Chapter 78: Showcase (1)
It didn’t take long to realize that Manager Lee Jaeyoon was not just a kind person, but also very good at his job.
After shooting the showcase VCR, we had to go straight to rehearsal—an insanely tough schedule.
Everyone had slept only two or three hours at most, so we were all practically dying.
Manager Lee Jaeyoon was waking everyone up with caffeine.
He patted Ha Junseo’s back and helped him sit up.
“This is… Junseo’s coffee. I put in three shots for health.”
“It’s decaf…”
Huh?
“Seo Haim, chocolate latte.”
“For Seohan, a weak Aricano.”
He’d learned each mber’s preferences in just one day, and was preparing everything so cleanly there was nothing more to worry about.
It’s my first debut in this life, so I don’t know well... but at that level, wouldn’t he be a top‑1% manager?
“Thank you.”
I lowered my head and accepted the weak Aricano.
I needed to wake up, but I didn’t want to gulp down the deadly coffee that Junseo hyung had given .
Sip.
“This much caffeine is just right.”
“Seohan, that’s called water that slls like coffee. Like coffee powder lightly sprinkled on water? That kind of feeling.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I’m serious. Want to try proper coffee soti?”
Still, this ti it was three shots, and Ha Junseo whispered that into my ear.
What is this devilish whisper?
I frowned and muttered softly.
“Maybe... the problem is sleep after all.”
“Huh?”
That kind guy seed to be getting stranger by the mont.
In the end I couldn’t resist Ha Junseo’s heavy gaze and took a sip,
“Ugh!”
I spat it out imdiately.
Is this right?
Trembling—
I clenched my fist tightly.
“Ugh... ugh.”
I’m not getting tricked twice, really.
“It’s strange... today it was really weak.”
His add‑on comnt was even more absurd.
“It’s decaf, decaf.”
“Hyung, we collectively decided to call that stuff ‘deadly coffee’ as a social agreent.”
“Did we? I thought we agreed to call it decaf.”
Ha Junseo sipped his coffee with a pouty face and murmured.
If it’s too weak twice, I’ll be done for.
Just then,
Manager Lee Jaeyoon, who’d finished setting up the shoot and coordinating with the staff, burst into the waiting room.
“Alright, Seohan, let’s head into filming.”
“Oh, yes!”
With that reply, I sprung forward imdiately.
Cha Seongbin, sitting draped over a chair, waved his hand and saw off.
“Go film well~.”
“Yes—.”
In a white jacket that looked like the mood of the one worn during the first competition on Starf.
Dressed casually almost like street clothes but fully styled from head to toe, I sat in the chair set up in the middle of the filming set.
Of course, there were nurous staff and caras waiting just for shooting the VCR.
I awkwardly smiled and lowered my head.
“Oh, hello.”
My flustered newcor appearance was so obvious that so of the staff burst out laughing as if it was cute.
Thankfully I’d received early cara training from Starf; otherwise this kind of concept shoot would still feel awkward.
Worse yet, since I was the first up, I was a bit stiff, but the director motioned to and spoke.
“We’re going to ask so questions now—just answer honestly as it cos to mind.”
“Oh, ye—yes! Yes!”
“Since it’ll be edited anyway, feel free, feel at ease.”
My shoulders were so tense they probably showed on cara.
Perhaps worrying that anything might be edited, I still had the old habit from Starf of choosing every word carefully.
I gave a faint smile and straightened my back.
Click—
The red light on the cara lit up.
And.
The first question appeared on the teleprompter.
[Right before debut, what’s the first thing that cos to mind?]
I couldn’t help but let a smile slip from the corner of my mouth.
Ah, it hit hard.
[Press showcase preview jpg.]
What’s with the white suits?
What are those faces?
What’s this vibe?
—From the very first showcase, can the styling be that insane? I nearly fainted just from the previewㅠㅠ
└That white suits with gold print are so cool, they’re like angels descended from heavenㅠㅠ
└Fact: they’re aliens descended from space
└ㅅㅂ “Doubles” concept, get lost
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ stop the alien lighting, I think I’ll lose my mind
└Yeah yeah I could even embrace our kids if they were ETsㅠㅠ
└I can’t embrace ET
└222 neither
└Look how decisive that is ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Dusty mbers are all “no ans no”ㅋㅋㅋ they’re pretty ruthlessly cutting ties
—I swear our maknae Hamjji’s face is so bright… brighter than my future
└I lost consciousness just from looking at Kang Siwoo’s heroic face,,, why is Kang Siwoo’s nose ridge higher than the Everest range? It’d take 200,000 years to climb it~
└They nailed the debut concept, powerful‑refreshing… Nobody sticks out, everyone fits perfectlyㅠㅠ
└This ti Starf’s sponsors really sharpened and picked the mbersㅋㅋㅋ How can the combination be so perfect
—I actually love Seo Haim’s blonde hair more than anything else
└You teased him for being a chick, and he really ca back as a chick?
