17. The Promotional Broadcast
A brief silence fell, and I deployed my usual escape technique to get out of this situation.
"That was just a bit, obviously!"
[...And I actually believed you.]
...So today it doesn't work, huh?
[...Shall we watch the video, then?]
"Yes."
Really, what am I, the tank here?
Leave that job to Minseo.
And so we began watching Evermore's debut stage.
"Wow, the debut era really does have a different feel to it."
How should I put it? The stage had that classic rookie flavor.
The cameras were trained on the members singing and dancing, but I suppose because they were rookies, it took the cameras a while to find them, and their faces were stiff as boards.
When the stage video ended, Minseo spoke up first.
[So this is what our seniors were like as rookies?! Such a different vibe from now — they were so pretty!]
"Sorry? The styling, you mean? Where it looks like that?"
Oops.
[...Roze? What's gotten into you today...?]
[Did we push you too hard earlier? I'm sorry.]
"No, it's not that at all?"
It's just that the tiny little opinion living inside me refused to stay quiet and slipped out.
Why am I so full of opinions today?
But there was a reason those words couldn't help but come out.
The group originally took off only after pivoting to an innocent concept — but this old video had them chasing the girl-crush trend of the time, buried under heavy smoky eye makeup and outfits that clashed with it completely.
The faces on screen looked a solid ten years older than in last week's promotion footage.
"What I meant to say was! They've only gotten even more beautiful since debut, as time has gone on!"
[Right! I don't understand how anyone could think they weren't prettier now!]
Minseo chimed in to help smooth things over.
"So you agree with what I was saying, then?"
And just like before, poor Minseo, who failed to detect the hidden trap, became the sacrifice.
[...Huh?]
[Oof!]
[Take it back! Take it back!]
Unlike Minseo, the members who had caught on to what I was doing piled on right on cue.
They've really learned to read the room these days, haven't they?
They don't even need me to say anything — they just play their parts perfectly. I'm grateful.
Thankfully, it seemed the air had been thoroughly cleared, just as intended.
Thank you! I won't forget this!
Back to business — time to give our actual stage reviews.
"I'll go next."
Thanks to my inner thoughts leaking out earlier, I'd realized one thing.
My roots. My beginner's mind!
Yes. Let's go back to the basics.
What am I, a tank?
I am a pure and honest clown.
And what's today's objective again?
Promotion!
Draw the aggro — as long as I don't cross the line!
Having engraved that vow in my heart once more, I opened my mouth.
"I've been so curious about who their stylist is."
[Hey!]
[Roze?]
[Let's take a deep breath and try that sentence again, shall we?]
"No, seriously — if they work for our company, I'd like to formally recommend they transfer to the virtual department."
[Uh...?]
[Y-yes...?]
"Someone capable of designs that original clearly had their talent killed off by having to deal with real, physical bodies. If they came over to our side, I'm sure they'd flourish."
That level of creativity works just fine in 2D.
[Hey!]
[Roze! Calm down!]
[KHAHAHAHA—!]
"Goodness! A demotion? Perish the thought! A transfer to a place where their talent can shine is a promotion! New department or not, virtual talent is a rising industry!"
Our future is bright! I would know — I've lived it!
[But... isn't that what people usually call a demotion...?]
Hmm...
"Siru."
[I-I'm sorry!]
"Could you say that again for me? I must not have heard you properly."
My ears really do seem to be acting up today.
What did you say just now?
[Um...! I-I also think it'd be great if this person joined us!]
"See?"
[Yes!]
I knew she'd sympathize with my position.
Thinking so, I nodded twice, slowly.
[Wooju-unnie, aren't you going to stop her?]
[...Roze is in full debut-stream mode right now. It's not looking good.]
Oh! So Minseo has sensed my beginner's mind too!
I had no idea I was this gifted at emotional transmission.
Ah, come to think of it, is that why the Manager suggested I try acting after seeing me like this?
From there on, the same pattern repeated itself.
