Chapter 26: The Technique of an Idol Who Never Fails

The X Live without Jeong Hae-won, who was absent, was already off to a rocky start, just like the release days of the last two mini-albums.

At the beginning of the broadcast, Han Hyo-seok, as the representative, said after discussing the new song to some extent:

"Brother Hae-won has a schedule, so he will be a bit late."

After a meeting, they decided that explaining about his stage fright or other issues would only cause trouble, so Jeong Hae-won would use the schedule as an excuse and join the broadcast just before it ended.

Without Jeong Hae-won, the comments asked why he was absent, but after the initial phase, the comments focused on the members, and such questions gradually subsided.

The comment speed significantly slowed down as the topics dwindled, but many more people were watching the broadcast compared to usual live streams.

When the members did individual V-Lives, they focused on the chat window to communicate with fans, but when they were all together, they either became quiet or argued.

"Min Ji-ho, sit down. You're blocking the view."

"I'm not blocking it."

As Han Hyo-seok and Min Ji-ho started bickering again, some fans watching the X Live brought up the I-Land episode.

[Jeong Hae-won would immediately mediate when the 06s fought in I-Land, right? He didn't do that with Kuk Seon-a, right?]

[↳There were situations where he tried to mediate with Kuk Seon-a, but...]

[↳The reasons for mediating were a bit different...]

The clip of Kuk Seon-a that followed showed Jeong Hae-won frowning at his group members during an opinion exchange.

-Stop fighting.

Then, Woo Ha-jeong, who was in the same group and the same agency as Jeong Hae-won, said:

-We need to exchange opinions.

-This isn't an opinion exchange; you can't make a decision while fighting.

-It's going well. As long as you don't insist.

-What?

The tension continued, making it seem like a real fight might break out, and Jeong Hae-won gave up on what he was going to say and left.

[But after the editing controversy, I feel like the editing here is a bit off...]

[↳I also... Now that I look at it, when Jeong Hae-won said to stop fighting, it didn't seem like they were really fighting...]

[Do all the Hae-shine fans who love Ji-ho and Hyo-seok agree? Jeong Hae-won really disliked Kuk Seon-a, but now he seems to be more relaxed...]

[↳Yeah, honestly, sometimes they really don't match... After Hae-won came, he's been good at setting the mood.]

[↳↳Yeah... Since they're my favorites, I know their personalities well. I wonder if they matched back then...]

[↳↳↳Especially since they were in middle school then. It was really a stormy period...]

While the community and SNS were discussing the Kuk Seon-a era, the X Live chat window mostly contained expressions of affection and comments about the new song. Park Sun-jae, reading the chat on his phone, said:

"Wow, the Hae-shine fans really seem to like the new song."

Min Ji-ho, excited, said:

"You'll see how great it is when you see the stage. Oh, right. Our intro choreography... you know, the part where we curl and slowly extend our fingers to represent fireworks. It's really hard to do the finger acting."

Park Sun-jae, to keep the conversation going, looked back at the chat window.

"Ah, the Hae-shine fans asked for some TMI... Should we share some? This isn't my TMI, but Seul-bi was so nervous today that he didn't eat. It's a big deal when Seul-bi doesn't eat."

Seeing no one else respond, Park Sun-jae reluctantly asked Min Ji-ho:

"Min-jo, do you have any TMI?"

"Hae-shine, the nickname. Brother Hae-won made it."

All the staff present, including the First Light members, flinched. Min Ji-ho said calmly:

"I loved it as soon as I heard it, and all the members agreed."

Shin Ji-won chimed in:

"I said it was totally my style as soon as I heard it. I love cute things. Cute is the best."

"I also really liked it."

An Ju-won, sitting next to him, agreed.

After a moment of silence, the soft-hearted and easily embarrassed Park Sun-jae, in a hurry, looked at the chat window.

"Um... Is there any other interesting comment?"

While looking for comments, Park Sun-jae read a few and said:

"Ah, have you heard MII's song? Of course, I have. It's a good song? Ah, right. We'll see Ha-jeong on Thursday?"

The question was about MII, a group that debuted around the same time as First Light last year.

"It must be nice to see them at the broadcasting station."

As Park Sun-jae was about to move on, Shin Ji-won said:

"I don't like that guy."

The moment he said that, the atmosphere became quiet, and the studio door opened abruptly.

* * *

I can't read the comments.

I used to watch YouTube a bit, but I can't even do that anymore after seeing a fan ad on YouTube saying "First Light has six members." I understand the fans' feelings, but I just can't read them. I need to earn more money to use Premium.

Anyway, I still have the X Live app installed. And X Bus too. My name was recently added to the First Light category, but I haven't even clicked on it, let alone left a comment. I should write something soon.

I was listening to the broadcast while running down the hallway in a hurry.

-I don't like that guy.

Damn, this kid...

I wanted to curse, but I was relieved at least to know what was happening.

At least I knew where and who was causing trouble.

Shin Ji-won may act like a dog, but to me, all six members of First Light are felines. They can cause trouble even when they're quiet. Or maybe dogs are like that too. I don't know much about dogs...

The company and I have tried to control them, but they still cause trouble. And suddenly.

When I suddenly entered the room, the members glanced at me, and I quickly mouthed:

'Not! In my! Heart!'

