Chapter 124
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 124
I walked into the company feeling a bit uneasy, only to find the members huddled together in the spot they usually used for B-Lives. As soon as I opened the door, Jeong Da-jun, still wearing his backpack, sprang to his feet.
“Hyung! Why are you so late? I’m hurt!!”
“Traffic was bad.”
“And after you talked such a big game about waiting for me in front of the school gates...!”
“Ahaha, you actually believed that?”
“……!!”
Shocked by Seong Ji-won’s remark, Jeong Da-jun’s eyes shook with betrayal.
Thinking back to when Seo Ho-jin took the CSAT, I remember pacing around my room, chain-smoking, until I finally couldn't take it and went to wait in front of the school. But how could we possibly go there now?
I looked at Jeong Da-jun, who was already pouting with his cheeks puffed out, and asked nonchalantly, “So, how’d you do?”
“I have a really good feeling about it!”
“Is that so?”
“What’s with that look! I’m not just getting ahead of myself, I really mean it!”
Well, that’s a relief. At least he wasn't moping; he was practically brimming with confidence.
I walked further inside, but something felt off.
“……?”
My intuition was tingling.
They were in the usual B-Live spot, the members were lined up in a row, and there was even a tablet fixed on a tripod in front of them.
“Live? Or recording?”
“Wow~, this hyung is seriously traumatized from last time.”
Kang Yi-chae cackled. I still hadn't forgotten the faces of the members and the manager as they walked in brightly, holding a cake and popping party crackers.
When I gave them a look demanding an answer, Kim Seong-hyeon was the one who spoke up.
“Recording.”
“Ahaha~.”
Then Kang Yi-chae gave me a sly grin and gestured toward Jeong Da-jun.
Just as I began to knit my brows, Jeong Da-jun let out a sheepish laugh, swung his backpack to his front, and started rummaging for some papers.
“Alright, then! Now that Ho-yun hyung is here~.”
…Now that I’m here?
“I will begin the first preliminary CSAT grading of my life!!”
“Woooooo!”
“Yay~.”
Are you out of your mind?
What kind of idol records themselves grading their own CSAT??
I quickly scanned the members to see who to blame for not stopping this. Kang Yi-chae was currently buried in his own lap, shaking with suppressed laughter, clearly in no state to explain anything.
Ignoring the main rapper who always found life far too entertaining, I turned my gaze to the older members. Surprisingly, they all looked quite calm. As I stood there bewildered, Jeong Da-jun snorted.
“Look at Ho-yun hyung’s disgusted face. Don’t get the wrong idea! This is for my personal collection and a video to send to my mom and dad.”
“…Oh, really?”
“Da-jun’s family records videos or takes photos of every big event to keep as memories,” Seong Ji-won added from the side.
Jeong Da-jun gave a big thumbs-up.
“My parents have been busy lately, and I’ve been living in the dorm. I want to show them how hard I studied through a video! Right, hyungs?!”
“Of course, our Da-junie worked so hard~.”
Kang Yi-chae chimed in, urging me to look at the camera and smile. The idea was that since it wasn't going to be released publicly, we should just enjoy ourselves and keep it for our private collection.
Wow, Jeong Da-jun….
He’d really grown up.
If this had been a live broadcast, I would have stopped him in a heartbeat. I expected him to start barking and whining about how I could be so mean when this was the biggest event of his life.
Watching him hum a tune while neatly laying out the printed answer keys, I retracted my previous judgment of him being just a baby.
Kids really do grow up fast.
I’d sensed he was raised with a lot of love the moment I heard about the savings accounts he’d kept since he was little, but hearing him talk about sending a video to his parents drove the point home again.
Well, it’s good that he has a great relationship with his parents.
However, no matter how much I thought about it, the idea of Jeong Da-jun getting a score high enough to brag about… No, before even considering the possibility, I couldn't even conjure the image in my head.
Based on the crash-course tutoring I’d given him, there was no such thing as a ‘good score’ for Jeong Da-jun.
“Wh-what? Why do I suddenly feel uneasy?”
“Just start grading.”
“…Okay!”
The fact that he was even doing a preliminary grading meant he’d actually gone to the testing site, stayed awake, and solved the problems himself. Even if it was only for a few days, he’d studied quite hard in his own way, so I decided to let it slide and give him some credit.
Ready to go, Jeong Da-jun gripped a pen tightly in one hand.
“Alright, I’m ready! Play the music!”
“What music?”
“To get me pumped up, ‘Kill the Lights,’ please!”
“Oh, wow~!!”
…Hey, isn't that a bit much?? Didn't you say this was for your parents?
