Chapter 86:
Chapter 86
Why are we the benefactors?
Kim Yong-min had terminated his contract with his agency after a lawsuit and was looking for a new one after finishing his military service. But at some point, he felt like he had lost his motivation.
‘Why was I so obsessed with the entertainment industry?’
He felt like the one thing that was holding him back had snapped.
He was too old to re-debut as an idol, and he didn’t think he could make any income from trying to challenge himself with composing or acting, which he had learned on the side.
“Mom, I’m going back home…”
He would be lying if he said he didn’t regret his long trainee period. But there were so many people in the entertainment industry who were more handsome and talented than him.
He had no confidence that he could make a living with this, even if he tried again.
“I just… don’t want to do it anymore.”
Kim Yong-min wanted to rest now.
He hated living by other people’s eyes and worrying about his fans leaving him.
He hated seeing comments like ‘What is this trash?’ when he got a rare mention online.
“I just… shouldn’t have been a celebrity.”
He sighed deeply after pressing the end call button.
***
After the three-day concert in Seoul, people started to come up on the empty stage.
They were the staff and the agency representatives.
They took a group photo with Awi, who bowed and thanked them.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Thank you!”
Awi had no time to rest and had to leave for Japan the next day.
The members looked around the empty venue.
“Doesn’t it feel… empty?”
Kim Joo-young gave a hollow laugh. Ian nodded.
“I can still hear the cheers.”
Lee Joo-hyuk sat down on the stage, and the other members joined him.
“You know what it’s like? It’s like going to a big house for a holiday and having fun with your cousins, and then feeling sad when you go back home. It’s exactly like that, right?”
The members laughed at Jo Tae-woong’s words.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Nice analogy.”
Park Jin-hyuk grabbed a handful of paper confetti on the floor and threw it in the air.
“But it was fun.”
“I wish it could be like this every day.”
Ian smiled as he saw the confetti, remembering the fans’ event. The fans had surprised them with different slogan designs and messages for the last two days.
“…Would it be greedy to say that I want to perform in a bigger venue next time, hyungs?”
“Gochuk! Jamsil!”
“Don’t you have to be at Mydia’s level for that?”
“Isn’t that what we have to aim for?”
The members closed their mouths after Jo Tae-woong’s last words.
How would they feel if they reached that level? Could they reach it?
‘Our group was lucky.’
They had debuted when Aiwon was sweeping the idol scene with ‘Project Idol’, but they got lucky and received a song from a famous producer through word of mouth, and achieved number one on the charts in a short time.
And their first concert was about 7,000 seats per day. 20,000 seats for three days.
There were more groups debuting every month, but how many of them could do a concert of this scale?
Could they explain it with just ‘luck’?
Ian felt a surge of confidence that they could do more than this.
“We can do it.”
As Ian opened his mouth again, the other members also raised their arms and shouted.
“We can do it!”
Their warm scene was captured by their road manager, Kim Myung-jin. And that photo was uploaded on Awi’s official SNS.
***
Awi left for Japan the next day without any rest. They had to perform in Tokyo and Osaka and then return to Korea.
“A long padding ad?”
“Yeah, P company’s ad. It’s not a print ad, but a TV ad.”
It was because Awi had gotten another ad contract besides their school uniform one.
When Aiwon disbanded at the end of the year, the ad companies that had contracts with them started looking for new models.
[They must have made a lot of money from their fans.]
And not only long padding, but most of the companies contacted Awi’s agency for inquiries.
Awi had to fly back to Korea in between their world tour to film ads.
“There’s also a chicken ad.”
“Chicken!”
They finally got their coveted chicken ad.
They had to rearrange their flight schedule because of that, but it was a happy problem for their agency.
“Is our popularity real?”
“Are we really going to Gochuk?”
The members drank their rational kimchi soup and giggled.
Awi went straight into rehearsal as soon as they arrived in Tokyo, and Ian was amazed as soon as he sang the first verse.
‘Wow… The sound here is amazing.’
[Japan is known for having good sound quality. The audience response is not as good as Korea, though.]
The members headed to the backstage after finishing their rehearsal.
“The sound here is awesome.”
“Did you feel it too, Hyuk?”
Jo Tae-woong and Park Seo-dam, who were gaining confidence with their improving skills, fiddled with their hand microphones.
“It makes me want to sing more.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Should we take off one of the in-ears?”
There was more than just the sound. In Korea, they could get closer to the fans on the second floor through the stairs connected to the protruding stage, but Japan had a different system.
“Does this move?”
“Oh, that’s cool.”
In Japan, there was something called a torocco, which was like a makeshift stage with wheels. They would ride it and go around the concert hall to get closer to the fans on the second floor.
“We can sing here and throw balls.”
“Oh, so that’s why they told us to sign them.”
“Don’t throw them with all your might. Just toss them lightly.”
“Hey, do you think I would do that?”
