Chapter 126

Music shows have more teams on the bill than you'd think.

Because they've got to fill an hour-plus of runtime with stages only four minutes long apiece.

Which is why sometimes even old-fandom lifers get an opener where they think "…who's that?", and sometimes, when high-recognition teams pile up on the same day, you get moments of "wait, they're on already?"

Because of that, the number of viewers who camp the whole broadcast live from start to finish has really thinned out lately.

Why?

Because it's boring!

'Clips'll go up on iTube anyway, I'll just watch those…. or tune in for a sec when our boys are on and call it good.'

And there were people who had to endure that boredom on love alone.

Namely, the fandoms of the acts appearing that day, sitting in the live audience.

They'd already seen their boys' stage in the pre-record, screamed the fanchant hard enough to shred their throats. Out since dawn, running on fumes, wanting nothing more than to go home — but for the chance to see their boys' faces even one more time, they were holding down their seats to the end.

The target Kang Hajin was going after today — that was them.

Bye, Oh Bye!

Bye, Oh Good Bye!

Yeah, our end — the one we finally reached

Dan Haru's clear-as-a-bell high note rang out crystal-clean through the studio.

The broadcast was airing the pre-recorded footage, but the Sad-Ending team was doing every single thing 'properly' from top to bottom.

The wardrobe change from the first verse to the second,

the punishing dance break,

choruses, backing vocals, ad-libs — nothing got half-assed.

At the end of all those days that mattered, we—

at the end of all the time already gone, we—

It was a range he could sing standing perfectly still, but Hajin deliberately dipped his body a little and added action. Made it look more 'real' that way.

Like this, we—

really, just like this, we say goodbye

the end of us, who loved

After Hajin's strong suit — pure 'emotion' — burst out in a wave, Taehyun's soft, flowing dance lines pulled the eye right back.

Bye, Oh Bye!

Bye, Oh Good Bye!

Fully warmed up now, Seo Taehyun wore a wistful look and brought his fingertips to his lips. A slightly different move from the original choreo, which had him lightly kiss the end of his necktie.

Yeah, our end — the one we finally reached

Like a greeting, Taehyun blew a quick kiss to the audience, then gave the camera a bright, clear smile and a small wave. It was the ending Hajin had pitched right before they'd gone up on stage.

—Who's to say there isn't someone else here today just like me?

—Like you, hyung?

—Someone who voted for you back on Boys of the World.

Hi there. Nice to meet you again.

That was what Taehyun had in mind as he softly smiled. Watching him, Hajin hid a proud little smile of his own.

Hmm— hmmm—

The song ended with Haru's humming.

While Haru's pre-taped closing shot played, the Sad-Ending team quickly got to their feet and lined up in formation. Then, on Hajin's cue, they called out loudly,

"Thank you! We were Miro Maze!"

Only then did the audience fans in the seats feel like they were waking up from a dream.

Oh, right. This is a pre-record.

They're not going on air with this, right?

Watching the boys stream off the stage, someone was thinking,

'…I get why they're catching on lately.'

What was that one's name earlier? He was pretty good-looking.

They can definitely sing, that's for sure. Idols really do need skill first, no matter what.

Once that wave of thought started rippling, it wouldn't stop — it just spread wider and wider.

"Alright, next team, heading up to the stage now~"

The next team — also there for a pre-record — made their way up.

Their fans cheered happily and waved their lightsticks, but that intense Miro Maze stage from a moment ago was still lingering in a corner of the mind.

'Nothing to look at on the way home anyway — maybe I'll check out that survival show of theirs?'

And that was only the beginning — everyone here knew it.

---

The world of idols really is a ruthless place, isn't it. System is pushing its glasses up its nose, clearly intrigued….

What's this all of a sudden?

On the walk back to the waiting room after the stage wrapped clean,

Hajin looked at Thirteen — who'd shown up sporting a pair of glasses that suited didn't him at all — with an are you serious face.

A fan's heart truly is a reed in the wind, isn't it. Rooting for this team today, taking an interest in that team tomorrow, and then the day after that trash-talking yesterday's team….

