Since then, about three months had passed since Do Yuda was discharged.
“Hyung! That fool wrote ‘give birth soon’ on my cast. What do you mean, give birth?! Everyone keeps staring at it!”
1
“I don’t know Korean, I don’t know. I’m Japanese.”
“Don’t pretend like your Korean suddenly deteriorated! I know you wrote it like this on purpose. I saw you write it properly for Muses. Hyung, say something to him!”
“Put an X over H.”
2
“…Do you not care about me?”
Luckily, Do Yuda’s recovery went very smoothly. Although strenuous physical activity was still out of the question, he was able to return to his normal daily life.
As the short activity period was made even shorter by a prolonged hiatus, the Muses predictably started to show their unease. During that time, there seemed to be both big and small divisions, but our decision remained unchanged.
Even setting aside my own stubbornness, the members were unwavering in their commitment to only working with Do Yuda.
“It’s meaningless to do activities without Yu-chan!”
“I can wait as long as it takes, Yuda-ya. Let’s take it slow together. Being impatient is not good for injuries.”
Frankly speaking, we were nothing more than a temporary group, so it’s almost baffling how everyone forged such a strong bond in such a short time. Was it because we went through the pressure of a survival show that determined our debut together? Well, I was in no position to comment, since I went on the program planning to ditch everyone the moment I gained fame and freely do my own thing, only to end up getting my hair grabbed.
This was not something that happened because I wanted it to.
When I came to my senses, I found myself with a bunch of newborn chicks in my arms, so what was I supposed to do?
Anyway, just because we had a long hiatus didn’t mean we were just idle. During that time, we focused more on individual activities and practice in order to maintain communication with our Muses.
First, Baek Kiryang was recommended by Seezy, a trainer from Survive IDOL, to sing the OST for a drama that Nam Yihwon was currently filming. I heard that, with his delicate tone and solid basics, he finished the recording to the complete satisfaction of the composer. However, since the drama has not aired yet, the song has not been released.
Then, quite unexpectedly, Zen and Do Yuda had the opportunity to perform a special stage at a rock festival with Baek Kiryang’s older brother, Baek Kiheon. To that, Baek Kiryang naturally reacted with, “
…Why is my brother there
?”, and the Muses’ reactions weren’t much different.
[Wait, when did they get close? This combination is so ridiculous, I don’t even know what to say … What’s my brother-in-law doing over there? ㅠㅠ Where did he leave his younger brother? They’re getting close and doing rock and roll by themselves, I’m totally thrown]
└ Let’s go, P&M
└ What do you mean with P&M?
└ Pat and Mat of the real world
└ Basically, since normal people won’t be able to understand them, the idea is to just let them do whatever they want
└ Why isn’t anyone pointing out that she’s calling Baek Kiheon her brother-in-law?
The craziest part was that the performance, which was prepared so haphazardly, turned out to be so spectacular.
I had already known that the vocal chemistry between Zen, who has a clear and husky voice, and Do Yuda, who has explosive vocal power and a wide range, was perfect. I also knew that Do Yuda had been giving Zen singing lessons in his spare time.
However, rock music was an area I wasn’t familiar with, and Zen and Do Yuda were just as clueless, so to be honest, I didn’t have high expectations. Zen and Do Yuda kept begging me with their puppy eyes to let them go, so I sent them for a change of pace, and yet the results were much better than expected. The band members’ outstanding skills were also a contributing factor, which wasn’t surprising, considering the band was formed by the perfectionist Baek Kiheon.
[Zen really improved a lot in singing after getting close to Do Yuda. His singing style has a Japanese rock band vibe, but it also goes well with Yuda’s.]
[Why are they … so good? It’s almost infuriating…
]
[Baek Kiheon looks so happy, it’s driving me crazy. Baek Kiryang’s expression in the audience is priceless
]
[Do Yuda was getting restless since he was the only one singing while sitting, so he started wiggling his butt, he’s the cutest thing ever]
[
The song is so good. I really hope they continue with this kind of activities after Pantheion’s contract is over. ㅠㅠ
]
Once I had pulled myself together, I was immediately thrown into a hectic schedule: preparing our next album with the company staff, attending fashion shows for the brands I represent, doing photoshoots and commercials, and so on. My personal schedule was just crazy busy.
If there was one thing that bothered me, it was the excessive number of schedules I had with Lee Hwayoung, especially when it came to things that required traveling abroad.
Attending the fashion show with him made it clear, Lee Hwayoung was attracting much more global attention than I had anticipated. Although, considering he was the youngest son of Camilla—a famous celebrity and business businesswoman—who looked exactly like her, it would have been even stranger if people weren’t interested.
