Idol Hides His Military Service

On stage, the girlish pop concept team members were sitting in a single line, staggered so they alternated.

‘They really put a lot of care into this.’

As I waited briefly until the intro started playing, I admired the stage in my head.

And it made sense. Unlike at rehearsal, white artificial flowers prepared for the actual stage had been placed as if they were wrapping around the stage.

They weren’t just tossed down at random. It was obvious a professional hand had touched them.

At a glance, it felt less like a stage and more like a wedding venue.

And in between those flowers, yellow lights had been set.

‘So that’s why they put us in these outfits.’

The moment I saw those lights, I understood why Park Taesu, our team’s producer, had dressed the team members in outfits his company had made themselves.

For this stage outfit, every member, including me, was wearing a pastel blouse Park Taesu had personally prepared. It suited us, but honestly, for a stage outfit, it felt too plain, so I’d thought it was a little disappointing.

But the moment that ordinary-looking outfit caught the light, it revealed its true value.

‘How much silver thread did he sew into these blouses?’

When the stage lights washed over the blouses we were wearing, the hidden silver thread started glittering and announcing itself, like white snow falling on a black winter night.

And that not-too-much sparkle was turning the pastel blouse I’d thought was too plain into a perfect stage outfit.

It really felt like a famous agency—creating differences in tiny details like this. The stage background and outfits were like that.

And it didn’t seem like I was the only one thinking it.

We hadn’t even started yet, but I could feel the audience buzzing.

♬

‘It’s starting.’

While I was briefly evaluating the stage and the outfits, the intro to Starlight Umbrella finally began to play, like preparations were complete.

‘Focus.’

Listening to the melody I’d heard hundreds of times, I went over everything I needed to pay attention to on stage one more time.

Emotion, acting, gestures, stage blocking.

I brought up everything we’d prepared for this stage in my head, making sure I didn’t miss a single thing.

The clear afternoon air after the rain

Makes me think of the road I walked with you

When Jang Yoona, the first in the song, finally stood up alone and started the stage with a soft voice,

the rest of the members stood as well, spreading out to the left and right one by one around Jang Yoona with gentle movements.

Jang Yoona sang softly with her naturally dreamy voice, and the fluttering choreography matched that vocal perfectly.

If it was even slightly off, it could feel limp, but the balance of the members dancing was exquisite, so it came across as softness.

Inside a small umbrella, we brought our hands together

Back then, we really laughed a lot

The one who took over after Jang Yoona was Yoon Jaei.

‘Thank goodness, Jaei.’

During practice, Jaei, who connected from Jang Yoona’s opening, would sometimes make mistakes with pitch or rhythm.

But maybe she was the type who was strong in the real thing—on stage, Jaei carried her part perfectly without a single slip.

That heart that was a little clumsy

Has become a precious memory to me now

Next, when Park Jihyo came out to the center of the stage, me and the other members gathered in a line behind Park Jihyo.

Then, at Park Jihyo’s gesture, we came out to the side one by one, striking poses like a sequence of photos taken by a camera.

‘Softer.’

-Sion, in this part, relax and do it a little more loosely.

I remembered being corrected because, without realizing it, I’d tense up in this choreography section thinking I had to match the moves, and I consciously tried to relax and make it soft.

Our girlish pop concept stage was harmony.

Not one person standing out—five people, as if we existed for one thing, sometimes supporting, sometimes even hiding our presence.

A stage that was completed because everything clicked perfectly like that, so we couldn’t miss points in the details.

‘This is fun.’

Unlike the stages I’d done before, this Starlight Umbrella stage was making me painfully understand why idol dancing gets called group choreography.

Because my mistake wouldn’t end as just my mistake—it could ruin the entire team’s stage, I had to focus even more than usual, but...

For some reason, I was enjoying it so much.

Maybe I liked that it wasn’t just me—I had to build the stage together.

A lot of things I hadn’t been able to see before, because I’d been too busy worrying about my own part, were coming into view.

“Kyahhh! Sion, you’re so pretty today!”

A voice I heard from somewhere in the audience.

I glanced that way.

When the cheers swelled even louder, I gave a light greeting with my eyes,

then quickly turned back and got ready for the next choreography.

Under the starlight umbrella, just the two of us

Carefully holding each other’s hearts

Even if time grows distant, I won’t forget

I’ll smile for you again

The highlight lead-in part of Starlight Umbrella that was playing right now.

