Idol Hides His Military Service

[How are these the same person?]

(A shot of Lee Sion on Agbaek live, lips pressed together, frantically working the keyboard and mouse.)

(A shot of Lee Sion in the music video, shyly greeting Lee Gahyeon.)

↳Oh right, Sion was an idol.

↳What? Not a variety show comedian?

↳What? Not a fighter?

↳But seriously, wow—I watched the MV and was impressed. So this is what “refreshing” is.

↳For real, she was just pure idol.

↳Yeah, she was literally an idol.

Iam’s debut song, “Feels Like Something’s About to Start,” had the internet buzzing.

Not just the official fan café or Iam Gallery—there were posts popping up on all kinds of sites, stitching together scenes from the music video.

[Music videos hit different when big-company money goes in.]

(A shot of the Iam members all dancing the highlight choreography together on a rooftop.)

↳You can totally tell they spent money on this. How did they even film it?

↳Just from the color grading, you can tell they used a good camera. Renting stuff like that costs thousands a day.

↳Lately it’s either “pure and innocent” or “sexy girl-crush” every time, and honestly I’m sick of it. This bright, lively, refreshing vibe is so good.

↳Our girls weren’t only good at variety shows!

Especially since the company had poured in money like a major agency would, the music video’s quality was insanely high—so most reactions were positive.

[Honestly, I only liked them because they were funny.]

“I didn’t really care about idols. I was just watching Iam content like it was a variety show.

But after seeing this MV... it feels different.

I think I finally get why people like idols.”

↳You’re not weird for that. The Iam fandom has a lot of fans who like light, fun vibes.

↳I was exactly like the person who wrote this, and same. After watching the MV, it got all tingly somehow, and I kept replaying it without even noticing.

↳Variety shows were Iam’s identity, but when they step into their actual job, it hits different.

↳They got popular in the first place because they’re good on stage lol

Even among Iam’s fans—who were mostly casual—there were tons of people saying the MV gave them whiplash in the best way. It was definitely not a bad situation.

[Did you see this in the MV?]

(The words “Idol Ground 100” written on the back of an alarm clock.)

“Sion turns off an alarm clock at the start of the MV, right?

But on the back of that alarm clock, it says Agbaek.”

↳So does that mean she’s graduating Agbaek and stepping into a new world?

↳That sounds plausible.

↳That’s probably it. When Yunkyung showed up later, her name tag said Yours.

↳So the story is: she graduates Agbaek, meets Yours, and becomes an idol? That’s the MV plot?

↳Oh, that actually sounds like a real idol MV.

↳Damn it, they really are idols.

Pfft.

“Man... that’s sad, but it’s making me laugh.”

Raon was reading a music video analysis post on an Iam fan community, and she couldn’t help admiring it.

Most of the comments were jokes, but there were also plenty of comments that seriously analyzed the scenes. And mixed in were a few people leaving negative comments, saying the post was forcing meaning onto scenes that were probably just thrown in without any deeper intent.

A chaotic comment section, basically.

‘Do the fans really start resembling the members?’

Usually, when a post like this went up in an idol fandom, the comments would be nothing but praise.

But these “everyone-does-whatever-they-want” comments... even Raon had never seen a reaction like this before.

It was happening because the fandom was so diverse—but still, it made Raon feel, once again, that Iam’s fandom had sides that didn’t match the usual idol fandom mold.

“This fan has the MV’s story nailed down exactly.”

A familiar voice came from behind Raon as she kept reading.

She turned around—and there was Sanghyeok, standing behind her, looking so gaunt even a grim reaper would’ve been shocked.

“You’re here, CEO? But why do you look like that? Don’t tell me you didn’t sleep at all last night?”

“Please say I didn’t sleep. I was checking Iam’s MV views and the real-time charts, and before I knew it... morning had come.”

“Huh?”

Raon was horrified.

As Iam’s producer, Raon was [N O V E L I G H T] in charge of the overall direction—so she’d stayed up checking the numbers after the first release.

But she never expected even the CEO, Sanghyeok, to voluntarily pull an all-nighter monitoring Iam’s performance.

“I’m a bit tired, but I’m still satisfied.”

“If you’re ending at ‘satisfied,’ I feel like that’s kind of disappointing.”

“I was extremely satisfied. We entered the real-time chart at number 27, and our peak rank was 15. That’s a record anyone would call impressive.”

It really sounded like he’d watched it all night—Sanghyeok rattled off the digital performance for Iam’s debut song, “Feels Like Something’s About to Start,” like it was nothing.

“We haven’t even done proper music show promotions yet, and we’re already that high. Doesn’t that mean we can even aim for number one?”

“You’re half right, and half wrong.”

“Excuse me?”

She’d heard he’d been studying the recent music industry—apparently, he really had learned a lot. Raon realized it again.