Going through this and that with Hajin, apparently Thirteen had been putting some things together on his own.

Hajin quietly watched Thirteen ramble through his thoughts.

What is a 'fan,' truly? The idea that a single being can be endlessly loving and endlessly cold at the same time… Humans really are three-dimensional creatures, it seems.

Why the sudden philosophy?

I got too curious, so I listened in on what the fans in the audience were saying.

He'd been quiet for a while — apparently he'd been off on an audience field trip. Curious what the reactions were either way, I prompted him back.

So?

They were sharing a surprising variety of opinions. What was odd was that some of them were actually trash-talking the very idols they were rooting for. Complaining, like, "our boys are already getting cocky and half-assing it," and things along those lines.

At Thirteen's words, Hajin picked up his water bottle and turned it over in his mind.

Well. Like you said, people are three-dimensional.

A fan's heart.

Who could really define that?

Some people speak hard truths out of deep affection; others curse over trivial nothings.

Even a scolding that started in love could turn into pure violence the moment it went past a line —

and the people who had once pushed the hardest could sometimes become the thickest, sturdiest shield of anyone.

'What matters is — nobody knows our best like the fans do.'

Which meant that if the B-liver bastards pulled themselves together right now and gave everything they had on today's stage, the fandom bleed Hajin was banking on might not happen after all.

Conversely, the people who'd taken an interest in Miro Maze from today's stage would be ready to walk the moment the trainees fell even a little short of what they wanted.

'So what choice do I have? Just… give it my best.'

And today,

the best Hajin had to give wasn't finished yet.

"Guys, you memorized all the lines, right?"

"Memorizing them now!"

"I've been listening to this every single day lately, I already know the whole thing!"

"Good, good. Let's squeeze every drop out of today and go home. Once we're back, that brutal survival show is waiting for us all over again, you know."

"Ahh, hyu~ung…."

"I'd just finally managed to forget about ittttt…."

After patting down the sulky Haru, Jaeyoung, and Jayden, Hajin turned to look at Yugeon and Taehyun on the couch.

"Lee Yugeon, what are you, some kind of scissor-cutting machine?"

"You try helping your little siblings with their school assessments for a few years straight. See if your scissor game doesn't level up."

"…yah, that's playing dirty."

"…? What's your problem?"

Whether Seo Taehyun choked up over Yugeon's out-of-nowhere family-history strike or not, Hajin walked over to the pair and, eyeing the scissors and paper in Yugeon's hands, asked,

"Want a hand?"

"Nope. Hyung, you suck ass with scissors."

"…suck ass is a bit much."

"You're insanely, monstrously, out-of-your-mind bad at it."

"……."

"Take Seo Taehyun and go stick these up somewhere."

Yugeon pointed at the letter stickers he'd cut out cleanly. Hajin already had a record: the one time he'd picked up scissors, he'd forced Yugeon to redo the cutting twice.

Well aware of his own useless craft skills, Hajin silently crouched down on the floor beside Taehyun.

"Guys, you really don't have to go this far."

Suho watched the scene with his arms folded, wearing a face that couldn't quite decide between laughing and telling them to stop. But the trainees were already so deep in their own little world that not a word reached their ears.

Rather than trying to stop them, Suho lifted his phone and took a picture of the scene. Then he sent it straight to Taeil, who'd be shooting on location overseas right now.

@ me Taeil-ah. The kids are doing all this right now, saying they'll congratulate you guys if you take #1. What do we do? Really looks like you seriously have to lock down #1 today. @ Taeil lolololololololololol ah cute obviously we're getting #1, hyung you don't trust our i.dea?

"…every last one of them, seriously."

How did Miro end up with only guys like this.

These god-awful idol fates they've all got.

Thinking that, Suho pulled his phone back out to scout dinner spots to take the kids to once the recording wrapped.

---

"Fourth week of May — who's this week's trophy going home with?"

"Today's final results — let's~ see them!"

At last, the No. 1 announcement was here.

The whole lineup of today's acts had gathered on stage, with B-liver and the Sad-Ending team flanking the MC on either side.

