Idol Hides His Military Service

A Music Count recording site I was visiting again after a long time.

This comeback stage was also done as a pre-recording, so after finishing our busy preparations from dawn and arriving on site, I was able to meet a familiar face.

"Director!"

I saw the Camera Director I’d built ties with since Agbaek talking with other staff about something on set, so I threw out a greeting on impulse.

"Oh! Our superstar!"

"Come on··· Director, that kind of title is embarrassing."

"No, not you, Sion. Ayeon. Ayeon, I saw that video this time too. The foreigners were totally smitten, weren’t they?"

"···."

For some reason, the greeting I used to show how happy I was turned into humiliation.

"No. Thank you for thinking so highly of it."

While I was sitting there blank from the Camera Director’s unexpected teabagging, seeing Ryu Ayeon respond with an ingratiating smile was truly something to lament.

'Why did Heaven give birth to me, and Madam Sukja, and Ryu Ayeon, and Kurosawa Yuri!'

Was I finally starting to understand, even a little, how Zhou Yu must’ve felt when Zhou Yu spat blood and died?

Like how Liu Bei, the true protagonist of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, got surrounded by traitors and couldn’t unify the realm before closing his eyes, that day I sacrificed myself by handing out flyers from morning for the guerrilla performance···.

"Just kidding! Just kidding. Of course I saw your stage too, Sion."

"It was close, but I’ll allow it."

"Thanks."

Thankfully, it seemed the Camera Director hadn’t completely forgotten benevolence and righteousness.

When I widened my eyes, only then did the Camera Director start praising my achievements.

While we were briefly exchanging greetings and talking about this and that,

"Iam, first recording, let’s go in."

From far away, we heard a staff member’s voice announcing that our stage was ready.

"Please take care of us today!"

"Okay. I’ll pay special attention and shoot you even better."

"Good job!"

So I said goodbye to the Camera Director and headed for the stage.

"Lee Sion, are you not scared of the Camera Director?"

"Hm?"

"Other singers··· even rookies like us, and even seniors with years under their belt, they can’t just casually talk to the Camera Director. How did you get close?"

Ryu Ayeon asked how I’d gotten close with the Camera Director, like it was impossible to understand.

'What, is it that complicated?'

But I didn’t get it, if anything.

- Oh! Director, you do Music Count too?

- This is my main job. During Agbaek, I was on an assignment.

- Oooh. So this must be what Buddhism calls a connection.

- Buddhism?

- Even brushing sleeves is a connection, and out of 6 billion people on Earth, how big of a connection is it to keep running into each other like this?

- When you put it that way, it really is a connection.

- Right? So please shoot us well!

- With empty hands?

- This is emergency rations I treasure, but I’ll give it to you specially, Director.

- Cola, huh? Thanks. I’ll drink it well.

It was just that I saw a familiar face, went over to say hi, talked about this and that, and we got close.

'Come to think of it, the Camera Director really does pay a lot of attention to our stage.'

I’d gotten close just because I was happy to see the Camera Director and talked a lot, but I was unintentionally reaping a lot of benefits.

[Iam stage fancam]

(Video)

↳I don’t know if it’s just me, but aren’t the music show camera directors weirdly passionate when they shoot Iam?

↳I feel it too, when it’s Iam the camera work is fucking intense

↳Thanks to that, the fancams are always shot as legends, I’m happy

↳Holy shit, the Korean Pop Top Ten (Gayo Top Ten) camera director stepped in?? Back when it was our kids, some person I’d never even heard of came out to shoot them!

↳If it’s Music Count, fine, it’s like Iam’s front yard, but why are the broadcast network music show directors working so hard too?

↳Maybe they wanted to work hard

↳Look at the shooting route, you’d think a pop star came to Korea for a concert

Our Iam music show videos were especially famous for being high quality.

To the point where people even said, "You can trust and watch Iam fancams," our stage videos recorded high view counts, and sure, we did well too, but it was also thanks to the people filming doing such a good job.

