Save a Failed Idol’s Life

I woke up from a brief nap, but my mind was still groggy.

On the screen, I saw two pictures of myself that looked like they were taken with a phone camera.

[The Beauty That Makes You Lose Your Mind]

(Picture)

(Picture)

What’s with this embarrassing title? 

I scrolled down awkwardly and saw that the number of shares exceeded 10K.

“Huh?”

There were more than 7,000 shares and 4,000 posts that quoted and added to the original post.

One picture was from when I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand because of the sweat on stage, and the other one was taken before I signed an autograph.

“Why is this getting so many shares?”

In the first picture, I tried to smile brightly, but I slightly frowned because of the sweat dripping from my eyebrows.

The second picture showed even more fatigue on my face.

“I don’t get it… I just look tired.”

I had no idea why everyone liked this so much.

“Am I getting bashed and shared for that?”

I was an idol who had to show a good image and smile in front of people, but I looked grumpy on stage. 

I wondered if I was being criticized for that.

“What are you talking about? Wow, you’re totally natural, natural.”

“Natural?”

I had no clue what he meant. 

Of course, Cheonise’s appearance was quite unique, but…

How did the face of a handsome man exhausted by fatigue move the hearts of the public? 

I was full of doubt.

“Wait a minute, I’ll check it out too.”

I logged into the monitoring account and checked the original post. 

The writer was an account that had been liking Climax for a long time.

They were young kids who had chosen a hard path.

As I scrolled down more, it seemed like it came from a hip-hop crew that was close to Oh Ye-jun.

[Climax｜K-Hip Hop (Pumble Orange Center) I Like It｜Daily Life and Other Things]

It was a small account with less than 20 followers. They seemed to be surprised by the sudden attention as well.

[I’m not a fan accountㅠㅠㅠ I came to see the performance when they were filming in the neighborhood and took it by chance. Please don’t follow meㅠㅠㅠ]

To know how the public opinion was going, I had to read the quoted posts.

[- Guys, I’m adding one more to my list today]

[- Isn’t this his second life? How can he smell so good at twenty-fourㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[- I want to add one more hardship to his tough life]

[- This picture changed his life and mine too…]

[- Good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts good thoughts]

[- You must have made that face because you were on stage, but I made that face because I saw you]

[ㄴ○○, he’s not your oppa]

[ㄴI decided to call him oppa ten minutes ago]

Do they like me? 

I still looked at the screen with suspicious eyes.

“The response is really good, right? It’s already a mess in other communities.”

As Oh Ye-jun said, I searched on the portal site and saw that it had already spread to various entertainment communities.

[The male idol who caused a stir on Twitter with his picture]

[The sexy idol Cheonise whose picture changed his life]

[The male idol who makes you shout good thoughts tonight]

“What does good thoughts mean?”

I moved away from the screen with a flustered expression and Kyunghwa asked me with a frown.

“Why are you applying the concept to us?”

“Concept?”

I tilted my head in confusion and Kyunghwa answered as if it was obvious.

“It means sexy. Don’t act like you don’t understand.”

“Oh.”

I was about to ask, me? but I closed my mouth. I didn’t know about Lim Hyun-seong, who was over forty, but Cheonise, who was twenty-four, had a face that deserved to be called sexy by the general standards of beauty.

“I get that it’s sexy, but why do they like it so much?”

The other members’ pictures that the same account posted were also shining brightly. But they didn’t cause such a big buzz and impact.

“Maybe it’s because you have something we don’t, like mature charm?”

Oh Ye-jun, who was sitting next to me, leaned in and scrutinized my face.

“Now that I think about it, hyung, you really changed a lot lately.”

“What did I do?”

Of course, there was no way they would find out that the person inside had changed. But I felt a little uneasy and my heart thumped.

“Do I look more mature than before…? Ah, I don’t mean you lost weight. Don’t misunderstand.”

Then, Seon-woo, who had been looking at the SNS screen with curiosity, agreed.

“Right! Hyung, you changed a lot. You care more about me than before, and you became more reliable…”

“Before, you were like a childish neighborhood hyung, but now you feel like a dad.”

“Like you would scold me if I don’t eat on time?”

I couldn’t help it. Their parents were actually my age.

“Did you post anything on SNS?”

The manager, who had only heard the occasional noises from the back, turned around.

“Yes, the middle school kids who came earlier posted it and it’s a mess on SNS and communities.”

“Wow, how lucky you are. You’re riding the wave. Last time, it was because of Seon-woo’s sister and Kang Yugeon.”

It might look the same, but it was completely different.

Unlike last time, when there was another factor that attracted the public’s curiosity, this time, it was purely because of our own power.

“I’ll give you my phone, do you want to do a live broadcast for a bit?”

