translation by mourningmoor
For a fan, a singer's comeback is a festival.
Usually, they set aside about a month and eagerly await the comeback while preparing bullets (T.N. slang for money/funds used for purchases).
They start saving for albums or merch purchases and warm up their digital streaming. They actively participate in various voting events and put all their effort into promotions. In some cases, they even create and distribute comeback-themed merch or share videos announcing the D-DAY, counting down to the comeback.
They also look at the pre-released tracklist and try to guess the genre.
And by looking at the scale of it, they gauge the size of the fandom.
Wow. The Filaments are insane.
It was at a level where the word 'insane' naturally came out—the firepower of the fandom waiting for L.I.T's comeback was incredible.
First of all, the number of members in the Universe L.I.T community and the number of Twittle followers skyrocketed.
During the last Paris K-KON, Twittle had just passed 2 million followers, but now it has reached 5.3 million. The Universe membership also increased from 1.8 million to 4.27 million.
It was a remarkable achievement in just three and a half months.
And even this was still rising at a rapid pace, as if it had a booster attached.
Especially, the number of overseas Filaments was increasing drastically.
Wow. Why are our international fans increasing so much?
└ You know that famous NewTube reactor, right? Simon & George. They reacted to our boys, and it blew up.
└ Right. I saw that too. Those guys are famous. Lately, they’ve been watching only our boys' stuff. They must be totally hooked.
There's also that British NewTuber. The high school rapper.
└ ㅇㅇ Daily. That kid is totally lit-up.
└ Did you see his room? He had two precious filament bulbs. Those are hard to find these days.
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He recently restocked. Check the goods shop. The bulbs are back in stock.
└ Oh. They must've released new stock ahead of the comeback.
They were already impressive before, but compared to the last comeback, the firepower was on another level. Even the number of daily content uploaded about them on NewTube was overwhelming.
└ Thanks to that, I'm screaming in happiness.
└ Do you know what's even crazier? Even though they're insanely busy preparing for the comeback, they still do a weekly broadcast.
└ That’s why I wait desperately for Tuesdays. Tuesday is lit-up day. That’s just how it is.
└ We love seeing their faces, but isn’t it too exhausting for them? ㅠㅠ When do they even rest?
└ But isn't lit-up fine? From the looks of it, they seem to genuinely enjoy it.
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Same. I died laughing watching this week’s lit-up. The 'eye signal' game was legendary. Why are they so funny? They’ve become full-fledged entertainers.
└ ㅇㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ In the end, the roommates changedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Jundeng ditched the snoring maknae and brought in the fairy.
The conversation continued nonstop.
From international fan reactions to their latest self-produced content.
Naturally, and <Survival, Music Genius> were mentioned, and L.I.T’s reverse-fanservice (T.N. when idols give gifts or events for fans) came up too.
Did you know? On the day we got the reverse-fanservice, Möbius was having a signing event nearby. But apparently, it was so empty it was depressing.
└ ㅇㅇ Right. My sibling is a Möving, and they said it was seriously embarrassing how few people showed up.
└ Really? Meanwhile, we were packed to the brim.
└ Möbius and us are on completely different spectrums. We just have crazy recognition. Even an old grandma passing by recognized Ichan and lined up, but she left because she didn’t have a membership card.
└ She didn’t just leave. Ichan gave her a drink.
Someone joked that soon they might even get fans in their 60s, and everyone laughed and chatted away.
Then, someone brought up a serious topic.
I heard Jaewon and Junhee fought that day.
└ ???? What are you talking about? Why would they fight?
It was already well known that Jaewon and Junhee were close.
Plus, even their group leaders were so close that they held private gatherings together, so Filaments naturally felt familiar with Möbius.
That’s why the news of Jaewon and Junhee fighting became quite a big issue.
Are you sure you know what you're talking about?
└ My younger sibling goes to the same school as Jaewon. Seems like Junhee is feeling a bit bitter now that L.I.T is doing so well. Apparently, this happened before their debut too. That kid's personality is kinda like that.
└ Ah, this is a really sensitive issue. Can you hide it?
Then, the conversation quickly shifted to L.I.T and Möbius' relationship.
Most of the posts were comparing the achievements of the two groups. As a result, the community was heating up.
Countless words were exchanged, and rumors and supposed eyewitness accounts kept surfacing.
Some even mentioned how Möbius' event location had suddenly been changed from Yeoksam-dong to Samseong Station.
Everyone speculated that it might really be related and felt bad about it.
No matter how close they were, their skills were different, and they had different paths. Why act like that? People started blaming Junhee.
Of course, some Filaments were worried about this atmosphere.
