Chapter 88:


    [Give me courage now, Ille to you-]


    Seon-young, who naturally hugged the teddy bear and spun around toplete the choreography, also seemed to have heard the screams, as her lips were lifted more than usual.


    Did Seon-woo hear them too? He was worried that he might get nervous or startled, but he calmly matched his back with Seon-young and performed the choreography.


    [You know, I want to be more than friends with you.]


    As Seon-woo walked briskly to the left side of the stage, the male backup dancers surrounded him and highlighted him like aic book hero.


    [Should I confess casually, as if its nothing? I want to tell you now!]


    Seon-young also moved to the right and was surrounded by the female backup dancers. Sky blue teddy bears and pastel hearts filled the background.


    [Maybe Ive been waiting for this moment.]


    Then they both did a cute pose and danced adorably, then walked towards the center.They sang in harmony, as if they had nned their movements beforehand.


    [Ill say it first, I like you!]


    The moment they held hands, the audience shook as if there was an earthquake.


    He knew that thebination of paper confetti flying like snowkes and the pretty siblings who looked like dolls would be powerful, but


    He didnt expect them to be so ecstatic.


    The reaction is amazing


    It was a resonance that couldntpare to what they did in the rural seaside vige.


    He stared nkly at the stage, where the most lovely things in the world seemed to be tightly packed together, and felt a strange surge in his chest.


    Jealousy? It was a different feeling. When a chef ate a delicious dish, he wanted to digest the recipe and recreate it in his own way. When a writer read a well-written piece, he wanted to write too, and his heart tickled.


    He also felt his heart surge when he saw a great stage.


    Can we get that kind of reaction too?


    He was confident in the choreography, concept, and quality of the n. Not to mention the music that Yi-jun produced himself, the lyrics that they all wrote together were also wless.


    But if he was asked if he was sure to elicit the fanatical response of the fans he wasnt.


    Hes be a toothless tiger.


    When he was young, he had nothing to lose and nothing to get worse here, so he clenched his teeth and challenged and ran,


    When he got older, he used his experience to wisely seed in only the businesses that he could.


    He lost his confidence because


    Is it because this is not a matter of my life, or


    Because it was a situation where he would be game over if he didnt seed at once.


    He couldnt find the answer himself.


    As he felt the strange surge while looking up at the stage, the song was slowly ending.


    [Hello, I greet you shyly.]


    [Hello, I start my day with your shy smile.]


    The song had a non-sequitur structure, and followed the initialposition, where the two stood symmetrically and spun around.


    [Today I have a good feeling. Because I met you in the morning.]


    [Today I want to give you a special greeting]


    The backup dancers wrapped the two like wings and drew a heart with their arms. Finally, once more, bang-! White powder flew from the sky and the two threw the teddy bears they were holding to the audience.


    [Ill say it first, I like you!]


    The stage was over. Even after the apaniment ended, the camera zoomed in on the two of them, capturing their every move.


    Seon-yeong made a yful face, biting her lip and winking with her right eye.


    Seon-woo, who had apparently rehearsed it beforehand, tried hard to wink with his left eye, but couldnt quite manage to close it.


    If they wanted to match the ending fairies with a wink they should have checked if they could wink properly first.


    The audience burst intoughter, but it seemed more like a reflexive reaction to their cuteness than a mockery of Seon-woo.


    I thought to myself that I would scold himter, but the corners of my mouth were smiling warmly.


    Then, I heard a click, a shutter sound from somewhere.


    What?


    I turned to the source of the sound and saw Kyunghwa taking a picture of me with his phone.


    Do you know what your expression was just now?


    What, what did I do?


    I shrugged my shoulders, feeling wronged. Really. Of course, at first I was a little jealous and wanted to go on stage and get some apuse.


    But that didnt mean I wanted to sabotage the stage or do anything nasty.


    You looked like a father whos sending off his youngest child to get married.


    Kyunghwa showed me the photo he took as evidence, and I saw myself looking at the stage with moist eyes.


    But I had an excuse.


    That wasnt because I was moved by Seon-woos sessful performance, but because the pink background reflected on my pupils.


    Thats not true.


    I ruffled Kyunghwas hair, teasing him.


    Whats wrong with you? Do that to Seon-woo, not me.


    Kyunghwa quickly pushed my hand away. Sometimes I saw him getting along well with Yi-jun, so I thought he didnt mind physical contact.


    But he was always prickly with me.


    Fine, fine.


    I didnt want to make a big deal out of it, so I nodded vaguely and looked at the stage again.


    Thank you so much foring today!


    Thank you!


    Thank you very much, and we love you~.


    We love you!