As if he knew exactly what he was doing, Jeong Da-jun balled his hand into a fist.
“Mother, Father!! If you’re watching me, tell me the answer!!1)”
“…….”
Sure….
Before I could stop him, Kang Yi-chae, his face full of mischief, quickly clicked the mouse. The beat of the song we’d heard hundreds, thousands of times began to play.
[Okay, Here we go.
I see the timing,
We took a breath together once
Now it’s time to go again]
“Okay! Let’s get it!!”
“Starting with Korean! Call them out!”
“3-2-4-1-2!”
“Ooh, I got three right!”
[Ooh Yes
We can definitely kill this light
Flip everything and change the game]
“Seong-hyeon hyung! It’s your part! Sing it, quick!”
“M-my part?”
“Yes!! I need the energy!”
“Uh, okay….”
A flustered Kim Seong-hyeon looked at Jeong Da-jun’s sparkling eyes and realized there was no escape. He gave up and started to sing.
“M-my trembling fingertips turn blue…. Calculate how much you know~.”
You’re actually singing it?
“4-3-1-1-1! Okay, Ji-won hyung!!”
“I know this is a game rigged against me~. But I have to go until the end!”
“5-3-2-1-1!”
“…It’s not my imagination that there are a lot of ‘1’s, right?”
I never knew the song ‘Kill the Lights’ could be so perfectly applied to the CSAT. Watching Jeong Da-jun’s fingertips actually tremble as he faced a ridiculous streak of wrong numbers, I took another sip of my frappuccino.
The results were disastrous.
Still, he actually finished the whole thing. Good for him.
“Wow, it’s a monsoon over here.”
“Aaaagh… No, give me more energy! Hyung, hurry!”
As Kang Yi-chae joked about the ‘rain’ of red marks on the grading sheet, my part came up.
“Just as it once was for you~, it’s the only time for me.”
“Eeeeh?? You’re actually singing?”
“What… what is this…. What’s gotten into Seo Ho-yun?”
If the maknae wants some energy for his grading, I can do this much.
Ignoring the whispering members, I watched without much expectation as Jeong Da-jun’s scores were revealed. Korean and Math were a total wipeout, but his Classical Chinese score wasn't half bad.
In fact, it was unbelievably good.
I had no idea why he took the Classical Chinese exam when he’d been studying Japanese as his second foreign language, though.
Jeong Da-jun also tilted his head in confusion.
“Huh? Did I really do this well?”
“What, Da-jun, do you know Hanja that well?”
“No way. He used to fall asleep every time he turned on an online lecture.”
The other members seemed to be thinking the same thing. They all crowded around, eyes wide as they looked back and forth between the grading sheet and the answer key.
“What happened?”
“I mean, he did great?”
“Let me see.”
“Sub-vocal number one finally shows some interest.”
I was suspicious of how Jeong Da-jun could have done so well, but I was about to pat his head and praise him anyway. Behind me, Kim Seong-hyeon and Seong Ji-won were celebrating as if they were the ones who’d aced the test, holding hands and spinning around in a circle like they were dancing a folk dance.
I mean, even I didn't expect him to do this well…. Is he actually good at studying? Or is he some kind of Hanja genius?
“Hyung! I’m not done grading yet, give it back.”
I hadn't finished looking through the answers and the grading sheet, but Jeong Da-jun reached out and snatched them away. He was acting quite dignified for someone who had bombed every other subject just because he got one right.
“Fine, take it. Call out the rest of the answers.”
“Yeah~, 3-2-1-1-3.”
“Hmm…?”
I figured that was enough and was about to turn off the camera and wrap things up, but Jeong Da-jun, who was busy marking with a red pen, tilted his head and clicked his ballpoint pen.
“…Uh. Why are there no numbers left at the end?”
“Why?”
“No… huh? Wait a second.”
Jeong Da-jun rummaged through the papers where he’d written his scores again. Then he muttered blankly.
“Wait, did I shift my answers on the grading sheet??”
“……!!”
Everyone stared in horror. For a moment, my mind went blank. Seong Ji-won blinked a few times before finally finding his voice.
“…So you only did well in Classical Chinese because you shifted the answers?”
“Then what about the OMR card?”
“?? At that time… I didn't run out of numbers? It was different from the grading sheet….”
Jeong Da-jun’s mouth hung open as he stammered.
“…Huh?”
“Pwahahahaha!”
Whether the Classical Chinese score was fake because he’d misaligned the numbers on his grading sheet or whether his actual score was a mystery, Kang Yi-chae collapsed onto the table, dying of laughter. He’d just been holding Jeong Da-jun’s ears and playing ‘Of Course,’ and now he clearly found the situation hilarious.
