Chapter 83
Chapter 83
[A lightning-deleted post claiming Baek Gyeonwoo left Youth]
Was there any proof?
Comments
―No
―Like there'd be any
―Baek Gyeonwoo went to work just fine yesterday, stop overreacting
└lol
[I know it doesn't make sense but why is it so chillingㅠ...]
For a whole month while everyone else was doing pictorials, giving interviews, popping up on Inheart one by one, he's the only one who hasn't shot a single thing, didn't appear anywhere at all
I kept thinking, he's with Youth so they'll handle it, he's probably just gearing up for debut, that's how I consoled myself, but after seeing that post about him leaving my heart is seriously pounding like crazy
Guys, it's not true right...??? Youth even put out PR saying they'd take full responsibility, so surely... it's not, right?
[I'm a verifiable Baek ultimate bias, and honestly if that's real I'd be happy]
Him leaving Youth...
It'd be nice if he joined the project group, but the probability is zero
If he joined Giddeun... I wonder if the team atmosphere would be okay...ㅠ
For the next Youth group to debut it'll probably take at least three more years... Going solo would be boringㅜㅜ Rather than solo, I'd rather he go to a place like Sorasum and debut with Cha-gyeom
Comments
―You've never dug into a shit company, have you?
└Yeah... but it looked okay, no?
―Seo Cha-gyeom should be the one coming to Youthㅠ not the other way aroundㅋㅋㅋ
―Please just tell him to stick tight to Youth... No matter how capable they are, a shit company is still a shit company...
―But if he left... was he kicked out? Or did he leave on his own? If it's the former, Youth already aggressively PR'd that they'd take responsibility; if it's the latter, Baek Gyeonwoo...? Why? What was he thinking? Does he not want to be an idol?
―Sorasum fans don't welcome anyone else coming over, so enough with the bashing
└I welcome it, I like Gyeon-woo
└fu*k
The post that first sparked the 'Baek Gyeonwoo Youth contract termination' rumor was an ordinary aggro piece with no verification whatsoever.
Normally, this post would have barely scraped double-digit views and been swept away by the flood of information, but the reason it drew this much attention was.......
Because currently, Youth was showing completely incomprehensible behavior.
―Who doesn't know that Youth monitors every single site? Just boldly announce something already
―If it were a rumor, Youth would've already done a company live broadcast and moreㅋㅋ The fact that they're keeping their mouths shut like this means there's a 99% chance he really left Youthㅋㅋㅋ
―Gyeon-woo is a real person, right? He wasn't some virtual human planted by Youth to add tension to Mebaek?
After <MAKE100%> ended, every trainee had at least one update post about them.
Except Baek Gyeonwoo.
At first, fans trusted Youth's name value and waited endlessly.
Believing that a major agency would surely have a grand plan, they even went as far as to attach reasonable justifications to Youth's actions.
But when even the email from a fan inquiring about Baek Gyeonwoo's clothing size to send a gift went unanswered, fans began to feel increasingly anxious.......
And that was when the 'Baek Gyeonwoo Youth contract termination' rumor set it all ablaze.
Though it was mostly trolling intended to dent the uniqueness of Baek Gyeonwoo being under a major agency, it was enough to amplify the fans' confusion.
―All the sasaengs say Baek Gyeonwoo definitely left... they say they haven't seen him coming to work...
―Hey you guys pushing the project group, what are we going to do about the streaming total offensive later?ㅠㅠ Is it really okay to keep sending our total offensive emails to Youth...?
└They're not going to read them anyway, just send themㅋㅋ
Baek Gyeonwoo's fans were quite literally wasting away with worry.
From the very beginning, the reason they could sit back and watch regardless of whether <MAKE100%> ended or not was because they had Youth as their backing.
But now that the pillar they had trusted was growing precarious.
Having gone through each and every stage of denial, they finally found a new hope.
And that was the project group.
