Idol Hides His Military Service

"Mr. Haruto, how did you like the stage? Is it very different from Japanese music shows?"

"To be honest, if you exclude the facilities, Korea wins across the board."

"Isn’t that too much praise? I’ve heard Japan’s stage sound equipment is the best in the world, beyond Asia."

Sakamoto Haruto nodded at the staffer guiding Haruto around the music show set.

'The equipment is top-tier, sure. The problem is the people using it are mediocre.'

Haruto kept that cynical thought hidden—cynical enough that if someone heard it, someone might ask if Haruto was trashing Japan’s own music shows too much.

But that was Haruto’s honest feeling.

Haruto, a division head at the Japanese entertainment agency Unibex, was currently on a business trip to Korea to collaborate with Korean agencies.

-This Hallyu boom looks like it’s going to last longer than we expected. Haruto, I need you to work hard again.

The reason a division head like Haruto had to come to Korea in person was because of an order from Unibex’s president, Kaji Souta.

'SY was a pretty sweet deal for us, so it’d be a shame to let it go.'

And it made sense. For the last ten years, the person who had closed contracts that pulled in enormous profit through cooperation with Korea was Haruto. It wasn’t strange that President Souta would assign Haruto the job again.

Hallyu.

"Now it doesn’t even feel strange to see Korean singers on Japanese music shows. You can really feel how the world has changed."

"That’s right. When Hallyu first spread, it was basically the exclusive domain of middle-aged women, but now it’s expanding more and more on a base of young women in their teens and twenties."

Who could have predicted it?

That a neighbor country’s dramas would have that kind of influence on Japan, a cultural powerhouse that was shaping culture worldwide, beyond Asia.

Through Winter Sonata, a drama that wrote legendary records not just in Korea but in Japan as well, Korean culture began to spread through Japan little by little.

At first it started with dramas like that, and then the music that appeared in those dramas gradually gained popularity in Japan too, and before anyone knew it, it was rising from minor to major.

At first it began with Japanese middle-aged women who were fans of Korean dramas, but as that fanbase grew thicker and thicker—

'TWXQ, Raon, and then G.G and Kira after that.'

One of the people who sparked that Hallyu wave was Haruto.

-This will absolutely work!

Because Haruto’s spouse was a hardcore Hallyu-drama fan, Haruto had been dragged into a Korea trip, and by chance ended up hearing Korean idol music—what was now called K-pop.

The shock Haruto felt then was beyond words.

'Cutting-edge music that mixes a bunch of genres together, and every member doing choreography at a pro dancer level while singing live.'

Korean idols pulling off high-level vocals and even higher-level choreography live.

In Korea itself, it seemed like people didn’t even realize how insane that was, but to Haruto, it was basically acrobatics.

Not some shabby acrobatics—more like the kind of skill you could only show after devoting your entire life to it, like the dancers of the Bolshoi, the world’s best ballet company.

So Haruto decided this could appeal to Japan’s younger generation, and Haruto signed a contract with SY, who strongly wanted to enter the Japanese market at the time, and managed SY artists’ entry into Japan.

At first,

-Korean music? Has Unibex finally fallen off?

-Who would listen to that? It’s obvious only middle-aged women would like it.

-Idols are everywhere in Japan, what kind of bizarre nonsense is this?

Not only Japan’s music industry but even people inside Unibex looked at Haruto with pessimism beyond mere doubt, but now nobody questioned Haruto’s judgment.

After all, the one who set the record for the most dome concerts—something only top-tier popular singers could do in Japan—as the first non-Japanese singer to do it was a Korean idol.

And on top of that, every time a Korean idol appeared on Kohaku Uta Gassen, Japan’s biggest year-end event, the viewership rating spiked.

Now K-pop had firmly taken its place as mainstream culture in Japan.

"Is LYNX’s stage not up yet?"

"Yes. They took 1st last week, so this time they’re the final act."

"Oh. I heard they haven’t been debuted long, but 1st place already."

"In the past, even if a rookie idol was from a big agency, it took time to get 1st place, but these days things are changing quickly."

And what Haruto was aiming for—the Haruto who had helped create that Hallyu wave—was none other than TSP’s rookie girl group, LYNX.

Because their existing partner SY had gotten into a dispute over contract issues with their flagship group TWXQ, Unibex needed a new partner.

'SY is still Korea’s number one, but I think TSP has even more growth potential.'

Haruto’s choice was TSP.

Because if it was TSP—an agency that had already succeeded with both boy and girl idols and risen into Korea’s Big 3—Haruto judged it would be a sufficient replacement for SY.

Especially since LYNX, the group TSP debuted this time, included three Japanese members, so it was worth expecting a strong local response too.

"Waaaaah!!! Iam!!"

"Sion!!! I came to see you!"

"Gahyeon!!"

"I love you!!"

Haruto had come to check the live stage in person one last time in order to sign with TSP.

Haruto had already watched it countless times on video, but there were things you could only know by seeing it in person, so Haruto was attending UBS’s Popular Top Ten music show.

"Iam?"

"Ah, do you not know Iam, by any chance?"

"No. That name is new to me."

