Chapter 123
[171201 Orca Myura Music Show Recording Review
I was really worried that the kids would be exhausted because it was a dawn recording right after the showcase, but they were all shining even at that hour. Seeing them happy because it was their first music show made us excited and the kids were excited and cute too. I know it’s tough, but please keep it up!]
(omitted)
┗ [The younger line suddenly decided to play rock-paper-scissors, and the winner had to show aegyo. This was such a great deal.. But Raon is really bad at rock-paper-scissorsㅋㅋㅋ Seong-ha kept winning so we saw tons of his aegyo]
┗ [At first, they were really shy and made big hearts over their heads, but later they even asked us what to do and picked it. It was super cuteㅠㅠ Raon never won a single round, but he said it felt like he both lost and won, and gave us a heart… I almost fainted standing there]
┗ [Also, the kids are really good at singing live, especially Ji-woo and Gyeol.. What can I sayㅠㅠㅠ “Liberation” was good as a recording, but hearing it live was amazing. Yohan improved even more compared to the rewind recordingㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
┗ [Raon was really clean in the first recording but got a bit rougher later. Surprisingly, it was more fun to watch that way. That raw, breathy feeling… Our boy who looks even more pitiful when tired.. If he had one more recording, it would’ve been no jokeㅠㅠ.ㅠ.. It was a shame it ended after three times. And Seong-ha danced really intensely (omitted)]
* * *
In the end, we recorded “Liberation” three times.
And the third recording, where I performed the worst, was going to be broadcast.
I didn’t have any pitch issues or anything, but I did better in the earlier recordings.
I felt a bit unfair about it.
‘But life is like that….’
I wanted to suggest doing it one more time after the third recording, but I held back because I didn’t think I had the stamina for it.
Even though the pre-recording for “Fantasy Garden” was done early, we had to stay until the first-place announcement, so we were still stuck in a poor waiting room.
“Hey. Are you alive…?”
“……”
If someone could see I was in bad shape just by looking, I wished they wouldn’t talk to me.
Maybe my thoughts showed on my face, because Gyeon Seong-ha backed off without a word.
‘I should’ve saved my strength during rehearsal.’
Honestly, I was so exhausted that I wanted to switch off immediately, and doing the dry rehearsal like a real performance was especially burdensome for someone with my stamina.
Of course, no one forced us to put so much effort into checking the movements and sound during the dry rehearsal.
‘No one forced us, but…….’
When the person next to you is doing their best without calculating, you feel like you should follow suit.
Especially Gyeon Seong-ha.
If Seo Moon-gyeol calmly honed his skills like a master, Gyeon Seong-ha pushed himself fiercely, putting pressure on himself.
I worried about the immense stress it must cause, but his passion was contagious.
Having someone like that on the team was a good stimulus.
Though it also doubled the fatigue….
That’s when Kwak Sang-hyun, who looked as tired as I felt, came into the waiting room.
“Guys, let’s go greet the seniors.”
It was time to greet the senior singers we were appearing with, holding our albums.
We grabbed the signed albums we had prepared and stood up.
“Bow deeply, don’t be shy, and speak loudly.”
There were no singers who debuted after us here, and even if there were, we had to always maintain a humble attitude. Kwak Sang-hyun’s advice was something all rookie idol managers probably repeated.
Despite the nagging, the greetings went smoothly.
I didn’t know what they said when we weren’t around, but they mostly accepted our albums with smiles.
“Thank you for the album and congratulations on your debut.”
“Thank you!”
Most of them were meeting us for the first time, but there was one group we had some familiarity with.
It was Pluto, the group of Juan, who had appeared as a mentor on Pick Heart.
Not long ago, we met as mentors and trainees, but now we met as fellow idols, which felt strange.
Of course, they were a fourth-year idol group with a career and fandom that couldn’t be compared to ours.
Pluto, who came back last week with a more public-friendly song and concept, had won first place on a music show yesterday.
They would probably win first place again today without much trouble.
After finishing our greetings with Pluto, we returned to the waiting room.
“By the way, where are the Anne seniors? Didn’t they come back at the same time as us?”
Ban Yo-han’s words reminded me that Anne’s comeback showcase had coincided with our debut showcase.
I distinctly remembered signing an album with ‘To. Anne Seniors’ written on it.
“Oh, Anne is only doing network music shows this time, so we have to greet them separately tomorrow.”
After taking a breath from the greetings, Kwak Sang-hyun replied.
“Only network shows? Anne seniors aren’t going on Music Stage?”
Kang Ji-woo asked, looking puzzled.
Later, I heard that True singers had always made their comeback stages on Music Stage.
It was strange that they suddenly weren’t going on Music Stage.
“Um……”
Kwak Sang-hyun looked around cautiously and lowered his voice so only we could hear.
“Recently, True and Music Box haven’t been getting along well.”