What a terrifying guy….
“Th-this can’t be… it can’t!”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.”
“Even if you did well on that, you failed everything else anyway.”
“Seong-hyeon hyung!!”
As the star tutor who had given up long ago, I looked at the maknae—who had (unintentionally) traded his CSAT for a laugh and was now clutching his head—and spoke kindly.
“Da-jun, it’s okay if you messed up the CSAT.”
“Whoa, Ho-yun hyung….”
Jeong Da-jun looked up, visibly moved. I took a sip through my straw and replied.
“At least you were born with a funny bone. That’s something, right?”
“…….”
Jeong Da-jun glared at me with burning eyes, but I ignored him.
* * *
[Guys
Jeong Da-jun failed the CSAT
└ Not really surprising
└└ Huh?? Does it even matter? Didn't Da-jun just go there for the 'going to school' performance?
└└ LOL XDDDD]
[Thanks for being the bottom of the curve, Da-jun
└ LMAOOOOOO
└└ Seriously, thanks Da-jun!!]
[In the meantime, Ji-won turned on a B-Live and talked a bit about the behind-the-scenes of Da-jun’s CSAT.. ㅠ
He said no matter what the result was, he’s so, so proud of Da-jun for working hard until the end
And he told all the Noeuls they did a great job too ㅠㅠ You worked hard... You’re all amazing... ㅠㅠ
└ Ji-won is seriously... an angel.....
I’m honestly wondering where his wings are...
└└ PD Lee Jeong-hun: He took them off and left them behind
└└ Ah seriously LOL]
The true idol Jeong Da-jun served as the bottom of the curve for the Noeuls, and the CSAT grading video became a private keepsake for the members, as it was far too tragic to send to his parents.
Meanwhile, a high school senior Noeul who had just finished the CSAT sat in front of the TV in a state of excitement.
“Da-jun!!! I’m done with the CSAT too!!”
She hadn't exactly studied out of a sense of competition with Jeong Da-jun… but she had worked hard by her own standards and was finishing the year on a high note.
Now that the essay exams were over, all that was left was to play.
Naturally, her anticipation for the year-end stages was at an all-time high. The senior Noeul punched the cushion she was hugging, waiting for The Dawn to appear on TV with a pounding heart.
“Is it for real that The Dawn is in the lineup this time?”
Since year-end lineups were often a barometer of a group’s popularity for that year, a certain level of recognition was required to secure a spot. Naturally, a later slot in the performance order meant higher popularity.
The first thing the senior did after turning her phone back on post-CSAT was search for The Dawn.
[Is The Dawn’s year-end stage for real?
I’m stanning a super popular idol group, see ya
[Ah, I love this so, so much. I’m so excited to see what kind of stage they’ve prepared]]
The main feed was full of positive comments and GIFs since it was sorted by popularity, but when she switched to the latest posts, an unexpected one caught her eye.
[Man, I just hope the collab stage goes over without any controversy... ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
Right. Did they say they were doing a collab stage?
Having been away from the world for a while, the senior didn't know what that tweet meant, so she tilted her head and clicked on the account.
It depended on the artist’s image, but in the idol world, even one suggestive move in a co-ed pair dance was bound to draw fire from both fandoms, no matter how pretty the overall picture was.
While another band was performing, she scrolled through the posts with the highest concentration she’d had all year.
[The moment a suggestive dance starts...
We... are dead
I believe in you, Pasung-ah
You’ve been doing so well lately (smiles)]
[The more I think about the collab, the madder I get,, our boys have lived such good lives ㅠ?
└ The Deonging-is have lived good lives too, f*ck lol
└ lol?]
Wh-what? Why is it so hostile??
The intense slander and gatekeeping made her head spin for a moment. She quickly left that account and returned to her own cozy, newly made timeline.
[So excited for the collab >_<]
[Hehe, I love Lia Purple ㅠ I wonder what the concept will be, my heart is fluttering]
Unaware that those were the desperate struggles of people who already knew about all the gatekeeping, the Noeul found peace in the pretty words.
What’s going to happen…. No, well. I’m sure it’ll be fine.
As the band’s performance ended, all the lights went out. Perhaps because the previous stage had been so brightly lit, it seemed even darker now.
In the midst of the darkness, the words ‘The Dawn’ appeared on the digital billboard.
[The Dawn]
The Dawn’s first year-end stage had begun.
*
1) Lyrics from the song ‘Fear (Feat. Taeyang)’ sung by Song Min-ho in Episode 9 of Show Me The Money 4 (2015.06.26.-2015.08.28.).