Legends Never Die

“Thank you so much for coming to see us.”

“Not at all. You’re going to be our juniors—I wanted to meet you face-to-face at least once.”

“That’s right! Huey unnie has been bragging nonstop about how amazing her juniors are~.”

Huey, the leader and main dancer; Yuha, the main vocal; Dami, the main rapper; Subin in the all-rounder position; and Hyunseo, who carried the team’s visual and served as lead dancer.

With their long careers and the rest period they were currently on, having all five together was a rare sight even for fans. Their appearance alone would be more than enough to set this episode’s buzz on fire.

“Did I really? Yuha, for real?”

“Yeah. Whenever you came back from filming the idol survival show, it was like you spent the whole day talking about nothing but the juniors.”

“No way, Dami—did I really talk that much?”

“I memorized their names before the show even started because of you, unnie.”

“Haha, so Huey-ssi has been doing a lot of free publicity for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the broadcast among her members!”

While they traded interview-style catch-up talk up front, I quietly checked their status windows. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠With every gaze in the room locked on Vesta as if under a spell, reading the windows was easy. The specs left me clicking my tongue in pure awe.

Just looking at the maknae alone…

A+, A+, A0, plus top-tier traits—and triple S at that. The word “dazzling” fit her perfectly.

“I heard Hyunseo-ssi has been busy with filming lately. Thank you for making special time for us.”

“Not at all. I really wanted to meet the juniors myself.”

When the MC asked whether drama filming kept her too busy, Hyunseo lifted the mic and offered a soft, eye-crinkling smile. Reactions exploded around us at once.

“Whoa, how can a person be that pretty….”

“Damn… she’s way prettier than on screen. Insane.”

They were only whispers, but the fervor soaked into every voice was intense. Maybe it was because she had been such a famous celebrity since they were kids—the impact of seeing her in the flesh seemed enormous.

I looked at Choi Hyunseo standing on stage. Even from a distance, she gave the impression of someone meticulously managed from head to toe, not a single fingertip left neglected.

Her career’s incredible too.

She was known for balancing both sides with equal excellence—a thriving idol and a successful actress. In pure name recognition, she might even outshine the rest of Vesta. People who never paid attention to idols still knew the actress Choi Hyunseo. I seemed to recall she had considerable recognition overseas as an actress as well.

“I think I can see a halo….”

“For real, is she using an extra light just for herself?”

Famous as both idol and actress, every small movement of hers drew envious stares. And she looked thoroughly used to those stares.

“Hyunseo-ssi, have you ever watched this program?”

“Of course. It’s the hottest thing right now, isn’t it? I’ve been watching as a viewer and enjoying it. I even vote.”

“Ack, she votes too!”

At Hyunseo’s casual admission that she watched and even voted, the murmuring among the contestants grew louder. Some faces had already flushed red with excitement. These weren’t the eyes you turned on industry seniors—these were the eyes of people staring at a genuine star.

“Wow, really? You vote?”

Hyunseo’s answer must not have been in the script; the MC’s eyes went round as he tossed out a follow-up.

“Could you tell us just one contestant you’ve been keeping an eye on?”

“Ah, my one-pick? Hmm….”

At the MC’s question, Choi Hyunseo lazily swept her gaze over the contestants seated in neat rows, then curved her lips ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into a gentle smile.

“If I say it here, it might put that person in an awkward position, so I’ll just quietly cheer them on by myself.”

Through the chorus of disappointed sighs, I thought our eyes met for a fraction of a second. Clear, vivid pupils.

“Ah, that’s a shame, but it can’t be helped. We’ll respect Hyunseo-ssi’s secret vote. Still, to think even Hyunseo-ssi was a viewer of our show—I’m truly surprised. Have any of the other members watched our program? Well, Huey-ssi goes without saying.”

“Of course I’ve watched every episode that’s aired so far!”

Wrapping up the interview with Hyunseo, the MC continued the talk with leader Huey. Watching the conversation roll along as smoothly as a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠snake over a wall, I could almost see the production team’s hand at work.

So they’re going to push us for real.

Apparently the company had decided that the idol group debuting through this program looked quite promising. You only had to look a little closer at the warm, friendly chat to see the intent clearly. How many times had the word “juniors” already been repeated?

They’re trying to have Vesta themselves call us juniors to reduce fan backlash.

Trying to ride Vesta’s coattails with zero name recognition would have invited a vicious reverse wind, but now that we had some real fame of our own, they seemed ready to start tying us together in earnest.

I glanced down the line toward the very end, at the people who had drawn the violet. Somehow the violet had felt strangely deliberate—and of course Vesta’s symbolic flower was the violet. Violet.

“Oh, is there anyone who drew the violet? I drew that picture myself, you know!”

When Yuha spoke up with a shy smile, every contestant’s gaze snapped toward the far right. That the violet team would be remixing a Vesta track was already a near certainty.

Half envy at a picture Yuha had drawn with her own hands. Half pity for the poor souls who would climb the guillotine under the heaviest spotlight of this round. Those strangely mixed gazes turned to check the faces of the team members—and instantly flipped into shock.

“What? Lee Jae-jin and Kwon Do-ha on the same team? Holy….”

“Cha Ji-heon too? What even is that team?”

Kwon Do-ha, Lee Jae-jin, Cha Ji-heon—three members of the Top 10 gathered on one team. Among everyone here, they were pure-stat top-tier.

“I don’t know about this….”

“If they do well….”

“Yeah, but still….”

