By Zephyria [Tae-kyung, send me some pictures.]
I chuckled when I checked Sung Se-han’s text.
I had casually mentioned that we were having a profile photoshoot today, and he remembered it.
I immediately sent him a group photo and a few of my favorite individual shots, but there was no confirmation. He must be busy with his personal schedule.
“Tae-kyung, we need to move.”
“Ah, yes!”
I put my phone in my pocket and ran as Doo-hyun Hyung, the new manager, urged me. After the members all got into the van after leaving the studio, Doo-hyun Hyung handed out rice drinks one by one.
“Are you tired? Even if you’re hungry, just bear with it a little longer. Let’s eat dinner at the company.”
“Yes. Thank you, Hyung.”
“Thank you!”
Doo-hyun Hyung had a well-rounded personality, so it was easy to talk to him. That was completely different from Sung-wook Hyung, so I thought it was fortunate for the younger members.
“Get some sleep until we arrive. Don’t do anything else, okay?”
“Yes!”
“I understand, Hyung.”
Doo-hyun Hyung asked, but none of the members were trying to sleep. Everyone was busy with their noses buried in their phones, checking the comments and increased views on their cover videos.
“Tae-kyung Hyung is really overwhelming. He’s surpassed 700,000 views in a week. We haven’t even reached 100,000 views yet… Gun-woo Hyung! Can’t we bully Tae-kyung Hyung?”
“Should we?”
Everyone burst into laughter, but Soo-in was serious.
“I don’t think we should be jealous of that, even as a joke. For our team, Tae-kyung Hyung-nim….”
“Ah, Soo-in. I’m just kidding. Relax your face, okay?”
After all, my views were thanks to Sung Se-han’s comments and the article. There’s no way the members would be seriously jealous. I ruffled Soo-in’s hair, finding his seriousness cute, and laughed.
100,000 views, 700,000 views. I never imagined we would be joking around while mentioning these kinds of view counts.
What kind of reaction would the members have if I told them that our debut music video used to have around 80,000 views?
And that was probably the result of a small number of fans diligently streaming it.
“Ah….”
Suddenly, my heart ached.
I remembered the image of the few fans in the old fan cafe encouraging each other. Did those fans watch our cover videos? Did they join our new fan cafe?
I hope so. I really hope they will join us on our journey this time too.
Then, this time, I want to show them the shining idol image they so desperately wanted.
I’ll bet everything I have.
*
“Soo-in, just a moment.”
Soo-in, who had been pouring out his rap in the recording booth, looked frightened.
It was because I had sighed after pressing the talkback microphone switch. Hu-seon Hyung, who was directing, looked at me with a displeased expression.
“Tae-kyung, am I just a scarecrow? Why don’t you just direct? Huh?”
“Hu-seon Hyung.”
I looked down at Hu-seon Hyung, who was sitting in front of the booth, with a stern face.
“Did you happen to let Soo-in listen to Se-han’s guide version?”
“Yeah, I did. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?”
“Ah, that’s not good. Their styles are different.”
As I turned my body away, Hu-seon Hyung grumbled from behind.
“Gun-woo, why is he like that? Doesn’t he seem to be taking after Se-han?”
I opened the recording booth door and went inside, and Soo-in was already very intimidated. I took off Soo-in’s headphones and put my arm around his shoulder.
“Soo-in, your style is completely different from Sung Se-han’s. I told you, you don’t have to rap like him, okay?”
“Still, this song is like Sung Se-han-nim….”
“Uh-uh!”
I pulled Soo-in’s shoulder to the corner. Hu-seon Hyung was craning his neck and looking inside from outside the booth, as if we were secretly plotting something.
“Sung Se-han was born with a scratch in his throat. If you force it like that, you’ll only hurt your throat. You just be yourself, honest and energetic! Push through with your spirit! Huh?”
“Yes….”
“Especially the ending notes, be precise and neat, just like your personality! I really like your rap because it resembles your personality, okay? Just like your face, your rap is manly and handsome.”
Soo-in’s ears quickly turned red. He’s such an easy-to-read and cute guy. I was about to turn around after patting Soo-in’s head, who was nodding.
Ding-dong.
A sharp notification sound rang in my head. My heart dropped to the floor.
[How to prevent the death of genius idol Sung Se-han.]
