The Idol Who Returned from Hell – Chapter 199

Author: Dawn

An unexpected face greeted us.

The members who had briefly buffered in their brains all screamed at once and ran over.

“Brother Sang-hun!”

“We were so worried because you didn’t even contact us!”

“What happened? Did you debut?”

“If you did, you should’ve at least said something. Is this all the affection between us amounts to!”

“W-wait a minute. I’ll explain everything, so let me breathe! Cough, cough!”

Ha Sang-hun, squeezed with tremendous force, waved his hands frantically.

After barely freeing himself from the restraints, he adjusted his blazer jacket and smiled brightly.

“I wanted to contact you quickly too, but I didn’t know how the situation would change. Things seemed to be going somewhat well, so I was actually thinking I should send you guys a message, but I never imagined we’d meet here.”

“So? Did you debut? Just tell us this quickly.”

“Debut… I did debut.”

Ha Sang-hun burst into laughter at Kang Seon-woo’s question.

His face looked a bit thinner than during the 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 filming.

I could guess he’d had a tough 1-2 years.

“Right after 〈ISL 2〉 ended, my agency started a debut team project. Fortunately, I had made my face somewhat known through the broadcast and my skills had improved a lot, so I got in right away. But the CEO said that for small to medium agencies like ours, there was absolutely no way to survive in the current situation.”

“No way to survive?”

“Originally, we were aiming to launch around spring this year, but as you well know, that’s when—.”

“That’s when we and Zefa released new songs and made comebacks.”

When I quietly mentioned the situation back then, Ha Sang-hun nodded slightly.

“I was genuinely happy that CENTIX did so well. I know better than anyone how much you guys struggled. But from the agency’s perspective, it was really like a tiny shrimp trying to debut between two massive whales. They couldn’t help but think it would be a difficult environment to survive in.”

It’s completely understandable.

CENTIX was a group created through national voting. Plus, with our reputation as skilled performers, building a solid fanbase was relatively easy.

Not to mention groups from major agencies like Zefa.

In such a saturated state, launching a new male idol group from an agency with little name recognition?

The chances of success would be close to negative.

Either the song would have to be really, really good to enter the ranks of hidden gems and gain attention.

Or they’d have to have members with visuals rarely seen in the idol industry to draw initial attention.

Without methods like these, the direct approach would be extremely difficult.

“So before debuting in Korea, we shifted direction to first target overseas markets and gain experience.”

“That’s how it turned out…”

“Hahaha! Don’t make such faces. We actually have quite a bit of popularity in Japan, you know? At least we’re much better known there than you guys who just released your first Japanese album!”

Ha Sang-hun playfully patted Ma Si-hyeok’s shoulder.

Though his face showed signs of hardship, his atmosphere radiated leisure.

“Anyway, the CEO said once we establish ourselves well in Japan, we’d return to Korea quickly. I was going to contact you then, but how did such a coincidence happen.”

“I was so worried about you, Brother! The last message you sent was last year, and I was so anxious wondering why this guy wasn’t answering his phone!”

“Sorry, sorry.”

Yu Ha-woon had special affection for Ha Sang-hun, who had entered the final member candidates with him during the 〈Idol Stove League〉 finale broadcast.

Even though his own current life was incredibly busy, he treasured the connection they had made and tried to keep in contact.

For someone like that, Ha Sang-hun’s radio silence was naturally a worrying matter.

“Sang-hun, we need to go in soon! Finish up your conversation and come!”

“Yes, Brother! I’ll be right there!”

A voice calling for Ha Sang-hun could be heard from far inside the studio.

It seemed the next filming would start soon.

Ha Sang-hun spoke with bittersweet eyes.

“I also want to return to Korea as soon as possible and stand on stage together. When that time comes, we’ll definitely beat CENTIX, so be prepared.”

“Good, I love that kind of provocation!”

“Keep in touch with us.”

“I already apologized for that.”

“I’m just emphasizing it again.”

After exchanging light banter with Seong-hwi, he made eye contact with me.

“Brother Si-hwan, it was good to see you again.”

“Same here. I’m really glad to hear things are going well for you.”

“You might not know this, Brother, but I watched every video of you that came out. It was kind of… hmm.”

Ha Sang-hun seemed to be searching for the right word for a moment.

“It felt motivating every time.”

“I’m honored that you felt that way.”

“Haha, you were always that kind of person, Brother.”

After a final wave, Ha Sang-hun’s footsteps quickly moved toward where his teammates were.

The younger members, who had been silently seeing off his retreating figure, were subtly giving off a wistful atmosphere.

“…It’s been so long since we saw him, but we can’t even have a meal together.”

“I know, right.”

“Sang-hun must be busy with his schedule too, so it can’t be helped.”

Kang Seon-woo patted Seong-hwi and Ma Si-hyeok on the back once while laughing.

“Besides, we can’t just keep playing around with our own schedule either, right?”

“That’s true.”

“Let’s do the arena tour properly tomorrow.”

* * *

It was the fourth day since CENTIX’s Japan arena tour had begun in earnest.

With only Yokohama and Saitama Super Arena left on the schedule, half of the tour had passed.

Since only the two arenas that accommodate massive audiences remained, Japanese locals were also very curious about what kind of evaluation CENTIX’s previous concerts had received.

People were searching to see if videos from the past arena performances had been uploaded to NeoTube, and attention toward CENTIX was becoming even more concentrated.

