Chapter 153:


    Trantor: MarcTempest


    Editor: Rxel


    Chapter 153


    Olympic Gymnastics Arena.


    After the awards ceremony, the audience poured out like a tide. In the cold wind, people chatted excitedly with their neighbors, their faces full of enthusiasm.


    “Today’s stages were all amazing.”


    “I know, right? I have to watch the fancams when I get home. Did you see Hwiyeon’s expression? His eyes were sparkling.”


    “Are you kidding? I made eye contact with Yeonhu earlier.”


    “Wow, lucky you.”Everyone was talking about their favorite singers.


    How the stages were, how beautiful their hands looked when they turned their heads while sitting, and so on.


    Among these affectionate stories, one group’s name stood out.


    “But didn’t they do well earlier? New ck.”


    “They didn’t look like rookies. They were really good.”


    “I was unconsciously sticking out my neck like a turtle while watching. When the red-haired guy came out in the third verse.”


    “But what’s his name? I only know Woojoo.”


    “Let’s search it up. …Jiho? Wow, he’s so handsome. And he’s a high schooler.”


    The reason why New ck became a topic of conversation everywhere was simple.


    “They were the most noticeable after our kids.”


    “Lemon must have spent a lot of money on them. The kids did well too. They had a bit of a bite, you know what I mean?”


    Every time such conversations came up, a group of people walking around secretly pinched their cheeks.


    Their fingers were busy.


    They were Soufflés, who were posting on the fan cafe.


    -The reaction on site is amazing!


    -People are talking about our kids when theye out. They said they were the most memorable after their own singers???


    -Most memorable after their own singers = best performance


    -Good, good???


    -More than that, I envy the eyes of those who saw our baby oppas on site??


    The Soufflés who had seen the stage with their own eyes were the same, but the Soufflés who were at work or home were also happy and jumping around.


    The photos, fancams, on-site reactions, andmunity reactions that wereing up.


    They couldn’t help but smile and giggle while looking out the window and managing their expressions on the bus.


    While the Soufflés in various ces were flustered by the aftermath of the stage, the idolmunity also had a simr reaction.


    [Today’s explosive reaction to the mango rookie stage.youtube]


    I was like wow… the whole time I watched it


    Especially at 2:40


    When Fireworks turned into Masquerade and the stage atmosphere changed from blue to red, it was so cool…


    -The stage quality was insane


    -It was the best rookie stage I’ve seen in recent years


    -It was a stage that only rookies could do. They had a fierce look in their eyes, and they popped out among the dancers. They couldn’t do that if they had a high seniority, they would know each other’s physique too well


    -New ck, I’m a fan???


    -Where are the people who were cursing when they saw the cue sheet earlier???


    -Honestly, there were a lot of haters in the beginning of the stage too ??? But then they quieted down when they suddenly popped out among the dancers??


    -They don’t look like rookies


    There were praises for the stage in general.


    With this favorable atmosphere, there were also posts promoting individual members.


    -Today’s ‘red-haired guy’ who was called, New ck’s maknae’s usual appearance


    -I was amazed every time I saw the expression change in the third verse part, so I made a gif


    -He was almost flying today, New ck’s main dancer Bijoo


    These were posts that would have been hard to see in the usual atmosphere, but they popped up here and there.


    It was an opportunity for those who only knew the names of New ck’s friends, Woojoo, and Rihyuk, to get to know the new members.


    The result of thebination of the capital-invested production and the members’ performance.


    On the other hand, there were also those who pointed out meaningful points.


    -I think it meant something that Lemon spent a lot of money. It felt like they were stamping their feet on the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title??


    -Yeah, the album and music sales were also like that, and now there’s no one who canpete with New ck among the rookies


    One thing was that the title of ‘Rookie of the Year’ and New ck’s name were firmly attached, and no one could take them off.


    The other thing was.


    -Today’s performance was honestly good, but the foreigners would go crazy if they saw it


    -The song was a bit of a popr tone, but… overseas, they definitely like sharp choreography and stuff


    -The amazing thing about them is that they find out and be fans when they do well on stage


    It was that New ck’s performance today would not be limited to domestic reactions, but would also get reactions from overseas K-pop fans.


    ***


    Thand.


    With the K-pop cover dancepetitioning up in March next year, the members of ‘WeeWhO’, who had made it to the finals two years ago, were engrossed in a meeting.


    The topic was song selection.


    “We need a choreography that can capture the attention of the audience instantly.”


    The leader emphasized by tapping the table.


    The members immediately yed the choreographies they liked on theirptops.


    But most of them were rejected for various reasons.