“Sure, why not?”

Kyunghwa reached out his hand to the driver’s seat.

“Wait a bit, can you see the traffic jam ahead? I’ll give it to you when the car stops.”

“Okay.”

Is it okay to do a live broadcast without any notice? I asked with curiosity.

“Can we just start a live broadcast anytime?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not like we have a regular schedule.”

“Then what’s the difference between a regular broadcast and a live one?”

“It depends on whether we have a fixed content or not, and the number of viewers. Why are you asking like it’s your first time?”

Well… it was my first time indeed. I answered with a feeling of being hit in the spot.

“What do we do when we go live?”

“Just, you know, explain the situation, thank them for liking us, tell them what we did today, what we’re going to do tomorrow, that kind of stuff. We’re not going to do it for long anyway.”

Kyunghwa glanced sideways to see how far we were from the traffic jam. Then he took out a mirror from his bag and checked his face.

“You guys should also check if you’re okay to be on the screen. It’s not just Cheonise who’s going to show up.”

Seon-woo, who had been silently looking at his phone, took the mirror that Kyunghwa handed him and opened his eyes slightly.

That guy… he always looked so smug with his handsome face.

“Okay, I found it. Hurry up and say hello and wrap it up.”

The traffic jam had started and the manager finally found the phone for the live broadcast and handed it to Kyunghwa.

“Ah, first of all, I’ll test the video.”

An unexpected appearance, and an unforeseen ripple effect was starting.

***

We finished the live broadcast in the car, and went back to Gimpo from Busan airport. 

When we got back to the dorm, we were exhausted.

Not only me, but the other members had done too much in one day. I couldn’t get myself together when we got to the dorm.

“Ugh~, I’ll use the bathroom first.”

Oh Ye-jun rushed to the living room bathroom as soon as he opened the door. He would come out with a towel around his waist and get scolded by Seon-woo. I didn’t want to see them fight when I was tired.

“Kyunghwa, go to the room and get his clothes.”

Seon-woo had taken over the big room bathroom and Kyunghwa, who had no choice but to lie down on the sofa, flicked his wrist.

“In a bit…”

“Ugh…”

Like Kyunghwa, Seon-woo hugged the cushion and flipped over, whining like a dog.

“Have some dignity as a human.”

“Leave me alone. We worked on the farm all afternoon and then performed on stage. It’s strange that we’re not drained.”

That was true.

We had so many viewers coming in as soon as we turned on the live broadcast that we couldn’t hide our expressions.

‘What? Wait a minute, did I see the number wrong?’

Everyone was surprised by Oh Ye-jun’s unfiltered remark and checked the number.

As soon as we started the broadcast, we had almost twice as many people as the salad recipe incident.

There were also some chats that looked like foreigners, which we hardly saw in the first broadcast.

[- SO ADORABLE:)))))]

[- Omg He’s Perfectly What I Waiting For.]

[- YEAYYYYY <3]

[- ENG SUB PLZ]

The spelling was clearly English, but there were many sentences that I couldn’t read. 

They were probably Brazilian or Italian.

I felt that I had done more than I planned for the day.

The result was so immediate that I couldn’t hide my joy.

Let’s calm down. I was so excited that I was afraid I might make a mistake. I finished the short live broadcast with a nervous feeling.

It was because the mini van had arrived at the airport parking lot.

‘I still don’t know how this picture shook the fans’ hearts so much.’

I looked at the picture that the polite middle school friends had posted until I fell asleep.

It was mine now, but it wasn’t originally mine. 

The face that was not mine was shining brightly on the stage.

‘Did I make that expression…’

On the stage, all I could think of was doing my best to PR myself.

This is us, please remember us like this for a long time. I was so emotional that I felt like I wasn’t myself.

‘I feel embarrassed when I think about it again.’

Of course, this was also a precious opportunity, but it was a ridiculous thing to get so heated up.

But even if I went back to that moment, it would be the same situation.

I wasn’t the only one who emitted desperate energy on the stage.

Even Son Seongwon, who sang so hard that his veins popped out on his neck, made me restless.

‘Was I always the type to be swept away by the atmosphere.’

Usually, I wouldn’t have been so excited.

Then I suddenly thought that it was meaningless to distinguish between the past Lim Hyun-seong and the present Lim Hyun-seong.

Even if I was a hybrid mixed with Cheonise, it was a fact that I survived and had the awareness of Lim Hyun-seong.

People change when the environment changes. 

Habits and personality gradually adapt to the situation.

‘I’m wasting my time with unnecessary thoughts.’

I fell asleep with the sound of water from the bathroom as a lullaby.

Behind the unexpected opportunity and luck, tomorrow’s tasks were waiting for me.