Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Comeback, and Comeback (4)
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After that, I kept running into Yoon Da-on whenever we appeared on music shows.
And every time, without fail, she greeted me first.
It was the same today, in the second week of our promotions.
"Hi, junior."
"……Hello, sunbae."
"You're so stiff, junior. We're past that, aren't we?"
"……."
"We agreed to be casual."
……When did I agree to that? I wanted to ask, but I held it back.
She was telling me to loosen up, but how easy is it to be casual with a sunbae who debuted five whole years ahead of me? Anyone with a brain would know……
Still, if she insists, I'll play along.
"I must've forgotten, sunbae."
"Good. Keep greeting me warmly from now on. Anyway, fighting, Ha Jaejunior. Oh, and EverPlanet too."
"Huh? ……Ah, yes! Good luck on stage today, sunbae!"
Thanks to Yoon Da-on being so friendly not just to me but to the other members too, Park Su-rim couldn't hide her slight bewilderment.
Once Yoon Da-on left, the members turned to me with excited voices.
"Lee Jae, what's up? Why's Yoon Da-on sunbae acting so chummy with you?"
"Yeah, when did you two get close?"
"Right, Lee Jae! Spill!"
Caught off guard by their barrage of questions, I answered calmly.
"We just ran into each other in the bathroom a while back."
My perfectly factual response made everyone freeze up.
"……The bathroom?"
"How do you go from bumping into a sunbae in the bathroom to being that friendly?"
Ah. Yeah. It only hit me after I said it that it sounded kinda weird.
……The bathroom thing just makes it feel off somehow.
Suddenly embarrassed, I scratched my head and mumbled an excuse.
"I just told her I always admire her stages and stuff like that, and she seemed really pleased."
"……Oh?"
"Yeah. And we're not that close. Just know each other a bit."
"I see."
"Anyway, it's a good thing. Connections like this become our strength."
Han Tae-hee patted my head lightly, like I'd done well.
As I accepted the gesture, I thought to myself.
'Still…… it's a little burdensome.'
It felt like she was pretending to be close in case I spilled the secret somewhere else, even though I promised not to.
It'd be nice if people could just trust what they hear sometimes.
'But it's not like I don't get it at all.'
If I were Yoon Da-on, even if the other person promised not to talk, I'd probably still feel uneasy and try to butter them up a bit more.
Just to make it harder for them to speak out after building some rapport.
Anyway, who knew eavesdropping on someone's call by accident would lead to all this.
'From now on, I gotta check if anyone's on the phone before going into the bathroom.'
That was my resolution.
* * *
Today's schedule was almost over.
Once the live stage ended, all the performers gathered on stage.
After the closing remarks came the announcement of this week's number one.
Viewer votes, album sales, digital streams—scores appeared one by one.
'It's gotta be YourM for first place anyway.'
Standing in the corner of the stage with the members, I glanced at YourM in the center while thinking that.
"This week's Music Around grand prize winner is…… YourM's ! Congratulations!"
"Congratulations!"
With the unsurprising result, confetti cannons burst from above with a bang, and flower petals rained down like a shower.
YourM, the winners, stepped forward and shared their thoughts on taking first.
'They've done this so many times, it's so natural.'
Listening to the leader's speech, I imagined Park Su-rim up there someday in the distant future, giving her own.
I didn't know how long it'd take, but someday, we'd make it happen. Gotta work hard for it.
As I thought that, YourM finished their speech, and their songs started playing.
Normally, after the winner's speech, there's encore time for fans—a service from the top group.
The other artists would quickly retreat backstage to give the winners space.
"Let's go, guys."
"Yeah, Su-rim hyung."
We were heading off after exchanging greetings with the others as usual when—
Yoon Da-on, who was nearby, called out to me.
"Ha Jaejunior!"
"……?"
She sidled up and tapped my shoulder.
Even with cameras rolling……? I couldn't hide my surprise.
Then, leaning in close like a hug, she whispered in my ear.
"Pretend we're close. It's a plus for your group, not a minus."
"……."
Ah. That's when I caught on to her intent.
YourM was the hottest idol group right now.
Being seen as friendly with them in a public setting like this would get people talking, for better or worse.
YourM's public image was solid, and as far as I remembered, they didn't run into any big scandals going forward……
'At the very least, we'll get plenty of exposure.'
Yoon Da-on, who'd been in the industry for years and reached the top, wouldn't say it if it wasn't true.
She still didn't fully trust me, which was why she was going this far…… but for me, there was no reason to push away the opportunity.
With that realization, I flashed a bright smile and bowed to her.
"Da-on sunbae. Congrats on number one, for real."
