And that’s it. He finally did!

No, wait.

..really??

NO WAY.

Really? HE MADE IT??

You’re such a wild card, Cara. You really did! I can’t believe you managed to remain inexperienced over the next 18 months!

Even though it became more and more likely for him to make it as the days drew closer, I was still in disbelief at what just happened. For more than a year at this point, we’ve lived with the expectation that Cara could go anytime. Hence, I found myself flabbergasted at the idea of.. just him making it.

It felt like I just witnessed a survival show moment, when the final debuting team was revealed.

I can now breathe a sigh of relief.

😅

He can now enlist.

BUT NO.

There was just one more problem.

Of all members in both his groups, BTS and STAY, he was the only one up to that point who still had not released any new music since that infamous June 2022 dinner video. As of July 2023, his BTS bandmate Jungkook had already made his solo debut, while his STAY bandmate Sungchan was already on board to debut again in a new group that would eventually be called RIIZE.

As the days go on and on, I grew more and more frustrated at the fact that we’d hardly hear anything from him.

I kind of even forgot now how he sounded like!

And I even had to go to greatest lengths for me to explore how he would sound like if he had released new music as a solo artist. I even had to research or do some thought experiments only for me to ponder how it would be like if he were to debut as a solo artist.

Considering the history of other BTS members releasing very good solo music over the past year, and STAY having a decent discography to date, my expectations were actually high for Cara.

Although at the very sense of it, he made it, I still did not want him to leave until he releases new music. Knowing that he had never done anything related to music over the past year, I just want him to prove that he can do what his other bandmates were also doing at this time - because he is, after all, an idol. An artist, musician, more specifically a vocalist. After all, this is what the contract extension is for! But this is way more than just about the extension.

He only had little time left, as he may have to go already if he had to return by 2025. Unless he would choose to skip that for now and instead drop new music by the time he comes back. But no, I would not accept him not releasing anything before he leaves on that day!

I don’t know. I must be looking for some validation that he’s still with us. Or maybe I was only curious at what his direction as a musician might be.

But one thing’s for sure. I don’t want him to leave for service as an influencer or something.

We want to send him off as an idol.

So we continue walking on eggshells, then. Until we get the news of the year.