Chapter 84

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Hee-um…”

The dorm’s living room had become quiet before I knew it.

Most of them were sprawled out and sleeping, perhaps because the tension had unraveled and the accumulated fatigue had poured out as alcohol was involved after winning first place.

The two minors also dozed off and fell asleep. Lee Sejin had already gone into his room midway, perhaps due to a lack of stamina. He was probably asleep as well.

So, the ones remaining in the living room were…

“Moondae, are you okay?”

It was only me and Ryu Chungwoo.

He was strong against alcohol, and I was able to stay conscious thanks to the ‘Bacchus 500’ trait.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief then.”

Ryu Chungwoo gave a faint smile and gulped down the beer in his hand.

‘How many cans did he drink anyway?’

It didn’t matter since he didn’t seem drunk at all, but he had definitely drunk more than six cans.

It was clear that his alcohol tolerance was enormous.

“Um, how is it to be active?”

“As for me, it’s worth doing.”

“Haha, Moondae is always calm.”

Ryu Chungwoo neatly folded the finished beer can and put it down. His expression looked quite bitter.

‘Why is he like that again?’

His face didn’t look good at all, as if some other worry had arisen even after winning first place.

“I wish I had a calm personality like you.”

“…I think you’re calm enough, hyung?”

Thinking about the attitude this guy had maintained for about two months since ended, it was a sudden remark. However, Ryu Chungwoo shook his head.

‘The first-place speech was already a mess, what is he talking about?’

“Hyung, you’ve been a good leader since the audition. I don’t think you had such problems.”

“I was the leader because I was the eldest, not because I was good at it. A team has never rolled properly… Yeah, except for the second round when we were together, there was none.”

Honestly, that wasn’t Ryu Chungwoo’s fault.

‘You just had damn bad luck with teams.’

I opened another beer with a lukewarm feeling.

“During , it was a short period and a survival show, so teams that rolled properly were even rarer. And anyway, I think TeSTAR is rolling well.”

“…I’m worried that a problem might arise because of my mistake while things are rolling well.”

Ryu Chungwoo gave a bitter smile.

“To be honest, the only position I could contribute to this team was the leader, so I took it on… but it feels like a bit of a limit. I’m not originally the type of person who endures everything like this.”

“Hmm.”

I wondered why Ryu Chungwoo’s attitude had become more conservative and moderate after TeSTAR was formed, and it seemed he had been suppressing and enduring it.

‘Thinking about the second round, he originally had a more adventurous and cheerful personality.’

It seemed the conflicts he experienced during gave him a strange learning effect.

In the midst of that, Ryu Chungwoo continued talking. He seemed to have been quite frustrated.

Come to think of it, he had won a gold medal, so there was no reason for him to quit archery and specifically appear on an audition program that had failed.

“How did you come to appear?”

“Ah, everyone probably doesn’t know this. Among the writers of , there was a relative.”

“……!”

Wait.

“Is it by any chance Writer Ryu Seorin?”

“Right. Did you know right away because the surname is the same?”

Ryu Chungwoo laughed, but I couldn’t laugh.

“…”

“That noona asked so much… and since I had already set my new career path in this direction, I tried appearing.”

A cold sweat broke out.

‘If this is caught now, isn’t it scandal material…?’

It wouldn’t matter when the audition failed, but now Season 3 had established itself as a crazily hit program.

But one of the debuted members was a relative of a writer?

‘Moreover, Ryu Chungwoo only received favorable editing throughout.’

This was a complete… scandal.

Ryu Chungwoo seemed to have that much sense, as he added with a smile.

“There won’t be any damage to you guys. It’s a distant relative anyway, and we barely even knew each other’s faces. Contact came out of nowhere one day… so it was no different from being scouted.”

Perhaps in terms of format, it meant it was no different from what Park Moondae had received.

But when an article appeared, there was no way they would kindly indicate such a thing.

Titles like ‘TeSTAR Member, Actually a Relative of an Writer’ or ‘Recruited Relative Debuts… The Shadow of ‘ would probably come out.

I barely managed to open my mouth.

“…Don’t tell anyone.”

“Um, don’t worry about that either. This is the first time I’m telling you.”

He said that Writer Ryu Seorin also called and requested earnestly as soon as she saw the reaction after the first episode aired.

‘…I just need to pass this period.’

By the time the season after next of comes out, which means in about… two or three years, it would pass without much trouble even if it broke out.

And if it didn’t break out throughout the broadcast and still hasn’t broken out, it would be right that everyone doesn’t know yet.

Just in case, I checked with Ryu Chungwoo once more.

“How distant a relative is the writer?”

“Um… except for the fact that we’re both from the Pungsan Ryu clan… I don’t even know how many degrees of kinship it is. About that much.”

“…”

At that level, it would even be possible to make an excuse that they aren’t actually relatives if worst comes to worst. It could be framed as the scouting being easy just because the ancestral home was the same.

The tension relaxed slightly.

I didn’t know what the next status abnormality would be, but since it was certain that it wouldn’t be good if bad news came to the team, it seemed I had been tensed up.

And another thought slowly came to mind.

‘Come to think of it, was I also from the Pungsan Ryu clan?’

I wasn’t sure because I didn’t care much after my parents passed away, but it seemed it was like that.

If so, it seemed I was also in a similar generation rank as Ryu Chungwoo. Ryu Gunwoo, Ryu Chungwoo. Hmm.

‘It must be the “Woo” generation name.’

Well, what does it matter? I just shrugged my shoulders.

“Strangely, I ended up telling you these things… I don’t usually talk about this to the younger ones. Haha.”

“…”

Did he instinctively know that I was older?

I changed the subject.

“Then… the fact that you were scouted means you were already preparing to be a singer.”

“Yes. Because I couldn’t continue archery.”

