• Prev Chapter
  • Background
    Font family
    Font size
    Line hieght
    Full frame
    No line breaks
  • Next Chapter

Chapter 100:

Chapter 100

Was there anything he couldn’t do?

-He’s currently dominating the claw machine at the arcade

He’s so good at it that he’s giving away the dolls he won

└Crazy????????

└He’s picking up everything he grabs????????

└Who is that guy?

└└Awi

└He picked up another one

“Maybe they didn’t lock the claws here, they’re picking up everything they touch?”

“This game will never end at this rate.”

After giving away the dolls to everyone who passed by without hiding their identity as singers, managers, and staff, they still had a pile next to them.

“Wow, he got another one.”

“I couldn’t do that even if I tried.”

Some idol members gathered around Awi, who had turned the claw machine into a hotspot after the gaming zone.

Ian, who had picked up a pink bird doll, looked around.

“Anyone wants this?”

“Me!”

Kim Juyeon of Luna Girls raised her hand. Ian politely handed her the bird doll. He had to show respect to his senior since the fans were watching them on Y-app live broadcast.

Kim Juyeon turned away with a slightly disappointed expression.

‘You can’t have what you can’t have.’

She was the one that Lee Seohyun, the actress who had co-starred with Ian in the one-act play ‘I Want to Hear Your Voice’, had tried to set him up with. It wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

“You guys are all holding a doll each because you picked up too many.”

Park Jinhyuk, who had already received a doll from Ian, handed one each to Lee Juhyuk and Kim Juyoung, who were playing a fighting game.

“What if there’s nothing left for the others?”

“Oh…!”

“What should we do?”

“Should we put them back?”

Kim Hyun and Ian opened the glass door of the showcase after examining the machine.

“It’s open…?”

“Hey, what’s this? It wasn’t locked.”

Ian and Kim Hyun put back the dolls they had picked up into the open machine and walked away to find another game.

“Let’s go to the arcade again and do it properly.”

“Sure, show me your flashy claw skills.”

“You don’t know anything, hyung. The trend is not spinning the claw but flipping it.”

They looked out of place with their heavy makeup and stage outfits holding cute dolls. The Y-app live chat exploded.

-How cute?????

-Give me a doll???

-You guys are like free Wi-Fi without a password

-You have what it takes to be my man if you can do claw machines

-The dolls are so cute????

“How about basketball, hyung?”

“Dude, you’re an expert at anything with a ball.”

“Ah, whatever.”

Ian pouted.

“Then how about darts?”

“Darts? Sure. Hey Park Jinhyuk, you join us too.”

“I’m bad at throwing things.”

“You did well throwing bombs at N4.”

“Hyun-hyung is killing it with his jokes.”

“How can you, an American, use fancier words than me?”

They laughed like they had screws loose as they stood in front of an empty dart board.

“Guys, we have to go out.”

“Already?”

The manager, Kim Myungjin, urged them. They went out to the hallway and saw that the singer before them had started their stage.

“What are we getting this time?”

“Best Performance Award.”

It was a ceremony that gave awards to everyone who attended, but the absence of seats for singers meant that they already knew what award they would get.

Awi went backstage early to receive the award and fixed his makeup.

“It’s comfortable without seats for singers, but there’s no tension.”

“I know.”

The stage of the previous singer ended and the host came out with a cue card.

“The group that just showed us an amazing performance, the best performance award goes to… AWY! Congratulations!”

“Let’s go.”

AWY walked up to the stage and stood in front of the stand microphone.

“Two, three.”

“Always by your side! Hello, we are AWY!”

As AWY bowed and greeted, the fans in the audience screamed.

“First of all, we want to thank Hyun and Juyoung, who are in charge of our choreography, and our choreographer Seo Junyoung. Thank you very much.”

Lee Juhyuk expressed his gratitude and Kim Juyoung and Kim Hyun, who were standing next to him, scratched their back of their heads shyly.

“And we also want to thank our BHL Entertainment family, who invested generously for our stage, our director, and our CEO. We love you, AWYdom!”

As Park Jinhyuk spoke, Ian waved his hand at the LED army that came to work today. A large LED panel with AWY written on it shook up and down.

“We already got spoiled but it’s still nice.”

“Finally, we got an award that’s not rookie award.”

Lee Juhyuk smiled proudly as he looked at the group’s name engraved on the glass trophy.

AWY, who came in with the best performance award, entered the waiting room and took a group photo to post on their official SNS.

“Hyung, please post this one too.”

“What is it? Oh, the one we took at the arcade?”

“Yes.”

“The fans were curious about it.”

Park Seodam handed over the sticker photo he took earlier to Kim Myungjin. Kim Myungjin’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the five cuts of photos.

“They came out well… We could sell these as fan goods.”

“Right?”

“Random five in each album…”

“Wow, Myungjin hyung is a devil, a devil.”

Jo Taewoong, who was listening in, shook his head as if he was amazed. Kim Juyoung, who was at the door, raised his hand.

“Who wants to go back to the arcade?”

“I’ll rest for a bit.”

“Me too.”

Jo Taewoong and Lee Juhyuk sprawled on the waiting room chairs. The other members headed back to the arcade.

“What were we going to do earlier?”

“Darts.”

“Don’t tell me Choi Ian is good at throwing darts too?”

Kim Hyun looked at Ian with a doubtful face.

“I’ve never played darts before.”

