Chapter 127. Turning Point
The “First Place Speech” that Taeil sent to Hajin was neither too long nor too short.
“‘…We will always be here. Congratulations on first place, IDEA. Your eternal paradise, Utopia.’ …and with that, I’ll pass on the message. Congratulations once again on your first place!”
It was evident that he had recited such a speech countless times before.
The sentence was perfectly crafted to express sincerity and gratitude without becoming too boring or dragging on. Even Hajin couldn’t help but be impressed as he read it.
“Yes, it’s truly a moving acceptance speech.”
“Then, we’ll say our goodbyes while listening to the encore song!”
With the MCs’ closing comments, the MR of the song began to play.
In fact, they had planned to replace it with the MV, but the music show PD insisted that there didn’t seem to be an MV, so they requested Miro Maze to sing it live.
‘If we’re going to sing it, we should do it right.’
As the other singers left the stage, Hajin signaled to the trainees.
In response, the trainees, who had received microphones, quickly formed a line on either side of Hajin.
The trainees, holding banners in one hand and microphones in the other, simultaneously opened their mouths to sing.
*I’ll be there*
*In the place where your feet come to a halt*
*I’ll be there*
*In the place where your gaze reaches*
There was no way they could arrogantly distribute parts of someone else’s precious fan song.
The trainees, as if singing a school anthem or a hymn, sang together with a very reverent attitude and expression.
Even though Jaiden and Jaeyoung, who still lacked singing skills, appropriately distanced themselves from the microphones while singing, it still felt like a proper group chorus.
*The night of this paradise you created*
*We promise eternity*
*I’ll be there*
The harmony, resonating with one voice…
It was truly beautiful.
The audience seats before them shimmered like waves with the glowing lightsticks of various fandoms.
Hajin took in the scenery for a long time.
“……”
“…What are you thinking about?”
As they made their way back down after the encore stage, Taehyun, who had been quiet all along, approached Hajin and asked.
Hajin glanced at the trophy in Taehyun’s hand, brushed off a speck of confetti from his shoulder, and replied.
“I’m thinking that next time, it would be nice if we weren’t just substitutes.”
Someday.
With a trophy engraved with our names, in front of our fans, with our song.
He wanted to fill this space.
Hajin smiled and patted Taehyun’s shoulder.
“Let’s work hard, all of us.”
“…Yeah, let’s do that.”
I hope we debut together, all of us.
With Taehyun’s small wish, the recording of **A-Countdown** came to an end.
* * *
It was only natural, but Utopia’s first-place win stirred up the entire community in various ways.
[13-year-old idol’s acceptance speech that turned the fan community upside down yesterday]
[Utopia leader professes love instead of giving an acceptance speech (feat. Miro Maze)]
[Full transcript of Utopia Seo Taeil’s acceptance speech yesterday.txt]
[Why am I more moved by Utopia’s first-place win on A-Countdown?]
[Is it too late to become a Utopia fan now? Please tell me it’s not.]
The speech, which made fans across different fandoms tear up and led them to assert that Seo Taeil deserved to live off his lyric-writing royalties alone, became a sensation in itself.
From the fact that they won first place despite not being active or having a special performance, to the fact that the song was a fan song released to commemorate their full group’s return after military service—it all perfectly tugged at the hearts of fans.
Thanks to this, the first-place announcement clip achieved astonishing views and went viral for quite some time.
What this means is that the appearance of Miro Maze’s trainees, who represented them in accepting the award, also skyrocketed in popularity without any chance of being forgotten.
– Those nephews were too cute, LOL.
– I was so moved because I could feel their sincere desire to congratulate them.ㅠㅜ
– The one who read the speech was that guy, right?? The one Taeil said resembles him.
└ Yeah, that’s right, LOL. Watching yesterday, I can see why he said they look alike.
– Even the group song they sang at the end…ㅠㅠㅠ It felt like they were singing it on our behalf.
There was no need to worry about IDEA’s reaction, which Hajin was most concerned about—they were overwhelmingly positive.
Having become Utopia MAX in their love due to their leader’s deep affection for fans, it didn’t matter that the trainees stood in for the first-place speech or anything else. Honestly, what mattered wasn’t that.
– But aren’t people bothered that the trainees did the first-place speech instead?
└ Is that important right now?
