[So I wasn’t the only one who noticed..]
It wasn’t that Seo Hoyun had acted awkwardly in front of the camera or deliberately avoided Kang Ichae.
[Why does it feel like he’s being extra nice to him?;]
If anything, he was being even more attentive than usual. Seo Hoyun kept calling Kang Ichae by name and leaned in close whenever the rapper opened his mouth, his posture friendly and open.
[He keeps casually dropping the “Kang” and just calling him “Ichae-ya.” My arms literally got goosebumps^^;;]
[Did Kang Ichae do something wrong to Seo Hoyun or what? He’s totally guilt-tripping him right now.
└ LMAOOOOOOOO that’s exactly it.]
At first, the fans thought it was just playful banter, but soon they sensed something strange. His tone was too light and warm compared to usual. Even the smallest change in Seo Hoyun’s normally calm demeanor was noticeable—but Kang Ichae didn’t seem to have the slightest clue.
Right now, the only thing catching Kang Ichae’s attention was figuring out how the maknae had managed to turn the rice cake soup blue.
[Kang Ichae: “Why the hell is this rice cake soup blue... Did you put Hoyun’s hair in it?”
Seo Hoyun: “Next year let’s wash your hair and make it red.”
Jung Dajun: “What if we put it in a hotpot next time and make a Taegukgi?” suggestion.]
[Oh god, Dajun LMAOOOOOOOOOO]
[LMAOOO Sunghyun just flicked the maknae’s forehead LOOOL Everyone’s just blurting out nonsense and Sung Jiwon’s sitting there going ‘hehe’ like some old man. Why aren’t you stopping them, Jiwon?!]
Thankfully, there was too much chaos and fan chatter flooding the livestream for anyone to stay fixated on Seo Hoyun’s fleeting gestures.
As the members began chatting about recent events and sharing small behind-the-scenes details fans would love, the murmuring quickly died down.
[Seo Hoyun probably doesn’t even mean anything, people just love overanalyzing him lolol]
[Honestly, Seo Hoyun just makes people tense...
└ Because he’s handsome??
└└ No, because of the vibe LOOOL I saw him in real life once and I almost fainted.]
Of course, part of that calm was due to fans deliberately steering conversation away from potential “discord rumors” before they could resurface.
[Okay, let me summarize:
If Seo Hoyun or Kang Ichae stares straight at you — that’s them initiating a joke.
Kim Sunghyun? If he looks at you, you’ll just blush.
Jung Dajun? He’s asking for snacks.
But if Sung Jiwon stares at you and doesn’t look away?
That’s when you’re really in danger.
└ I’m sorry, Jiwon, please look at me again, I’ll do better!
└ I don’t even know what I did wrong...
└ But seriously, Dajun’s snack infiltration power is unreal LOOOOOLLLL
└└ Is he a puppy or what? LOOLLLLLLLL]
Fans always found meaning in every tiny gesture of their idols—but once The Dawn’s new New Year Season’s Greetings photos dropped, all attention shifted immediately.
As soon as they opened the box, they found faded film-style photos taken in the reeds of Jeju Island, steeped in nostalgic warmth.
[Their season’s greetings just made me drink a full glass of noir aesthetic.]
[“Let’s live kindly this year too.” If that’s the message, I’m totally fine with it.]
While lovingly examining every detail—including handwritten thank-you notes to fans—the Noeuls discovered a surprise tucked at the bottom: postcards written to each other by The Dawn members.
[OMG they wrote letters to each other on the backs of the postcards!!]
[Ahhh I haven’t even gotten mine yet, spoilers ㅠ]
[Wait, did Ichae really write his in English to Dajun LOLOLOL his cursive is insane.]
One English line, in particular, began circulating online as fans translated and posted it.
【Thanks for coming to pick me up at the PC bang~】
[PC bang??? What does that mean?]
[LMAO they must’ve played games together there, adorable idiots.]
No one could really interpret it. They just assumed it referred to the early debut days when Kang Ichae and Jung Dajun had supposedly “taken over” the local PC bang together.
Between jokes, warm wishes, and a bit of teasing, Seo Hoyun’s message to Kang Ichae stood out: “It must be burdensome, but thank you for always taking charge of the songs.”
[The Dawn really are family.]
[Didn’t y’all say they’re just business partners? Why am I crying right now?]
Then came Kang Ichae’s reply to Seo Hoyun—short and merciless:
【You really do live up to your looks.】
[LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL]
[Kang Ichae’s out of his damn mind LMAOOOO]
[From the teasing alone, they’re clearly real friends LOOOLLLLLLLL]
Just like that, the faint spark of controversy fizzled out into laughter and disappeared.
What the Noeuls didn’t know, however, was that Seo Hoyun himself was also hoping everything would pass quietly and uneventfully.
***
The first thing he did after the New Year began was head straight to WH Entertainment. A major change had been made to the performance lineup for the upcoming awards ceremony.
Gathered in Kang Ichae’s studio—now basically their shared hideout—they exchanged opinions on the new arrangement. Seo Hoyun lifted his gaze toward the red-haired man hunched over the monitor.
The mouse clicked sharply as Kang Ichae adjusted the track in real time.
“Since Sunghyun-hyung’s dancing’s improved lately, I think if we just highlight this part more and make the beat a little more tense, it’ll hit harder...”
‘Kang Ichae isn’t saying anything at all, huh.’
He had learned something about Seo Hoyun.
‘There’s no way he said that kind of thing by coincidence.’
