— Seungmen
— Seungmen (2)
— Seungmen (3)
— SM (4)
— SM (5)
As soon as the rankings were announced, the chat was flooded with identical messages, and the trainees seated in the ranking seats dashed over all at once, jumping into my arms.
“Keugh.”
“Hyung, congratulations!”
“Congratulations, Seungbeom-ah. You’re really amazing…..”
Fortunately, I didn’t fall because Woo Kangwon hurriedly supported the other side of my body to prevent me from falling backwards, but I let out an ugly sound from the impact of the full-body collision. From an outsider’s perspective, it must have been an utterly ridiculous sight.
‘These … these little colts.’
The kids, somewhere between wild colts and mischievous puppies, were simply beaming with bright smiles. Without any regard for my condition, they hugged me so tightly it felt like I might be crushed.
“Leada! We’ve been waiting for you!”
“Seungbeom-ah, congratulations on your first place.”
“Yes, yes. Thank you.”
Just as I was gently patting the heads of those guys in an equal distribution, I happened to meet Lee Hwayoung’s gaze from where he stood watching us. And then, a soft smile appeared on his previously expressionless, stiff face.
A little shocked by that smile, I stood there blankly. Then, he mouthed something quietly.
‘Congratulations.’
And then he looked away again, returned to his usual expressionless look.
Perhaps he wanted to congratulate me but didn’t feel like pushing his way into the heated crowd. He could have just joined in the lively chatter, but instead, he acted all reserved.
‘Haa, what am I going to do with that socially awkward young master?’
I slightly lifted my head from amidst the swarm of puppies surrounding me and deliberately shouted loudly in his direction.
“Thank you. Congratulations to you too!”
“Ung?”
“Hmm?”
At that, the kids who had been clinging to me turned their heads together in confusion. They must have also spotted Lee Hwayoung standing alone in the distance. Sure enough, their faces, flushed red with excitement from the debut, began to show hints of mischief creeping in.
Finally, as clear mischief appeared on their faces, Do Yuda shouted out, “Catch that hyung!”
“Hugging is a Western culture. Do you know it? Love and Peace. Accept your fate with grace.”
“…I don’t like it. Go away.”
As the puppies swarmed toward him, Lee Hwayoung recoiled in digust, stepping back cautiously. But there was no stopping the members. They were already so overjoyed that they had lost their minds.
“Congratulations to Nicholas-hyung for getting second place!”
“Congratulations.”
“Now, even if Lee Hwayoung rejects them, they don’t even pretend to listen.’
“Lift him, lift him! Let’s toss him!”
“Don’t.”
And in situations like this, it was always the sane one who lost.
“Don’t do it!”
“Haha, Nicholas, don’t worry. I’ll catch you.”
Unlike Do Yuda and Zen, Woo Kangwon seemed to be in his right mind. However, he just chuckled calmly, as if he saw it as simply playing along with his
dongsaengs
, and helped with the celebratory toss. Actually, it might be more accurate to say that Woo Kangwon practically caught Lee Hwayoung all by himself.
“Hey, hey guys. If you do that, you’ll get in trouble … I don’t know. I don’t….”
Baek Kiryang couldn’t believe that Lee Hwayoung, whom he had feared so much, was being carried by the members. His face turned pale, and he flailed his arms around, frantically circling the group. It seemed like he was experiencing a terror akin to death.
Lee Hwayoung, seemingly unable to comprehend the situation, was tossed around in the air, his face full of confusion. When he finally landed back on the floor, like a cat that had just touched water, he stiffened his limbs and remained frozen in place.
“…….”
“Pfft.”
After standing there for a while, that guy finally realized that I had orchestrated the entire situation upon hearing my laughter and began to glare at me as if he wanted to kill me. I simply watched him, a smirk playing on my lips.
Glare at me, glare all you want.
It doesn’t even tickle. Ahaha.
“Trainee Han Seungbeom, please share your feelings on taking the first place.”
Yang Hajun handed me the microphone as I was laughing the hardest ever since Do Yuda’s surprise camera reaction. I immediately wiped the smile off my face and began to share the thoughts I had prepared.
