Chapter 123
Chapter 123
Seon A-hyun did not stutter.
“…I will understand this as a message to… continue doing my best with the same heart as I have now, and I will always work hard.”
It was slow, with many sections where he paused to take a breath. Here and there, he dragged out his pronunciations to connect the sentences.
But he didn't stutter once.
“……And to the Loviewers who support us, …thank you so much, and I love you!”
“Loviewers, we love you!”
“Thank you!”
As Seon A-hyun successfully finished his last sentence, the members crowded behind him to liven up the atmosphere.
But even that wasn't necessary.
The fan section was already swept up in a whirlwind of shock and deep emotion.
—Aaaaahhh!
—You did so well!! You did great!
—What do I do!! Uwaaaaaah!!
Even those watching the broadcast could hear the roar of the audience echoing through TeSTAR’s microphones.
-LOL, you can hear the fans so clearly.
-Seon A-hyun’s fans are about to pass out.
-Haha, this is a secret, but I’m actually a bit touched too.
- Me too, lol. T-T
- Hahaha, is this the shareholder aftereffect?
-Good for Seon A-hyun, seriously. T-T
-That couldn't have been easy. Impressive.
-Anyway, congrats to TeSTAR. They deserved it.
And so, TeSTAR finished their acceptance speech amidst self-validation.
The mockery and criticism people had predicted at the end of last year were nowhere to be seen.
As we returned to the artist seating area after the speech, the team members threw praises at Seon A-hyun one by one.
“A-hyun, congrats on reaching your goal!”
“Congratulations!”
Seon A-hyun’s face turned beet red.
“Th-thank you….”
Hmm, he deserved the congratulations. That guy had been struggling for quite a while.
‘Let’s see… he practiced for about a month and a half.’
Seon A-hyun had started his stuttering treatment right around the time we were insanely busy practicing for the year-end stages.
Since it was the beginning stage, they told him to set a simple, short-term goal to give him a sense of purpose, and this was what Seon A-hyun chose.
To deliver a thank-you message without stuttering during an acceptance speech.
Thanks to that, I saw Seon A-hyun mumbling that short speech all day long in the dorm, the practice room, and the car.
‘…Within a week, even the manager had the speech memorized.’
And before long, everyone started treating Seon A-hyun’s mumbling like white noise for sleeping.
Anyway, the fact that he didn't get overly impatient and succeeded after practicing for a long time was certainly impressive.
‘Once you succeed once, you tend to keep doing it.’
If this meant the possibility of Seon A-hyun’s status effect recurring was becoming more remote, it was a good thing for the group.
I added my own praise.
“I told you it was fine even if it didn't come out the way you practiced. But there was no need for that. You did great.”
“…! I-it wasn't that much…… I took too many breaths in some parts, and n-next time, I’ll really do better…!”
“…….”
No… I just said you did well. Why are you answering like you’re making an excuse?
But before I could correct anything, Seon A-hyun beat me to it.
“Th-thank you for… telling me to try… the counseling.”
Hmm, this was something I could accept thanks for. I nodded.
“Don’t mention it.”
“Oh, how heartwarming~”
“Our team atmosphere is really great.”
With the controversy gone and the Rookie of the Year award in hand, the guys, now completely free of worries, headed toward the artist seats with pleasant smiles.
However, my mood soured the closer we got to the seats.
It was because TeSTAR’s seats were right next to VTIC’s.
‘Why on earth did they put the rookies right next to them?’
Because of that, we had to bow our heads and greet VTIC every time we moved, but I was fine with that much.
“Congratulations~”
“Thank you!”
The problem was that every time we greeted them, Cheong-ryeo watched with a smirk on his face.
‘Shit.’
To an outsider, it would look like he was just smiling proudly.
That was because he had done a pretty good job of cleaning up the SNS post that had fueled the Rookie of the Year controversy.
Every time he appeared on a year-end program, he would upload a large batch of photos to his SNS, and in between them, he would add random cast members using phrases similar to the one he used for Onyx.
In other words, he diluted the evidence.
Thanks to the fans’ active explanations, the atmosphere shifted toward everyone thinking the Onyx incident was just a coincidence.
…I’ll just say that the reaction, ‘I thought he was close with Park Moon-dae, so it was weird~’ was the most annoying part.
“…….”
After the greetings were over, I intentionally walked in slowly and sat in the chair furthest away from VTIC.
It didn't mean much; I was just trying to feel a bit less annoyed.
Not long after, the first half ended, and we entered a few minutes of commercial break.
And the commercials appeared on the electronic display as well.
[Magical Boy TeSTAR’s magical AI assistant!]