"Thanks, junior. Your group's stage was awesome too. Wishing you even greater success ahead."
"Yes. We'll work harder to be like YourM and you, sunbae. Thank you."
"You got it. See you later."
Yoon Da-on patted my shoulder one last time and walked toward the members.
She beamed at the cameras and started singing along.
'No doubt about it—she's the real deal.'
Her singing, her overflowing talent…… nothing ordinary about it.
Guess that's what it takes to hit number one. Time for me to step it up too.
And that day, as expected, Yoon Da-on's impromptu move stirred up quite the buzz online.
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[Anonymous] Today's Da-on music show chumminess.gif
(GIF of Yoon Da-on and Ha Jae greeting each other)
I clipped this from before YourM's encore after winning 1st—Da-on greeting another group's member!!
Da-on doesn't usually mingle much, so if she's doing it on stage, they must be close!!! lol
Didn't know who, so I searched—EverPlanet's Lee Jae!
She's treating her junior so politely, makes me personally happy ^^
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Comments (40)
- Never thought I'd live to see Yoon Da-on mingling with a junior group
- So cute lololol Our wagi bunny acting like a Sunbae idol??? Doesn't fit but it does
└ For real lololol She's always just been our wagi, but seeing her with a junior like that…… too Sunbae-like and adorable, I'm dying!!!!!
└ ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Sunbae Bunny Yoon Da-on is just an angel
- lolololol!! Is she encouraging her junior like a proper sunbae? I'm losing it ㅠ Love Yoon Da-on
- That junior's so cute too ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Get along well with our wagi bunny~~
- Whoa, unexpected main target ㅠㅠㅠ Our Lee Jae's getting along with a sunbae ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ MyL's, please give our EverPlanet some love too ㅠㅠ Debuted this year, they're killing it at their job and super charming!!! New comeback and the song's amazing!!!
└ OK, if Da-on likes her junior, I'll check 'em out
└ Thank you ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Overwhelming gratitude……!
└ Wait, even so, promoting another group on YourM's board feels off lol ;;
- Da-on's so thoughtful ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ If I were her junior, I'd be so touched……
Yeah, mostly positive reactions.
Yoon Da-on's fans seemed thrilled with her new side.
And that positivity seemed to rub off on me too.
After checking the entertainment forum post, I hopped onto Flitter.
[PrettyPlanet @Pretty_Planet0602
Huh, when did Ha Jaeget buddy-buddy with Da-on??
No idea what's up, but she's getting sunbae love so glad ㅠㅠ
Please spoil our baby lots ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[KpopDolDol @DolDol1999
Wait,,, my fave Yoon Da-on and the Ha Jae kid I've been eyeing lately are chummy,,,
Still no clue why,, but cute kid next to cute kid is a sight for sore eyes,,
Cheering on your friendship~~]
[EverPlanetMJLove @everplanetmj
Our Ha Jaeㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Getting sunbae favoritism from Da-on, what a godsend ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ
Barely debuted and already this loved…… our kids really are charm bombs... that's what I think...]
Sunlight fans were mostly positive too.
As long as our Sunlights are happy, that's what matters.
Satisfied, I scrolled down.
Amid all the positivity, a few stand-out negative ones caught my eye.
[DaonDaonDaon @DaonDaonDaon
TBH this blowing up ㅠㅠ Da-on just politely greeted a rookie once
But the other group using it to gain recognition by hyping our girl feels off……
She's just kind to newbies, and they're lapping it up like it's gold—seems desperate ㅠ]
└ [MyLHere @HoHoHoMyL
@DaonDaonDaon Omg I wasn't the only one ㅠㅠ Sure, it gives Da-on some sunbae vibe which is nice, but feels like our girl's being used for promo ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Was kinda iffy and now I know I'm not alone ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Top-tier fandom's tough ;;
[TrueKpopGirlHana @Kpop_Hana
Yoon Da-on's latest move amid the hype
The guy who's been pushing baby bunny moe suddenly switches to reliable sunbae mode
Not shocked since he's always been salty about MM rankings and Hyunah, but whatever
Just find the junior gobbling it up fox-like sus lol]
└ [Anyway gotta watch more but with this promo, they'll claw to tier 2 at least. Ambitious ones like that are the scariest ㅎ]
Hm. Guess some see it that way too.
There were a few mildly negative takes on me…… but nothing with heavy cursing. I'll brush it off.
Everything gets interpreted differently depending on perspective anyway.
'And I need to get used to it. Stuff like this.'
Worse is coming down the line in droves—freaking out over each one would just hurt me.
In the end, getting tangled with Yoon Da-on turned out to be a huge boon for us.