Chapter 538
Chapter 538
The practice notebook of Nu-a, the leader of Iter.
He had created it by sacrificing sleep, analyzing his seniors' music videos over and over again.
—I’ve tried to distribute the parts to match our members' positions as best as possible. Do you want to try it this way?
—As expected of you, Hyung!
The memory of feeling proud amidst his members' admiration was still vivid.
Then there were the sincere compliments from the staff during the mid-term evaluation, and the brightening expressions of the company employees after the pre-release video.
Thanks to the positive feedback, he had spent the last few days practicing without a worry in the world.
However, a few days later, during the actual broadcast of the competition...
[Waaaaah!]
[Did you see that just now?]
As if by some miracle, TeSTAR had completely overturned the choreography and arrangement they showed during the mid-term evaluation, bringing an intense performance to the stage.
It was as if they were targeting Iter specifically.
And the leader of Iter felt a shock as massive as the satisfaction and confidence he had felt just before taking the stage.
For the next few days, his mind was a whirlwind of afterimages from that performance, along with regret, resentment, and sadness.
He barely managed to get through his schedule, but whenever the cameras weren't rolling, he forgot all the small things he usually took meticulous care of.
Among those things... was that practice notebook.
The one that had already served its purpose and was no longer needed.
“…….”
And now, that very notebook was in the hands of the person he had analyzed—a senior, a member of TeSTAR.
While asking him, “Isn't this an Iter member's?”
It was a situation he had never even imagined.
He felt his blood run cold.
‘What do I do?’
Had he seen the inside? No, there was no point in asking. He definitely had. He must have checked the contents to conclude it belonged to Iter.
His mind went blank.
Nu-a desperately tried to think of something, but before he could, words reflexively tumbled out of his mouth.
“I… I’m not sure.”
He had suddenly become terrified.
Since he couldn't think of a way to fix the situation, his anxiety drove him to deny it first.
“I don't think it belongs to one of our members.”
“…….”
The other person, Seon A-hyun, didn't respond. He simply held the notebook and stared at it quietly.
And then Nu-a realized he had just said something utterly ridiculous.
Not Iter’s!
Hadn't he just given this senior a reason to casually show that notebook to others and ask, ‘Is this yours?’
And if someone else saw it… I mean.
‘Ah…….’
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
Unable to believe this was happening so suddenly, he stood frozen in place.
It didn't feel real.
‘Is this a nightmare?’
It was then.
“I see…. Then, could you perhaps help find the owner? It doesn't seem to… belong to anyone on our side.”
Nu-a momentarily stopped breathing.
The words were so unbelievable that for a second, he thought he had misheard.
“Here.”
But Seon A-hyun reached out with one hand and offered him the notebook.
“…….”
There was no need to hand an item to a junior who claimed ‘I don't know’ and ‘It's not ours’ while asking them to find the owner.
Nu-a knew instinctively.
‘He knows.’
He knew this notebook was his.
He knew he was lying.
It was an action Seon A-hyun wouldn't have taken unless he was certain.
However, because he couldn't miss this opportunity—this lifeline dropped from the heavens—he hurriedly nodded and reached out with both hands.
“Yes…!”
Only when he finally gripped the notebook did the dizzying fear subside, replaced by a seeping sense of relief.
‘Ah.’
He clutched the notebook tightly. His heart slowed down as if he had narrowly escaped death.
TeSTAR’s Seon A-hyun said nothing as he watched.
He simply gave a calm, slight nod, then turned around with his drink and walked down the hallway.
“…….”
Only then did the leader of Iter begin to feel emotions and thoughts other than relief.
It was shame.
Shame over how he must have looked to the other person….
‘N-no.’
He hurriedly cut off the thought.
This was strictly due to the unique nature of the situation.
Isn't it natural for an idol who wants to work hard to analyze the performance of a senior and competitor?
‘Right, it’s natural… it’s just that the situation was strange.’
It was because things were unsettled due to the rumors and controversy about Iter’s staff keeping tabs on TeSTAR.
He had panicked because he thought TeSTAR might misunderstand if they suddenly saw a notebook where Iter had researched their gestures at a time like this.
‘It’s not like I only researched TeSTAR sunbaenim’s gestures on purpose.’
He had just quickly analyzed their current competitors because they were short on time. Iter thought they were just trying to work hard.
He hadn't intended to do anything shameful.
But because it could look that way to the other person given the circumstances, he had panicked.
Because…….
—TeSTAR sunbaenim doesn't know my circumstances.
“…….”
But at that moment, the leader of Iter felt a sense of dissonance in that completed sentence.
TeSTAR sunbaenim wasn't the only one who didn't know his circumstances.
