The Golden Disc Awards were divided into digital music and album categories and held over two consecutive days.
And because male idols tended to perform more strongly in album sales than digital music, they were more likely to appear on the latter day.
This year, TeSTAR fell into that category too.
The album containing “Haengcha” had sold enough copies to rank within the top seven highest-selling idol albums of all time, setting an enormous record.
Their digital performance had also been excellent, but breaking through the wall of one million album sales carried a significance all its own.
A top-tier male idol group in both name and reality.
Even if there was still an insurmountable wall above them.
- Still can’t win the Daesang because VTIC existsㅋㅋㅋ poor things
- Didn’t they at least win Artist of the Year at ToneA? Though since it’s a T1 awards show, I figured they’d give them somethingㅎ
- Don’t think TeSTAR is Daesang material yet. Maybe after VTIC crashes and burns next year they’ll get one
└It’s been forever since they kicked out the guy who caused the problem and you’re still going on about them “crashing and burning”ㅋㅋ Yeah, nobody asked for your wishful thinking, you flop-idol stan~
└Pathetic, TICA
“Ah, those fucking bastards!”
A VTIC fan angrily hurled her smartphone down.
I’m so fucking pissed… What the hell is this because of that criminal bastard?
She had never liked him to begin with because she thought he was incompetent, but now that things had reached this point, she was so angry she felt like she could lose her mind.
Our innocent boys are the ones taking all the damage….
Every schedule canceled.
An indefinite hiatus.
They hadn’t appeared on a single year-end program either, under the excuse of taking a break.
Even from the prerelease material, it had looked like they had prepared something incredible for the comeback, and she still couldn’t believe it had been delayed this badly and was only now about to be unveiled.
They seriously haven’t caused a single scandal since debut….
This fan, who leaned heavily toward being a solo stan of one particular member, thought wistfully of her bias.
Jaehyun….
It was the leader, Cheongryeo.
Our Shin Jaehyun… Even when he’s resting, he spends his time volunteering with abandoned dogs, and he had to work so hard all this time leading a bastard tangled up in some disgusting fucking club scandal….
No.
The Cheongryeo fan changed her mind.
She should think of it as a blessing in disguise.
Right. We got rid of that useless deadweight who never did anything anyway, so let’s hit a career high as four.
Having delivered a merciless assessment of the expelled former member, the fan opened social media.
The VTIC fan accounts, which had been somewhat quiet during the hiatus, were now buzzing with energy.
Everyone’s rallying together.
Because that momentum absolutely had to translate into results, she carefully scrolled through posts, looking for any strange undertones.
And then she noticed the empty spaces and clicked her tongue.
They switched fandoms.
Several of the accounts she used to talk with had disappeared at some point.
Once promotions started again, new people would fill those gaps, but there was no helping the fact that some people had left.
“Don’t tell me they all switched over to those guys?”
Thinking of the group that had been making noise everywhere lately, the fan felt conflicted.
A group with a junior who seemed fairly close to Cheongryeo.
TeSTAR, from Season 3 of Idol Inc.
In fact, she had watched their reality show recently too.
Partly because she had some interest in Park Moondae, who seemed friendly with Cheongryeo, and partly because it had become such a huge topic online.
The videos crammed in every crowd-pleasing ingredient from mukbang to patriotic feel-good content, and apparently they had even secured viewers among ordinary people with little interest in idols, as well as middle-aged and older WeTube users.
- Ahㅋㅋㅋ hotteok with ice cream on top? I can’t resist that
- Our tall, handsome young men are promoting Korea’s delicious~ hotteok. Such capable hands, and such handsome faces too. Fighting^^
- ㅋㅋㅋLook at the foreigners’ faces when Park Moondae starts singing along to the music playing in the shop. I mean, I’d probably look like that too if some cook from a faraway country slicing kebab suddenly belted out an amazing song
- Oh my, what if people misunderstand and think all Koreans look like that… Don’t blame me (laughing emoji)
Riding on that momentum, it was even scheduled to begin airing on television next week through a T1-affiliated cable channel.
Our boys would be good at something like that too if they made them do it.
The Cheongryeo fan grumbled about how nice it must be to have a major broadcasting corporation behind them.
But she couldn’t deny that the show itself had been entertaining.
Even the most ordinary passing scenes brought out the members’ personalities.
For instance, there was the scene late in Episode 2 when their unexpectedly overwhelming sales on the very first day forced them to close the shop without warning.