└He's not Choco-Haim anymore, he's White-Haim now, our baby ㅠㅠ
└Is he the reincarnation of the Little Prince???
└So fantastic jonna jalsangim
└Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I thought you were a foreigner
└Freaking handsoㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Showcase Preview Summary]
Cha Seongbin – Blue hair
Seo Haim – Platinum blonde
Jin Sehyun – Gray hair
Kang Siwoo – Black hair
Seo Ian – Light brown hair
Ha Junseo – Angel
Do Seohan – Hamjji
They tore up K-pop
—It was going well, then what’s with “Ha Junseo Angel” and “Do Seohan Hamjji” ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ why pop up there?
└Looks like the poster's bias is Ha Junseo and second bias is Do Seohan ah ㅠㅠㅠ
—Do Seohan as Hamjji is valid… It looked like a softer light brown cover, but today he looked especially hamster-like
└Maybe he was secretly excited? The way he was shyly bouncing at reporters’ questions was seriously… ㅋㅋㅋ I loved it
└Shyly bouncing ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ why do I totally get what that ans ㅠㅠ
└If you watch the preview video, he’s swinging his arms nonstop, Byo-Seohan is truly a Hamjji ㅠㅠ
—Jin Sehyun with gray hair was absolutely insane. Team Brown Baby Squirrel vs. Gray Baby Cat will be fighting fiercely for a while
└Sehyun is a gray baby cat!!! I’ve been pushing this since the Starf days!!!!
└Either way, he’s still a baby
└And I’m still an oldie…
└This makes cry… reallyㅠㅠ
April 27, debut day.
After wrapping the press showcase at 2 PM, all kinds of previews were uploaded, and fans scread with joy as they checked each one.
Then, at 6 PM, the much-anticipated track and music video for “Yuyeong (spacewalk)” were released.
It was the very mont Stardust’s debut album was launched into the world.
Worried that checking music chart rankings in advance might shake their ntality during the showcase, the mbers had all seemingly agreed to stash away their phones and focus only on the rehearsal.
And then.
8 PM.
Fans began to gather at Stardust’s showcase venue.
For a debut showcase of a boy group, the crowd was impressively large.
No one knew how intense the competition had been just to get here.
A university student Dusty quietly gathered her belongings and took her seat along the long queue.
She didn’t forget to set up her stream to avoid interruptions.
She’d skipped class and co all the way up from Cheonan for this one stage.
It was worth it.
“You can retake a class… but a debut showcase only happens once in a lifeti.”
Having completed her rationalization, the university Dusty proudly pulled a telescope from her bag.
Once she adjusted the focus, the stage far ahead ca into clear view.
“Ah, nice view.”
Being able to hold a showcase in a small venue like this was only possible during a debut. Our boys are going to be first-tier idols.
Before the actual performance, she cooled her throat with refreshing water and worked to relax her tense shoulders.
“Phew… I’m nervous.”
Now it was really ti for the showcase to begin.
The university Dusty swallowed hard as she stared at the digital billboard hanging in front of the venue.
Fans in the front rows waiting for the VCR screening started murmuring.
“Don’t you think they’ll show sothing before it starts?”
“Ah… the kids are debuting but why am I the one nervous.”
“Just watching this with my own eyes is crazy. My heart is already pounding.”
Right then.
The lights that had brightly lit the venue all went out at once.
The concert hall was plunged into darkness.
And then.
The screen on the digital billboard lit up the dark hall.
Kang Siwoo’s soft narration rang out.
[Right before debut, what’s the first thing that cos to mind?]
Do Seohan’s face filled the screen.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Seohan!”
Dusties scread and shouted Seohan’s na.
Right before debut, the first thing that cos to mind…
At that single question, Seohan looked into the cara with a face full of fleeting thoughts.
From his Starf days to now.
It’d be a lie to say there weren’t any twists and turns.
He worked himself to the bone for each nail-biting competition, and among all the top-tier trainees, he did everything he could to stand out.
With every broadcast ca waves of critique posts, and many tis he was bashed for things he didn’t even do.
That’s how he earned the first-place spot.
Dusties who rembered those hard tis together sat with satisfied smiles.
At last, Seohan quietly opened his mouth and spoke.
[Did you miss ?]
The university Dusty unknowingly let out a soft laugh.
[I waited quite a while.]
For this very mont…
[I really waited a long ti.]
That one phrase, soaked in sincerity, made the university Dusty gaze up at the screen with a sentintal look.
“Seohan….”
Of course, not all Dusties nearby were that emotional.
“A baby saying it’s been a long ti….”
“Seohan’s eighteen, right?”
“Seohan, what you call ‘a long ti’ was just yesterday for .”
While so Dusties teared up, thinking of their own age,
Seohan on screen smiled gently.
[I’ll show you the best stage.]
Then he added,
[So you won’t regret becoming a Dusty.]
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