└ Oh, my gosh, our idols just confessed their love to us!
└ Sometimes, a love confession heard secondhand is even more poignant.
At this moment, they were in an invincible state where they could deflect all trouble and controversies except for Utopia’s disbandment.
Moreover, these nephews were quite sincere too!
**Towol @u_top_world**
Ah, no way, that banner
Was really made by the nephews themselves
Tael sent me a picture
Who wrote the text? Please share some ideas with me;;
(Taeil’s pop-pop message)
(Photo of the trainees making the banner)
**Shares:** 1,099 **Likes:** 2,000
[But it was kind of touching that the nephews memorized all the lyrics to the song.]
Is this… the life of being in the fandom of seniors with upcoming rookies…?
This, this… maybe one day a *Miro Concert* could be possible…☆
– What on earth was the concept? Seriously.
└ Just leave them be… They’re too excited right now to be stopped by anyone.
– A Miro Concert, seriously, just thinking about it gives me chills.
– I’m curious what kind of chills you’re talking about.
└ When I think about ticketing, my hands start trembling.
└ Oh, come on, I meant it in a good way, you guys!
Amid this positive atmosphere, mentions of Miro Maze and the trainees began to increase significantly.
Clips of the **To You** stage and reviews after the broadcast started to surface.
Destinies didn’t miss the opportunity to promote their kids extensively.
[Was that Seo Taehyun from Boy’s World on A-Countdown yesterday??]
Whoa, did Taehyun debut???
– Yes, that was Taehyun! He’s currently appearing on Miro Survival. Yesterday, he had a special stage as the first-place winner of the survival competition!!
└ (Original Poster) Ah, thank you! I was so happy thinking he had debuted… He’s grown up well, Taehyun.
**Kanghadi @kang_HD**
How can there be
A delinquent high schooler in a band
And a guy in a three-piece suit
…All on the same stage at once?
(Photo of Hajin smiling in a school uniform)
(Photo of Hajin adjusting his tie after changing into a suit)
**Shares:** 1,045 **Quotes:** 213 **Likes:** 1,773
∥
**Kanghadi @kang_HD**
I woke up and
My retweets exploded, so I’m scared
Not really
Here’s a promotion for the main guy in the photos
Miro Maze’s Hexagon Puppy Leader
Vote for Kang Hajin now
(Edited picture of Hajin in glasses from Miro Maze)
(Edited picture of Hajin jumping over a wall from Miro Maze)
[Among the kids who filled in for Utopia’s first-place speech yesterday]
(Photo of Jaeyoung and Haru laughing while waving banners)
Could someone please tell me their namesㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
I’ve fallen so hard for these cutiesㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– Haru and Jaeyoung! The youngest ones, aren’t they adorableㅠ!
└ They’re so cute, I feel like I’m going crazy. I want to gobble these babies up and roll them around in my mouth right now.
Interest in Miro Maze, which was already considered quite successful, continued to grow daily.
The official account’s follower count surged, and the views on the videos uploaded on YouTube skyrocketed.
And at the center of this buzz was Kang Hajin.
But, that didn’t mean it was all good.
“Sigh.”
“What’s wrong? Why are you sighing like that?”
Soda and MalangGgom, who had gathered in the hotel room to watch the 5th episode of Miro Maze together, looked over at Gwajam.
If they were to pick the member who was currently the most mentioned and the one whose debut seemed most certain among their favorites, it would undoubtedly be Gwajam’s bias, Hajin.
It should have been a time for celebration, as their Hajin was now on the path to debut, but why the sighs?
“There’s another post bashing Hajin on Pentalk.”
“Ugh. Again?”
At Gwajam’s words, Soda and MalangGgom frowned.
Recently, in a certain community, there had been a series of posts systematically slandering or criticizing Hajin.
“Those people are seriously creepy. Don’t let it get to you, unnie. That place is really a cesspool.”
“No, normally I
wouldn’t care, but it’s gotten really bad lately. There was even a post claiming Hajin was a school bully, but when it was revealed to be false, the post got deleted, and they just ran away.”
“Why do they do that? Do they get paid for writing that stuff? I mean, if they get sued, they’ll have to pay money, right?”
“They do it because they’re losers who find joy in these things… It’s a real mental illness, trying to boost their self-esteem by bashing celebrities.”