Haruto couldn’t help getting curious at the loudest cheering Haruto had heard from the audience today.

"They’re a group that people are calling LYNX’s rival. If we’re being honest, if you go by popularity alone, they might even be higher than LYNX."

"Is that true?"

"Mr. Haruto is Japanese, so you might not know, but recently an idol survival program was a huge hit in Korea."

After that, as Haruto heard that the group formed by the members selected through that survival program was Iam, Haruto nodded.

'I don’t know the details, but it’s probably like Japan’s AKB48 general election.'

Haruto didn’t really know what idol survival programs were, but Japan already had systems where popularity rankings were determined through voting, so Haruto could roughly understand.

'Their skills must be terrible.'

Haruto was briefly interested at the mention that they were LYNX’s rival, but the interest had no choice but to cool off.

If the members were picked by voting, then most of them were likely picked for looks or character rather than skill.

Japan already had more than enough idols like that.

What Haruto and Unibex wanted was an idol group that could show the high-level performance that was the essence of K-pop.

'Still, I should at least watch once.'

Haruto had no expectations, but still turned Haruto’s gaze toward the stage to check.

Soon, seven girls appeared onstage.

And the cheering grew even louder.

'Oh. They do look like they’d be popular.'

Dressed for the season in shirts, light sweaters, and wide-leg jeans, the girls looked appealing even to Haruto’s eyes, with Haruto’s pretty strict standards.

Especially—

"Who is that member in the center?"

"Ah, the one in the middle is Lee Sion. She took 1st in the survival show, and she really stands out."

Haruto had no choice but to nod.

'Not just an idol—if you look at all actors too, with a face like that···.'

Lee Sion, appearing with long black hair tied in a ponytail, stood out even among the seven.

It wasn’t that the other members were lacking.

But Lee Sion went beyond simply being pretty—more like there was an aura that was hard to put into words.

Among gemstones, rubies and sapphires are actually the same mineral, but only because it’s red, a ruby is treated as far rarer than a sapphire.

Lee Sion was that ruby.

♬

'Pop? The melody’s upbeat.'

After briefly taking in Lee Sion and the other Iam members, Haruto soon focused on the music signaling the start of the stage.

My toes keep tangling up

Even if the rhythm feels off

This awkward feeling

Somehow, it’s not bad

'What? They’re good?'

A bright, upbeat song, like modernized American high-teen pop that was popular in the early 2000s.

Haruto couldn’t understand the lyrics, but Haruto instinctively thought this was the kind of song anyone could easily hum along to and enjoy, regardless of nationality.

But what was even more surprising than the song was—

The moment we first met, breath in

Even without a word, I can hear it all

Through unfamiliar air

A transparent tension seeps in

While delivering stable live vocals, the Iam members were also pulling off choreography so intense you’d doubt they were even a girl group.

'So they weren’t picked just for looks—they actually have skill?'

K-pop idol choreography was famous for being so perfectly synchronized it had the nickname “group dance,” but that was usually something you saw on boy idol stages.

Because of the difference in physicality, girl groups tended to focus on softer choreography, but—

'They’re doing intense choreography and not wavering at all.'

Iam, onstage right now, wasn’t like that.

Especially the two members who were clearly leading the performance right now—their skill was so outstanding it left Haruto stunned.

And that wasn’t all.

(Oh) Everything looks new

(Yeah) This isn’t an accident

It feels like a coincidence, but somehow

It feels like a predetermined scene

As soon as verse one ended and verse two began, the rap part came in, and even across languages, the distinctive rhythm of rap landed precisely, giving Haruto a kind of auditory pleasure.

The moment we first met, hold on

Where the light spreads out

This is only the first scene

But it’s already special

Then the vocals that followed, with a voice full of clean brightness, pulled Haruto even deeper into the song again.

"That vocal part just now is···."

"Right. Iam has one Japanese member too. Kurosawa Yuri. Even though she’s foreign, she sings really well, so she’s popular."

Haruto was startled again at the fact that the part Haruto had just heard was the Japanese member’s part.

On one hand, Haruto was shocked that the vocals were so good Haruto had mistakenly assumed all the members were Korean.

And then—

'If there’s a Japanese member···.'

Haruto could see plenty of possibility for Iam to enter Japan.

Even putting aside Kurosawa Yuri, the Japanese member—

'That youngest-looking member resembles a member of Kira, who used to cause a massive craze. And that tallest member has the kind of look young Japanese women like, doesn’t she?'

The more Haruto broke it down, the more each Iam member stood out with a different kind of charm that could work in Japan too.

Before watching the stage, Haruto had worried attention might be too concentrated on Lee Sion alone, but Iam was showing off each member’s charm like that worry was stupid.

The moment we first met, stay there

To the point it’ll stay in my memory

Awkward and also transparent

This feeling, I like Yours

As the song reached its ending and Haruto saw the members onstage, breathing hard as they leaned back-to-back against each other, Haruto felt Haruto’s heart pounding.

'It feels like I’ve gone back to the starting point.'

Lately, no matter what idol stage Haruto watched, it had felt like an extension of work, so Haruto often found Haruto’s self analyzing with indifference rather than feeling excitement.

But now was different.

