Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Comeback, and Comeback (2)
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The day after our music video dropped, we were up at the crack of dawn, heading to the broadcasting station for M-League's pre-recording.
It was still dark out on the way there. Teddy, looking half-asleep and yawning nonstop, leaned his head on my shoulder.
"Jae... I'm sleepy..."
"That's why I told you to go to bed early."
"But I couldn't sleep..."
Ugh. I'd turned off the lights right at 9 p.m. to make him sleep early, but he'd wandered out to the living room instead and basically pulled an all-nighter.
Or maybe the alertness pill he'd popped earlier was finally kicking in.
"We've got a bit before we hit the station, so catch a quick nap."
"Thanks, Jae..."
With that, Teddy's mouth fell open, and he was out like a light.
Han Tae-hee, riding shotgun, glanced back at him in the rearview mirror and giggled. Then, in a soft whisper so as not to wake Teddy, he said,
"You two are the same age, but you're like night and day. Anyone'd think you were the older one, Jae."
...Well, mentally speaking, I'm the oldest here, Tae-hee.
"You should nap too, Jae."
"Got it."
I leaned back in my seat and popped in my earbuds.
Our freshly released track started flowing into my ears.
But thanks to turning in early, sleep still wouldn't come.
I stared out the window, lost in thought.
'I've gotta give it my all this comeback too.'
Soon enough, we pulled up to the station. I woke the sleeping Teddy, and we headed inside with the members.
Just like last time, we greeted the head PD first, then made our way to the assigned waiting area.
But this time, it was a different spot from before.
At Park Su-rim's unexpected news, Go Eun-young tilted her head.
"Huh? A proper waiting room this time, Su-rim hyung?"
"Yeah. I figured it'd be the basement auditorium again."
"I asked a staffer earlier—they had one left over, so they gave it to us. But we gotta share it half-and-half with another group."
"No way. Waiting rooms rock!"
Teddy, all excited, flung open the door to the waiting room, where a paper listed both our group name and the other group's.
The people already inside jumped to their feet.
The one who seemed like their leader greeted us first, and Park Su-rim bowed back.
"Hello."
"Oh, hello. You're Abyss sunbaes, right?"
At Park Su-rim's question, the guy nodded.
"Yeah. I'm the leader, Yong Ji-ho."
"Oh, right. I'm EverPlanet's leader, Park Su-rim. Nice to meet you."
As the two exchanged greetings, I thought about Abyss.
Abyss was a nine-member boy group that debuted from a mid-tier agency like ours.
They'd come out a month or two before us, and from what I'd heard, they were always hitting up regional events all over the country.
'That's a solid strategy too.'
Racking up tons of live stage experience to build skills and recognition—that's one way to make it as an idol.
'Though it's probably about the money...'
We naturally greeted the Abyss members, then headed to our half of the room, divided by a partition.
It really felt like a waiting room—plenty of sofas and chairs. A bit cramped, sure, but worlds better than the spots we'd used before.
"No need for floor mats here. Nice."
Go Eun-young flopped onto the sofa with a grin. Yeah, it was.
After that, we got into costumes, did hair and makeup, and filmed our first comeback pre-recording stage.
"Kids! Congrats on the comeback!"
"Color us jealous—go big!"
Sunlight fans who'd come out at dawn just to see our stage cheered us on like crazy, and I can't even express how grateful we were.
We had to be here for work, but they'd shown up purely out of love for us.
'Can't thank them enough, ever.'
So between takes, in any downtime, I made a point to chat with the Sunlight fans as much as possible.
It was the least I could do to make them even happier. That's just basic respect for their fandom.
Once pre-recording wrapped, we thanked the PD and headed back to the waiting room. The guys who'd just come off their stage were buzzing with excitement.
Teddy, who'd downed an alertness pill and flown through his performance, was over the moon about the pre-rec stage after so long. In his hyped-up voice, he said,
"Our fans are seriously the best cheerleaders!"
"Totally. They must've practiced hard."
"They could all go pro as cheerleaders."
Lee Jae-oh chimed in, and Teddy nodded vigorously.
I smirked at them and said,
"Anyway, great job on the pre-rec stage, everyone. Let's crush the live broadcast too."
"Okay."
"Yeah."
That's when it happened. Park Su-rim, who'd stepped out to the bathroom after his stage, burst back into the waiting room with hurried steps.
