“We should’ve come out to watch it like this from the start.”
What had been a joke to Moon Hamoon made the two of them feel guilty like thieves with guilty feet, and afterward, watching broadcasts at the dorm became uncomfortable.
“Right. This is way more comfortable.”
Anyway, while watching videos at the dorm, there had been times when the name ‘Cha Hohyeon’ almost slipped out of their mouths, so after that they lied about going to exercise and secretly moved to Go Yoon’s house to watch stage videos.
“We need to watch quickly and leave today. Lee Robi was asking what kind of exercise I’m doing and said he wants to join me.”
“Looks like you’ll have to quit exercising, which you never do anyway.”
“That’s what I’m saying. And yesterday he suddenly started subtly asking if I have a girlfriend.”
A girlfriend? The reality was that they were fangirling over Crayfish from the rookie idol group Abyss.
As the two chatted away like that, they gradually began contacting their acquaintances. Go Yoon sent texts to his contacts and then called Retro, while Kang Juno kept asking favors from acquaintances he maintained friendships with.
“Oh, yeah. Yeonun-ah, it’s me, Go Yoon.”
“Hello? Oh, hyung. It’s me, Juno. Yeah! It’s been a while, but can I ask you a favor?”
On the TV screen, other idols were dancing, but they had no time to pay attention to the screen as they were calling people around them.
“Where are you. What? Kim Seohyo is right next to you. Put him on.”
When Lee Yeonun said he probably couldn’t do it since he had just arrived at the dorm, Go Yoon, with his chin propped up, started crookedly looking for Retro’s leader Kim Seohyo.
[Oh, oh- just a moment!]
For a while there was commotion on the other end of the phone, and then Kim Seohyo, who hastily took over the phone, began to speak rapidly.
[Hello, sunbae-nim. This is Kim Seohyo. Of course we don’t have time, but we can make time even when we don’t have it. How long does voting take- just tell us the number―]
“Really? Thanks. Make sure to send a proof shot.”
[Sun, sunbae-nim? That number- the text voting number!]
As Retro’s leader Kim Seohyo and Lee Yeonun urgently said they would send proof shots right away, Go Yoon finally wore a satisfied smile as if content, and tried to tell them the number.
“Oh! I’ll call you back later.”
But at the announcement that Abyss’s stage was starting, Kang Juno hurriedly hung up the phone and pointed at the screen, so Go Yoon hung up too.
“Is it already that time?”
“Turn up the volume.”
In the end, Go Yoon forgot to tell them the voting number and stuck close to Kang Juno’s side, staring at the TV.
The two had been calling people around them and texting so much that they didn’t even know it was already Abyss’s turn, but on the screen, Abyss’s introduction video was playing.
“Crazy, it’s starting.”
As soon as the song started, voices of fans calling out the Abyss members’ names one by one pierced through the screen and reached Kang Juno and Go Yoon.
During the first week of activities, the cheering voices were definitely not that loud, but during this fourth week, the cheering was particularly resounding, making them both burst into laughter at the same time.
“They really grew a lot.”
“I feel strangely proud. Is what we’re doing now similar to how fans fangirl over us?”
“Let’s have a comeback soon so we can meet our fans too.”
When Go Yoon casually said in a roundabout way that he missed the fans, Kang Juno’s eyes widened briefly before he laughed as if it was absurd and fixed his gaze on the screen.
“Doesn’t it look like Hohyeon lost more weight because of the choreography?”
“The agency, I really don’t like them.”
The Abyss members dancing sharp synchronized choreography that looked exhausting even to watch, while maintaining bright expressions, were pitiful to say the least.
“How long will Hohyeon be busy?”
“Even if it’s the end of promotions, he just got popular so he’ll probably get even busier.”
“It’s hard to even see his face once.”
In the first place, it would be good if they could land just one major variety show, but since such shows couldn’t possibly go to rookies, the agency just kept spinning the Abyss members around small variety shows, so there was no time to see Ka Jerim’s face.
“That’s Onseol? Is he mixed race too? He’s fucking handsome.”
“Kang Juno. That blonde is Park Eden, and Onseol has khaki-toned hair this time.”
“Shit, how do you know that.”
“It’s the fourth week now?”
Kang Juno, who was particularly bad at remembering people’s names, kept grumbling in annoyance.
“And that one, that one. That’s Ma Doun?”
“Right.”
Kang Juno himself was stressed about not being able to remember names, so except for senior idols or actors he filmed with, he wasn’t someone who would take the initiative to memorize other people’s names. Go Yoon found it endlessly fascinating that such a Kang Juno was actively trying to memorize the names of Abyss members, who were juniors he wasn’t even close with.
“I think I’ve memorized them all now.”
“In four weeks? You’re really smart.”
“This bastard keeps being annoying since earlier…… Ah, Hohyeon came out.”
At Go Yoon’s teasing, Kang Juno finally got pissed off and was scowling, when Ka Jerim’s solo part came on at just the right timing. Kang Juno’s expression, which had been on the verge of exploding just moments ago, instantly melted away.
