translation by mourningmoor
Finally, it’s concert day.
Yesterday, Inyoung and Yoojung slept over at Juhee’s house so they could go to the concert together.
The three of them stayed up all night talking about LIT, not getting a single wink of sleep, but they didn’t feel tired.
“First concert, first concert.”
Since earlier, Yoojung had been turning the melody of <Cotton Candy> into a round song by adding “first concert” to it.
Inyoung, treating the freshly arrived official T-shirt and zip-up hoodie like a sacred relic, carefully changed into them.
“Don’t wear too many layers. It’s gonna feel hot because of all the body heat.”
“Yeeep.”
Since this was Inyoung’s first-ever concert, she nodded with a flushed face.
“You’re not gonna end up walking with your right arm and right leg moving together when we get to the Gymnastics Arena, are you?”
“I probably will.”
As Inyoung smiled brightly, Juhee smiled back and checked the items they were bringing one more time.
“Lightstick, water, power bank, chocolate so we don’t crash from low blood sugar, my precious camera…”
Just then, Yoojung, who had finished her makeup, walked over.
“What about the merch for the giveaway?”
“I left it at the entrance.”
Yesterday afternoon, the three of them gathered at Juhee’s house to pack the merch they would be giving away to Filament.
This was one of the best parts of concerts.
Even with people they had never met before, they could become friends just by having LIT as a shared connection.
“Now we’ve got everything. We just need to pick up Irene.”
Irene—their American lightbulb friend who bonded with them through LIT.
After successfully getting a concert ticket, Irene had arrived in Korea yesterday and was probably already on her way to the venue by now.
“No need to pick her up. She probably already went to Jamsil and set up camp there.”
Today, Irene and the LIT U.S. supporters were hosting a coffee truck event. They had prepared cup holders for each member and were planning to give them out.
On top of that, the menu was really fun.
Based on the latest comeback interview, they had picked out each member’s favorite drink.
Of course, instead of the drink names, they used the members’ names.
For example, if you ordered “One Kang Ichan, please,” you would get cocoa.
Hanjoon was Americano, Siu was café latte, Roa was lemonade, and Jaewon was mint choco frappuccino.
Just thinking about the idea again, it was seriously impressive.
“Anyway, the scale is huge.”
That didn’t mean the Korean supporters were just sitting around.
The fan giveaway culture shines the brightest at Korean concerts.
T.N.: At K-pop concerts, fans often prepare and distribute free merchandise, such as banners, headbands, and themed items, to create a more immersive fan experience.
They had prepared slogan banners and headbands and even arranged special items to make the fan event time extra memorable.
Because of that, they had called Blade Entertainment’s fan club manager countless times.
After finishing the checklist, Juhee zipped up the backpack.
“Shall we head out now? We need to get there before the other filaments.”
* * *
Irene had already reserved the coffee truck a month ago.
As soon as she got her hands on the L.I.T. concert ticket, she moved right away.
If she had a wish, it would be for the L.I.T. members to drink the beverages she prepared, but she knew that was an impossible dream.
{Being able to share it with the Filaments is already something.}
Since earlier, there had been a long line at Irene’s coffee truck.
It seemed like the cup holders she made were a huge hit.
At that moment, Juhee waved and approached.
{Irene. We're here.}
Even though it had been months since they last met, it felt like seeing a friend from just yesterday.
Maybe it was because they had been working together on content.
{Why are you the only one here? Where’s Inyoung?}
{Inyoung said she wanted cocoa, so she’s probably waiting somewhere at the end of this line.}
{She should’ve just come over. I would’ve given it to her right away.}
{No, no. Don’t underestimate the orderliness of us Koreans. We refuse such line-cutting.}
Juhee, who jokingly said that Inyoung had volunteered to stand in line and get their shares, handed a large paper bag to Irene.
{Irene, you’re in section A, right? Give this out to the section A bulbs.}
{You really prepared this? You worked hard. Can I give some to other friends too?}
{Only to the ground seats. That way, it’ll reach the boys.}
Just then—
Juhee widened her eyes and nudged Irene with her elbow.
{What?}
{Irene. Take the order.}
Juhee pointed at the man who had just stepped up to the counter.
What’s the big deal about taking an order?
{The part-timer will do it.}
She had rented not only the coffee truck but also a barista and a part-timer.
All she had to do today was carefully place the precious cup holders onto the cups.
{What are you talking about? You have to take this order yourself and even make the drink.}
Suddenly?
Irene blinked in confusion and looked at the man again.
A large-built man with pale skin smiled slightly.
{It’s the chief manager. The boys’ manager. Gyuhyung-nim.}
This was where the difference in information-gathering between Korean Filaments and American Filaments became evident.
In photos taken by Korean homepage masters, who followed L.I.T. everywhere—from music shows to fan signings, award ceremonies, and even the airport—the managers of L.I.T. were always included in the shots.
So, to a homma’s trained eye, even the managers were familiar faces.
{He seems to be here to order drinks for the boys, so hurry up and do it. Make your wish come true.}
Startled, Irene quickly pushed the part-timer aside and stepped up to the counter.
Then, in clumsy Korean, she spoke.
“Gyuhyung-nim. Ichani, Jaewoni, Roa, Shu, Juni. One each?”
Gyuhyung let out a laugh.
“Yes, Ichan asked me to get one of each. Please make them delicious.”
The Filaments standing in the back started buzzing.
It seemed that someone had recognized Gyuhyung and spread the word.
