A Failed Idol’s Rise to Bottom

"Oh for me, thank you."

Sugyeom's face brightened at Yuchan’s unexpected act of handing him a water bottle.

Sip–

After silently drinking the water with a straw for a while, he smiled contentedly.

"Ah, I'm alive."

Sufficiently hydrated, he looked at Yuchan next to him.

Yuchan had wide shoulders and slender arms and legs, so he looked like a model no matter what he wore. Sugyeom admired his appearance again even though it was the same Yuchan he saw everyday.

"You look good in a hanbok."

"Hyung too."

"Thank you."

Sugyeon wasn’t wearing any insoles today, so Yuchan was above his eye level and he had to look up when he smiled. Yuchan also smiled back.

Because Yuchan rarely smiled, Sugyeom's eyes widened at his reaction.

“Aye, Sugyeom is getting married."

Minseong, who had appeared from somewhere, said in a teasing tone.

"Don't tease me."

"You look like a little bridegroom."

"Ah, don't tease me!"

Having already noticed Minseong’s mischievous tone, Sugyeom had warned him, but he teased him regardless.

He glared at Minseong resentfully, but his reaction was simply to laugh.

"Sugyeom, it’s true."

"What do you mean? No, don't explain, just don't."

"You look like a child doing the Puppet Dance at a school festival."

(Note: Puppet Dance / 꼭두각시 춤)

"…If you tease me one more time, I'll bite you. I have strong teeth."

Sugyeom responded coldly and even bared his even, white teeth. However, Minseong only smiled calmly at his threat.

What was more shocking was that even Yuchan next to him was smiling quietly.

"Hey, why are you laughing?"

"I’m not."

"It's not funny but you're still smiling now!"

"It's just my mood, my mood."

"How can this just be your mood?!"

Sugyeom fumed at Yuchan like a chihuahua. Not knowing what had made Yuchan laugh further, he growled as he looked up at him, who was much taller.

"Sugyeom, why are you so upset?”

"Taewon-hyung! Minseong-hyung and Yuchan keep teasing me!"

"Not only Minseong-hyung but Yuchan too?"

With Taewon's appearance, Sugyeom, as if he had met a savior, rushed to him and began to explain what had happened. After hearing the story, Taewon showed an apparent look of surprise.

"Ah, you see! He's a bit taller! So he looks down on people! I'm average, what's wrong with this? This is so unfair, aigo. Aigo."

Sugyeom felt that the time was ripe as he clung to Taewon and exaggeratedly complained of his injustice. Soon, Taewon quietly smiled.

"Yuchan was in the wrong. Why are you making fun of Sugyeom when he’s still growing? He’s still in his growth period.”

"What?"

Still growing?! Did he just say still growing?!

Sugyeom's eyes became sharp again. Taewon naturally didn't care about his resentful eyes. He continued to say things that scratched his insides.

"Once Sugyeom grows 6cm taller, he'll be 180cm. Just wait."

"You mean 5.8cm taller. My height is 174.2, not 174! Don't subtract 0.2!"

Taewon abruptly laughed when he heard Sugyeom’s obsession with the decimal place.

Sugyeom hit Taewon on the shoulder with his fists, but his small cotton fists made no difference no matter how many times he hit. Rather, his action made Taewon smile even more.

His appearance made Taewon want to tease him further, while he, who didn’t know this, gritted his teeth, vowing to repay this humiliation one day in his heart.

* * *

The photo shoot went smoothly. Since it was only to be used for the fancafe and press releases, it had proceeded faster in a more relaxed atmosphere than commercial photo shoots.

Fortunately for Sugyeom, as Songha had said, most of the shots had him sitting down. There were naturally times where he had to stand in the middle. At such times he would raise his back as straight as possible and slightly raise his heels.

"Well done!"

Words to signify the end of the photo shoot erupted. Sugyeom and the other members also thanked the staff for their help.

The group immediately moved to the agency soon after. In the first place, the route was short so they could do a live broadcast after the hanbok photo shoot.

"Wa, it's chaotic."

Hansol shook his head as he got out of the van.