“Hohyeon’s doing well.”
“Of course he is. Whose member is he.”
Ka Jerim sang with stable vocals while dancing intensely.
The two watched proudly, and when Ka Jerim’s part ended and he moved to his next position, they burst into laughter.
“Look at him smile.”
“He’s cute, fuck.”
That’s because they discovered that in that brief moment while Ka Jerim moved to his next position, he smiled ever so slightly with a bashful grin. Go Yoon laughed low, saying look at him smile, and Kang Juno’s lips twitched before he soon grinned broadly.
It was a brief moment that would have been hard for even fans to notice, but since their eyes were glued to Ka Jerim from the start, discovering Ka Jerim’s smile was a piece of cake.
“It’s over.”
When Abyss’s <Nightmare> stage ended, Go Yoon and Kang Juno watched the ending scene with regretful faces, then the two began earnestly discussing the stage.
“Isn’t Hohyeon the best?”
“Of course. Just look at how he sharply handles everything even when the other kids’ breathing is unstable, it’s impressive.”
“Hohyeon’s always had good adaptability no matter what he does. Just look at that stage and you can tell by how you can only see him standing out among the other members.”
Today too, Kang Juno and Go Yoon concluded with a conversation that was written as ‘stage review’ but read as ‘Cha Hohyeon praise.’
But in reality, with their extremely subjective viewpoint, they said Ka Jerim stood out the most and did the best even among the distinct Abyss members, but honestly speaking, Ka Jerim’s popularity within the team wasn’t extremely high. Rather, the flashy-looking Onseol and Park Eden were the ones getting attention, but to Kang Juno and Go Yoon, only Ka Jerim was visible, which is why they made such assessments.
“When Hohyeon finishes promotions, isn’t that when we start ours?”
“……Should we postpone it.”
Go Yoon and Kang Juno sighed deeply.
They were still rookies, yet it was already hard to meet and hard to contact each other, so they felt gloomy that the only means to catch a glimpse of his recent situation was inside the TV.
“I think it’s been forever since I last voted.”
And once again, they continued contacting people telling them to vote for #1121.
Doing this and that, before they knew it, the text voting deadline had arrived.
“We really do all kinds of things because of Cha Hohyeon.”
This was probably Abyss’s last chance for first place.
From next week on, idol groups with huge fandoms and solo artists called music streaming powerhouses would make comebacks en masse, making it difficult to even enter the charts.
“I hope they get first place.”
“Me too.”
At first, just imagining Cha Hohyeon getting first place in another group was, sorry to Abyss, but not very appealing. But the more they thought about it, the two said how could Hohyeon not be first place, saying first place suits Hohyeon the most, and began actively supporting Abyss behind the scenes more than anyone.
It started with cover videos, and now they were encouraging text voting like this.
[This week’s first place is―!]
Finally, all the performers gathered and with simple proceedings, grand music began to play. The longer the music built tension, the more Kang Juno got annoyed as if he would hit the TV at any moment.
Go Yoon just stared at the TV wide-eyed in a frozen state, and although he looked calm on the outside, he must have been burning up inside because he kept looking for water to drink.
And finally.
The long-awaited result came out.
[Writing a new legend of reverse charting!]
[It’s Abyss!]
Flower petals fluttering brilliantly, and the dumbfounded faces of the Abyss members were close-upped. But never mind them.
“Waah!”
As soon as Kang Juno heard the announcement, he shot up and ran to Go Yoon, pulling him into a hug.
“This is amazing!!”
Go Yoon sat still as if he didn’t care about the results at all, even while Kang Juno made all sorts of fuss waiting for them. But.
“They got first place.”
At the moving moment of the first place announcement, Go Yoon unknowingly jumped up from his seat.
“First place, they got their first first place!”
Kang Juno rejoiced like it was Fort’s first first place, hugging Go Yoon and jumping around making a fuss.
Go Yoon stood still and let himself be led as Kang Juno pulled him, then seemed embarrassed that he had jumped up after pretending to be so calm, and stared at Kang Juno with an awkward face.
“First place! First place!! Fir……”
“……Yeah.”
Kang Juno also came to his senses belatedly and looked at Go Yoon standing there awkwardly.
As soon as they realized that their posture was quite strange because Kang Juno was hugging Go Yoon, the two looked at each other simultaneously with disgusted faces as if they had planned it.
“I’m hugging Go Yoon……”
“Get away. I want to hear the acceptance speech.”
Kang Juno came to reality, and Go Yoon pushed away the bothersome Kang Juno firmly with his hands. The two sat back down obediently and began focusing on the TV.
[Uh, this was really an unexpected award, but first of all- to our fans who must have worked so hard for us to receive this award, thank you and I love you. And to our agency family and our CEO……]
Onseol, who had been momentarily flustered since he hadn’t expected it, naturally took the microphone and tried to continue his acceptance speech calmly. Watching such Onseol, Kang Juno and Go Yoon became silent at some point.
