Chapter 247. Things I Forgot About (1)
The day after tomorrow, it would already be November.
I tried to recall the rough outline of our remaining plan in my head.
Aside from the digital single we planned to release as a surprise in early November, there was a mountain of things to do.
‘Did I… try to do too much for a rookie?’
Although *<Today’s Kairos>*, which had been running regularly, temporarily ended its season due to the year-end hiatus, another regular project started, so there wasn’t much room to breathe.
Not long ago, Jung Siwoo’s **[Title Removed]** was finally uploaded, and next in line was Lee Doha’s **[Title Removed]**.
*LET US RAP, HIPHOP*, and so on were criticized for their lack of appeal.
‘The response was good, so we can’t just scrap it…’
Jung Siwoo, who had been going on about singing audition songs, ultimately chose a lullaby for his final selection.
Specifically, it was a song by a foreign indie band with a lullaby concept. Since it was a song he had thought over for a long time, not only the members but also the company was in full agreement to keep the concept.
‘And that turned out to be a huge hit.’
Set against the dark night sky, the video of Jung Siwoo playing the guitar and singing by a campfire at a campsite surpassed 300,000 views within half a day of its release and was now approaching a million views, seemingly due to some algorithm.
I heard from the media team staff that the video was chosen by the algorithm as an unexpected ASMR video.
As the person who suggested adding ambient sounds and campfire crackling when planning the video, I felt about 30% of those million views belonged to me.
‘Wait. November? There was something important, wasn’t there? What was it?’
As I was pondering, a loud noise started to approach from somewhere. When I turned my head, I saw Nam Daun, who was quite drunk, approaching our table with soju bottles in both hands.
“Oh, my nephews! No, no! Am I the nephew? Uncle!!!”
“S-Senior, please….”
“Oh no, no. Since Hajin is Taeil hyung’s son, you guys are definitely my nephews!! Nephews!!”
As Seo Taehyun, who now flinched just at the word “nephew,” made a grimace, Nam Daun chuckled and patted us on the back.
“You did well today~ Thank you, thank you. So proud of you! Well done! Here, take a drink! I’ll pour!”
“Huh? No, we—”
“Hyung, are you drunk? These guys are minors.”
“Oh! That’s right, that’s right! Our nephew-uncles are still young!”
Just as Joo Eunchan, who was eating rice mixed in soybean paste stew, almost received soju from the senior, Kwon Sangrok appeared out of nowhere and took the bottle, supporting Nam Daun.
Kwon Sangrok smoothly nudged Nam Daun aside and handed him a cold water bottle instead of the soju bottle he was holding. Nam Daun, holding the water bottle under his arm, plopped down onto our table.
With wide, curious eyes, Nam Daun asked me,
“Huh? But why are there only four of you? Where are the others? Siwoo and Doha… and Yugeon?”
“Doha got dragged off by Senior Yoon Jinu earlier, Yugeon was taken by someone he knows on the senior’s dance team. And Siwoo hyung is….”
I silently pointed to the table where several directors and “elderly” people were gathered.
There was Jung Siwoo, drinking a bomb shot with a friendly face.
“He’s representing Kairos, doing some socializing.”
“Ah, I see. But Siwoo drinks really well. I even had a drink with him. How about you, Hajin?”
“I’m staying behind to take care of the minors.”
“Ah, that’s a good division of roles.”
Nodding to himself, Nam Daun looked at us with satisfaction. Resting his chin on his hand, Nam Daun asked, with a slightly more sober look,
“How’s idol life treating you? Is it as fun as you thought?”
To that question, Dan Haru, who had finished eating all the meat and was now tackling his cold noodles, quickly nodded.
“Yes! It’s fun. I like it.”
“Really? That’s good to hear.”
Nam Daun chuckled. Then, with a hint of nostalgia in his voice, he said,
“…I’m envious. Everything being new to you. We had times like that too. Right, Roka?”
“Hyung, you’re sounding like an old man.”
