The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 104

Annual leave and half-days are extremely precious to office workers.

Since the number is naturally limited, you can’t easily use them unless it’s for something quite important.

Song Ji-won was using the annual leave she had carefully saved up very efficiently.

‘This is exactly what I’ve been saving my annual leave for!’

CENTIX’s first music show.

They were finally going to make their mark on the world through 〈Music K Showdown〉 hosted by KNet.

Though CENTIX was already receiving public attention through their debut show, official music shows had a different feel altogether.

‘Having to gather this early every time is a bit tough. 7 AM would be pretty merciful.’

The notice posted on MILLENNIUM’s official cafe said to gather at the KNet building by 7:30 AM.

Since it would take some time to get to Mapo-gu, Song Ji-won had finished preparing and left home in the early dawn.

Getting up was naturally tough, but thinking about it again, she felt grateful it wasn’t a 2-3 AM gathering.

She had been worried about whether she could properly apply since so many people on the community had declared they would participate in the recording.

Fortunately, she made it into the top 200 and was currently safely holding her place in the first priority line.

Speaking of first priority, she thought she should check her supplies again.

‘Let’s see. ID, fan club membership certificate, GrapeFruit chart streaming certificate, album purchase history. Everything’s here properly.’

If she forgot even one of the pre-announced required items, she would immediately be pushed from first to second priority.

If she was unlucky, she might have to watch the members from seats instead of the floor.

While checking her supplies, one regretful thought came to mind.

‘When will the light stick come out?’

Of course, it was premature to think about that.

CENTIX had only just debuted, and even the fan cards provided to official fan club members hadn’t been released yet.

So naturally she’d have to wait a bit longer for light sticks, but thinking about how light sticks were usually an essential item among recording supplies made it feel regrettable.

The other idol group’s fandom standing in line next to them was thoroughly armed with light sticks.

It was a group with slightly lower recognition than CENTIX and much fewer recording participants, but probably all the MILLENNIUM gathered here were envious in their hearts.

“We’ll start the headcount!”

When the wind was blowing quite chilly, fan managers appeared.

Song Ji-won had secretly hoped one of the CENTIX members would come as a guest fan manager, but apparently not today.

Still, receiving the pre-recording attendance book provided to recording participants brought tears to her eyes.

‘It’s so pretty!’

As expected, Rave Entertainment’s financial power never disappoints.

Even when supporting QS, these official goods had boasted incredible quality, but that meaning had faded considerably after they made a mess in other areas.

But perhaps they learned something from past mistakes.

So far, CENTIX was receiving comprehensive aggressive push in all areas.

“Let me check your ID and certificates~.”

“Yes.”

After carefully checking the printed certificates, the fan manager stamped the attendance seal and music/album purchase verification stickers.

“I’ll give you a photo card too.”

The highlight of recording participation.

Song Ji-won received the attendance reward photo card with a racing heart.

Today’s fortune would be determined by this photo card!

Carefully tearing the plastic packaging to check the front.

Ryu Si-hwan winking greeted her.

“What, amazing.”

Her inner feelings burst out of her mouth from pure joy.

The 〈Revelation〉 album hadn’t arrived yet, so she hadn’t seen the other photo cards.

She had received a photo card as a memento of attending the debut show, but Seong-hwi had appeared there.

In other words, this Ryu Si-hwan photo card was the first bias photo card to appear in Song Ji-won’s CENTIX fan life.

Suppressing the overwhelming emotion, Song Ji-won very carefully put Ryu Si-hwan’s photo card into her holder.

Now all that was left was to go home and decorate this precious holder.

After the headcount finished, they moved on to full-scale fan chant practice.

The 〈Chronic〉 lyrics marked on the handout and the group chant parts emphasized in bold.

Though MILLENNIUM had quickly memorized the fan chants before the debut show stage took place, the difference in participant numbers between then and now was very extreme.

Even if some people hadn’t fully mastered the fan chants, they could make up for it with sheer numbers.

But today’s recording couldn’t produce that kind of firepower.

So both MILLENNIUM who had already memorized 〈Chronic〉 once.

And MILLENNIUM for whom today was their first time desperately held onto the printouts and did last-minute cramming.

After all the preliminary procedures ended and the clock passed 8 o’clock.

Suddenly the fan managers started moving busily.

While exchanging phone calls and messages, security personnel poured out from inside the building.

‘Oh, at this time, could it be?’

Song Ji-won’s internal detective work probably hit the mark.

The MILLENNIUM in front and behind her pulled out their phones and cameras all at once as if they had made a promise.

Soon, boys with outstanding figures began running toward them at a quick pace from far away.

“MILLENNIUM!”

“You’re MILLENNIUM, right? The aura is exactly like our fans!”

Hands and feet that had been stiffening in the cold autumn air instantly became hot.

The MILLENNIUM who had been waiting at the venue welcomed Ma Si-hyeok and Seong-hwi while straining their voices from early morning.

Song Ji-won didn’t even have time to open her mouth and scream.

‘Crazy. They’re real people, not CG, right?’

Multiple 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 live viewing experiences.

And Song Ji-won, who had also gone to the most recent debut show, had been confident she was somewhat adapted to CENTIX’s real-life appearance.

But at this moment today, all her past memories were completely overturned.

No matter how close your seat is on stage, there’s still a sense of distance.

The eye level is so different to begin with.

But what if you looked at them standing on the same ground, at a distance where you could touch them if you leaned forward?

“Si-hyeok!”

“Hwi, I love you!”

“Look here! Heart, heart!”