Ryu Chungwoo made a motion of slightly rotating his shoulder.

“I had quite a big car accident when I was young… but an aftereffect appeared only after I grew up, as if something was touched wrongly. My hand shakes when I apply force.”

“…”

“So I quit the year before last… and I searched for a new career path to see what I’m good at. Haha.”

It was an attitude imbued with the leisure unique to a person who had already overcome it.

‘It means it’s a finished matter.’

I also just nodded.

At that time, the sound of someone stirring came from beside my foot.

“…Sniff.”

“……??”

“I’m sorry. I heard…”

Cha Yujin, who was lying face down and sleeping next to me, woke up while shedding tears. And Kim Raebin, who was lying behind him, also moved his body while sniffling.

“I happened to regain consciousness… I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to eavesdrop…”

“No. Sniff.”

“…”

The two guys who hadn’t consumed alcohol seemed to have regained consciousness quickly at the sound.

Ryu Chungwoo had a flustered face for a moment, but soon laughed it off.

“It’s my fault for talking in the middle of the living room. Don’t mind it and go in and sleep.”

But the two guys hesitated and left more words.

“Hyung. I will do better…”

“Chungwoo hyung is cool. You did well as an idol!”

“…Um.”

Ryu Chungwoo nodded with a complex and subtle face. I added a few words.

“I think they’ll listen to you well now, so wouldn’t it be okay for you to stop enduring and do it a bit more comfortably from now on? Leader.”

“…Do you have no intention of doing it?”

“Huh? I’ll obviously give up halfway and fail.”

“…”

Me being the leader? I would definitely get pissed off while doing it and cut off one or two guys.

Perhaps because he felt my sincerity, Ryu Chungwoo had a face as if he were at a loss for words. It was an expression of being somewhat absurd.

“…Whew.”

But soon, he replied bluntly with a much more relaxed attitude.

“…Okay. I understand. I’ll continue being the leader.”

“Wow!”

“Instead, you guys also stop me if I try to do something useless. I can’t just apply the brakes unconditionally anymore either.”

“Of course.”

Ryu Chungwoo muttered something like ‘Oh boy,’ then soon stretched and went into his room. His footsteps looked much lighter, perhaps because he had unburdened his heart.

And in the living room… only food waste and fallen human bodies remained.

“…”

“…Should we go in?”

“Yes.”

They would go in on their own when they woke up. I decided to leave them.

* * *

Immediately after TeSTAR unburdened their hearts and shared the joy of winning first place.

Fans waited until the news of TeSTAR’s first win appeared in articles and rose to the real-time search terms. It was because they didn’t want to kill the momentum of TeSTAR’s good news.

– For now, let’s keep sending inquiries.
– If they have any sense, they’ll prepare on their own.

Fans continued to demand feedback quietly through phone calls and emails.

However, in the end, they didn’t receive any feedback even after several days had passed.

– These bastards at the agency still haven’t come to their senses?

The public opinion that was simmering under the surface eventually exploded, and fans finally announced a statement toward the agency.

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[Statement Requesting Support for Artist Activities]
[July 10, 202X, the TeSTAR Fan Union Union criticizes the irrational operation of T1 Stars Entertainment and demands respect for the legitimate rights of artists and consumers (fans). Before debut…]
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Because it was not a matter tied to any single individual member, it combined even from the individual fan communities of all members, and the scale grew crazily.

To the fans who were steadily preparing fax and post-it protests as the next means if the statement didn’t work, fortunately, a response from the agency arrived.

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[Hello. This is T1 Stars Entertainment.]
[We are putting all our efforts into supporting TeSTAR’s activities, and the matters that fans are recently concerned about will also be implemented without delay…]
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It was a declaration of surrender.

Although there were fans who felt annoyed by the slight nuance of ‘We were already preparing and you overreacted!’, the atmosphere subsided somewhat at the talk that they would try to do something in the near future.

– As expected, do you have to beat an agency for them to listen…
– Honestly, if you didn’t make this fuss now, wouldn’t you be talking about the fandom name coming out only at the time of the second album? ㅋㅋ
Actually, I think so too ㅇㅇ
– Lightsticks are lightsticks, but please don’t schedule the kids’ comeback schedules like crap in the future. No matter how much you like money, stop squeezing the kids.
– If an article about a comeback within a month pops up again next time, I’ll send a protest truck, so just know that ㅋㅋ

The agency later hinted in an article as if they would try an -style event like ‘Fandom Name Chosen Directly by Fans,’ but it was sunk by the fans’ attacks.

– Please! Stop! Making us do it! We’re all tired of voting for stocks now, just let TeSTAR do what they want ㅠㅠ
– Stop the ghost now…
– Why do you keep trying to make fans do it when we have great genius idols who create the concept of a first-place song in no time? We just want to watch what the kids do and have fun.
– Right, we’ll just spend money, quickly print out some goods.

Fortunately, the agency did not test the waters further and prepared the schedule diligently.

So, on Friday of that week.

[Joyful has the National Stock come!]
[TeSTAR’s First W-Live]
[The Story of the Fan Name Given by TeSTAR!]
[7/15 (SUN) 3:00 PM]

An event banner popped up in a hurry.

– Wow, finally.
– ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Our kids are doing a W-Live now!!
– Persistence wins!
– Big Sejin talking on a crazy live, ahhhh ㅠㅠ
– Please, even if it’s super boring, let’s make it long.
– Those T1 guys, they know how to work since they’re a big company ㅠㅠ

Fans, who had barely seen the moving TeSTAR only on music shows, were very excited.

TeSTAR’s W-App channel, where only one teaser video had been uploaded, already started to have subscriptions pour in.

And at exactly 3 PM on the day of the event.

[Ah-ah!]
[Hello~]

TeSTAR turned on the W-Live.