“Ahhhh!”
“Seo Hoyun, you piece of trash!”
“What? What did you just say?”
The fandom fight was just about to become a physical brawl when security guards intervened.
No one had expected it, but it was an unbelievable result that everyone had thought, “No way, no way.” Security guards barely stopped the fight, escorted some fans out, and an icy silence settled in the venue.
“… Damn…”
Today’s members failed to control themselves as one of them burned a piece of bread and hurriedly covered their mouth.[1]
“Today will receive negative points! The total is now in the negatives….”
“Cancel the program! Get rid of it!”
I didn’t manage my expression either. I was so damn refreshed and relieved. Why would I control my face?
Looking at the members, none seemed to think I would call out Today. They all stopped in their tracks like meerkats.
“H-hey, hyung.”
A staff member quickly approached me, and I handed the mic over. I then greeted some fans with very cool expressions and retreated to where the other groups were.
The situation had become much more intense than expected, and the staff members gave hints to quickly finish and wrap up.
Yu Jia took the mic and drove the final nail.
“Today’s score of 4,200 will be in the negatives. Please show the current total.”
Not only Today but also everyone else couldn’t close their mouths. Today, who had the most recognition, instantly became 5th place just before Nightmare. It was a pitiful sight.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing if Today can make a comeback. Until the next competition, please stay tuned.”
The broadcast ending greetings were finished, and Yu Jia glanced at the idol groups on stage. Only then did the red light on the camera turn off, and everyone quickly bowed their heads and hurriedly got off the stage without properly exchanging greetings.
“Get down, get down.”
“Go quickly!”
No one dared to look at the audience.
Of course, I was the only one who leisurely walked up to the fans, greeted them, and checked the situation as I entered. The atmosphere was almost like thin ice, where a fistfight could break out at any moment.
As soon as we arrived at the backstage waiting room, Yu Hyeok grabbed me by the collar.
“You bastard!”
The VJ following us was also startled and hesitated about whether to turn off the camera.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Hmm.”
“I didn’t know you were really crazy.”
The other members of Today also crowded around.
They wouldn’t dare to start a fight here, would they?
At that moment, Kim Seonghyeon suddenly stepped in between us.
“Hey, let go.”
“Hey? Did you just say ‘hey’ to me?”
“Didn’t you say it was fine to call you ‘hey’ last time?”[2]
As I mimicked the aegyo he showed last time during the talent show, Yu Hyeok’s eyes rolled back in anger.
“This bastard really wants to die…!”
“Can’t you understand the situation? Don’t you see the camera rolling?”
Kim Seonghyeon coldly murmured. I thought he was angry at me, but thankfully, he directed his anger at Yu Hyeok.
Yu Hyeok smirked smugly on one side of his mouth.
“It’s going to be edited out anyway. Do you think I care about that?”
“Really? Then can I throw a carton of eggs at you right now?”
Kang Ichae also sneered similarly, and Yu Hyeok’s face turned red and blue. Moreover, as the stage clean-up was completed and the staff, Yu Jia, and the PD started to gather, Yu Hyeok had to forcibly swallow his anger.
“Seo Hoyun, you know you dug your own grave, right?”
“…”
“If you had just stayed still, we could have gotten at least half. You’re done for. You’ll be crushed until you turn to ashes and fail. Shouldn’t you have at least pretended to be pitiful?”
He was right.
People wouldn’t have ordinarily chosen Today in that situation.
“You brought this situation upon yourself. There’s no one to cover for you now. We just need to move up in the next competition. What about you? Is there anything you can do?”
“Sunbae.”
I dusted off my crumpled collar from being grabbed.
“You’re talking a lot today. You must be really upset.”
“You bastard…!”
Just as he was about to lunge at me again, Seong Jiwon couldn’t take it anymore and stopped him.
“Stop it!”
“Seong Jiwon, shut up and stay out of it.”
“You should be careful. There’s a chance you’ll end up in the worst place if you keep running your mouth like that.”
“What?”
“I know a thing or two.”
At Seong Jiwon’s words, Yu Hyeok visibly flinched and quietly closed his mouth.
I couldn’t help but be astonished. The innocent Seong Jiwon was threatening someone.
It must be the sponsor issue.
However, talking about the sponsor out loud would have also put Seong Jiwon in danger. It was a card that couldn’t be played recklessly.