Filaments always tried their best to use the hide function (T.N. a feature to make sensitive posts private) and self-moderate to avoid hurting their idols.
At most, they thought only the fan community managers would read this post for board management purposes.
But far more people were reading this than they expected.
One of them was Blade Entertainment’s chief, PD Pyo Cheonhee.
* * *
“Did you call for me?”
Jaewon, who had been receiving a private lesson, entered the CEO’s office after being summoned by PD Pyo. PD Pyo nodded and gestured for him to take a seat, handing him a red ginseng extract.
“Drink it. You need to take it regularly.”
Jaewon accepted the red ginseng extract with a slightly uneasy expression and bowed his head.
“Thank you.”
After downing the red ginseng extract in one go, Jaewon grimaced. PD Pyo clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“What the hell is up with you?”
“Huh?”
“Are you really the Kim Jaewon I know?”
Jaewon averted his gaze slightly before answering.
“I am, though?”
“Yeah, right. If you were Kim Jaewon, you’d be throwing a fit, saying you hate bitter stuff and demanding something sweet instead.”
Eventually, PD Pyo reached out and pinched Jaewon’s cheek. But even then, Jaewon only let out a weak “Ow, ow,” without any other reaction.
“See? If you were really Jaewon, you’d be whining in your dialect, saying, ‘Ah, why? That hurts.’ This doesn’t seem like Kim Jaewon to me.”
Jaewon gave a faint smile and quietly replied.
“Stop joking around. I’m not a kid anymore.”
“I don’t know whether to laugh at this or not.”
PD Pyo could only chuckle at how unfamiliar this suddenly mature Jaewon felt.
After a brief pause, PD Pyo placed a tablet in front of Jaewon.
“In Junhee, should we leave him alone or not?”
At PD Pyo’s words, Jaewon glanced at the tablet and let out a thin sigh.
“So you’ve seen it too, huh?”
“Just ignore it. It’s nothing new, and it’s not worth reacting to every little thing.”
“And that’s why Junhee keeps acting out.”
Having gathered information from the Universe board, PD Pyo had gone through various idol fan communities, collecting every related post he could find.
That was when he discovered that recently, Junhee had even been spreading rumors about Jaewon’s parents' divorce.
And not just spreading it—he had twisted the facts quite a bit.
“That guy betrayed you and signed with The Garden.”
Having worked in this industry for so long, PD Pyo had seen countless aspiring singers.
With his sharp eye for people, Bishop Entertainment’s CEO Park Hojin, who was his senior from school, had once invited him over to evaluate his company’s trainees.
Among the trainees he had seen back then were Jaewon and Junhee.
Junhee was a fairly decent trainee with considerable talent, someone who seemed likely to debut someday.
But that was it.
He was good enough for remarks like, “He’s pretty decent,” or “He’s usable,” but not someone worth investing more in. And since he was always stuck to his best friend, who shined much brighter than him, he was easy to overlook. That was the kind of existence Junhee was.
And Junhee himself knew that better than anyone.
He must have realized that as long as he was in Bishop with Jaewon, he had no place there.
But instead of just leaving on his own, he made sure Jaewon left Bishop too. CEO Park Hojin had been regretful about that.
“Thanks to that, I got into L.I.T.”
That’s right.
CEO Park Hojin had called him.
[He’s a wasted talent. But no matter what, he refuses to stay with us. Says he made a promise to Junhee. That bastard went and signed with someone else after betraying him, though.]
[You have to take Jaewon no matter what. You said it too, right? He’s a gem. Don’t let anyone else snatch him up.]
Despite his bitterness, CEO Park Hojin had still congratulated him. He even made sure to remind him, “If you can’t raise him properly, give him back.”
And that’s how their connection began.
“That’s why I had a bit of a soft spot for In Junhee. Since he’s the reason you left Bishop.”
The last time he saw him at the filming site, he had even formally thanked him.
But that was it. His gratitude towards In Junhee ended there.
“I don’t like that guy.”
“Don’t be like that. What does it matter?”
“How does it not matter? I’m your guardian.”
“Even so, don’t do anything. He’s pitiful too. And a company CEO personally meddling in stuff like this is just embarrassing.”
Jaewon was too kind for his own good, still defending that guy even after everything he had gone through.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m not doing anything.”
PD Pyo shrugged, putting on an expression that said it wasn’t a big deal and smiling.
“I don’t need to. The leader already made a move.”
That guy must have asked to be put on because of all this. Since In Junhee is appearing there.
“Just wait and see. In Junhee will be begging for your forgiveness soon enough.”
If it’s that Ichan guy, he’ll definitely make it happen.