Chapter 21

21

"Haha, Ho Yun is always full of energy."

'Thank you, Sung Ji Won!'

Before I could speak, Sung Ji Won took the lead. Thanks to him, my reckless words and actions were seen as an expression of an active personality.

Without stopping, the real human Sung Ji Won added a sincere comment.

"Since Ho Yun joined, the team has become more lively. He suddenly brought in a song from Blue Tiger's composer."

"Ah, did Mr. Seo Ho Yun bring the new single?"

"Yes. Everyone was very surprised. We had no connection with the composer at all."

"Uh, this makes me curious... How do you know Blue Tiger's composer, Mr. Seo Ho Yun?"

The attention turned to me. To avoid any unnecessary issues, I decided to be as careful as possible with my words.

"I was lucky."

I ended it with a short answer.

Before I could finish speaking, the sound of reporters typing and camera flashes went off, but I didn’t open my mouth any further.

If you’re curious, just keep watching.

Kang Eun Chae, noticing the awkward atmosphere, quickly added.

"Bro, you were really cool. I trusted you and followed. I was just amazed, you know."

"Mr. Seo Ho Yun really has a wide network. You're also close with Mr. Joo Sung, right?"

"Yes, he’s a senior I know from before."

"Mr. Joo Sung came and gave us some tips this time too."

"Mr. Seo Ho Yun, can you give me a hint about your network management skills later?"

The MC winked playfully and flipped to the next card.

While discussing the stage concept and the interpretation of the music video, the conversation eventually led to this question.

"A few weeks ago, you were famous for stopping a robbery. Can we hear that story?"

As soon as the question was asked, the camera flashes went off again, probably to attract more views.

Kim Sung Hyun cautiously picked up the microphone.

"At that time, we were practicing and on our way to a convenience store for a break."

"Bro Ho Yun immediately noticed it."

"And Bro Sung Hyun ran out like a madman. I thought he was an action actor."

Jeong Da Jun and Kang Eun Chae added some flavor to Kim Sung Hyun’s matter-of-fact story. The reporters were furiously typing on their laptops.

The headlines would probably be something like this:

[The Group The Dunn, Who Don’t Tolerate Injustice... The Full Story of the Robbery Incident]

MC: Weren't you scared?

Kim Sung Hyun: Well, I was scared, but when I came to my senses, I had already caught him. (laughs) MC: That's amazing.

Even without seeing the interview transcript, I could guess what it would say. As Kim Sung Hyun continued his story, something unexpected happened.

"I heard you almost got hurt..."

"Yes, if Seo Ho Yun hadn’t caught me, I might have been seriously injured."

'What’s going on? Is this for the show?'

"Fortunately, I wasn’t seriously hurt."

To avoid any trouble, I answered, and the MC laughed.

"No, why are you so calm, Mr. Seo Ho Yun? If I only heard your words, I’d think you were deciding on the dinner menu."

"Ho Yun is always calm. To surprise him, it has to be something really big."

"Right, he’s a very composed person."

"Why... are you suddenly targeting me?"

Feeling the pressure, I grabbed the microphone and asked, causing the showcase venue to burst into laughter.

Kim Sung Hyun suddenly said playfully.

"But today, I was surprised by the fans."

"What? Why?"

"I didn’t even know I had fans."

Hearing this, the fans, who had been laughing along with the members, burst into complaints. Kim Sung Hyun hadn’t expected this.

"Jeong Da Jun was the same."

I can’t be the only one to die. Like a water ghost, I pulled Jeong Da Jun in, causing him to panic.

"Right, he kept asking if we had fans."

"No, everyone was surprised, why are you doing this?"

"Ha ha ha, The Dunn’s recent popularity is really amazing."

Following the MC’s witty lead, the interview continued, but I could feel the audience on one side getting restless.

'What’s going on?'

I narrowed my eyes to see what was happening, and I saw a staff member waving a sketchbook enthusiastically on the stairs leading to the stage.

A sudden realization hit me. Oh, could it be?