‘…Anyone would have seen it that way.’
Anyone who wasn't an Iter affiliate would have had a similar reaction if shown that notebook.
‘Iter obsessively copied TeSTAR’s gestures’… because that was the result.
‘I’m the exception.’
He was the only one looking at himself with such leniency.
Because he knew all his own grievances and circumstances.
‘Because it’s my life….’
The moment he realized that, it felt as if a cold breeze had swept through his mind, shattering his protective shield.
“…….”
With trembling hands, Nu-a tucked the notebook into his shirt as if to hide it.
He felt like he had just woken up from a dream.
‘I see.’
Everyone has their circumstances.
But because I know all of mine, I was just being especially compassionate toward myself.
And usually, that was called self-rationalization.
If he stripped away that self-rationalization and looked at everything as if it were someone else's business….
‘…It was a shameful thing.’
And wouldn't he also think that a senior who treated a junior—who was copying them without permission—with such dignity and without showing any sign of offense was a much better person?
“…….”
He thought of Seon A-hyun, who had silently handed him the notebook, and Lee Se-jin, who had responded gently even to his ulterior-motivated words.
He realized that in all those situations, he had actually wanted to find evidence that his seniors were bad people.
‘Because that’s more comfortable for me….’
Because it was easier for his heart if he and the people who looked after him were the good guys, and the people who got in their way were the bad guys.
Things were already hard enough; it was too painful to resent his own company, which he couldn't do anything about anyway.
He had been ignoring it unconsciously.
“…….”
The leader of Iter slowly left the hallway and began heading back to the waiting room.
His head had cooled down sufficiently.
And that day.
====================
3.1. TeSTAR Reference Controversy (7)
====================
After filming ended, he used a laptop he had secretly brought into the dorm to start looking up Iter’s incidents and accidents as evaluated by the public for the first time.
He tried to avoid mindless insults.
However, just looking at the posts people had compiled was enough to give him a huge psychological shock.
—...With various materials surfacing regarding the composition, props, and even choreography, opinions that ‘for a reference, examples only come from TeSTAR’ (9) have spread centered around entertainment communities…….
“…….”
As he scrolled through photo evidence showing they had been copying TeSTAR since their debut album, he found himself sniffing from tears.
He wanted to run away.
‘Maybe these people are mistaken?’
But he tried to shake off that thought and look at the data as objectively as possible.
However, the more he did, the more it seemed like Iter was a group that had been wrong from the planning stage, from the very beginning.
‘Is that how it is?’
He felt the urge to retire, feeling as if everything about himself as an idol was wrong.
Then he found it.
It was a capture of a fan’s social media post.
—It seems like Iter can barely participate in the producing, so this kind of problem needs to be fixed at the company planning team level. Even if the Iter members hate it, there’s probably nothing they can do.
He realized.
‘Ah.’
Even the fans didn't think of the company and the members as being on the same line.
There was a premise there.
—The company and the idol are not the same.
“…….”
He wiped his tears and reached a conclusion.
First, let’s reflect on and fix my own mistakes.
And as for the company’s mistakes, I didn't need to defend them or get overly immersed in them.
It was okay to have a dissenting opinion.
‘The company isn't me.’
His chest felt much lighter.
Click.
He closed the laptop, ending his ego-search filled with growing pains.
Then he recalled the announcement of the competition results from today's filming.
—1st place is… TeSTAR!
—Whoo!
TeSTAR’s seats had been noisy with applause and happiness.
And Iter had finished in 3rd place.
A rank that wasn't a failure, so it didn't garner sympathy, but also wasn't impressive enough to draw attention.
The company hadn't met expectations, and the group hadn't achieved its goal.
Nothing had gone as desired….
But Nu-a no longer felt resentful.
—Sunbaenim, thank you for giving me kind and good words until the end, even though I caused a lot of trouble. If we meet again, I want to see you as a more mature person….
“You’re saying an Iter kid sent this?”
“Mhm.”
Seon A-hyun nodded. For the record, what he held out was a handwritten note, not a KakaoTalk or a text message.
He probably chose this method because they weren't close enough to exchange numbers. And asking a manager to pass it along would be awkward since the relationship between the staffs was so bad.
‘Hmm.’
I skimmed the writing he sent again.
To summarize, it was a head-bowing apology and a vow to prevent a recurrence.
“He gave it to me, but actually… I think he gave it to our group.”
“Really?”
I couldn't quite agree, but Seon A-hyun nodded with a faint smile.
“Mhm. In the first place… the one who found the notebook was Moon-dae.”
Well, that was true.
Actually, I was the one who found the notebook at the filming site a few days ago.
—...? That.
