The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

Chapter 176

The number of views on Kang Hyun-Sung’s showcase fan cam video began to rise in an instant. It was an increase too astounding to simply attribute it to Kang Hyun-Sung’s popularity being higher than the other members. Only One’s title track, “First One” was an EDM-based song with a heavy and intense dubstep beat. However, to suit the summer vibe, it was a song that felt refreshing and cheerful rather than heavy, so it made people want to dance as soon as they listened to the song.

Kang Hyun-Sung in the video was wearing a black shirt without a collar, but his body line stood out because he was wearing a see-through shirt. Kang Hyun-Sung’s body, which lost about 4kg more than usual, had the power to catch the eyes of the viewers. As soon as the light touched his pale skin, it created an optical illusion and made people think he was shining. The silhouette of his collarbone and shoulder line to his forearm clearly revealed how hard Kang Hyun-Sung’s diet was and how much muscle he had.

Before the stage began, Kang Hyun-Sung slightly smiled as if he felt shy, but as soon as the music came out, he changed expression and began dancing. He was soft and light at the same time and knew just the right time to put more strength in areas that needed to be highlighted. Kang Hyun-Sung’s dancing, which was a festive to the eyes, shone even more in a high-quality dubstep beat.

—YES WE ONLY KNOW!

—THIS IS THE FIRST ONE

—The story that we’re going to write about

—We’ve reached the starting point

Kang Hyun-Sung moved to the center and performed a choreography mixed with krumping in line with the chorus, and this was the scene that people replayed the most. He exuded strength and elasticity that were difficult to come out of a thin body and portrayed the charms and strengths of the Krumping genre. Idol consumers recognized a good performance faster than anyone else, so as soon as the video was released, the number of views soared, and it began to generate numerous retweets in Bluebird.

—I’m sweating; Kang Hyun-Sung really put out all the stops

—wow, crazy. Who is he really?

—Hyun-Sung...

—Those burning eyes...I love you to death

—I’m swooning from that small smile he gave right before the stage started

—I think his dancing is really clean.

—Ha the fuck...I feel faint

The Kang Hyun-Sung’s video, which had been consumed only within OnlyOne’s fandom, began to spread to other idol consumers in an instant. During lunchtime when Siren’s gifts to fans firmly kept the no. 1 spot on the real-time chart, Kang Hyun-Sung’s fancam rose to the ranks at a crazy speed and stole the top spot in the real-time trend. It was the first time that OnlyOne beat Siren, which had been constantly gaining popularity from debut shows to fan gifts.

—I was curious about the part that people watched the most, and it was ‘that part’ hahahaha people are all the same.

—Hyun-Sung’s waist is seriously crazy...

While monitoring Bluebird, Bong Tae-Yoon inevitably witnessed the very moment when Siren’s reverse gift-giving lost the top spot inside Siren’s media showcase waiting room.

***

I confirmed that Kang Hyun-Sung’s fancam video shot up like crazy in the Bluebird rankings. There were already 10,000 retweets, and the number of views was by far the first place compared to other members.

“Tae-Yoon! What are you watching?” At that moment, Yeon-Hoon approached me.

I quickly covered the phone screen, and then looked at Yeon-Hoon, who changed his outfit for the media showcase. Today’s showcase outfit was a summer school uniform. Despite being 23 years old, Yeon-Hoon looked just like a high school student in his school uniform.

Yeon-Hoon asked, “What are you trying to hide so quickly?”

Yeon-Hoon seemed suspicious that I suddenly turned off my phone screen. I said, “It was nothing much.”

“It seemed like you were watching someone’s fancam.”

“No, it’s not.”

“What is it? It’s strange that you’re trying to hide it.”

“There’s nothing for me to hide. I just clicked on anything that came up on my feed.”

“Hmm...okay.” Yeon-Hoon looked suspiciously at me till the very end, and I let out a hollow laugh.

“It really was nothing much. I was just watching senior Kang Hyun-Sung’s fancam that’s trending right now.” I just turned on my screen and showed it to him before he misunderstood that I really was watching something weird. Honestly, there was no need for me to hide that I was watching Kang Hyun-Sung’s fancam. I just hid it because Kang Hyun-Sung was pretending to be sexy so blatantly in this video.

“Oh, I know about that. It’s trending like crazy right now. You already saw it?”

“It just came up on my feed.”

Yeon-Hoon took my phone and played the video without returning my phone. Then he sat on the sofa with my phone, looking like a nephew who took their uncle’s phone during the holidays. Then he played the video and began to sincerely admire Kang Hyun-Sung’s performance.

“...Wow...he’s really good at dancing...No wonder it got no.1 on the real-time charts.” Yeon-Hoon also seemed to think that Kang Hyun-Sung’s performance was great.

“But it’s a bit of a shame...that we lost first place on the real-time charts...” As expected, no matter how easy-going Yeon-Hoon acted and lived, he did have a bit of competitive spirit in him.

“Well, but if it’s a performance like this, he deserves it.” Of course, his emotions did turn into ugly jealousy, and he cleanly acknowledged the other party.

I said, “Hmm, really?”

“Huh? Why?”

However, although Yeon-Hoon cleanly admitted our defeat, I couldn’t do the same. I said, “Don’t you think we should film something like this?”

“A fancam like this?”

“Yes.”

“How can you plan and film something like this? If we work hard as usual, this kind of fancam will come out someday~” Yeon-Hoon said as if he didn’t care too much about this. However, my thoughts were different.

‘Yeon-Hoon is in good condition today.’ I didn’t think Yeon-Hoon had anything to lose to Kang Hyun-Sung. I said, “Wait a minute. I’ll be right back.”

