“What? A sound failure?”
“Are they crazy?”
The fans were buzzing. The staff could be seen running around frantically on stage.
I quickly picked up the microphone. It wasn’t my part, but –
“Come to me, come to me,
Don’t be afraid, come to me.”
Let’s keep going, guys.
Whether it’s a sound failure or not, we can’t stop here.
“I have my second chance.”
Seong Jiwon caught on quickly and improvised a harmony underneath. It wouldn’t have been there originally, but since there was no accompaniment, we had to make the sound richer somehow.
Following him, Kim Seonghyeon reassured the fans by waving his hand and singing.
“No need to worry.”
That’s when the fans started singing along with our song.
We slowly moved in sync with the beat, and the frantic stage directions quickly untangled. At that moment, Kang Ichae entered perfectly in time like a ghost.
“Everyone, sing with us!”
“Stand up with the target, I have confidence.”
Despite the sound failure, Kang Ichae’s confidence was overflowing.
Rather, he went wild like a horse unleashed because of the lack of an accompaniment. As Kang Ichae excitedly bounced around, the fans loosened their stiff faces and cheered.
“I ain’t gonna miss this time.”
Jeong Dajun was swept into the excitement and came forward. Thinking ‘since it’s come to this,’ everyone changed the song with crazy ad-libs.
Seong Jiwon and I cleanly raised the final note together in the highlight. Even without accompaniment, Seong Jiwon was like a person who swallowed a CD. There wasn’t a single error.
Kim Seonghyeon purposely came to the front of the stage with a smile, then winked at each audience member and raised one eyebrow.
“Give me, Give me, Give me Second Chance.”
That’s how the song ended. The sound of gasping for breath was captured directly by the microphone.
The backing track suddenly cut in briefly, drawing jeers from the audience, but Jeong Dajun caught his breath and grabbed the mic.
“We’ve practiced hard, and it paid off.”
“Wasn’t it a big picture to prove our live performance?”
“Of course, of course. I knew it all along.”
“You looked too flustered for that.”
“Ah, hyung!”
As we smoothly transitioned, the jeers stopped. Numerous slogans waved lovingly amid the looks of interest and affection.
We greeted them with bright smiles.
There were no pitch problems, and the beat was good.
Maybe it’s actually fine? Should I try to get more attention by doing an unaccompanied live performance?
Holding the microphone, I ran the happy circuit.
“As you may know, we’re in the middle of filming Shining Star.”
I deliberately mentioned Shining Star.
“Episode 1 hasn’t aired yet, but we’re giving our best in every scene, so you won’t regret it.”
“Keep fighting, The Dawn!”
“Thank you. We’ll work hard so we can proudly stand on stage with the other groups—”
It was then. A sudden angry shout rang out.
“Get lost, wannabes!!”
Crash!!!
“Kyaaahhh!”
Someone screamed. Something hit my head and broke.
Ah… this feeling was very, very familiar.
I slowly brushed over the spot where I was hit. My fingers were covered in thin broken shells and sticky yellow liquid.
… It was an egg.
“What the hell, is this crazy?”
“Who did it?”
The audience was buzzing. The fans and passersby who came to watch were distressed as they looked at one another.
But by then, the perpetrator had hidden among the crowd, and we couldn’t find them. The members tried to approach me with stiff faces, but I stopped them with my hand.
“Here, wipe it off with this.”
“Thank you.”
A staff member hurriedly ran over and handed me a towel, which I used to quickly wipe my head.
Everyone’s faces were pale.
Ah…
Such things had to happen. A sound failure and now an egg.
I understood the situation.
I heard that the talk of a “PD’s pick” had spread within the community, but I didn’t know it would go this far.
Even idols are hit with eggs, not just evil PDs.
It was a new discovery. I smirked and held the microphone.
“Seems like the program is quite popular even though it hasn’t aired yet.”
The atmosphere was buzzing.
They must’ve expected me to burst into tears or show a dejected look.
But guess what, not me.
“Continuing from where I left off, we’ve been preparing a lot with the other groups to proudly stand on stage together.”
I spoke slowly. My skin felt sticky, but I didn’t care at all. The more I cared, the happier the haters would become, and the sadder the fans would be.
And, actually, if the video of me getting hit with eggs caused controversy, it could be used to our advantage in various ways.
“We want to repay the fans’ love and support with a great performance that we won’t regret later. Please support us a lot.”
These feelings were genuine.
