translation by mourningmoor
The number of simultaneous viewers on the N Live broadcast had surpassed 100,000.
The last broadcast had peaked at 92,000 viewers, but today, it had already crossed 100,000 right from the start. And the numbers were still climbing.
Huddled together in the corner of the practice room, we showed the Filaments the chicken and pizza the company had bought to celebrate our comeback.
“Today, the company treated us to chicken and pizza.”
Jaewon, holding up the box to the camera, grabbed a piece of chicken and popped it into his mouth.
“I like boneless chicken. It saves time so I can eat more.”
He then giggled.
Today, Jaewon seemed to be in an extra good mood, acting more like a hyper rabbit than usual.
Next to him, Roa, curled up in a ball, was busy reading the comments left by the Filaments and relaying them to us.
“Siu hyungnim. They’re asking how you spent your birthday today.”
At that, Siu, who had been quietly sipping milk, quickly straightened up. He then smiled shyly and spoke.
“It was a bit chaotic since it overlapped with our comeback. But the fans who came to the pre-recording sang for me, and it made me really happy. Thank you.”
Jaewon, pointing at Siu with his index finger, teased him with a mischievous grin.
“This hyung cried, you know.”
“Why are you making it sound like I didn’t cry at all? You cried too.”
Roa immediately joined in teasing Jaewon.
“You were crying so hard, snot was running down your face.”
“Hey, that’s because you guys set up a hidden camera!”
“But you still cried, right?”
“I’m telling you, it’s not like that!”
Jaewon, flustered by Roa’s teasing, had already started slipping into his regional dialect.
The comment section exploded.
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋNo wayㅋㅋㅋWhat’s with Jaewon’s tone? Why is it so cute?
Our Jae, you’re cuter and cooler when you drop your regional dialect instead of forcing Seoul speech. You’re like a real man. Love you.
SIU oppa. Be my husband. I really really LOVE U SOOOO much.
リットさま, いつか日本でも公演してください. お願い. (T.N.: LIT-sama, please perform in Japan someday. Please.)
Siu-ya. Did you eat seaweed soup for your birthday?
Siu, who had taken over reading the comments after Roa put down the tablet, smiled brightly.
“Ichan made seaweed soup for me this morning, and it was delicious.”
Aaaah. Ichan made seaweed soup?
Was it good? Is Ichan oppa good at cooking?
No wayㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋIsn’t he the ultimate husband material? Marry me, Ichan-ssi.
Faced with the flood of questions, Siu carefully thought before answering.
“It was really delicious. Even better than my mom’s soup.”
At that, Jaewon and Roa, who had been bickering, gave a thumbs up, agreeing with Siu.
But why haven’t our leader and Joondaengie said anything since earlier? Are they sick?
Ichan-ah ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Are you too tired?
Yeah, you look exhausted ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜㅠㅠ
Jaewon, picking up the tablet, answered the questions.
“That hyung is on a diet, so he’s like that. Ichannie-hyung seems to be deep in thought. He’s not sick or anything. He’s full of energy.”
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about something.”
Now that I thought about it, since the N Live started, except for the greetings, I hadn’t said a word.
It wasn’t because I was tired or sick. I was just thinking.
“You all received gifts today, right? Did you like them?”
The chat instantly became noisy.
I loved it so so so much. It felt like LIT and Filaments became one ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
I missed out because the numbers ran out ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I couldn’t go to the pre-recording today.
Me neither ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I wanted to light up the bulb too.
It’s so pretty. Combining it with the bulb makes it really unique and nice.
Those who received it and those who didn’t were all crying out together.
Some got it, some didn’t. That wasn’t what I intended, but with limited space, it was unavoidable.
That’s why I was thinking.
How could I give a gift that would satisfy the majority of Filaments?
“With the comeback billboard and all the love you’ve shown us… I wanted to do something for you, so I came up with this idea.”
The night we went to see the billboard, the members and I brainstormed for a long time. We wanted to do something for the Filaments.
So, we came up with the idea of giving a small gift to the fans who came to the pre-recording. Coincidentally, the decorative bands for the lightsticks had just been released, and we had the chance to gift them to fans before they went on sale.
I thought it was a decent idea, and the members were satisfied too.
It naturally led to discussions about doing more events like this in the future.
But it still felt lacking.
Compared to the love we received, it felt insignificant.
It’s hard to explain, but it left a strange discomfort in my heart.
It was completely different from the emotions I felt as the Grand Mage Jesquière.
In Armenia, I was treated as equal to a “god.”
People were extremely devoted to me. They put in effort, offered tributes, came to pay respects during festivals, and bowed their heads to the ground when I passed by.
They prayed for rain during droughts, begged for healing during plagues, and sought my help to defeat enemies during wars.
The more desperate they were, the more they worshipped me, and the more unfortunate they were, the more they loved me.
