When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar

After a screen of static noise, Kim Won appeared along with a Pop! sound effect. He had just finished showering and came out of the bathroom. He hummed a song as he dried his hair.

“Lalalala, lalalalast, danceeee!”

He hummed ‘LAST DANCE’ even after entering the room.

He approached the camera on his desk and said hello.

“Ladies and gentlemen! I’m Kim Won. Good morning ~ Good morning~! You saw the teaser that was released yesterday right? Only this part was aired right? I’ll sing more of it!”

At that moment, Park Tae Hyung, who had been sleeping, woke up wiggling.

“Kim Won?…You…can’t…”

“Even in his sleep he’s determined to prevent spoilers! Good morning Tae Hyung~!”

Kim Won grabbed the camera and got closer to Park Tae Hyung. He recorded Park Tae Hyung who had barely woken up and was rubbing his sleepy eyes.

“I’m awake…”

“This is my roommate Tae Hyung. It’s the first time I’ve seen him this close…he’s adorable.”

Coming to his senses, Park Tae Hyung realized his face was swollen and tried to hide under the blanket, but it was too late. Kim Won had zoomed in the camera all the way to his cheeks.

“Oh, Tae Hyung, you have moles on your cheek.”

“Huh? Yes…Kim Won, I haven’t even washed my face…”

Tae Hyung was trying to avoid the camera, but Kim Won followed him with the camera relentlessly.

“You have one, two, three…seven small moles you can’t normally see.”

“Se…seven?”

“Yes. Take a good look, viewers. This is the crab constellation Cancer that’s on Tae Hyung’s cheeks.”

Kim Won had a tendency to see things differently than others. If you were in your own world like that, nobody could stop you.

Park Tae Hyung gave up on trying to avoid Kim Won and let him show his cheek on camera.

“Seriously, if you connect the moles it’s the crab constellation! How interesting.”

“I didn’t know…”

“The crab that was stepped on by Hercules is on Tae Hyung’s cheeks. If you connect the four moles here, it’s typically supposed to have the spread-out Beehive Cluster in the quadrilateral. It’s a star cluster that Galileo Galilei discovered."

Park Tae Hyung became dazed as if he might fall asleep again.

‘What’s a star cluster …’

Park Tae Hyung thought blankly as Kim Won’s lecture on constellations began.

As if reading Park Tae Hyung’s thoughts, Kim Won started to go into a lengthy explanation about star clusters.

At Kim Won’s lengthy explanation, the screen fast forwarded along with the caption ‘Like that, Kim Won’s lecture started early in the morning…’ then went back to a screen of static noise.

After the screen of static noise, this time Suk Ji Hoon appeared along with a Pop! sound effect looking straight at the camera.

“Hello everyone.”

Suk Ji Hoon, who gave a polite greeting to the camera, frowned when he was done saying hello.

“Hyung Seo finally left the room.”

He grabbed the camera that had been fixed in place and thoroughly scanned the room, alternately showing Ahn Hyung Seo’s bed and his bed.

“This side is Hyung Seo’s, this side is my bed. I…”

Suk Ji Hoon was speechless for a moment.

“I can’t stand it anymore.”

After fixing the camera in place again, Suk Ji Hoon opened the window and started cleaning the room.

At lighting speed, Suk Ji Hoon took out the trash and swept and wiped the room.

Suk Ji Hoon put a blanket on the bed and straightened it until there were no wrinkles, like bedding in a hotel. and placed the pillow neatly in the center.

Suk Ji Hoon’s vanity had a lot of makeup on it considering he’s a guy.

“There’s a lot of fans who ask for the secret to my clean skin. The secret is to be born with it.”

Brief silence.

“This is the makeup I use. And this is toner. After putting on the toner, I put on a little bit of lotion, and finish with moisturizing cream. That’s in the morning…At night is what’s important. At night, I put on toner, lotion, and essence*. I have sensitive skin so I use organic makeup. And every single day! I do a mask. It’s not here, I put them in the fridge.”

(*PR note: This is a water-based cosmetic that nourishes the skin, and a K-beauty trend. Not to be confused with essential oils, extracts, and the like.)

Suk Ji Hoon explained, angling the camera precisely as he showed the line of cosmetics.

“Huh? Why is it like this…One moment please.”

Once he noticed that the cologne he had placed was crooked, Suk Ji Hoon briefly put down the camera and carefully aligned the position of the cologne.

Once it was placed in the right position, he saw that there was a little bit of dust. Suk Ji Hoon got a feather duster from his drawer and started to dust.

With a static noise sound effect, the scene changed after showing the back of Suk Ji Hoon, who lost himself in cleaning.

.

.

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When the KK Broadcast was aired, the fans’ reactions were outstanding.

The broadcast showcased each member’s individuality so distinctly that each member would get dozens of new nicknames every time an episode aired.

PD Shin Yoon Ho edited each episode into many subcategories that didn’t last more than 10 minutes each.

He boldly edited parts that people might find boring, and the fast-paced scenes made it possible for even non-fans to focus on the program without finding it tedious.

There weren’t unnecessarily exaggerated parts, and they didn’t do forced missions or games. The broadcast only gathered scenes people would really want to know about idols, such as how they are during rehearsal or about their dorm life, like a concentrate.

Thanks to that, the KK Broadcast’s ratings were over 2%. It had the highest ratings ever among cable idol reality programs.

There were more and more advertisement sponsors that targeted teens as the episodes continued. There was especially a lot of PPL* for the cosmetics that Suk Ji Hoon had introduced as they went viral among fans.

