Chapter 217: |
Let’s go for the intense choreography!
A lot of things changed as they became more popular. They bought the floor above their dormitory to prevent the Chinese fans who followed them everywhere and hung gifts on their doorknob from disturbing them. There were also people who spread malicious rumors on SNS because they refused to take pictures with them.
“Hyung, can we skip this part of the choreography?”
“Why?”
But not everything was negative. The more popular they became, the more influence they had in the company.
The choreographer stopped the dance lesson and turned off the music. The other members who were standing behind Kim Hyun sparkled their eyes at his request.
“It’s okay to start with kneeling, but I feel like our bodies will break if we suddenly slam our knees on the floor.”
“Really? Don’t you think it looks better this way? You can wear knee pads.”
“I’d rather get rid of it than wear knee pads on stage. Hyung, we have a concert too, and this song is the title track, so it will definitely be in the setlist. But we can’t keep doing this intense choreography.”
“Right!”
“Yes!”
Their concept was sharp and powerful performance, so their choreography had been difficult since their debut.
“Guys, I know that. But you became popular because of this kind of performance, and if you suddenly remove it…”
“We’re not saying to remove everything, just the knee slamming and limbo, and the part where we jump on someone’s back. Our fans don’t like that either, they say it’s dangerous.”
“Okay, fine. Let’s change this part to something else.”
So they had to live with painkillers and suffer from frequent injuries to their knees, ankles, and joints despite their young age. This problem was inevitable for the members of AWY.
“Guys, it’s time to go to the hospital.”
“Yes.”
The agency took care of their physical and mental health by making them undergo regular check-ups and professional counseling whenever they had time.
“How are you feeling these days?”
The counselor who was writing something down looked up and met Ian’s eyes.
“I’m good. We have a new album coming out, and a world tour planned. My body might be tired, but I love performing, and so do the other members.”
“I see… I watched ‘Our time’ too.”
“You did?”
“Yes, you guys had a sincere talk with each other in the last episode, right? How about now, do you still feel anxious?”
Ian couldn’t answer right away.
He sometimes felt detached from reality when he thought about how his position had changed from Kim Yong-min, a failed idol, to Choi Ian, a top idol who easily sold millions of albums.
“Well… Sometimes I feel like this situation is a dream.”
“And now?”
Now was a time to enjoy, but he couldn’t waste it by worrying.
“I’m curious how far we can go. And I’m looking forward to it.”
He had to keep his balance, though. The counselor smiled faintly at Ian’s answer.
“Good. Come visit me anytime you feel dizzy.”
“Thank you. I’ll send you a ticket when they come out.”
Ian left the counseling room.
‘Ian doesn’t need to worry.’
The counselor flipped through the papers and circled one name with a thoughtful expression.
‘This one is a bit worrisome…’
***
“The palace is so beautiful. Ian, have you been here before?”
“No, I was busy with practice…”
Ian also looked around with curiosity.
‘Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a place like this when I was Kim Yong-min…’
He had been busy practicing then, and now he was busy with many people recognizing him. Even when he had time, he did not get out of bed.
“I have to go back to the company later.”
“Really? That’s too bad.”
His parents had come from far away, but he couldn’t just send them away. His agency allowed Ian a short vacation.
‘But that also meant more practice time…’
He was able to spend a few days with longer lunch breaks, and the members let him go without complaints. But they also joked, ‘Be prepared when you come back.’
“Ah…!”
“He’s a fan!”
Even though he wore a mask, a hat, and unknown glasses, someone recognized Ian.
“Can I take a picture with you?”
“Sorry, I’m with my parents.”
He politely refused, saying that he couldn’t grant their request because it was his personal time.
Usually, people would understand and walk away with regret, but sometimes there were rude people who kept following him and insisting on their demands.
‘There’s no one like that today.’
Instead, there were more and more people hovering around Ian and his parents. Choi Seong-moon, who noticed Ian’s change of expression, tapped his back.
“Are you tired?”
“I’m used to it now. Where are we going today?”
“Today, we’re going to Joo-hyuk’s house.”
The members’ emphasized holiday home visits were done by Ian’s parents instead.
They became friends through the parents’ group chat and suggested that Ian’s parents stay at their homes instead of the hotel. They said that staying at the hotel would cost a lot of money and be boring and dull.
‘They’re more used to hotel life…’
But they seemed happy, so he was relieved. Ian heard stories about the members’ childhoods through his parents. Of course, Ian didn’t really want to know that information.
“I should go now.”
Ian frowned slightly at the vibration in his pocket.
“Don’t worry about us, we’re having fun.”
“Yeah, I’m going to meet some friends later.”
“Really?”
His parents sent him off with a bright voice, but Ian dragged his feet with regret.
“He’s still a kid when you look at him like that.”
“Right…”
Choi Seong-moon and Na Hyun-ju smiled warmly as they watched Ian’s back.
“You don’t have to worry about him.”
They sometimes saw Ian’s, or AWY’s, ads on the streets of New York.
Even his co-workers said that their kids were into K-pop and liked AWY.
They could hear about their son in their daily lives, too.
