
And such news of Cross's US advancement, along with the content of an article, reached the We:uS members who were busy preparing for their comeback.
***
Around the time the sweltering summer heat was setting in.
The inside of We:uS's practice room was burning hotter than the weather outside due to the heat radiated by the seven men.
"Haa... Haa..."
As the music stopped, sounds of exhausted breathing could be heard here and there.
I looked at the clock and spoke to the members.
"Guys, let's rest for 10 minutes."
"Yeah..."
At my words, the members answered weakly and slumped to the floor right in their practice formation.
'It's bound to be hard.'
Even for me with an S-rank stamina, this comeback preparation schedule was no joke.
Preparing for the album was my second time, so it wasn't anything new.
'The concert preparation is the problem...'
The preparation for the first solo concert to be held after the comeback was the issue.
Not only the new songs for this comeback but also the songs from our national idol days had to be practiced together.
It was obvious that there wouldn't be enough time to prepare for the concert once promotions started, so we were preparing together from now.
Preparing for both at the same time, it was inevitable to be physically exhausted.
I briefly looked at the members still sprawled out on the practice room floor.
I brought some cool water bottles and handed them out one by one.
"Wow! Thank you!"
"Ugh... Water... Water."
I let out a short sigh looking at Sim Seong-ha making strange noises and snatching the water.
Then I headed to Eugene Kim, who was sitting on a chair by the practice room wall.
"Here's water."
"Ah, thank you."
Taking the water I offered, Eugene Kim carefully brought the bottle to his lips.
I sat next to Eugene Kim and surveyed the practice room.
With the comeback preparation reaching its final stages, we were doing everything we could to further increase the level of perfection.
'I can see the improvement.'
Raising the level of perfection was a grueling process with no end in sight.
Still, looking back, we could see that we had improved, so we were all pushing ourselves.
"Will we be able to finish it today?"
"Yes... Huh? Ah, I'm not sure."
At my muttering as I looked at the practice room, Eugene Kim reacted and answered from beside me.
Looking to the side, I saw Eugene Kim holding his phone in his hand.
"What are you looking at so intently? Cross?"
"Yes. There's an interesting article."
"An interesting article?"
If it was Cross, I knew very well as I had also heard the commotion about them starting their US advancement.
But as I glanced at the screen, why was my name visible in an article about Cross...?
"It says Cross's leader Jin-hyuk chose you, hyung, as the junior he looks forward to the most?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Look here."
The article Eugene Kim showed contained the details that Cross's leader Jin-hyuk, while hosting a W App broadcast, chose me as the junior he was most looking forward to.
"What is this..."
While I was bewildered, the members who had been lying on the practice room floor had already gathered around me and Eugene Kim.
Among them, Sim Seong-ha rolled over from the floor and arrived right under my legs.
"Wow... Rin hyung receiving the love of a senior group's leader. Amazing."
"They usually don't mention you unless you're a junior from the same agency, so it is quite amazing."
"I like those Cross sunbaenims..."
I could hear the members chiming in from both sides.
Well, I was thankful that they spoke well of me, but since I couldn't gauge the intention, it was a bit puzzling.
'Did we ever bump into each other in passing?'
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't remember.
I wanted to think of it as pure goodwill, but I couldn't help but be suspicious first.
'I guess I'll find out if we meet...'
I didn't know when I'd meet Cross, who were currently advancing in the US.
Well, it wasn't that important, so I'd think about it later.
'If there's a question about respected seniors next time, I can just mention them too.'
Having thought so and brushed it off, I spoke to the members.
"Shall we all slowly get ready to practice?"
"Aaargh...!"
"Seong-ha, stop rolling around the practice room."
When I said that to Sim Seong-ha, who was screaming and rolling around the practice room, I saw Kang A-jin, who was about to crawl around like a caterpillar next to him, flinch.
'They weren't like this at first...'
Is it the fate of an idol to find the practice room more comfortable than the dorm?
Seeing the members slowly starting to prepare for practice, I also stood up.
I could see my reflection in the mirror attached to the wall.
'It's still a bit awkward.'
The most noticeable thing was my hair, which looked awkward since it hadn't been dyed long ago.
The stylist said it suited the concept of this album well, but since I personally felt awkward, I wasn't sure how the fans would react.
'Come to think of it, I need to decide before shooting the music video.'
With the comeback preparation schedule running short, I checked my status window for the first time in a while.