(TL note: PPL means product placement. Thank you White Rabbit for that info.)

The scale of the support for the first comeback performance at the broadcast station that PD Shin Yoon Ho had promised was also planned to become bigger. The broadcast station was considering arranging a special outdoor performance in celebration of the comeback.

The broadcast was becoming a win-win situation for both TBN and KK.

***

The ‘LAST DANCE’ music video was released.

The music file would be released in one hour, at 6 pm.

Articles related to the music video along with screen-captured images were springing up as soon as the music video was released.

The articles were based off the promotional content that HIT Entertainment had released ahead of time, but there were also a lot of articles that included personal opinions in them.

All the reviews were favorable.

Following Gae Na Ri’s music video and now KK’s successful music video, Director Jin Young completely secured his position as a music video director.

The song, acting, and directing was all perfect in the edited music video.

Each comment was full of praises over Do Wook’s acting and said that the song was good.

-The song is so good.

-T.L.K~ Trust and listen to KK~

-Did Brave Only Child compose it again? or Kang Do Wook?

-They’re both co-composers.

-Kang Do Wook is insane hahaha He’s exceptionally good at acting too

-The tears Do Wook cried…I cried from heartbreak after seeing that…My tears are overflowing like the DaeDong River…Do Wook, the bastards who made you cry…I’ll go kill them…Mr. policemen what are you guys doing…instead of catching those thugs…?

-You’ll be a murderer if you go kill them lol You’d get arrested first;;

-National Treasure number 77777 Kang Do Wook

-KK rocks T.T

-Let’s make it big KK ^^~!!!

-The chorus part that was in the teaser is already stuck in my head. Please make it a banned song during the college entrance exams in advance hehe

On the other hand, there were opinions that it seemed darker than KK’s previous songs. It was a fun song with a fast beat that made your dance move on its own, but the melody was full of bass that definitely made it poetic.

However, Do Wook thought that the not-so-bright parts would resonate more with the public.

In Korea, ballad music received as much love as dance music. There was something called a Korean person’s sentiment. He was sure that it’d go well with that sentimentality.

Do Wook confirmed his thought was correct the moment ‘LAST DANCE’ made it to number one on the music chart.

“Mr. PD, it’s number one.”

At Do Wook’s words, Yong Soo Chul, who had been leaning against the chair and quivering his legs, lifted his head.

He may end up working with Yong Soo Chul again, but it was uncertain when in the distant future it would happen. Yong Soo Chul knew that too.

With the music file of their final project, ‘LAST DANCE’, about to be released, the two of them made time to go eat dinner at a fancy restaurant.

It was because Yong Soo Chul had specifically asked to buy Do Wook dinner.

He was leaving for a new challenge, but Yong Soo Chul of course felt it was a pity too. Understanding how Yong Soo Chul felt, Do Wook agreed to have dinner with him even though he was very busy preparing for the comeback performance tomorrow.

When they finished their dinner, it happened to be one hour after the music file would have been released and time for the music ranking to be updated.

As they were waiting for their after-dinner coffee to come, Yong Soo Chul was quivering his leg out of nervousness.

As the producer, Yong Soo Chul was as nervous as the KK members were every time an album was released.

“Haaa…that’s a relief.”

“Yes. Thank you, Mr. PD. It’s thanks to you.”

“No, I’m the one who should be thankful. Thanks to you we were able to successfully finish it.”

The employee placed the warm coffee and green tea in front of Yong Soo Chul and Do Wook respectively.

The employee also took out a paper and pen from their apron, as if they had been waiting for them to finish dinner.

“Excuse me…you’re KK member Kang Do Wook…right? Could I have an autograph…?”

If it were only Do Wook, they might have felt more comfortable, but their voice trembled a little because Yong Soo Chul in front of him looked so threatening. Yong Soo Chul looked even more scary because his expression was hardened from having their conversation interrupted.

“Yes. Please hand me a pen.”

Smiling, Do Wook took the cap off the pen and autographed the paper without hesitation.

He was used to it because he was often asked for an autograph or a photo wherever he went. He usually declined photos depending on the situation, but he almost always gave autographs.

“Thank you. Thank you. I’m a big fan!”

Holding the paper Do Wook had signed, the employee thanked him multiple times as they walked away.

Do Wook smiled at the employee until the very end.

“You’re a real pro now.”

“Haha, of course.”

“Do Wook, Thank you very much for everything. Even if I’m leaving the company, I’d like us to stay in touch and meet up often…”

“Of course, Mr. PD! I wouldn’t have been able to actively compose like this without you. Which also makes me ill at ease too.”

Do Wook gave his honest thoughts in response to what Yong Soo Chul said.

It was Do Wook’s strong belief that the strategies made for KK’s success worked well because they had a good song.

‘A singer without a good song might gain brief popularity but cannot achieve perfect success no matter what.’

Because of that, Do Wook thought a lot about how they’d replace Yong Soo Chul, who had shown outstanding talent in not only lyrics and composition but also production.

There were some producers that the company had selected, but either their skills were a little lacking or they were someone who’d become a problem in the future.

“I’m more anxious. KK has nothing to worry about.”

“That's…”

“If the producer for the next album hasn’t been decided yet, there’s someone I’d like to recommend.”

Yong Soo Chul raised his coffee cup and slurped his coffee. It was a normal coffee cup, but in Yong Soo Chul’s hands, it looked small like a miniature.

Do Wook asked, his eyes shining.

“Who would that be?”

—