"Ryu Ayeon, haven’t I always told you?"

"What?"

"How Liu Bei was able to grasp the realm even though he had nothing···."

"He didn’t grasp it."

"···Almost grasped it was all thanks to benevolence and righteousness. As the saying goes, where a gentleman passes, a fragrance remains, so the Camera Directors too, because of the virtue of a person like me···."

"The members are waiting. Let’s go, hurry."

Right when I was about to explain why the Camera Directors were so friendly to me, Ryu Ayeon cut me off and hurried toward the stage.

Watching Ryu Ayeon act especially annoying these days, I thought that tonight, I should sneak into Ryu Ayeon’s room and give a Romance of the Three Kingdoms lecture.

***

"We’re starting filming!"

With the staff member’s voice announcing the start of filming, Ryujin stared at the camera and put on the expression she’d practiced.

'A little more lively.'

Today, the pre-recording Ryujin and the Iam members had to film was a total of two.

- First, we’ll take insert shots one by one for each member with the comeback commemorative background.

A luxury where, to commemorate the comeback, they filmed individual inserts for each member and used them as the stage opening in the broadcast.

'Unless you’re a top idol, they don’t do this for you.'

When she first heard this plan, Ayeon was genuinely shocked.

Music shows were ads by the minute and second, so debut rookies often couldn’t even get the chance to sing one full song and would routinely do an arrangement that cut out the middle of the song.

Even for well-known mid-career singers, unless it was a comeback stage, getting your stage cut was everyday life, and yet for Iam, who was coming back with just their second mini album, they were not only doing a pre-recording, but decorating a separate stage and even taking insert shots.

This kind of treatment really was something only top idols received.

- Ayeon, your song this time is so good!

- Really?

- Yeah, I listened as soon as it came out yesterday, and I listened again today while going to the shop for work.

Ayeon suddenly remembered what she’d heard earlier today while getting her makeup done at the shop.

The release of the new song she couldn’t watch because the company confiscated their phones, and even forced them to go to sleep early for condition management.

- This is insane! We’re 3rd on the real-time rankings right now!

- Are these music video views real?

- It’s not 200,000, it’s 2,000,000, right?

Only after they got into the van for the music show pre-recording did Ayeon and the members finally get their phones back, and they immediately opened a browser window and a streaming app.

For a long time, they stared at the screen without being able to say anything.

Real-time audio chart rank, 3rd place.

Music video views, 2,000,000.

While they were stammering at each other, not knowing what to do with results that were impossible to believe,

- Hmmm··· still not enough. I’m still hungry.

Only after hearing Lee Sion spit out something that pointless did the members come back to their senses.

"Alright, now please prepare for the main stage!"

"Yes!"

While Ryujin was briefly lost in thought, the first pre-recording, the member-by-member insert filming, came to an end.

But without even a moment to rest, the Iam members moved straight to the waiting room to change outfits for the next recording.

"Isn’t this a waste? Wearing separate outfits for the inserts and for the pre-recording."

"We have to show the fans at least one more different side of us."

"Hm··· you’re saying something right for once, Ryujin-scrub."

"I only ever say the right things."

"Me too, though?"

"You don’t say the right things, you say things that get you punched."

"What?"

As she traded jokes with Lee Sion while moving to the waiting room, Ryujin finally felt like some of her tension was easing.

In truth, Ryujin was in an extremely tense state until she went on stage.

Because Ryujin knew how a celebrity changed after gaining popularity.

- Hey, you can’t even do this right and you want to debut? You’re really living life on easy mode.

Back in her trainee days, Ryujin had once worked as a backup dancer for Logic’s girl group, and she’d learned clearly just how arrogant a successful celebrity could become.

Starting with members who messed up by getting their own stage route wrong, then took it out on the backup dancers and managers anyway.

- I’m not doing that. Why would I even go out for something like that?

Up to members who always chased only easy activities, claiming they were tired at the drop of a hat.