His face looked like he'd just heard some breaking news.
The members tilted their heads at his off vibe and asked,
"What's up, Su-rim hyung?"
"Something wrong?"
Park Su-rim caught his breath, then spoke in a serious tone.
"Overheard it in the bathroom."
"Yeah?"
"Looks like... we're overlapping comebacks with YourM sunbaes."
"What?!"
"With YourM sunbaes?!"
Everyone's eyes went wide at Park Su-rim's words.
I was pretty shocked too. I didn't remember hearing anything about it yesterday.
I snatched my phone and searched the portal site—articles were pouring in.
[Delegate] 'YourM' Comeback Set for September Xth... Uncovering YourM's Hidden Controversies and Heartwarming Stories?
[Daily Seoul] YourM, Single Comeback on September Xth
[Kyungyeon Ilbo] Top Boy Group 'YourM' Announces Surprise Single Comeback...
"It's real."
Seemed like super fresh news, just announced.
As I skimmed the hot-off-the-press articles, I wondered,
'Is this good for us or bad?'
Couldn't say for sure either way.
YourM was a 12-member boy group nearing their fifth anniversary, under IG—one of the big three agencies.
They were famous for their unique system, 'MonthlyM.'
Every month, they dropped special content featuring the top three vote-getters and one fixed member symbolizing the month.
It was optimized for breeding obsessive individual stans, earning them that rep.
But their overall fandom power was no joke either—comebacks basically guaranteed them the top spot on charts.
'Though they'll hand it over to S-T in the end.'
A ton of solo stans isn't all upside when you look at the whole fandom. There's a ceiling.
Still, right now, they were basically the hottest group out there.
Overlapping comebacks with them? Pros and cons were crystal clear.
Pro: Music shows they headline pull higher ratings. Meaning more eyes on our stages.
But con: Almost everyone tunes in for YourM, so low-profile groups like us? Probably ignored. They'd hog all the attention.
The other members knew it too—their reactions were mixed.
Kim Kwang-myeong straight-up went, "Uh..." looking troubled, while Han Tae-hee scratched his head and muttered, "Talk about killer timing."
Watching us, Park Su-rim sighed. Then he said,
"Still, let's just focus on doing our best."
I nodded along with him.
He was right. Better to obsess over our own stages and songs than external noise.
"...Yeah! Who cares who we're up against? Don't sweat it!"
"Right, guys. No backing down. We do us."
Teddy and Lee Jae-oh piled on, and the rest nodded too.
A bit later, on our second visit to M-League, we ran into the stars of those articles face-to-face.
Heading back to the waiting room after pre-recording, we froze at the sight of a few young guys coming the other way.
'YourM.'
Not the full dozen, but definitely YourM members. The guy in the middle with the soft, bunny-like vibe chatting with the others—Yoon Da-on, probably.
Yoon Da-on was one of YourM's most popular members. Word was he'd made MonthlyM every single time since debut.
'Main vocal, after all.'
He handled most of the high notes in their songs, from what I knew.
Cute face, main vocal position. Demand was inevitable.
Meanwhile, Yoon Da-on was playfully nagging the classic handsome guy next to him.
"Hey, Baek Chi-hyun. Why you always messing with your hyung lately? It's pissing me off!"
"Haha. When did I mess with you, Da-on hyung?"
"See? Talking back right now... Huh?"
Mid-sentence, Yoon Da-on glanced our way.
As he stared, Park Su-rim automatically bowed.
"Hello! We're EverPlanet. Great to meet you, YourM sunbaes!"
"Oh, hey. Rookies?"
"Yes, that's us."
"Wow, must be tough times! Keep grinding. Fighting!"
"Thanks, Da-on sunbae!"
Yoon Da-on flashed a cute fighting pose, encouraged us, and led his members off to their waiting room.
Meeting him in person, I got why he was so popular.
'Way nicer than I expected.'
Given their cutthroat group vibe, I'd figured they might be cool or cold to juniors.
'But at YourM's level, image management is key everywhere.'
At that position, you'd have to watch your step in every way.
No point stirring up trouble—they'd know that.
Unless they were total jerks, then it'd be a shitshow.
Anyway, my first impression of YourM wasn't bad.
But like always, first impressions rarely last.