The MC, pretending to be surprised after hearing something on the radio, said.

"-We just heard some great news."

"Yes?"

Sung Ji Won’s eyes widened. The MC scanned the audience.

"Seems like the fans already know?"

"What is it?"

"Everyone, shh! Keep it a secret!"

The members tilted their heads and asked the audience, but the words started pouring out despite the MC’s attempts to stop them.

The words I could hear were chart, mango, ranking... such keywords were flooding in.

The members exchanged glances, looking doubtful.

"You’ll be surprised when you hear it!"

The MC, who had been aiming for a surprise, quickly changed his approach and smiled.

"The Second Chance song just entered the charts!"

"..."

I looked at the members’ faces. They all looked incredulous.

"Amazingly, it entered the Mango, Tinkerbell, and Tap charts! It’s a re-entry for Tinkerbell and Tap. Currently, it’s 56th on Tinkerbell’s real-time chart, 71st on Tap, and 89th on Mango!"

I hadn’t expected to hear such good news at the showcase.

For unknown rookies to enter the charts is like picking stars from the sky. Even if a member from a competition show is in the group, staying at the bottom and disappearing from the charts is common.

But now, a small company’s unknown idol group, with no appearances on any variety shows, had entered the music charts.

It was an objectively impossible feat.

'No need to file for bankruptcy.'

Still, it was as I had expected.

For an unknown idol group to become righteous, return with a good song, and enter the charts during a showcase is not common.

Reporters, who had found a good story, were frantically taking pictures.

I thought I should analyze which part contributed the most to this result later, but suddenly a hand landed on my shoulder, almost making me fall off my chair.

"Ouch, you bastards."

"Chart entry!"

"Are we dreaming right now?"

"Seo Ho Yun, what are you doing? You need to greet the fans!"

The idiots, overwhelmed with joy, swarmed me, and my thoughts flew out of my head.

The core fans were already crying and shouting at us.

"Don’t cry, don’t cry!"

Who were they telling not to cry? I turned around to see Sung Ji Won and Jeong Da Jun crying.

"We, we really... "

"..."

Jeong Da Jun was sobbing loudly, and Sung Ji Won was crying like a faucet had been turned on.

On the other hand, Kang Eun Chae and Kim Sung Hyun were smiling brightly, like I had never seen before.

'Sigh, these idiots...'

I would have ignored them, but Jeong Da Jun suddenly clung to me and greeted the fans.

"Bro, it’s thanks to you. Thank you, really."

I couldn’t ignore such a reaction. Jeong Da Jun’s tears had soaked my shoulder, but this time, even the stylist wouldn’t complain.

"Your shoulder is wet, you bastard."

"Bro, but... damn, it’s embarrassing... "

"We’re not even number one, and we’re making a fuss over chart entry."

"You know how desperate this is."

After a long period as trainees and a short year of hard work, they must have suffered a lot. Just entering the charts made them this emotional...

I pressed down on Jeong Da Jun and comforted the members, jokingly.

"You’ll have to cry like this again when we hit number one. Make sure it looks good on camera."

"Seo Ho Yun, really..."

"Let’s greet the fans."

"Right, let’s greet them."

Sung Ji Won nodded, and Kim Sung Hyun adjusted the formation. We bowed 90 degrees to the crying fans.

"Thank you!"

The MC looked at us warmly and, with a sense of timing, tapped his wristwatch, probably indicating it was time for the next cover song.

Noticing this, Sung Ji Won took the microphone and said.

"Thank you. Without the fans, we couldn’t have done this."

"..."

"We have a lot more to say... We are really grateful. We have a lot of things prepared. We will show you the next stage we prepared hard for."

Taking over from the flustered Sung Ji Won, I lightly took the microphone and made eye contact with each fan in the audience.

"It seems it’s time to show the next stage. We prepared it with a lot of gratitude for the fans. Please look forward to it."

As I smiled, the fans, who had been crying, smiled and nodded enthusiastically. The fans, no matter how many times I look, are so cute.