‘…Lee Hwayoung is bound to go overseas eventually.’
Then there was Lee Danbi, who was extremely good with words and had a solid personality that couldn’t be swayed by others. Naturally, he was always getting booked for entertainment programs. Watching him, who has earned the reputation of being a variety show blue chip by effortlessly
charming
seniors much older than him, made me realize that he was also working hard to find a place where he could shine.
Lastly, Woo Kangwon began learning acting little by little, starting with a minor role as a judo athlete that was offered to him by a movie director who had seen him in Idol Sports Championship. He wasn’t good at lying and his emotions were always written on his face, so I wasn’t sure whether he’d be a great actor. Nevertheless, his impressive physique and striking visual have clearly caught the eye of those in the action movie industry.
As such, this three-month period allowed the members of Pantheion to explore their potential and hone their skills. Looking at it another way, it provided a chance for the children—who could have lost their way after Pantheion’s activities ended and they were no longer with me—to reflect on their own paths.
‘The contract period was a year and six months … so now there’s only a year left?’
It was a bit painful to realize that the short contract period was nearing its end.
During this hiatus, which was packed with solo activities, the members of Pantheion weren’t the only ones I had to pay attention to.
Lee Chise made his comeback with a solo album after two and a half years.
With the song I composed as the title track.
The album was released quietly, without any of the sloppy mediaplays RH Entertainment had used with COMA-1. It was almost as if there was no marketing strategy at all, simply dropped
when Lee Chise was ready
.
And the result was…….
[Lee Chise Dominates Music Charts With ‘
Gentle
‘]
[Lee Chise’s Chart Sweep
, As Expected from Prism
.]
[“The Number One Spot, Congratulations, Lee Chise-ssi!”]
It was a total hit.
It wasn’t just that he swept all the number ones on music charts and music shows—which, frankly, was expected—but he also managed to get every single track from the album to chart. You could imagine how huge the comeback had been.
‘….Even I, who’s not really into this genre, thought that album was great.’
Even the hip-hop listeners called it an album with no skips, so there was nothing more to explain.
As always, there were still comments about idols easily crossing into other genres, as if it were something to be criticized, but such opinions were largely dismissed as the bitter cries of losers with inferiority complexes. The quality of the songs and Lee Chise’s rapping were just too good.
This was the moment Lee Chise’s belief, “
If you have skill and confidence, you can stand tall in any situation
“, shone through.
Lee Chise often heard comments like, ‘
He’s not like other idols
‘, ‘
He’s on a different level than those mediocre idol rappers
‘, and ‘
He’s originally from the underground, so you shouldn’t treat him like an idol
‘—as if these were compliments. But Lee Chise’s reply was always the same, “
I will always be Prism, and Prism is an idol
“.
And those words reassured Seras, who had been somewhat anxious about Lee Chise’s remarkably successful rapper career, while at the same time, they served as a means to solidify Lee Chise’s standing as an
idol rapper
within the hip-hop scene once again.
In addition, Lee Chise wasn’t the only one who gained attention for that album.
Cha Woon, who had already received praise for writing a song with a different vibe from Prism’s title track for the Survive IDOL’s final mission competition, also participated in composing the b-side and received great acclaim.
‘…At last, Cha Woon is able to gain recognition for something other than Prism’s songs.’
How long had it been since he’d been forced to use my songs under Kang Hyukwoo’s coercion, without being able to shine on his own? I was truly happy to see him prove once again that he was capable of captivating the public with a song he composed entirely on his own.
Jay told me that although he didn’t show it on the outside, Cha Woon seemed quite happy on the inside. Ah, of course, that wasn’t all he shared with me.
“It irritates me every time I see him covering his mouth and smirking to himself.”
Understanding Cha Woon’s circumstances didn’t magically erase the deep-seated animosity that had defined their relationship since they were trainees. It was to be expected. But I knew that if Cha Woon found out he said that, it would be a big problem, so I chose to say nothing.
“Now that he finally has something to smile about, he might as well just smile openly.”
Seeing him pout like that, even though he was secretly relieved that Cha Woon’s composing career was finally taking off, made me realize that big guy was still our youngest at heart. Or maybe he was still salty about all the curses Cha Woon had thrown at him while he was featuring on the b-side.
“…….”
It made me wonder what people were saying about three members of Prisms working together for just a single solo album.
Seras would surely be overjoyed to finally see Prism together again after being scattered and unable to promote as a group since my death. Although if they found out that it wasn’t just three members but actually four—including me—who participated in the album, that joy might vanish in an instant. Still, just imagining their happy faces made me feel happy too.
