Chapter 125

The coffee vending machine sat right outside B-liver's waiting room.

Ji Suho pulled two 500-won mix-coffees from the machine, handed one to B-liver's manager, and said,

"So — I heard you asked our kids about a challenge earlier…?"

"Ah, that. …yeah, we did, though."

B-liver's manager let his sentence trail off, voice a little awkward.

He'd tossed it out earlier thinking they might at least borrow some of Taehyun's buzz. But now that things had actually shaken out this way, he was starting to think that wasn't necessarily a great idea.

Team Lead Ji Suho, as if reading his mind exactly, turned slightly aside and lowered his voice.

"So — us doing a challenge with B-liver would be great on our end too…. As you know, Manager, we've been putting a lot of work into scrubbing Boys of the World off Taehyun. But right now, if a challenge with B-liver goes up, I think it'd give people all kinds of things to talk about — I'm a bit worried."

"Ahh…. yes, yes. I understand."

"But then again, if we bumped into B-liver and someone other than Taehyun did the challenge, that'd look pretty odd too…."

B-liver's manager, torn between wanting Miro Maze's buzz and finding Seo Taehyun too big a mouthful to swallow whole, pricked up his ears.

Ji Suho spoke with a decidedly serious expression, in the posture of someone consulting on a difficult problem.

"So — how about bringing Taehyun plus just one other trainee? We appreciate the offer, and from our side, a challenge with B-liver is an opportunity we don't want to miss…. Framing it as hoobaes rather than a Boys of the World thing would probably work out better for both of us."

"Ah, sure. From our side, it's basically promo either way. Which trainee did you have in mind, then…?"

At the not-bad offer, the manager's eyes lit up.

But if Suho put forward that problem trainee from earlier, he was ready to say no.

Something told him that trainee was a bad idea. Manager's instinct.

"That one over there. See the one not in a school uniform? His position happens to be dance."

Through the open waiting-room door, Suho pointed at someone.

Fortunately, it wasn't the problem trainee the manager had been worried about.

A blue-haired boy hanging in the back, no particular presence to him, one arm slung over another trainee's shoulder.

"Ah…. sure. Let's do that. We'd rather things didn't tilt too far toward Boys of the World either."

B-liver's manager nodded.

The B-liver members' singing might be a little — no, a lot — lacking, but their dance was good enough to hold up anywhere.

There was no way the Miro Maze kids had come in having practiced B-liver's challenge in advance, so as long as the spotlight tilting toward Taehyun got diluted a bit, it was doable.

Doable, sure. Under normal circumstances.

Kang Hajin genuinely thought that.

If Seo Taehyun and Lee Yugeon had been ordinary peninsular K-trainees, this wouldn't even be a contest.

Hell, if Lee Yugeon had just been in his usual heavily-debuffed 'Lee Yugeon Minus Mode,' Hajin would've stepped in and done it himself.

In front of Hajin's eyes, Lee Yugeon's stat window — newly refreshed after the third mission — floated up.

label: Lee Yugeon (Miro) Debuff: due to his innate trait, all stats are lowered Vocal: C (C+) Rap: measuring… Dance: A+ (S) Expression: B+ (A-) Charm: B (B+) Special: Copy & Paste (A+) — Set chance to fully make an object of intense focus his own Appeal Point: 'I still have twelve ships left' — Responsibility, tenacity, strong immersion

Yugeon at present was in what you might call 'Lee Yugeon Zero Mode' — almost every stat that had been running debuffed was back to normal!

All that whipping-into-shape paid off. Good call bringing him along today.

He'd sworn off blindly trusting the System entirely, but the fact was, at moments like this it really was convenient.

Until skills are back on the table, I should lean on this as much as I can while I train my own eye.

Right around when Hajin was thinking that, Ji Suho stepped into the waiting room and wrapped things up smoothly.

When the challenge came up, the B-liver members looked mildly put out but couldn't help sneaking glances at Taehyun.

Hajin patted the shoulder of a Seo Taehyun who seemed to shrink instinctively. Then, as everyone moved out of the waiting room for the challenge shoot, he leaned in and whispered to him,

"Yah. Don't chicken out. You're winning this either way."