You probably would. Lee Ju-hyuk narrowed his eyes and looked at Park Jin-hyuk. They were planning to throw plastic signed balls while riding the torocco.
“I heard from MOM Min-hoo hyung that there is also something called a moving stage.”
“What’s that?”
Park Jin-hyuk pointed to the main stage.
“The stage rises up and passes over the standing audience seats. Then it comes to this front side.”
“That sounds scary.”
What if the stage collapses? Kim Ju-young shivered.
“But I kind of want to stand on it once.”
“The concert halls that have that must be big, right?”
“Tokyo Dome…?”
The members’ ambition for the performance grew.
***
The Japanese fans had more round fans with the members’ faces or names on them than personal slogans.
‘It’s amazing…’
Ian still felt strange that there were so many people who liked foreign idols across the sea.
He had met Japanese fans through handshake events or high-touch events, but he didn’t feel the numbers well because he met them face-to-face.
When he saw them all gathered together like this, he felt like he was dreaming just like when he had a concert in Korea.
‘It looks like a galaxy.’
He never got tired of seeing the light of the light sticks moving without a break.
***
After successfully finishing their concerts in Tokyo and Osaka, Awi returned to Korea for an advertisement shoot.
“Guys!”
“Look over here!”
Somehow, their arrival schedule was leaked, and reporters and fans were waiting at the airport.
Awi waved their hands slightly and passed by quickly.
“It’s Eun-in?!”
Someone who was looking for some celebrities shouted loudly.
“Eun-in?”
“That’s right! Eun-in!”
The old people who were wandering around stopped and looked at Awi, especially Ian and Jo Tae-woong.
They stretched their heads to look closely at their faces, and even pointed their fingers at them.
“Why are we Eun-in?”
“I don’t know?”
Ian and Jo Tae-woong looked at each other in the van.
***
“Guys, how are you so lucky? You did well.”
Seo Su-ryeon looked at Ian and Jo Tae-woong with a proud face. Ian said with a calm face, hiding his joy.
“What did we do well? It was all thanks to that senior.”
Jo Tae-woong nodded.
“He’s the one who made me an idol. We should at least do that much for him.”
The Eun-in incident was this. Lim Tae-woo finally made it to the TOP3 in ‘The Man of Trot’. Ian smiled happily as he watched the video that Seo Su-ryeon showed him.
(Actually, I had a different reason for starting trot.)
(What was it?)
(I debuted as an idol, but it didn’t go well. I wasn’t popular either… And my agency went bankrupt, so I had nowhere to go. I ran away to the army. When I came out after discharge, I had no decent talent and I had to make a living… So I worked as an MC for events.)
(We have a video from that time. Let’s take a look!)
Lim Tae-woo’s footage appeared on the screen for a moment, and he continued.
(I had a tiring day after being ripped off by the event organizers. One of the idol members who performed at the event approached me. He said he dreamed of becoming an idol after seeing me at the Diamond era event. He said he was a real fan. I was about to cry, but I held it in.)
(Which idol group was it?)
(Awi.)
A short clip of Awi’s stage performance flashed by.
(They are really popular these days.)
(The member who said he was a fan of me was Tae-woong. He was a successful child actor who dreamed of being an idol after seeing me. It was strange and nice to hear that… and I felt courageous.)
Lim Tae-woo’s eyes moistened as he recalled that moment.
(So you got the courage to try again after seeing your old fan?)
(No. After that, Ian, who came to pick up Tae-woong, cautiously suggested that I should try trot since I sing well. He called me senior even though I’m not one anymore…)
(They are famous for being polite.)
Photos of Jo Tae-woong and Ian appeared on the screen, and the host nodded his head. It pays off to be nice to people.
(I couldn’t say let’s meet again to them. I thought I would never see them again since they are popular idol juniors… But Ian said he would see me again next time.)
Lim Tae-woo finally shed a tear on his face.
(It’s like a drama.)
(So I got the courage to try again. I made it to the TOP3 thanks to them. They are like benefactors to me.)
(Why don’t you say something to Awi on this opportunity?)
(Should I? Well… I think I can keep my promise to see you again next time. I hope to see you soon.)
That was not all. Lim Tae-woo, who suddenly rose to fame and was busy, appeared on various entertainment programs and left video messages for Awi without fail.
(Who do you want to do entertainment with? I want Awi.)
(I want to see Tae-woong and Ian of Awi.)
(Who do you want to sing with? Of course, Awi. My benefactors.)
Awi fans collected Lim Tae-woo’s love calls for Awi and uploaded them on MyTube. Most of the comments were written by elders with a fragrant scent.
Lim Tae-woo, who swept the middle-aged popularity with his handsome face and skills, kept mentioning Awi as his benefactors, so naturally the public’s attention was drawn to Awi.
“It’s crazy. They want us to do entertainment and commercials together.”
The staff, including Seo Su-ryeon, had joy on their faces. Ian was no exception.
‘Lim Tae-woo, you did it…’
You really made it and got to meet them. Ian smiled happily.
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