But when everything was peaceful, I was just a nuisance to them.
In the end, the Grand Mage of the Magic Tower was an “absolute being” in times of crisis, but in times of peace, they only wanted me to exist as a “symbol.”
But here, I’m not that kind of existence.
Fans, these people, unconditionally love me. They don’t just want to make me happy; they strive to make me happy. They only think about how to make us smile, how to make us happy… They’re that kind of people.
It’s unfamiliar, yet it makes me feel sorry, grateful, and at a loss for what to do.
They say this is called a sense of indebtedness.
A feeling of being in debt.
This wasn’t just today’s feeling. It had grown several times stronger after standing on the comeback stage.
Why do I feel this way? I thought about it carefully and realized the answer.
The reason was that I enjoyed the stage.
Damn, that’s it. I enjoyed the stage. Truly.
Not only was I receiving love, but I was also enjoying the stage.
“We were really happy today. We were glad that everyone liked the new album we worked hard on, and it was also great to meet you all on stage after so long.”
Listing it all out, everything was filled with happiness.
The fans who saw us off on our early morning commute, the lightsticks filling the audience seats and shining brightly, the cheers between the songs, the perfectly synchronized performances, the deafening cheers.
My heart was beating abnormally, thumping loudly.
“I was a little worried that we were the only ones having such a happy day…”
I trailed off because of the flood of real-time comments.
No way. We were so happy too ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
It was so good. The song was the best, the dance was the best, everything was the best.
ㅠㅠ It was so so so good to see your stage after so long. I love you, Ichan oppa.
Not only was the stage amazing, but our beautiful shining idols even did a live broadcast. Filaments are happy♡♥♡♥.
The number of simultaneous viewers had already surpassed 140,000.
With so many people commenting at once, I couldn’t even read the questions properly.
“By any chance…”
So, I thought about it. What kind of gift could satisfy all these people?
“Is there a song you want to hear?”
If they want to hear a song, I can sing it. If they want to see a dance, I can dance.
“Or something you want to see.”
Within the bounds of the law and without damaging L.I.T’s image, I wanted to find something appropriate.
I wanted to repay even a little of their blind love and free myself from this sense of indebtedness.
Of course, I know that fans wait for our stages and love our performances the most. Repaying them with good stages would be enough.
But what I wanted was to give back even more.
Whether it’s live broadcasts, NewTube videos, or meeting fans more often, those could be ways to do it.
Especially if we find something special within that.
“For example, Park Roa spinning in place ten times, something like that?”
“Oh, that’s good! Then I’ll do Hanjoon hyung’s girl group dance.”
The funny thing was that Jaewon reacted faster than the fans.
At that, Hanjoon, who had been silent, shot Jaewon a look and said,
“I’ll do Kim Jaewon’s freestyle rap.”
Roa and Siu smirked at the maknae and the eldest’s power struggle.
At that moment, the live chat exploded.
I want to hear Leader Kang play the piano.
I want to see Hanjoon do a mukbang. Let’s tear into some meat this time.
Ichan cooking.
Oh, then Ichan can cook, and Hanjoon can eat it. I like it. I want to see the trainer and the dog again after so long.
Roa doing a backflip. Or a ballet performance.
Siu appearing in a drama.
Roa and Jaewon running around like foals.
A self-produced variety show. Mafia game,
Concert!!!!!!!!!!
Looking closely, there’s a light bulb emoji attached to the endless stream of comments. A lit bulb for happy comments, a dim bulb for sad ones. They even express the degree of happiness with the number of bulbs.
These people, they’re something else.
Why are they so cute?
They were initially frustrated with the fandom name “Filaments,” saying, “What is this? Just call us light bulbs,” but now they’ve started identifying themselves as light bulbs.
A laugh escaped my lips.
Then, the light bulbs in the chat started blinking and throwing out jokes.
Kyaaaa Ichan smiled. He even made a sound. A billion light bulbs lit up in my heart.
If Ichan keeps smiling, I can keep the light bulbs on all nightㅋㅋㅋㅋ Happiness.
Light bulbs, light up quickly. The boss is smiling.
Ichan-ah, let’s always smile like that. I love you.
Ugh. If you’re going to be this pretty when you smile, what am I supposed to do? At this point, you have to marry me.
In the end, all five members of L.I.T burst out laughing.
It’s hard to describe. The feeling was strange.
The camaraderie among the members had deepened, and a similar feeling had developed toward the Filaments.
It felt like we were a community of fate sharing the same boat.
“I couldn’t read everything, but we’ll try to do some of the things you suggested… little by little.”
It’s a bit overwhelming, but a sense of responsibility has grown within me—toward the members and the Filaments.
“Thank you for welcoming our comeback, and thank you for still loving us. We’ll show you an even better side of us.”
And just like that, I made a promise.