“Aaaargh!”
“Wow, please…….”
At the public verification of their dark history (currently ongoing), the members let out screams of agony and slammed their heads onto the table. The terrifying Russian roulette began.
[Kkyu! Curious!]
The victim this time was Bae Se-jin.
Bae Se-jin’s acting, with CG hamster ears on top, was natural, but the man himself had completely lost it.
“…The, the restroom for a moment.”
With his face turning red, Bae Se-jin stood up unsteadily and hurried away.
And the members managed to feel pity and burst into laughter at the same time.
“Bwahahaha!!”
“Se-jin, are you okay—pfft!”
From the guy clapping his hands to the guy burying his head between his knees, there were all sorts of reactions.
‘As long as it’s not me.’
It was true. I nodded and opened a water bottle.
The moment I put the mouth of the bottle to my lips, someone sat in Bae Se-jin’s seat.
And they asked.
“There’s one for each member, right? This is fun.”
“Pfft.”
It almost came out of my nose.
‘Fuck.’
It was Cheong-ryeo.
The laughing members were startled and bowed their heads.
“Hello!”
“Yes, hello. I’ll just talk to Moon-dae for a moment and then head back.”
“Yes, sir!”
At least show some discomfort, you guys.
But since Bae Se-jin was gone, there was no one who would actually do that. Dammit.
At least Keun Se-jin seemed almost certain that the SNS upload incident was intentional, but right now, he was just smiling and nodding.
And honestly, this was the right move.
‘Artist seat fancams are everywhere.’
Someone in the audience was definitely filming this scene.
Whether it was VTIC or TeSTAR members, this situation would surely be caught by at least twenty cameras.
‘Let’s stay calm.’
Even if we talked here, it was so noisy that the sound wouldn't travel. Unless we spoke loudly on purpose, the members probably wouldn't hear us.
“What is it you wanted to talk about?”
“I think I told you when we spoke on the phone last time… don’t you remember?”
Ah, that thing about how his SNS upload wasn't with bad intentions and whatnot.
In short, he wanted to give a long explanation of, ‘I wasn't trying to screw you over.’
Since it had come to this, I wanted to just listen half-heartedly, say, “Oh, I see. I understand,” and be done with it, but there was a problem.
“…You’re going to explain all that within the commercial break?”
“Oh, it’s plenty of time. Listen.”
Cheong-ryeo nodded with a smile.
“Dying once at this timing is the easiest way.”
“……!”
“I thought about it carefully, and that was the hardest part for me at first. I had a resistance to starting over.”
Cheong-ryeo tapped the table.
“But once you try it, you realize it’s no big deal, right? Then things get much easier after that.”
“…….”
A reason that was more insane than I could have imagined popped out.
‘Wow, this guy is for real.’
I consciously picked up the water bottle and gulped down some water.
My palms were sweating.
“You definitely had some regrets this time too, right, Junior? Go back and try fixing them. Then the pressure disappears… and instead, there’s a sense of achievement.”
“Wait.”
I put the water bottle down.
“So you were indeed trying to make me fail the Rookie of the Year award and die.”
“Would failing because of me mean you couldn't get the Rookie of the Year award? Not really… I just made things a bit annoying.”
Cheong-ryeo added a kind explanation.
“Public opinion was bad, and the situation was annoying, so you might have felt like you wanted to try again.”
“…So you were trying to help me proceed smoothly by reducing my resistance to death?”
“Yes.”
“Um, stop lying.”
“…What?”
“Whether my progress becomes smooth or not has nothing to do with you, so there’s no reason for you to go out of your way to do that.”
“……!”
It’s not like I’m on particularly friendly terms with this guy; there’s no way someone like him would act with altruistic intentions without any benefit.
I was planning to just listen and move on, but at this point, I couldn't predict what kind of bullshit would come out next, so I cut him off.
Cheong-ryeo took on a slightly sheepish expression.
“Well, of course, it was a choice that considered my position as well.”
“…….”
“It’s not that this affects you… I was just a bit curious.”
Cheong-ryeo tilted his head slightly.
“I want to know if I restart too if you die.”
“……!”
“Exactly. It doesn't have to be the very first point I went back to……. Even the point you went back to would be fine. There are a few things I want to fix from the first half of this year.”
This bastard was completely out of his mind.
It was Reset Syndrome in the truest sense.
“Ah, of course, I’m not saying I want to keep starting over…… but it’s better to check in advance to be sure, right? No?”
“Wait.”
I started to think that if a VTIC scandal ever broke out, this guy might actually bury me alive.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
…I wasn't going to say this, but it seemed like saying it would be less of a risk.