“I was truly surprised by how many people voted for me. I feel like I can never fully express my gratitude with just the words ‘
thank you
‘, and I’m sorry for that. I will continue to work hard and strive to become a Han Seungbeom who is worthy of the love and support that my fans give me. I’m so grateful to the fans who have supported me, to SU Entertainment for this opportunity, and all the trainees who have been with me for such a long time. Thank you.”
As the long acceptance speech came to an end, the audience erupted in applause, and at the same time, the chat window on the screen began to move rapidly.
— I’m not even worried because they’re debuting with Han Seungbeom. Please take good care of my child, Captain~!
— He has practically written a legend wow It’s been ages since such a comet has appeared in the entertainment industry.
— Han Seungbeom’s greatest charm is that despite having a face you just can’t ignore, he makes it seem like it’s nothing special. It truly fills my heart with awe.
└ He’s just a God…..
— I love you, cult leader
— Han Seungbeom doesn’t cry even once when giving his speech. It seems like he’s not that grateful haha
└ Death sentence. Reason: F**king obvious in the comment.
└ Now, it’s a festival of blood
└ Kill
└ Why, why isn’t anyone stopping me?
Most of the chat was filled with messages congratulating me on my debut, but I did see the occasional criticism. Well, it seemed like even those few were having a good time getting beaten up. As I went up to the ranking seats, leaving behind the chat window where my fans were throwing playful punches, Yang Hajun began reading his script again.
“From now on, I will announce the last debut trainee.”
“…….”
As the production team once again dragged the airtime, I, seated at the very top of the pyramid, quietly looked down at the trainees whose names had not yet been called. Among them was Lee Danbi, his fists clenched as he stood there with a look of anxiety.
‘He must be really nervous. I guess he’s thinking that his ranking dropped a lot because Zen went up to sixth place.’
It was highly likely that, during the mid-point ranking announcement, the impact of his impressive theme song performance pushed him up to 6th place, but then he dropped a spot when Zen, who had stood out during the
School Bell
performance, received more votes. However, compared to the trainees who had been called so far, the remaining trainees had relatively weak personal fanbases, so there was no need to worry about being surpassed by anyone other than Zen.
If the outcome were to be determined by the public’s pick, there was a very high possibility that that Lee Danbi, who had consistently portrayed himself as a hardworking trainee and recently had a major breakthrough, would win.
“And the last trainee to join the debut group is.…!”
Not surprisingly, Yang Hajun announced as he smiled warmly at Lee Danbi.
“Seventh place, Trainee Lee Danbi!”
“WOW!”
With the roar of the audience, Lee Danbi’s body collapsed to the floor. It seemed like his legs had given out. Lee Danbi, who had difficulty getting up, was finally able to stand up with the help of the other trainees. Then, he looked up at me sitting on the ranking seats and bowed deeply in my direction.
‘Why are you acting like that?’
I tilted my head at him, then quickly waved my hand.
“This concludes the announcement of the debut trainees. All the trainees who have worked so hard until now, thank you for your incredible efforts. Now, we will move on to the announcement of the group name.”
At the mention of finally moving on to the group name announcement, I let out a deep sigh, making sure the camera couldn’t catch me. No matter what kind of crappy name came up, I couldn’t let my dissatisfaction show. We lived in a society, after all.
As I was trying to relax my face, Yang Hajun unfolded the piece of paper he’d been given, checked the group name, then flashed a grin.
“The name of the group where the seven trainees will debut!”
Doo-doo-doo-dung.
A drum-like effect sounded out, building up the tension. At the moment when everyone held their breath, Yang Hajun raised his head and shouted.
“It’s the temple for all gods,
PANTHEION
!”
“…Oh.”
“Oh?”
When they heard the group name, the members tilted their heads in puzzlement.
‘Originally, all group names need time to age well.’
It seemed that those watching the broadcast felt no differently than the trainees, as only “
Oh…
” repeatedly appeared and disappeared in the chat. But after some time, as if they had come to terms with it, proper reactions started to come up.
— ….We was just playing around with the religious cult leader joke, but now he ended up becoming a God for real. This is so funny.