"Whoa! This outfit is part of the fanservice, right?! Should we do something like that too?!"
[Haha! Yes! We're idols too! Let's do it!]
Needless to say, I never laid a finger on the idols from our own company.
They're my colleagues — picking a fight with them for cheap laughs would only blow up in my face.
But elements like stage concepts, costumes, production details?
All I had to do was repackage the complaints the fans had posted to the forums and serve them right back!
Thankfully, the viewers were persuaded too.
Which was only natural — I'd only ever brought in opinions that had already convinced me.
Not that this material was originally researched for this purpose...
Well, it's proving useful, so I'll let that slide.
"Now then, the last group, right?"
[...Yeah.]
"Let's wrap this up quickly and go rest. I'm tired too."
I meant every word.
I hadn't realized maintaining one's beginner's mind was this exhausting.
So this is why you only appreciate something once you've lost it.
[...Yeah.]
"Oh, a boy group this time?"
The last act was a famous boy group.
Ah, "famous to be," rather?
They're rookies now, but someday they'd be a phenomenal group that climbed all the way onto the Billboard charts.
My memory of drowning myself in articles about them, riding the highest wave of national pride, was burned too deeply into me to forget.
This group's success was even the reason our company grew from a second-tier agency into a first-tier one.
And that moment was... not far off, was it?
Having planted a note in the back of my mind to buy some stock before long, I followed Minseo's lead.
[Yes! The final group is... Dynamic!]
"Ooh."
[Wow... they're really handsome, aren't they?]
"Hmm..."
[...Roze? You have something to say, don't you...?]
"Nope. They're handsome."
[Phew...]
I'd noticed it even before my regression — one of the visual members in particular was stupidly good-looking.
His name was Do Hyunwoo, and I had my reasons for remembering it.
That man went to the same high school as me.
In other words: we're alumni.
We're even the same age.
Before my regression, word had spread all over school about the insanely handsome guy in our year, so I saw a photo of him once, and then afterward caught him on TV once he'd debuted.
Why only then? Well, for one, the guy dropped out of school to debut, so I had no chance to see him anyway — and honestly, my reaction had just been "Huh. Pretty good-looking," and nothing more. I wasn't interested.
I heard he even had a fan club at school before he debuted, but as I just said, I wasn't interested, so I couldn't tell you anything about it.
Now that I was a woman, I figured the sight of him would hit about the same, so I didn't bother digging through my memories.
[Alright! Shall we watch the stage?!]
The performance was, undeniably, excellent.
To the point I could hardly believe it was a debut stage?
They found the cameras with ease, the choreography was knife-sharp, and whether it was lip-synced or not, the singing was solid.
Some sprouts really are just born exceptional, I suppose.
[Wow... they're seriously good!]
If Yubin of all people was saying that, they must genuinely be talented.
I only phrased it carefully just now — but she was the pickiest critic in the room whenever we recorded our own songs.
"They're good. The styling suits rookies well, too — nicely done."
Apart from a few contrarians, the chat was a wall of praise.
"Well, I've got nothing more to say. Shall we finish up? I want to sleep."
I said something deliberately pointless to snap back to reality all the viewers who'd gotten lost in the stage footage.
[...Roze, sweetie, your unnie— ha... no, never mind...]
This was our song's promotional broadcast, after all — I couldn't let everyone's attention drift to another idol...
And nobody appreciates my sacrifice...
Well, fair enough. If I don't say it out loud, nobody's supposed to know.
Despite my aggro, a few viewers still hadn't snapped out of it.
"Hmm, I feel like today's stream completely wrecked my image. What should I do?"
Easy — just pull the aggro one more time with something else.
[You're worrying about THAT now...?]
[BAHAHAHAHA—!]
Okay. That did it.
And that last line would work perfectly as a YouTube intro, wouldn't it?
With that thought, we wrapped up,
and after pushing our song to the audience a little longer, the collab stream finally came to an end.