Chapter 115
Chapter 115
The logic behind the comments arguing that TeSTAR shouldn't receive the Rookie of the Year award had become considerably more sophisticated than before.
This was because they had shifted the focus away from TeSTAR itself and onto the concept of a "rookie."
‘They’re weaving this well.’
Since they couldn't possibly find fault with the group's actual performance stats, it seemed they wanted to deny us the symbolic Rookie of the Year award at the very least.
If this narrative worked and we actually failed to win, they could use that as a foundation to flip the script, saying, "They were so bad they couldn't even win Rookie of the Year."
But that wasn't going to happen.
No matter how much they barked here, it wouldn't affect the actual award calculation criteria.
‘Well, it’s not like they can cast negative votes like in Idol Inc.’
Mainstream public opinion was already on our side, so the probability of an issue arising with the judges' scores was low.
At most, we might get cursed out in a few communities for "shamelessly taking the award" and miss out on some congratulations... but it didn't seem like it would affect the win itself.
Even now, the post was being pushed down as time passed.
Comments like these were becoming quite frequent.
‘I should just focus on practicing for the year-end stages.’
I stopped monitoring for now. It was to avoid being pointlessly affected.
‘...I hope the fans aren't getting too stressed out.’
Since our SNS and other communication activities were currently suspended, it was difficult to do anything.
Technically, if I pushed it, I could shift the controversy by posting something like, "Then who do you think should win Rookie of the Year instead of TeSTAR?" but...
If I ever got caught being Park Moon-dae, it would be a massive scandal.
‘I just need to nail the performance.’
In the end, my thoughts returned to practice. I sighed and accepted the conclusion.
"One more time."
"Yes!"
Not long after, the atmosphere among the other guys became unusually grim during practice.
‘They’ve seen it all.’
It seemed the manipulative posts had spread quite a bit. I suspected they might have seen the fans' lamentations.
Thanks to that, their momentum to "show them what we've got" was almost at the level of the Idol Inc. team matches.
Ryu Cheong-woo, who was on the verge of exhaustion, muttered as if to ground himself in what he already knew.
"The one we're practicing now... was for SBC, right?"
"That is correct," Kim Rae-bin replied.
Listening to them, Bae Se-jin muttered with a pale face.
"...I think this one is the hardest."
"You're right! It's fun!"
"......"
Bae Se-jin stared at the cheerful Cha Yu-jin for a moment with an expression that said he wanted to punch him just once.
Ryu Cheong-woo smiled and settled the situation.
"Right. Let's work hard and give them a fun show."
"Yes, sir!"
"Let's all do our best~"
Perhaps because the agency was conscious of potential further controversy, our external schedule for November was slightly reduced, which increased our practice time.
Thus, after we were fully prepared for various award stages, the year-end award season finally arrived.
The first ceremony was ToneA.
ToneA. A self-proclaimed "Asia's largest global music awards" hosted by T1.
What that actually meant was that it was an awards ceremony hosted by the parent company, which was more than eager to push TeSTAR.
Naturally, TeSTAR swept up awards according to their performance.
"The winner is... TeSTAR! Congratulations!"
I heard those words four times today alone.
We took home the Excellence Award, the Popularity Award, and even the Music Video Award.
And, of course... we received the Rookie of the Year award.
"Thank you so much! We will take this award as a reminder never to lose our initial mindset. We will be more careful, work harder, and continue to move forward."
Keun Se-jin intentionally gave the acceptance speech for Rookie of the Year. It was something discussed with Ryu Cheong-woo.
The content had also been coordinated with the company to ensure it wouldn't spark controversy, so we’d likely only get the usual amount of hate.
...However, as expected, my status effect did not clear.
‘I didn't expect it to.’
Even if ToneA claimed to be the largest in Asia, everyone watching knew it didn't carry much prestige.
Regardless, the members seemed quite relieved once the first ceremony ended successfully.
"Good job, everyone~"
However, even though they won, the feeling of relief—of having "made it through"—seemed greater than their joy.
‘They suffered mentally because the controversy broke out right now.’
It didn't feel great that they were missing out on the moment they should have felt the most rewarded for their year of hard work.
"Guys, you really did a great job."
"Hehe."
"I-I'm glad it seems to have ended well."
"If we judge based only on ourselves, excluding other variables, I believe we executed the stage as well as we practiced."
A brief silence followed Kim Rae-bin's words.
‘...We did work hard.’
We were given about eight minutes for this stage.
Tnet wanted the configuration to be a "boast" of how many hits TeSTAR had, so we did a medley of four songs.
Because of that, there were almost no additional movements, making practice relatively easy. The problem was having to look for an oxygen tank the moment we stepped off stage because there were no breaks.
I thought we handled it well without mistakes, but the problem was... the camera.
I managed to monitor only the latter half, and the camerawork was so bad I couldn't even tell what we were doing.
The screen was even so dark that it was hard to focus.
‘Infuriating.’
Even if it's a data seller, I hope someone caught a good fan-cam. I’ll have to look it up on WeTube later.
"...Well, I'm sure the people who were there in person felt it."
"The cheers were great~"
Since we couldn't exactly bash the cameras in the hallway behind the stage, everyone tried their best to gloss over it.