But Irene silently focused on her task.
Of course, her legs were trembling.
“Gyuhyung-nim, what do you drink?”
“I’ll have a Hanjoon, iced.”
“I-I’ll give you two. Please take care of the boys today.”
Irene smiled brightly as she entrusted L.I.T.’s well-being with two cups of coffee.
“Yes. I’ll take great care of them.”
Gyuhyung’s answer was so reassuring that Irene stomped her feet in excitement.
Then, she called Juhee over to help and carefully made the drinks.
Though her unskilled hands took a long time, no one hurried her.
The Filaments standing in the long line simply watched with admiration, congratulating Irene, the lucky fan who had just achieved her dream.
* * *
“Wow. The cup holder has our picture on it?”
As Gyuhyung brought the drinks from the coffee truck and placed them on the table, Jaewon looked at them curiously.
Roa also seemed intrigued by the cup holder. He picked up his drink, turned the cup holder with his face on it back and forth, and then widened his eyes when he saw the creator's name.
“It’s that person, right? Irene.”
Irene?
Ah, the reactor from LA in the US. She was originally a T.I.ONE fan but completely switched over to our side. Thankfully, she even formed a support group and has been actively pushing us in the US market. She’s one of the key figures among Filaments.
“She must’ve come to the concert.”
At that, Hanjoon and Siu let out exclamations and nodded.
“Is she famous?”
Gyuhyung, who had received two more cups of iced Americano, took a sip and asked.
“She is. She has influence too.”
I remember hearing that Irene was the reason Simon & George started paying attention to us.
In the end, it’s thanks to fans like Irene that a North American tour even became possible.
“Irene-nim has been creating content with MadJuhee-nim recently.”
Roa, who was in charge of monitoring, excitedly chimed in.
“That’s super popular, you know.”
Gyuhyung nodded.
“I saw that she was with MadJuhee-nim too.”
“Whoa. Gyuhyung-hyung, you know MadJuhee-nim too?”
“I’m a subscriber of MadJuhee-nim’s NewTube. What do you mean ‘too’?”
“Oooh. You should’ve asked for an autograph.”
“Hey, I’m still L.I.T’s manager. How could I do something that embarrassing?”
Everyone drank their drinks while joking around.
Even though they all looked fine, inside, the anxiety was almost deafening.
Maybe that’s why they were trying to focus on this conversation even more.
《What if my voice doesn’t come out? What do I do if my throat isn’t okay?》
《What if my knees don’t work properly?》
《What if I mess up the choreography?》
《What if I can’t catch the ball?》
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do.
What do you mean ‘what do I do’? You just do it.
On top of that, Gyuhyung’s internal thoughts added to the noise.
《Wow. Why am I so nervous? Should I take a Cheongsimhwan? (T.N. A type of traditional Korean herbal pill used to calm anxiety.) This is driving me crazy.》
I let out a small laugh and stood up. At this rate, their nerves were going to rub off on me too.
“We ate lunch, we drank our drinks—let’s go over the stage positions one more time. We have to earn that crab money, don’t we?”
At that, Hanjoon shot up from his seat.
“Yeah. Practicing is the best cure for nerves. Let’s go.”
Now, this much was certain.
The only way to get rid of stage anxiety is through practice.
Without hesitation, the members all stood up and headed for the stage.
* * *
All day long, Inseong had been going in and out of Twittle and Universe. He had just received news that the sound check had finished.
Videos and photos from the sound check were being uploaded in real-time.
Inseong went through each picture and video one by one, pressing ‘like’ on each of them.
Because of a school event, he had to stay in the countryside all weekend. That meant he couldn’t even think about getting a ticket for the Seoul concert.
Luckily, Inyoung had managed to get tickets for the Japan concert, and in three weeks, he would be heading to Japan with Inyoung. So for now, he was quenching his burning thirst like this.
“Wow. They said the sound check would be in casual clothes, but everyone dressed so stylishly.”
Verification photos and videos were being uploaded nonstop. Time passed quickly as he checked them one by one.
“Jeong Inyoung. Lucky.”
By now, he must be seated, all set to witness that amazing stage. Anyway, so jealous.
As he scrolled through the photos, Inseong suddenly clicked on a video with a surprised look. The title was: <Famous Figures Who Attended L.I.T’s Concert>.
“Wow. No way. Simon & George are here too.”
Those high-and-mighty NewTubers actually came all the way to Korea just to see L.I.T.
Come to think of it, quite a lot of famous figures were there.
Filaments at the venue were posting verification shots left and right.
Möbius Kim Jeongsoo, Jungle’s King Lee Hanwoo, Kim Seokhwa, Kim Junmo.
“Wow. Even the 2nd and 3rd place winners of Survival, Music Genius are here.”
Seo Hanul and Ahn Moonseok had also attended together.
On top of that, even Judge Yoon Jueon was spotted.
As he scrolled through the posts, Inseong was once again struck by how incredible the artist he had fallen for really was.
“What the heck. Even H-NET’s Vice President and Writer Jeong Haeseong? PD Ki Yoongu is here too.”
Then, he noticed someone who had visited the concert venue with them and froze.
“Hah, this guy… Isn’t he the chairman of SS Group? Timothy Gordon.”
The world-famous billionaire, also known as the husband of Hollywood star Emma Lattice.
Why would someone like him be here…?
The sheer unexpectedness of such an unexpected visitor made him tilt his head in confusion.