[This really tastes heavenly. I’d like to order one more ice-cream hotteok, please.]
[Bae Sejin: O-Okay.]
Bae Sejin, who had been carefully drizzling chocolate over a hotteok, stiffened at the foreign customer’s sudden attack and moved jerkily toward the kitchen.
[Bae Sejin: Hotteok… We need one more ice-cream hotteok.]
[Lee Sejin: Gasp. Hyung, we just ran out of batter!]
[!!!!]
A shaking-screen shock effect rattled the close-up of Bae Sejin.
[Bae Sejin: Th-Then… w-wait.]
[Lee Sejin: Ah, I’ll tell them! We can just give them a whole lot of ice cream on the house~]
[Bae Sejin: …No, I’ll do it!]
[Ba-bam!]
With a solemn sports-cheer anthem playing as background music, Bae Sejin scooped up a huge serving of ice cream and carried it out.
[Oh~ Thank you!]
[…Ahem. You’re welcome.]
And the extra-order incident finally ended when the customer gave him an okay sign and Bae Sejin looked visibly proud of himself.
The subsequent discussion reviewing their business operations was just as bright and lively.
[Business halted due to overwhelming orders!]
[※Discussion begins※]
Dun-dun!
[Recipe-Purist Faction]
[Kim Raebin: If we prepared enough batter for fifty portions but only produced forty, that is a problem of proficiency. After closing, I will practice until I acquire a proper sense for fifty portions…!]
[Korean Generosity(?) Faction]
[Lee Sejin: The ingredient costs aren’t that high anyway, so let’s just give them a little extra~ Show them Korean generosity~]
[Let’s Just Make Money Faction]
[Park Moondae: Whatever you say, don’t stop your hands from working the batter. We need something to sell first.]
The members bickered while actively offering their own opinions, yet still looked close with one another, and their different personalities were highlighted one by one.
In particular, Bae Sejin, who froze in shock at even the smallest mistake, and Kim Raebin, the malfunctioning hotteok machine, had become adorable memes circulating everywhere.
It meant that their charm as entertainers was undeniably coming through.
Read only on MUGEX
And that’s why people are leaking out of our fandom too….
But that would end today, the Cheongryeo fan thought.
Now that the hiatus was over and the comeback had been confirmed, VTIC would suck all that public attention back toward themselves at a terrifying speed!
As long as the song is good, they’re nowhere near a decline!
If anything, the member-withdrawal scandal had brought them an outpouring of interest from people thinking either, Let’s see how good they really are, or, They’ve had a hard time, so I’m rooting for them.
And throughout all those long years since debut, Cheongryeo had never once let his fan’s expectations crash.
[Ding~ Diri-ring!]
“Oh, it’s starting.”
The moment the advisory reading “Not recommended for viewers under age 12” passed, she straightened herself and fixed her eyes on the television.
Watching the awards-show comeback stage live!
Perhaps it had been filmed beforehand, but the screen briefly swept across the singers settling into the artist seating.
And after a certain point—
“Whoa.”
TeSTAR appeared on screen.
Of course, the Cheongryeo fan hadn’t suddenly exclaimed simply because TeSTAR appeared.
It was about the right time for them to be shown.
The problem was that the guys who appeared on screen were… enthusiastically slapping the souvenir cushions they had bought at the theme park onto their chairs.
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
They had even carefully covered up the theme park logos.
And the camera deliberately gave a strangely wistful close-up to the animal faces on the cushions now firmly attached to their seats.
What the hell is that?
At the sudden premonition, she opened an internet page.
The live viewers were already filling it with “ㅋㅋㅋㅋ” and laughing themselves senseless.
Even to people who hadn’t watched TeSTAR’s reality show, it was simply such a random sight that it was funny.
And the people who had watched it were enjoying the additional pleasure of sharing the background knowledge.
- Holy shit they brought those hereㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- What is that, does it have some backstory?ㅋㅋ
- It was in TeSTAR’s reality show
- Lmaoooㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ their thousand-dollar impulse-buy spree, but at least they’re getting their money’s worth
- Highly recommend TeSTAR’s work-holiday reality show. Watch these Korean youths pay off their American travel debt by selling hotteok~
“Wow….”
While waiting for VTIC to appear on screen, the Cheongryeo fan had no choice but to concede something.
Those guys really did know what they were doing.
“I’m using the cat cushion.”
“Cha Eugene, you’re the one who burst the cat cushion! Be satisfied with the dolphin.”