— Ah aren’t we going to be really reported for a cult haha
— Welcoming the Gods
— Who is the bastard who spread the rumor that the group name is Lucky Seven? Go bang your head.
— Does that mean the kids are going with a mythology concept for their activities? Whoa.
└ Over-immersion button on
└ But there are so many groups that just create a worldview but then release completely different songs … at least we can expect some cool concept photos, that’s awesome
As long as the chat and trending topics weren’t filled with negative comments like ‘
I personally don’t like it
‘, ‘
ugly
‘, ‘
who came up with that name
‘, or ‘
Pantheion is definitely not XXX
‘, I thought it was okay to say that they did fairly well. I quietly expressed gratitude that it wasn’t a name that everyone would agree was terrible and loosened my facial muscles.
Well, it wasn’t like my group was going to flop just because of its name, so it was probably an unnecessary worry.
“The fandom name is
MUSE
, which refers to the goddess of knowledge and arts, as well as a being that becomes source of inspiration!”
First of all, the fandom name seemed lovely. That’s all that matters.
— Oh, mom, haha, I’m going back to the house as the goddess of knowledge and art now.
— This sudden surge of belonging. The kids don’t even think about it, but the fans are all getting consumed by the concept.
— I can be a goddess for my hyungs
└ Ah, crazy fanboy hahahaha
└ HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
As the chat window heated up, Yang Hajun glanced at a section of the audience, then let out a laugh before walking forward with the microphone in hand. He stopped between two women with an appearance that was sure to make anyone gasp, handing them the microphone and asking them a question.
“Now that the group name announcement is over, shall we hear from the trainees’ parents? I can’t help but notice the family of Trainee Nicholas Hwayoung Lee. They’re very eye-catching. Am I correct in assuming you’re Trainee Nicholas’s mother and older sister?”
Then, the woman with golden hair styled in voluminous waves nodded and jumped up from her seat. Before the personal translator sitting next to her could translate, she shouted in a high-pitched tone.
“Nicky!”
At the cute nickname that didn’t suit Lee Hwayoung at all, I nearly choked and broke into a fit of coughing.
‘How can it be so mismatched?’
When I glanced at Lee Hwayoung, he had a blank expression with his ears brightly flushed red. He quickly turned his head away, but as he was unable to win against his family who kept calling his name, he eventually gave a small wave.
“Haha! So cute. You’re blushing again. Nick is such a shy guy! But still, I’m so proud of you. I sincerely congratulate you on your debut!”
Lee Hwayoung’s mother, who burst into a refreshing laugh, waved a handbag worth the price of a house like a lightstick and blew a kiss towards her son.
She looked like she could crush even Queen Daehyun.
“Yes, thank you for the passionate support, Trainee Nicholas’s mother! And we can’t miss an interview with the parents of the first-place trainee. I heard they’re in the audience, where are they?”
‘What?’
I, who had been smiling at Lee Hwayoung’s family, immediately stiffened my expression at Yang Hajun’s remarks and hurriedly raised my head. Then, I started frantically searching for their figures.
It didn’t take long before I found them. I let out a hollow laugh when I saw their appearance.
“Don’t come.”
“You didn’t support me in the first place, and you probably even considered me a thorn in your eye. If your main purpose is to congratulate me, then don’t come, because the recipient won’t be happy. I don’t want to fake the love I’ve never received in front of the camera.”
“If you have even the slightest understanding of the pain I’ve endured until now, then please don’t come.”
“…….”
I clearly told them not to come, yet they were there.
Along with Han Jaewoon, who was dressed so ostentatiously that no one would think of him as an ordinary person.
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Translator’s Corner:
Just heard a news that one of my college friends are going to get married next week and I suddenly got hit by reality because i’m not even getting a job yet WDYM OTHERS ARE ALREADY GETTING MARRIED???? WE JUST GRADUATED LAST MONTH??????????????????? OTHERS ARE MARRIED FOR REAL WHILE I’M OBSESSING OVER A FICTIONAL CHARACTER??? omg i’m heartbroken
anyway … I’ll go buy some sweets first before continue, the end of this chapter is making my blood pressure increase and I dont even have that much blood to spare