Whatever Kang Ichae had discovered—and whatever he intended to do with it—remained unclear. Seo Hoyun had deliberately acted friendly to gauge his reaction, but the rapper hadn’t mentioned a single word since.
It grated on him like sand under the skin, but eventually, he reached a conclusion.
‘Fine. Let’s leave it buried for now.’
Since Kang Ichae had chosen to keep quiet, there was no need for him to stir the hive himself. Better if he stayed silent until all the quests were done.
Later, they all moved to the practice room to prepare for the ceremony performance. On the way, Seo Hoyun split off to buy drinks for the others at the company café—when suddenly, a faint whisper crawled up behind him.
“Seo Hoyun-ssi.”
He stopped mid-step and turned. A hand was waving through the narrow crack of a dark meeting room door. Then Kang Yeonhoo’s face peeked out.
“...What are you doing?”
“Shh, shhh.”
Putting a finger to his lips, Kang Yeonhoo glanced around nervously before motioning for him to come inside.
‘What the hell now?’
The guy who usually bolted at the mere sight of him?
Since Kang Yeonhoo wasn’t the type ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) to pull pranks, Seo Hoyun followed him in without protest and closed the door.
“What is it?”
“Just a second.”
Even after stepping in, Kang Yeonhoo scanned every corner, checking for CCTV or recording devices, only relaxing once he confirmed there were none.
“Seo Hoyun-ssi, you have a moment, right?”
“What, are we shooting a spy movie? Is this a secret rendezvous?”
“Can you not be sarcastic for once? It’s the new year.”
“I’m genuinely curious this time. Oh, happy New Year, by the way.”
“...Yeah, you too, Hoyun-ssi.”
Kang Yeonhoo frowned slightly, replying awkwardly.
“Uh, anyway, I saw your last stage performance. They say WH’s practice rooms never turn off the lights because of The Dawn, and honestly, I can see why. Your quality keeps improving every time. Especially that last ‘Snowflake’ stage at Gayo Star Battle, even Chae Jungwoo sunbae looked impressed—”
“Yeah yeah, thanks~.”
“...Fine, I get it. My bad. I’ll just get to the point.”
Grumbling at Hoyun’s smirk, Kang Yeonhoo raked a hand through his hair.
“Don’t you think something’s off about the company lately?”
“In what way?”
“For example... the fact that Ravish took the Grand Prize at the GMA.”
He trailed off with a sigh.
“Our company isn’t the kind that just sits back like this. For our results, the outcomes don’t match at all. People are whispering that maybe someone higher up hates us... Not openly, but Hi-Five’s internal staff have been gossiping about it.”
“......”
“So I’m starting to think something’s going on behind the scenes.”
Now it made sense why he’d been so cautious checking the room earlier. This wasn’t a conversation one could have freely inside the company.
“Hmm...”
Seo Hoyun had chalked the Ravish win up to LV Entertainment’s usual manipulation—but if a long-time WH insider like Kang Yeonhoo found it suspicious, that was something to note.
Indeed, for a major agency like WH to neglect its own artists’ spotlight was strange.
“Did you hear anything solid from the higher-ups?”
“No. Everything I know is just rumors built on speculation.”
“You’re called WH’s golden prince, aren’t you? Can’t you ask the CEO directly?”
“Come on. If I really had that kind of pull, do you think I’d have been stuck in the basement practice room all these years?”
He’d meant it as a joke, but Kang Yeonhoo’s expression only darkened.
He couldn’t keep his hands still, repeatedly tapping his fingers against his arm or leg. A nervous tic—he should really fix that. Seo Hoyun briefly debated pointing it out, but before he could, Kang Yeonhoo scrubbed a hand over his face and continued.
“Anyway... there’s probably nothing we can do even if we find out more. For now, the only thing we can do is keep working hard.”
“Then what was the point of this conversation?”
“...To warn you.”
Warn me?
“Be careful. You never know what might hit you, so be prepared.”
Seo Hoyun let out a quiet laugh.
Despite everything that had happened, Kang Yeonhoo still couldn’t ignore him. It reminded Hoyun of their old rivalry back on Shining Star Season 2.
‘Still as soft as ever.’
Regardless, it wasn’t useless information.
While The Dawn’s Daepaseong staff were all fired up for the new year, if WH’s internal Hi-Five team—closer to the true company line—was uneasy, it wasn’t something to brush off.
The Korean Music Awards were coming up soon.
It wasn’t as prestigious as the Seoul Popular Music Awards scheduled for the very end, but it was still one of the three major award shows listed in his quest.
“Hi-Five’s performing there too, right?”
“Of course. You know that.”
“Then we’ll see what happens. If we don’t win there either, maybe there really is an agenda.”
Maybe they really had been blacklisted.
At that, Kang Yeonhoo’s long lashes trembled as he squeezed his eyes shut.
“...Kang Yeonhoo-ssi.”
As Seo Hoyun turned to leave the meeting room, he clicked his tongue and glanced back. The man looked like a small animal trapped in a cage, trembling from stress.
“Don’t overthink it. No need to panic.”
Kang Yeonhoo slowly lifted his eyelids, confused.
“...Seo Hoyun-ssi, you got good news lately?”
“Why?”
“I mean... you’re still as snarky as ever, but... you just gave me comfort out of nowhere...”
“......”
“......Ah, never mind.”
He averted his gaze, realizing he might’ve crossed a line between near-strangers.
Seo Hoyun stared straight at him and smirked faintly.
“Well, I’m honored. The crown prince of WH paying me personal attention.”
“Why are you like this to me?!”
Didn’t you just say you weren’t the prince?
That’s what the stock-trading uncles call you, by the way.
