Save a Failed Idol’s Life

“What are you doing? Checking the comments?”

He was so calm even though we had such an important task ahead of us. Ye-jun, who had just returned from the boxing gym, was hovering around me.

“Uh, I’m just monitoring the feedback.”

I planned to skim through the YouTube comments by popularity and recency, and then check the subscribers’ reactions with a fake fan account.

“Let me see too.”

Soon, the members who surrounded me were shining their eyes. 

They weren’t just excited. 

They also looked worried, as they weren’t completely stupid.

“Isn’t it better to watch it on your own? It’s not like there are only good responses…”

“I think it’s better to watch it together and get over it quickly.”

“Oh, me too, I thought the same…”

Seonwoo was fiddling with his sleeve, hesitating. 

Maybe this was better than secretly checking and hiding the hurt.

I nodded, picking up a tablet PC instead of my phone.

“If we’re going to watch it together, let’s use a bigger screen.”

“When I count to three, we scroll down to the comments!”

I wondered why we were so tense about this… But maybe it was because we had never produced a solo content before. We all had high expectations.

I’d rather have hate comments than no comments. But I wish there were more positive comments.

“One.”

“Two,”

“…Three!”

As the short countdown ended, the latest comments started to load.

[-What the heck, you uploaded a solo content without any notice?ㅠㅠㅠ I’m not complaining, but I’m out of breath with the 20-minute full-length video]

[-What about the catㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ It’s a cheat code for views from the first episode]

[-Ise’s side mirror glance and parking in one go without looking at the rear camera was so cool…]

[ㄴI don’t have a license, so is it hard to park a big car without a rear camera?]

[ㄴIt’s not hard, but usually people in their twenties don’t have much driving experience and use a rear camera from their first car, so it’s rare!]

[-10:39 It’s the first time in my life that I wanted to be a calf]

[ㄴThere’s no CG here, right? Why do I see a halo every time I watch it;;;]

[-Solo content??? Solo content??? Is this a dream? Did the agency finally push for itㅠㅠㅠㅠ??? I thought I was going to die of thirst]

[-5:23 Ye-jun, your sister is lying here]

[ㄴThank you, you saved a person today]

[ㄴWatch 6:11 too, it’s heaven]

[ㄴI’m crazy… I want to lock him up for life and hang a mosquito net on the ceiling]

[-Seong-won looks like a baby ice bear, I’m going crazy with the kitten on his lapㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[ㄴThings that Son Seong-won is afraid of: geese, corn with worms, (NEW!) ghosts, (NEW!) kittens]

[ㄴIt’s just a cat, if it was a restless dog, he would have KIJULed while filming;]

Maybe it was because there were many fans of Oh Ye-jun. I could see a lot of comments about Ye-jun’s arms and abs that showed up occasionally while we were renovating the house.

Was it because they were hired internally and not from outside? They edited it exactly as I expected, catching the points.

The goal was to make all the members stand out, so I asked them to adjust the length evenly.

“The feedback looks good, right?”

“Yeah. There are more comments than I thought.”

Everyone sighed with relief at the explosive response. Everyone except Kyunghwa.

‘This episode…, Kyunghwa’s part was too little, wasn’t it?’

Wasn’t it? Now that I think about it, Kyunghwa did have a spot in each scene. The problem was…

‘He didn’t have any highlight that would catch attention.’

He had been the MC whenever we needed a host, so he had a minimum of spotlight.

This time, there was no MC, so we had to provide our own eye-catching attractions.

Ye-jun captivated the viewers with his jokes and good body. Seong-won received a lot of cuteness with his handsome scaredy-cat image, following his appearance on Today’s Hometown.

Seonwoo, well… His face did everything, so he made people swoon with just one scene of feeding milk. I didn’t have much expectation, but it seemed like I got the best driver image.

I could park perfectly without a rear camera… Well, Ise wouldn’t know, but I got my license before the 21st century.

‘He was the only one who couldn’t appeal his characteristics.’

Even so, I didn’t expect him to be ignored like this. The others didn’t notice that Kyunghwa wasn’t mentioned, and started to chatter.

“Are we going to film again in two days? I want to go soon. Next time, I’m going to bring some cat toys.”

“Don’t bother.”

“Don’t ask me to lend you anything when you get there.”

“I’ll bring some too, so you can share with me! Don’t worry, Seong-won-hyung…!”

“Hey, what does that make me?”

I glanced at Kyunghwa’s face.

“…”

“What?”

He asked me with a stiff expression, feeling my gaze.

“I was wondering if we should prepare the script and editing more specifically for the next time.”

“Why? The response is good now. There are already a lot of comments. It’s been an hour, so there will be more. People didn’t know about the solo content, so the rumor will spread and more people will come.”