    This one required too many people, that one had a boring choreography.


    Then someone suggested.


    “How about New ck?”


    “New ck?”


    The question was echoed, but not because they didn’t know New ck.


    As K-pop fans, New ck was an unavoidable name among this year’s rookies.


    However.


    “Don’t you remember the Fireworks? We tried it because it looked easy and we all suffered.”


    “…Yeah.”


    “But it was good for dieting. My mom likes that dance.”


    They all looked into the air with a wistful expression.


    Fireworks was a choreography that was easy if done roughly, but endless if done with all the details like waves and points.


    Someone said.


    “This time, Masquerade is obviously hard.”


    “Right. Can we do it?”


    One of the members tried to imitate Masquerade’s choreography clumsily and burst intoughter when he hit the wall.


    “But that one, there was a lot of posts on the K-pop site yesterday.”


    “Really?”


    Someone typed the address of a site where overseas K-pop fans gathered.


    Soon, a post in English appeared.


    It had over 100ments.


    They were decipheringments like ‘Wow’ or ‘What’s his name’ when someone asked curiously.


    “The reaction is amazing… Is it because of the award show performance?”


    “It’s like they parachuted from a helicopter. How well did they do?”


    “Let’s watch it.”


    They immediately watched the low-quality performance video on YouTube.


    The members were singing in light shirts, giving a blue and refreshing vibe on the stage of Fireworks.


    “They’re good, but… is that all?”


    “Shh. Watch the rest.”


    The atmosphere changed as the dancers came out.


    The background also changed from the exploding fireworks to a focus on the fire.


    The mood turned sinister in red.


    As dozens of dancers appeared and started a sharp choreography, the watchers’ mouths dropped open.


    “Wow… Huh?”


    The members revealed themselves one by one among them.


    The audience cheered at their gaze that stared at the camera.


    “Wow…”


    They stared at the screen in awe.


    It was a performance that made them feel the beauty of it in their whole body.


    When the video ended, they understood why the K-pop sites were going crazy over it.


    The afterimages kept lingering in their eyes.


    The blond member who flew in while spinning, the redhead who acted with his expressions as he passed through the gaps between the members.


    And the handsome member who decorated the final dance, he dominated the stage.


    “…”


    A brief silence followed, and the leader spoke.


    “This is hard and tough, but listen. Should we try it once, even if it’s a challenge? I wanted to try it as soon as I saw it.”


    “Me too.”


    “Let’s do it even if it’s hard.”


    They nodded their heads repeatedly, as if they were mesmerized by the monitor.


    It was a decision they would regret, but they forgot about any other songs when they saw this stage.


    Determined voices came out.


    “Let’s do this well. It must be rare.”


    “Yeah.”


    “This choreography, other teams wouldn’t dare to do it, right?”


    Theyughed and praised themselves in harmony.


    And the next year.


    The dance team who arrived at thepetition hall with confident faces lost their words when they saw the countless Masquerades on the preliminary bracket.


    ***


    Woojoo woke up and it was noisy withst night’s story.


    There were a lot of articles posted, and one of them was on the main page.


    -2014 MCA, New ck wins Rookie Award ‘Thank you to the fans, let’s be together forever’


    -New ck thanks for the Rookie Award “Really grateful” Members rap withughter


    -New ck, a stage full of courage “We are the Rookie of the Year”


    Woojoo didn’t browse thements himself because the hatements increasedtely, but Assistant Manager Hong from the PR team sent him screenshots of the good reactions.


    Thements that made him feel good just by looking at them.


    But that was only for a moment, the waiting room was almost like a sleeping room.


    Jiho whispered next to Woojoo, “They’re all asleep.”


    “Jiho.”


    “Yes.”


    “You don’t need to say out loud what we all know.”


    The guy who was biting his lips ate the potato chips he bought from the snack bar.


    Crunch.


    …Every time he did, Rihyuk opened his eyes.


    And every time, Jiho stopped like a frozen person.


    Crunch.


    He ate the potato chips again and Rihyuk opened his eyes.


    It felt like watching the movie When the Camellia Blooms.


    “Haaah…”


    “I’m hanging in there. What else?”


    Woojoo answered with a smile and stretched his limbs.


    He couldn’t afford to be damp.


    They would soon meet the Soufflés at the rehearsal, so he needed to warm up his body in advance.


    “Oh my…”


    Woojoo looked at the youngest member who was carefully examining his face in the hand mirror.


    “What are you doing?”


    “I’m checking my face a bit.”


    “Oh, my little one…” Woojoo teased him with a warm smile. “Did you finally catch the celebrity disease?”


