The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

—You guys are joking with me right?

—Hahahaha this is so funny hahaha…not really

—This is crossing the line

—Guys…I’m not kidding. Please release the full version quickly

—I was watching this with a goofy grin on my face but as soon as the song got cut off, my expression turned ice cold

—Should I say Next Wave is doing a good or bad job?

—But this is driving me crazy? Can somebody who can mimic Yeon-Hoon’s voice sing the second part?

—Hahahaha

—Haa…I want to kill the person who planned this

—Is there anyone who would go to rob Next Wave’s computer with me?

—For the person who planned this video, I hope that you will get as many blessings as well as punishments

Yeon-Hoon’s video garnered even more attention and buzz than Tae-Yoon predicted. Not knowing that it was actually Tae-Yoon behind this video, many comments poured curses at the video creator. Since there weren’t many videos of Yeon-Hoon singing with all he had yet, it was very precious content for the fans. Thus, they were angrier that such a video got cut in the middle. Moreover, there was something else that irritated them further.

—Why did the font and video quality suddenly become like a homemade IMxvie?

—Haa…

—They are seriously trying to piss us off

The video maintained a quality that only professionals would’ve shot until the end when its quality shot down to the level of a funny video that had its subtitles added just yesterday. Shocked by the quality of the subtitles, people fumed even harder but even this part about subtitles was Tae-Yoon’s idea.

He wanted to create more buzz about this issue however he could and tried to think of any sort of tricks. In the end, his efforts were successful as after the video release, Yeon-Hoon’s song video became number one on trending.

That wasn’t all. Since the video was fundamentally of high quality, it began to spread across the internet at a very fast rate.

—Look at the class of this male idol group’s main vocalist

—Siren’s main vocalist’s singing skills are unbelievable

—Top-tier male idol make waves with shocking skills

Always waiting for the next hit news, channels took the video and spread it at the speed of light intending to pull in some views before their videos were reported. Thus, Yeon-Hoon’s singing video quickly spread and reached people’s ears.

—Wow, crazy. Why are their songs so good?

—This is the acoustic version. The original is something else.

Reply: Ah, for real?

Reply: This song is in 1st or 2nd place on the music charts right now. You didn’t know?

Reply: I usually don’t listen to idol music

Even the ordinary public who didn’t know idols well began to watch the videos and draw in responses.

—Wow, he’s seriously good at singing…

—Guys who are good-looking should also not sing so well…

—Among the people I listened to these days, I think he’s the best

—Soren?

Reply: No, Siren

The video began to spread among men who didn’t have much interest in idols. Not only did these sorts of live singing videos attract a much higher number of men than women, but the majority of channels that took Yeon-Hoons’ videos and uploaded them to their channels targeted a majority male audience. Of course, the male audience in these channels didn’t start voting on a music show just because they saw Yeon-Hoon’s video.

—Why aren’t they revealing the second verse?

Reply: They said they will release if they get first place on a music show or something

Reply: Are you going to do it?

Reply: With what?

They simply reacted to the text that came out at the end of the video and didn’t take any action. Yet, it wasn’t like there was no effect to the video spreading among men.

—My boyfriend suddenly sent me a link asking if this was the group I liked

—My mom’s son also suddenly contacted me, asking if they were the Siren guys

—My dad suddenly asked me too

The men shared Siren videos with the people around them and acted as messengers. As the people who watched Yeon-Hoon’s video diversified, the video began to come up on people’s algorithms more often. At a speed much faster than Siren’s comedy skit video, the video’s views increased. The video also had a positive effect on other milestones.

Siren’s “Blue Summer Night” which had been circling first and second place became fixed at first place, and the music video’s views increased by 10% continuously. Of course, since this all happened on the day, it was still uncertain whether these numbers would be considered for ‘The Music Show.’ Yet, this was all positive signs for Siren and the battle for first place between Siren and Only One seemed to lean towards Siren’s favor.

***

After filming Yeon-Hoon’s acoustic version of the song and uploading it, I ate a late lunch. Even though it was lunch, I didn’t eat anything heavy. On other days, I would’ve eaten something with more sodium but today I couldn’t.

“We are going up as first-place candidates for the first time. My face can’t look puffy…”

“But…I really crave kimchi stew right now.”

“Wow.”

“Kimchi stew with egg roll together. It’s the perfect combination.”

“Wow…”

“Then, sprinkle some seaweed flakes on steaming rice and pour some kimchi stew in it and mix it…”

“Block that devil’s mouth!”

“Umph!” Do-Seung put his hand over Dong-Jun’s mouth. Yeon-Hoon, who had almost been enchanted by Dong-Jun’s nonsense, finally regained his senses. Today, we would be chosen as candidates for first place and come out in the ending performance. Since we got contacted with the news after our filming, this was an irrefutable fact.

