translation by mourningmoor
Of all the possible ways to relieve stress, why cosplay, of all things.
No, to be more precise, it was about cosplaying a specific character at a specific place and taking a group photo.
“I actually wanted to do it with Dad and Mom.”
Just that one sentence from Jaewon, no one objected, and because of that, we had to come to the famous amusement park, Uni○○ Studio.
This time, we were finally moving around without cameras, accompanied only by our individual managers.
The guys seemed to be convinced that we were dressed so plainly that we wouldn’t stand out at all.
But no. These guys—at this point, they stand out no matter where they go.
People passing by glanced at us, and if anyone recognized who we were, it was only a matter of time before things got noisy.
Well, whatever. It’s nothing I can’t handle.
Of course, if Yoo Noah were here, things would be easier, but he had something to investigate separately, so he was acting on his own for now.
[It's ridiculous. He knows that I’m trying to regain my original power, and he knows that the method is gathering mana. But now, he says he wants that too?]
[It’s certain that the sudden surge of reactions in the U.S. this time was due to magic circle owners. Aside from Anne Hayden and Natalie Grace, the rest are all suspicious.]
Anne Hayden, who was at the start of all this, was really just a case of someone becoming our fan.
As for Natalie Grace, Yoo Noah had deliberately given her instructions to fuel Anne Hayden’s movements. That previous incident—meaning the time we got rid of Natalie Grace’s magic circle without any trouble—completely turned her into one of our people.
But Sam McGuire was different.
He had gone on and on about how he wanted to collaborate with us, acting like it was his own idea after swallowing his superstar pride. But when I looked into it, there was a ring sitting right there on his finger.
In the end, that meant it was the Master’s orders.
That seriously got on my nerves.
[I’ll look into it for now. If I investigate a little, I should be able to figure out what kind of orders were given to the ring owners.]
[Does that old man really want me to recover my original power? Why, of all things?]
[No idea. That’s why we need to find out. I’ll be back.]
That was how Yoo Noah and I ended up splitting up for now.
And so far, I hadn’t heard from him yet.
“Hyungnim. This way.”
“Mm.”
Roa, who was walking ahead, waved his hand.
For now, relieving the members’ stress was the priority, so I should focus on that for now.
* * *
"Damn."
You wanted to do this kind of thing?
The place Jaewon dragged us to was a strange wizard merchandise store.
Wizard wands, robes, glasses, owl plushies.
The fact that these were considered wizard merchandise—there wasn’t a single normal thing here.
"Hyung-ah, from now on, we’re all going to be students at a magic school. First, since Hyung-ah is evil, let’s go with green."
Then, he wrapped a green knit scarf around my neck.
"I’ll take purple, Roa-hyung gets blue, Siu-hyung gets yellow."
He decided the colors however he pleased, wrapped scarves around our necks, and then handed a gray robe to Hanjoon.
"Joonie-hyung-ah should be a professor. Since you’re the eldest."
Then, he even put on round glasses himself.
As I stared at him in disbelief, Roa quietly approached me.
"He’s a nerd. That kid."
"Huh?"
"He’s a fan of this movie. He collects novels, movie DVDs, scenario books, merchandise. Everything."
I hadn’t known about this hobby of his.
"If you ever see his room in the Mapo house, you’d be shocked."
Apparently, this was how Jaewon relieved stress—by indulging in his fandom.
I hadn’t known, but he was also quite active on SNS through an unofficial sub-account.
After decking us out in these fake wizard props, he eventually had us take pictures in front of a giant castle.
Even assigning us specific poses—it was an incredibly annoying task.
But I went along with it without complaint. It seemed like the only way Jaewon would feel okay again.
Even our managers were enjoying themselves.
Just then, Siu cautiously raised his hand.
"I have something I want to do here too."
Then, he pointed to a building where a bizarre-looking monster was striking a pose.
"Trans○○. Let’s all ride that together. About five times?"
After listening to the explanation, it seemed to be an indoor roller coaster.
Everyone must have been holding in a lot of stress.
"Alright, let’s let it all out. Let’s release everything before we leave."
Even Roa, who was trying to escape by refusing to ride, eventually got on the attraction.
Roa’s screams and Siu’s shouts were so loud that my ears were ringing.
But somehow, it turned out to be a pretty good day.
And then, our appearance was shared with everyone through a certain Filament’s SNS in the U.S.
LIT spotted at Uni○○ Studio
(Photo) (Photo) (Photo)
No, no. There’s no point in rushing over now. This was already three hours ago.
A few days ago, when the members went shopping in Beverly Hills, fans recognized them and surrounded them. I saw the footage—it was incredibly embarrassing.
Korean Filaments pretend not to notice even if they run into LIT. The members always say they’re grateful for that.