“Stupid bastards……”
“…”
“Good luck with your losers’ party.”
Yu Hyeok gritted his teeth and walked away.
I made eye contact with PD Heeyeon, but I passed by her without a word. As I returned to the waiting room to pack my things, Kim Seonghyeon turned me around.
“Seo Hoyun.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you do that? Did you just charge in because you were mad?”
“Seonghyeon.”
“I need to know. I took your side in front of everyone, but this isn’t a problem we can easily get over.”
I could understand why he would be angry. It was more than enough.
Kim Seonghyeon stared at me with a frustrated expression.
“It’s already bad enough that we’re getting criticized for favoritism, but after the guerrilla concert, public opinion turned against Today. People were cursing at Today. But now that we chose Today, it’s like we’re asking to be cursed at.”
“Hyung, the biggest victim here is Hoyun-hyung.”
“I know. That’s why it’s even more frustrating. Why do you keep doing this alone?”
Kim Seonghyeon was considerate. He took care of each team member and tried his best for the team as the leader and eldest member.
But I wasn’t like that.
“I told you to trust me.”
“Hey, Seo Hoyun!”
“If you’re already shaking here, what will you do? You said you’d trust me even if I did something really stupid.”
“Why are you like this?”
Undoubtedly, they wouldn’t understand me even if I explained why I did it.
“It’s true that I’m sorry for you guys in a way. It’s true that the team is getting hurt. So just pretend to be the victims, guys. Say you got hurt because Seo Hoyun did something crazy. I’ll take all the responsibility.”
“Hey!”
“Hyung, hyung.”
As Kim Seonghyeon clenched his teeth, Kang Ichae stopped him. And then, uncharacteristically, he spoke slowly and soothingly.
“Hyung, Hoyun-hyung must have a reason.”
“…”
“I didn’t know it would be this bad when he said it would be fun.”
Kang Ichae let out a deflated laugh. It seemed a bit bitter. And then he looked at me.
“Hyung, I won’t say that you should take responsibility. That’s selfish. But think about Seonghyeon-hyung too.”
Kang Ichae shrugged after raising his eyebrows.
“You’re smart. You’ll figure it out soon.”
***
“Hey, guys. Shall we eat tteokbokki before we go?”
“…”
“You guys liked the tteokbokki place last time, right? I’ll pay. How about it?”
“It’s okay, manager…… I’m not hungry.”
Jeong Dajun answered softly, noticing the atmosphere.
The car on the way back to the dormitory was so quiet that you could probably hear ants walking. The atmosphere was bitterly cold.
Despite the manager’s efforts, the atmosphere didn’t change until we got back to the dormitory, and eventually, the manager dropped us off with a tearful face.
Kim Seonghyeon didn’t say anything even when we arrived at the dormitory. I took out my phone in the room but went outside as it seemed like it would make Kang Ichae uncomfortable.
“It’s cold.”
The weather was getting colder. I sat on the stairs before the alley and checked my phone.
It was a mess once again. I first read Lim Hyeonsu’s messages.
– Lim Hyeonsu: Hey
– Lim Hyeonsu: I heard the news. Do you just want to retire?
– Lim Hyeonsu: If you have nowhere to go, do you want to work at our studio? But you have to be my servant
– Me: Fine
I sent a rough reply. The following message was from Seo Hojin.
– Seo Hojin: Hyung, what happened today?
– Seo Hojin: Hyung
– Seo Hojin: No
– Seo Hojin: Just turn off your phone.
“Damn.”
– Me: Seo Hojin
– Seo Hojin: What?
– Me: Did you eat?
– Seo Hojin: Not yet
– Seo Hojin: You?
– Me: You internet addict, go eat
– Seo Hojin: -_-
With that, I closed the chat.
It was obvious that Seo Hojin was worried about me, and that’s why he was acting like that.
I happened to remember and check the internet reactions, and people were angrily making noise.
[Title: I’m seriously fed up with shielding them. I regret all the times I shielded them up until now
└Seriously, no more shielding. It hasn’t been that long since that incident, but did we even shield them for a day?
└What? Is this about that thing?
└└Yeah, Seo Hoyun
└└What happened?