“I don’t like the dolphin.”
Cha Eugene had been eyeing Kim Raebin’s cushion ever since we were at the salon.
Watching this nonsense for so long was starting to give me a headache.
I lifted my own cushion.
“…Use the dog, then.”
“Okay!”
Cha Eugene happily snatched away the dog cushion, then politely held out the dolphin with both hands.
It was definitely ugly, but I couldn’t see why it mattered when I was just going to crush it under my ass anyway.
Phew.
I put the cushion down and took my seat.
I heard another idol beside us hurriedly stifling laughter.
Laugh all you want.
The viewers would laugh too, so it was a good sign.
We seemed to have promoted the reality show just enough without overdoing it.
Now it was time to show ourselves paying attention to the awards ceremony.
Though the seating arrangement was a little unfortunate.
VTIC is right beside us.
TeSTAR had gotten even bigger than last year, so we had been given good seats.
There wasn’t much we could do about that.
Besides, the one bothering me wasn’t Cheongryeo.
It was the guy sitting next to me.
What’s wrong with him?
Bae Sejin, beside me, looked extraordinarily grim and resolute.
Luckily, since this was an awards show, everyone would probably assume he was tense because of the awards.
Otherwise, all kinds of speculation would already have been running rampant.
Suppressing a sigh, I covered my mouth just in case and quietly spoke without letting my lips show.
“Hyung. Your expression.”
“Ah…!”
Bae Sejin immediately restored his usual, appropriately neutral expression.
His abilities as an actor really were excellent.
Big Sejin… Well, there’s no point worrying about him.
The guy was grinning while teasing Cha Eugene, exactly the same as always.
Well, of course.
I recalled the conversation I had with those guys yesterday.
- I’m not planning to pay too much attention to it, but if the situation starts getting weird, I’d just like you to cover for me.
- I-In what way??
- Hmm… If it looks like the atmosphere is getting ambiguous enough to cause trouble, could you just redirect the conversation naturally?
In terms of their skill sets, that had basically been directed at Big Sejin rather than Bae Sejin, but out of courtesy I had delivered it with the oldest member as the focus.
- Okay~
And just as expected, Big Sejin had ended his reaction there without any unnecessary complaints.
Bae Sejin, however, seemed to have developed some kind of sense of mission from that conversation.
- Ahem. Right. Don’t worry!
He had answered like that, then spent the entire trip to the awards ceremony looking as fired up as if he were escorting a younger brother to school after the kid had gotten beaten up there.
What if he’s the one who causes an incident at this rate?
Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.
Still, it was commendable that he was trying to look out for us, so I decided to ease his tension by gentler means.
Like this.
“Come to think of it, Sejin hyung’s cushion had a ribbon on it.”
“Right. Sejin, that guinea pig character was cute.”
“…Well, I guess.”
“Yes. Ah, did you perhaps buy it because you remembered it after watching the VOD reaction?”
“…!!”
Bae Sejin’s face turned bright red.
The VOD reaction in question was this.
The TeSTAR reaction video to footage from rehearsals for our first concert, included in the package for this concert’s VOD release.
They said they were planning to release it as VOD promotion.
And Bae Sejin had been horrified when we filmed the reaction.
Because the rehearsal footage that appeared was from the unit stage where he had been fully decked out in the complete outfit, from the denim jacket to the enormous ribbon.
Then a question from the making-film staff had even appeared.
- The ribbon really suits you!
- …N-No, it doesn’t.
Cha Eugene had laughed mercilessly as he watched Bae Sejin on screen flee like that.
Hmm.
Apparently Bae Sejin had remembered the same scene, because he suddenly shouted,
“No! It was just because it looked like a hamster…!”
“Oh, a hamster.”
“I’m not saying I’m a hamster! I-It’s because the fans call me that!”
“Are guinea pigs big hamsters?”
“Uuugh.”
Bae Sejin sank completely under the members’ innocent exclamations.
He probably wouldn’t recover for a while.
And we probably looked harmonious too. Two birds with one stone.
I snorted softly and turned my gaze away from Bae Sejin.
Then my eyes happened to meet those of the guys from the table beside ours, who were just arriving.
“…!”
“Ah! Moondae-ssi~!”
The two VTIC members who had appeared with me on a certain variety show last time smiled and waved the instant our eyes met.
And standing right beside them was the bastard who had tried to smash my skull in with a sledgehammer.