Like Sanghyeok said, even without full-scale promotions, entering the real-time Top 100 at 27 and peaking at 15 (even if it was in the early morning) was a remarkable result.

To a regular person who didn’t know much about real-time charts, it might sound low—like, “It’s not number one, it’s only 15.”

But even for idol groups from major agencies, those ranks weren’t easy to pull off.

And more than anything, you had to remember one key point:

Iam was still a rookie team that hadn’t even debuted yet—they were only having their showcase today.

Once they started broadcasting and promoting, the general public—who didn’t care much about idol debut schedules—would start reacting too.

“That’s when the real match starts.”

“Then why did you say half right, half wrong?”

“The streaming ratio on Iam’s chart is high.”

“Ah...”

Only then did Sanghyeok seem to understand—he let out a short sigh, and his face hardened. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“If the streaming ratio is high, that puts us at a disadvantage in real-time chart battles. So getting past 15 and climbing higher won’t be easy.”

“Hm... going by the indicators, you could say Iam has strong public appeal—but on the other hand, it also means the fandom firepower is still weak.”

“Yes. Of course Iam’s fandom isn’t small. But if we want to get into the real-time Top 10, we need a bigger absolute influx.”

Raon and Sanghyeok discussed Iam’s real-time chart rank with serious expressions.

They had no choice.

Among the indicators of an idol’s popularity, real-time digital chart rankings were one of the big ones—no amount of worrying about it was ever enough.

For idols, the number of music show wins determined appearance fees for events and the price tags for advertising deals.

And among the key indicators that decided those music show wins... was digital ranking.

So any idol agency had to care about real-time charts.

And the music site where you could check those real-time charts—

If you asked people to name Korea’s music platforms, they’d usually list about three.

But only one was recognized by both fans and the general public as a meaningful indicator.

Lemon.

It had been dragged through all kinds of controversies for years and never stopped being talked about—but as the platform with the largest user base in Korea, Lemon’s real-time chart had become a kind of “combat power meter” for idol fandoms.

- EXY’s fans are insane. Seriously legendary.

↳They were doing rehearsals starting a month early just to line the chart up.

↳Their leaders plan like it’s a military operation.

↳So that’s what it takes to line it up for 24 hours straight.

↳No group can go head-to-head with EXY’s fandom. That’s not a fandom, that’s a natural disaster—you avoid it.

↳Natural disaster trait: you weren’t even trying to fight them, but they drag your group in anyway just to hype themselves up and punch you. Damn it.

The line between “top-tier idols” and everyone else was basically this:

Can that idol’s fandom line up Lemon’s real-time chart for 24 hours straight with the idol’s album playlist?

At that point, no further explanation was needed.

There was a reason idol fans used “lining up Lemon’s real-time chart” as a way to brag about their firepower.

- Lemon’s real-time chart is tallied hourly, and the record is the sum of usage in the most recent hour (40% streaming + 60% downloads).

A real-time chart that combined streaming and download scores.

Because of that, idols with a high download ratio had an advantage when it came to ranking high.

“Now I finally get how insane it was that TSP’s Links pulled off what they did.”

“It’s not for nothing that they’re a major agency. At a place like TSP, they form the fandom before the rookie group even debuts, and they build a plan step by step, adjusting everything down to the details. That’s why they succeed every time.”

The absolute pinnacle of that kind of thing... was SY, Raon’s former company.

They managed things so meticulously even before debut that the fandom for a group that hadn’t even debuted yet could outnumber a typical boy group fandom.

Raon and KJ Entertainment had been trying their own way to build a fandom too—but the accumulated know-how was different, and more than anything, they didn’t have time.

They’d put together a rushed schedule to debut in just one month to carry Agbaek’s momentum forward.

So if they’d gained public attention but still didn’t have a hardened core fandom yet, you could call it a fair trade.

“With a major agency like TSP, fandoms from senior groups can carry over to junior groups, too... so the fight for number one won’t be easy.”

“Yeah.”

Raon said it, and then wondered if she’d been too blunt. She carefully checked Sanghyeok’s expression.

But surprisingly, he didn’t look offended at all.

“Still, you definitely captured people’s attention, didn’t you?”

“Huh?”

“The MV hit one million views in ten hours after release.”

And that attention they’d earned didn’t betray them.

Hitting one million views in ten hours after release was a number you couldn’t reach unless you were a top-tier idol with an overseas fandom.

But Iam—

They didn’t have an overseas fandom. They didn’t even have a fully formed domestic fandom yet.

And still, their MV had hit one million views.

That meant one thing:

Public interest in Iam was at the highest level.

“From here on, we need to turn that interest into fan devotion. My goal is for Iam to win Rookie of the Year at this year’s awards. Can you do it?”

Rookie of the Year.

A clear, external stamp that said Iam was the best group that debuted this year—

And a goal that would prove KJ Entertainment had successfully established itself as a real entertainment agency.