‘I saw them leave it on a chair while I was observing their staff’s movements.’
And the moment I checked the contents of the notebook….
—You’re leaving this behind?
I thought it was a crazy jackpot.
Several appropriate methods of exposure that could shake the board immediately came to mind, but….
‘I didn't use them.’
Yeah. I scrapped them. The reason was simple.
It was because TeSTAR had been persuaded by Keun Se-jin and went all-in on gambling with the stage.
Even for me, adding more variables was a bit much.
‘I didn't know what kind of balloon effect would pop up if I trampled Wonder Hall that brutally.’
Since they were so big, there was no telling what random thing might happen as the sparks flew.
Unlike Wonder Hall, which had been rolling in the industry for decades and had hundreds of employees, we were still a small startup and didn't have the staff to handle all that. So I held back.
You could say I chose a political detour.
I placed the Iter leader’s letter on the table and smirked.
‘Well… honestly, if it blew up, the Iter members would be more screwed than Wonder Hall, so the efficiency was poor anyway.’
I should crush the company; crushing a non-regular kid who was one with the company would only leave a bad aftertaste.
And the notebook I assigned to Seon A-hyun according to his suggestion… seemed to have had a pretty good effect.
‘To think a conscience attack would work.’
Kids are kids, after all. There won't be anything annoying for a while now.
“Good job.”
“N-no.”
Seon A-hyun didn't seem to feel too bad either, as he looked back at the letter with a quite satisfied face.
‘It ended cleanly like this.’
I thought refreshingly.
However, a few days later, a contact from a Wonder Hall affiliate did come….
[Oh, I heard you got 1st place. Congrats, TeSTAR!]
It was none other than T-Holic’s Ha Jin-tae.
However, this attribute of ‘Wonder Hall affiliate’ was now terminal.
“…Congratulations on your independence, T-Holic sunbaenims.”
[Haha! No, well, the conditions just worked out so we became CEOs in name only together, that’s all.]
That’s right.
These guys were planning to go independent soon with their own names on the signboards as CEOs.
But do you know how they could screw over a giant like Wonder Hall while barely becoming independent?
Because they had something to rely on, of course.
[So it looks like we’ll be seeing each other’s faces quite often?]
“……I suppose so.”
That statement wasn't just out of politeness… it was a very dry fact.
‘Damn it.’
Surprisingly, the T-Holic guys had also taken investment capital from LeTi, just like us.
They didn't even bother hiding it. They were blasting articles about it.
‘I guess their position doesn't overlap with VTIC right now anyway.’
T-Holic is an entertainment-type idol group centered on public popularity, whose prime as performers has already passed.
In this case, rather than worrying about scattering for individual activities, T-Holic fans would prefer knowing that the organizational power and capital of a large agency were being invested.
Yeah, that’s true, but… look at this mess.
‘Suddenly, the entire lineage of male idols who won the Grand Prize is on the same line.’
Seniors and juniors tied together by capital.
That’s how this crazy board was set up….
[You’ll be seeing a lot of the juniors at Orbit, TeSTAR’s company, too~ Ah, we could really all gather like this and have something like an athletic meet this time. What do you think?]
The suggestion is horrifying, so stop it.
“Wouldn't it be hard to match schedules?”
[Ayy, of course we playing old-timers should match the schedule of the young and busy TeSTAR!]
Fortunately, the guy who was snickering seemed to have some tact as he soon turned to well-wishes.
[Ah, I heard you’re super busy this time too. That’s proof that everything is going well, so enjoy it. This album is a huge hit too!]
“…Thank you.”
This was a dry fact.
The synergy between the attention from my appearance at the American awards ceremony and the internet memes TeSTAR had planted in the English-speaking world had pulled in a massive influx of overseas fans.
Thanks to this album’s activities and Bae Se-jin’s previous acting activities, the system’s company grade was steadily rising.
‘I just need to pull the weight-class demonstration a bit more.’
And what was that?
[You’re going on tour now, right?]
“Yes.”
That’s right. It was the concert tour.
As a rule, there’s nothing better than seat counts to write articles about overseas status.
‘We’re going the standard route.’
And naturally, we had placed one piece of self-produced content for every hiatus caused by a tour so far.
This time was no exception.
[TeSTAR’s Great Battle of Selling Hotteok to Travel... do you remember? (Eye emoticon) We have returned!]
We finally got the Hotteok variety show production crew back.
However, there was a slight difference.
[But now it’s the opposite]
“…….”
[Please watch TeSTAR working like dogs to earn money just to eat a single piece of hotteok (Link)]
…Program title: <TeSTAR's Not Lonely Gourmet Trip>.
Planning complete.