The faces of those who looked ready to kill someone from beneath the stage gradually changed to teary ones. I smiled reassuringly at them.
“You’ll watch our next performance, too, right?”
“Seo Hoyun, we love you!”
“Thank you. I truly like you too.”
After finishing, I bowed deeply. The members immediately rushed over and hugged me. They then examined me and murmured worriedly.
“Are you okay, Hoyun?”
“We really need to find out who did this.”
“Hyung, are you really okay?”
“Let’s leave if it’s too hard for you, Hyung.”
I shrugged my shoulders and patted the teary members’ shoulders.
“When I performed earlier, it felt like my head was sinking. But now it’s fixed.”
“Hyung, are you really crazy?”
Kang Ichae was furious, but I flicked the foreheads of tearful members with my fingers – meaning, all the members.
“Ouch, that hurts!”
Don’t make such a sad face.
I wiped my hands and returned to the stage to set our positions, and I saw Kim Seonghyeon clenching his teeth next to me.
He must be feeling wronged and was now even more determined to do better.
I nudged Kim Seonghyeon.
“Let’s do well.”
Eventually, we successfully presented our second performance as well.
While getting off the stage, the members somehow stayed close together, not leaving my side.
***
[This guy is really crazy, I’m like aaaahhh, I’m going nuts! If you have a problem, go to the hospital, you crazy jerk! Why did you do that to our Hoyun?]
[We’re suing all the haters right now. They must think we’re pushovers. Let’s meet in court, you bastards.]
[Why is Hoyun so calm in all this? When I see him so calm, I actually teared up… What hardships has he been through at such a young age to look unfazed even when experiencing this?]
[The people who laughed saying this was satisfying after watching this, it’s as if they’re declaring war now.]
.
.
.
[Title: Today’s fans fucking really crossed the line this time. Obviously, a Today fan threw the egg at Seo Hoyun, do they really even have a brain? Or not?
There are also a lot of people who laugh at the video; they’re really crazy, there are so many of them ;;]
An uproar erupted on SNS and community sites.
The sneaky spread of PD-picks among the fandoms of groups who appeared on Shining Star, had escalated due to the guerrilla concert and the egg incident. It became a hot topic even among other K-pop fandoms.
At the same time, it also ranked 2nd in YouTube’s real-time popular videos.
[Title: “The Dawn – Sanghodong Hosan Park Guerrilla Concert Fancam”
└ Wow ;; What is up with Seo Hoyun’s mental strength… If it were me, I would have cried there, but he’s so calm (Like 492)
└└ Seo Hoyun? That’s really amazing… I know he caught a robber before
└└ There’s a reason why Joo Woosung cherishes Seo Hoyun
└└ Top-class mental strength acknowledged
└ Throwing eggs is really too much, isn’t it? Shouldn’t their agency sue them?
└└ If I were a fan, I would have cried when I heard Seo Hoyun’s comment ㅠㅠ He’s the one who got hit, but he’s comforting others instead
└└ I’ve become a fan of Seo Hoyun…
└ I haven’t been interested in idols these days, but these young men are amazing. They got hit by an egg during a sound accident, but they still performed without any problems. I’m a 49-year-old uncle, but I think I will become an uncle fan of The Dawn (Like 1249)]
Everything turned out as I wanted.
The sound accident and the egg were unexpected, but our popularity increased thanks to handling them well. And we even created a rival image with Today.
Isn’t it a huge gain?
The YouTube algorithm skyrocketed in views to hundreds of thousands in a short time. It was easy to see that it would reach millions soon.
Also, because of the relatively successful guerrilla concert, my stats increased.
[Dance: C+]
Again, it was a huge gain.
The problem is…
“What’s that? Did you just cough?”
“What?”
The members became abnormally overprotective of me over the past few days. It was just a slight cough, but they all jumped up.
“Can someone turn off the air conditioner~ Hoyun is coughing.”
“Hoyun, did you just cough? Do you want me to get you some warm water?”
“Are you sick, Hoyun? Is it because you got hit by that cold thing?”
“Hey, I told you to take vitamins.”
It was overprotection.
I was receiving excessive protection from my almost-10-years-younger members. They’re like my nephews.
They would cling to me whenever I took a few steps. They would all rush to bring me water if I coughed once as if I had caught the plague.
It was like that even yesterday. While watching the first episode together and talking, the atmosphere suddenly became serious whenever I appeared on the screen.
Even during the part where I imitated Lim Hyeonsu’s boasting…
“Yeah, Hoyun is so desperate…”
“Are you kidding me?”