After we heard the news, we threw away our plan to eat half of a normal meal and immediately moved to salads. We used one-third of our salad dressing so that we had the minimum amount of seasoning to pass this food through our mouths. After a meal like this, our stomachs didn’t feel much different from before and after a meal. Though there was a faint feeling of our stomachs filling more full, it made us doubt if we had really eaten something or not.

“Can we really get first place today?”

My members talked while we moved to the music broadcast’s waiting room. It seemed they all couldn’t believe whether or not we would really be able to place first.

“If you aren’t sure, look at the numbers. The numbers don’t lie,” I told my members. I understood that they were anxious. I was also anxious- no probably more worried than them since I had Insight on the line. Yet, whenever I thought that I stared at the numbers and indexes and calmed my heart.

“Based on the numbers, it would be strange if we didn’t get first place.”

“Only One is also here.”

“If you think of the text voting, we are safe.”

“But Only One has more public awareness than us.”

“Though they are better known by the public, I’m sure more people would vote for us.”

“That’s true but…”

It seemed Yeon-Hoon would stay anxious no matter what he heard. At times like this, it was Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna who could help him more than us.

“I…know I may be overstepping my boundaries, but there’s actually a strange jinx going around this entertainment business.”

“Ah, that’s right. A music show jinx.”

Ms. Seung-Yeon spoke while driving, and Ms. Hyuna also supported her.

“A jinx?”

The mention of a ‘jinx’ piqued our curiosity.

“It’s something we heard while working on-site or going to salons…” It seemed Ms. Seung-Yeon wanted to highlight the last bit because she made a long pause. “They say that idols win first place in a music show if their manager steps on gum.”

But what she said was so simple and disappointing considering how much she dramatized it—’ something big happened if they stepped on gum’. It was like the jinx that said students got accepted to schools if they ate yeot[1]. This sort of jinx was all attached to examination days.

“So, did you step on a gum?”

“No.”

“We both didn’t.”

“Then, why did you bring this up?”

Furthermore, those two declared that they didn’t even step on a piece of gum. I wondered why they were bringing this up and just raising our overall nervousness.

Creak. Yet, Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna parked the car as soon as they arrived at the broadcast station and went outside.

“Give us a moment.”

“We will come back soon.”

“…?”

The two returned around ten minutes later and were chewing something. Everyone realized it then.

“Are you chewing on gum?”

“Yes.”

“What…?”

“More importantly, we attached some gum to our shoes.”

“What?”

I thought they would spit their gums to stick them on their shoes but they already came after doing that.

“It’s because it doesn’t look too hygienic to spit out gums and step on it. Furthermore, it's sort of embarrassing. So, we came after doing it in private.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

We all came out of the car and Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna showed us the bottom of their shoes.

“Just in case, we attached the gums on both sides.”

“Since we stuck gum on four shoes in total, perhaps, this means that you guys will win first place four weeks in a row.”

“Wow…”

“Is everyone feeling a bit more loose now?”

With Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna’s help, my members looked much more comfortable than before.

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m much less nervous now.”

“Of course, you guys will win first place. We stuck gum in four places.”

On my members’ faces, a smile that looked much more at ease came up. I also knew that this was just a silly belief that people had, but I was touched by the fact that there were people who thought so much of us, and I could feel their strong faith and trust in us.

‘How nice.’ This was a very comforting feeling.

“Let’s go. You guys have to warm up and prepare for the stage.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Let’s go!”

“Ohhhh!”

“Let’s get first place today!”

My members and I moved to the waiting room.

***

After finishing their live performance, Only One returned to the waiting room.

“Haa!”

“Ahhh!”

“Yayy! It’s over~”

They all felt much more relaxed after finishing what could be considered the biggest part of their schedule, the music show. Though this wasn’t the official end, one could say the important parts were all over.

“Did Siren members go up?”

“Yeah.”

“Should we monitor them?”

“Turn it on.”

The group to go after Only One was Siren. Since this was a live broadcast, if they just turned on the TV and set it to the right channel, they could immediately check Siren’s performance. As always, Siren’s performance quality was great. Today, they wore sailor uniforms instead of school uniforms, and seeing this, an image came to Kang Hyun-Sung’s mind.

‘The introductory performance?’ It was the first episode of The Showcase 2.

When Kang Hyun-Sung had first seen Siren’s performance at that time, he thought, ‘…This is dangerous.’ In other words, he thought Siren could steal their first-place titles. Not just him but other groups thought the same and ranked Siren as last place in their first meeting. Yet, if he had to confess the truth now…

‘They should have been first place.’ Siren should’ve taken first place in the introductory performance. Perhaps, karma was coming back to bite them now.

“They will get first place again today.”

“Sorry?”

“Who?”

“Us?”

Only One members asked Kang Hyun-Sung if he meant that they were going to get first place, but Kang Hyun-Sung replied firmly.

“Not us but Siren.”

1. A sticky Korean traditional confectionery. It’s like taffy. ☜