The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 146

It was a year-end filled with abundance.

From Christmas-related promotional videos to year-end music award shows that wrapped up the year.

Things that CENTIX fans would welcome with open arms poured out like gifts, delighting their eyes and ears.

What rose to issue status with overwhelming firepower was none other than CENTIX’s year-end stage compositions.

They delivered the message “we don’t take the obvious path” by digesting different concepts at every year-end music award ceremony.

The fact that they invested this kind of time and effort at a point not long after their first activity period had ended captivated the public’s hearts.

[Just a week ago they said there was absolutely no possibility of Uprising]

Did our kids secretly conduct public opinion research behind our backs?? How did they know we were expecting Uprising and prepare for it T_T They really are god-tier kids born perfect…

―Honestly I didn’t think there’d even be choreography lol. But it was quite good

―I liked SBS M too, but the band live concept they did on MBS was the best

└2222 Hearing Winning Shot as a band live made something surge up inside me

└Who could have known…… that Moombahton soundtrack would harmonize so well with cello…….

└But having a different concept for every music festival was probably CENTIX members’ idea, right? No matter how I think about it, there’s no way Rave’s higher-ups would know fans’ hearts this precisely

└Obviously lol… Clearly our Hyeong-seok was probably at home munching chocolate, just gave the OK sign to whatever the kids said and went to sleep

└LOL I press the laugh button every time fans here mention CEO Go Hyeong-seok’s name

No matter how good the songs are or how well they perform on stage, if the same patterns repeat, the impact diminishes.

Yu Ha-woon’s idea to prove that CENTIX wasn’t just a simple rookie group but had the potential to climb even higher hit the bullseye perfectly.

Breaking away from simple arrangements and part distributions to change even the genre of stage composition was by no means an easy task.

Just like Ryu Si-hwan showed through the KIMA special stage, CENTIX overcame their physical limits with nothing but the desire to prove themselves.

And the fruits of that passion were clearly etched in the hearts of MILLENNIUM, who had hoped for CENTIX’s success more than anyone.

[I’m so proud that even friends around me said they deserved the rookie award]

When everyone else was settling down with stable fandoms, I was the only one addicted to K-Net survival shows, living like a nomad T_T. When I said I’d stan CENTIX this time too, they said stuff like “you’re beyond help~” But after watching this year’s year-end music festivals, they praised them saying they deserved the rookie award based on pure skill alone…….

Being an overly-immersed fan makes me feel sadder and happier and more tearful

We all know how hard the kids worked in such a short time to hear this kind of praise, so it was an even more valuable and happy year-end

―The starting point of all this was what Leader Ryu cut off

└For real, I noticed it when he gritted his teeth and used that scratchy vocal technique, that they’d come out with a handful of fighting spirit as a group

└Did the haters actually end up setting the stage? Lol

└Somehow the timing made sense? Si-hwan seemed more awakened singing while being conscious of that, and seeing the leader being so cutting made the rest of the members unite in solidarity

└MILLENNIUM…… you still…… love the haters, don’t you?

└No way ㅗㅗㅗㅗ

└If our kids hadn’t been forced to overdo it from the beginning

―The process was tough, but I’m glad it turned out well

└Right, it’s already over and in the past, so let’s think positively. The kids’ expressions looked really bright too hehehe

└It was also really nice to see them take turns giving acceptance speeches each time, not piling everything on one person

└Usually it gets concentrated on the leader or variety member because other members aren’t good with words, but CENTIX members are all good speakers lol. Is this the interview skill forged through K-auditions?

└Ma Si-hyeok who looked ready to give a 5-minute acceptance speech alone: ???

└Our Si-hyeok’s serious side was nice to see, why ^^

└LOL. Come to think of it, droning on in FM military tone might be better than stuttering

└At least it’s cute. (Serious)

The Christmas behind-the-scenes posts and New Year greeting videos uploaded to CENTIX’s official account offered a different charm from the main job genius images they’d shown on year-end stages.

The sight of young men randomly giving each other gifts and having fun on their own was quite the opposite of their charismatic idol image.

MILLENNIUM knew well how delightful this charm stemming from such contrasts was to watch.

―Why are Si-hyeok and Hwi’s couple scarves so cute lol T_T

└There’s definitely something roommates share

―No lmao. Why is Kang Seon-woo the only one wearing a weird hat while everyone else is holding normal gifts

└That’s the random drink helmet from variety shows, right? I doubted my eyes for a moment lol

└If you look closely, you can’t tell which side of this guy is real…… Is Kang Seon-woo’s true self the one radiating that insane silver-haired beauty, or is it this variety character who acts goofy like this?

└Two-faced Kang Seon-woo…

└Janus…

―You should have known from when our babies went to take B-cuts during vacation lol. That if you let them loose, they’d play well on their own…….

└When are they deadly with killer gazes on stage piercing my heart, and why do they seem like ordinary younger brothers in real life? Which rhythm should I match?

└That gap is actually good though

└Damn, I know!! I know, so it’s harder and my heart aches!! Because I like it too much!!

└Mom, that person seems bipolar, scary

In the case of New Year greetings too, it was a topic that could easily be handled modestly and passed over.