“Our Roka is too cold~”
Despite Nam Daun’s hurt tone, Kwon Sangrok simply sat down on the opposite chair without saying a word. It seemed like he joined us to keep an eye on Nam Daun, perhaps to prevent him from doing anything inappropriate.
At that moment, Joo Eunchan, who had been watching the situation, carefully spoke up to Nam Daun.
“Um… Senior. There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“Hmm? Ask away, ask away~”
“What can we do to stay together as a team for a long, long time? While getting along well.”
It was a simple question, but also an important one.
However, the fact that Joo Eunchan was the one asking it was a bit unexpected.
He was always so confident that he could do well and that things would go well, yet here he was, asking a senior from another team such a question in front of his own team members.
‘Was he really shaken up by that fight with Siwoo hyung?’
As I pondered that possibility and looked at Joo Eunchan, Nam Daun, who had been quietly thinking, smiled brightly and answered.
“Well? I don’t really know.”
“What?”
“We’re still figuring it out too. How to keep this team together for a long time.”
“But….”
“Some might say 13 years is long enough…. But for me, those 13 years went by in a flash. I just woke up one day, and here I was, this many years into it.”
Nam Daun leaned back, munching on a rice cracker that came as a snack. Kwon Sangrok, sitting across from him, also nodded slightly in agreement.
“We still enjoy making music together, and we still love performing on stage together. But who knows what will happen next year, or the year after? Some of us are starting to think about marriage now, some might have health concerns, or maybe some will feel more ambitious about their solo activities.”
“……”
“So, I can’t really answer your question yet, Chanie. You’ll only know when it’s all over. Maybe we’ll figure it out the day we have our retirement concert?”
I had thought Nam Daun was just a bigmouth who talked without thinking, but I guess Utopia was still Utopia.
It was impressive that even after 13 years in the industry, they could still say “we’re still figuring it out.”
‘How long… can we keep going?’
I often thought of the idol profession as being like a firework.
Brilliant and dazzling, but burning out faster than anything else, leaving only ashes behind.
How long, and how brightly, could the firework called Kairos burn?
As I was lost in such thoughts, someone else asked a question.
It was Dan Haru, who had by now completely finished his bowl of cold noodles.
“Then… Senior, what do you do when things get really, really tough?”
“When things were tough?”
“Yes.”
It was Kwon Sangrok, who had been sitting quietly, sipping on water, who answered that question.
“I couldn’t endure it.”
“……”
“I just struggled through it. I felt wronged, frustrated, scared, and miserable. I felt it all, just as it was. That’s the kind of job we have. Where you’re constantly talked about by people, regardless of the truth.”
Kwon Sangrok’s words brought a slightly heavy atmosphere.
Nam Daun, lost in memories, quietly lowered his gaze, sniffling. Though it seemed like tears welled up in his eyes, I pretended not to notice.
Looking at Dan Haru, Kwon Sangrok continued.
“But as long as my hyungs understood me, I was okay.”
“……”
“Sometimes even the fans would misunderstand or attack me. Those times were… pretty overwhelming.”
“……”
“But despite all that, giving up this job wasn’t an option for me because making music with my hyungs was more precious.”
“Roka….”
Hearing the touching words of the youngest, Nam Daun finally started to wail. Kwon Sangrok, unfazed, handed him a few tissues.
After listening intently to Kwon Sangrok’s story, Dan Haru asked him another question.
“…Then. Have you ever felt like you might not be able to make music with your hyungs anymore? Weren’t you ever scared that one day this stage might come to an end?”
Dan Haru, despite not drinking, spoke with remarkable honesty. I could see Seo Taehyun sitting next to him, a bit surprised by such a question.
Kwon Sangrok, hearing that question, quietly locked eyes with Dan Haru.
Two people with a nearly ten-year age difference stared at each other in silence, and Kwon Sangrok shared his answer with Dan Haru, who seemed to be struggling with the same thoughts he had a decade ago.
“I always feel that way.”
“……”
“So I do my best to delay that end, even if just a little.”
As he finished his answer, we heard Seo Taeil calling out to Nam
Daun and Kwon Sangrok from afar.