Being popular meant having a lot of troubles, too, so they were worried about Ian. But they sighed with relief when they saw their son who hadn’t changed much.
Ian left his parents behind and got into the van parked on the road. The members greeted Ian inside.
“Did you come?”
“Did you have fun?”
Ian silently pointed to the people who had followed him. The members quickly became serious. It was a problem that everyone was experiencing.
“Are you okay? There was no weird person, right?”
Kim Myung-jin, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned his head and looked at Ian.
“Yes, there was none.”
“Do you want me to follow you when you go out? The bodyguards seem too obvious…”
“Hey, isn’t that too much?”
It was exhausting for both the manager and Ian to follow him on every personal schedule.
“But we have to move to another place, right?”
“Yeah, I feel like someone is following me even when I go to the convenience store.”
As Lee Joo-hyuk and Jo Tae-woong spoke, Kim Myung-jin groaned.
“That’s why being famous is tiring.”
“I liked it.”
“Park Jin-hyuk, you’re such an attention seeker.”
“Kim Hyun, you don’t get it. Celebrities have to be attention seekers.”
Kim Ju-young, who was caught in the middle of Park Jin-hyuk and Kim Hyun’s bickering, had a calm face as if this had become his daily routine.
“What was our schedule today?”
“Wasn’t it the Korean Psychiatric Association…? I think so.”
AWY was also doing regular activities for the public good. Especially, they received a lot of public service ads on mental health because of Jo Tae-woong’s panic disorder. AWY gladly accepted the offer and decided to donate the ad fee to the related organization.
AWY “If your mind hurts, go to the hospital…” Breaks the prejudice against mental hospitals with public service ads.
AWY, fans follow the donation of ad fee… ‘Good influence’
AWY did not accept the support from the fans, so a culture of donating or volunteering following the singer emerged in the fandom.
-Here, the donations never stop. Awesome.
-The fans seem to donate well to the places they need.ㅇㅇ
-AWY is popular, but only 5,000??
It looks a bit poorㅎ
└Do you have to judge the donations?
└These are the kids who never donated even 100 won in their lives.ㅇㅇ
└Hey, you donate and write.
***
The AWY members who returned to the practice room after finishing their schedule were practicing the choreography for the new song.
“Let’s take a break for five minutes and practice the next song.”
The members collapsed on the floor at Lee Joo-hyuk’s firm words.
“Wow, triple title means triple work.”
“Let’s not be greedy next time.”
The members breathed heavily. They felt dizzy and tired, as if the light bulb on the ceiling was spinning.
It felt like they had only rested for 30 seconds, but the alarm that Lee Joo-hyuk had set in advance rang. The members made a sad face and got up like zombies.
“But our ‘Our time’ album and Carol don’t overlap, right?”
“No, they don’t. Carol will come out two weeks later, right?”
“Isn’t that team killing?”
“Nah, no way. Let’s do ‘Crash’ now. This one is easy, right?”
‘Crash’ was relatively easy because the sound only exploded at the last chorus. The members loosened their bodies and casually matched the choreography. Then, Park Dong-soo opened the door of the practice room and came in.
“You guys have to go to Japan around the time your album activities end.”
“Suddenly?”
“The schedule for the Music Studio year-end special has been set.”
“Oh, I thought they wouldn’t call us.”
The members looked at each other in surprise. Ian’s interview, where he said to prove it with skills on ‘Kaden Hurt Show’, was still burning in Japan.
“What song are we singing?”
“Probably… ‘Blue hour’ briefly and ‘Chat’ in full, I guess?”
“Wow, two songs each.”
They could have not sung a full song, but even two songs. They didn’t know if the Japanese agency gave them some power or not, but it was good news.
“Hey, wait, does Kiseki also appear there?”
“Probably? They’re a famous group, right? Oh… Wait. Who knows Joon-young hyung’s number?”
The members quickly searched for the choreographer’s number. Even though they suddenly searched for the choreographer’s number, the members searched their phone contacts without a word, because they already expected what Kim Hyun would say.
“Me me me, I found it. I’ll call.”
Park Jin-hyuk made a call and switched to speaker phone.
(Yes, hello…)
“Hyung! Let’s go with the hard choreography for sure! That one! That one was good!”
(All of a sudden? You said you were worried about the fans, you said it was hard?)
He sounded annoyed. He must have been offended by something. He was still awake despite the late hour, which meant he was working overtime to worry about the choreography.
“Let’s do the ‘chat’ for the Japanese music show stage!”
(…Really?)
The choreographer’s voice changed to a serious tone. The aftermath of ‘this situation’ was still ongoing. Because Kiseki’s remark about being the originator of the Korean wave had caused a lot of resentment, the choreographer must have felt empathetic.
(Then are we going to do that thing we did earlier? We won’t get any complaints later?)
“Yes! Let’s go ahead with it!”
The members hung up the phone with a giggle. They were half out of their minds from the continuous dance practice.
“Is this really okay? What are we going to do at our concert?”
“We can fix that later.”
“The choreography is one thing, but if the live performance gets messed up, it’s all over.”
“Oh, wait. Let’s do that thing we did earlier again.”
Ian smiled wryly as he watched the members get fired up in an instant.
