Chapter 33

What's wrong with you?

"Does everyone know? That we have fans?"

While we were doing stretching, Green hyung brought up the topic. I was taken aback and looked at Green hyung.

Fans? But we haven't debuted yet?

"Of course I know! Why wouldn't I know!"

"I know too. My fans."

"Are they our fans? I thought they were fans of the SEED seniors."

"Seohoon hyung, why don't you know this? You're such a fool."

"……."

Ah. In a situation where not knowing about having fans makes you a fool, I wanted to pretend I knew, but I couldn't.

"Ham Won. Don't you know? Well, this guy doesn't even notice when people circle around him. He's not very perceptive."

"I am perceptive. I just have poor social skills."

Olan snorted at my excuse and gave an example.

"Really? Then tell me. You're walking down the street, and someone calls out from behind, 'Hey, handsome!' How would you react?"

"…I'd look around to see if there's a handsome person nearby?"

"Ah! Won hyung! In that case, you should turn around and see if they called you!"

Isn't that a case of prince syndrome? If it were Park Ha, who has infinite pride in his appearance, it wouldn't be strange for him to turn around and ask, 'Did you call me?' But wouldn't a normal person think that's ridiculous?

"But there are many handsome people in the world, so it might not be me…."

"Your standards are skewed. Is there something wrong with your aesthetic sense? If Won had a face, he would have heard 'pretty' or 'handsome' since he was young, right?"

Green hyung, who had joined in, placed his palm on my forehead.

Why are you checking my temperature there? I'm fine.

"Everyone is cute when they're young, right? And they say 'cute' or 'pretty' out of politeness, don't they?"

"That's true, I guess."

"I wasn't an active child, and when I got a bit older, for some reason, kids kept their distance. They didn't talk to me."

It was convenient not to be talked to, but it also made me feel isolated. Eventually, I got used to it and lived in my own world.

"What do your friends say?"

Olan asked indifferently. Everyone was waiting for my answer, curious. I hoped my close friends would give an objective evaluation.

But unfortunately, that hope was cruelly shattered.

"I don't have friends."

"What's wrong with this guy?"

Olan pounded his chest with his fist, as if he was about to explode.

Is it wrong to not have friends? It feels embarrassing to prove a lack of social skills, but it's not necessarily wrong, is it?

"I told you before. Won is like a 'lonely' genius. I don't know if he was like that before high school, though."

Green hyung gave a strange excuse, not sure if he was defending or mocking me.

"So, Won, you haven't really heard that you're handsome much, have you? When you do, you think it's just a formality. Isn't that amazing?"

Seohoon hyung opened his mouth wide in genuine surprise. Is it really that surprising?

"You often hear it from your parents, but isn't that the same for everyone?"

"Your perception is completely distorted. Should we fix it? Or leave it alone? What do you all think?"

If there's an error in my perception, shouldn't it be fixed? Are you going to vote on this?

The members' faces were full of mischief.

Is it not that serious? It seems like they just want to tease me. Maybe they should just leave it alone.

"Let's leave it alone. One vote!"

"I'll vote for that too."

"Won, I'm sorry, but I'm with the latter."

"What's the point of saying it."

The answers came in order from Park Ha, Ji-on, Seohoon hyung, and Olan.

"Since it's unanimous, let's leave it alone. Won, there won't be any problems. Fans will like it, so it's actually a plus."

Green hyung, who had already finished the vote, was trying to convince me. It seemed like they found it amusing that I didn't know how handsome I was.

But there's a saying that if three people say it, even a tiger can be made. Could the members be trying to make me have prince syndrome?

The weight leaned towards the latter. Because I've never thought I was particularly handsome.

I think I'm above average because I inherited my parents' genes, but I don't think I have a unique face.

"A bit envious? That kind of individuality isn't something anyone can have. You have to be born with it."

Olan, who had his arms crossed, nodded his head. Is he going to keep acting? It's a thorough Olan attitude.

"No way. A character that could exist in reality."

"Anyway, I wanted to say that since we have fans, we should prepare even harder."

"Really? I've never seen them."

I still doubted that we had fans. What did they see to become fans when we haven't even debuted?

"When we do our debut evaluation performance, there are people invited besides the staff. Those who have been trainees for a long time, like Park Ha, stand out."

Ah. So that's how they become fans. Even before debuting, it's possible to have fans. They're probably personal fans rather than fans of our group.

I've only been at Hanul Entertainment for five months. Realistically, it's more likely that they're not my fans. I decided to put my hopes on hold.

"How did everyone find the choreography proposals? We need to go over them properly before the choreography is finalized. They said they would reflect our opinions. Be honest."

"Out of the four, the last two were cool. They fit the song. But if you ask if they fit us, I'm not sure."