But Rave Entertainment, borrowing the power of capital, seemed to have adopted a stance of not easily letting go of the public opinion that was currently favorably formed for CENTIX.

CENTIX, wearing hanbok that suited each of their personal colors well, left a video wishing MILLENNIUM a happy New Year with bright expressions.

MILLENNIUM, thrilled by the high-quality moves from the official account they still weren’t used to, immediately responded with hundreds of thousands of views and retweets.

Thus, the stormy first year of CENTIX’s debut came to an end.

MILLENNIUM tried hard to keep rewatching the music festival stages and engrave their favorites’ faces in their pupils until the very end, but they already knew deep down.

That now they’d have no choice but to scrape together dried-up crumbs until comeback news arrived.

―I don’t have the confidence to live miserably ahead…… Should I rewatch ISL 2?

―They’ll come back quickly, right?? Honestly, when public opinion is at its peak like now, they should return as fast as possible for the firepower to be good too T_T

―My rational mind screams that they need to complete a new album in 1-2 months and come back to break their own initial sales records and properly ride the upward curve, but my heart wants to tell our kids to rest, knowing how much they suffered for nearly a month…….

―But even while we’re worrying like this, CENTIX is probably saying “Please prepare the next album right away!” LOL

―Since they seem greedier than even the fans, they’re probably hoping for a quick comeback

―Kids, can this sister wait just until I save up some money? I really want to go to the next fan meeting T_T

└The fan meeting cutoff will probably hit its highest this time,,, Even if they come out with just above-average concepts, CENTIX feels like a guaranteed success now, so influx will rush in quickly

MILLENNIUM wanted an immediate comeback from the heart, but no matter how they thought about it, their wish didn’t seem likely to come true easily due to CENTIX’s continuous forced march.

However, more than ever before, Rave Entertainment’s conference room was filled with heated energy.

* * *

“I think it’s fine!”

“Me too.”

“I think the desire to get on stage quickly is the biggest thing.”

“Ah, yes…… Then everyone agrees to proceed with this schedule?”

I looked at my younger brothers nodding with sparkling eyes.

Even after all the year-end music festival schedules finished, packed days had passed with various small schedules like NeoTube content filming and official account uploads.

Excluding the brief vacation we took to Wolmido, we’d had no break from 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉, debut with 〈Chronic〉, to attending four year-end stages including overseas.

Strangely, they didn’t show even a trace of fatigue.

Next to me, Kang Seon-woo poked my stomach lightly with his elbow.

“Hey, do you think it’s okay? It seems like we might be pushing too hard.”

“……We are pushing too hard.”

“Then shouldn’t you say something?”

The schedule the planning director conveyed was as follows.

While we were sweating bullets on year-end stages for the month of December, Rave had apparently started comeback preparations in advance.

So if they just pour in a little more manpower, they could deliver a dozen or so candidate songs in a few days like last time.

If music video filming and choreography work proceed simultaneously, the overall outline of the comeback would be established by the end of January.

After going through that process, CENTIX’s schedule aimed for a comeback in early to mid-February.

Looking at it logically, it was a flawless plan.

I was worried about the A&R team and song staff who’d be continuously exploited, but the fact that they were announcing this schedule to us meant they’d already finished talking with the parties involved.

In the end, whether the members could keep up with this hardcore comeback plan was currently the biggest turning point.

After hearing Kang Seon-woo’s words, I calmly examined my younger brothers’ faces again.

There was definitely some fatigue, but their eyes were filled with confidence that they could do it.

‘It seems they got proper motivation from successfully completing the year-end stages.’

After all, it was a big project.

Making full use of the youngest’s idea to completely redesign all stage movements carried that much risk, but the return was certain too.

‘It wouldn’t be bad to keep this momentum going.’

If it looked like they were getting overwhelmed, well.

Then I could prescribe my stamina training special medicine.

“Let’s give it a try.”

“……You’re sure it’s okay?”

“They wouldn’t have said it was fine without thinking. They’re nodding because they judged it was possible.”

“Right, if even you say so. Sleep is something we can catch up on later!”

With even Kang Seon-woo and me giving the okay, our comeback schedule outline was confirmed.

There was still some lingering anxiety, but I also felt confident at the same time.

Since we’d already completed it once before, even I seemed to be getting slightly intoxicated by the excitement.

But the topic that followed brought my mind back down to earth.

“Then we’ll need to discuss the most important concept first.”

The word choice alone was ominous.

I raised my hand and asked quietly.

“When you say discuss, does that mean nothing’s been decided yet?”

“Ideas mostly came out when we drew up the outline. But…… Ahem. Actually, the conclusion came out that the opinions of Si-hwan and the other CENTIX members were effective when preparing 〈Chronic〉. So we judged it would be best to hear your opinions this time too before making the final compilation.”

“Ah.”

In the end, Rave chose the strategy of knocking on the stone bridge twice.

On one hand, I thought it was fortunate. It would have been no surprise if a company drunk on debut album success had pushed their own ideas bulldozer-style.

But if the conclusion came out that this concept was also no good…….

‘We’ll be out of our minds trying to meet the comeback schedule, when would we have time to sit around brainstorming ideas again.’

Only we would end up with headaches.

Let’s hear it first.