The members, recognizing my urgency, started laughing. Then, they all said at once:

"Oh, not in my heart?"

"Isn't that a bit old?"

"That guy has a weird sense of humor."

"Ji-won, just do it once."

Hwang Seul-bi said, and Shin Ji-won looked at me, then reluctantly said:

"Not in my heart."

Damn, thank goodness... Did he curse in his heart? The feeling of a ten-thousand-won note is really good...

I was sweating cold sweat.

An idol criticizing another idol from a group active at the same time? It's almost as bad as criticizing the company or the broadcasting station.

Woo Ha-jeong of MII often played a role in calming me down during broadcasts and was the 10th place in the final ranking of the National Idol Selection, which could have been 7th without manipulation, earning sympathy from many fans.

Moreover, MII is currently performing much better than First Light. There's no need to stir things up.

Shin Ji-won, even after everyone helped clean up the mess, still couldn't manage his expression.

That's because Shin Ji-won really hated Woo Ha-jeong, calling him an opportunist. Honestly, Shin Ji-won's personality was also quite trashy at the beginning of Kuk Seon-a, but he seems to have forgotten that.

Woo Ha-jeong, knowing that he could use my bad behavior to his advantage, often did so. As a result, he received a lot of good images by being compared to me.

If I see him at the broadcasting station, I'll have to give him a good punch.

At that moment, a TRV staff member shook my hand tightly.

"Really... Thank you so much, Hae-won."

"Phew, you must have been scared."

Understanding his gratitude, I comforted him.

After that, I felt a bit embarrassed. Heh. Not in my heart...

Since setting my goal to become an idol, I decided not to be held back by concepts like "embarrassing" or "awkward."

I believed that an idol should be someone who can say and do things that make others hesitate.

I believe such words and actions can empower someone, make them laugh, and even bring tears of joy. In that sense, being an idol is a pretty good job.

Looking at the clock, I saw that 20 minutes were left in the scheduled one-hour broadcast. The members were already looking at me. I had to join them.

I took a deep breath.

Live broadcast.

I should try it once. I can't see the comments on my phone, so I won't have to read them.

I asked my stylist, Lee Ye-young:

"Is my face okay?"

"Your face is always fine. But why are your lips so dry? Did you peel them again?"

"Um..."

"Your nails too. Leave your nails alone."

"No, not scolding me."

"You need to be scolded. Can't you take care of this beautiful face?"

Sigh, I just got a lecture for speaking up.

I only applied the lip balm Lee Ye-young gave me and went to the members.

There were a three-person and a one-person sofa, and four members were sitting on them. The other two were standing behind. The tallest in the team, Han Hyo-seok and Shin Ji-won.

"Hey, Brother Hae-won is here?"

"Sit here."

They were trying to leave the center seat for me. I pretended not to notice and went behind the sofa to Shin Ji-won.

"Hey, move."

"Wow, you're a gangster."

"Ah, the center is too much for me."

Shin Ji-won chuckled and made room for me. Then, Hwang Seul-bi, who was sitting in front, leaned back and said:

"Jeong Hae-won, are you a staff member or a member? Every time someone asks, you're at the staff meeting."

"Only twice, twice."

"Twice is a lot?"

Because my opinions were often reflected in the I-Land First Light Company series, I was called to meetings a few times. The team is quite meticulous, and to avoid breaking my immersion, they hide the detailed storylines during meetings when I'm there. It's a shame this company doesn't appreciate such a good team.

Anyway, as I started feeling the gaze of people who dislike me from behind the camera, my head stopped working. I couldn't even laugh.

Don't make a fierce expression. Don't let them call me fierce. I repeated this in my head, but it felt like someone was pressing down on the back of my head, making it hard to lift.

"Ah, if it's stage fright, how do you perform on stage? No, I can do well on stage. I did really well during the music video shoot, right?"

"Ah, that's a natural talent."

Wait. Why are you guys talking about this...

When I came to my senses, the members were answering my questions for me.

But, can you talk about that? An idol shouldn't be afraid of the stage, right? Isn't that a disqualification?

The members, knowing I couldn't see the comments, continued to read them out.

While I couldn't say a word, the time passed unexpectedly warmly, and only 1 minute and 30 seconds were left until the end of the broadcast.

Shin Ji-won wrapped things up.

"Thank you, Hae-shine, for loving our new song. Let's... raise our hands. Don't turn away from the camera."

The members gathered in a circle, each raising a hand. Then, Shin Ji-won said:

"Let's show our best to our Hae-shine."

"Ah, let's show it."

"Of course, we should."

"And."

Shin Ji-won paused a bit before continuing:

"Following the concept Brother Hae-won mentioned, one team, one goal. No distractions. Let's focus on our team."

As First Light's popularity declined from the early days of their re-debut, fans were really worried about individual activities, fearing the team might fall apart.

So, Shin Ji-won continued to reassure the fans and put their worries to rest.

"If anyone thinks about leaving or getting distracted, I'll chase them down and bring them back. No matter what."

Wow, if he knew about the six-month contract, he might really get hit... I should start exercising. Sigh, but exercise is so tiring.

I have no idea how the fans are reacting, but the broadcast ended safely. After the live broadcast, it felt like I had climbed a big mountain. Now, the music show and the stage were really just around the corner.