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In fact, just as I expected, it didn’t really affect me. Seeing that he had been quiet, the chances of him doing useless nonsense were low.

‘I guess I can just play along.’

Sure enough, I could only hear other guys chattering. They seemed to have raised their voices because they were conscious of the noisy awards ceremony.

“I’m enjoying the reality show!”

“Thank you.”

Since their comeback had been postponed, they probably had been watching all sorts of videos while staying quiet at home.

However, perhaps misunderstanding my lack of excitement that made my words sound like empty words, they continued talking once more.

“No, we all watched it together and it was really fun!”

“That’s right, hyung enjoyed it too, right?”

“…!”

One of them prompted and pulled Cheongryeo into the conversation.

‘Just go away.’

Even if you thought we had a proper friendship, the atmosphere was now sh*t, but if it got caught on a fancam, it would generate rumors.

‘These bastards are really annoying.’

As I sighed, I made eye contact with Cheongryeo.

“…”

He gave a slight nod.

That was all.

‘Oh.’

It was an appropriate attitude for the situation, which was a bit surprising.

Just as I wondered if common sense had finally returned to that guy’s head after he got hit on the head.

“Ah~ Sunbae-nims, thank you so much! We also watch sunbae-nims’ performances a lot these days~”

“Oh~ It’s a bit embarrassing!”

“I know, right!”

“So I even brought a cushion today to concentrate hard on it!”

“Wahaha! That’s why you brought it?”

“Of course~ Sunbae-nims, fighting!”

“Yes, hubae-nims too, fighting!”

Keun Sejin took care of the conversation and ended it.

Should I treat him?

‘It’s worth the meal price.’

I could say that Bae Sejin over there deserved the meal price just by not staring at VTIC.

And the moment VTIC went to their seat, Keun Sejin immediately covered his mouth so that it couldn’t be seen by the audience and said quietly.

“…Where did you hit him? I couldn’t see any traces.”

“At the back. His neck.”

Cheongryeo was wearing a black turtleneck.

It was clear that the scar hadn’t gone away yet.

Keun Sejin made a strange expression for a moment, but quickly erased his expression.

[Hello everyone. The beginning of the year, looking back on last year’s performance…]

And at that moment, the MC’s greetings began to come out from the stage.

The main broadcast had begun.

‘It’s going to be boring for a while.’

I put my weight on the backrest so that it didn’t show.

It was time to run the reaction machine.

* * *

Of course, it was nice to have time to sit still in the middle of a busy schedule.

However, it was also quite uncomfortable that I had to show a look of concentration while only looking at the stage without doing anything.

‘Still, it’s better than Idol Inc’s first recording.’

At least all of the people who performed on stage now were the people who would win the awards.

Woooow!

I applauded following the cheers to the group performance that had just ended.

They added a dance performance that incorporated modern dance, but honestly, it wasn’t very fun except for the one person standing in the center.

If I were to replace the popular idols with Idol Inc’s ranks… they probably would be somewhere between gold and silver rank.

Hmm, let’s hear the expert’s opinion.

“What do you think about the stage?”

“M-Me?”

“Yes.”

“Um, I-I think it’s cool that they worked hard. Um, the extensions are pretty.”

You can’t say that they’re good. Got it.

Like that, I put up with it while maintaining a reaction that was appropriate enough to not be seen as rude on the fancam.

[Loviewer, I love you!]

[Thank you. Thanks to all of you, we had a great year]

After an hour and a half, right after we said our award speech for the Main Prize, it was time to prepare for our stage.

“Move, move.”

“Okay.”

And this stage wasn’t just one of the special stages of the awards season.

It was our first performance after the successful reality show.

We had to bring the public attention we had received through the variety show toward the stage once again so that we could be liked as an idol group.

‘After all, I have to do my job properly.’

So this time, I put in some strength.

– The day that finally came

Present

Grrrr-wow!

The moment the two-pronged choreography collided with numerous dancers on stage, colorful flags with pictures of landscape paintings and animals fluttered by.

And there was a nimble dance break using a globose laser effect.

Brilliant colors and movements mesh with aggressive arrangements.

It was a performance that applied ‘Horseback riding Gyeokgu^[1]Gyeokgu is an equestrian sport in East Asia with some similarities to polo. It’s called Dakyu in China. ‘, a traditional game played by military officers during the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties.

Cheers pierced through my in-ear.

Uwaaaah!!!

Aah!

I added the dance break part that was shown at the concert to a shorter and simpler variation, and the response was very good.

I had thought about this the other day. Funnily enough, now I could roughly distinguish it just by the atmosphere on stage.

Whether it was a stage that was appropriately acceptable, or whether it was a stage worth seeing.

This time it was definitely the latter.

“Huft.”

“The floor was slippery, but everyone did well.”

“It was great~”

Even if Keun Sejin said so, he sneakily looked up, perhaps feeling regretful. It seemed that he had failed to show more radical movements than planned.

“Yes, you’ve worked hard. It’s been a while since we performed in Korea, right?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s fun!”

Seeing that the camera lit up on the flawless clean stage, the performance seemed to be set as great as the rehearsal.

Everyone took a breath with proud faces and came back to their seats.

It just so happened that VTIC wasn’t around.

‘They probably perform next.’

Now that the live broadcast was almost over, they must have gone to prepare for the last stage sequence.

The Popularity Award and the Grand Prize were the only ones left.

‘If they win at this timing, they’ll jump out of the backstage.’

I’d seen it a few times, but honestly, it had less impact than getting up and coming out of the seat.

Thinking that this year’s local awards ceremony was a bit clumsy, I waited for the VCR on the screen to finish.

And after a while.

