The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 200

1″Another year has already passed.”

“What, are you sad about getting older?”

“Honestly, until last year I didn’t think much about it, but now I finally understand how the older brothers felt.”

Inside the enormous recording studio with flashy lights.

Sitting side by side in the performer waiting area, we looked at the countdown generated on the LED screen.

Chae Ha-ru had particularly melancholic eyes.

“I can’t believe I’m already going to be 22. That’s ridiculous.”

“I’m finally becoming an adult, so I feel great!”

“Among everyone here, you’re probably the only one who feels good about it.”

“I want to try drinking alcohol first thing tomorrow!”

Yu Ha-woon, who had been the only minor in CENTIX, would also become 20 in just a few minutes.

When we first met on 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉, he was 18.

Time passes frighteningly fast.

I answered in a calm tone.

“Still, it’s good that there’s the music awards on the 31st.”

“Why?”

“If we had watched the New Year’s bell at the dorm, you would’ve started drinking beer right there on the spot.”

“Of course!”

“Obviously!”

I clearly said it to Yu Ha-woon, but Kang Seon-woo next to him also answered energetically.

I shrugged my shoulders triumphantly.

“Now you understand why I said it’s good, right?”

“Hey, hey! No matter how quickly I get excited, I’d go easy on the youngest drinking for the first time!”

“That’s a very unreliable statement.”

“Ma Si-hyeok, are you going to be like this too?”

“I can’t tell lies.”

Ma Si-hyeok’s mischievous side had grown a lot during this time.

In the old days, he would have just nodded his head quietly saying it was all good, but now he’s the first to tease Kang Seon-woo.

There was someone else watching his growth with great satisfaction.

“Next activity, I hope we become roommates again. Right?”

“…I’m not really feeling it—.”

“You’ll be fine with it when it happens, so why are you being difficult again?”

“I just don’t like it because it’s you.”

“Oho, Ma Si-hyeok has grown a lot, definitely.”

Seong-hwi smiled as if he had personally cultivated all of Ma Si-hyeok’s banter skills.

“Alright, alright. You can directly confirm my drinking habits tomorrow. Let’s finish the last of this year beautifully by looking at those trophies, shall we?”

“Look at him changing the subject.”

“I do envy that kind of sense.”

“What sense, it’s just being stubborn.”

“Please stop the slander and disparagement directed at me!”

Everyone had a good laugh.

I stared at the trophies that had increased slightly in number from last year.

Last year when we received the extremely valuable Rookie Award.

Looking at other major awards, we had carved hope that someday we could win them.

CENTIX, who had really run hard, achieved the feat of ‘Artist of the Year Award’ and proved our value once again.

“Next year’s goal has been set too.”

“You already set next year’s goal?”

We received Artist of the Year, but we missed out on Album of the Year.

Although they released fewer albums than us, ultimately Zefa ended up taking home that award.

To be completely honest, this result will probably ignite tremendously among fans around tomorrow.

Zefa’s first-week sales didn’t even hit a career high, and they were behind us in pure sales too.

“Next year, let’s sweep all those awards over there without giving anyone a chance to say anything else.”

We’ve always set some goal and run toward it.

When I first went on the survival show, it was to achieve the idol dream I couldn’t fulfill.

After debuting, it was to successfully establish our first album and solidify our position.

After that, I wanted to build that position even higher.

There would naturally be people satisfied with just this one golden trophy.

But I still wasn’t satisfied.

Of course, through 〈All Star〉 we externally achieved a decisive victory over Baek Joo-won and Zefa, but that’s not enough.

More clearly. More powerfully, I want to surpass Zefa and prove our capabilities.

“Our leader is just full of ambition.”

Seong-hwi, who wouldn’t let this kind of comment pass by, flashed his eyes.

“In the old days, he would have just laughed it off like an enlightened sage who had transcended everything. Has this guy been influenced by me too?”

“…That’s not it.”

Soon the last minute of this year approached.

As it entered within 30 seconds, the fans who came with us began counting down in loud voices.

“10! 9! 8! 7!”

Hearing that sound echoing through the venue, we stood up from our seats one by one.

“5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year, everyone!”

“Happy New Year!”

While greeting the people who always send unchanging love toward us, CENTIX’s new year dawned.

* * *

“Kids, are you alive? Kids—.”

“Yes, Brother.”

Hearing the pitiful voice crying from outside, I opened the door, and the manager looked relieved as he exhaled.

“Si-hwan, you woke up. I thought everyone was completely devastated.”

“Half right, half wrong.”

“So everyone being completely devastated is really right?”

Well, it’s not entirely wrong.

Except for me and one other person, the rest of the guys are still in deep sleep.

“Brother, you know Kang Seon-woo likes his sudden accelerations.”

“I know, of course.”

“Ha-woon started insisting he’d test his own drinking limit, so he overdid it.”

“Already sounds ominous.”

“He got completely reverse-dominated.”

I frowned while holding an empty whiskey bottle.

I don’t understand what’s so delicious about something that smells this strong.

“Is Ha-woon that strong with alcohol?”

“I was a bit surprised too. Even though he drank really fast, he didn’t get drunk, and instead Seon-woo got KO’d.”

