Chapter 84

Chapter 84

I yawned.

Silence had fallen over the living room quite a while ago. Our recent win, combined with the effects of the alcohol, seemed to have relaxed the members and the full effects of their fatigue had hit them. Most of them were stretched out, asleep.

Even the two underage members had nodded off along with the others. Lee Sejin had gone into our room mid-celebration, perhaps because he was tired out. He was probably sleeping as well. That only left me and Chungwoo awake in the living room.

“Moondae, are you all right?” He was good with alcohol and I was still awake thanks to my Energy Drink trait.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

Chungwoo grinned and gulped down another mouthful of beer.

How many cans did he drink, exactly? It didn’t really matter, since he didn’t seem to be that drunk, but I was pretty sure he’d had more than six. He could hold his booze, that was for sure.

“So, how did you find promotions?” he asked.

“Well, they were fine.”

“Haha. You always seem so calm, Moondae.”

Chungwoo neatly crushed the can he’d just finished and put it down on the table. His expression was suddenly bitter.

What’s up with you now? We’d hit a huge milestone in our career, but he seemed to have something weighing heavily on his mind.

“I wish I were more like you.”

“You seem calm enough to me.”

Hearing him say this was pretty unexpected, considering his behavior for the past two months following the end of Idol Inc. He shook his head. “No. I lack good judgment in crucial moments. I couldn’t find the right words when we won first today... I’m always like that.”

I found this self-assessment even more confusing. It’s not like any of us knew what to say.

“You’ve been a fantastic leader since our days on the show. It’s never been a problem so far,” I said.

“I became the leader because I’m the eldest, not because I have a special knack for it. My teams never did really well on the show... except for the second round, when we were on the same team.”

That had been anything but Chungwoo’s fault.

You just had terrible luck with your teams, that’s all. I opened another can of beer with some exasperation.

“Well, during the show, few teams did very well. Everything was so short-lived and the focus was on surviving, after all. And it looks to me like TeSTAR is doing fine so far.”

“I’m worried I might ruin that by making a mistake,” he said with a bitter smile. “Frankly, the only way I really contribute to this team is by being the leader. That’s why I accepted it, but I think I’m at my limit. And I’ve never been a very patient person, to begin with.”

“Hmm.” I’d noticed that Chungwoo’s behavior had become more conservative and moderate ever since TeSTAR had been formed. It seemed he’d been sitting on these concerns for a while.

He used to be a little more adventurous and bright during the second team battle if I remember correctly. The conflicts he’d experienced during the audition show seemed to have taught him some hard lessons.

Ryu Chungwoo kept on talking, apparently unable to bear it anymore. “I thought about this during Idol Inc. as well. I wondered if I should really be on the show at all...”

Thinking about it, he had indeed won a gold medal as an archery athlete. Surely he hadn’t needed to quit his career and join an audition show that everyone had been sure would flop.

“How did you end up on the show?” I asked.

“Oh, I guess none of you know. One of the writers for Idol Inc. is a relative of mine.”

Hold on a second.

“You can’t mean Ryu Seorin?”

“That’s right. Is it the surname that gave it away?” Chungwoo said, laughing, but I couldn’t laugh with him. “She kept pestering me about it... Since I’d said I wanted to start a career as an idol, I decided to give it a shot.”

I broke out in a cold sweat.

If anyone were to find out about this, there’s bound to be a scandal... It wouldn’t have mattered if the show had remained unsuccessful, but the third season of Idol Inc. had become a sensation. If people learned that one of the members who had successfully debuted was related to a writer… What’s more, the editing was always kind to Chungwoo. This is going to cause a controversy. I just know it.

Chungwoo seemed to be at least somewhat aware of this, and added with a laugh, “Don’t worry, this isn’t going to affect you. She’s a distant relative at best and we hardly knew each other. She contacted me out of the blue one day... it was basically a normal casting.”

In reality, it had been no different from how Park Moondae had been cast, probably, but there was no way the journalists would be kind enough to stop and get the full story. They’d just title their articles something like, “As it turns out... one of the TeSTAR members is related to a writer on Idol Inc.” or “The shady story of the writer’s relative who debuted on Idol Inc.”

I finally managed to say quietly, “Don’t tell anyone.”

“Don’t worry. You’re the first person I’ve ever even mentioned this to.”

Even Ryu Seorin had called him the moment the first episode had aired and caught on somewhat, to warn him strictly against mentioning it.

We just have to get past this period without mishap. If this came out two seasons later on Idol Inc., that is to say, two or three years later, there would be little to no repercussions. And if it hadn’t leaked during the show or afterward, it was probably safe to assume nobody knew.

Just to be safe, I asked Ryu Chungwoo, “How closely related are you two, exactly?”

“Uh, I’m not even sure. We have the same surname, but that’s about it.”

If that was the case, we could insist that they weren’t actually related and that casting him had just been made a little easier because they shared the same family name.

I relaxed a little. I had no idea what my next status abnormality was going to be, but a scandal would do the group no good, which had probably made me react a little too tensely. An old memory suddenly came to me.

Come to think of it, my last name was also Ryu. I hadn’t given much thought to it after my parents had passed, but it was true. This probably meant my original self was in the same generation as Ryu Chungwoo as well.

Ryu Gunwoo and Ryu Chungwoo. Hmm. Both our names end with “woo.” Not that it meant much now. I shrugged and moved on.

“It’s strange, the way I feel at ease talking about this sort of stuff with you... I generally don’t get along with people younger than me. Haha.”

Maybe some instinct of his had sensed that I was actually older.

I changed the subject. “So... if you were invited to be on the show, that means you must have already been preparing to become a singer.”