[In my opinion, Gyeon-woo dumped Youth because he wants to be in the project group]
Because it's obvious Youth wouldn't let him do a project groupㅋㅋ
Seems like he wanted to debut with Cha-gyeom♥ Airplane-z forever♥
Comments
―...
―Gyeon-woo and Cha-gyeom probably don't even keep in touch right now
└They probably don't even have each other's number
[Seriously, if they debut as a project group, how big would they get?]
Assuming Seo Cha-gyeom, Baek Gyeonwoo, Han Neuti are all in one team
Comments
―Dude... they'd devour everything, you're asking the obvious
―Chateebaek is just straight-up overpowered
―Chateebaek plus filling the rest of the members with hamsters would still blow up
―But no matter how strong Chateebaek is, if a shit agency does shit agency things, they won't blow upㅋ
And then.
News genuinely related to the formation of a project group appeared.
[List of agencies (trainees) with verified meetings regarding the project]
Jeong Hyeon-i, O Yun-hwan, Choi Jun-bin
Comments
―WTF
―Omg!!! Hyeon-ah!!!!
―Is it okay for Choi Jun-bin to be included...? The investigation isn't even over yet
―Ah omgㅠㅠㅠ Hyeon-i and Hwan are in??? That's so greatㅠㅠㅠ
―Huh, wasn't this supposed to be a victims' gathering concept, what's with this one guyㅋㅋ
―No fu*k, Jun-bin's CEO is a gangster, cut him some slack. Are you seriously gonna send him back to a place like that?
└As if there aren't a ton of those trashy agencies around here
―All the main ones are missing...
└Just by looking it's obvious you're not a Chateebaek fan, so stop trying to stand out ;;
But Baek Gyeonwoo and Sorasum were not on that list.
Having reached this point, the fans who had been hoping for the project group had to finally admit there was truly no chance for Baek Gyeonwoo and Sorasum.
Now the Kes who would walk their separate paths.
They still shared a single forum, but the topics had all fragmented into their own separate stories.
[Project group fans, assemble~~!!]
The official management hasn't even been decided yet and nothing is confirmed, but we need to start stockpiling funds from now on!!! Even if they really do debut, if the results are poor they could disband in no timeㅜㅜ
Comments
―Right, some people are already trying to split the fandom, pls just don't feed them
―Please don't fight, you fight-happy chickens, I'm really desperate...
[A request for Sorasum fans]
Stop bashing the company...
Of course if the company screws up or causes trouble it deserves to be attacked, but they're working hard and doing well, yet when fans step up and bash them as a shit company, as beggars, that perception gets stuck with the muggles too and we can't bring in new fansㅠㅠㅠ The reason a small company can't break through is partly the company itself, but also fans constantly leaving malicious comments and scaring off casual check-out types is honestly a big part of it...
Comments
―For real, some people just want attention and deliberately act out more, that's just being an attention wh*re, not a fan... An idol's agency brand image is important too, why are they seriously doing this
―Right now Sorasum is doing well, and they're a startup so there's no past data, so why are you coming out and beating them with baseless speculations?? Enough already
―Wherever you go, complainers and malicious comment pests are a blight
[[Baek Gyeonwoo] What really worries me is that he himself didn't seem all that desperate]
If you look at posts from verified classmates, they all say they never thought Baek Gyeonwoo would become an idol, that he just happened to give it a try. After going through the whole Mebaek situation and all that, would he even still want to be an idol...
Comments
―Just because you've seen a few things you're speculating about his desperation too?
―Even though he was edited out, cut from broadcasts every single day and couldn't even get screen time, just seeing how he consistently gave his absolute best on stage shows he's sincere... Let's just trust the guy himself
The fans of the trainees whose project debut had been confirmed were burning with a sense of achievement and mission, while Baek Gyeonwoo's fans were anxious.
Seo Cha-gyeom and Han Neuti's fans entered the long wait with quiet worries and expectations for the new environment called Sorasum.
