translation by mourningmoor
First place on a music show.
It was a remarkable achievement, just six and a half months after their debut in early May.
Although they were a bit nervous performing their first encore stage, it was a good experience. The members, with their flushed faces, were completely immersed in the stage.
After Music City ended and they came down from the stage, Kim Wooyoung approached.
Well, “approached” isn’t quite the right word. It was more like he brushed past.
He bumped shoulders roughly as he passed, but his words were surprisingly gentle.
“Congratulations?”
It was an unexpected remark.
“Thanks.”
I gave him a quick smile in response to his congratulations, then immediately turned cold and headed to the waiting room. That’s because Jung Yoobin, that jerk, was watching us from the end of the hallway.
Three weeks had passed since their comeback. During that time, L.I.T and MuteSeven had crossed paths on music show stages several times. Wooyoung, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, seemed to have changed a lot from before.
He no longer provoked us with nonsense. Instead, he completely ignored us.
He didn’t even bother to make eye contact. But when we passed each other in narrow hallways, he deliberately bumped shoulders roughly.
However, there was no malice in it. It seemed like he was forced to act rough because of the “watching eyes,” and his heart felt sorrowful.
The “watching eyes.” He was probably referring to Jung Yoobin.
Though not entirely sure, it seemed like Jung Yoobin was also the one who had left scars on Wooyoung’s face.
No matter what, Wooyoung was the team’s leader and Kim Chanyeong’s cousin. Could Jung Yoobin really treat him like that? It wasn’t impossible.
Jung Yoobin gave off an unusually dark aura.
As Jung Yoobin approached the end of the hallway, Jaewon suddenly spoke up.
“Ichan-hyung, what did Mute Wooyoung say earlier? Did he curse at you again?”
Jaewon seemed to know that Wooyoung was afraid of Jung Yoobin’s gaze. Even though he had heard the conversation between Wooyoung and me right next to him, he asked a completely unrelated question.
“Yeah, he cursed. Said I was unlucky.”
“Huh, that hyung is really consistent.”
“Right.”
“Next time, hyung, you should curse at him first.”
“Should I?”
Jung Yoobin, who had been eavesdropping on our conversation, finally moved away.
Jaewon, watching Jung Yoobin’s retreating figure, let out a long sigh and patted his chest.
“That hyung is really unlucky.”
Frowning, Jaewon entered the waiting room.
The kid was sharp. He had already figured out the situation.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. That hyung was standing there on purpose, watching us. Creepy.”
Jaewon shuddered in disgust.
“If he finds out Wooyoung-hyung and Ichan-hyung are getting along, he’ll make a scene again.”
“Getting along… we’re not.”
This brat, why does he keep pairing me up with someone?
Frowning, I corrected the misinformation and then asked the next question.
“But how do you know Jung Yoobin made a scene with Wooyoung?”
“One of my classmates is an HS trainee.”
Jaewon peeked out the door and whispered quietly, covering his mouth with his hand.
“It’s all over the rumor mill. They say Jung Yoobin-hyung knocked out two of Wooyoung-hyung’s teeth.”
He also mentioned that two of Wooyoung’s teeth were now fake because of it. Apparently, Wooyoung, though the leader of MuteSeven, was nothing more than Jung Yoobin’s lackey.
“And there’s an L.I.T ban now.”
“An L.I.T ban?”
“Yeah, if anyone gets caught getting close to L.I.T in any way, they’ll be kicked out of the company.”
That’s why Wooyoung avoids talking to me or making eye contact.
“Anyway, that Jung Yoobin-hyung is like a dictator at HS.”
“Is there a reason for that?”
Even Kim Chanyeong, the director, and Jang Myungwoo, the CEO, seem powerless against Jung Yoobin. If even Jang Myungwoo is like that, there must be something big going on… What could it be?
Jaewon provided the answer.
“They say his uncle is the vice president of MBS. That’s why the company can’t do anything about him. Anyway, that’s what they say.”
Ah, the vice president of MBS.
So that’s why we can’t even break into the rankings on MBS?
Because of that thief?
It was ridiculous. But at the same time, I felt a strange chill on the back of my neck.
At that moment, the rest of the members entered the waiting room with Gyuhyung.
“Congratulations, guys.”
Gyuhyung’s face was beaming with smiles.
His eyes were a bit teary, so it seemed like he had cried upon hearing the news of their first win. Now that I looked, Siu’s eyes were also red.
Jaewon immediately started teasing the two.
“Oh? I thought only Siu-hyung cried, but Gyuhyung-hyung cried too. You should pay up. What’s a manager doing crying?”
At Jaewon’s words, Hyerim, the styling team, and the makeup team burst into laughter. The other staff members tried to act nonchalant, saying it was such an expected result that they didn’t even cry, but their excited voices gave them away.
Even Hanjoon, who was usually stoic, twitched the corner of his mouth, and Roa, though trying to act calm, couldn’t hide his red ears.
After spending some time browsing the fan cafe, Roa looked up with a bright smile.
“Everyone’s going crazy congratulating us. They’re saying we’ve completed item number two on the bucket list.”
As Roa said, the fans were posting congratulatory messages in an excited tone.
ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠOur kids got first placeㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I’m so moved I can’t see through my tears.