In this part, Yuri had to stand alone, and the rest of the members had to join hands to form a circle and surround Yuri.

So I held Jang Yoona’s hand with my right, Park Jihyo’s with my left, then dropped down gently to one knee, softly lowering myself.

‘She’s nervous, too.’

I could feel Park Jihyo’s palm, the one holding mine, soaked with sweat.

It seemed like she was tense because it was the real stage, but like this, both her vocal and her dancing would definitely stiffen.

‘That can’t happen.’

If Jihyo, the best dancer on our team, started creaking, that could be a big problem, so I had no choice but to step in.

-Scared?

I mouthed it at Park Jihyo so it wouldn’t get picked up on the mic.

Then, in Park Jihyo’s eyes meeting mine, a fire lit up.

‘Now I like that.’

After taking care of Park Jihyo, I noticed Jaei—maybe she’d been watching us—making a dumbfounded face.

So without thinking, I wanted to mess with her. I made a flounder face at her, and Jaei puckered her lips, barely holding back laughter.

‘Enjoy it.’

Maybe I’d built up some experience?

Unlike before, I could see the audience’s reactions,

and the team members building the stage with me, too.

Under the starlight umbrella, we promised

That we’d meet again next season

Even if it rains, I’m not afraid

Because it’s a sky painted with you

I stood up while naturally joining hands with Yuri, who’d handled the previous part, and I sang my main vocal 1 part.

-Sion, think of what made your heart flutter the most.

Park Taesu’s words from when he used to train my vocals suddenly came back to me.

The memory of finally learning how to put emotion into singing because of him.

Before, I’d sing while thinking about stories from Romance of the Three Kingdoms that I liked, but now it was different.

‘Right now, this moment.’

Because what was making my heart flutter was the stage itself.

“Kyahhh!!!”

The moment my part at the end of verse one ended, the audience’s cheers burst out like they’d been waiting.

I wanted to close my eyes for a second and enjoy that sound, but sadly, I didn’t have time.

“Guys, hurry and get ready.”

“Yes.”

Jang Yoona urged us in a small voice.

Because while the interlude played, we had to bring out what we’d prepared for the next verse two, so we were short on time.

***

“Ha... this is too much.”

“Hold it in, Jiyeon. I’m not even blinking because I want to memorize even one second more.”

“Seriously? We have to only watch this with our eyes? We can’t take pictures?!”

Two people, a man and a woman, sitting side by side.

Jinsu and Jiyeon couldn’t take their eyes off the stage for even a moment. They were just sitting there with their mouths open, admiring.

“Lee Sion was hiding her power...”

“Who’s the one who thought to give Lee Sion a half-up hairstyle? This year’s Nobel Peace Prize goes to that person.”

“How is she like a completely different person than usual? Can Sion really be this cute?”

Jinsu and Jiyeon, who’d naturally come to watch the concept evaluation recording broadcast together, thought it hadn’t been a waste to trade their stomach lining and bowel health for Honor Fried Chicken all this time while watching the stage.

Because the purpose they’d come for today—Lee Sion’s stage—was, quite simply, the most shocking stage she’d ever shown.

In fact, until the last slot—the girlish pop concept stage that Sion was in—Jinsu and Jiyeon had been anxious.

-This doesn’t seem easy.

-Seriously... everyone’s so good. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Some songs lifted the mood like they’d brought everyone to a festival, and some songs overwhelmed the venue so intensely that Jinsu and Jiyeon could only stare blankly at the many stages.

Every single one was a stage that grabbed your eyes, so Jinsu and Jiyeon had even worried Sion’s team stage might get buried.

But not anymore.

“Wow... Lee Sion is insane.”

“Was she not camera-friendly? She’s way prettier in real life.”

“Everyone’s stage was crazy today, but after seeing Lee Sion, only Lee Sion is left in my head.”

Other audience members around them murmured and admired.

Jinsu remembered them as people who’d been cheering for different contestants, but now they were spitting out exclamations while watching the girlish pop concept team performing.

‘It can’t be helped! Today, Sion is seriously the strongest.’

Quietly listening to that from the side, Jiyeon’s shoulders lifted for no reason.

It couldn’t be helped. The Lee Sion who went on stage today looked completely different from the Lee Sion Jiyeon usually saw.

Sion’s long straight hair, which could be called her trademark, had been changed into a half-up style, with a ribbon as a point, and it suited her ridiculously well.

