After the video ended, the black monitor reflected the people watching as they burst into applause.
“Wow, well done. You did great.”
“Chanhwi turned Yujin into a human being!”
As they celebrated among themselves, Yujin's face turned sullen.
‘That day truly felt like a year.’
Every time I tried to teach that wooden doll how to move, I felt utterly lost.
But after painstaking effort, I had succeeded in making him at least look human, even if reaching my level was impossible.
“Look at those dance lines. They're truly a work of art.”
“The comments are pouring in right now too.”
-Prince! My princes!! Their visuals are incredible!
-The gorgeous guys I was blessed to meet at the sacred site of Beef Man are debuting T_T I regret not getting their autographs back then. They're definitely going to make it big.
-Won't you take my hand and come with me to a world of dreams?... Whirr, click. Won't you take my hand and come with me to a world of dreams? Whirr, click...
-There's really something about this song... It hits that fluttery sweet spot perfectly. Intensive streaming booked.
-That's DM Entertainment for you. They've struck gold with another singer.
But alongside the favorable comments, malicious ones also stood out.
-What are they going to do with a whole two people? LOL. Must be broke because they're new. LOL.
-Anything below PTS is trash.
After spotting comments that mocked them for no reason or compared them to other groups, CEO Kim Dae-myeong issued a curt order.
“Report these bastards immediately.”
My gaze shifted to Yujin, who was staring intently at the video.
Malicious comments had been one of the things that drove this bastard to suicide in his previous life, so I worried that they would torment him all over again.
“Hey. Are you okay?”
“......”
“Hey. Yujin.”
“......Huh? Did you call me?”
Yujin only answered after I had called him several times.
“Don't pay attention to the malicious comments.”
“Malicious comments?”
He tilted his head, then shook it.
“Oh, no. I was just looking because it's strange to have this many people interested in us.”
Fortunately, he had not yet reached the point where he would think that way.
He had only taken his first step into the entertainment industry, so everything he saw must have seemed fascinating.
That was why there was something I needed to tell him now.
I considered how to say it, then began cautiously.
“Listen. From now on, don't hide anything from me, okay?”
My suddenly serious tone made Yujin look at me as if I had eaten something strange. Still, he was listening.
“We're on the same team, aren't we? If malicious comments are eating at you, don't suffer alone. Come and tell me. If something else is bothering you, let's be honest with each other.”
The look in Yujin's eyes changed as he watched Chanhwi.
“We've already crossed the starting line. What do you do once you're past the starting line? You run straight ahead.”
But while running, someone might interfere from the side, or you might trip over a stone and fall.
“So if you see anything like that, tell me ahead of time. I'll clear it out of your way.”
As I spoke, I hid my curling fingers behind my back.
Remembering the past had apparently made me ramble too much.
Perhaps he still regretted what had happened that day.
If he had faced Yujin sooner, perhaps he could have prevented it.
But he had failed to do so.
Now that he had returned to the past, he wanted to change the future, even if he had to start from this moment.
“If you understood, aren't you going to answer?”
I deliberately spoke harshly to conceal the tremor in my voice.
After staring at him, Yujin turned his head the other way and said.
“......You worry about the strangest things.”
“What did you say, punk?”
I went out of my way to worry about him, and this was how he answered?
***
At last, May 9 arrived, the day of <Sun & Moon>'s showcase.
The moment the showcase began, the music and the music video would be released simultaneously on various streaming platforms.
Then, the very next day, May 11, we would officially debut on the cable music program ‘Knet.’
The showcase was held at a live hall in Gwangjin-gu.
After going through their dry rehearsal together, the two sat in the waiting room, chatting while their makeup was applied.
“Are you nervous?”
“Yeah.”
His immediate answer made me laugh.
The Yujin I remembered had maintained an ice-cold expression on every stage, so seeing him this nervous felt endlessly fascinating.
Apparently finding it deeply unfair that he was the only one nervous, Yujin said.
“......You say that like you're not nervous at all?”
“As for me, well.”
As I always said, ten years of experience as an idol did not simply disappear.
Still, this time I would not be standing onstage alone. Standing there with someone else made me feel strangely self-conscious.
“Are you two ready?”
“CEO, how many people are out there right now?”
“......Go and see for yourselves.”
CEO Kim did not answer readily.
Chanhwi understood why. It was rare for large audiences to attend a debut showcase, so the CEO was holding his tongue to avoid disappointing them.
“You know, right? Even if there's only one person in the audience, you have to give it your best.”
“I know.”
Fortunately, Yujin did not seem frightened.
Once the CEO finished his final reminder, a staff member entered the waiting room.
“Please stand by.”
The two bumped their fists together and left the waiting room.
***
While Sun & Moon prepared in the waiting room, their manager, Lee Eun-ha, waited for someone in front of the parking lot.
Before long, she spotted a family walking through the crowd as they talked.
“Good grief, why are there so many cars? Honey, are you sure our Chanhwi's showcase is here?”
“It, should be.”
“I still can't believe it. That bastard is debuting?”
“Listen to how you talk about your own oppa.”
The wife answered her husband's question with a dazed expression, while their daughter looked around in disbelief as well.
Since they had mentioned the name of the idol she managed, Lee Eun-ha was certain this was the family she was waiting for and approached them.
“Hello. Are you Chanhwi's family?”
“Yes, we are, but.”
The family looked her up and down in unison with suspicious eyes.
