“‘Dogane-Daughter-in-Law’-nim, ‘I’m listening with only one earphone at work and I keep laughing so my department head asked if I got a lover, what do I do?’ Oh my, looks like the RAYEON members will have to take responsibility for this?”
“Ahaha, thank you….”
Well, it’s the same even now as they’re drawing out lively reactions inside the radio booth.
Unlike Part 1, which mainly focused on album promotion, Part 2 consisted of small games and fan question corners. The DJ, who usually had deep affection for K-pop, cheerfully continued without any hesitation.
“Come to think of it, RAYEON has accumulated quite a lot of years now. Even if not complete veterans, you’d be on the senior side when you go to music shows, right?”
“Ah, yes. Most of them are juniors now. It’s embarrassing, and the rookies are all so good that I even think we should learn from them instead.”
The DJ’s eyes sparkled at Do Yeonjae’s textbook-perfect answer without any excess.
“Oh, then I’m curious about this too. Which junior group is RAYEON most interested in these days?”
“Ah~ um….”
At her question, the RAYEON members pretended to ponder and dragged out the time… but usually, for questions like this, the answer is predetermined.
Especially when there’s a fresh new rookie from the same agency.
Kang Ihyun also seemed to catch the intent of the question and gave Do Yeonjae a subtle look. He’s probably also recalling the manager hyung’s request to mention their junior group whenever the opportunity arises.
Unlike his mature actor-like appearance, Kang Ihyun had a refreshing and magnanimous personality. Being dependable as a leader was good, but the problem was that he detested anything contrived and couldn’t say honeyed words. Something about getting goosebumps on his skin or whatever.
Of course, there was an exception for RAYEON’s fan club RayIt. Kang Ihyun held the creed that ‘fans are girlfriends’…. Hayun in the next seat seemed to have no particular interest in other groups anyway, so he didn’t seem to have anything to say.
“……”
Do Yeonjae’s expression turned bland. Everyone’s dumping it on the maknae, well done, real nice.
He scratched between his brows before bringing his mouth close to the microphone. It’s not even difficult, I’ll just answer it myself. When the camera caught Do Yeonjae in a one-shot, tons of comments about how handsome he was flooded the real-time chat. He became slightly anxious that a comment about a lifetime contract with the demon of handsomeness or something would come up again.
“Yes… lately, the NEOS guys are really,”
amazing. Before he could even finish speaking, the host interrupted.
“Ah ah, I knew it. Are you pushing them because they’re from the same agency? Tsk, this won’t do….”
Do Yeonjae wasn’t flustered. Those words were all in the script too.
Rather than getting beaten with a club in the comments for deliberately promoting juniors, they’re blocking it at the source. The radio writer included this question in the first place because the agency requested it anyway.
Do Yeonjae smiled good-naturedly and answered skillfully.
“It’s not like that. Those guys are receiving a lot of love with their self-composed songs. As a fellow artist, I thought they were admirable.”
The host made a fuss as if she’d been waiting for it.
“Ah, right! I heard about it too. That there’s a genius producer member. Kwon Isoo-ssi, the young guy is amazing. Ah, from what I know, you two are the same age, and since you’re from the same company, you must be close, right?”
……The smile on Do Yeonjae’s face stopped for a moment.
Are we close? I didn’t expect this. Is this in the script too?
Outside the booth, the manager is yawning wide with an unknowable expression.
An uncomfortable uneasiness swept over his body. Even the simple affirmative answer of ‘yes’ caught in his throat and didn’t come out easily. Do Yeonjae, who was hesitating, let out a sigh inwardly.
…Let’s just vaguely gloss over it and move on. I’ve given all the answers the company would want anyway.
The moment he made that decision, one chat comment that came up in real-time caught Do Yeonjae’s eye.
– There’s a rumor they were originally in the same debut group
“……”
Ah. A look of dismay appeared on Do Yeonjae’s face.
That’s half true. They weren’t in the same debut group, but they did practice together. So if asked whether he and Kwon Isoo are close, they were close. Not now though.
Their last moments were filled with all sorts of complex and subtle emotions. Memories that are uncomfortable and burdensome even to recall now.
But… with such rumors going around, it wasn’t difficult to guess that showing an awkward vibe would create strange rumors.
In fact, even now as he couldn’t answer rashly, it was a bit dangerous. Look at the DJ’s face becoming increasingly strange and the chat window turning into muddy water.
– Kwon Isoo and his face combo is kinda good tho
– Looking at his expression seems like they’re not close?