"……."

"As long as you nail it."

At that, Seo Taehyun shot me another one of those what the hell is with this guy looks.

But I was sure of it.

There was no way this challenge cost us anything.

I could see that without bothering to run the stats.

"You didn't just goof off for three years, right? Just do what you've been doing. Same as always."

"…hyung has a really weird way of hyping people up."

Shaking his head, Seo Taehyun stepped forward with Lee Yugeon for the challenge shoot.

While I was watching them, my phone let out a short messenger chirp.

I checked it quickly — a welcome reply had come in from someone I'd messaged before heading over to the waiting room.

@ Miro_Upia_Seo Taeil sunbaenim lololololololol yeah~ i'll send it soon good luck on the stage today! fighting~ (emoticon: a vigorous fighting cheer)

…and that's another thing settled.

Now what?

After thinking for a beat, I motioned over the other trainees, who'd been watching Taehyun and Yugeon's challenge shoot.

"Double J, Sparkles. C'mere."

"…?"

"Let's go work the puffiness out of your faces."

"…puffiness?"

"You're gonna be on TV. Gotta look sharp."

"But, the — the shoot's already done…?"

Uh-uh. Wrong. We're going on TV again.

Watching them look up at me with those guileless faces, I gave them a bright grin.

---

Same hour.

The internet — once again — was refusing to sit quiet today.

Here, where the 'Sin Taepal Triple-Crown Crime Incident' had ripped through that morning and moved on, another fresh topic was already respawning right on cue.

And the ones opening the first salvo were, once again, I.dea.

title: [huh so upia's a #1 candidate today] the official just posted an announcement;;; - ? we're a #1 candidate? - ????us???? - passing i.dea, bewildered title: [looks like even upia themselves didn't know they were on the #1 shortlistlolololol] just got a pop-pop (paid messaging service) from nam daun lolololololol the boys just found out toololololololololol - upia's encore stage without upia here we go - lmao neither i.dea nor upia knew about upia being a #1 candidate... - who's the other team on the shortlist? > b-liver, they're making a comeback today title: [wait but the miro maze boys are on acd today too] acd today is a miro festivalllllll if choi yeonwoo had stayed on as acd mc, ntv would've just been miro's for the taking, what a wastelololololololol - miro's form is insane - han sewon must've saved the country in a past life??? - oh right, the MRMZ boys are on today too > wait i'm a newbie but why is miro maze called MRMZ? > when they were first figuring the name out, twom = felt off, mime = felt off, and since miro maze (= miro), someone said let's just go with MRMZ and it kind of stuck > oh so they just picked whatever ok ty

As word of Upia's sudden No. 1 candidacy spread, people took interest and each threw in their piece.

Among them were sigh-inducing troll takes like this one.

title: [am i the only one who's not feeling the current setup...] honestly they've had their fill by now, do they really have to be this thirsty about it? time to start giving the hoobaes some chances they're old now and still begging fans on pop-pop about really wanting #1 - it looks cheap and gross ㅠ the other team on the shortlist has a comeback today and hasn't been mentioned once, and now they're setting the mood like winning #1 is a crime lololololol that team really needs this #1 too, can't upia just step aside a little...?

It didn't fly, of course.

- so even the troll thinks upia's really gonna win #1 today... yeah... - did you know the 'i' in 'i.dea' actually stood for 'insatiable'? - yeah so we're in a tough spot too... what can we do, 13 years in and our boys are still white-knuckling their way through top-tier active status ㅠ ugh honestly... we'll go grimy and shameless and hit top-tier again, thanks for the support - and meanwhile the actual hoobaes, miro's next-gen trainees, are doing an acd special stage today just fine

I.dea, a 13-year-veteran fandom fluent in every kind of jab and smear campaign.

They were already plenty satisfied with the surprise No. 1 candidacy.

But the rule was — never back down from a fight brought to your door.