“Yeah. I couldn’t continue being an athlete.” He swung his arm around. “I was in a pretty terrible car accident when I was little... Maybe something happened to me then, but I began to feel the side effects only after I grew older. I can’t flex the muscles of my hand without shaking.”

I blinked, surprised.

“So I quit, what, two years ago? Then I decided to find something else I might be good at. Haha.” He had the relaxed air of someone who’d overcome something hard and managed to leave the hurt feelings behind.

So he’s already past that, then. I nodded without comment. Then I heard someone stirring near my feet.

“Hic.”

“Huh?”

“Sorry. I heard it all...”

Eugene, who’d been lying flat on his belly, got up with tears streaming down his face. Raebin, who’d been lying down behind him, also sniffled and shifted.

“Before I knew what was happening, I was awake and listening in. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop...”

“We really didn’t.” These two hadn’t had any beer and apparently, our conversation had been enough to rouse them.

Chungwoo looked taken aback for a moment but soon smiled down at them easily.

“I guess it’s my fault for talking in the living room. Don’t worry about it. You guys should go to your rooms and sleep.”

They weren’t done, however.

“Chungwoo, we won’t disappoint you...”

“You’re amazing! You made the right choice, becoming an idol.”

“Hmm...” Chungwoo nodded and a myriad of emotions played across his face.

I decided to throw in my own two cents. “I don’t think they’ll be as unruly as before. Maybe you don’t need to hold yourself back so much anymore.”

“Would you consider being the leader instead of me?” he asked.

“What? No. I’d quit before long and ruin us all.”

Me, the leader? If I took that responsibility on, I’d get pissed off and end up kicking at least a couple of members of the team.

Chungwoo stared silently, apparently realizing I was fully serious. He looked taken aback. Then he sighed, looking a little more at ease with himself. “Yeah. All right. I’ll keep being the leader.”

“Yay!”

“But you guys need to stop me if I ever take things too far. I don’t think I can keep myself in check all the time anymore.”

“Sure thing.”

Chungwoo muttered something like “Oh, man” under his breath, then stretched before going into his room. He looked a little less burdened than before. All that was left in the living room now was a bunch of leftover food and a pile of sleeping bodies. We stared silently at the mess.

“Time for bed?” I said.

“Okay.”

The others would go back to their rooms on their own once they woke up. I chose to leave them be.

***

While TeSTAR had their little party after topping the charts, the fans were holding themselves back from really kicking up a fuss. Articles came out about TeSTAR’s first win on the charts, and their name was trending across various search engines. The fans didn’t want to ruin TeSTAR’s victory.

- Let’s keep on asking them for updates

- If they’ve got any sense, they’ll get to work without us having to tell them

The fans made phone calls and sent emails to quietly ensure their feedback was heard. There were no updates from the company after several days, however.

- These idiots at the agency don’t have a clue, do they?

The rage bubbling under the public’s skin soon bubbled over, and the fans released a public statement targeted at the agency.

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[Demand for proper support of artists]

[As of July 10, 202X, the fans of TeSTAR hereby call into question the unreasonable management practices of T1 Stars Entertainment and request that the artists and consumers (i.e., the fans) be accorded what is their legitimate right. Prior to their debut [...]]

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Because the complaint did not concern only one single member, but all of them, even the fan communities in support of only one member came together. This snowballed how much support the public statement was able to gather rapidly.

The fans were prepared for the eventuality that the statement wouldn’t be acknowledged, and quietly went about organizing a fax and sticky-note protest as well. But thankfully, the agency responded before things came to that.

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[Hello. This is T1 Stars Entertainment.]

[We are currently sparing no efforts to support TeSTAR’s activities. The concerns of the fans will be met with answers shortly as well [...]]

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T1 had surrendered. The message seemed to imply that the lack of an official fanclub name or color hadn’t actually been an oversight and that the fans had simply been too impatient, which irritated some people. But the anger nevertheless subsided for the time being at the promise that something would be done soon.

- Do these stupid corporations never act without taking a beating first?

- I’ll bet the agency was thinking they wouldn’t have to come up with a fandom name until the second album if we hadn’t made a fuss LOL.

And I completely agree.

- Lightsticks aside, please don’t set such tight deadlines for their next comeback. Money isn’t the only thing that matters. Let them breathe, for god’s sake!

- If we see another article saying they’ll be back within another month, we’re organizing a truck protest. You’ve been warned

The agency hinted through a handful of articles that they might organize something à la Idol Inc, where the fans would be allowed to select the fandom name, but the fans quickly shot that out of the water.

- Please. Stop. With the votes. We’re done with votes, stocks, and whatnot. Just let TeSTAR choose for once T_T

- No more Idol Inc. flashbacks please...

- You’ve got genius idols capable of putting together a chart-topping song in a matter of days. Why do you keep relegating stuff like this to the fans? We just want TeSTAR to have their way

- Yeah, take our money. Put out that merchandise

The agency got the message, thankfully, and got to work planning things for themselves. Friday the same week, an announcement appeared online.

[Your favorite stocks are back!]

[TeSTAR’s first livestream on W Live]

[Are you ready to be named by TeSTAR?]

[7/15 (SUN) 3:00 P.M.]

- Yes, finally!

- T_T They’re finally on W Live!

- The wait was worth it, y’all!

- Oh my god, I’ll get to see Big Sejin live T_T

- I don’t care if it’s boring. Please make it long

- I guess big corporation T1 can do something right sometimes T_T

The fans were ecstatic since the only time they’d seen TeSTAR live had been during the short music shows.

TeSTAR’s W App channel was already exploding in subscriber count, even though only a single trailer had been uploaded so far. Then the livestream began at three P.M. on the 15th.

[“Ahem. Hello?”]

[“Hey guys!”]

TeSTAR had come online.