“And who might you be?”
“Oh, I'm Lee Eun-ha, the manager newly assigned to Sun & Moon.”
“Ah, the new manager.”
The family stared at Eun-ha with fascination.
Uncomfortable under their gazes, Eun-ha gently spoke up.
“Um, if it's not too much trouble, may I show you to your seats?”
“Oh, goodness, where is my mind? We were staring too much, weren't we?”
“It's our first time seeing a manager.”
“Honey, why would you tell her that?”
Everyone in the family liked idols, but they had only ever supported them from afar. This was their first time seeing someone who worked in the industry up close, so they became flustered.
“Ha-ha. We'll be seeing each other often from now on, so please feel comfortable around me. Shall we go?”
As they walked from the parking lot toward the live hall, Eun-hee, Chanhwi's younger sibling, asked playfully.
“Managing that bastard brother of mine must be difficult, right?”
Eun-hee knew her brother's personality.
Like siblings in any family, he was an ignorant brute she could never get along with, a complete asshole from a younger sibling's point of view.
It must be exhausting to work with a bastard like that.
But the answer from his manager was completely unexpected.
“Hmm, no. If anything, Chanhwi is the one helping me.”
“My brother is helping you?”
“Yes. It's quite strange, really. Our company is new, so I felt completely lost.”
The only senior manager above her was busy caring for the agency's sole singer. As a result, Eun-ha had been sent straight into the field after receiving only brief instructions from CEO Kim Dae-myeong, without even a proper handover.
It was her first company as a working adult and her first agency as a manager.
That was why, knowing nothing, she had dressed in a suit to greet the idols assigned to her, only for Chanhwi to advise her about her clothes.
From Eun-ha's perspective, Chanhwi knew so much about the entertainment industry and the knowledge a manager needed that she wondered whether he was truly a rookie.
That was why she had often taken his advice from the day she joined until now.
“My brother did?”
Eun-hee still looked unconvinced, while Madam Jo Hyeon-jeong, wanting to hear more about her son, asked.
“Is our son, um, doing well?”
“Of course. He wouldn't be debuting like this if he weren't.”
“No. I mean, specifically, how good is he? My son hasn't told me anything like that.”
Madam Jo Hyeon-jeong was still anxious.
Only three months had passed since her son declared that he would debut within a year, yet he was already doing it.
Could he actually have been scammed? The thought crossed her mind.
‘He's never had much of a head for studying.’
Should she have stopped him when he said he would give up on university and become an idol?
At the worried question, Eun-ha gave her a warm smile.
“Ma'am. Would you like to go inside?”
As they talked and walked, they had already reached the entrance to the live hall.
Hearing the murmur from within, Chanhwi's family cautiously stepped inside.
When they saw the scene inside, their eyes trembled in disbelief.
“All of these people......”
Chanhwi's parents were struck speechless by the packed seats.
Watching them from the side, Eun-ha answered.
“They came to see Chanhwi—to see your son.”
At that moment, someone in the audience spotted Chanhwi's family and called out.
“Eun-hee!”
“Oh, you're here?”
Eun-hee approached her friends when she saw them.
The schoolgirl named Min-ji spoke excitedly.
“Your brother is amazing. Showcases normally don't draw this many people.”
“R-really? I don't know much about idols. So this counts as a big crowd.”
Embarrassed by the praise for her biological sibling, Eun-hee scratched her cheek.
“I. I. I've been keeping up with your brother's NeoTube channel. Can I get his autograph later?”
“If I get to see him afterward, I'll ask.”
“But Eun-hee, what is your mother holding?”
Min-ji pointed to the object Madam Jo Hyeon-jeong was cradling carefully in both hands.
“Oh, that? My mom's secret weapon. You guys help out later too.”
The two girls tilted their heads at Eun-hee's answer.
Then a staff member at the live hall shouted loudly.
“The showcase will begin shortly. Please take your seats!”
***
“My goodness.”
Yoo Seong-jae, a comedian recently known for his wit on a variety of entertainment shows, was serving as the MC.
He looked so astonished that he seemed to have forgotten even to greet the audience, bursting out with an exclamation first.
“I've hosted a lot of showcases, you know? But this is the first time I've seen the seats packed like this before a group's debut. How many people are here?”
When the audience shouted “Three hundred!” in unison, Yoo Seong-jae made an even greater fuss.
“It's already astonishing that you've filled every seat, but three hundred people came? Wow. Just who could these idols be, to pack the hall like this? Let's call them out now.”
Yoo Seong-jae energetically called for today's stars.
“Sun & Moon, come on out!”
The two stepped onto the stage with the MC's introduction.
WOOOOO!
All three hundred seats in the small hall were filled for the showcase.
The crowd was far larger than either of them had expected, and their eyes widened.
This was the influence of Beef Man, where the two had worked part-time.
It was the influence of the NeoTube channel they had operated.
And it was also the influence of DM Entertainment, whose staff had sacrificed even their sleeping hours to promote the duo.
For a moment, the countless gazes overwhelmed them.
But Chanhwi quickly recovered from his surprise and waved both arms broadly in greeting.
Yujin shyly lifted one hand and greeted the audience while meeting each person's eyes.
The audience of hundreds showered the two boys and their contrasting charms with thunderous cheers and applause.
“Please give us your group greeting!”
“One, two.”
““Hello. The first star you see. We are Sun & Moon!””