[We will now inform you of Lee Tae-kyung’s Inferiority Score.]
Even though the Status Window wasn’t saying anything special, each word seemed to put a strain on my heart.
[Congratulations! 80 points!]
I stared at the Status Window’s red text and opened the recording booth door. My hands were sweating for no reason, and I dropped the doorknob several times.
[Ah! Ah! Microphone test! We would like to inform you that there has been no change in the Inferiority Score for more than 2 weeks!]
I paused, and the hand holding the doorknob slipped again. Ah, so what. It’s because I’ve been too busy lately….
[Today, a penalty will be imposed accordingly!]
“What the hell!”
“Eek!”
I turned my body towards the Status Window, and Soo-in, who was startled, quickly backed away.
“…”
I didn’t have time to check on the surprised Soo-in right now.
[What will today’s penalty be? Drum roll!]
“I’m sorry, Soo-in. I wasn’t talking to you.”
I hurriedly opened the booth door and came out, and Hu-seon Hyung and the members were staring at me with surprised faces.
“Um, something urgent came up, so I’m going out for a bit. Gun-woo Hyung, it’s really urgent, okay? Please understand.”
I had seriously asked Gun-woo Hyung for a favor in case something like this happened. If I asked for help because something urgent came up, please help me without asking why.
“Okay. Go take care of it.”
As soon as Gun-woo Hyung nodded, I ran out of the recording studio.
The Status Window was likely to do something obvious. If it was planning to hurt Sung Se-han again, I wasn’t going to sit still and be a victim. I just had to block whatever penalty it was.
[First, Lee Tae-kyung goes to Baek-nyun Enter to meet Sung Se-han.]
“I’m already going!”
The words didn’t come out nicely. My anger grew as I ran out of the company.
“Where is there such a ridiculous penalty! If you had told me in advance, I would have somehow….”
Wait a minute…! Is it perhaps my fault?
The Status Window gave me a year to save Sung Se-han. But I was so focused on preparing for my debut to save myself, and Sung Se-han was pushed to the back…?
Is that why Se-han….
[That’s not necessarily the case?]
My legs faltered as the Status Window interrupted.
[Wouldn’t it be nice to live together? It’s a win-win situation, sweeping the yard and picking up coins, cleaning the ditch and catching crayfish, saving Sung Se-han and saving Lee Tae-kyung.]
“Ha… shit….”
I couldn’t bring myself to curse, and just bit my lip.
“Shit…! So what’s the penalty!”
[First, we will tell you how to prevent the penalty.]
“You should have told me sooner if there was such a thing!”
[It’s simple.]
So what is that simple thing!
[If you meet Sung Se-han today and get a promise to quit smoking, you’re done.]
“Wh-what?”
I stopped my hand, which was hurriedly turning on the taxi app.
“A promise to quit smoking…? Since when did Sung Se-han smoke?”
[3 hours and 8 minutes left until the deadline!]
Ha, shit! I really can’t help but curse.
My legs were shaking the whole taxi ride.
I know Sung Se-han is in his studio right now, so I headed to Baek-nyun Enter for now. But if I suddenly go there and tell him to quit smoking, what will he think of me?
He already suspects that I’ve been acting strange lately….
But wait a minute.
I stopped my shaking legs and leaned back in the seat.
Why is the Status Window even interfering with Sung Se-han smoking? What is the context of this?
[How to prevent the death of genius idol Sung Se-han.]
I glared sharply at the Status Window with a piercing gaze.
[The Status Window believes that quitting smoking is beneficial to health.]
“Ha….”
No, who doesn’t know that quitting smoking is good.
Just looking around me, there’s no one among the Hyungs who write songs who doesn’t smoke. Why can’t Sung Se-han even smoke as he pleases? He’s under the most pressure, so he needs a place to relieve stress.
[You just need to not receive stress!]
“Crazy…!”
I just want to swear.
[Ah! Ah! We will inform you of the penalty imposed if the quit smoking promise quest is not fulfilled!]
“!”
I straightened my back without realizing it.
[Advances Sung Se-han’s death accident time by 30 days.]
I don’t know what kind of curse came out of my mouth. I think I just screamed mindlessly into the air.
The taxi driver turned around and gently scolded me, so I was able to come to my senses.
But after getting out of the taxi, I couldn’t move a single step.