translation by mourningmoor
A time dilation spell was cast over the entire practice room.
“Just think like there’s no camera, let’s go comfortably.”
The contestants selected this time had an average age similar to ours, who were in our third year since debut.
Well, having Seo Hanul in the mix raised the average age quite a bit. Aside from Seo Hanul and Kim Wooyoung, most of them were around Jaewon’s age.
“Hyung. Just speak casually like you usually do. Wooyoung, you too.”
Since I was being friendly, these guys were acting all happy about it.
Without any sense, they grinned wide and nodded.
“Alright.”
Seo Hanul and Kim Wooyoung, being close with Master, exchanged jokes about how lucky they were.
Lucky, my ass.
“It’s 9:10 PM right now.”
The only ones who looked uneasy after seeing my expression as I checked the clock were our members.
“Hanul-hyung, your movements need to be bigger. And you’re too slow. You don’t even have basic swag. And Wooyoung, did you lose your skills along with the weight? Why are you all hunched over? Did you commit a crime on stage or something?”
Starting with Seo Hanul and Kim Wooyoung, I thoroughly pointed out to all fourteen of them just how serious the situation was. What their issues were, what needed fixing, and how to fix it.
Some needed to loosen up, some needed to match the beat, some needed to gain more confidence.
I didn’t sugarcoat anything and just threw it straight at them.
Was this a school talent show? Did they just come here for fun? Were they really this lacking in desperation?
They all listened with pale faces, and some even had tears welling up in their eyes.
Truth always hurts.
“From now on, no one’s going home until I’m satisfied.”
Because this was a survival show, they had to dominate the stage from their very first performance.
That meant grabbing attention and building a fandom.
Later on, they would have to rely on votes, so leaving a strong impression was crucial.
And since I was the Master, these guys had no choice but to succeed.
“Keep that in mind and start over.”
* * *
The teaser was released on the same day as our departure to Hong Kong.
Filaments couldn’t hide their excitement.
Finally, the BeMaDol teaser is out. Our kids sitting in the Master seats look absolutely amazing.
└ They totally deserve to be Masters. Honestly, aren’t our kids the best?
└ A Master younger than the contestants ㅎㅎㅎ So cool, the best bb (T.N. "bb" is an internet slang meaning "best" or "thumbs up").
The Master lineup is insane, but no matter what anyone says, LIT is the coolest.
└ They showed all the contestants in a row, and I think I caught a glimpse of Seo Hanul.
└ Seo Hanul? Didn’t he go to Blade? He went to Blade and now he’s doing idol stuff? Daebak.
└ In the final interview of Survival Eumcheon, Seo Hanul said he was really interested in becoming an idol. He mentioned it was because of Ichannie.
└ Right, he said he followed Ichan to Blade, didn’t he?
Our babies ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I hope they’re not overworking themselves ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Please don’t let them burn out. Please come back safely.
└ ㅠㅠㅠㅠ We’re so grateful that we get to see them often, but they must be exhausted.
└ Let’s do better for them. Filaments, hwaiting!
So far, the reaction is great. The anticipation is high.
On the way to the airport, I read through the fans' responses and sent a message to Kim Wooyoung.
"It's the 6th."
"Train them while I’m gone."
"If they’re still a mess when I get back, it’s all your fault."
"What’s the use of a leader who isn’t ruthless?"
Last night, I dumped a ton of assignments on Kim Wooyoung.
He only pretends to be tough on the outside, but inside, he’s too soft. Fixing that was the priority.
A team only runs properly when its leader is strong.
I got a reply right away.
Kim Wooyoung:
Y-yes. Master-nim.
I’ll do it properly, even if it’s just out of fear of you.
Twenty hours of practice a day? I’ll do it.
Just make sure you get there safely.
Don’t let your eyes pop out in shock or trip while getting on the plane.
Then another message came.
Kim Wooyoung
Jooookay. Kang Ichan has a hardcore fan.
I thought it was just a throwaway comment.
But then, in the boarding area, my eyes actually almost popped out.
"Hyungnim. That... isn’t that you?"
Even Roa, looking shocked, parted his lips as he stared out the window.
Right then, Jaewon snapped a photo.
"Daebak, who the hell plastered our hyung-ah’s face on that?"
The plane we were boarding had "Happy Birthday" written on it, along with a massive wrapping of my face.
That’s when Hanjoon held out his phone.
"Here it is. The person who gave Kang Ichan an insane birthday gift."
It wasn’t exactly a pleasant surprise.
"Lorraine & Magnum Gordon?"
So, this was a gift from Timothy Gordon’s twin children.
When they came to the Seoul concert, they said their kids were my fans—guess that wasn’t a lie.
Their shared SNS was filled not with group photos of LIT, but only pictures of me. So they were, as people say, individual fans.
But still, wasn’t this too much for a birthday gift?
Even if they were the children of a world-famous tycoon, they were only seventeen. Could they really have found out in advance which flight I’d be on and plastered my face all over it on their own?