The score-comparison feed went up on the screen. One side showed B-liver, currently on stage; the other pulled from the music video for Upia's 'I'll be there.'

No need to stick our faces up there before we've actually won the trophy.

Following the MCs' lead-in patter, the scores from each judging criterion were revealed one after another.

"First, revealing the streaming scores."

"Followed by album sales."

The numbers flickered as they scrolled — genuinely enough to make your palms sweat.

Upia led on streaming by a huge margin, but B-liver had the edge on album sales — it was going to be a watch-to-the-end situation.

"Hyung. Who do you think'll take #1?"

Beside him, Haru cupped a hand over his mouth and asked in a small voice. Watching the scores calmly, Hajin thought for a beat.

"Hmm…. hard to say."

Before he knew it, the pre-voting and broadcast scores were up too. Unexpectedly, Upia's broadcast score came in fairly high — probably thanks to Seo Taeil, Miro Maze's MC, and Cheong Hansol, who'd been on since episode 3.

Cupping his own hand over his mouth the same way, Hajin whispered back to Haru,

"Isn't it going to be the Upia sunbaes?"

Finally, the total with live votes added in was revealed.

"And — Upia! Congratulations!"

"This trophy will be delivered on Upia's behalf to the Miro Maze Sad-Ending team, joining us on stage today."

"Huh!"

At the perfectly-timed No. 1 news, Haru slapped both hands over his mouth like he'd been caught off guard. Hajin — as if he'd seen it coming — beamed and clapped loudly.

The MC handed the trophy and mic over to Seo Taehyun, whom they'd placed dead center on purpose. The looks on the faces of the B-liver sunbaes (bastards) watching from the opposite side of the stage were something to see.

You think Seo Taehyun's fans were just going to sit back today?

This was a fandom that had never gotten over Boys of the World failing to debut him.

There was zero chance they'd sit on their hands and let Taehyun end up standing lonely in the back of a music-show stage, clapping politely and going home.

And with the B-liver challenge having quietly reignited the rivalry, this wasn't ending as B-liver vs. Upia anymore — it was B-liver vs. Miro Maze too.

And since we might've been the stand-in accepters, there had to be Destis voting for Upia too.

There was no way B-liver's fandom — running out of Boys of the World mileage — could beat a fired-up Upia plus the current idol scene's heaviest firepower, the Destis.

If Upia had had the No. 1 candidacy stolen out from under them by Mr. Sin Taepal because they'd slacked on the pre-voting, maybe — but once you were on the shortlist, the No. 1 was already a done deal.

Hajin quickly pulled his gaze off the B-liver boys, who couldn't even manage their expressions properly, and gripped the mic that had come back around to him.

At the same moment, the other trainees whipped out the sheets of paper they'd been carefully hiding at their feet and unfolded them with a snap.

〈Upia and I.dea's love… maybe it really is eternal☆〉

〈✧ Congrats — Upia's 13th-Anniversary Fansong #1 — Congrats ✧〉

〈We respect you, sunbaenim. We love you, teacher.〉

**

It was the placard Yugeon had been snipping away at ever since the challenge wrapped, and that Hajin and Taehyun had stuck together with fingers rubbed raw.

Using that berserk glow-in-the-dark placard as his backdrop, Hajin opened his mouth.

"Yes, hello. I'm Kang Hajin, currently appearing on Miro Maze. I feel truly honored — deeply moved, honestly — to be able to celebrate this No. 1 with our Upia sunbaenims here today."

Speech chops that never failed to make people forget he was still a trainee were on full display, as always.

Without a hint of nerves, Hajin locked eyes with the camera and picked up the pace of what came next.

"Since we don't have much time, let me quickly read out just this one thing. Someone asked me to."

Then Hajin pulled out the phone he'd stashed with him before coming up on stage and, in that warm voice of his, began to read something.

"'To our I.deas, who've never wavered in building our Utopia for us across thirteen years. Hi? Once again today, you've gone and given us another miracle.'"

A piping-hot message from Seo Taeil himself, flown in across a full 13-hour time gap!