From their long-accumulated database, they already knew: if their boys didn't take No. 1 on A Countdown this time, from that point on they'd be prime bait for the actual trolls.

title: [let's really get our boys to #1 this time] honestly wasn't planning on doing much? but after seeing the troll takes coming in, if only for spite i've gotta get them to #1 lololololol even if it means dumping my whole paycheck in i'm getting these boys to #1 today no matter what

Awakened I.deas started rallying paid voting.

Of course, this No. 1 mattered just as much to B-liver, so their fandom wasn't standing still either.

B-liver had dropped their album the previous week, and thanks to a member health issue, only kicked off music-show promotions this week.

So while it was technically the second week of activities, they had to lock down No. 1 in this week — the week that would carry the concentrated firepower of a comeback's first show week.

Who, then, was going to take No. 1?

The situation had somehow become a pride war between two fandoms.

At that flashpoint, B-liver's and Miro Maze's official iTubes uploaded new content at the exact same moment.

A freshly-shot, still-warm challenge video.

title: [b-liver and seo taehyun challenge just dropped] - omg boys-of-the-world flashbacks ㅜㅠ these guys were cocktails, weren't they ㅠㅠㅠ - ? why's lee yugeon in this, he's not on the to-you-i-declare team > apparently he came along to shoot something for MRMZ, the official account posted a pic - boys-of-the-world output is insane ㄷㄷ

Two B-liver members dressed sharply in stage outfits and Taehyun and Yugeon in easy short-sleeves — from a look alone, the visuals stood in sharp contrast.

B-liver's choreography this time, built around a decadent-sexy-vampire concept, ran on the sultry, sensual side. Maybe that was why, at first glance, some viewers were momentarily thrown by the visuals of two visibly-still-kids 19-year-old trainees.

But that impression didn't last three seconds.

title: [wow seo taehyun and lee yugeon ripped the run or mine challenge] Taeri-day @tae_day #MiroMaze #SeoTaehyun #LeeYugeon B-liver - Run or Mine challenge [video] debut them right now, i'm losing it - these boys haven't debuted yet, right?? > yeah, still on the survival... - what do i do, han sewon really did save the country in a past life... - and look at that core strength lolololol the way they cut the moves is so alive - i need to see these boys debut and rip through every challenge that exists - kang hajin ju eunchan kim wonho, you're next... hand us your challenge please

The moment 'Miro Maze,' not 'Boys of the World,' was what got attached to Seo Taehyun's name, this fight was ours.

Kang Hajin had reasons for that confidence.

B-liver — freshly-debuted rookies who'd already lost their rookie edge long ago going through the B-light era.

Seo Taehyun, still young and green, running desperately toward debut. And Lee Yugeon, crushing the frame with physicality and presence that didn't lose out even to B-liver's grown-adult members.

Watching two groups this starkly contrasted, wasn't it obvious which side people would cheer harder for?

Anyone reacts to what's new.

Fans who love idols love dopamine, go wild for catharsis.

It isn't for nothing that there's a whole fandom especially fond of survivals and rookies.

…and B-liver's fans are no different.

A Countdown's live broadcast began.

Strapping on his in-ear pack as he waited for their turn to come back around, Hajin looked out over the audience.

From B-liver fans holding B-liver lightsticks to fandoms of every other idol on A Countdown today, the seats were packed.

"Hajin-ah, let's get ready."

"Yes."

At Suho's call, Hajin gripped the handheld mic and turned to head over.

Custom mics were still a fantasy from where they stood, so the one in Hajin's hand was the standard mic A Countdown provided.

Among the audience about to watch their live stage today, there wasn't a single Desti rooting for them, loving them.

They'd take the mic as No. 1 candidates in the closing in a little while, but the glory of it all belonged to Upia and I.dea.

But Hajin didn't care.

"Sad-Ending team. Focus."

"……."

"What's our goal today?"

"Make Destis!"

"Just because we're not going to air, don't half-ass it — do it more seriously than in the pre-record earlier. Got it?"

"Yes!"

"Sad-Ending team, stage in! Heading up now!"

Rookie edge?

No.

How about the venom of trainees who haven't even debuted yet.