translation by mourningmoor
"Look at this. PD Pyo-nim. This isn’t just any team—we’re talking about L.I.T. The team that raised Blade Entertainment, a tiny hole-in-the-wall company, to the level of the Big 4 agencies in terms of recognition."
Hole-in-the-wall, huh? That was a pretty rough choice of words.
I could practically see PD Pyo on the other end of the line losing his mind.
But since every word was the truth, there was no way he could argue back.
"Do these kids look like they’re only Prestige Class level? After raking in all that money from this concert?"
What was originally supposed to be a three-day concert in Hong Kong had suddenly been extended to four days.
There had been an offer for a concert in China, but due to scheduling conflicts, we had to decline. In response, they asked if we could at least extend the Hong Kong concert by another day. The data proving that our fanbase in Greater China was growing exponentially had just been confirmed as fact.
With the extra concert day, our revenue shot up.
And yet, making us travel in Prestige Class? Kim Chanyeong was fuming, calling it artist mistreatment.
"We’ll switch to First Class for the return trip. Please approve it."
At first, Kim Chanyeong had just been grumbling, but now, he was so furious that he had actually called PD Pyo in Korea to raise hell.
There was a reason for that.
Yesterday, while the members were sound asleep on the plane, photos of them had been spread across social media.
The original file wasn’t even a photo—it was a video.
And it wasn’t some secret recording taken from afar. Someone had walked right up to their seats and blatantly filmed them.
Since the members had all been sleeping, they had no idea they were being recorded.
There was even a video of someone following Hanjoon to the bathroom, zooming in on his backside in a way that could only be described as sexual harassment.
I was the sole survivor of this mess, the only one left unscathed—because I had been sitting in the front row of Prestige Class, working the entire flight.
"What the hell were you doing? The guy who knows everything somehow didn’t notice this?"
Eventually, the blame landed on me.
Yeah. I really should have caught that. But I had completely tuned everything out while working, too focused to pay attention.
To be honest, I had let my guard down.
This kind of thing was common in Economy Class, sure. But I never thought a sasaeng would follow us all the way to Prestige and pull something like this.
"Sasaengs aren’t fans. You don’t have to go easy on them. You think it’s fine to let them off the hook just because they’re fans? If you keep ignoring it, one day, they’ll come at you with a knife to your throat. You get that?"
While I was buying coffee after lunch, Kim Chanyeong started nagging me. It was basically a long lecture on the dangers of sasaengs and how to deal with them.
"Director-nim."
He had been ranting for 20 minutes, veins popping in his neck. My ears felt like they were about to start bleeding, so I called out to him.
At that, Kim Chanyeong, who had been in full rant mode, paused and looked at me.
"HS is a bunch of brainless idiots."
"W-What? Out of nowhere?"
So this guy was the so-called legendary manager? His passion was definitely something else.
But more than just passion, his efficiency was next level.
Before I even said another word, Kim Chanyeong was already on the phone with the airline, filing a complaint. Then, he called PD Pyo and demanded that our security level be upgraded. He even asked the company’s PR team to release a statement about protecting the artists’ privacy.
"A company that throws away a manager like this? They deserve to go bankrupt."
It was a classic case of tosagupeng (T.N. a Korean idiom meaning to discard someone once they’ve outlived their usefulness, like a hunting dog abandoned after the hunt). But somehow, this particular hunting dog had escaped the boiling pot just in time. HS was about to start regretting that big time.
"On that note, do some digging for me."
"On what?"
"Whether the sasaengs on that flight had any connections to the Gordon siblings."
Sasaengs, on a plane that had been wrapped in photos of us as a birthday gift from the Gordon siblings?
Could they really be trying to mess with my territory like this?
Now I was curious.
* * *
Juhee and Inyoung, sitting side by side on a bench in front of the Hong Kong Expo Arena, posted on Universe and Twittle with determined expressions.
#Sasaengs_are_not_fans.
Please ensure the safety of our L.I.T members during their flights.
If anyone spots a sasaeng, shout STOP.
Sasaengs are criminals disguised as fans.
Filament, celebrating Ichan’s birthday, had united to launch a campaign against sasaengs.
March 3rd. The first concert of the Hong Kong tour, and leader Kang Ichan’s birthday.
Because of that, tickets for the first concert in Hong Kong sold out within two minutes of opening.
The competition was so intense that those who succeeded in getting tickets felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
Their sense of duty was also immense.
Filament who had failed to get tickets or couldn’t attend due to circumstances placed a heavy responsibility on those who were going through Universe.
Light bulbs heading to the first Hong Kong concert. Please do a great job celebrating our Ichan’s birthday event. Please make sure to tell our Arctic Cat that we love him.
Pass on my feelings to Kang Leader. ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I really wanted to see him in person and celebrate. ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Happy Birthday, Chan-ah.
To the light bulbs making Mighty Ichan cry, I shall reward you. Show me King Ichan’s tears.
Filament, who were simultaneously running both the sasaeng eradication campaign and Kang Ichan’s birthday event, gathered at the bench as promised.