* * *
Starting with Music Round on Friday, the week of music show activities began in earnest.
Idol music shows were typically scheduled for three network shows and three cable shows each week, totaling six shows.
However, we decided not to appear on Music Box’s Music Stage, with whom we were still estranged, so we only had to endure five days a week.
Given that music show schedules were extremely exhausting, reducing the number by one was honestly a relief.
Today’s network music show, Music Pang Pang, was known for its publicized commute line, where a sort of official photo line was formed.
Because of this, idols visited the salon from early dawn for a natural makeup look before heading to the commute line.
Although not many people would come specifically to see rookies like us, it didn’t mean no one would see us, so we had to be mindful regardless of the number of fans.
Fans and journalists took and posted photos and videos of the commute.
“……”
I was tired.
I didn’t understand why we had to do this so early in the morning.
It must be because this also brought in money. But why did this bring in money? Couldn’t we just post pretty selfies instead? Ah, I’m so sleepy…….
“Raon, are you feeling unwell? I haven’t seen you awake with your eyes fully open since yesterday.”
Kwak Sang-hyun asked with concern.
I yawned long and answered with a voice that had loosened up from chatting at the shop.
“I’m just tired. Sleeping constantly to conserve energy for work….”
It’s true. Sleep is the most effective way to recover from fatigue.
“If you’re really unwell, let me know anytime. Also, you’ll be going out soon, so start waking up now.”
“Yessir.”
My neck was stiff from dozing off with my head bowed to keep my hair from getting messy.
I consciously blinked and massaged my neck. After a while, at Kwak Sang-hyun’s command, I opened the car door and stepped out.
Even inside the car, I could feel the bustle outside, but it was several times noisier when I got out.
People were calling our names, camera shutters clicking, and flashes going off nonstop….
I had experienced similar situations several times during Pick Heart, but it felt strangely unfamiliar after such a long time.
We stood on the photo zone marked with stickers at our feet and made a big group greeting, then the official photo time began.
“Let’s start from the left!”
“Make a heart, a heart! Gyeol, make a heart!!”
And then….
“Raon hyung! You’re so handsome!!”
Here was another guy who seemed like the mascot of the music show commute.
But, wait.
“Am I really hyung?!”
As much as I hated to say it, no matter how I looked at him, he didn’t seem younger than a high school student, and the drowsiness quickly left me.
“No, actually, I’m hyung!!”
“Then why do you call me hyung?”
“Because my sister says if you’re handsome, you’re oppa!! So I decided to call handsome guys hyung too!!!”
His fantastic logic made me burst into laughter.
However, it seemed that he wasn’t really my fan.
[These guys will sell well later. ……is clicking the shutter while thinking about the price.]
Given this notification, that guy was probably a professional who sold our photos.
Leaving everything else aside, he was skillful.
Shouting that loudly made it hard to ignore him, so he probably got better photos.
Before, the notification showed the names of people I didn’t know, but after turning off the name display, it showed them as six dots to ensure anonymity.
[Ban Yohan dislikes unnecessary noise.]
When it came to people I knew, there was no anonymity.
‘Maybe it’s time to make it completely invisible?’
Seeing someone’s inner thoughts, even if limited, sometimes felt awkward.
[No.]
That was firm. I almost got hurt.
[Not yet.]
I was already hurt, so what difference did it make if it was not yet or whatever?
Anyway, just as we were about to finish the photo time and go inside, the commotion grew louder.
“Pluto must be here.”
A reporter nearby muttered as if exhausted.
From that direction, I could hear the site officials shouting in frustration, trying to control the situation.
“Don’t cross the line!”
“Step back! You’ll get hurt!”
“Hey, I said don’t cross!!”
Quite a few Pluto fans and proxy photographers ignored the fences set up to prevent them from crossing, making the situation tense.
‘This could turn into an accident….’
It’s probably best to get rid of commutes like this for the public good.
We couldn’t go inside the building immediately and had to wait in the corridor for a while.
They said we had to do some interview at the entrance.
In the meantime, Pluto, with slightly stiff expressions, entered and posed with forced smiles in the spot we had stood.
Shortly after, Pluto finished their photo time and, perhaps due to safety concerns, skipped the interview at the front and walked straight inside without stopping behind us.
It would have been nice if the chaotic situation had ended there.
“Are those guys crazy?!”
“What’s with all this, wow… wow… no, damn, the kids will get hurt!”
From all directions, Pluto’s fans and proxy photographers surged forward, following Pluto.
That is, they ran right past where we were standing.
As Pluto’s fans ran madly, their hair and clothes flying, I instinctively took a step back.
“Be careful…!”
The impact came suddenly, as my body was shoved hard.
[You’ve been properly hit by a single-minded photographer. HP -30]
‘Ah, body attack, this is crazy…….’