└I’m crying too. My family thinks I’m crazy.
Did you see it? Siu cried tears as big as chicken eggs. A fairy’s tearsㅠㅠㅠㅠ So touching.
└Roa and Jaewon’s eyes were red tooㅠㅠㅠㅠ I choked up when Jaewon sang, and I ended up sobbing.
Only Hanjoon and Ichan were fine. But I expected thatㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Did you see Ichan’s expression?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ It was like, “What’s the big deal?”ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Our leader would only cry if he won a Grammyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└For real, we’d have to send him to the Grammys to see him cry.
No wayㅋㅋㅋㅋ When I lined up the videos in chronological order, I could see the situation clearly. The Weekly Music Q interview was before the comeback, then the comeback live. And today, they finally got first place. How hard did Ichan push the members to get that first place?
└ㅁㅈㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋHanjoon starved himself during the comeback live to get as slim as Ichanㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└They worked that hard to get their first win. Our shining idols worked so hardㅜㅜㅜㅜ Congratulations.
After reading the fan cafe posts, we immediately took a photo with the trophy. Then, we posted it on SNS.
#LIT_who_won_an_award_thanks_to_Filaments. #LIT_shines_because_of_Filaments #We_love_you_Filaments
About three hours after L.I.T’s first-place proof photo was posted, a notification for an N Live broadcast popped up.
<Bucket List Item 1 Achieved>
Seeing the title, the Filaments quickly clicked the watch button.
* * *
After finishing Music City, we returned to the company, where PD Pyo and the rest of the staff warmly welcomed us.
They set off firecrackers, threw confetti, and celebrated in their own way.
Then, we received the reward we had been waiting for.
Evening practice was canceled, and we were gifted a new dorm and a new van.
“No practice today. Go to the new dorm and rest comfortably. We’ll start the schedule again early tomorrow morning.”
They said the moving had already been taken care of.
Of course, the “moving” probably just meant moving the members’ clothes.
The new place was a pretty nice apartment not too far from the old dorm.
“Wow. The facilities here are great.”
Roa, looking around, spoke in an excited voice.
Jaewon chimed in.
“There’s an underground parking lot, and there are CCTVs everywhere. I guess we’re rich now.”
At Jaewon’s remark, Roa smiled brightly and nodded.
To call this being rich, they really were humble kids.
Then, Hanjoon spoke in a worried voice.
“But doesn’t this feel a bit… unsettling?”
“Unsettling?”
“Too many good things are happening at once.”
Frowning, Hanjoon watched the members get into the elevator and gave me a worried look.
“This usually means something bad is going to happen.”
There’s an old saying in this country: “Hosadama.” It means that good fortune is often followed by misfortune. Armenia had a similar saying.
But there was no need to worry about that. Not while I was here.
“Don’t worry. Nothing bad will happen.”
And the elevator headed straight to the 9th floor.
When it arrived with a cheerful ding, Jaewon excitedly spoke up.
“Should we start a live broadcast as soon as we enter the house? The fans’ bucket list item number one is us moving to a new dorm.”
And so, we ended up doing another N Live broadcast.
With the title <Bucket List Item 1 Achieved>.
* * *
The atmosphere was great when we started the live broadcast.
The house we entered, shouting “First reveal!”, was cleaner and nicer than expected.
With three rooms and two bathrooms, it was like a palace compared to the old dorm.
But having three rooms brought up a problem.
“Wait, so how are we going to sleep? Two, two, one? Or one, one, three?”
At Jaewon’s question, Roa answered.
“I saw that one room is already filled with clothes… Isn’t that supposed to be a dressing room?”
Siu nodded.
“Yeah. That seems to be the case. The two rooms have three and two beds, respectively.”
Suddenly, the members’ expressions darkened.
They had gotten so used to living together that they couldn’t decide who would share a room with whom.
After a moment of thought, Jaewon raised his hand.
“I think the oldest, Hanjoon-hyung, and the leader, Ichan-hyung, should take the room with two beds. Seniority, you know.”
This brat, using formal speech and an acting tone, clearly had something up his sleeve.
And that something was painfully obvious.
“No thanks.”
Tilting my head, I immediately figured out what the youngest was thinking. He didn’t want to share a room with Hanjoon because of his snoring.
“Hanjoon-hyung snores, and you talk in your sleep. Who do you think should share a room?”
Then, I glanced at Roa and Siu.
“I think we should pair the noisy ones together.”
Roa and Siu immediately nodded in agreement.
Hanjoon, flaring up, retorted.
“What are you talking about? I don’t snore.”
Jaewon shot back.
“You do, though?”
“Hey. You talk in your sleep, but I really sleep quietly. Park Roa. Tell them. Do I really snore?”
“Yes, you do.”
“See? Hyung, you do snore.”
“Yeah. And you talk in your sleep a lot. Kim Jaewon.”
Snoring versus sleep-talking—it was a close call.
In the end, the two decided to settle it with a game.
“Let’s decide with a game.”
“Fine. Let’s decide with a game. The person who comes in first gets to choose their roommate. If I win, I’ll take Ichan-hyung to the room with two beds.”
What kind of horrifying idea is that?
Though unexpected, a sleep-rights game tournament unfolded in front of the watching Filaments.