Chapter 303
The new dormitory wasn’t as luxurious as the previous one, but as Gwak Sang-hyun said, it was adequately comfortable.
Each room had its own bathroom and a walk-in closet, which I thought was a bit excessive.
“Seong-ha, Raon, you two choose your room first.”
The first choice was given to me and Gyun Seong-ha, who had decided to share a room.
“You guys pick first.”
Like people from the Eastern nation of manners, we deferred the choice to the hardworking managers.
“No, we’ll just sleep here when we’re really busy and leave, but you guys will rest and live here. Go ahead and choose first.”
“Like Sang-hyun hyung said, we can use any of the remaining rooms, so you guys pick first.”
Gwak Sang-hyun and Im Dae-hyun kindly declined, even though their words were appreciated.
We didn’t refuse any further and took the largest room with a bathroom.
The other members then took turns choosing their rooms.
Initially, the house was quite empty, as no one had decided which room to use, but the next day, while we were out for our schedules, the house was filled with various furniture.
“They said since it’s almost new, we should just keep using it.”
……For this reason, most of the furniture and appliances from the previous house took up the space.
In the room shared by me and Gyun Seong-ha, equipped with a stylishly designed bunk bed, two computers we had long awaited were set up side by side.
In my case, I had carefully brought along the one I received as a birthday gift this year, while Gyun Seong-ha bought a new one.
Seeing his made me think that others’ things always look better.
I thought about borrowing it sometimes.
As we happily set up the computers, Kang Ji-woo, who was watching with folded arms at the door, warned us.
“I’ll be watching you.”
“Ah, it’s like Hyung’s music work. We’re going to work hard even at the dorm, so why do you keep saying that?”
“Me too. I’m going to work with him.”
Of course, it’s half for work and half for gaming.
What good is a 100 favorability rating?
Our excuses didn’t work at all.
[Kang Ji-woo distrusts you and Gyun Seong-ha, who are nowadays obsessed with games.]
“I’m really going to check in on you guys sometimes. See if you’re gaming late at night.”
At Kang Ji-woo’s warning, I exchanged meaningful glances with Gyun Seong-ha.
‘We should lock the door.’
‘Let’s lock it.’
The thought of having to secretly use a computer at this age was absurd.
Even my parents let me do as I pleased, but Kang Ji-woo’s interference was amusing.
Not that I minded.
When Gyun Seong-ha saw me laughing, he grinned as well.
“I understand why they say it’s annoying to share a room.”
“Yeah. Seriously, very, very annoying.”
And that very night, we got caught red-handed by Kang Ji-woo while gaming all night because there was no music show schedule the next day.
For reference, Gyun Seong-ha was scolded twice as much for grumpily retorting that he was taller than his hyung when told that not sleeping at night would stunt his growth.
* * *
Today was finally the last day of our “Again” activities.
After rehearsing early in the morning and returning to the waiting room, we each collapsed into our seats.
“Wow, I’m really tired.”
“Five weeks of activities are really tough….”
After performing the same song for five weeks, we had become quite comfortable with the “Again” live performance that we had struggled with at first (excluding Kang Ji-woo and Seo Moon-gyeol).
“You seem to be full of energy only during the performance.”
“Hyung, you’re just weak.”
“Watch it.”
Looking at Ban Yo-han, who would be exhausted and panting after each live performance, I wondered if that was really the case.
“It went by faster than I thought.”
“No, it was long after all.”
“After five weeks, I feel like we’ve grown closer to the staff who were a bit awkward with us before.”
“Seong-ha, the hairstylists said you talk too much.”
“!”
“Just kidding.”
Leaving the huffing Gyun Seong-ha behind, I started thinking about what to do during our downtime.
There would undoubtedly be more free time compared to our active period, and if I just lazed around, the year would quickly pass by.
One thing I learned from spending time with Muk Hye-sung was to value time like gold.
‘Though seeing how that guy sleeps, I sometimes doubt it….’
Anyway.
Muk Hye-sung said that idols should think of their twenties differently from ordinary people’s twenties.
In today’s society, where it’s hard to get a job, people in their mid to late twenties gradually start shedding their newbie status in the workplace, where mistakes are forgiven, and begin laying the foundation for their thirties and forties.