Timothy Gordon’s influence must have been involved, no doubt about it.
As I frowned and looked through SNS, Hanjoon asked.
"Kind of scary, right?"
Rather than scary, it was eerie.
The photos and captions posted on SNS were strangely out of the normal range.
They were twisting me and the members into some kind of RPS (T.N.: Real Person Slash, a type of fanfiction that pairs real-life celebrities together), and they were trying to dig into my personal life in way too much detail.
"This is disgusting. When were these pictures even taken?"
A few of the photos were seriously disturbing.
One of them was from practice, where I was feeling hot and sweaty, so I lifted my shirt to fan myself.
Between the lifted fabric, a glimpse of my abs and chest could be seen, and the camera didn’t miss that moment.
Another was of me patting Roa’s head. He looked a little shy, and I was smiling proudly—whoever posted it had drawn a huge heart between us, as if we were some kind of couple.
And that wasn’t all. There were more photos that made me uncomfortable.
"Maybe they didn’t take the photos themselves, but just took screenshots from a video? It looks like our practice room. They wouldn’t have been able to take these directly, right?"
If they were taken from our sketch videos, it would be fine. I know there are a lot of fans who collect pictures of their faves like this.
Taking fancams, capturing our comings and goings—I’m fine with that.
Abs and chest? I already show plenty during performances. I’ve done photoshoots with sexy outfits too.
But this felt different.
This wasn’t just screenshots from a video.
There’s a huge difference between seeing what I choose to show and secretly peeking at what I don’t.
"This isn’t a screenshot from a sketch video."
No way. That day, there were no cameras in the practice room.
We were busy preparing for the concert, but I remember that much.
Hanjoon, retracing his memory, seemed to be coming to the same conclusion.
"You’re right. This wasn’t on the day they filmed the sketch video…"
Then he shuddered.
"What the hell? Did they take these themselves? How?"
There are plenty of ways.
With money, you can buy anything.
This is exactly why I’m reluctant to let just anyone stay around me.
Do I have to take security measures now, too? What a headache.
"By the way, this is creepy. These two only like you and Roa, but they seem to have a really negative view of everyone else."
Hanjoon handed me another picture.
It was an old one, where I was feeding Hanjoon a lettuce wrap.
But the person who uploaded it had completely blacked out Hanjoon’s face.
"They did this to me. They don’t like seeing you close with anyone else."
Even worse, on a picture of Jaewon leaning on Roa, they had scribbled in red letters:
"Die."
"Wow. A new type of villain has appeared."
Hanjoon shook his head.
Normally, people who do this kind of thing hide behind anonymity. But doing it this openly? The level of boldness was far beyond normal.
At that moment, Kim Chanyeong handed me my bag and spoke.
"Not reacting at all is the best answer. So just get on the plane already. Even at this moment, people are probably having a blast taking pictures."
Starting from this tour, we had been upgraded to Prestige Class.
The company must have decided that this level of investment was no longer a waste. And with our popularity rising rapidly, it was also a way to protect us as artists.
We had been waiting in the lounge, and as soon as boarding was announced, we had come straight to the gate—but in that short time, we had forgotten and stopped in place, which must have been nerve-wracking for our manager.
"I'll look into the security issues. You don’t have to worry about it."
"Got it. See you later."
After a brief goodbye to our managers, we hurried onto the plane.
"It would’ve been nice if the director and hyungs could fly Prestige too."
Roa, seeing how much fancier Prestige Class was than he expected, was the first to think of the managers. He seemed to feel guilty about enjoying this alone.
Meanwhile, Jaewon was busy stuffing his backpack with snacks that weren’t available in Economy Class.
Hanjoon, sitting next to him, scolded him, asking what the hell he was doing. But Jaewon just grinned innocently and mentioned his manager’s name.
"They’re for Sangmin-hyung."
Now that we each had our own personal managers, it had become common to see everyone looking out for theirs. These kids were good-hearted.
From Incheon to Hong Kong.
It wasn’t a long flight, but compared to our previous tours, it was much more comfortable. The members seemed to have caught up on their sleep.
I, too, was able to focus on writing lyrics for our new song for the first time in a while.
After arriving in Hong Kong, we went straight to our accommodations.
Even though we chose this career, the schedule was still a bit tight.
As soon as we arrived, we got our makeup done and headed to the second-floor lounge for an interview with a Hong Kong magazine. Then, we took photos for the magazine in the beautifully landscaped hotel backyard. After that, we returned to our rooms and started filming our own content.
We played a game, betting on our dinner menu and penalties.
After that, we all went out to eat dim sum for dinner, and once we returned to the hotel, a written interview took place.
Watching all of this, Kim Chanyeong made a comment.
"Maybe it’s because the leader is so relentless, but the whole team is just as intense."
He stuck out his tongue, amazed at how we went through the packed schedule without a single complaint. But even as he said it, his voice was light and pleased.
That meant he liked it. That he found it rewarding to take care of us.
But the next day, something happened that made Kim Chanyeong furious.