Honestly, no one was fooled.
Goodbye!
Thank you~
The members waved their hands as they descended from the stage.
– Encore! Encore!
Bae Ha-young joined in the act, singing her heart out as if she were fooled alongside the college students.
Only then did the debonaire members come back on stage with satisfied smiles, starting the encore with the remaining song ‘Born Ideals.’
Bae Ha-young, smiling in response, diligently filmed Do-hee and the perfectly synced choreography with her camera.
Both fan cams and photos.
– Click! Click!
“Wow, the vibe is killer today…!”
With Do-hee’s powerful gestures, raindrops splashed everywhere!
“This is it!!”
The rain was like a natural special effect, the reappearance of the girl we loved back in the day.
Moreover, the sound system was fantastic today.
The voice was ringing out distinctly.
It was loud enough to pierce through the AR like a live performance.
Of course, except during the falsetto parts.
Anyway, when Seo-yoon belted out true high notes, the venue erupted in cheers.
It was a shame that they had only one encore song, having just debuted, but Bae Ha-young felt it intuitively.
‘Views are a given; photos and fan cams will be floating around on various communities!’
Debonaire scored big at this festival.
– Thud!
A loud bang echoed suddenly.
“Uh…!”
Home Mama temporarily forgot to take pictures in the dizzying situation.
Without needing to turn her head, Chiyo was on the ground next to Do-hee, supporting herself with both hands.
It happened so quickly, but it seemed she lost her balance and fell on the slippery stage floor.
“Oh, because of the rain…!”
The lucky part was that Chiyo managed to catch herself in time and avoided a full faceplant.
‘P-Please tell me she’s not hurt…?’
However, since she was trying to brace herself, the microphone hit the floor hard first, and the impact surely traveled up to her wrist.
“If she gets hurt during the final encore after doing so well…”
*
After finishing all the schedules and heading back to the dorms,
The car was filled with the scent of pain relief patches.
“Is your wrist okay?”
“I’m fine…”
The mood inside was also dim and heavy.
There was one reason.
“She could have fallen, right?”
“Yeah, she’s the one throwing the ball at her members while pitching.”
“Oh, why is that coming up here?”
“It’s one of the most impactful moments of my life. I’ll probably never forget it until the day I die…”
“Want me to give you amnesia?”
“Sigh, I can’t say anything to my unni.”
Fallen Chiyo got up quickly to keep performing, but unfortunately, Chiyo’s microphone broke and stopped working after hitting the floor hard.
Chiyo Unni quickly got up from her spot and went to the stage, but her mic broke when it hit the floor hard, so it wasn’t working.
Honestly, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Even though the mic was broken, the sound and vocals were still being monitored since AR was going on.
Falling like that was just a classic stage mishap that could happen on a rainy day.
“Still, Unni didn’t panic and did her best with the lip-syncing. For a first event, she handled it like a pro.”
Despite that, Chiyo Unni’s expression of regret was creating the current gloomy atmosphere.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t have done better either. And the fans are probably more worried about you now, asking if our Kim Chiyo is okay. Hurry up and post something on the official account saying you’re fine.”
“Yeah, let’s post it quickly.”
So, in an attempt to lighten the mood, Seo-yoon Unni and I cuddled up to Chiyo Unni, but.
“Someone commented on the official account asking if you’ve turned into watered kimchi?”
“Do-hee Lee, do you really want to read that right now?”
“No, I mean, it’s kinda funny—”
“Aw…”
“It’s not, okay? Sorry.”
That was the only response we got from Chiyo Unni, who still seemed like she hadn’t gotten over it at all.
Even when Na-eun Unni tried to comfort her with a serious tone.
“Hey, Chiyo, it’s really okay. Who in the world doesn’t make mistakes? Even perfect people mess up sometimes. If it’s bothering you that much, just work even harder from now on, right?”
“Umm…”
Even when Woo-ah Unni tried to soothe her.
“Stuff like this can just be overcome with more effort. Go home and eat something delicious, and let’s get some rest together.”
Same deal.
“Um…”
Chiyo Unni sighed deeply with a complicated face.
“Sigh…”
Eventually, after we got to the dorm, she locked the door and went in without a word.
—Knock knock
“Chiyo…”
Woo-ah Unni, wanting to comfort Chiyo Unni, knocked on the locked door, looking especially troubled today.
—Leave me alone…
Now that I think about it, Woo-ah Unni was so thoughtful since she was young… not at all like a child. Always dedicated and meticulous.
“Nothing we can do about it. You could catch a cold since you got wet, so quickly change your clothes and wash up.”
Woo-ah Unni nodded at me.
“This is my room.”
“Oh right.”
*
In my soundproofed room, there was no way to hear even a slight hint of activity from outside.
In fact, there was no sound at all.
But I got up from my bed and moved around.
It hadn’t even been a week since I had seen Chiyo Unni sulking in the living room.
Chiyo Unni seemed to gather her spirits during dinner and was eventually cheerful.
But honestly, someone with such an overly cheerful and vibrant exterior likely had an inner side that wasn’t so bright.
The possibility was high.
And the still young Chiyo Unni could clearly see that.
As expected, there was Chiyo Unni as I stepped out of the room.