Juhee, who was quite well-known within the fandom, took the lead in organizing the event. She handed out the pre-prepared slogans and items to Filament and explained the order of events.
Then, after shouting "Fighting!" they entered the concert hall.
“Wow. This is way more nerve-wracking than the Seoul concert.”
Inyoung clung tightly to Juhee’s arm, his voice full of excitement.
“It’s probably because they’re showcasing a new song today.”
March 3rd was the day L.I.T’s digital single <Hades> was being performed for the first time.
It was only natural that their hearts were pounding with anticipation.
“Their schedule is no joke right now. As soon as they return to Korea, they’ve got music show schedules lined up.”
“Mina unnie said that since we don’t want them to do overseas tours, the members insisted on doing domestic activities as well.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I heard she’s been in frequent contact with PD Pyo recently. Apparently, they even had a drink together. Maybe that’s when the conversation came up.”
“Wow. So it’s true, then.”
If that was true, it was both deeply touching and heartbreaking.
“I feel bad for them, but honestly, I’m really happy about it.”
Juhee spoke honestly, and Inyoung nodded in agreement.
“Me too.”
All the fans felt the same way.
They were grateful for L.I.T’s constant activities, yet they worried about the members running without rest. They were concerned about their health.
But they couldn’t bring themselves to say, “Please take a break.”
“If I don’t see them anymore, I think I might go slightly crazy.”
If they missed the self-produced content uploaded every Tuesday, the entire week felt empty. If they didn’t watch at least one L.I.T video a day, they became gloomy.
“If anyone messes with them and causes trouble, I’m ready to rush in and go to war. That’s exactly why HS is unforgivable.”
Most of Filament suffered from the same symptoms.
The kind of symptom where happiness only came when starting and ending the day with L.I.T. The kind of symptom where they would jump into anything if it was related to L.I.T. The kind of symptom where, even if the world collapsed, everything was fine as long as L.I.T remained.
How could they not love L.I.T, who always filled them with new things and showed them new sides?
“So, let’s enjoy today. Lit up the Lit.”
“Sounds good. Lit up the Lit.”
Shouting their slogan to fire up their love for L.I.T, the two watched the start of the concert with reverence.
* * *
The new song <Hades> was introduced as the first song of the second stage.
In a way, it is deeply connected to the theme of the first full album Carnival.
Since the song defines ‘Hades’ as the ‘Judge’ and ‘Death’ as the ‘Festival’ of Hell.
Transformed into judges, we took the stage dressed in luxurious black outfits.
As the song’s tone was dark and intense, the performance was just as dark and intense.
Like reapers emerging from Hell, it captured a chilling yet sorrowful beauty. And yet, it was still a dazzling choreography that never forgot this moment was a festival.
The response was, of course, great.
When the desperate melody rushed toward the climax, Jaewon’s high notes sent a thrill through the air.
The dance break was also top-tier.
This time, Director Gong Seokho’s ambition was packed into the dance break.
That man keeps getting greedier because we manage to pull off whatever he throws at us. The choreography’s difficulty has been getting higher and higher.
At this point, giving the members friendship piercings was an excellent decision. If we hadn’t, someone would’ve broken down a long time ago.
But we still pulled off that insanely difficult stage again, and the applause poured in.
It was a highly satisfying and moving performance.
And just like that, the concert was racing toward its end.
Only the final encore stage remained.
After stepping down from the stage, we hurriedly changed outfits.
I wiped my sweat and quickly drank some water after changing into black jeans and the official white T-shirt.
As I took the mic handed by a staff member, Director Gong Seokho called me over.
“Ichan-ah, come here.”
Then he led me to the area under the extended stage.
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? It’s fan time, and since it’s your birthday today, the fans are going to sing for you. I know you’re strong-hearted and don’t laugh easily, but at least pretend to be surprised today. Got it?”
Saying that, he made me stand on the lift.
“I have to go up to the stage first, alone?”
“Yeah. It’s an event. You get it, right?”
Up on the stage, the fan song was already playing.
Then, the lift started slowly rising.
I expected a brightly lit stage with spotlights shining down. But it wasn’t.
When I got to the top, the stage was dark, and from the unlit audience seats, only the beautiful sound of the fan song <My Star> flowed.
What are they trying to do? This is making me uneasy.
And then—
A video appeared on the screen behind the stage.
—To our beloved singer, happy birthday. Have a wonderful day.
Another video overlapped and appeared.
—Oppa, happy birthday. Thank you for being born.
Countless videos grew larger and smaller, all celebrating my birthday. At the same time, in the audience, one by one, candle-shaped lights began to glow.
It felt different from the usual light sticks.
It was like standing on a giant, swaying birthday cake.
—The greatest light of my life, happy birthday. Oppa, you are my one and only star. May you shine brightly forever.
—Ichan-ah. We will always believe in you, always support you, and always love you. Thank you for being born. We love you.
—Leader Kang-nim. We love you. Thank you for becoming our singer. Happy birthday.
As countless birthday messages flowed, our members appeared from below the main stage, rising on the lift.