After the broadcast of the debonair self-content ‘MT edition’, various clips started popping up strangely in communities and social networking services.
[SHORTS]
[Little did everyone know, debonair leader Na-eun wins everything in bets]
[The real reaction of a girl idol who downed three shots in one go, LOL]
[Chiyo bolts after the earthworm taste review]
.
.
[Debonaire/Do-hee, Seo-yoon | ESTP vs ENFP]
[Seo-yoon/Woo-ah ─ When a Confucian girl and an MZ join forces]
Of course, debonair had already appeared on numerous variety shows since their debut, always bringing home a clip or two, generating quite a few issues, but this time the response seemed even bigger.
─414 million views
In just one week, they recorded a view count way higher than most popular variety shows.
That buzz was already being fully felt by Do-hee’s home mama, ‘Dol Ahyee’, in both society and at her company.
“Did you see it, Ha-young?”
“Oh, uh, no!?”
Her SNS account is ‘Dol Ahyee’.
She was one of the 70,000 followers of the famous home mama Do-hee, making and selling various products related to Do-hee, such as dolls and booklets.
But rather than making money, it was merely a hobby because in reality, she wasn’t born with a silver spoon.
Instead, she was more of a small citizen named ‘Bae Ha-young’ who often cosplayed as an ordinary person and critiqued the workplace they were in, struggling to manage expenses incurred while following the group around.
“Seriously, just watch them; they’re hilarious. It’s not pointless being a celebrity; they feel like they’re going to make it big.”
“Ahaha, really…? I caught a glimpse, and they’re super lovable, though.”
Bae Ha-young pretended not to listen and took a step back to hear the conversations of her colleagues.
“Who’s that? Is it Na-eun? She’s totally my type; she looks like my first love.”
“Come on, your first love, really…?”
“First love is supposed to be romanticized!”
“Try saying that to your wife… Anyway, I really liked that girl Chiyo, though. She has this otaku-vibe look that hits the feels, plus her personality is all bubbly.”
Anyway, I really liked that Chiyo there. I mean, she has this appearance that really resonates with an otaku vibe. Her personality is so lively too.
So, these regular folks are clearly showing signs of getting interested.
I saw on Instagram that Woo-ah is also pretty popular among them. That girl really has charm.
Of course, the most debonaire and knowledgeable Bae Ha-young was internally screaming while her mouth just twitched at the explosive spotlight directed at our kids.
‘This is bad… it’s an emergency! Regular folks are starting to know about Debonaire! Just a little while ago, when Debonaire was mentioned, they’d go, “Oh, that’s the group with Do-hee and Kim Seo-yoon, right?” and now they’ve memorized other members’ names too! Shit…’
“Shit!!!”
“Ha-young?”
Looks like I let my true feelings slip out a bit.
“Oh. The client’s person was pressuring me to get it done by today, so I suddenly got angry.”
But she managed to brush it off cleverly.
“Ugh~ those guys again? Aren’t they always in a rush, but they keep shortening deadlines arbitrarily? Those unprincipled bastards. So what happened?”
“I made it clear that it’s absolutely not happening. They think we’re their subcontractor.”
“Good job, good job. You’re so sharp.”
This time, the client was unjust, but since their typical behavior was like that, Bae Ha-young thought they deserved the criticism as she started finishing her lunch.
And she caught snippets of conversation again.
It seems the coworkers really loved how the Debonaire members appeared in the self-content.
“Dorahee and Seorahee are obvious, and Kimchi sushi—no, Kim Ji-su—is a newcomer who you wouldn’t want to mess with… Woo-ah and Na-eun also seemed enchanted… The impact was inevitable.”
“Right, right. Even if they don’t show it, it’s a variety show, and since it’s self-content, it’s great that they tried to make it fun… Plus, they were so polite to the staff too! Sniff… such sharp little puppies…”
“Agreed. They kicked off their first stage with the perfect flirtation. Which girl group puts a thumbnail of themselves begging for forgiveness? Do-hee is the best… but why does it feel a bit sad that the thumbnail seems to immediately show their identity…?”
But of course, when people gather, there’s inevitably someone who voices a contrary opinion.
A male colleague who looked like he had no interest in idols cut off the conversation because the topic wasn’t engaging for him.
“But aren’t they singers? Then their songs should be good.”
“That’s true, but didn’t you think their debut song was good? I thought it was amazing.”
“Well, it wasn’t terrible, but… I don’t know. There are better ones in hip-hop or indie music. Should I recommend some?”
“Shall I recommend something?”
“Ah… well, go ahead.”
Excited colleague.