└└Look up the trending posts, but they might get deleted soon]
[Title: The group that’s benefiting the most from all this is Nightmare. They looked almost desperate, but then Seo Hoyun went crazy and saved them
└Did you see Today’s expression? They were swearing with just their vocals
└I would’ve sworn at them too ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Today acted all high and mighty, got hit with an egg, and now only Today is getting scolded. The fandom atmosphere was seriously tense
└Only Today is pitiful
└└I saw them getting sworn at]
[Title: Am I the only one who likes Seo Hoyun? Honestly, Today was ridiculed and made fun of, but Seo Hoyun chose Today over Nightmare ㅋㅋㅋㅋ It was really satisfying
└I agree ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What a plot twist, it was seriously so entertaining ㅋㅋ
└We’ve never seen a character like this before ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Title: But it seems like The Dawn didn’t see this coming, so isn’t this something Seo Hoyun did by himself?
The Dawn kids are the only ones who are pitiful. Seo Hoyun isn’t pitiful at all; he’s a crazy guy
└Yeah well, those kids manipulated the situation
└ㅋㅋㅋ But seriously, it looked true. Did you see everyone’s shocked faces? Only Seo Hoyun remained calm, like a sociopath
└└I know right… If the kids knew, they wouldn’t have been that surprised
└Seo Hoyun isn’t pitiful. It’s the production crew who made the announcement like that
└└If you saw his face, you wouldn’t think he’s pitiful. He’s literally a complete madman]
Hmm, great. Looks like I was the only one getting scolded.
Fortunately, The Dawn members weren’t getting bashed as much as I thought they would.
Episode 1 has already aired, and there’s a week until Episode 2. There are ten days left until the next competition.
There’s not much time left. That’s still enough time for the reactions to stay heated.
Just as I was about to put my phone down, a message appeared at the top.
It was from Kim Heeyeon.
– PD Kim Heeyeon: I’m sorry
There was no need to apologize.
As I was considering whether I should reply, someone spoke to me.
“What are you doing here?”
It was Seong Jiwon.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Wait.”
Seong Jiwon took out a can of yuja tea[3] from his pocket. It was warm. When did he buy this?
Seong Jiwon scratched his cheek sheepishly.
“Actually, I saw you standing here, so I bought two cans.”
“Thanks.”
Seong Jiwon squeezed next to me and sat down on the stairs. I wiped my hands on the can and took a sip. It was surprisingly sweet.
After a few silent sips of yuja tea, I asked sneakily.
“…Where’s Kim Seonghyeon?”
“Ha, he’s sulking. He has a certain expression when he’s upset.”
Seong Jiwon imitated Kim Seonghyeon’s face. When he narrowed his eyes and raised his eyebrows, he really looked like Kim Seonghyeon. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I don’t know what you think, but… please understand if Seonghyeon gets angry. He’s just very responsible.”
“It’s understandable. It’s affecting the team.”
“No, it’s not that.”
Seong Jiwon said firmly.
“Seonghyeon is angry because you’re trying to shoulder everything alone.”
“…”
“You’ve been like that since the guerrilla stage. No, actually, from the beginning, you’ve been trying to do everything yourself.”
Seong Jiwon fidgeted with the can of yuja tea.
“You told us to trust you, but you don’t trust us. That’s why he’s upset.”
“…”
I was caught off guard. Seeing me speechless, Seong Jiwon gave a small laugh.
“I know I’m not doing anything, so I shouldn’t be talking.”
“Seong Jiwon.”
“Huh?”
“Did you really want to grab the mic at that moment?”
Seong Jiwon nodded without hesitation.
It wouldn’t have been easy.
“Who were you going to choose?”
“Who else would I choose there? Of course, it’s Today.”
Seong Jiwon grinned.
“So the result would have been the same anyway. I’m just sorry you had to take more blame.”
Seong Jiwon’s mentality seemed to have gotten stronger. I clenched my jaw and organized my thoughts.
It had been some time since someone told me they were upset with me. People often said that they hated or disliked me.
Were the members forgiving me because they were young and innocent, or had I become too worn out?
On impulse, I asked.
“Were you the center of Today?”
[1] See Episode 32 for a similar explanation.
[2] What Seonghyeon and Yu Hyeok are arguing about is the Korean word “야” (ya). It translates to “hey” in English and is an informal way to address someone.
[3] It’s very good. Yuja tea is a traditional Korean tea made from the citrus fruit yuzu, known for its tart and tangy flavor.
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