Kwon Sangrok thanked us for coming to the concert today and left the table, taking the sniffling Nam Daun, who was now clutching his water bottle, with him.
I watched my younger members, who seemed deep in thought, then grabbed a can of soda with just one sip left.
“Did you all hear that? We need to adopt that mindset and keep Kairos going for a long time.”
As I said this to lighten the mood, Seo Taehyun laughed and raised his glass of water. Dan Haru and Joo Eunchan, catching on, also picked up their drinks, just as Lee Doha, who had been called over by Senior Yoon Jinu, returned to our table.
“You’re back? Hurry up and grab a drink. We’re about to have a really meaningful toast.”
“Uh… sure.”
Lee Doha, his face full of question marks, picked up a drink, not knowing what was going on.
Just as we were about to clink our glasses, Lee Yugeon returned with a deeply tired expression.
“Oh, those annoying people. I barely escaped by pretending to go to the bathroom.”
“Yugeon hyung! Grab a glass! We’re about to toast!”
“……? We’re minors, you crazy people. Serving alcohol to minors can get the place shut down….”
“It’s soda, soda. Just grab a water glass or something.”
Relieved at Seo Taehyun’s hurried explanation, Lee Yugeon poured himself a fresh glass of water. He said that after smelling so much alcohol at the dancers’ table, he was so reminded of his part-time job days that he didn’t even want to touch a drink.
Now that everyone had gathered, it felt like we should call the one person who wasn’t here.
“How do we call Siwoo hyung? It’d be better if we all toasted together, right?”
“He’s already here.”
“Whaaa!”
“Hajin, you always react like you’ve seen a ghost when you see me.”
Somehow, without anyone noticing, Jung Siwoo sat down calmly next to me, holding up a beer glass he seemed to have brought from the other table.
“I saw that you guys were gathering without me, so I slipped away, leaving Suho hyung there. Kwon Wook hyung said we should call him when we leave.”
“Aren’t you drunk? You seemed to be drinking a lot.”
“I just pretended to drink moderately. You can’t just down everything they give you when dealing with the adults.”
In other words, he had been feeding them nonstop.
I once again thanked the heavens that this man was my coworker and not my boss, as I raised my soda can high.
“Anyway, we did a great job today. Let’s keep up the good work a little longer. Okay? Our goal?”
“Rookie of the Year!”
The sound of glasses clinking was quite lively.
As the members who had rejoined exchanged behind-the-scenes stories and shared their thoughts on today’s performance, the table soon became noisy. No matter how many acquaintances or respected seniors were around, it seemed the members of our own team were the most comfortable.
‘Should I call Kwon Wook hyung soon….’
I could see the eyes of Joo Eunchan, who was a high school student in a “new nation,” starting to droop. Even though we didn’t have any schedules tomorrow, I thought we should get up to manage our condition, so I was about to look for Kwon Wook hyung when Seo Taehyun, who had been discussing room diffuser scents with Jung Siwoo, suddenly remembered something and called out to me.
“Oh, hyung.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“Can you fill in for me as the MC for *Eka* in three weeks?”
“MC? Why? Aren’t we doing a music show that day anyway?”
Three weeks from now, we would be promoting our surprise digital single on music shows.
Why would I fill in as MC when we have a show?
Confused, I just stared blankly at him, but Seo Taehyun looked at me like he couldn’t understand why I was confused.
“What are you talking about? I’m taking the college entrance exam that day.”
“…Huh?”
“I told you before. I’m taking the entrance exam. Yugeon isn’t.”
“What’s the point if you’re just going to sleep? You said you’re not even going to college.”
“But I am going to college.”
“……What?”
It was only then that I remembered what I had forgotten.
November.
For idols, it’s the month of building up to the year-end,
But for South Korea’s students, it’s the month of the college entrance exams, the grand culmination of about ten years of buildup.
At that moment, I suddenly jumped to my feet, thinking about the only person around me who was currently living the closest to the “entrance exam” lifestyle.
“Oh, crap….”
“Hyung…?”
Did our Hawon get into college!?
Everything turned white before my eyes, like a parent frantically worrying about their child.