    “No, no. Celebrity disease.”


    Woojooughed as he saw him shaking his hand and denying it.


    While the other siblings were groaning and copsing, he was the only one who was energetic.


    The reason was this.


    He kept touching his cheeks whenever he went online yesterday.


    He was happy to see the reaction of ‘Who is the redhead?’


    He was their youngest member who debuted on the stage for the first time.


    He seemed very excited.


    He looked like a puppy who went for a walk for the first time in a hundred years.


    He said no, but he acted very maturely on the way to PBS Music On today.


    He waved his hand here and there and shouted, “Hello! I’m Jiho!” …and he also announced his name.


    Theyughed behind him and got scolded.


    Woojoo hoped there was someone who filmed him.


    He had to tease him with this for a long time.


    Woojoo smiled and coughed as he saw him ring at him with his axe eyes.


    Jiho gave his own exnation.


    “I feel like we can win first ce today. So I’m checking my appearance in advance.”


    “Really?”


    “Yes, I asked Junghyun Hyung for a fortune this morning. I asked him about the possibility of winning first ce today.”


    “Did he say he had a good feeling? He said he felt like we would win first ce all week.”


    But they had been second ce all week. So they teased him that he was the Pele of the idol world.


    Jiho shook his head.


    “No. He said he didn’t know today.”


    “Maybe he was just tired? You know how he sometimes says ‘I don’t know…’ when you greet him when he’s tired.”


    “Huhut, that was too urate. No, that’s not it. Wait a minute.”


    The youngest hit Junghyun with a selfie stick and asked him, “Magical conch shell, can we win first ce today?”


    Junghyun, who was tossing and turning like a bear who woke up from hibernation, muttered an answer.


    “…I don’t know.”


    “See?”


    “True.” Woojoo said with a smile, “I hope you’re right and we can say something for first ce today.”


    "I''m hanging in there. What else can I do?"


    ***


    December 12th.


    The second week of December and their fourth week of music shows.


    Normally, they would go for five weeks, but the third week was usually when the music programs had their end-of-year specials without announcing the first ce.


    Christmas specials, year-end reviews, and so on.


    The next week was the end-of-year music festival and there was no broadcast.


    That was why this week was thest week of their music show activities.


    “Hello!”


    PBS public hall.


    As they came out for rehearsal, they waved and smiled at the fans in the audience.


    They chatted with the Soufflés for a while as the previous singer performed on stage.


    They also thanked and greeted the other idol fans whoplimented them for being handsome.


    There were more eyes watching them than usual, maybe because of yesterday’s stage.


    Whether it was during rehearsal or the actual stage, it seemed like more people were paying attention to their performance.


    Since this was theirst chance to be the first-ce candidate here, they gave it our all.


    Soon, it was time to announce the first-ce candidates and they all went up on stage.


    As it had been for the past three weeks, the names of ‘New ck’ and ‘TNT’ appeared on the screen.


    They stood there with familiar smiles and their brothers.


    -It’s the live broadcast of Music On! in the second week of December 2014! Now, we only have the first ce announcement left. TNT and New ck, who will be the winner?


    -Let’s reveal the scores. Yes, the digital music score…


    Woojoo’s head felt foggy, maybe because he was tired.


    Grandma would have said, “Get a grip on yourself!”


    That was when he heard the voices flowing.


    The word New ck appeared on the screen inrge letters.


    -Yes, New ck! Congrattions!


    Oh. The announcement was made.


    As usual, Woojoo looked at the TNT members and tried to greet them. The members on that side smiled and mouthed the words.


    ‘Congrattions.’


    Congrattions?


    Then, suddenly, a microphone and a trophy came crashing into him.


    -Please give us a word of your feelings!


    …Why him?


    When Woojoo’s head wasn’t working properly, Bijoo and Junghyun shook his shoulders and spoke. The faces of the kids who had been nk until then were full of energy and happiness.


    “Hyung! We’re number one!”


    “…Oh, really.”


    Woojoo woke up with a start.


    Oh my god.


    ***


    A Korean restaurant in Gunsan.


    “Oh my! That’s great! That’s great!”


    Someone pped like a seal and shed a tear when they heard the news that New ck had won first ce.


    On the TV screen, a handsome someone looked bewildered.


    -…Oh, really.


    Kim Deoksoon, the olddy, clicked her tongue at the sight of her grandson, who waste to grasp the situation and flustered.


    “Really. He always does that when I’m about to be moved.”


    She sighed involuntarily.


    But soon, she smiled at the sight of her grandson expressing his feelings on the screen.


    “He’s still remarkable, though.”