Today, she was sitting alone at the dining table, considering her roommate Woo-ah Unni, silently crying. Tears fell along her tightly clenched jaw.
It wasn’t my first time seeing Unni cry.
Actually, rather than having seen it, I should say that I heard about it from Woo-ah Unni, who often witnessed Chiyo Unni swallowing her tears since her trainee days.
“I’m tired.”
As expected, Chiyo Unni only let out a sniffle after I made my presence known.
“Huh… Sniff, aren’t you coming?”
“Yeah, and I bet everyone is probably awake too. On days like today, after a stage filled with dopamine, it’s hard to sleep. Even if my body is tired, my heart just keeps thumping.”
Everyone is probably tossing and turning in bed, trying to fall asleep.
“…Really?”
“Yeah. Seo-yoon Unni and I are somewhat used to it, but for the older ones, today’s stage is their first time, right?”
“…I… I should go to bed.”
Chiyo Unni turned her head, wiped her face a few times with her sleeve, and stood up. She seemed to be concerned about Woo-ah Unni, who probably pretended not to notice her leaving.
But I had no intention of letting her go.
“…W-Wait!”
“Unni, it’s good to sleep, but tonight let’s sleep together in my room. I’m feeling a bit lonely after the stage. Humor your little sister a bit.”
I pulled her over and laid her down on my bed.
The soundproofing was perfect, so no noise would escape.
*
In the single bed, our bodies were huddled together.
Only the sound of Chiyo Unni’s lips brushing together could be heard repeatedly.
Silence flowed endlessly in the dark stillness.
“Unni.”
“…What?”
“If you don’t say anything, I can’t help you.”
And the silence continued again.
The stillness was broken by a hazy voice caught between sleep and consciousness.
“Do-hee, do you read comments about yourself…?”
“Um… Well, sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I really paid attention when I debuted with Seven, though, and most of it was positive back then.”
.
.
.
“But Unni. Does hearing only good things make you feel uplifted? It’s like being drunk. At some point, it feels as though the world revolves around you.”
.
.
.
“But during those times, everyone doesn’t realize that it’s their own perspective that’s spinning. But the moment you read the hate comments, it’s like drinking water, and your cold rationality slowly comes back.”
“…Do-hee-chan, have you ever drunk alcohol?”
“That’s not important right now.”
“…What?”
After a brief sigh, Chiyo Unni spoke first.
“But… saying hate comments are like water…”
“Doesn’t it sound nonsensical?”
The expressionless silhouette of Unni silently nodded.
“That’s true. But it seems like, after closely reading those hate comments, the essence might actually be water.”
“It seems like the essence is indeed water, if you think about it.”
“…Why?”
“Because it sounds more plausible than you’d think. Among the hate comments, there are a few that even I have to admit sort of make sense. They might be a bit extreme, but you could call them reasonable criticisms disguised as insults. After all, reason itself has the properties of water.”
“…So, what should we do?”
“What can you do? Once you step on the stage, you just have to brace for the rain. You can’t use an umbrella, right? The same goes for insults. If you’re afraid of being criticized when you’re on stage, that’s just not acceptable.”
“……”
“Of course, there are a lot more insults than criticisms, and the malice is closer to jubilation than reason. But hey, you did well today, Chiyo Unni. You didn’t shy away from dancing just because it was raining on stage, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“You did what you had to do. Even if you fell, you got back up and put in the effort. Lip-syncing or whatever, you did it seamlessly, right?”
“Yeah.”
I then gently massaged Chiyo Unni’s shoulders.
“That’s how it should be. From now on, let’s keep supporting each other, talking openly, and releasing stress together.”
“Yeah…”
Maybe feeling a bit lighter in her heart, Chiyo Unni’s voice softened.
“Do-hee-chan, sometimes you feel like an unni…”
“Yeah, yeah.”
And just like that, Chiyo Unni suddenly nestled into my chest.
“Here, I’m an unni too…”
“…Huh.”
Since she had a rough day, I could let it slide this time.
“Alright, let’s sleep now.”
“But I have another concern…”
“…What is it?”
“Our album is coming out next week, right…?”
“Yeah.”
“The rest of the titles will be revealed too… and the concept is just like today’s situation…”
Well, as Unni said, our second title was a dance summer song specifically targeting summer as June rolled in.
Like today’s stage situation, the music video was also supposed to feature scenes with dancing splashing around puddles.
“But, why?”
“I’m just worried that while people listen to the song and watch the music video, they might continuously associate it with me falling on stage today…”
“…That could be a concern.”
In fact, this song was Chiyo Unni’s main role and the one that showcased her the most since she was the only rapper in our team. Her image was crucial.
However, the scene of Chiyo Unni on the water had already left a distinct impression for better or worse.
‘Water kimchi or whatever.’
So if a similar situation played out in the music video, I could imagine quite a few people making that connection to Unni’s fall.
Of course.
“I can think of things that could overshadow that image…”
“…Really?”
Even though I couldn’t see Chiyo Unni’s expression, when she eagerly nestled against my chest again, it seemed her mood had improved a lot.
*
“Ugh, dealing with the wrong members is just hell.”
“Unbelievable…”
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