[Centix Arena Tour 202X – Chronic]

—Wow, these are friends I’m seeing for the first time today. Who is this amazing group??

—I fell for them the moment I saw the stage, so charming, completely my type!

—The entire group moves as one. I’ve never seen anything like this. Truly amazing

—CENTIX’s popularity in Japan is gradually rising. Not just this title track, everything’s good, they might even be able to do a dome tour soon

—They might even be better than Zefa who toured domes last time? Lol. (+) ^[1]

Many Japanese people were captivated by CENTIX’s spectacular appearance shown through the full stage videos.

Particularly, the sharp group choreography that’s hard to see in their own country showed its power.

There’s a saying, isn’t there.

That certain countries have specific members who work well for them.

[Centix Si Hyuk Fancam – Fukuoka Arena Day 1]

—I fell for this member the moment I saw him. What’s his name? Please tell me.

└I think it’s pronounced Si-hyeok in Korean. He’s really handsome…

—Ma Si-hyeok has broad shoulders and is tall. Plus he has great visuals and can dance well? This could be pretty dangerous lol

—I’ve liked Si-hyeok since before he came to Japan, but I’m so moved that his popularity is rising in his home country

—His face looks fierce but when you watch interviews he’s really gentle with moe attributes? I want to kidnap him (lol)

—Si-hyeok, please come to my neighborhood too! I’m cheering with all my might

Ma Si-hyeok wasn’t unpopular in Korea either.

He had been one of the trainees with a solid core fanbase since the survival show aired.

But after debut, he was somewhat overshadowed by members like Ryu Si-hwan and Kang Seon-woo who had overwhelming general public appeal.

However, since the Japan tour started, his fancams and online mentions literally exploded.

He was like a complete package deal for Japanese people.

He danced well and had great physique.

Plus, he was in the rap/dance position but had a scary-handsome face with a shy personality?

It’s like a manga character setting.

With his mentions increasing within Japan and NeoTube searches becoming active, Ma Si-hyeok’s videos naturally got picked up by the algorithm.

Thanks to the trickle-down effect, he even performed the role of promoting CENTIX’s name more widely.

—CENTIX’s next arena is supposed to be Yokohama. Anyone got tickets?

└I wanted to get them but the competition was too fierce, no chance (•̥̥̥⌓•̥̥̥)

└I’m so curious about seeing them in person I might not be able to sleep lmao

—All the songs sound good and are easy to listen to. I like music like this, but K-pop these days is too chaotic.

└CENTIX’s Realize is really comfortable to listen to. It’s become the song I listen to before bed every night ٩( ๑╹ ꇴ╹)۶

—People going to Yokohama tomorrow. It’ll be tough, but I hope someone films Si-hyeok on camera. I’ve already watched all the videos so there’s nothing new lol

But when interest increases like this, weird netizens tend to latch on too.

Japanese people who don’t look kindly on Korean idols in general left sarcastic comments and caused unintended fights.

—They’re obviously all plastic surgery but I can’t understand what’s good about them enough to stan LOL

—CENTIX is also a typical product of gay-pop. Japanese people who worship this should reflect.

—You call this music good? I recommend everyone clean their ears

—I’ll say this upfront: I’m not a CENTIX fan and only learned about them yesterday. But I can’t stand watching you bash them without evidence. You’re all insane

└I agree

└They’re just jealous looking in the mirror, let’s understand them (LOL)

└Actually CENTIX is breaking records. All arenas are currently sold out, so are you saying 50,000 people are all stupid? How ridiculous

└I understand the jealousy toward CENTIX who’s about to receive platinum artist status on the Oricon charts lol. That means you’re a stinky pig fan of the failed TKB177, right? Pitiful

Differences of opinion among netizens happen frequently in both Korea and Japan.

But this became particularly significant from the moment it reached the ears of MILLENNIUM who were supporting CENTIX in Korea.

Naturally, everyone’s reaction was like this:

‘What right do Japanese people have to randomly bash our idols?’

MILLENNIUM, who were already sick of receiving checks from other fandoms domestically, were furious when unrelated overseas right-wing forces started acting up, but they realized these provocative comments and reaction videos were just a tiny fraction and cooled their anger.

[Real Japanese Reactions + Situation Explanation]

Sisters, the screenshot content that came up this morning is really annoying, but that’s not the whole truth

Actually 99% of the comments on our kids’ tour videos are all supportive comments (screenshot)

The remaining 1% is just Japanese far-right losers, so we don’t need to waste our fighting power on them, got it? We should be drooling over the Saitama Super Arena videos that will come up soon instead of getting dragged around by this Japanese attention-seeking

So MILLENNIUM in Korea refocused their thoughts on the arena tour.

Arenas boasting structures, atmospheres, and grandeur completely different from domestic indoor gymnasiums.

Looking at the blue waves filling those audience seats, MILLENNIUM felt emotions they had slightly forgotten resurface.

CENTIX was definitely our treasure.

We achieved overwhelming results here and even had our first fan meeting.

So why did CENTIX’s monumental concert start in Japan?

The heat conveyed from the scene, the ecstasy felt while breathing together with the members.

MILLENNIUM wanted to taste that emotion again.

Eventually their feelings naturally led to one wish.

—Going to send a petition to Rave. Don’t think you’ve made enough money just from the arena tour. There are plenty of people in Korea willing to throw money at CENTIX, so hurry up and open domestic solo concerts, you bastards!!