But the reason idol content could grow this massive in South Korea.......
Was because there was no end to the spectacles.
And even within all that, there were clearly highlights.
<Mary Entertainment to reveal new boy group at midnight tonight>
* * *
12 midnight.
I was perched on the bed, looking at my tablet.
And from the bunk bed right above me, Kim Yuri poked just his head down and asked.
"Are you really going to watch it?"
"I have to."
This was already the third time I was saying that.
Instead of expressing an intention I'd never go back on, I typed 'Mary' into the Neotube search bar. At that, Kim Yuri practically tumbled down and plopped down beside me.
"Wait a sec, before you watch!"
"Why?"
Kim Yuri declared resolutely.
"Don't say anything if I curse while watching."
"......Is there even anyone left worth hyung cursing at?"
"Of course there's Yoon Haejun!"
The topic we were now debating was none other than whether or not to watch Mary's upcoming teaser.
And although I was revealing this a bit late, Kim Yuri and Yoon Haejun... were not on good terms.
Not that there had been some incident; it was simply that their personalities didn't match.
"And Go Jihyung is probably in there too."
"Ah, that guy......."
'There's really no need to worry about him.'
They were on a different team anyway, and they'd walk different paths their whole lives, so whether they got along or not didn't matter.
If anything, not getting along with a competitor was good because it sparked rivalry.
I shrugged and said.
"What's there to worry about?"
The biggest reason I had been wary of Mary was because of Yoon Haejun and Kim Yuri.
But now.
"Hyung is on our team."
That very Kim Yuri was on our team.
Honestly, setting aside the agencies and comparing just on terms of firepower, our side was at least a match for theirs. First of all, Kim Yuri alone would perform like three Marys.
"......."
"......."
......Mmm.
'I meant that sincerely, but for now it was mostly a remark to make him feel good. Also to smooth over the lingering awkwardness between hyung and me.'
But it seemed it didn't quite work as intended.
Kim Yuri, who had been glaring at me, let out a sigh a moment later and lamented.
"That's not what I was worried about......."
And without finishing the sentence, he bowed his head.
"This is my karma."
"What is......."
"Just play it. Let's watch and go to sleep."
As he said, if I didn't play it quickly the awkwardness would get worse than it already was, so I immediately found the video.
The title of the video uploaded 3 minutes ago was eight digits matching today's date.
And the thumbnail was a completely black screen with nothing on it.
If there hadn't been a pre-announcement article that the new group's teaser would drop at midnight, it was a first impression that no one would have guessed what kind of video it was.
This... wasn't negligence.
It was confidence.
'They knew that even if they did it like this, everyone would still come to watch.'
The channel alone had tens of millions of subscribers.
And on top of that, with just one article...... no, even a single line, there'd be more than a few who'd come running headlong, just like us now.
'At this level, I didn't even feel a sense of defeat.'
If the conditions were similar, maybe, but Mary was a company that had been established for a full 15 years.
It was a latecomer in the industry, sure, but either way, it wasn't a level that Sorasum, which had just been born and hadn't even taken its first steps, could compete with.
Ah, that sounded a bit too self-deprecating, but Sorasum's official channel was actually holding up quite well right now.
It had already surpassed 200,000 subscribers.
......It might look shabby because I just mentioned Mary, but for a startup mid-sized company to achieve that in a single month was an incredible feat, almost impossible to believe.
On top of that, survival series like <MAKE100%> had less firepower overseas, so that number was likely achieved almost entirely by domestic fans.
Even the comments on Han Neuti's cover video were overwhelmingly in Korean, after all.
Well, that was enough bragging.
Let's get back to the point quickly.
"It's 45 seconds."
"Short, huh?"
Debut teaser formats obviously varied by company, but Mary had always tended to make them long.
Of course, that was how they did it for the seniors. I had no idea how it would turn out this time.
I pressed the video.
I might have been a little tense.