On March 18th, the members found out about the canceled extension a bit too late.
With less than a week until Seven’s concert, Mwave and Shock Entertainment officially announced the disbandment news.
[Project girl group Seven to disband at the end of the month without an extension (Summary)]
In other words, Seven’s concert was now the last event before their disbandment.
Fans finally understood why Mwave’s parent company, LE, had been keeping a vague stance while igniting expectations of a possible extension for Seven’s disbandment.
Articles surfaced claiming that there was a chance of extension if the Gocheok Dome sold out.
Not just at the concert venue’s goods shop, but also online without limited quantities, fan goods—so-called MDs—were being sold ahead of time.
It seemed that the official disbandment announcement, made after the concert refund deadline, was done intentionally.
LE was seeing fans solely as a source of income.
[There’s still a possibility of extension, really]
[Honestly, seeing how they work makes me wanna say they’re idiots]
[Can’t the companies just unite…?]
[The kids are struggling a lot too…ㅠ I can’t take it]
[Honestly, I kind of saw this day coming]
Fans, expressing various reactions, weren’t about to stay quiet.
They communicated about doing something and spent an entire day drafting a statement.
They demanded a stance from each member’s agency as well as Mwave and LE.
Truck protests, SNS campaigns, and fax protests.
They initiated cancellations and refunds for MD purchases currently in processing.
But, of course, it was expected that the disbandment wouldn’t be reversed.
LE had experienced countless incidents like this before and knew it.
Eventually, things would cool down as time passed.
The world was simply filled with countless issues.
More importantly, LE had a very straightforward justification.
They claimed it was just proceeding according to the contracts, reflecting the intentions of each agency.
What mattered was the deceit towards fans, but they obscured the essence as if the disbandment intent of the agencies was the issue.
And LE immediately took a stance of complete non-response, insisting they bore no responsibility for the disbandment.
Such evasion of responsibility from LE had a direct negative impact on the members.
[You say a boycott will hurt the members?]
-Then isn’t it more hurtful for fans who’ve supported them for almost two years to be treated like fools without any action, even when articles like that come out just five days before the concert?
[We’ve added to the statement]
-Expressions of intent to boycott derived groups, re-debuts of existing groups, and solo activities, along with strong demands for an extension to each agency while supporting the seven as one group.
It was a declaration of boycott, stating that if the members left Seven, they wouldn’t even support them, let alone watch.
It was a comet declaration.
Anyway, since LE would be unaffected, the members were just going to cling onto it.
And then, like it was timed just right, some gossip started to rise through the community.
[They reportedly strongly opposed at Topist]
– I heard it from an acquaintance working at Shock Enter.
[Honestly, the big three companies probably weren’t too concerned about the extension]
– They have plenty of talent to pick from, so not having it is no big deal, right?
[Reasons why Topist is strong]
– Honestly, Do-hee has specs that are ridiculous for the idol industry, and Seo-yoon was definitely someone who would have debuted even if she went to one of the big four. In other words, Topist can’t afford to lose these two. Plus, since it’s been ages since they released a girl group after Pastel Love, they’re in a hurry.
The story goes that the extension fell through because of Topist.
[Exclusive) Seven, the stance varies by each agency, set to disband as planned]
And there was an official article that said opinions were divided among the trusted agencies.
Thanks to LE’s planned obstruction, some toxic fans quickly caused a split.
[Ye-eun and Hana have become outcasts]
– They stubbornly insisted on forming a girl group at Topist, lol.
If those two go back to a small agency, it’s going to get awkward, but the members of the big three can’t fail due to their solid fanbase. Sigh…
The Topist members are so selfish.
[I’ll support other members if they disband, except for the Topist members]
– Don’t break my beliefs.
└ Well, originally, my bias isn’t in that agency, so I agree.
└ Whether you support them or not, Topist kids will do just fine without you.
└ Lol, seeing Do-hee working on songs and being busy while asking to meet just one more time makes me want to throw up.
Since the fanbase was born from a survival program, it was even more effective.
Of course, new rumors followed to counter these rumors.
[Hana and Ye-eun are both reportedly discussing moving to JS]
– There’s talk that Hana and Ye-eun placed buyout offers to the company at JS.
If that goes through, they’ll likely re-debut as girl group members along with Sara.
[JS hasn’t shown interest in an extension either]
– Well, considering how much money JS rakes in overseas, would they want to give up the buzz of someone like Sara to start a new girl group? How much would LE and Shock Enter even split? More importantly, with Sara, Hana, and Ye-eun, it’s basically a Seven unit.