‘…They won’t find out anyway, so it’s okay.’
The more successful Lee Chise’s comeback became, the more attention the composer of the title track—me—received. However, to avoid suspicion from Kang Hyukwoo and Lim Seunghoon, I decided to keep the fact that I composed the song a secret until the very end. I registered the copyright under a pseudonym and simply kept my mouth shut.
Lee Chise seemed pretty upset about it, but there was no other option.
[PRISM’s Lee Chise-sunbaenim: Have you seen how well the song you composed is doing? Once Yihwon finishes his filming and the other members’ schedules clear up, I’m thinking of throwing a celebration party. Can you come? I just want to thank you, so don’t feel burdened, just come.]
[PRISM’s Lee Chise-sunbaenim: Seungbeom-ah, why haven’t I been able to contact you lately?]
[PRISM’s Lee Chise-sunbaenim: Is it because of what Yihwon said to you so harshly last time? I’m worried about you. Talk to me for a minute.]
I had received those kinds of messages from Lee Chise several times already, but I didn’t send any replies.
[Missed Calls (13): PRISM’s Nam Yihwon-sunbaenim, PRISM’s Lee Chise-sunbaenim]
In order to avoid raising Lim Seunghoon’s suspicions, I had to exist as their enemy, but I didn’t have the confidence to remain rational in front of the members of Prism—except for Jay, who knew my true identity.
[7: Hyung, what’s going on? Chise-hyung keeps pestering me about whether I’m in touch with Seungbeom. You’re not ghosting him, are you? He seems to have noticed that I’m still in contact with you … I think he’s going to get angry soon. I can’t handle angry Chise-hyung (tired fox emoticon)
]
As I was looking at Jay’s text while contemplating such thoughts, another text arrived on my phone.
Buzz!
[PRISM’s Lee Chise-sunbaenim: Han Seungbeom.]
[PRISM’s Lee Chise-sunbaenim: Answer the phone.]
I turned off my phone and closed my eyes for a long moment.
You can support this translation through Buy Me a Coffee or Wishlist!
Translator’s Corner:
Zen wrote “
빨리 낳아
“.
Get well soon
in Korea is supposed to be “
빨리 나아
“.
The first one based on the base word 낳다 (nakhda) means “to have a newborn baby/give birth”, meanwhile the second one from 낫다 (natda) that means to heal/recover from ilness.
The words are pretty similiar, because both
빨리 낳아
and
빨리 나아
are spelled as “
ppalli na-a
“, so it’s understandable for foreigners to make this mistake.
But as MC said before, Zen isn’t stupid. ↩︎
MC suggested to put an X on the ㅎ. Since if you remove ㅎ from
낳
, it will become
나
, which is the correct expression. ↩︎
This is the healing part you guys have been looking for….
Oh and this is unrelated to the story, but these days, all my twitter accounts’ timeline are filled with news about GOT7 (I didn’t stan them and didn’t follow their stan account, so I guess it appeared on all my accounts because it was viral). They recently made a comeback (please check them on, they deserved it), and first of all, it was very impressive. All 7 members have different agencies, and they all doing well in their solo careers, but as soon as the hyung line finished the military service, they made a comeback.
But that’s not what caught my interest. So, they held a concert, and in the ending ment (you know the part when they’re having talks with fans before closing the concert), one of the foreigner members, Jackson Wang, shared a story (short clip: https://x.com/GotJiaerx/status/1886068880344318326_).
Apparently, before they almost didn’t debut. Their company didn’t want to debut them and was going to send two of the foreigner membes (they have three) back to their country. It was crazy, Jackson himself was a promising national team athlete who let go of his athletic career to pursue his debut, YET THEY ALMOST RUINED HIS FUTURE?? JYP should burn to the ground … but anyway, at this time, Jackson said that their leader (Jaebeom) came and told them that he won’t let them be send home. He said “
If we do this, we’ll do it together. If we die, we die together
“. LIKE THAT’S SO LEADER GUYS T_T Jaebeom was already an elite JYP trainee at that time, his debut was already guaranteed. He had no business taking risks just to save the others, but he did. Like, I know a lot of leaders in kpop are remarkably good, but he’s like … the very definition of “best leader who’s very loved by the members”. If you wondered if there’s any kpop leader in real life who’s similiar with MC in good leadership aspect, I think that would be him ……. MC 100% still winning though.
Like, you really should watch this video, https://x.com/ivnotchaaaar/status/1886178807713055027. I’m 100% sure that’s how Jay and Danbi acted towards MC …..