“Remember when they did the same thing to Yugeon? It made me lose all faith in humanity. After that, they started poking at Taehyun, and when that didn’t get much of a response, they switched their target to Hajin.”
It wouldn’t have been so frustrating if Hajin had actually done something wrong.
Most of the posts on Pentalk were baseless, malicious rants.
Occasionally, there were people who tried to sound reasonable and wrote long posts, but in the end, the conclusion was always the same: ‘Kang Hajin is too full of himself and annoying.’
Feeling upset, Gwajam gulped down the drink she had prepared.
“I preferred it when they were just saying Hajin was a rigged member who was pre-selected for debut. Now it’s just mindless hatred. Aren’t they crazy?”
“It’s because he’s so popular…”
“Do you know this? There aren’t even that many Destinies who have Hajin as their one-pick.”
“What?”
“That’s why Hajin’s fans are even more frustrated right now.”
Soda and MalangGgom couldn’t hide their surprised expressions at the unexpected comment.
Gwajam let out deep sighs as she munched on snacks.
“I’ve been supporting Hajin since the very beginning, right? But Hajin’s core fandom isn’t as strong as you’d think. The ones with a really solid core are actually Taehyun, Siwoo, or Eunchan. Hajin is more like a universal second favorite? You get what I mean?”
Soda nodded in agreement with Gwajam’s words.
Even she had Doha as her top pick and Hajin as her second favorite.
“Since Hajin is a public pick and gets mentioned a lot, he also faces a lot of backlash. There are so many attacks coming from all sides that a lot of fans have dropped out because they’re exhausted. Even the prominent fans are getting tons of hate in their DMs and anonymous messages, and it’s really stressing them out.”
“Wow, I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“It’s no joke. But because Hajin seems popular to outsiders, when his fans try to talk about these issues, people just accuse them of complaining for no reason.”
Gwajam rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache.
She, too, had been under attack, receiving a barrage of DMs on her fansite account after her follower count suddenly surged. Now, she had blocked DMs entirely.
“So lately, I’m really… I’m getting disillusioned with this whole thing. Of course, I’m going to grit my teeth and stick with K-pop until Hajin ranks #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100.”
“But it’s a bit shocking. I thought Hajin would be the most popular, for sure.”
“Honestly, they’re still just trainees. It’s all newcomers, fans switching over from other groups, and casual fans, so the atmosphere is really… When I try to encourage people to vote, they complain about why they’re being pressured when it’s obvious Hajin will debut anyway. Isn’t that crazy? Even though it’s a company-run survival show.”
As Gwajam’s face turned sullen with frustration, MalangGgom patted her shoulder to comfort her.
“It’s because Hajin is doing so well. There’s nothing to criticize, so the backlash is intense.”
“But I kind of get it? Honestly, most fans like trainees because they’re fresh and a bit clumsy, but Hajin doesn’t have any of those gaps… Which is why I like him, though.”
“Hajin is really too seasoned for a twenty-year-old… It’s like how fans go crazy over Eunchan because he looks like that but has that kind of personality.”
Eunchan had gained strong support from teenage fans for his contrasting appearance and personality.
Comparing them like that, Soda could somewhat understand the idea that Hajin was everyone’s second favorite.
“Sigh, I don’t know. I just need to keep cheering for Hajin.”
“Yeah, yeah. Hey, at least our Doha doesn’t get mentioned at all. He’s being punished just because he can’t dance. Isn’t that better?”
“Oh gosh, that’s sad… But no, if Doha isn’t there, who’s going to rap? Kyungho can’t do it.”
“Let Kyungho play patty-cake with his girlfriend or something.”
“But Doha will probably skyrocket in popularity after the third round of performances, unnie. I’m sure of it. Doha really killed it on stage that day.”
“Will today’s episode show the third round of performances?”
“No, judging by the preview, it seems like some kind of sports day? Something like that.”
“Are those athletic cutie delinquents real?”
As they talked, the title sequence of Miro Maze started playing on the TV along with the signal song.
The three of them gathered close, excitedly chatting away with anticipation.
And soon, the 5th episode of Miro Maze began.
**<★Miro Maze Cup★ One-Heart Sports Day>**
They had no idea.
…That what awaited them was the grand chaotic parade of delinquent chicks.
Not even in their wildest dreams.