But we couldn’t do the same.
In the video, Jaen looked absolutely terrified. Roa even got pushed over by the crowd of fans.
So today, even though I saw LIT, I pretended not to know.
I barely held back the scream threatening to escape my lips and just secretly took a few photos.
Please, Filaments. Don’t let this place become a hell for LIT. I’m begging you.
After reading the post, American fans fell silent.
In fact, everyone had thought the same after seeing the Beverly Hills video.
A terrified maknae-line and Siu. Hanjoon, the eldest, pushed through to clear a path for them. Ichan, walking behind to protect the younger members.
Especially after Roa fell, Ichan’s expression completely changed.
His face carried a grim determination, as if saying, "I will protect my kids."
And then, a security staff member from the tour’s security company posted something that heightened concerns even more.
A sasaeng had broken into Siu’s hotel room, causing chaos.
Because of that incident, Siu had to undergo counseling while still overseas.
When Korean fans heard the news, they were horrified.
Their precious idols, whom they cherished so much, had gone all the way to America only to face such terrifying situations. It was absolute chaos.
Soon enough, <#Return_Home_Immediately> was trending in Twittle’s real-time trends.
Overseas tour? Who cares. Just bring my babies home immediately.
Crying and wailing, yet you pushed them down? Broke into their hotel room? #LIT #Return_Home_Immediately
ㅠㅠ I knew this would happen. I just knew things would escalate like this. What was that Beverly Hills video even? ㅠㅠㅠㅠ The American unnies nearly trampled our boys.
Our baby bunny got startled and his eyes widened, it broke my heart. ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Clinging tightly to his Hyung-ah’s back #Return_Home_Immediately
At the same time, they expressed gratitude to the Filament who had uploaded the amusement park photos.
Thanks for pretending not to notice. That Filament is really a model fan.
American Filaments, let’s join the campaign too. Give LIT their freedom. #FREE_LIT
Filament, thank you for protecting them and updating us. You’ll be blessed.
Because of the Filaments’ efforts, the members gradually regained their composure.
Realizing once again that there were fans who cared about them this much—what was there to fear?
And then, the day before the LA concert, their second digital single album was released.
* * *
They wrote it in a strange way, but "disease, illness." Well, it does have that kind of meaning.
Hanjoon and Roa wrote the lyrics, comparing the pain of a twenty-something suffering from an intense one-sided love to a disease.
Last night, the song and music video were released, and today is finally the first performance. And not just anywhere—it's on a famous American talk show, the day before the LA concert.
It was decided in a hurry, so we couldn’t even promote it properly.
We barely managed to post it on the official SNS a day before, so only the fans were properly informed.
Of course, the fans were thrilled.
<Brian Tyler's Night Show>. It was known for only inviting the biggest of the big names. Among Korean idols, only ARCHE had ever been on the show.
Even T.I.ONE, who was said to follow in ARCHE’s footsteps, didn’t dare to dream of appearing there.
And now, they invited us?
Sure, ARCHE paved the way, but there was no way they’d give this kind of treatment to a rookie group that had just stepped into the U.S. market in their third year.
Something felt off.
“Timothy Gordon requested it.”
PD Pyo, with a slightly reluctant expression, cautiously brought up the topic. We only found out the truth 30 minutes before the show started.
It seemed even PD Pyo hadn’t known.
“He just called a little while ago. He said SS is still planning to invest, but if we don’t want to do it, we don’t have to. But he asked us not to refuse a gesture of goodwill from a fan. Something like that.”
It wasn’t a bad thing, but PD Pyo also looked a bit conflicted.
But there was no backing out now.
In 25 minutes, we had to go on stage.
“Well, it’s a little annoying that it’s not entirely our own merit, but it can’t be helped.”
There’s a saying in this world that I quite like: "If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it."
This is exactly one of those moments.
There’s no escaping the magic circle that old wizard laid out.
So what can I do? Enjoy it and make that magic circle mine.
“Since it's come to this, let’s steal the spotlight.”
With that, we took the stage of the famous <Brian Tyler’s Night Show>.
On the round stage, under the flickering of dazzling lights, a tropical-style house hip-hop beat rang out cheerfully. A classic summer song.
Dressed in brightly colored stage outfits, we started the performance with an intense dance.
The show’s host, Brian Tyler, was watching us from behind the camera director.
‘What kind of no-names did they parachute in here to ruin my show?’
That was definitely what his gaze was saying.
But his expression was changing in real-time.
Now, it was exactly this:
‘Huh? What’s with these kids? They can dance like that while singing? Wait, they can sing like that while dancing? Is that even possible?’
Yeah, it’s possible. Watch closely.
Because this is LIT’s skill.