    I wondered where they got that synchronized speech from. It was amazing. But then I saw that Seon-yeong was saying the words first, and our youngest was just repeating thest sentence like a parrot.


    So, are we going back to the waiting room now?


    Yeah. We can eat, take a nap, and rest until the broadcast.


    That reminded me of the snack bar burger that I had been eyeing since before I came.


    There was a special homemade burger that was only sold at the basement snack bar of this ce, and I was curious about it.


    There were evenizens who said they wanted to debut just to eat this.


    I headed to the waiting room first, walking briskly.


    ***


    Phew, I didnt make any mistakes, right?


    Seon-woo, who had barely pulled off a perfect recording, came into the waiting room a littleter than us.


    He had sweated so much. I couldnt see it well from below the stage, but his cor was soaked.


    Hey, you did well. Now just wait until five and rx.


    I patted Seon-woos shoulder and casually set the stage.


    Are you not hungry? We should have lunch


    Lunch? Are we going out for lunch!?


    Seon-woos eyes, which had briefly lost their color from fatigue, regained their spark in an instant. This guy He was really as obsessed and stubborn about eating as I was.


    Yeah, lets go and eat quickly.


    I looked at the time and it was already past 2 p.m. I was surprised that the rehearsal and pre-recording took longer than I expected. Some groups had to spend more than four hours on the rehearsal and recording process, depending on the stage.


    What the hell How can they record for four hours? Its not like the cast is anyone other than the group members and backup dancers. They shouldnt have any schedule conflicts.


    It was quite a mystery. Well Maybe Ill get to experience it myself someday, but for now I put my curiosity aside and headed to the cafeteria.


    Seon-woo, Kyunghwa, and I went down to the basement cafeteria and saw all kinds of idols already upying the seats.


    I dont know most of these faces.


    I knew there were a lot of idols in Korea, but I didnt know there were this many.


    A few months ago, Climax would have been treated like nobodies.


    I avoided the awkward nces of the rookies who seemed to recognize us.


    The old-fashioned seniors would ask why we didnt greet them and try to act tough, but we were in an awkward position.


    We were too unknown to be seniors, and we were too old to be treated as rookies. We debuted five years ago.


    Maybe thats why we were considered as rank-breakers.


    And thats why the other rookies didnt greet us either.


    They just nced at us and looked away.


    If Yi-jun was here today, he would have gone around the whole neighborhood and greeted everyone.


    I felt tired just thinking about it. I would put on a sales smile if I had to for business, but I didnt want to do any unnecessary sales.


    Three special burgers, please.


    Kyunghwa ordered naturally and reached out his hand to me for the card.


    This guy I knew it since I first saw him on the rey service, but he expects me to treat him like a baby.


    I was shocked at the time, but I didnt hate him that much now.


    Besides, his financial situation wasnt very good, so I wondered if there was anything I could do to help him.


    I would wee it if he epted some financial support and shared the leader role with me.


    It wasnt my money, but I had plenty of it. The problem was that there were too many things in the world that money couldnt solve.


    Eight special burgers, please.


    I handed over the card instead and the cafeteriady asked.


    Are you two ordering together?


    What? Why eight all of a sudden?


    I realized then that Yi-jun at home wouldnt stop at one.


    Yes. Please pack five of them, and well eat three here.


    Okay. Ill do it right away.


    Thedy hummed a tune and swiped the card. Kyunghwa looked at me with a puzzled expression.


    I thought it would be nice to take some to the dorm. I think Ill eat one more when I get home.


    I dont really need to eat at the dorm.


    Yi-jun wont eat just one, you know.


    Oh.


    Kyunghwa nodded as if he agreed. That was true.


    I waited for about 15 minutes. The vibrating bell that thedy gave me rang, and Seon-woo quickly grabbed the tray and dashed to the counter.


    Dont you think were bothering him?


    I got up from my seat, feeling like the two older guys were picking on the visual member.


    Ill go and help him. You stay here.


    I left Kyunghwa behind and walked towards Seon-woo, who smiled at me with a bright face when he saw me.


    As long as youre happy, thats fine. I looked at Seon-woo leisurely, gazing at the distant mountains, but my face turned sour in an instant.


    That idiot didnt notice the table leg on the floor and swept the ground with his shoe sole as he walked, tripping and losing his bnce.


    Hey, watch where youre going!


    I ran to him with all my reflexes, but unfortunately, one of the three burgers that werent wrapped flew into the air.


    Damn.


    What should I do? If it fell from that height, it wouldnt keep its shape.


    Ugh, Im so sorry, hyung!


    Dont cry! Did I make you feel bad?


    As I reached out for the burger, someone snatched it with a light and swift gesture.


    What?


    I looked up to see who touched our burger.