Seeing Ma Si-hyeok, who had the best physique, up close, his build was truly massive.

The piercings sparkling in his earlobes also contributed to his intimidating atmosphere.

But watching the owner of such a rough image throw a shy finger heart right in front of her eyes was pure bliss.

It was a moment that made her newly realize why Ma Si-hyeok had so many hardcore fans.

And what about Seong-hwi?

“Ahaha, as expected, we can spot our MILLENNIUM from far away. Thank you so much for coming despite the cold weather.”

Unlike the noble image he expressed on stage, he greeted fans while making eye contact with each one individually.

Not only did he complete half-heart poses, but he even threw in winks.

It was only a few dozen seconds, but it was enough to make the MILLENNIUM who came to the recording suffer from heart problems.

“Hello!”

“Thank you so much for coming today!”

Then Chae Ha-ru and Yu Ha-woon passed by, energetically waving their hands.

The last turn was for the oldest brothers Song Ji-won had been waiting for.

“Hello, hello! Wow, so many people came! I already feel reassured!”

Kang Seon-woo came running first, his trademark silver hair swaying.

While greeting MILLENNIUM enthusiastically, he suddenly searched his pockets.

“I brought this to give to our members, but they ate a lot in the car. I’ll give it to our MILLENNIUM who worked hard waiting!”

He started distributing heart-shaped chocolates right away.

Since it was just the amount that came from his pocket, there wasn’t much, so the distribution ended quickly.

“Oh no, I should have brought more if I knew this would happen. MILLENNIUM, sorry I couldn’t give to everyone!”

“No, no, no!”

“We should be giving to you guys, not the other way around.”

“Hahaha, no! I’ll give you chocolates at other recordings too. Promise you’ll come see us next time too, okay?”

Kang Seon-woo finished his expert-level fan service with a bright smile and shouted “Si-hwan is coming behind me~” before entering the building.

‘I have to take a picture today.’

Song Ji-won usually tried to collect with her eyes only and avoid taking pictures as much as possible.

But seeing Ryu Si-hwan this close was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Is there anyone who could resist this?

That person wouldn’t be human but a Buddha who had reached nirvana.

Finally, Ryu Si-hwan appeared with staff, showing off his superior presence.

“Hello, everyone. The wind is quite chilly, aren’t you cold?”

“We’re fine!”

“Seeing Si-hwan’s face makes us not cold at all!”

“I’m glad I could help even a little.”

Ryu Si-hwan even bowed at a 90-degree angle.

So he passed much slower than the other members.

The moment he walked in front of Song Ji-won, their eyes met perfectly for several seconds.

She was so surprised she couldn’t even press the camera button.

Ryu Si-hwan saw her eyes grow as big as a full moon and gave her a gentle eye-smile.

‘I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.’

“We prepared hard, so please watch us kindly. Oh, and they said the fan chants might be difficult. Are you okay?”

“We’re okay!”

“We’re good at cramming, Si-hwan!”

“As expected, MILLENNIUM is the best. I’ll be looking forward to the group chant! See you later!”

Ryu Si-hwan also waved until the end before entering the KNet building.

“The kids’ real-life visuals are amazing.”

“I’m so glad I came to today’s recording.”

“They greeted us so well, I’m happy~.”

MILLENNIUM felt their early morning struggles were thoroughly rewarded.

* * *

There was a surprise gift waiting for us in the waiting room after we hurriedly finished our styling.

“Lunch boxes!”

“The covers are so pretty!”

“I didn’t eat breakfast…… I’m so happy.”

The support lunch boxes that MILLENNIUM had pooled money to send.

This was the first official support CENTIX had received from MILLENNIUM.

Seong-hwi, who couldn’t let this moment pass quietly, was already holding his phone and recording.

“Brother Si-hwan, I think our names are written on the lunch boxes?”

“Right. Let me see, this is Ha-ru’s. This is Ha-woon’s.”

“Where’s mine? Quick, I’m getting dizzy.”

“Here.”

I pushed the lunch box wrapped in sky blue packaging toward Seong-hwi.

Our three-character names were embedded on the lunch box lids like high school name tags.

I wondered why they bothered to write names like this.

“What! Brother, Brother! Brother Hwi! Film mine! There’s lobster inside!”

“Oh, I have steak.”

“I have fish cutlet and braised mackerel. Ah, I wanted to eat fish, this worked out great!”

Turns out the lunch box contents were all different according to each member’s dietary preferences.

I looked at my magnificent lunch box with layers of bulgogi, shrimp pancake, braised beef, and white rice.

‘These are the foods from my 〈ISL 2〉 profile.’

The support organizing team had probably figured out our dietary preferences based on the profiles we wrote.

Honestly…… it felt too precious to eat.

This was the heart of fans who think of us.

“The menus are all so different, I never thought of that. MILLENNIUM, thank you so much and we love you. You always surprise us!”

The other guys seemed to feel the same way, as they only gave thanks without anyone picking up chopsticks.

They were all just staring at their lunch boxes with sparkling eyes.

The manager, unable to watch any longer, looked at his watch and said,

“Kids, at this rate you won’t have time to eat. Aren’t you hungry? Hurry up and eat.”

“I, I’m so hungry but.”

Even Chae Ha-ru, who boasted the most overwhelming appetite in CENTIX, just stared at his beloved steak without touching it.

“It’s too precious to eat.”

“Right!”

“Oh, you foolish kids. Still, the fans sent this for you to eat—. Ah, there’s no time. Let’s just eat after it’s over.”

“Let’s just take verification shots and go!”

And so our first recording proceeded in a voluntarily hungry state.