This kid. He talks more when he’s nervous and has something to hide. I could see right through Kyunghwa and answered him.

“You didn’t have any scene that made you stand out this time. The show is all about what you show to the viewers. If you send a scene that highlights you, you’ll get a lot of comments.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. The important thing is that the group does well. What does that have to do with anything?”

He acted like he didn’t care. If he was someone else’s kid, I would let him dig his own hole and leave him alone.

But he was my kid now that we were on the same boat. It was my role to manage his mental state for smooth cooperation and activity.

“It’s not just for you, but for all the members to get known evenly. That was the goal of this solo content. I mean, let’s do better next time according to the purpose. Don’t stress too much.”

I meant not to feel pressured. But maybe it backfired. Kyunghwa didn’t reply. Instead, he sighed briefly.

“Fine. I’m done with monitoring. I’m going to do a mask.”

“Hey, we have a shoot tomorrow, so don’t worry and go to bed early.”

“You take care of yourself. Don’t stare blankly when you’re in the same room with Seonwoo.”

Why did he suddenly pick a fight with me? I let Kyunghwa go and wondered. Did I say something out of line? Or…

I don’t know. How can I know what the kids are thinking like a waterway. I decided not to think too deeply and picked up my phone again.

Before I knew it, Seong-won had escaped from Seonwoo and Ye-jun, saying that his intelligence dropped when he was surrounded by them.

The other two were busy looking for cat toys together.

‘Come to think of it, Seong-won seemed to be conscious of the cat until the end.’

I remembered the kitten that followed only Seong-won around, and how small and frail it looked.

Seong-won couldn’t leave the front of the barn until we finished the paragraph and left the country house.

“What’s wrong?”

I asked him curiously, and he stuttered without spitting out his words.

“Hyung, do you…”

“Do I what?”

“Never mind. Just a sec, I need to make a call…”

He fiddled with his phone for a while in front of the barn, then shook his head as if giving up.

“You’re making a call, move aside?”

“…”

What did he want me to do? Thump thump, I watched Seong-won rolling his feet, and he turned his head without making a call.

“Never mind. Let’s go.”

He seemed to want to ask me if he could take the cat with him.

I understood his feelings, as he followed it around for two days and it looked so weak.

But it would be troublesome to have a cat at the dorm. And it would be awkward if we had to disband because of a bad comeback result.

I couldn’t bring myself to say yes, so I pretended not to know.

‘Young animals tend to be weak when they’re young, but they grow up to be strong.’

Maybe it would get healthier if I brought some supplements or snacks every time I went.

I wrapped it up with that and looked at my phone screen again to check the SNS response.

[- What the heck, you released a solo contentㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ without any surprise? I don’t hate solo content, but the agency sucks at their job and shows it… ᅲᅲᅲ I mean, solo content is good

… It’s good, but…]

[ㄴThey don’t do this when they upload other groupsㅋㅋ They tease a month before… I’m so mad because they show their true colors]

[ㄴAh… I’m so stressedㅠㅠㅠ I’ll just look at the good things. The kids look so happy, I’ll just believe in this]

[ㄴOther groups are really… They’re the undisputed number one, so they get different treatment. I know that, but I’m sadㅠ The kids must be sadder than me ㅜㅜㅜ]

[- Ise, driving… driving… You have a car, huh :)…]

[ㄴNooooooㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ]

[- The editing sense here is crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

(Photo)

[- He kept whining that there was nothing to eat, and then he put the solo content in his mouth right away. This means he wants me to stay here and not go anywhere, right?]

[ㄴ○○, you’re amazing… It’s a cliché plot and a cliché story, but I love watching itㅋㅋㅋㅋ Whoever planned this did a good job]

[ㄴRightㅜㅜㅜ I watch it like a friend and it’s so com-fort-able. And it’s good to watch before bed too]

The SNS side also… pointed out the lack of promotion, but they liked the content itself.

I mean, I’m not that sad. The others were the same. I wish they wouldn’t assume negative situations and be sad.

This was something… I couldn’t show on the show and I just had to bury and move on. I had to take care of it more carefully from now on.

As I read on, a question popped into my mind.

‘Why is the reaction to driving ‘nooooo’? On YouTube, they were going crazy about parking and reversing.’

I’ll have to ask Kyunghwa later. He doesn’t look so good right now, so I’ll leave him alone.

I’d like to check the entertainment community as well, but I had to wait until midnight for searchable posts to come up.

I’ve done everything I had to do today. As they say, preparing for tomorrow’s shoot was more of a priority.

‘I guess… I have to take care of myself too.’

I swallowed my dry saliva and headed toward Seonwoo and Ye-jun, who were in sync.

“I have a favor to ask you guys.”

They usually did me favors when I asked. They had nothing to owe me. They were surprised by the unexpected situation and opened their eyes wide.