Like they were proving the saying that from then on, it wasn’t the company that was in charge, but the celebrity, Ryujin had seen them act high-handed and lawless.

'I was worried our kids might become like that too.'

So Ryujin had been worried that the Iam members might become like that as well.

Because after debuting, Iam had gained popularity quickly up to now, and if they tasted popularity, they could change.

Even today,

- Iam, please wait just a moment. We’ll finish preparing soon.

Even the broadcast station staff’s attitude, changed beyond recognition from debut, showed it.

Before, staff were so busy that even if Iam members simply asked when they should get ready, staff would snap in irritation, but today, staff were polite enough to tell Ryujin and the members to wait just a moment.

It was a direct display of Iam’s changed status.

And when you received that kind of treatment, people changed.

Didn’t a famous drama say it too?

If the place you stand changes, what you see changes too.

But Ryujin’s worry ended up being groundless.

- Hello! Please take care of us today!

Starting with Lee Sion, who ran around here and there as soon as they arrived at the broadcast station to greet people, and the Iam members who trailed after Lee Sion and greeted people like it was the first time they’d come to a broadcast station.

- Aren’t you hot? Use the waiting room with us.

- If you come in too, it’ll be too cramped.

- Come on, if we squeeze in a bit, it’s fine. If a group that’s supposed to share later comes, we can step out then.

Even the backup dancers who’d come with them for today’s stage were being taken care of attentively.

'I’m the idiot.'

Watching that, Ryujin scolded herself inside, asking if she still didn’t know the members even now.

"We have to do that before we start."

"Are we really doing that?"

"Of course."

By the time she finished sorting out the thoughts from earlier, they’d already changed and come back up onto the Music Count stage.

A stage that hadn’t felt any different earlier during the insert filming was now decorated with IAM and the spelling of the new song, DON'T BLINK.

"One, two, three! Yours!!!"

When the Iam members stood on that specially decorated stage and shouted "Yours" toward the audience,

"Iam!!!"

Even though it was dawn, fans who’d gathered to see Iam’s new song stage answered back with "Iam."

"Let’s be forever!!!"

And the chant of "Let’s be forever" that Iam and Yours shouted together.

'They’re really doing it.'

Because everyone knew they were a one-year project group, it was a line neither fans nor members brought up lightly: "Let’s be forever."

However,

- Even if we end up parting, it doesn’t change that we were Iam, and that there were fans who supported us, right?

Maybe because Lee Sion was jealous of other idols trading chants about eternity with their fans, Lee Sion had suggested that for this comeback stage, they should use "Let’s be forever" as the pre-recording chant.

At first, Ryujin wondered if this was really right, but,

'It doesn’t matter.'

Now, Ryujin didn’t really feel like it mattered.

Just like Lee Sion said, Ryujin being Iam, and there being fans who supported Iam, didn’t change, so what mattered was the present.

"We’re going into the new song!!!"

As always, with Lee Sion’s energetic shout as the start, the stage for the new song DON'T BLINK finally began.

***

"We’re starting filming!"

With the staff member’s voice announcing the start of filming, Ryujin stared at the camera and put on the expression she’d practiced.

'A little more lively.'

Today, the pre-recording Ryujin and the Iam members had to film was a total of two.

- First, we’ll take insert shots one by one for each member with the comeback commemorative background.

A luxury where, to commemorate the comeback, they filmed individual inserts for each member and used them as the stage opening in the broadcast.

'Unless you’re a top idol, they don’t do this for you.'

When she first heard this plan, Ayeon was genuinely shocked.

Music shows were ads by the minute and second, so debut rookies often couldn’t even get the chance to sing one full song and would routinely do an arrangement that cut out the middle of the song.

Even for well-known mid-career singers, unless it was a comeback stage, getting your stage cut was everyday life, and yet for Iam, who was coming back with just their second mini album, they were not only doing a pre-recording, but decorating a separate stage and even taking insert shots.

This kind of treatment really was something only top idols received.

- Ayeon, your song this time is so good!

- Really?