“Huh? Why?”

I climbed onto the main stage where there would be a media showcase. The staff were in the midst of setting up lights and LED panels. I used Insight and looked at the stage where we would stand. The staff who had been busily moving stopped, and it felt like I was standing alone in the concert hall where the showcase would take place. There was only one thing I wanted to check with Insight.

‘What should I do...from here on.’ I planned to make a legendary fancam that people said were blessings from God with my own hands.

After finding the best angle the video should be taken and the optimal amount of light at that angle, I deactivated Insight.

‘This is it.’

Soon after, I said, “Director, may I offer a bit of my suggestion when setting up the lights?”

“Suggestion?”

“Yes, it’s not anything complicated...” I told the lighting director and the cinematographer about the setting I saw through Insight. At first, they looked doubtful of my abilities.

“....Oh!”

“...You have good sense, Mr. Tae-Yoon...”

However, their doubtful expression turned bright after changing the setting according to my instruction, and they immediately nodded and gave me the OK sign.

***

Bluebird, which had went crazy with Kang Hyun-Sung’s legendary fancam around lunch, was once again in a frenzy with Yeon-Hoon’s legendary fancam. The real-time rankings were swiftly changing once again.

Yeon-Hoon’s legendary fancam performance was the title of Siren’s debut album, “Blue Summer Night.” An ambient and soft light that seemed to reflect the depths of the ocean fell behind Yeon-Hoon wearing a summer school uniform. As the blue light touched his pale face, the keywords ‘Fairy of the Sea,’ which people jokingly used to reference Siren, became a perfect match. His clean skin without any blemishes and round and large eyes; a straight nose and red, thick lips. Yeon-Hoon’s visuals had the power to refresh both the eyes and ears of all viewers.

—When people see a handsome face, they forget what they said...when people see a handsome face, they forget what they said...

—I definitely turned on Yeon-Hoon’s fancam, but light suddenly came out of my headphones and I was blinded.

—Our beautiful peach is our pride and joy~! He is Siren’s Woo Yeon-Hoon!! —I really didn’t have any thoughts about Woo Yeon-Hoon, but I watched this video with my mouth open. I never knew I had such good concentration...lol

If Kang Hyun-Sung’s fancam was a video that made people crazy in a specific section, Yeon-Hoon was an eye-catching video from beginning to end. To support this statement, in Kang Hyun-Sung’s video, one part was repeated like crazy, but in Woo Yeon-Hoon’s video, there was little difference between the most viewed section and the least viewed section. Kang Hyun-Sung’s fancam, which had ranked first on the real-time charts from lunch and refused to budge, finally caved in and began to fall.

While monitoring Bluebird, Kang Hyun-Sung was also able to see his real-time ranking go down. In a waiting room for a music show, Kang Hyun-Sung made a small smile while looking at his phone’s screen.

“What are you watching?” Only One’s Park Young-Ho asked as he sat next to Kang Hyun-Sung.

“Yeon-Hoon’s fancam video.”

“Oh, I saw that too. He was really good, but...this is okay, right?”

“There’s no reason why it won’t be okay.”

“...Yeah.” Park Young-Ho looked relieved only after Kang Hyun-Sung said it was okay. Kang Hyun-Sung checked the time after turning off Yeon-Hoon’s fancam video. It was time for the music show to start.

Kang Hyun-Sung agreed to the fact that Siren and Only One were rivals. However, if someone asked if Siren and Only One were rivals who had to beat the other like in a death match, he would say no. Of course, considering his personality, he wanted to win for sure and maintain first place if he could.

‘But...I don’t think we have to be rivals right now.’ There was no need to spur more competitiveness between the two. Flexibility was needed in every situation and matter, and Kang Hyun-Sung thought they needed a new strategy to suit this changed situation.

***

Before the broadcast of Music Champion, a music show that that aired every Tuesday, various SNS community platforms, including Bluebird began to heat up around one topic. It was about which side would take the title of winner after their debut in the rivalry between Siren and Only One. For now, Siren clearly won the game on Monday, and until Tuesday morning, Siren fandom had been much more active.

However, after Kang Hyun-Sung’s legendary fancam was released, the buzz began to spread more evenly. Of course, Siren gained more attention again as Woo Yeon-Hoo’s fancam coincidentally appeared right after Kang Hyun-Sung.

—I seriously can’t predict who will win 1st place on next week’s music show;

—This rivalry is too exciting lol

—But honestly, won’t S and OO be uncomfortable right now? They seemed close

—Siren and Only One’s fandom must be unbelievably tense right now lol

In the eyes of others, Siren and Only One were narrowly competing for the lead. For idol consumers who were not fans of Siren and Only One, it was a fun sight to see to relieve their boredom, but for the fans of the two groups, the rivalry was an infinite cycle that caused excessive emotions and fatigue to arise.

—I swear, it’s hella annoying that our guys keep getting tied to Only O- somehow

—I just went on a 1:1 fight with Only O-‘ fandom fuck Hyun’s die-hard fans are everywhere

—Ah fuck just pay attention to your oppas’ activities;

As the conflict became increasingly fierce, there were signs that actual damage on people’s accounts and life were gradually appearing.

—There are a few people who just love arguing for arguing sake so just ignoring them is the only answer

—yeah u have to just go ur way

And in the midst of this fierce conflict that was difficult to predict the outcome, Tuesday’s live broadcast of Music Champion began.

—??

—Fuck hahahhahaha

Then an unexpected scene appeared on air and quickly spread in both Siren and Only One’s fandom. It was a sudden development that flipped the tentative and tense relationship Only One and Siren.