[The winner of Golden Disc’s Popularity Award is… Congratulations. Testar!]

The presenter of the Popularity Award called out Testar.

“…!!”

“Huh? Huuh?”

The guys who had been sitting leisurely after the stage jumped up.

It was understandable.

This was… frankly an unexpected situation.

After being sanctioned not long ago for ‘encouraging unhealthy competition’, the voting status for the Popularity Award was changed to a closed-door method in which only the total number of votes was displayed.

‘But it made sense.’

Popularity Awards were often won together by the winner of the Album Grand Prize.

This was an era where streaming services had become mainstream. A singer who had sold a lot of albums? That meant that the singer themselves was popular, not just the song.

However, Testar, not VTIC, won the award with 100% voting, without the involvement of the organizers in the name of ‘expert screening’.

‘Even if VTIC fans have less participation, it’s still true.’

I knew that VTIC fans, who had assumed that VTIC wouldn’t be able to attend this awards ceremony, didn’t enthusiastically rush to vote until almost the last minute.

Even taking that into account, this result was still surprising.

‘There must have been a late rush after the article that they would be attending come out.’

This is what we call… ‘worth rubbing it in’, isn’t it?

A strange feeling of joy slipped past me.

‘Let’s stay calm.’

Anyway, apart from this thought that passed by in an instant, my body reflexively got up and I bowed my head.

So did the other guys.

“Wow…”

“Wow!”

There were all kinds of reactions, from those who got up with puzzled faces to those who ran out of excitement, but no one seemed to have expected anything. It was only natural.

The organizers didn’t say anything either.’

Maybe they wanted to properly pull out the cut of us being surprised. Treacherous bastards.

We creaked up onto the stage, accompanied by a camera that eagerly zoomed in.

“T-Thank you…!”

“Thank you!”

However, as the line was naturally disrupted because we greeted the fans who were waving their hands, the hand microphone from the staff went to the wrong person, not the leader.

It was Kim Raebin.

“Uh… Um.”

He was flustered. As expected, an impromptu speech was too much for this guy.

‘But once you’ve got your chance, you have to say something.’

Just say, ‘Thank you, I love you’.

“Thank you.”

Like that.

However, Kim Raebin seems to have gained momentum after taking his chance. He kept holding the microphone and spitting long words back and forth.

“While preparing the album, I had frequent concerns about whether it would be a hit in the public eye, but as a result, receiving the award because many people voted for it feels like a confirmation that the group’s choice was not wrong.”

Please, stop.

Still, at this level, it was a passing score, albeit a lengthy one.

If it ended well like that.

“And the adventurous choice of solo songs… Gasp, I’m sorry!”

However, when Kim Rabin finally found the staff’s sign in front of him, he freaked out and politely handed over his microphone to me.

“…??”

Why are you giving it to me? The leader is next to you.

The audience burst into laughter. Kim Raebin respectfully stepped back, covering his face.

‘It’s rather fortunate.’

More than half of the audience that filled the ground right now were VTIC fans, but the atmosphere there had eased up a bit.

Seeing that the less-than-2-years-old rookies who won the award were flustered, it seemed it was possible they would delude themselves with ‘I’ll let you go this time’.

I naturally tried to pass the microphone to Ryu Chungwoo, but Ryu Chungwoo smiled and pretended to ask me to do it.

He probably made concessions because he had given his speech on the Main Prize.

‘It’s fine.’

I held up the microphone even though I was nervous.

“Raebin is very smart. I agree with everything Raebin said.”

After a small laugh burst out again, I calmly continued.

“Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy lives to vote for us. I will come back with an album that deserves more votes.”

“Thank you!”

“Loviewer, I love you! It’s great!”

The award time ended with Cha Eugene raising his thumb.

Since there were cameras even during the short time we went through backstage, we couldn’t have a detailed conversation yet, but everyone seemed to feel it.

Now, Testar wasn’t just the first-tier group’s goalkeeper, we had entered their weight class.

‘That’s certainly motivating.’

I even thought that the people at the company might be dreaming about whether it would be possible to create a rivalry with VTIC smoothly by next year.

But after a while.

Looking at VTIC’s comeback stage, I thought the company must have given up on the short-lived dream.

Waaaah!!

The cheers from the audience seats were so loud it could tear apart your eardrums. It was understandable.

‘They’re filthy good.’

Even though the number of people had been reduced to 4, there were no empty spaces because the dancers were placed in the right places.

And the tune was great.

‘If a company does its job well, that’s what happens.’

They quickly cut off the guy who couldn’t be rectified and thoroughly take care of the rest so that there was no article during the break period.

Even Cheongryeo’s injury had never surfaced to the outside world. With just this one action, I could feel the company’s experience, ability, and vision at once.

As a result. With that one perfect stage amidst the well-polished public opinion, it was obvious that VTIC would smoothly escape the downtrend crisis.

In short, it was very comparable to any agency.

‘Hmm, I want to resign.’

As I recited the dreams of all office workers, VTIC’s long stage would soon come to an end and the Grand Prize would be announced.

Well, it was obvious.

[The Grand Prize winner is… VTIC’s <Insight>!]

If you don’t want to create attitude controversy, stand up and clap your hands.

[Thank you so much! We… Sniff, we’ll really do better.]

That side was crying too, they must have had a hard time. The sound of snifflings could be heard not only from the award speech but also from the audience seats.

‘Hmm.’

However, Cheongryeo’s face was clean.

He pretended to soothe other guys a few times as if out of habit, and eventually grabbed the microphone.

Then, in a feminine tone, he began his speech.

[I don’t know.]

Have you gone crazy?

• 1. Gyeokgu is an equestrian sport in East Asia with some similarities to polo. It’s called Dakyu in China.