"Olan's choreography was good, but it needs some adjustments. It might not be easy to highlight our strengths."

Olan's critical evaluation aligned with my thoughts.

"I liked the last choreography. The points were well-defined, which stood out."

"The second to last. It's easy to follow and addictive."

Seohoon hyung and Ji-on focused on different aspects.

"Combining the two choreographies would be good! What if Green hyung participates?"

If we can combine the two choreographies, we can get the best of both. It might be difficult, but if we keep trying, we can succeed. If Green hyung helps, we might create a choreography that considers our characteristics.

"Sure. I'd like to create choreography too."

Green hyung also wanted to create choreography, but he said he would take a more active role next time.

As a choreographer, Green hyung was talented. He received praise from teachers every time he presented new choreography. However, he had never used his original choreography commercially. He mostly created choreography for monthly evaluations and school performances. The company wouldn't take the risk of entrusting the debut album's title choreography to him.

"Let's talk to the company and see if they agree."

* * *

After a harsh diet, we were scheduled to take profile photos, album jackets, and concept album photos. We were told that we should have taken them earlier, but we postponed to capture them in our best condition.

We studied together in advance how to take profile photos. We researched poses and practiced expressions.

"Namchul. Your left side is better."

"Green hyung, you need to smile like a fox! More! More!"

"Olan, smile more brightly. Hmm. It's subtle… Are you tired, Olan? We can skip it in the actual shoot."

"Ji-on, lower your head a bit. Make your eyes look more intense. Don't lower it too much. It looks scary."

"Park Ha is amazing. His good looks make everything fit well."

Thanks to his long experience as a mall model, Park Ha was an expert in how to look more handsome. However, I began to doubt his expertise as he coached me.

"Won hyung! Look more sleepy!"

"Wasn't our album supposed to have a refreshing concept?"

"The album is one thing! The most fitting for you is arrogance and ascetic sexiness!"

"…Arrogance? Ascetic? Sexiness?"

The word choice made me question my hearing. Does that fit me? Is he in his right mind?

"No, no! That's not it! It's natural for you to fall for me, but I'm not responsible. You can't touch me, but if you want to like me, go ahead. I'm telling you to be an arrogant character who thinks like that!"

"…Isn't that just trash?"

"Can you take responsibility for everyone who falls for you?"

"…No. But what does that have to do with arrogance or sexiness…."

"I mean, look down on them! Disdain them! Fans want that!"

"……."

I could only escape after making the expression Park Ha wanted.

Is there really someone who likes that? A pervert…? No? No matter how much I think about it, I can't understand. I can only accept that such a world exists.

And finally, we arrived at the shooting location.

After all the preparations, we took our profile photos one by one. We were told that we would take the album jacket photos after the profile photos.

The photographer assigned to us was a woman, known for her ability to capture subtle nuances.

She could capture fleeting moments and show the difference, which was admirable.

I was excitedly waiting when it was my turn, but I was shocked. I found proof that Park Ha's words were true!

"Great! So great! You look like a duke ruling a northern territory!"

"……?"

Click, click, click?

What kind of description is that? A duke? Why specifically a duke ruling a northern territory? My mind was a mess, but my body was steadily changing poses. What was the photographer thinking?

"You've done a lot of modeling! You look natural, which makes it easy to shoot. Tilt your head a bit to the right. Good, great!"

Click, click, click?

Park Ha's nose was high as he showed the results. The staff, manager, and members in the studio were exclaiming in admiration. They praised the photographer for her high level of skill.

…Didn't the company say they had a hard time getting her? At this point, I thought I might have been wrong. The tastes Park Ha mentioned might be more common than I thought.

"Next, we'll do the refreshing version. While Won changes his clothes and makeup, it's a break time!"

I moved to change my hair and makeup, feeling dazed.

We deliberated for a long time. How should we visually represent our song?

Usually, a refreshing concept is expressed with school uniforms, shorts, and colorful street fashion. But our debut was in the middle of winter, and it wasn't a sparkling kind of freshness.

The director, staff, and members spent several days in meetings to reach a conclusion. They decided not to use shorts or excessive colors.

The basic framework was a school uniform. Instead, they decided to use pastel-toned knitted or wool items to create a difference in texture.

"Interesting design, isn't it?"

It was a knitted glove that only covered the back of the hand. If it's called a glove, it must be a glove.

Subtle freshness. I wondered how to express that subtle feeling, but after the individual concept album photos, I got a sense of it. By relaxing my eyes and making a vague, almost-tearful expression, I got the okay sign.

The album jacket shoot was the most difficult. It was a group shot, so everyone's expressions had to match, which took a lot of time. The results were satisfying.

Did I have such an expression? I felt a new sense of awe.

Maybe being an idol suits me more than I thought?