This was also a rebuttal-filled post intentionally raised based on facts from Topist.
Fortunately, the issue of Topist opposition calmed down a bit as that information gained traction.
But by then, the atmosphere had already turned into a mess.
It seemed that the spot where Seven and the fans should have gracefully shared their beautiful finale had ultimately been ruined.
*
“Want to drink?”
“Do you want a drink?”
I brought the drink that Unni usually enjoys.
Before the stage, Seo-yoon Unni, who had been too nervous to drink, smiled faintly when she received it.
“Hey, do you remember when we first went on stage? Na-eun Unni was super nervous, not me. But as time went on, I started to feel pressure too.”
I remember.
At first, Seo-yoon Unni was too busy teasing Na-eun Unni and me; she wasn’t the nervous type.
“Just try to be a bit like me. Since every stage is perfect, there’s no reason to be nervous.”
“Perfect? That’s just your delusion.”
Seo-yoon Unni chuckled.
“But strangely, I feel less nervous today. Weirdly.”
“That’s only because it’s your passive ability, Seo-yoon.”
“Whatever, go check your in-ear.”
“Yay~”
Nodding, I looked around the waiting room for a moment.
Yesterday and the day before.
Outside the Shock Entertainment building, protest trucks sent by fans had been rolling through.
Our disbandment news and LE’s wrongdoing had made headlines in the entertainment department.
Comments on my personal SNS said fans wouldn’t come to the concert, along with harsh criticism.
Yet, there were also comments vowing to support us until the end.
And still, we were filming the last behind-the-scenes, taking photos for SNS, checking in-ears and electronic gadgets, tidying makeup and outfits.
It was still a routine scene.
‘Do the fans still feel the same way?’
Even if I tried to stay calm, the truth was I felt anxious.
‘I’m no different.’
With my heart pounding, I stepped out of the waiting room towards the audience.
As I crossed over the partition of the stage, I saw the audience seats behind me.
Gocheok Sky Dome was filled with nearly 20,000 fans, almost no empty seats in sight.
The chilly spring breeze and various excited sounds echoed and swirled around.
It was an uplifting feeling that washed over me.
My heart kept pounding unnaturally.
For some reason, tears welled up.
Wiping away tears as if I were about to get scolded by the makeup teacher, I made a dash back to the waiting room.
My hair wouldn’t get too messed up, right?
Or else, I’d be in trouble with the hair teacher.
But even if it got messy, I’d still be pretty, so it’s fine.
Anyway, as I rushed into the waiting room, I found myself the center of attention from the staff and members.
With a great burst, I entered and caught the gaze of the staff and members.
Something was off, but sometimes, like now, emotions take the lead.
Honestly, there wasn’t much difference between the members and me.
Except I was a bit prettier.
“Uh… um! Shall we do that cheer together now?”
For some reason, I wanted to shout our cringy Seven cheer today.
*
A high school girl, a fan of Saven, was idly wiggling her fingers.
Although there were people around, the atmosphere was certainly peculiar.
‘I should enjoy this.’
I had promised myself not to come to the concert to forget Saven, but the thought that I’d never see them again made me toss that promise aside.
Were the people next to me feeling the same way?
She took out her lightstick from her bag and mindlessly turned it on and off.
Beneath it dangled a newly bought keyring.
‘It was cheap, so… refunding it wouldn’t matter.’
I knew that, but I wanted to keep at least a piece of the last memory.
Worrying if anyone would see, she subtly covered the keyring with her hand, glancing at the person beside her as if she were struggling to breathe.
Luckily, the concert hall finally darkened.
At the same time, the LED screen burst with bright light.
The opening VCR began to play.
With the sound of fireworks, an English phrase appeared.
[Saven days a week]
The theme of this concert.
Saven days a week.
Together with Saven all week long.
I thought it meant we’d always be together in the future.
And that wasn’t wrong.
‘It meant I’d think of them every week…’
In a way, it could be seen as a final goodbye.
Because it’s better to dream than to interpret.
The high school girl poured all her mind into the VCR without worrying about anything else.
A city where the ground and sky were inverted appeared.
Without a soul on the road, Do-hee was walking, and the members were wandering separately in solitude.
A sense of loneliness and isolation.
The members each discovered something and ran towards it.
And when the members’ faces hit the screen in 7 segments,
As they touched the symbol, light burst forth, and the members appeared.
The VCR wasn’t particularly special.
Instead, seeing the members appear, happily pointing at the fans in the audience, I couldn’t help but smile.
They were definitely pretty and cute.
I couldn’t get angry.
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