First… he seems like someone who still listens to logic, so let’s use logic.
“…First of all, I think it might just be the end for me if I fail.”
“……Hmm?”
“That’s just the feeling I get. I think I’ll just die and that’ll be it.”
I couldn't mention the status window, so I blurred it as a "feeling," but it was the truth.
‘My status effect only specifies "Death."’
Unlike Cheong-ryeo’s status effect, the expression "going back" itself didn't exist.
‘This is probably my only chance.’
Even if I could go back, there was no need to take the risk. It was better for my mindset to think that I would just die and it would be over.
But Cheong-ryeo let out a short laugh.
“Ah, it’s like that at first. But I doubt it?”
“…….”
“I’m telling you, don't be scared and just try it.”
This son of a bitch, seriously.
I replied, feeling my temper rise.
“No. I don't want to start over in the first place. I want to see this through to the end right here. I like my members now, and I like the fans. There’s nothing I want to change.”
“…….”
Cheong-ryeo fell silent. Then he stared into space with a blank expression.
‘…Did I go too far?’
He’s not going to suddenly pull out a sledgehammer from somewhere and crack my skull, is he?
But Cheong-ryeo soon nodded.
“…I think I was like that too.”
“…….”
“Mm, okay. Well, if that’s the case.”
This worked?
I almost let out a sigh of relief, but I held it in. He’s the type of guy who might stab me in the back again after saying this.
However, Cheong-ryeo just looked slightly apologetic.
“Anyway, I’m sorry if you had a hard time because of me this time.”
“…It’s fine. But next time, please check with me first.”
“Yes. Ah, then should I tell you some news that might put your mind at ease… Hmm, right.”
“……?”
“I’ll tell you the criteria for the Rookie of the Year task.”
Cheong-ryeo smiled.
“It’s the KMA ‘Rookie of the Year’ award.”
“……!”
The KMA?
That KMA?
…The Korean Music Awards, the place that excludes commercial success and evaluates solely based on musicality.
As far as I knew, there had been zero instances of an idol winning the Rookie of the Year award there…….
Wait, then that means even this guy didn't get it.
“Haha! Of course, I’m joking.”
“…….”
Someday… when the status effect is over, I’m going to smash TeSTAR’s Grand Prize trophy into this guy’s face.
Fortunately, before my patience ran out, Cheong-ryeo spat out some proper information.
“What’s important is the public opinion after receiving the Rookie of the Year award.”
“……!”
“It only passes if the firm public opinion is that you received an award you deserved. Of course, the premise is that you actually receive the award at a ceremony and through the counts.”
…I see.
‘The "most prestigious ceremony" the status window mentioned was public opinion.’
It made sense.
No wonder the status effect goal completion pop-up didn't appear even with this Golden Disc Rookie of the Year award; it’ll probably only show up around February.
And the moment I reached a conclusion, Bae Se-jin, who had run away, returned.
“……! Excuse me.”
“Ah, sorry. I’ll get going. Moon-dae, I’ll be in touch.”
“…….”
I couldn't bring myself to give a positive response, but conscious of the fancams, I nodded.
Cheong-ryeo waved to all of TeSTAR and returned to his seat.
Bae Se-jin looked at Cheong-ryeo with a slightly uncomfortable face, then sat down, looking a bit uneasy about his seat.
“…Are you close with that person?”
I briefly wondered why he didn't call him "Senior," but then I realized that it had been over 14 years since Bae Se-jin debuted.
So I just answered with a straight face.
“No. He was just talking about work.”
“…Work?”
“Oh, Moon-dae’s professional life~”
Maybe my voice was a bit loud, because Keun Se-jin heard and chuckled. He probably guessed that Cheong-ryeo had come over to make excuses for the SNS incident.
However, Bae Se-jin whispered with a somewhat serious face.
“If he’s bullying you, tell me.”
“…….”
Bae Se-jin was probably thinking of an industry senior’s power trip, recalling his past experience as a child actor… wait, in a way, this was also correct.
Anyway, since it was an impossible problem to explain, I just nodded with an ambiguous expression.
“If that happens, I’ll tell you. Thank you.”
“…It’s nothing.”
That day, TeSTAR even received a Bonsang, performed their stage perfectly without any mistakes, and went home.
For the record, the Grand Prize went to VTIC.
…Until the day my status effect ends, I hope those guys keep winning the Grand Prize as much as possible.
Because some crazy guy might attack me in the middle of the night saying he wants to restart.
And the day after the Golden Disc Awards ceremony.
I had been mentally preparing for it, but some not-so-welcome news arrived.
“I heard he came into work today?”
A new General Manager had been appointed to the company.