– Why would Do Yeonjae be friends with a rookie lol their levels don’t match
– Huh? The fans here can’t be objective? Daesang 0 times 5-year RAYEON vs 2-year Daesang artist NEOS
– It’s just public appeal honestly the core is fucked ㅜ
– Wow fans think they’re the center of the world so they think differently huh, calling an annual 2nd place group public appeal……
– Members are watching the screen so don’t fight
Cold sweat dripped down his back. Impatience welled up in his heart. It felt like he had to resolve it quickly somehow.
And so, Do Yeonjae put on a shameless face. To get through the momentary situation.
“…Yes, we’re close. We were trainees together. I really want to work with Isoo at least once.”
Kwon Isoo has done broadcasts too, so he’ll understand appropriately. Surely nothing will happen…. However, he didn’t know. What kind of troublesome situation would come crashing down because of these brief words.
* * *
[You guys know this? RAYEON’s Do Yeonjae almost debuted in the same group as NEOS’s Kwon Isoo! It was originally just a rumor going around, but this time Do Yeonjae who appeared on radio directly revealed they’re best friends…. Now that I look at it, Kwon Isoo’s songs and voice seem to match perfectly too! What are your thoughts on this?]
“Haah……”
The moment the screen turned black, the YouTube Shorts audio that had been flowing stopped abruptly. Do Yeonjae put down his phone and grumbled discontentedly. I didn’t say we’re best friends though….
His straight forehead wrinkled slightly. Even though the screen was off, the tremendous view count of 1.78 million still floated in Do Yeonjae’s complicated pupils. 1.78 million views, 1.78 million views…….
‘At this point, it must have reached Kwon Isoo’s ears too.’
A sigh escaped involuntarily.
He did expect articles to appear from the moment he mentioned it on the radio.
[RAYEON’s Do Yeonjae Shows Off Friendship with ‘Best Friend’ NEOS’s Kwon Isoo… “We Were Trainees Together”]
[Do Yeonjae Boasts Special Friendship with NEOS’s Kwon Isoo ‘Heartwarming Friendship’]
But I thought it would just end at that level. After related posts suddenly rose to popular community posts then advanced to YouTube, now…….
“What? A challenge with Kwon Isoo?”
Even a challenge schedule got booked.
On the way to the shop. The manager who had been focused on driving heard the sound flowing from Do Yeonjae’s phone and spoke as if belatedly recalling something he’d forgotten.
“There’s a day when Kwon Isoo has free time, so we matched schedules with their team to film at the company building practice room. That’s fine, right?”
And that’s tomorrow. Do Yeonjae gaped with a dumbfounded face.
“Why are you only telling me now……”
“It was scheduled urgently. Why? Is there some problem?”
‘You said you’re close.’ That’s what was written on the manager’s face. Do Yeonjae was at a loss for words. He realized that in the current situation, the words ‘why are you only telling me now’ didn’t quite fit. For something like a challenge, even if it’s scheduled on the same day, if the company tells you to film, you just film it without much thought…..
It’s a promotional tool in the first place, so no matter who the other person is, it doesn’t have much meaning, and since the relationship with Kwon Isoo is currently a hot topic, from the company’s perspective, they must have thought it was a good opportunity.
Right, because I said we’re close. Adding on unnecessary words…… Why did I do that?
“Wow, the view count will be huge.”
Kwon Isoo’s impact was tremendous enough that even Yeo Minsung, who had been busy chatting with his girlfriend in the back seat, paid attention. He looks full of complaints with his sharp features, but he’s probably exchanging affectionate messages with his girlfriend…. Haah. Do Yeonjae suddenly felt his neck getting stiff. It seemed he’d underestimated the buzz-worthiness of the ‘legendary visual genius producer’ too much.
RAYEON is popular enough, but they belonged to the typical ‘fandom-type boy group.’ Even though they had solid core fanbase with good results every comeback, they couldn’t capture mainstream appeal and repeatedly suffered losses on music charts.
Male idols of this era shared a similar thirst with each other. The unspoken burning desire for more people to listen to their songs.
But NEOS was different. They caused a sensation in the entertainment industry from their appearance, and with that tremendous momentum, they even took annual 2nd place on the music charts.
Boldly, as if mocking numerous senior male idol groups who had slipped on digital charts.
What is the prestige of Melon Chart’s annual 2nd place? That song plays on any street and people of all ages know the group’s name.
They instantly gain the public’s recognition that other male idols could never receive no matter how many million albums they sold.
When asked ‘who do you like?’, if you mention NEOS’s name, you won’t hear ‘what’s that shit.’ ‘What’s that, you otaku.’ Every time RAYEON fans heard such words, Do Yeonjae’s heart truly ached…….
