Chapter 105:
Chapter 105:
Chapter 105
What did I forget?
After finishing the Watermelon Chart Awards, Awi prepared for the next year-end stage without a break.
-Awi came to the 2nd anniversary celebration cafe in Apgujeongㅠㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠㅜ
-Awi came to see the advertisement at Samsung Station
-Hey, the behind-the-scenes of the advertisement tour is out. What was that mascot costume for?
-I thought the penguin mascot in front of the Gangnam advertisement was a fan, but it was themㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Awi looked back at the events that the fans had prepared for them. Their bodies were tired, but their hearts were full.
***
The first start of the broadcast station’s year-end music festival was at Gocheok Dome.
“Ah, I feel like I’ve seen this before.”
“We were here last week too, right?”
The Watermelon Chart Music Awards was also at Gocheok Dome.
The difference was that they had rehearsed the day before the performance for the Watermelon Chart, but they had to rehearse at dawn on the same day for the broadcast station.
“Ugh… It’s cold.”
“They must not have turned on the heating because it’s a rehearsal.”
Awi, who had gotten used to it, yawned and went up to the stage. Jo Tae-woong, who had opened the long padding he had received from the advertiser, swept the floor with his foot.
“The floor is okay today.”
“So, what happened to that kid?”
“Her? She just thanked us and avoided us because she was embarrassed. She hurt her leg, right? She had a cast on.”
“Really? That explains it… I saw her fall hard on the fancam.”
Im No-eul was so embarrassed that she had cried in front of the singers she had been fangirling over, that she avoided Awi members whenever she saw them.
She had ruined the stage of the people she had admired and even received comfort from them. It was no different from leaving a dark history.
“By the way, who left banana milk in front of our practice room yesterday?”
Jo Tae-woong asked with a puzzled look. Kim Joo-young and Kim Hyun shrugged their shoulders.
“Not me.”
“Me neither.”
Ian laughed with a deflated voice as he heard the other members’ answers.
“Then it must be Im No-eul.”
“The one who cried back then?”
“Yeah, if it were us, we would have said ‘eat this’ and thrown it in front of her. She wouldn’t have left it shyly at the door.”
“Oh, right. That makes sense.”
Jo Tae-woong nodded. He wanted to ask her if she was okay after that, but he couldn’t meet her because she avoided him.
“But she’s a loyal one.”
“You guys should get ready soon!”
The members checked their routes according to the staff’s instructions. They would sing the first verse on the main stage and the second verse on the protruding stage.
“So we don’t have to dance while we’re moving from here to there?”
“Yeah, we just have to walk. Oh, this is awesome. Seo-dam is a genius.”
Jo Tae-woong whistled at Park Seo-dam’s words.
While Awi finished their stage on the protruding stage, another singer’s stage was prepared on the main stage.
“Did you all get it?”
“Yes.”
The staff shouted loudly.
“Awi, let’s go for rehearsal!”
The Awi members gathered in the center of the stage.
Since it was a live broadcast, they had more rehearsals than usual and lined up to greet the staff before going down under the stage.
“Ian will wait.”
“Good luck!”
This year-end music festival had a stage where they gathered each group’s main vocal and sang that year’s hit songs.
At the end of the wait, one by one, each group’s main vocal went up to the stage.
“Hello!”
“Please take good care of us!”
The singers who went up to the stage without distinction between male and female idols greeted each other awkwardly.
They could tell who was from which group by looking at their name tags tied to their upper bodies.
The staff checked that all the performers were up and arranged their routes.
“Ian, you’ll be waiting under the stage and then go up on that lift. You don’t have to ride the lift now, just stand up there.”
“Okay.”
“And Min-ha, you go to Ian’s next lift. Over there.”
Lee Min-ha of Miracle nodded.
“Did you all get your routes? Let’s go once for now.”
The singers found their places. Ian stretched out and found his place when Jin suddenly came in front of him with a beep sound.
[Ah! I forgot what I was going to do!]
‘What?’
[There’s an accident at the rehearsal.]
‘What? Why are you telling me that now? Who’s getting hurt? Right now?’
[Uh… maybe!]
Ian looked around.
‘Where?’
[There! The lift over there is not working!]
Following the direction of Jin’s lens, Ian saw that Miracle’s Lee Minha, who was assigned to the lift next to him, was walking slowly with his eyes blinking tiredly.
There was a hole in the stage where he was supposed to stand.
‘What kind of camouflage is that?!’
The stage floor was a matte black that didn’t reflect much light, so it was hard to tell if there was a hole or not.
Usually, they would put some tape or something to mark the spot so that the singers wouldn’t get confused, but there was nothing on the floor.
‘Can I catch him?’
It was too close to shout a warning. Ian stretched his long legs and ran.
“Watch out…!”
Ian barely reached his side and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. It was just as Lee Minha stumbled forward with one foot in the air.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh… uh… wow…”
Lee Minha felt his heart pounding and looked at the hole in front of him. It was deep.
“The lift didn’t work, right?”
“Yes, I was going to call out, but I thought it would be too late…”
Lee Minha calmed his trembling body and bowed to Ian.
“Wow, thank you… thank you so much.”