“That guy doesn’t know the meaning of moderation. What can we do?”

“They say old habits die hard.”

After simply cleaning up the New Year celebration party scene, I sat on the sofa and asked.

“So, what’s the reason you rushed over frantically this morning, Brother?”

“Morning? It’s 11:30 right now.”

“It’s still morning.”

“Hmm, hmm. First, want to look at this?”

The manager handed me several simple statistical documents.

Looking at the title, it seemed to be a document dealing with the audience numbers and overall profits from last year’s Japan tour.

“All sold out except for one day during the arena tour.”

“It’s really amazing. Especially since Saitama, the biggest venue, was sold out for three straight days, I got more pumped up watching it.”

It wasn’t called Super Arena for nothing.

I nodded remembering that day.

“Anyway, the performance was so good and fans’ interest is rising vertically, right?”

“That’s right.”

“We uploaded several concert clips to our official NeoTube channel, and more than half the comments there were asking us to hurry and hold a concert domestically too.”

Looking at the items written on the next page, I quickly grasped the situation.

‘From domestic fans’ perspective, they have every right to say things like this.’

We’ve only held fan meetings domestically so far.

Many people were hoping for a solo concert, but the agency judged that now was the right time to expand overseas influence, so they scheduled the arena tour.

I don’t complain about this decision either. It was sufficiently reasonable.

But fans waiting domestically must have had their thirst intensify even more.

I put down the materials and quickly got to the point.

“When are you thinking about the solo concert date?”

“How did you know it was already decided?”

“If it wasn’t decided, you wouldn’t have bothered showing me these materials.”

“This is why quick-witted kids are troublesome.”

The manager grinned while passing me another file.

“We set the preparation period generously. Two months to plan the setlist and practice, and recover your stamina too.”

“…If the setlist outline is this long, there won’t be time to rest, will there?”

“I figured you guys would prefer preparing for the solo concert over resting.”

“So you pre-emptively blocked it? Your faith in humanity has completely dropped.”

“For Si-hwan to complain to me, our kid has really changed!”

I brushed off the manager’s hands trying to hug me and stood up from the sofa.

“I’ll go wake up the kids. Looking at this, you made plenty of blanks for us to discuss ideas, right?”

“I, I’m not telling you to plan everything! Just tell us the feeling you want and that’s enough, so don’t feel pressured—.”

“We’ve done this a couple times. It’s fine.”

I smiled and saw the manager off.

Then I shifted my gaze to the dorm room doors.

‘Just when will I wake all these guys up.’

First I called Yu Ha-woon, who was the only one awake.

“It seemed like the manager came earlier, what was it about?”

“You knew? Come down and listen too.”

“Hehe, my stomach feels fine but my body’s heavy so I didn’t want to leave the bed.”

When I told him about the domestic solo concert, Yu Ha-woon’s body seemed to fill with energy.

“Finally! Finally a domestic solo concert!”

“The bed’s going to break. Stop jumping.”

“But how can I not get excited! How many hours will it be?”

“Looking at the list brother gave, it seems like it’ll be between 2 to 3 hours.”

“The fan meeting was a little over 2 hours, so I hope this time it’s much longer.”

“When everyone wakes up, I’ll get ideas, so if you have good thoughts, tell me right away.”

“I already have tons!”

First, the guys knocked out by alcohol need to be revived.

Having used the same dorm for quite a while now, I knew that no matter what means I used, the members wouldn’t wake up.

So I just went down to the living room and rested while scratching Cerberus’s back with Yu Ha-woon.

Around 1 PM, the ghosts opened their doors and came down.

“Hungry…”

“Food. Soup. Something warm.”

“There’s no soup, go drink water.”

“Thirsty…”

The members who woke up like that sat around the dining table in a dazed state.

Even Ma Si-hyeok, who usually didn’t like alcohol, had a few drinks yesterday, and his hangover really wouldn’t go away.

Still, true to being CENTIX’s only cooking specialist, he dutifully made hangover soup.

“Ah, now I feel like I’m alive.”

“Right, who told you to drink whiskey when you can’t even drink well?”

“I never dreamed the youngest would be that powerful.”

Kang Seon-woo, who cleanly emptied one bowl, boasted his haggard appearance and laughed weakly.

“Come to think of it, they’re holding a solo concert. Should we go a bit differently from the fan meeting?”

“During the fan meeting, there wasn’t much time to connect with the audience, so this time I’d like to add more of those kinds of segments.”

“We could expand unit stages or solo stages more too.”

“I looked up reactions after the fan meeting ended, and it seemed like we could show more cover stages too. Our original songs are good, but many MILLENNIUM come to see different sides of us.”

It seemed everyone had improvement points they’d been thinking about.

Meanwhile, Yu Ha-woon was preparing to present with a triumphant expression.

“The set composition is good too, but first I think we should decide how to establish the overall concert concept!”

“Ooh.”

“It’s Director Yu Ha-woon.”

“So I’m going to introduce five concepts I’ve been writing down from before!”

“Fi-five?”

“I’m going to get drowsy.”

“You can’t fall asleep just because, Brother Hwi!”