“These days, Will George and Jess are trending in the hip-hop scene. Oh, Jess is in the R&B genre, right? She won the Grammy Rookie Award last year and topped the charts on Apple Music. You must have heard her, right? Of course… Well, those who don’t know… Yeah! Anyway, there’s this Korean indie band called Akangs that’s doing really well and frequently performs in Hongdae. They started as a high school band!”
“Ah… Hongdae is nice.”
‘Hah, has this guy completely lost his social skills?’
Of course, Bae Ha-young completely understood that there’s a difference in taste and preference among listeners.
Given that even chart-topping songs have mixed reviews…
But amidst everyone’s lively conversation, she wondered how to deal with this guy who keeps interrupting to only speak his mind.
‘Seriously, what was the hiring manager thinking when they accepted this guy?’
Bae Ha-young quietly built up her internal complaints against the company while listening, and eventually couldn’t hold back anymore.
“I read an article saying that these days, idols are spending a lot of money on their songs, so the quality is good. They’re bringing in indie songwriters and famous overseas composers.”
“Well, that’s true since NND became popular. I heard that RepRoh created that structure.”
‘What is he talking about? That existed since the early 2010s.’
“But not everywhere, and just pouring money into something doesn’t guarantee it’s good, right? If you listen to hyper-pop, well… I think I should play it for you next time. By the way, when are you free? Let’s go see a live performance together.”
He’s even trying to flirt slyly.
“Actually, of course, the music quality is better. Live performances are essential instead of lip-syncing, plus they play all the instruments themselves. There’s that resonating feeling, you know? Unlike idols, they compose on their own, while idols are usually overhyped based only on their looks thanks to viral marketing, right?”
Bae Ha-young was holding back, ready to speak up.
‘High school band? What a load of crap.’
Do-hee would do it a hundred times better.
After all, she was top of her class at the arts high school.
But it was the married deputy with a five-year-old daughter who spoke first.
“Hey, do you lack common sense? What you know isn’t everything, so if you’re going to live with your eyes and ears closed, at least keep your mouth shut, okay? Why don’t you find some articles? My daughter keeps asking me to buy her a piano just like Do-hee Unni’s, and it’s giving me a headache.”
“Ha ha, Mr. Deputy, just send her to an academy. She might be a genius.”
“Exactly.”
The surrounding staff seemed to be trying to lighten the mood, so they decided to hold back on their words.
It seemed like the atmosphere was lightening up, so I decided to hold back my words.
After all, this was just the starting point for Debonaire.
I believed that the members would showcase their skills in the upcoming albums and programs.
And since the first time we met Do-hee during [Judol 3], she had never disappointed the fans even once.
Just then, my phone buzzed.
It was the vibration indicating a message from Do-hee’s communication app.
I felt a flutter of excitement.
Bae Ha-young lowered her head and took out her phone.
[Genious Producer Do-hee: Uh-hum]
The moment I saw the message, cuteness erupted a smile from me.
[Genious Producer Do-hee: The cherry blossoms are so pretty today, right?]
It was a long-awaited nickname spoiler.
‘Is she going to write another trailer-like piano piece this time? Or a proper album track…?!’
I was sure there would definitely be a contribution from her in this album.
*
“…I can’t take your phone away.”
I mimicked Chiyo Unni’s tone a little in front of the Director’s reprimand.
“I’m sorry…”
“Speak properly.”
Guess it wasn’t this one.
Chiyo Unni usually got away with it like this.
“I won’t do it again; I’m sorry… I was thinking about what message to send, and Seo-yoon Unni kept bothering me, so I just let it out…”
I’m so jealous of Kim Chiyo!
“Sigh… Anyway, filming starts tomorrow, so I won’t take your phone. Write a full page of reflection, and for a few weeks, don’t post any pictures on Instagram.”
“But my 13 million followers are waiting for my pics…”
“Thirteen million?”
“Yeah, it’s been growing again lately!”
“…That’s great.”
Especially with the whole situation of the Pastel Love seniors disbanding.
And with the X-ten seniors going into hiatus.
Plus our album is set to be released in two months.
It’s a busy time.
The Director’s dark circles seemed especially deep today for some reason to be joking around.
“Yep.”
“Anyway, it seems like the fans still have no idea that this is the title, so let this slide just this once. We’re filming again starting tomorrow.”
It felt like I was back to being a trainee student after a long time.
“Can I trust Do-hee?”
“Of course. Actually, since there’s no Self-Content this week, I threw out some bait. I was worried the fans would get bored. It was a very strategic and meticulous fandom management.”
“…Okay, I’ll believe it.”
But honestly, the Director looked like they weren’t buying it.
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