It seemed their disappointment was manageable because they had many more stages prepared with even more focus.
‘...I should go get my smartphone from the waiting room.’
I intended to check if any other issues had popped up. I figured it would just be some hate on a couple of popular posts and that would be it.
But as I returned to the front of the waiting room, I encountered a face I hadn't expected and wasn't particularly glad to see.
"Hello."
"Gasp! Sunbae-nim!"
"Hello!"
...It was Cheong-ryeo.
‘Why is a Grand Prize winner standing in front of a rookie’s waiting room?’
It looked like a demonstration for the staff to see.
‘Is he trying to make it impossible to avoid him?’
Regardless, the members, flustered by the unimaginable situation, bowed deeply and poured out words of congratulations.
"Congratulations on winning two Grand Prizes, Sunbae-nim!"
"Congratulations!"
"Ah, thank you."
Cheong-ryeo accepted the greetings with a smile. Kim Rae-bin asked with sparkling eyes.
"What brings you to our waiting room?"
"I thought I'd come by to congratulate you and see my juniors' faces."
Cheong-ryeo made eye contact with me.
"Congratulations on the Rookie of the Year award. Though it probably didn't mean much."
"......!"
"Pardon?"
Cheong-ryeo added to a slightly dazed Kim Rae-bin, looking somewhat sheepish.
"I mean that since you won four awards, you're already juniors who are doing too well to be considered mere rookies. I look forward to your future activities."
"Ah, thank you!"
"Well, now that I've seen your faces, I'll be going. I have a schedule."
"Yes, have a safe trip!"
Cheong-ryeo nodded slightly and smiled.
"Keep up the good work."
Then he strode down the hallway and disappeared.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘...He specifically targeted the Rookie of the Year award.’
It was clear he had been in a similar situation. He even threw out the hint that the ToneA Rookie of the Year award was meaningless.
‘This leaves a bad taste.’
It didn't feel good to have information passed over unilaterally without any gain.
‘He might try to bargain using the list of status effects he experienced.’
As I was speculating, the other guys spoke to me.
"Ooh~ Moondae, did you make a connection through that variety show?"
"Are you... v-very close?"
I almost turned serious at Seon A-hyun's question.
"...We just know each other's faces."
"T-Then, could I ask you for one favor...!"
The last one wasn't Seon A-hyun, but Kim Rae-bin jumping into the conversation. He seemed to be stuttering due to excessive excitement.
‘Come to think of it, does this guy mention VTIC often?’
Just as I was wondering if he was a fan, Kim Rae-bin, who had regained his composure, spoke earnestly with a serious face.
"I am truly curious about the arrangement program the VTIC Sunbae-nims used for their last title track...!"
"......"
He was more interested in the tools of the trade than the person.
"I'll ask if I get the chance."
"Thank you!"
Kim Rae-bin, completely failing to catch the implication that the chance might never come, looked happy. Well, at least one person is enjoying themselves.
‘Let's check the viewer reactions.’
In the car back to the practice room, I lightly browsed SNS and communities.
Fortunately, public opinion hadn't worsened; there were more congratulatory comments than snide ones.
‘...The fans are holding back.’
I could see them trying their best to ignore the baiting comments and bury them with congratulations to avoid giving anyone an opening.
If they got dragged into an emotional battle, the group with the clear identity would be the only one to lose.
Of course, on private SNS accounts, the venting continued.
From group fans to malicious individual fans, everyone without exception was complaining of fatigue.
A sense of debt welled up in me.
‘...I almost want to just say we don't need to receive it.’
It felt a bit bitter to be keeping my mouth shut just to avoid sudden death.
‘Still, it doesn't look like I'm going to die.’
The fortunate thing was that since we hadn't lost the battle for public opinion, the intensity would likely fluctuate before fizzling out toward the end of the awards season.
‘And we only took what we deserved at ToneA.’
I was slightly worried they might give us too much, but they had enough sense to stop at a reasonable line.
It was within the range of what anyone could take at a friendly awards ceremony, so the criticism didn't rise to the surface.
‘It’s a shame the performance didn't yield much gain.’
That seemed like it would be somewhat resolved once the fan-cams were released. And there were still more stages to come.
‘Things are a bit stuck, but I guess there are times like this.’
Once things settled down, I should upload some content for the fans to relieve their stress.
I organized my thoughts and went to turn off my smartphone.
No, I intended to turn it off... but then I saw the title of a post that had just been registered as a trending topic in the community.
[The rookie boy group that had to just clap while a Tnet variety show group took 4 awards]
"......"
I clicked the title immediately.
A series of images in a card-news format appeared.
‘Shit.’
These bastards have started their work.
Cheong-ryeo looked down at his smartphone. A popular post that had become a battlefield over the Rookie of the Year award was on the screen.
"I'm curious."
"...Huh? About what?"
Cheong-ryeo didn't answer his member. He simply pulled up his own SNS account on the screen.
‘I wonder how this will turn out.’
Cheong-ryeo uploaded several photos taken today to his SNS one by one, along with comments.
And in between them, as if passing by inconsequentially, he chose one photo to add.
=========================
Hardworking juniors.
I hope for good results for them at the end of the year too.
=========================
Then he pressed upload.
The fuse was lit.