I tried to rebel a little, but even Seong Jiwon didn’t listen. It was the king of excessive protection.
Anyway, the reactions after the first episode’s broadcast were not bad.
[Title: Guys, I’ll summarize the first episode for you. The Dawn, they’re freaking handsome. The End. I thank you.
└They perform and their faces appear in this order: Seong Jiwon-Kim Seonghyeon-Seo Hoyun-Jeong Dajun-Kang Ichae. Isn’t this crazy?
└How did such faces… It’s the greatest miracle since Moses
└└There’s a rumor that they all have a weakness
└└This is correct]
[Title: Guys, Seong Jiwon was the D.go rookie, right?
I thought I saw him somewhere…
There can’t be two such innocent-looking people in the world
└Yes, it’s him
└└Ah, I see
└I missed your nose so much, Jjoob
└└Which should I report this to, D.go or Daepaseong?
└└└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅠㅠㅠ It’s not just me thinking this!!]
[Title: Seo Hoyun is a rookie, but he’s close to Joo Woosung and Lim Hyeonsu??
It’s impressive, what’s thisㅎㅎ They’re both known for not socializing. Was he just born with a golden spoon?? Is he the child of someone high up in the entertainment industry??
└Isn’t Seo Hoyun just being overly praised? When he was imitating Hyeonsu’s voice, it wasn’t that great. I think Hyeonsu would hate it
└└You haven’t seen the Star of Clean Conduct yet, the reaction to Seo Hoyun’s imitation was deliberately filmed and uploaded
└Then what about Joo Woosung?
└└Actually, Woosung has a reputation for having no friends ㅠ Seo Hoyun is his only friend, so Woosung somewhat bothers himㅠ
└└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋfuck that’s too muchㅋㅋㅋ]
Well, I thought my Lim Hyeonsu’s imitation might be criticized, but it seemed they deliberately took care of it.
As expected, they have a soft spot.
– Lim Hyeonsu: Hey, did you see my SNS?
– Lim Hyeonsu: Seriously, I tried to curse but held back
– Lim Hyeonsu: Anyway, do you want to comfort me?
– Me: No]
– Lim Hyeonsu: Haha, so cold
I briefly checked my phone after sending the message.
[2 missed calls from Joo Woosung]
[5 missed calls from Seo Hojin]
They were really blowing up my phone. I quickly turned it off. I appreciated their concern, but it was honestly an overreaction.
[1 missed call from PD Kim Heeyeon]
When I suddenly stood up, everyone was startled.
“Where are you going?”
“Hyung! Let me take care of it for you.”
“Keep quiet, everyone. Just stay still.”
I pretended to go to the restroom but subtly searched for a place no one was around. I already knew this broadcasting station like the back of my hand.
The best place to have a conversation without CCTV or many people, where someone could immediately notice if they were being eavesdropped on, was undoubtedly next to the smoking room.
As soon as I pressed the call button on my phone, I heard a ringing tone. Strangely, I felt a little nervous.
– “… Hello?”
“Yes, this is Seo Hoyun.”
– “Ah, Seo Hoyun.”
It was Kim Heeyeon. She called my name and hesitated for a while. After a few moments, she made a groaning noise and finally spoke.
– “… Actually, it might have been better to tell you in person, but I’m making this call because I think strange rumors are going around now.”
“Yes, it’s okay.”
– “I saw the article and video. It’s not right for me to ask if you’re okay.”
Kim Heeyeon let out a deep sigh.
– “I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”
“…”
– “I indeed intended for the two of you to fight and cause a scandal, but I didn’t think it would directly affect you like this. You must be so frustrated, Seo Hoyun.”
“It’s okay. I would’ve done the same if I were you.”
– “… Seo Hoyun, are you a Bodhisattva? Or maybe it’s your second life? Why are you so mature?”
Kim Heeyeon was strangely kind to me. Or maybe it’s because I’m so young that she felt a little guilty. In any case, she would feel somewhat guilty, knowing that her decision caused me to be hit by an egg.
– “Anyway, I’m thinking of covering this up. There won’t be any more incidents like this in the future. We’ve already attracted enough attention, and the ratings should be good. I’m shameless and brazen, but… it won’t be bad news for you, Seo Hoyun.”
“…”
– “We won’t create any more rivalries, so please understand.”
“No.”
I slowly crouched on the floor and buried my face in my arm, listening to Kim Heeyeon’s voice.
“Please continue with that rivalry.”
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