Paradise or hell? While the others calmly weighed the fates of the violet drawers as if it were someone else’s problem, I was running through musicians who might match each flower one by one.

Considering fandom names, signature songs, albums, flower meanings, and the rest, forget-me-not felt like a veteran female vocalist, daffodil like a male vocalist in his forties, tulip like a band… and sunflower was probably either the male musician who opened the era of K-pop or the female musician considered the current face of K-pop. The former’s fandom name was Only; the latter had a song called “Looking.”

It feels like one of those two…

Having narrowed the candidates, I compared them.

If the two musicians had anything in common, it was that both possessed stages called legendary, both had extremely distinct musical colors, and both still had huge numbers of fans waiting for their comebacks.

The difference was that the male musician had gone a considerable time since his last comeback, while the female musician was still actively working.

Neither side is going to be easy.

While I listed their signature tracks one by one, the Vesta interview ended before I noticed. Watching the MC exchange closing greetings with Choi Hyunseo, I forced down a flicker of déjà vu. Nothing I needed to dwell on right now.

Quietly, by herself.

There was nothing I could confirm at the moment. Whatever it was, there would be a chance later. The broadcast came first.

“Yes! That was our special guest appearance by Vesta! Thank you for giving us your precious time!”

“We were happy to meet our juniors too! We’ll be cheering for you!”

“Fighting~.”

As the Vesta members left the stage, Cheon Tae-rim cleared her throat briefly and took over the proceedings. So this was where it really began.

“Yes, as you may have guessed—violet is Vesta! Please choose one of Vesta’s many famous tracks and reinterpret it in your own colors!”

The matching finally started. Cheon Tae-rim’s voice bubbled with excitement. Violet was Vesta, just as expected, and the screen showed Lee Jae-jin’s impassive face.

He’ll handle it fine.

He already looked prepared, so there was nothing much to worry about. His teammate luck looked good too.

“Next is rose.”

Rose. My nerves stretched taut, waiting to learn whether it was a male or female musician. Ideally, I wanted sunflower to be the male one.

“Rose is—ah, that person evaluated as the emperor of K-pop? Exactly, Ryan! Given how much he enjoys various challenges, the spectrum of genres should be incredibly wide. Please show us a wonderful stage!”

Unfortunately, rose was the male musician. Which meant sunflower would be the female one.

Looking past the tulip team, I saw that Woo Cheong-hee and Han Sang-jin seemed to be on the rose team together.

“Tulip is—yes, the band that carried so many people’s school years. I love them too. Blackbird! Please give us a fantastic stage!”

Blackbird. On the screen, Ahn Do-hyun was smiling with pure delight. Violet, rose, tulip—the names were called from right to left, and at last it was our turn. Sunflower.

“The singer who appeared like a comet and is now evaluated as a star among stars, representing our era! Sunflower was Yuri. Yes, I’m already looking forward to this!”

I nodded at the result I had more or less expected. Yuri was a musician famous for her distinctive tone. No matter what song she sang, she had an exceptional gift for making it her own style.

The color is too strong…

Her musical color was so vivid that even a light arrangement would never escape comparison with the original. Completely overhauling it, on the other hand, risked looking like disrespect for the original, so this time we would need to be especially careful with both song selection and arrangement.

I’ll try to find the line somehow, but…

Yuri’s signature songs were so massively famous with the public that I had the sinking feeling comparison would be unavoidable no matter what we did. I swallowed the sigh that tried to slip out on its own. A legendary-track remix. In every way, this mission came with heavy constraints.

“Hyung, don’t worry too much.”

As I swallowed the sigh and let out a thin breath, Song A-seong, seated behind me, spoke up. A light hand pressed my stiffened shoulders open—I hadn’t even realized how tense I was holding them.

“It’ll work out.”

He didn’t add anything more, but the confidence in his voice somehow calmed me a little. Thinking about it, this was a team battle—I might have been trying too hard to solve everything alone.

There were still so many unsorted things that my heart kept trying to race ahead; I pressed that impatience down hard. And yet… why did I feel so uneasy?

“Lastly, forget-me-not is Teacher Heo Min, who has kept the same unchanging voice for over forty years. With that, every assignment is complete. Third team mission: Legends Never Die! Please carry out the mission brilliantly!”

I had hoped it was only a baseless worry, but even after that, the eerie sensation refused to fade.

With the MC’s closing remarks, studio filming wrapped up, and the contestants moved as a group for the next shoot. I spent the entire walk trying to settle the restless, seething feeling that refused to calm—only to arrive and discover this place was unlikely to help my peace of mind in any way.

“Water?”

Contestants stared blankly at the vast outdoor pool, water lapping a little lower than knee height, and made dazed noises. What the hell was this?

“Yes, the weather has gotten quite hot, hasn’t it?”

Mid-June. Under warm sunlight, the MC opened with an ominous tone and raised a ball high in one hand. Inside the translucent capsule-like sphere, something seemed to be sealed.

“All right, idol survival—shall we begin the long-awaited final room assignment? First, pour them in!”

Pour? Pour what? While everyone stood dumbfounded, countless capsules rained down onto the water at the MC’s signal. Some bobbed on the surface; others sank. I watched the difference carefully as the voice continued.

“Please choose one capsule from among these, bring it over here, and check the contents! You must find a dorm room key to pass!”

With a soft pop the MC opened a capsule, showed the dorm key inside, then smiled wickedly and tossed the empty capsule away.

“There are only thirty keys prepared! Contestants who fail to find a key will face a terrifying penalty. All right then! Go!”