“Hey! Wait a minute!”
Ian shouted to the staff. They heard the commotion and ran over.
“The lift here is not working.”
“What? Why isn’t it working…?”
The person who looked like the manager turned pale. Everyone’s eyes turned to Ian and Lee Minha.
“What? What happened?”
“The lift didn’t work, I guess.”
“Wow.”
The singers who were waiting checked their own areas.
The manager of Miracle, who was watching the situation, rushed over to them.
“What’s going on?”
“Hyung! I almost fell here!”
The manager of Miracle gauged the depth. The stage was high because there were people walking underneath. He could have been seriously injured if he wasn’t careful.
“How can you manage the stage like this?”
The manager of Miracle turned red and yelled. The staff apologized profusely.
‘Why are they so flustered?’
[He’s from a rich family. He’s famous in this industry. His family probably owns some shares of the broadcasting station.]
‘Ah… I see.’
Other groups, even idols from big agencies, would have said ‘Sorry. But you’re not hurt, right?’ and brushed it off.
“Hey! What’s going on here! I told you to raise it beforehand!”
The PD arrived late and shouted. The manager pointed fingers at the other staff. Ian crossed his arms and watched from behind.
[They’re cutting off their tails.]
‘I guess so.’
[But why did you save him? You didn’t even know he was from a rich family… It’s not your problem if he gets hurt.]
‘It could have been me.’
Ian shrugged. His body just moved on its own.
He hated seeing accidents in front of him.
He also hated delaying the rehearsal because of that.
‘Isn’t it better to stop it if you can? But did you get hurt a lot in this accident in the past?’
[You probably had a bad injury from falling wrong.]
Jin snapped his shutter silently as if he was thinking about something. Ian received apologies from the staff and the PD, and Lee Minha came up to him after the situation was settled.
“Thank you, Ian. I would have been in big trouble without you.”
“It’s okay, as long as you’re not hurt. Do you have any discomfort?”
“No, wow. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if I fell… Do you need anything? I want to repay you.”
“It’s fine. I didn’t do it for a reward.”
As the manager of Miracle and the staff thanked Ian for preventing a big accident, Lee Minha looked at Ian with a touched expression.
‘What is this look…’
It was like the way Lim Noeul looked at Ian. Ian hid his confused expression with a polite smile.
[Did I forget this?]
Jin felt a strange feeling as he looked at the concert hall from afar. He felt like there was something more he should remember. He had no forgotten memories until now, so why now…?
[Damn it…]
Was this also a side effect of his shrinking body?
***
“Call me next time. I’ll buy you a meal.”
“Okay.”
“No, I’ll do it first. See you later.”
Ian, who had exchanged numbers with Eunminha, who was the same age as him, entered the waiting room.
The members were all asleep since there was a lot of time left until the next rehearsal for the whole singers.
“You finished late? What happened?”
“Yes, hyung. I almost had an accident during the rehearsal.”
“Really? Are you not hurt anywhere?! What happened?”
Park Dongsoo, who was sitting and looking at his phone, jumped up.
He patted his startled chest as he listened to Ian’s story about the incident during the rehearsal.
“Well… You did well saving him, but you have to take care of yourself first. You know you were also in danger, right?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t answer right away. You could have fallen together. Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe. The stage was so flimsy… Just rest for now.”
“Wake me up later…”
Even as Ian lay down in the remaining space and closed his eyes, Park Dongsoo was looking at something intently.
‘Doesn’t that hyung get tired?’
He picked up the rookie, followed the schedule with him, and even though he had a harder schedule than the rookie, Park Dongsoo never saw him sleepy.
***
He woke up, ate the food supported by the fans, and rehearsed again.
Finally, the live broadcast started.
Ian followed the staff’s guidance and stood under the stage where the lift would go up.
“What, you also have a cat?”
“Huh, you too?”
While waiting, Ian chatted with Eunminha on the next lift out of boredom when he suddenly felt the floor vibrate.
“Huh?”
[What, why is it going up?]
The lift that carried Ian slowly went up to the stage. Ian looked at Eunminha nervously.
“What? It’s not our turn now, is it?”
“No, it’s not.”
Eunminha also looked at Ian going up with a surprised expression.
‘It’s not time to go up yet?!’
On the protruding stage, another group’s performance was in full swing.
The main vocal stage still had a few minutes left, but either someone among the staff pressed it too early or it malfunctioned.
‘Ah… I’m screwed.’
Ian ended up going up to the stage and stood alone on the main stage. His pupils trembled uncontrollably.
‘Go back down!’
He crouched down on the floor and pounded the stage floor with his fist.
He was sure he was being filmed by a camera, and he felt sick thinking that he would be turned into a meme later.
‘Damn it…’
Did the lift hear Ian’s desperate pounding? It vibrated and went back down.
When he went back down under the stage, Eunminha was biting his lip and holding back his laughter. Ian sighed and said.
“…Just laugh.”
With that permission, Eunminha burst into laughter.
‘Hey, Jin. Did you have this kind of accident before?’
[I didn’t have this kind of accident… What is this?]
‘Could it be…’
Did I cause a butterfly effect by saving Eunminha?