[Name: Sunwoo Rin]
Level: 12
Stamina: S-
Vocal: B
Dance: A-
Appearance: A
Charm: B
Remaining Points: 1
Trait Points: 1
Traits
- Telepathy, God-given Body, Choreographer, Charisma that Overwhelms the Masses, Leader's Whipping, Sharp Intuition, Novice Composer
The level that hadn't risen at all since the audition ended, increased by one during this album preparation period.
It was an important remaining point for me, who was struggling because stats no longer rose easily with practice.
And the Novice Composer trait was created while I was learning composition from Park Han-hwi.
I couldn't immediately feel any major changes.
But I thought that if I kept putting in the effort, maybe someday I could participate in an album too.
'Anyway, I need to raise my stats...'
I pondered and looked at the status window.
Evenly raised stats. I thought I wouldn't suffer from lacking any particular stat anymore.
'But that also means nothing stands out exceptionally.'
Eugene Kim and Woo Jung-woo had the clear strength of vocals.
And Baek Si-hyun had dance skills that felt genius.
'What does the team need?'
While I was agonizing over it, the members who had finished preparing for practice slowly started to align in formation.
"Rin hyung, shall we start now?"
At Kang A-jin's voice calling me, I stopped my pondering and approached the members.
"Then shall we try from the beginning again?"
"Yes!"
Gathering in the center of the practice room to the start of the song, we recalled our moves and waited for the beginning of the song with a bit of tension.
Standing in the center, surrounded in a circle by the members, I looked at our reflection in the practice room mirror and soon reached a conclusion.
'I think I know what our song needs the most right now.'
Swallowing the regret of wishing I had just one more stat point, I invested a point into one stat.
-Appearance stat increases to A+.
***
Today as well, the endlessly repeated comeback bait was being tossed around in the fan cafe of We:uS's fans, Wish.
-When is We:uS having a comeback... Any new news?
-It's definitely about time something comes up this week... That's strange...
└lolololololol It seems hard for this week, but won't something come up within this month?
└No, if you think like that, even the teaser that's supposed to come up won't come up. You have to unconditionally believe it's coming this week...!
Despite the always repeating conversation, the fans of We:uS waiting for the comeback seemed tireless, and posts close to prayers were continuously being uploaded.
-It's finally up!!!
A post that suddenly appeared.
Normally at times like this, one should first suspect it to be bait, but wasn't this the official fan cafe where We:uS's fans gathered?
The Wishes intuited it.
It's today.
The first thing the Wishes saw as they rushed to the video site was.
A video posted on We:uS's official account.
[We:uS 'We' Official Teaser 1]
As soon as the fans confirmed the identity of the video, they hastily clicked on it.
And soon they could watch the playing video.
A sound heard as the black-dyed screen turned white.
♩♩♪♬~
The source of the sound was an old grand piano placed in the middle of a forest.
Without anyone playing the piano, the keys pressed on their own.
And as the vision of the camera, which was zoomed in on the keys, gradually blurred, a sudden change occurred in the surrounding background.
Whooosh-
Along with the sound of the wind, the dizzyingly shaking screen transitioned, revealing the scenery of a garden seen inside a closed iron gate in the video.
The camera passed as if slipping through the closed door.
A man was sitting in front of the grand piano placed inside the garden.
The back of the man, who seemed to be asleep with his head resting on the keys, was visible.
When the subtly colored hair, seemingly a mix of white and silver, fluttered in the blowing wind and swayed within the screen.
Suddenly, the gently playing piano accompaniment began to distort into a bizarre electronic sound.
When strings and orchestral sounds were added to the growing electronic sound.
The building music stopped all at once, and a low narration echoed.
[We:uS will last forever]
The screen transitioned, showing the members of We:uS gathered in a circle around Sunwoo Rin inside a stage, and the video ended.
A short teaser of just over 30 seconds.
The fans of We:uS who watched the teaser video without even breathing properly.
As soon as they realized the video was over and tried to pull themselves out of the screen.
They checked the scene they couldn't properly see while watching the video once more, and fell into sheer astonishment.
-Wow...
-Rin has white hair.
-More than that, the beauty...
The fans, who couldn't contain their astonishment for a while, returned to the fan cafe unable to calm their pounding hearts.
Not long after, Sunwoo Rin's appearance in the teaser scene began to spread at the speed of light across idol-related communities.