I comforted the members with Kim Sung Hyun and prepared for the next cover song.

"Can you sing, guys?"

"This is a chart entry performance, let’s be nervous."

Kang Eun Chae chuckled. Though he was showing off, I was equally excited. Seeing the members with puffy eyes, I clicked my tongue.

I told you it would be fine, you idiots.

It was an obvious result, but seeing their pathetic faces, I couldn’t help but smile.

***

[Title: Today... Today The Dunn Showcase... Tore it up.

Why are the kids so emotional?????? ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ └ㅠㅠㅠㅠI went too, and I cried when Sung Ji Won cried └ㅠㅠㅠㅠWhy??? What happened???

└They entered the charts during the showcase today!! The kids found out on stage ㅠㅠ The fans were in chaos.

└Seems like they have some mugle fans too ㅋㅋIt was a hot topic on the community └There are some real fans too... They were retweeted a lot on SNS]

[Title: I cried too ㅠ Really, I’m so relieved.. Honestly, The Dunn kids suffered a lot ㅠㅠ Robbery, leak incident... └But they got a lot of noise marketing ㅋㅋIn the end, they made a fuss and entered the charts, and they used their heads well └What’s with this comment? Is it mocking?

└Don’t feed the trolls]

[Title: In the middle of this, Seo Ho Yun is so calm ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 'I’m glad I wasn’t hurt' 'We prepared hard'

I thought I was at a shareholders' meeting ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ └ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋBut the point is that Seo Ho Yun isn’t familiar with the fans... It’s a bit of a gap moe ㅠ He’s cute ㅠㅠ└Anyway, in a few years, they’ll treat him like an ATM and look at him with dead eyes.. ㅋㅋ└Why is this guy always causing trouble in every post?]

[Title: Sung Ji Won, what did he get? Crying over chart entry? If someone sees, they’ll think he got first place or something? Despite being unknown... I heard they practiced for years at a major agency, but their skills aren’t great... Seo Ho Yun, who got carried by Joo Sung and Im Hyun Su... └Joo... Sung... Im Hyun Su... Seo Ho Yun, who got carried by... Got... Carried... (Ah, cool and objective... me ㅋㅋ) Tap! Tap!

└└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅅㅂWhat the hell is this? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ└I enjoyed your rage ㅋㅋ Sung Ji Won is a chart entry artist now~]

After the showcase, as everyone was leaving to rest, I received a call from the representative. I made an excuse to the members and, while riding in the car with the manager, I searched for the reaction to the showcase. But...

'The fans’ mental state is quite... strong?'

I hadn’t expected the fans to handle the sudden rise in recognition so well.

Of course, there were cases where they fell for negative comments, but overall, it was manageable.

Thinking about it, the answer was clear. The Dunn had been around for a year, so there were a few core fans. They quickly grasped the early atmosphere and were almost carrying the group.

Moreover, the planning was more for otaku fans, so many people who were familiar with K-pop were attached.

...Thank you.

The feeling of confirming that fans who like me are attached is really different from having a plan to succeed.

Feeling a strange emotion, I put down my phone and confirmed the quest success.

[Quest Success!

Encourage Sung Ji Won 1/1 Successfully complete the showcase 1/1 Success. Charm +30, Dance +10, Singing +10 are added.]

[As a reward for the first stage, a special gift is given.]

[You can now view other people’s stats.]

"Hey, you should have told me earlier."

"Why?"

No, you should tell me if there’s something like this. Damn...

You’re just trying to make me feel bad. I muttered, staring into space, and the manager turned around. I shook my head.

"It’s nothing."

Every time I succeeded in a quest, my charm and dance scores increased, and I could feel it being reflected in reality, though not clearly. So, I thought there would be a rough standard for evaluating others’ skills.

But if you can see it, you should have shown it right away!

I decided to try it out with The Dunn members and Joo Sung.

'Is this the reward for the first stage? Does that mean there’s a next reward?'