“Really?”

On their way to the arcade, there was a space where they could monitor the live broadcast. The VCR video of the popularity award candidates was playing on the monitor.

“We’re also nominated?”

“MEDIA will win anyway.”

Kim Hyun shrugged it off.

(The popularity award goes to… I-ONE! Congratulations!)

“No way?”

“Wow, they beat MEDIA. That’s amazing.”

Park Seodam and Park Jinhyuk stood in front of the monitor.

(…Even though our end is decided, we are very grateful to our fans who love us.)

Kang Juwon on the screen spoke calmly, but his voice was trembling. Kim Youngjun, who was standing at the end, was crying.

“They made such a fuss and ended up disbanding.”

“That PD got arrested for rigging. Aren’t they rigged too?”

“Of course. They’re just using disbandment as a shield since they’re going to disband anyway.”

“They got picked by rigging and made a lot of money and disbanded. They took all the fame too. I’m jealous. I should have gone too.”

“They didn’t make much money, did they? N-net takes some, manager takes some, original agency takes some. At best 25 percent?”

The other groups gathered around the monitor were happily badmouthing I-ONE. It was the same group that made comments during AWY’s performance.

‘Who are they?’

[If I don’t remember them either, they’re rookies? Or they’re already flops or going to be flops.]

‘Sure enough… They won’t last long with that behavior. Ugh, I can’t stand them.’

Ian frowned as he heard them talking loudly.

“…Let’s just go play darts.”

Kim Hyun pushed the members who were standing still.

‘Will we end up like that too?’

Black Rush did it too, and I-ONE too. Even if I-ONE was a special case, how many idol groups these days can last long by renewing their contracts over and over?

“It’s the first time I’ve seen Youngjun cry like that.”

Park Jinhyuk sighed.

****

Kim Eunha, an AWYdom who was in the standing section, was with her group chat group including Blue Delight.

“I-One won the popularity award instead of Media? Their voting power is no joke.”

“They’re disbanding this year anyway. Their fans must be biting their teeth.”

“They say it was all Kang Ju-won’s fans. They flooded the votes right before midnight.”

“So what? They’re still disbanding. Do you think their group popularity will last if they go solo?”

“That’s true.”

A fan holding I-One’s lightstick glared at them. They ignored her gaze and kept talking.

“But didn’t their outfits look weird earlier?”

“You too? I think Byung-hun is losing his touch.”

“The black clothes with gold trim were fine, but our kid in white was not. Are they discriminating based on popularity?”

“They didn’t do that during Black Rush, did they? No way.”

“I don’t know. The company has grown bigger since Black Rush.”

They fit in well among the human SNS, the human community, without any sense of alienation.

***

“Why isn’t this working?”

Park Jin-hyuk picked up the dart that bounced off the wall and threw it lightly. Kim Hyun teased Ian next to him.

“Choi Ian has something he can’t do.”

“No, I think I threw it well! I have the same posture as you, hyung.”

Ian threw another dart. The dart flew and hit the wall next to the dartboard and bounced off.

“Hey, stop it. You’re ruining the game.”

“So Ian is buying us dinner tonight?”

“Of course he is.”

Kim Hyun and Park Jin-hyuk crossed their arms triumphantly, while Ian, who lost the bet, knelt down.

“Kid, you don’t throw darts like a ball.”

“Wow, hyung, did you dope or something?”

Ian stared at the dartboard with disbelief after being shot dead. It was an immutable truth that the one who suggested it would lose. Ian smiled bitterly.

“Hyung! Hyung hyung! Choi Ian is buying us chicken!”

“No way!”

Park Jin-hyuk ran to Lee Ju-hyuk, who came to call them.

“Really?”

“He got beaten by Hyun. He lost the bet.”

“Ian did? He had something he couldn’t do? Ian, thank you. I’ll enjoy it in advance.”

Of course, Lee Ju-hyuk didn’t refuse. Then Jo Tae-woong, Kim Ju-young, and Park Seo-dam joined in and teased Ian.

“You lost? Choi Ian lost?”

“How does it feel to lose, Choi Ian?”

“You must have learned your lesson, hyung.”

They finally found something that Ian couldn’t do. The members took advantage of the situation and rowed their boat. They all had smiles on their lips.

-lololololol so cute

-so cute?

Ian made a sad face as he was surrounded by his members, and the fans who were watching through Y-app also commented excitedly.

****

“Main award, congratulations to I-One!”

After a brief break at the arcade, I-One went up on stage to receive their main award.

“We would like to thank our agency staff and managers who always work hard for us. Mom and dad, we love you!”

The main award was almost the same as the grand prize below it. So they had time to give a long speech, and each member said a word.

“…And lastly, our I-Ones! Thank you always! See you soon!”

Ian had planned to do a short Y-app live broadcast to celebrate winning two awards, so he gave a spoiler in advance.

As Ian’s face was close-up on the big screen, a groan came from the audience.

The Bada Chart Awards ended and I-One soon entered their comeback week.

[Official] I-One to hold online comeback showcase with Y-app.

‘Side Effect’ fever continues… I-One pre-releases comeback MV

It would have been nice if only these articles came up…

I-One in controversy over leaked songs before comeback… Agency “checking”

[Official] I-One’s songs leaked before comeback… Agency “will take strong action”

This comeback started with an accident.

Follow current novℯls on f(r)eewebnov𝒆l

Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter