[Shiiit.. they just used The Dawn as a ratings machine]
This was before the Kang Ichae controversy broke out.
The Dawn, Hi-Five, and Min Jiheon were each handed the meaningless participation trophies GMA (Green Music Awards) provided.
They posted the photos on their official SNS accounts holding the trophies, but fans couldn’t calm their anger. Naturally, suspicions about GMA’s results flooded everywhere.
[Come on, they had the cue sheet ready, already decided who’d win. Then why put The Dawn at the very end if they weren’t going to give them a grand prize? Just to fuck with them? What is this?]
[Did our WH CEO Kyungsoo stab the GMA producers with a knife or something? Or maybe Daepaseong’s CEO did? What the hell happened?]
[Even if it’s a no-name, no-cred awards show, how does this make sense? Conveniently all WH groups get nothing LOOOOOLLLL Time for an investigation]
[At this point I’m more curious how much money LV shoved down their throats. All the grand prizes went to LV groups LOLOLOLOLOL I’m so fucking pissed]
[Bring the predicted scores, fuckers. When I voted on the website, The Dawn and Hi-Five were neck and neck
└Don’t even need scores, it’s so obviously rigged it’s funny LOOOOL
...Actually not funny at all]
Even the fact that Min Jiheon didn’t take a single grand prize left the public baffled.
[Look at the actors’ eyes going wide, unable to hide their expressions... of course, the one who didn’t win was Min Jiheon....
└Ha Seoyeon deserved it too, but the timing was awkward... she looked so guilty, poor thing...
└└What’s poor about it? LOOOL She benefited the most, gave her thanks and got off stage
└└Honestly, Ha Seoyeon isn’t undeserving, but didn’t you see her face freeze? She must’ve been frustrated too]
The actor side was relatively tame.
The idol side, though—short of pulling knives, it was brutal.
[Proud Artist of the Year Ravish^^ (feat. the waiting room whispering “Who the hell is Ravish?”)
└LOOOOL holy shit
└Know some shame, LV...
└Meanwhile Hi-Five and The Dawn didn’t flinch LOLOLOLOLOL While everyone else looked shocked, they clapped calmly
└└Idol skills LMAOOOO]
The scene of Ravish running out excitedly while the other idols’ faces showed nothing but shock and dismay was clipped and spread across video platforms, overflowing with mocking comments underneath.
[My babies T_T Our Ravish... I’m so proud, you’re the Artist of the Year, congrats♡
Likes (494) Dislikes (5184)]
Even Ravish’s fandom power was weaker than Hi-Five or The Dawn, making it impossible to bury the backlash or pretend it didn’t happen.
Still, up until then, people vented their anger quietly rather than directly clashing.
That fragile peace broke the next day—when a new controversy involving Kang Ichae erupted.
A substitute photographer uploaded a video of the entire GMA waiting area for YouTube clicks. In it, Ravish was caught pointing fingers and giggling during The Dawn’s performance.
Watching the clip spread fast, Ravish fans panicked and scrambled to cover it up.
[They must’ve been so happy from winning the grand prize hehe Kids are just full of smiles. You earned it all!!]
[If you look closely, aren’t they pointing and laughing at The Dawn??;;
└You can point while talking if you’re interested. What, should they use their toes? The Dawn fans really showing their level
└└I’m not even a Dawn fan LOL;; why are you so mad]
[Our Younghyuk T_T Maybe he really likes Kang Ichae LOLOLOL They’re same generation idols, maybe he wants to get close. He can’t take his eyes off him
└Where the hell do you see ‘wants to get close’ in those eyes....?
└└222
└└3333 He’s clearly mocking him
└Look at Ichae’s eyes though. Like # Nоvеlight # a man ready to kill, and you’re calling him out?
└└22
└└This comment section’s fucking filthy, everyone log off]
[So what if he did that to a senior? The Dawn aren’t even seniors to them..
└Ah, here comes Mr. Generous haha
└└So if a junior looked at you like that, you’d just sit there quietly and take orders? Because they’re juniors?]
[I’ve had enough—Ravish totally deserves Artist of the Year, okay?? There’s no proof of rigging, but you losers cry about money. Lol whatever, they’re still the winners~
└And Ravish is... who again??
└Serious question, did they even promote this year...?
└Bro, go check the predicted scores. Even if the judges’ points were high, they tanked fan votes completely. If that’s not proof, what is? LOOL
└└Lol Noeuls and Hi-Five fans are throwing the biggest tantrum. Go cry to the police then~ Tell them your faves didn’t win and you’re salty haha]
As Ravish fans defended them, The Dawn’s fans’ blood pressure spiked. Then, one Noeul rewatched the substitute photographer’s clip repeatedly—and spotted something.
Right before the GMA ending shot, Ravish’s main rapper, flushed from winning Artist of the Year, glanced at Kang Ichae, whispered to another member, and smirked with one side of his mouth.
[Doesn’t his attitude toward Ichae seem weird?
└Yeah LOL I got the same feeling..]
Noeuls sniffed a lead and dug deeper. They quickly found a connection.
[See this? The one smirking at Ichae—his younger brother was a trainee on Rising Rookies]
Last year, when Kang Ichae appeared as a mentor on Rising Rookies, one of the trainees was Ravish’s main rapper Jang Younghyuk’s younger brother.
Early on, he got buzz as “the idol’s younger brother.” But his sloppy attitude throughout the show left a bad impression, and he was eliminated.
A Noeul uploaded a tweet with a clipped video from episode 6 to let people judge for themselves.
It was the evaluation stage, where trainees performed mission songs in front of mentors.
But—
【......So.】
Jang Younghyuk’s brother, unable to accept the critique, tried to keep calm but spoke into the mic with dissatisfaction written all over his face.
【We didn’t have enough time... Our team was at a disadvantage. None of us had rap experience, every idea we tried got shut down, and we didn’t even get clear advice from the mentors....】
Each word made the other trainees’ faces twist in disbelief.
Ichae, who had been quietly listening, leaned forward and asked softly:
【So what’s your point?】
The boy’s lips clamped shut.
【.......】
【What’s your conclusion?】
【...Uh... I, I....】
As if he hadn’t thought that far, he faltered. Ichae tilted his body slightly forward, smiling faintly.
【Why not finish your words? Someone’s listening.】
He was smiling, but his eyes were sharp, his voice cold despite the gentle tone.
Shrinking, the boy dropped his head, unable to retort.
Ichae sighed, standing back up.
【...Alright, even if it’s hard, let’s try again with effort.】
He patted their shoulders, smiling as if to brush it off.
Since episodes 1–5 had shown him helping countless trainees, this clip only reinforced his good image.
Once fans saw it spreading on SNS, Noeuls and Hi-Ris lit up together.
[So this whole grudge is over his brother?]
[I don’t want to speculate too much but... I went back through old music shows. If you look close, Jang Younghyuk sometimes glares at Ichae or The Dawn...
└Isn’t that too speculative? Don’t drag a trainee who’s now just a civilian.
└└Nobody attacked the ex-trainee. They’re calling out Jang Younghyuk’s shady behavior.
└└His bad reputation’s old news. I stanned Ravish for a while but dropped them because of him.]
[Hi-Ri girls are calling Ravish “Trashish” now]
[Ichae’s fans are calling them “Trash Ravish Holyfuckinggoddamnbullshit.” Figures, a rapper fandom makes rhymes]
[Noeuls and Hi-Ris together? Used to be annoying rivals, but I’ll stand and clap this time]
[Credit where it’s due—Noeuls fight like beasts]
[Suddenly I feel warmth toward Hi-Five’s fandom
Ha... I can’t soften up now though]
The two fandoms bonded fast, praising each other. Then a new sentiment popped up—if they had to lose, they’d rather have lost to each other than some nobody group. But as soon as those posts started spreading, they were quickly deleted, ending as just a brief hiccup.
.
.
.
The Green Music Awards ended, and just four days later we had to prepare for the year-end unit stages. I’d already been cooped up in the training room for hours with Kim Sunghyun. Sung Jiwon and Jung Dajun had formed a different unit and were probably practicing elsewhere.
Panting heavily, I glanced at my phone and rubbed my face. The Dawn and Kang Ichae were still trending nonstop on SNS.
‘Well, at least our buzz count is skyrocketing.’
The GMA wasn’t even tied to the main quest, and with the award season just beginning, I’d thought it didn’t matter much. But things had gone way off-script.
On the bright side, it meant easy points. Still, two things gnawed at me:
The fury of Noeuls and Hi-Ris, swearing they’d burn LV and Ravish to ashes before their anger cooled.
And—
‘Kang Ichae.’
I hadn’t meant to drag him into this, but now he was stuck. Normally he brushed things off, but he was sensitive in his own way. It nagged at me.
Taking the towel Sunghyun handed me, I wiped away sweat and said,
“I’m going to check on Ichae.”
“Yeah. Drag him back here. He needs unit practice too.”
Sunghyun grumbled, but his tone carried concern for Ichae, who’d been caught up in the mess. I pressed down hard on the back of his neck once, then headed for the workroom.
“Hey, Kang I—...”
I punched in the door code and called his name as I stepped inside—
“Uwaahh! Hyung, the pot’s burning!”
“Should I have put the egg in first?!”
“No, you’re supposed to drop the ramen noodles in first!”
There they were—Dajun and Ichae, sweating bullets, heads almost touching in front of a 17-inch laptop as they played some game.
When I closed the door, they whispered, ready to replay, until they noticed me and whipped their heads around.
“Hyung??”
“A-ah, H-Hoyun hyung!”
On the screen behind a giant “GAME OVER,” a pink twin-tailed character was bawling. It was an ancient cooking game, long shut down. How they’d even found it was beyond me.
Dajun stammered, “W-we weren’t slacking off, we were working!”
As expected—something like this wouldn’t faze Ichae. Calm as ever, just cooking ramen in a game.
Narrowing my eyes, I stood there. Dajun immediately got up and inched away.
“Uh, Hoyun hyung, you’re looking scary today—.”
“......”
“—Forget I said anything! Hehe! Since you came here, you must want to talk to Ichae hyung, so I’ll just leave you two alone for a deep convo!”
“Wow, Dajun, you’re really ditching me now?”
“Bye! I’m going to Jiwon hyung for practice!!”
Dajun bolted, abandoning his comrade from the cooking battlefield. Ichae laughed and turned to me.
“Oooh, why the scary face, Hyung? Dajun and I weren’t slacking off, promise. Just... pulling inspiration from ramen~”
“Got nothing to say?”
“Hm?”
He tilted his head, then asked, “...Did I do something? Is this about me nagging Jiwon hyung into a dishwashing bet today?”
“No.”
“Then skipping practice with Dajun when Sunghyun hyung called?”
“Not that.”
“Then what?”
Clicking my tongue, I sat down on the sofa and stared at him. He spun his chair, muttering to himself about what he might’ve done wrong, then snapped his fingers.
“...Ah, Ichae’s answer: Ravish.”
“......”
“Right?”
I gestured for him to keep going. Realizing he wasn’t being scolded, he popped a candy into his mouth and leaned back smugly.
“I heard they laughed at me... but so what? People laugh. It happens.”
Typical—he hardly saw others as people anyway. He chuckled and added nonsense:
“What, did you come to check if I was crying?”
“No, I came to watch how good you are at cooking-game ramen.”
“Pfft.”
Still laughing, he propped his feet on the table and dragged it closer to me with his heels.
“Honestly, when I’ve got someone as impressive as you right in front of me, why would I care about them?”
Sure, whatever.
I ignored him, but he grinned mischievously.
“Surprising, though. I thought you’d be sulking over not winning the grand prize. You made it so obvious.”
“......”
“Hoyun hyung, instead of worrying about me, maybe you should take a good look at yourself.”
My gaze dropped for a moment. Then, with a deep breath, I kicked his chair with my left foot.
The wheels rolled helplessly until he slammed into the wall, yelping.
“Good. You’re fine. Let’s go.”
“Oww, it hurts. Boohoo.”
“Don’t act gross. Get up.”
I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him straight to the training room, delivering him to Sunghyun.
Our leader greeted him with a flood of nagging: “Do you know how tough this unit concept is?” “You’d better practice way, way more!” But in between, he checked carefully on Ichae’s mood.
Sharp as ever, Ichae caught on, curled his foxlike eyes, and whined louder on purpose.
“But I don’t wannaaa practice... waaah. Sunghyun hyung, you don’t get it, Hoyun hyung’s been glaring at me scarily~”
I watched him quietly before saying flatly,
“So, Kang Ichae. What’s your conclusion?”
“......”
It was the exact same line he’d thrown at a trainee in Rising Rookies episode 6. His eyebrows twitched, and he muttered, “This is why I hate people with good memories.”
‘Yeah, my memory’s sharp. Which means I never forget grudges either. Petty to the core.’