- Yeah, I listened as soon as it came out yesterday, and I listened again today while going to the shop for work.

Ayeon suddenly remembered what she’d heard earlier today while getting her makeup done at the shop.

The release of the new song she couldn’t watch because the company confiscated their phones, and even forced them to go to sleep early for condition management.

- This is insane! We’re 3rd on the real-time rankings right now!

- Are these music video views real?

- It’s not 200,000, it’s 2,000,000, right?

Only after they got into the van for the music show pre-recording did Ayeon and the members finally get their phones back, and they immediately opened a browser window and a streaming app.

For a long time, they stared at the screen without being able to say anything.

Real-time audio chart rank, 3rd place.

Music video views, 2,000,000.

While they were stammering at each other, not knowing what to do with results that were impossible to believe,

- Hmmm··· still not enough. I’m still hungry.

Only after hearing Lee Sion spit out something that pointless did the members come back to their senses.

"Alright, now please prepare for the main stage!"

"Yes!"

While Ryujin was briefly lost in thought, the first pre-recording, the member-by-member insert filming, came to an end.

But without even a moment to rest, the Iam members moved straight to the waiting room to change outfits for the next recording.

"Isn’t this a waste? Wearing separate outfits for the inserts and for the pre-recording."

"We have to show the fans at least one more different side of us."

"Hm··· you’re saying something right for once, Ryujin-scrub."

"I only ever say the right things."

"Me too, though?"

"You don’t say the right things, you say things that get you punched."

"What?"

As she traded jokes with Lee Sion while moving to the waiting room, Ryujin finally felt like some of her tension was easing.

In truth, Ryujin was in an extremely tense state until she went on stage.

Because Ryujin knew how a celebrity changed after gaining popularity.

- Hey, you can’t even do this right and you want to debut? You’re really living life on easy mode.

Back in her trainee days, Ryujin had once worked as a backup dancer for Logic’s girl group, and she’d learned clearly just how arrogant a successful celebrity could become.

Starting with members who messed up by getting their own stage route wrong, then took it out on the backup dancers and managers anyway.

- I’m not doing that. Why would I even go out for something like that?

Up to members who always chased only easy activities, claiming they were tired at the drop of a hat.

Like they were proving the saying that from then on, it wasn’t the company that was in charge, but the celebrity, Ryujin had seen them act high-handed and lawless.

'I was worried our kids might become like that too.'

So Ryujin had been worried that the Iam members might become like that as well.

Because after debuting, Iam had gained popularity quickly up to now, and if they tasted popularity, they could change.

Even today,

- Iam, please wait just a moment. We’ll finish preparing soon.

Even the broadcast station staff’s attitude, changed beyond recognition from debut, showed it.

Before, staff were so busy that even if Iam members simply asked when they should get ready, staff would snap in irritation, but today, staff were polite enough to tell Ryujin and the members to wait just a moment.

It was a direct display of Iam’s changed status.

And when you received that kind of treatment, people changed.

Didn’t a famous drama say it too?

If the place you stand changes, what you see changes too.

But Ryujin’s worry ended up being groundless.

- Hello! Please take care of us today!

Starting with Lee Sion, who ran around here and there as soon as they arrived at the broadcast station to greet people, and the Iam members who trailed after Lee Sion and greeted people like it was the first time they’d come to a broadcast station.

- Aren’t you hot? Use the waiting room with us.

- If you come in too, it’ll be too cramped.

- Come on, if we squeeze in a bit, it’s fine. If a group that’s supposed to share later comes, we can step out then.

Even the backup dancers who’d come with them for today’s stage were being taken care of attentively.

'I’m the idiot.'

Watching that, Ryujin scolded herself inside, asking if she still didn’t know the members even now.

"We have to do that before we start."

"Are we really doing that?"

"Of course."

By the time she finished sorting out the thoughts from earlier, they’d already changed and come back up onto the Music Count stage.

A stage that hadn’t felt any different earlier during the insert filming was now decorated with IAM and the spelling of the new song, DON'T BLINK.