Iam was giving Haruto the same feeling Haruto had back when Haruto first heard K-pop after coming to Korea on a trip long ago.

Waaaah!!!!

When Iam’s stage ended, the audience in the seats erupted in cheers again, just like at the beginning, and Iam’s members smiled and waved at the audience.

Clap clap clap.

Watching that, Haruto couldn’t help clapping too, just like the audience.

***

"I swear, you really have no fear."

"Yunkyung is right! Sion, how did you even think of changing the lyric at the end of the stage and singing it like that?"

"Seriously, do that kind of thing after you talk to us! You scared me!"

Hmm.

Judging by how the members were making a fuss, it looked like the secret weapon I’d prepared landed well, so I was satisfied.

The original last lyric of our song, Something Like It’s About to Start, was this feeling, I like that, but today I changed it slightly when I sang it.

"If our fans come to see our stage and it’s the exact same every time, it’s boring."

You could call it a kind of fanservice.

Honestly, it was a pathetic little event compared to how grateful I was.

'I didn’t know applying for audience attendance was that hard.'

Getting into the audience for a music show required more complicated steps than I expected. Not only was the method different for every broadcaster, the competition was fierce too, so it wasn’t easy for fans to come.

But fans worked desperately to get even one more person into the audience no matter what, because fans were afraid their favorite singer would get disappointed after seeing they didn’t have many fans, or that the station would treat the singer poorly.

And that wasn’t all.

While we carved up even our sleeping time to appear on radio, and cut down rest time to appear on broadcasts, just to promote a little more—

[Iam Streaming One-Click Guide: Lemon Version]

「First, I finished the Lemon version, and I’ll upload the bug version and the live version one by one too

The kids’ chart ranking is still rising, so if we push mass streaming just a bit more, it really feels like we can actually take 1st

Yours, let’s go」

↳We’ve come this far, so what can we do, we gotta do it

↳Should we start going to look for it? Terrestrial 1st place

↳Wow, seriously, these people are insane, how do you even run platform-by-platform streaming with one click?

↳By the way, I’m building an Iam mass-streaming push website right now, and once that’s done it’ll be way easier, and for promotion you’ll be able to just share the site link too

↳I’ll go promote in the LYNX gallery first

↳Ban that crazy trolling bastard already!

Watching Yours do everything from streaming our tracks to roaming communities, making edited posts to promote the radio shows and variety programs we’d been on, made my chest tighten up.

And maybe because that effort was paying off—

"But don’t you feel like there’ve been especially a lot of our fans lately?"

"I don’t know if it’s just a feeling, but it does seem like way more than week two."

At my question, Ryu Ayeon nodded as she answered, so it seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt it.

Before, the cheering for other singers in the audience had been way louder, but going into week three, it was to the point where you could feel that our fandom’s voices weren’t getting pushed back by that anymore.

-Waaaah!!!

Even against # Nоvеlight # the cheers LYNX’s fans were screaming right now as LYNX performed the final stage, we weren’t getting drowned out at all—if anything, it sounded even louder.

"I’m jealous of being the final act."

That was something Lee Gahyeon let slip without thinking as she watched LYNX’s stage on the waiting room monitor.

"What are you jealous for? We’re the final act on Music Count next week too."

"Right? I still can’t believe we took 1st."

"Yuri called Yuri’s mom to brag! Yuri said Yuri’s a 1st-place singer!"

As soon as the topic came up—1st place, and being the final act on a music show—the waiting room started to get excited.

This week, we Iam finally took 1st place on Music Count.

But LYNX had already achieved terrestrial 1st place in their own week three, and now in week four, LYNX was charging forward, taking 1st place at the two terrestrial stations other than Music Count, so we were still stuck clapping for LYNX from behind.

Of course, the company congratulated us, saying it was still an amazing achievement, but personally, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

"It’s time to move!"

While we were talking as we watched LYNX’s stage for a bit, a staffer opened the waiting room door and told us it was time to move.

Because we had to go back up onstage again the moment LYNX, the final act, finished, we checked our outfits and makeup again and hurried to move.

"For Popular Top Ten, the last week of May. We’ve introduced everything from 4th place to 10th place to you."

"From here, we will reveal the three teams nominated for 1st place for the last week!"

Waaaah!!!

When we hurried up onto the stage, the male and female MCs of Popular Top Ten started the announcement like they’d been waiting.

On the left of the stage was us, Iam. In the center was LYNX. On the right was a famous boy group member appearing solo.

'LYNX is in the center.'

And at that seating arrangement, I could see our members’ faces stiffen a little.

It was just a rumor, but people said the nominee in the center spot was that week’s 1st place.

'Were we still lacking?'

The company people, and the online reactions, said we had a pretty decent chance of taking 1st place on Popular Top Ten, so it felt like both I and the members had been holding a little expectation.

"Popular Top Ten, the last week of May—1st place is!!!" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

But it’s fine.

We still had our week four left, and our scores were still rising, so next week we really might beat everyone—

"Iam’s Something Like It’s About to Start!!! Congratulations!"

"Wait, what? We’re 1st place?"

It was our historic terrestrial 1st place acceptance moment.