Sion’s half-up hair, gently swaying as she danced, fit the image of this girlish pop concept perfectly, letting you feel a purity and liveliness you’d never been able to see from Sion before.

Especially when Sion, wearing a blouse as the stage outfit, did choreography where she spun in a circle, there were sighs around them that went beyond admiration.

Of course, Sion’s stage today didn’t end there.

At the song that came from far away

You and my memories dance

Like dazzling starlight

Today becomes something that shines

When verse one ended and verse two began, droplets poured down onto the stage.

And with that, starting from verse two, Sion and the girlish pop concept team members came out holding transparent umbrellas with star-shaped stickers, and in the rain that began falling on the stage, they showed choreography using the umbrellas.

It suited the stage so well that the two of them regretted not being able to leave a photo behind.

“Come to think of it, this is the first time Sion didn’t team up with her close friends?”

“Seriously. But I thought it would be awkward, and then when you look at it, this combination is really good too, right?”

“Yes! It really feels like there’s no one Sion doesn’t match with.”

Even now, Lee Sion and Kurosawa Yuri were facing each other and singing, and their chemistry was so good it felt like they’d been on the same team since the start of the program, to the point you’d want them to debut together.

“Did you see Sion messing with her teammates earlier?”

“Ah! When they were sitting down, it looked like she did something!”

“I saw it. She made a weird face at Yoon Jaei and messed with her.”

“Ugh!! I should’ve seen that.”

Jiyeon answered Jinsu with genuine envy.

“If this stage airs, people are going to go crazy.”

“From the outfits to the hairstyle to the umbrellas, everything matches the stage. How could anyone hold it in after seeing this?”

“That too, but didn’t Sion’s singing change?”

“Huh?”

Jinsu looked puzzled at Jiyeon’s question.

“Sion’s vocal was surprisingly okay from the start, wasn’t it?”

“I didn’t mean skill. It’s like... it’s kind of tickly, I guess. Before, it felt like she just had a clean, straightforward voice, but on this stage, the sound feels rich.”

“You’re right. It really is different from before.”

After hearing Jiyeon, Jinsu listened closely again and realized that the voice of Lee Sion, who was singing the highlight part now, really was different from before.

‘It’s like you can feel emotion just from listening...’

Thinking about it, Jinsu noticed that Sion’s voice had never been the same even once on this stage.

In verse one, you could feel excitement and freshness, but now, Sion’s voice carried something that made your chest ache—a feeling like she was holding back tears while forcing herself to look bright.

“Sion’s expressions got more varied, too. Honestly, before, she always felt really sharp, but now she’s so colorful, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, that’s for sure. Look right now—she’s holding the umbrella with both hands like she’s praying. It got really natural.”

Not just her vocal—there were so many things about Sion that had changed on today’s stage.

Rich expressions, more varied gestures, and before, it felt like she was so focused on the stage that she’d only stare straight ahead.

“Kyahhh!!!”

Now, maybe because she had more leeway, she used little gaps in between to look around at different parts of the audience and smile for them.

“Our Sion really looks like an idol now!”

“I told you, she was born to be an idol!”

Watching Sion like that, Jinsu and Jiyeon, who’d cheered for Sion from the start, felt like they were about to cry.

Like they were watching a chick that had hatched from an egg grow up and fly, the two of them couldn’t stop making a fuss.

Because the Sion who stepped out to sing the last part of the stage looked like nothing but an idol to anyone.

Under the starlight umbrella, we promised

That we’d meet again next season

As if signaling the ending of the song, all the team members stopped their choreography and gathered by Sion’s side with their hands clasped behind their backs.

In the middle of them, with the last line approaching, Sion swung the umbrella back and threw it.

Tap.

At the same time, all the other team members threw their umbrellas back too, returning to their positions without umbrellas like at the start.

Even if it rains, I’m not afraid

Even as the rain still fell on the stage and her hair and outfit kept getting wet with no umbrella, Sion finished the song.

“Ah...”

Jinsu and Jiyeon—no, everyone in the audience—didn’t say a single word or make a single sound.

Because it’s a sky painted with you

On the huge screen showing the stage, the ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ camera caught Sion alone—her face wet with water.

Everyone just stared at it blankly.

And—

Blink.

While looking at that audience, Sion lightly closed and opened one eye, and showed a tiny smile.