"One, two, three! Yours!!!"

When the Iam members stood on that specially decorated stage and shouted "Yours" toward the audience,

"Iam!!!"

Even though it was dawn, fans who’d gathered to see Iam’s new song stage answered back with "Iam."

"Let’s be forever!!!"

And the chant of "Let’s be forever" that Iam and Yours shouted together.

'They’re really doing it.'

Because everyone knew they were a one-year project group, it was a line neither fans nor members brought up lightly: "Let’s be forever."

However,

- Even if we end up parting, it doesn’t change that we were Iam, and that there were fans who supported us, right?

Maybe because Lee Sion was jealous of other idols trading chants about eternity with their fans, Lee Sion had suggested that for this comeback stage, they should use "Let’s be forever" as the pre-recording chant.

At first, Ryujin wondered if this was really right, but,

'It doesn’t matter.'

Now, Ryujin didn’t really feel like it mattered.

Just like Lee Sion said, Ryujin being Iam, and there being fans who supported Iam, didn’t change, so what mattered was the present.

"We’re going into the new song!!!"

As always, with Lee Sion’s energetic shout as the start, the stage for the new song DON'T BLINK finally began.

***

"This is···."

Park Taesu couldn’t take his eyes off the screen.

Worry is skip

Thoughts are mute

My body moves first

I'm already in the groove

A lively rhythm playing from the TV, and Iam and the backup dancers dancing to it.

DON'T BLINK, DON'T BLINK

If you miss it now, it's over

DON'T BLINK, DON'T BLINK

It's a moment, this hit

Park Taesu suddenly remembered ten years ago.

A time when he once led South Korea into a craze of retro and hook songs.

A time when he created the biggest hit song of his life, the one that instantly raised TSP into the ranks of the Big 3 agencies when TSP was still in an ambiguous position.

"The fact that it reminds me of back then means···."

Why did the time when TSP and SY and YH’s girl groups were writing "first-ever for a girl group" records day after day overlap with Iam’s stage?

Originally, Park Taesu had intended to observe what kind of stage Iam, who would be a competitor ahead of LYNX’s comeback, had prepared.

- I heard rumors KJ Entertainment really sharpened their knives this time?

From recruiting a foreign composer, to going all the way to New York to film the music video, to even hearing they collaborated with the luxury brand Tommy Brown, he couldn’t not be curious about the result.

But now, he was simply appreciating the stage.

'When did they grow this much?'

Park Taesu remembered back when he participated as a producer on Agbaek and directed Lee Sion.

- Sion, a little sadder.

- A little more?

- Not as much as when Liu Bei lost his brothers, but about the feeling of when Liu Bei loses a war and runs away.

- Hm··· I’ve run away too many times.

Pfft.

Thinking of how Lee Sion couldn’t catch even simple emotions unless someone taught her at eye level, step by step, Park Taesu laughed without realizing it.

But now, it was different.

The vocals that had already been excellent now had technique, and Lee Sion’s dancing had developed even more astonishingly.

Lee Sion’s expression and movements as she danced choreography based on waacking, that delicacy, had improved to a level that couldn’t even be compared to Agbaek.

'This will be fun.'

In truth, when LYNX and Iam missed a grand slam in their first match because of timing differences, Park Taesu had thought Iam was just lucky.

He’d thought that from the song to the skill, LYNX was better than Iam.

So he’d been secretly confident this time, thinking he could get revenge for debut, but now he was starting to think it wouldn’t be easy.

A completely different mood and feeling from the song LYNX would come back with next week.

And with SY’s VYNNIA, who was also about to come back at a similar time, he was hearing talk that they’d put a lot into this comeback album too.

'Our kids can do well, right?'

Park Taesu couldn’t help but feel tense.

It seemed like today, he should visit LYNX’s practice room and check the members.

- The filming schedule got set.

Not only the comeback stage, but the recording date for Three Kingdoms, where the three girl groups would soon have to clash head-on, was right around the corner.