When Raon realized Sanghyeok was dreaming bigger than she’d expected, a smile naturally formed on her face.

She didn’t plan to settle for mediocre results just because the opponent was strong, either.

“Yes. The real fight starts once music shows begin. That’s when we were going to start seriously gathering fans.”

Raon had deliberately held back Iam’s appearances even though plenty of programs wanted them—because everything was for this moment.

[Now that the MV’s out and they’re gonna film music shows, does that mean they’ll be on variety shows a lot?]

“Monthly Idol is MPlay, so they’ll obviously go on that. But could they even try a network variety show too?”

↳I want them on Paldo Man so bad. They’d be hilarious.

↳They need to do the radio circuit too.

↳These days, going on Next Door Hyungnim is basically the standard idol course.

↳Normally when rookies say they’re filming variety shows, I worry first... but with our girls, I’m only excited lol

↳No matter what they film, it’ll be legendary.

Iam’s variety show activities—something fans and variety PDs alike were desperately waiting for.

If Iam’s recognition expanded beyond YouTube and reality content, through appearances on other variety programs, Raon believed they really could aim for number one then.

“I trust your judgment, PD Raon. Then let’s get moving. We need to prepare for the showcase.”

After hearing Raon’s confident answer, Sanghyeok nodded and said he trusted her—then told her it was time to move and get ready for the showcase.

“You’re going too, CEO? You should rest a little...”

“I’m fine. This kind of schedule was common at my previous job, anyway. And more than anything, as the CEO, skipping the company’s first group showcase would be neglecting my duties.”

Without even waiting for Raon’s reply, Sanghyeok turned his body like he was already about to leave.

Following after him, Raon felt her excitement build for Iam’s showcase stage that was about to begin.

***

Pass 24 Live Hall.

“Wasn’t Pass 24 a bookstore?!”

“What do you even know? Pass 24 Live Hall is idol holy ground. Pretty much every group does their showcase here.”

If you improve one day, you improve again the next, and then improve yet again. (Gou il sin, il il sin, u il sin.)

I thought I’d learned a decent amount about the idol world by now, but every day I learned something new—so I could feel myself improving again.

With her shallow knowledge, Seo Ryujin kept trying to bully me—

but the future where she got put in her place by an ever-improving Lee Sion was already visible to me.

“Aren’t you nervous, leader? This is the first time we’re revealing our stage.”

“Shouldn’t the audience be the nervous ones?”

“Huh?”

“Because they’ll have to face Gahyeon’s adorable little cutesy outfit.”

Pfft!

At my words, one of the stylists—who’d been smoothing out our outfits—failed to hold it in and burst out laughing.

“Lee Sion...!”

“Whoa, whoa... calm down, Gahyeon. That was an American-style joke. It was humor to loosen the members up.”

“American my ass! You’ve never even been abroad!”

Maybe because she got hit with it every day, Lee Gahyeon’s instincts had gotten sharper.

Before, if I brushed it off vaguely, she’d just go, “Oh? Really?” and let it slide.

But these days, she’d aggressively verify the truth.

“Yuri likes this outfit!”

“This really looks like something Japanese idols wear!”

While I played a game of “avoid the slap” with Lee Gahyeon glaring daggers at me, I heard the other members reacting.

‘Being a real idol isn’t easy either.’

The first outfit we were wearing now, right before stepping onto the stage for our debut showcase—

This was an outfit that even I—someone who’d been through everything and didn’t get flustered easily—had trouble accepting.

Yuri, who’d said she liked it, and the younger ones—Yunkyung and Shinyu—actually pulled it off surprisingly well.

But...

“The four of us are kind of... not it, right?”

“Gahyeon, please correct that. You’re the one who stands out on a whole different level.”

“What? Ryu Ayeon, are you messing with me too?”

“Accept it, Gahyeon. That outfit is too much for you to handle.”

It was definitely a hard outfit for the four of us—me, Seo Ryujin, Ryu Ayeon, and Lee Gahyeon—to wear.

“We’ll be entering the stage soon. Please do a final check.”

“Yes!”

While we were talking about the outfits with the members—asking if the company had some grudge against us, or if there was actually some kind of intent behind it—

We heard a staff member’s voice telling us it was time to go onstage.

And at the same time—

[Hello! I’m Jang Junseok, today’s MC for Iam’s debut showcase!]

A very familiar voice reached even our waiting room.

[Before we meet the seven girls chosen by the people’s votes, we’ll be back after commercials in sixty seconds—]

Boooo!!!

At Junseok’s line, we heard laughter mixed with booing.

Even the members and staff in the waiting room were smiling automatically at the familiar line that had basically become his signature.

[I feel like if I mess around any more, I won’t make it home in one piece tonight. So then—let’s meet them right now! Rookie girl group Iam!]

It was the moment our debut showcase began.