However, idols who debut as early as their mid-teens become seasoned veterans, so worn out that by that age, they already consider retirement or taking a break.
The structure is such that one inevitably reaches their prime in an instant, so it was only natural to emphasize not wasting time.
Honestly, I don’t like living such a hectic life.
But if an opportunity comes and I’m not prepared, I’d feel very regretful.
After contemplating, I decided to hone my weapon—dancing.
Besides the new acrobatic moves I had learned, the quest called “Dancing King” kept updating and progressing, and I felt personally that I had many shortcomings knowing the movements of that guy’s old body.
“Don’t overwork yourself with practice when you’re busy. You’ll hurt yourself,” Seo Moon-gyeol said.
Given that he had a knee injury, it was ironic for him to say that.
‘Could it be that he guessed what I was thinking and said that?’
With Seo Moon-gyeol’s hopeless sense of intuition, that seemed unlikely.
It was more believable that Seo Moon-gyeol had acquired the “Reading Facial Expressions: On Raon” skill.
“Yeah.”
In fact, as Seo Moon-gyeol said, even after the ‘Again’ activities ended, we wouldn’t have much time to rest.
Seed Entertainment was preparing a fan event to celebrate the recruitment of the first generation of the official fan club Aeri, a larger scale event than the mini fan meetings we had been holding.
Although the preparation time was tight and the scale wasn’t that large, it was still our first official fan meeting worth commemorating.
During the preparation, the members and I contributed our opinions in meetings whenever we could between activities.
“What do you guys want to do at the fan meeting?”
“Serve delicious food.”
“What about after serving the food?”
“Of course, eat delicious desserts.”
“Ji-woo, you’re banned from talking about food from now on.”
Although there were people like Kang Ji-woo who only gave unhelpful opinions, we did manage to get some useful ideas.
The company held an internal contest with modest prizes for naming the fan meeting that we would use from now on.
The result of the heated contest was that a couple of decent candidates emerged, surprising everyone at our company.
The fact that Representative Ban Ga-eul’s suggestion survived as a finalist added to the astonishment.
“What’s with you all? I studied abroad.”
“What does studying abroad have to do with naming things?”
“Why did someone who studied abroad come up with names like Geos and Kraken last time…?”
Director Ju Yeol-eum and Team Leader Choi Bo-ra, who received Representative Ban Ga-eul’s sharp glare, averted their eyes.
Representative Ban Ga-eul tapped one of the final candidates written on the whiteboard.
It was the name I had submitted, and it had just won in a general vote against Representative Ban Ga-eul’s suggestion.
“Who leaked that Raon came up with this name? Confess quickly!”
“It was me!”
“I knew it would be you, Ji-woo!”
Kang Ji-woo confidently announced he had violated the rule of blind voting.
It wasn’t as important as selecting the title song, so everyone laughed it off cheerfully.
Only Representative Ban Ga-eul, who had lost the air purifier prize to me, was sad.
‘With all the royalties accumulated in your account, you should buy one yourself instead of trying to take it from us…’
The eyes of the staff looking at Representative Ban Ga-eul seemed to say that.
“See? You should’ve built goodwill over time!”
“How can I beat our company’s precious youngest member, who’s loved just for breathing?”
Representative Ban Ga-eul shrugged, saying that a company representative should at least avoid inciting the anger and resentment of employees to stay in the middle ground.
“Anyway, if there are no objections, this is confirmed.”
An employee circled one of the names written on the board.
[ORCA in AIRY Tale]
Inspired by the English word “fairy tale,” we omitted the ‘f’ to emphasize our fandom name, Aeri.
Aeri’s fairy tale with Orca.
That’s what it meant.
Since fan meetings focus more on fans than concerts, I thought it would be nice to include the fan’s name. Surprisingly, it was well-received, given the generally hopeless naming sense of our company staff.
I wondered if this company was okay…
“And there’s one more announcement.”
Representative Ban Ga-eul started.
“Young-min, who went down to his hometown after getting injured while saving our precious youngest member, has returned as a manager.”
“Haha, hello.”
Why are you here?