translation by mourningmoor
I barely gave a hint, but Roa caught on immediately and reached out his hand.
“Park!”
At that, Siu, flustered, stretched out his hand and shouted.
“Yoon!”
Then, with a slight smile, I reached out my hand.
“Kang-imnida.”
A deafening cheer erupted from the audience.
Among them, one audience member shouted loudly.
“Wow, Park Yoon Kang, fighting! Please sing Change! Change.”
Since they know Change by Park Yoon Kang, that person is definitely a Filament.
Then, the PD and the stage director approached us.
Coincidentally, Roa had the instrumental track for Change by Graphstar on his phone, and since we had performed as a unit throughout the Hong Kong concert, things moved smoothly.
Performing Change by Graphstar on broadcast… it felt nostalgic.
The first-anniversary fan meeting, and the four days of the Hong Kong concert.
This was a stage we had only ever performed offline.
A song created by the late Kang Ichan-hyung, belonging to the ill-fated group Graphstar—Change.
Just imagining the reaction when this song airs, picturing the instruments (T.N.: possibly referring to online reactions, memes, or people metaphorically "collapsing" from shock), made me feel good.
“We’ll only perform the first verse.”
With that, we positioned ourselves at the center of the stage.
With Roa in the middle, we took our formation, standing with our backs to the audience.
As the music started playing, we turned around with a wave-like motion and jumped into the choreography.
This is a unit with Roa, our main dancer. Naturally, the choreography wasn’t something that could be easily followed.
But we are a team forged through countless hours of practice.
Even Siu, who was weak at dancing, had been trained up to Roa’s level.
People’s gazes never left us.
Since it was a performance with three instead of five members, our movements had to be bigger, making it appear even more spectacular.
And on top of executing such high-level choreography, we were singing live, leaving even the production staff watching us with their mouths open.
As we had said earlier, we stopped at the end of the first verse, right as the instrumental break began. The audience erupted with cries of disappointment.
Kim Hyunsoo stepped onto the stage.
“I often host year-end awards ceremony stages, you know?”
Kim Hyunsoo was a regular host for HAMA. This time, he had also been the host for Seoul HAMA.
“For two years now, I’ve been watching L.I.T’s year-end performances. Yeah. Well, no words are needed. Please give them a big round of applause.”
It was applause created by just three hundred people, but the intensity was undeniable.
Even those who weren’t fans were clapping with genuine affection.
“Today’s performance was great. This song is from Graphstar sunbaenim’s……”
“Change.”
“It’s nice. I should add it to my playlist right away.”
Kim Hyunsoo’s comment was carefully calculated.
I heard that Mega Entertainment, the company Kim Hyunsoo belongs to, recently contacted Maon and bought the rights to Graphstar’s songs. Looks like it’s true. Rumors are circulating that SS Group is going to pull out its investment in Maon, and this just proves it. That means they’re short on money.
Good.
With that, our performance ended, and to keep things fair, T.I.ONE also performed a short stage. DAS17’s Seokwoo did something like a talent show, and Register performed an old song with choreography.
In the end, the masters’ performances heated up the opening.
This would make the participants even more nervous.
After all, they had to compete against active idols.
In times like this, it’s better to perform later. It’s even better if a few people ahead mess up.
And it would be perfect if the one messing up is someone I don’t like.
For example, someone like Jung Yoobin.
Finally, the draw machine to decide the order started spinning.
The balls inside the transparent box whirled around before one popped out.
Kim Hyunsoo picked up the ball and smiled slightly as he announced.
“The first performance will be by team <Eye Smile>, led by leader Jung Yoobin.”
Yeah, of course, it had to be this way.
In the end, the first team failed to shake off their nerves and completely ruined their performance.
After about five teams passed, it was finally time for Kim Wooyoung and Seo Hanul’s team to take the stage.
Their slightly shy expressions were fresh and endearing.
Their outfits, makeup, and hairstyles today.
All of them were ideas from our members.
We even named their team. Big Eyes.
As Big Eyes took the stage, Roa and Siu, having put in the most effort, clapped and cheered the loudest.
Kim Hyunsoo also welcomed them warmly.
“The team name is Big Eyes. Why did you choose this name?”
At that, team leader Kim Wooyoung answered.
“Kang Ichan Master-nim gave us the name. All five of us have big eyes.”
“You really do have big eyes. But I heard your original team name was Zoo?”
To Kim Hyunsoo’s next question, Seo Hanul took the mic.
“Yes. Kang Ichan Master said that Wooyoung looks like a deer, Seho like a hamster, Yeonju like a lizard, and Laejo like a tarsier.”
“What about you, Seo Hanul?”
At Kim Hyunsoo’s question, Seo Hanul paused for a moment. Then, with a reluctant expression, he opened his mouth again.