Sugyeom also fully agreed with his opinion. No matter how easy the photo shoot was, in any case, he had to be on his toes because he had to model. And he was even more anxious knowing that he would be going straight to a live broadcast.

He wasn’t particularly nervous during live performances. On the contrary, it was always nerve-wracking to communicate with fans live. It was because if you make a slip of tongue by chance, you can't take it back.

Walking along among the other members, he tried to calm his anxiety.

"Come, everybody take your seats. Let's fix your makeup."

Yungyeong, who was in charge of makeup, shouted as if she had been waiting after the group entered the conference room where the live broadcast will be.

She hurriedly went around among the members with her makeup kit and fixed their makeup. It fortunately didn't take too long. After the corrections were quickly done, she took her kit and stepped back.

The promised time with the fans was almost near.

Sugyeom prepared what he wanted to say in advance.

First, he was going to say a greeting to welcome the new year. He also recalled the community reactions he had seen yesterday.

Fans were likely to ask about the shadow kiss that had happened on stage. Next, he thought they would ask about Yuchan, who had just become an adult.

While a few expected questions were sorted out, the broadcast time came.

"Stay focused. We're going to start the broadcast now."

At Minseong's remark, Sugyeom took a deep breath and looked at the camera. He naturally didn't forget to smile.

As soon as the broadcast began, the leader Taewon would give a greeting. Sugyeom focused his mind so as to not miss the timing.

But at that moment, an idea suddenly came to mind.

Just in time, the broadcast began and Taewon spoke.

"What's this planet?"

"Hello, we're U-PITE!"

Following Taewon's lead, the other members shouted their group name at the same time.

At this time, Sugyeom was originally to emphasize ‘U!’ and gesture towards the fans with his palm. However, he made a gun gesture with his finger and pointed at Igyeom instead.

Igyeom widened his eyes in surprise, but Sugyeom smiled as if he knew nothing.

As a result, the comment window exploded as soon as the broadcast began.

[What? What was that?]

[Pink-Gyeom pointed at Black-Gyeom, right??]

[Oh my what's this so cute]

[Can't we say hello like this from now on? It's so cute]

[Kya~~ I love U-PITE♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥]

[I love U-PITE : )]

[Gjr it started]

[I've been waiting for oppas!!!!!]

[Pink-Gyeom's pink hanbok is so cute it's driving me crazy]

[At this rate it's going to be Pink-Gyeom-Pink-Gyeom…if it's like this we need to pick out a name for Sugyeom-Pink.]

[Hello guys]

[Happy New Yearㅏㅏㅏㅏㅏㅏㅏ]

The fast-moving comment window was eye popping. Sugyeom couldn’t read it well because it was moving so fast, but he was pleased at the many reactions that seemed to have thought his gesture was cute.

"Sugyeom must be in a good mood. He changed the way of greeting himself."

"That's right, I feel good. So I pointed to Igyeom."

Sugyeom responded skillfully to Taewon.

"But why Igyeom? A viewer asked."

"Ah, I just did it without realizing it. Was it because Igyeom was in front of me? Strangely, my eyes went there."

Sugyeom did it for Gyeom-Gyeom’s fans, but he pretended to play innocent because he knew it could backfire if he said it too openly.

The comment window went wild again. The vague answer seemed to have stimulated everyone’s imaginations.

[What do you mean that's where your eyes strangely went…]

[That's called love, Sugyeom..]

[Awesome]

[Pink-Gyeom, Black-Gyeom was next to you, not in front of you…Just say your instincts led you]

[Black-Gyeom was surprised by Pink-Gyeom's sudden expression of loveㄱㅇㅇ]

[Gyeom-Gyeom prevail again today]

Reading the comments, Sugyeom tried to suppress his smile and pretend like he didn’t know what they were talking about.

When he glanced at Igyeom, he could see that he still seemed embarrassed but was trying not to express it.

"A viewer asked yesterday's performance was so pretty, but whose idea was it? I guess you're talking about Igyeom-hyung and Sugyeom-hyung's performance? Please answer."

Hansol asked the two while reading the comment window. It was a question Sugyeom had expected.

He smiled playfully and tapped Igyeom on the shoulder.