“I… I’m a Chihuahua.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head gloomily, which unexpectedly made everyone laugh.
Laughter erupted from the audience.
People were making a fuss, saying he really does look like one.
Kim Hyunsoo was also laughing so hard he couldn’t continue speaking.
Barely holding back his laughter, Kim Hyunsoo asked Kim Wooyoung.
“Kim Wooyoung, will you be speaking through your performance again today?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Kim Wooyoung answered calmly in a steady voice, then looked toward us, sitting in the master’s seats.
“Give us a word about your determination.”
“Kang Ichan Master-nim said if we win first place today, he’ll treat us to a meal. So, I’m going to win first place and get some samgyeopsal.”
* * *
The 1st round results were just as I expected.
I drastically increased the practice hours and placed a heavy burden of leadership responsibility on Kim Wooyoung, and the effect showed quite well. The overall balance was very good.
The eldest, Seo Hanul, also noticeably improved in his choreography execution.
Well, even if Seo Hanul’s choreography was slightly lacking, he’s someone whose vocals and stage presence are far beyond amateur level, so I wasn’t too worried.
Of course, they received quite high scores.
Thanks to Kim Wooyoung’s team’s outstanding performance, Blade Enter was able to secure 2nd place overall.
On the other hand, HS Enter couldn’t avoid taking last place overall. Jung Yoobin’s team performed first and completely messed up their stage, and the other HS trainees also received consistently low scores.
In the end, four people were eliminated.
For HS, it was a disgrace.
Meanwhile, we only had one person eliminated.
That day’s episode spread quickly through the mouths of the 300 audience members.
I was a judge for Be My Idol today. Our kids showed a different charm compared to their music show performances or concerts. I fell even harder ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Then they elaborated in detail.
They regretted that they couldn’t take any pictures due to the no-photo rule, but the Filaments who heard about it were still going crazy with excitement.
They said no spoilers, but I can’t hold back. Park Yoon Kang performed on stage. Graphstar - Change. Yes. It was that stage from the fan meeting.
└ Hul, they said they did it at the Hong Kong concert. So they performed that?ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└ ㅇㅇ That’s right. It wasn’t pre-planned, Yeom Byungwoo told him to do it on the spot, and it was legendary.
└ Yeom Byungwoo, that damn… Why does he just order people around like that? Like, did he think we wouldn’t like it? Fine. He did well. He worked properly.
The Filaments’ anticipation grew more and more. The fact that Park Yoon Kang was producing an idol made them excitedly wait for the broadcast.
At the same time, worries were also voiced.
But seriously, aren’t our kids working too much? There are like 30-something days left until the U.S. concert? Can they really handle all this? What if they collapse? ㅜㅜㅜㅜ
└ This was mentioned in the Boog magazine interview. The reason they’re handling both overseas tours and domestic activities. Read it. It broke my heart. (link)
Below that, there were endless comments filled with tears.
Wow. Kang Ichan ㅠㅠ What is this? L.I.T exists because of Filaments, and as long as Filaments are there, they’ll go anywhere. Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, America. Every fan is precious, and they’ll manage their time well so no one feels left out. Isn’t he an angel?
└ He literally descended to become a global idol. ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└ His love for fans is on another level. Our leader is really…ㅠㅠ No words needed.
Hanjoon’s words were touching too. Even though it’s impressive that they’ve achieved so much in their third year, he said it’s all thanks to the fans. That they’re still young and lacking, but because Filaments have their backs, they’ve come this far.
└ No, where are they lacking? They’ve got skills that could put 7-year idols to shame.ㅠㅠㅠ
└ They’re overflowing with talent, but they’re still humble. That’s what makes them even more precious.
This is it.
We finished warming up and are now standing at the starting line. We’re not afraid to start because we have Filaments as our wonderful companions. No matter where we run, we trust that they’ll be there with us. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be? Entrusting your back to the ones you trust the most. We (L.I.T and Filaments) are at that level now. The ones who trust each other the most. That’s why we can’t take a break from domestic activities. Because our most precious companions are waiting for us.
This was Ichan’s message. ㅠㅠㅠㅠ This is how he thinks of us.
A single interview strengthened the sense of solidarity tremendously.
Even though they couldn’t join the overseas tour, it became a moment for fans to reaffirm that they were together even when apart.
In the end, the fans fully accepted L.I.T’s overseas tour break because they now believed that L.I.T would never neglect Korea. They believed that no matter where they went, they would always return.
That belief led to even stronger dedication.
They scheduled streaming times for the songs, trended their names in real-time searches, and created more second-wave content than ever before.
Fan activity breeds more fan activity, and naturally, an even bigger fandom was forming.
And then, good news reached Irene, a U.S.-based Filament and a famous NewTuber.