I’m a Genius Idol but my Passive is Sunfish Chapter 16

Dragged out since dawn by their manager, DASE were dumped at the salon. With so many members, they went in age order to get cleaned up and styled, and before they knew it, it was already past 8 a.m.

 

Namkyung hurried them into the car and stepped on the gas again.

 

Where to?

 

“…Imjingak Haneulnuri Park?”

 

Half-awake, Minseong glanced out the window to see where they were and read the sign aloud.

 

“…Isn’t that Paju?”

 

It was a place he had been to with his parents when he was young.

 

Meanwhile, the members had fallen asleep the moment they got in the car. Having all slept poorly, they nodded off whenever they could. For now, Minseong was the only one sensing that something was wrong.

 

“Hyung. Namkyung hyung.”

 

“Oh, Minseong. Are you up? We’re almost there. Wake the others up and get ready to get off.”

 

The staff who had left first had contacted him 10 minutes ago, saying they had arrived. Namkyung called another team as he entered the parking lot.

 

[Manager-nim. Have you arrived?]

 

“Yes. We’re parking now, where should we go?”

 

[Do you see the several tents that have been set up? Those are the waiting rooms.]

 

“Ah! I think I know. We’ll go there.”

 

‘…Am I the only one who finds this strange?’

 

Unlike the confused Minseong, Namkyung’s conversation sounded perfectly normal. Minseong hesitated—then spoke urgently.

 

“Hyung, isn’t this Paju? Weren’t we supposed to be at M Company?”

 

At that, Namkyung was the one who was flustered.

 

“Huh? That’s right, M Company. Your debut st…”

 

At that moment, Namkyung felt a chill run down his spine. A bad feeling crept in, and his voice trailed off.

 

“That’s here? Why?”

 

“Yeah. …Did you not hear by any chance?”

 

“Hear what?”

 

“…No way.”

 

After parking, Namkyung pulled the handbrake and turned around. As the car stopped, the members began waking up one by one.

 

“…We’re here already? That was fast.”

 

Yooyeon said in a sleepy voice. It had actually taken more than 2 hours because of the end-of-year traffic and the snow that had fallen at dawn, but this was no time for Namkyung to be nonchalantly telling them that.

 

Because Minseong’s face looked a little serious.

 

“Your debut stage is at Imjingak… Oh my god. Did no one really tell you?”

 

DASE’s only crime was trusting the company’s words: ‘You guys just practice hard! We’ll take care of the rest!’

 

The members had unknowingly walked into a hidden-camera prank before even debuting. Minseong stared out the window, dumbfounded.

 

Have you seen a white country? Full of dreams and love…

 

The members who were slowly coming to their senses also started to react to the word ‘Imjingak.’

 

“I-Imjingak, isn’t that an outdoor stage?”

 

Baekya was the first to short-circuit, stuttering.

 

“Today’s an unprecedented cold wave…”

 

Yooyeon muttered, looking at the weather app. The white snow, which made even the high-end tinted windows seem useless, was reflected in the window.

 

“Why are they only telling us now?”

 

Jihan clenched his teeth and smiled at the manager.

 

“We’re doing it outside? I like it!”

 

Cheong was the only one who was enjoying this situation. A truly happy California boy. A person who grew up with a lot of sunlight was indeed different.

 

On the other hand, Namkyung, who had thought the company had of course told them, was flustered.

 

This was their debut stage, for god’s sake!

 

As a manager, he couldn’t say he had zero responsibility.

 

‘I should’ve mentioned it again this morning.’

 

But what was done was done. Namkyung decided to comfort them with positivity.

 

“Uh… guys. High risk, high return, isn’t it? Although the weather is cold, and it’s an outdoor stage, and it’s a live broadcast…”

 

Yet every word only highlighted the downsides.

 

Cold weather—deadly for live vocals. An outdoor stage full of unpredictable variables. A live broadcast sent nationwide with no editing.

 

For rookies with zero stage experience, it was the worst possible condition.

 

‘I was trying to talk about the positives, how did it end up like this…?!’

 

The only upside was the stage order, which was placed quite late for a rookie?

 

Or that they would be shown one more time during the live broadcast of the New Year’s countdown? That was it.

 

Namkyung, with a pale face, looked at DASE. He felt like a criminal, and he had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths, but he had to clean up the mess.

 

Because he had a duty to manage DASE’s condition.

 

“Y-you can do it, guys. Y-you can do it!”

 

Namkyung shouted with a trembling voice, clenching his fist.

 

***

 

– 2X1231 Imjingak gayo daejeon rehearsal preview #Baekya #Cheong (Baekya Cheong.jpg)

– 2X1231 Imjingak rehearsal #DASE (DASE.jpg)

– The kids must be so cold, what do we doㅠㅠㅠ But the name tags they’re wearing are so cuteㅠㅠ

 

Contrary to the manager’s worries, DASE quickly accepted reality. Because they admitted that, except for this extreme cold, it was a pretty good opportunity.

 

Their stage order was fairly late, and before the New Year’s countdown, the Imjingak live broadcast would show them on screen for about ten minutes.

 

Even if all they did was stand there, it was a perfect chance to get their faces known.

 

“Wow~ I bumped my finger into a zipper during rehearsal earlier, and I thought it was going to break.”

 

“Korea is cold…”

 

Yulmu and Cheong refused to move from in front of the heater. Minseong looked at the two of them intently and thought.

 

‘The temperature will drop even more when the sun sets.’

 

And even worse, there was no heater on stage.

 

While Minseong was thinking for a moment, the tent of the temporary waiting room was lifted, and the manager and Baekya returned. In their hands were cafe carriers.

 

“Guys, drink this and warm up a bit.”

 

Yulmu and Cheong, who had rushed over like a madman, held the warm cups in their hands.

 

“Hyung, thank you so much!”

 

“I’ll go with you. But why is yours iced? …Aren’t you cold?”

 

The iced americano in Baekya’s hand was intense. At Yulmu’s words asking if he didn’t get cold easily, Baekya shrugged.

 

“I still like it iced. And it’s not that cold once you start drinking it.”

 

“You’re hardcore.”

 

Two hot packs stuffed into his pockets, yet he was drinking iced Americano.

 

‘Do the hot packs even mean anything…?’

 

As Yulmu made a slightly fed-up face, Namkyung chimed in.

 

“He says he’s a die-hard iced coffee fan. Fighting cold with cold, or something.”

 

Just as Namkyung was about to launch into a second round of nagging, saying that he especially had to take care of his throat, Minseong clapped his hands and shouted brightly.

 

“That’s right! Guys, let’s not just stand here, let’s go out!”

 

“Go out? Go out where? In this cold.”

 

Namkyung looked at Minseong, asking ‘Why you too?’.

 

Ignoring him, Minseong shoved Yulmu, Cheong, and Baekya out of the waiting room and led the rest of the members to the parking lot.

 

“You’re seriously awesome.”

 

“…Me?”

 

Minseong gave Baekya a thumbs-up. Ignoring Baekya’s strange look, Minseong, who was deeply impressed by Baekya’s spirit of fighting cold with cold, divided the members into three without further ado.

 

In an instant, the members of room 1 and room 2 were facing each other in a standoff.

 

“What are you doing? I’m cold…”

 

Cheong whined, but the leader showed no mercy.

 

“There’s no heater on stage, Cheong. Are you going to sing while shivering? Let’s warm up first.”

 

At those words, Jihan also noticed Minseong’s intention. They weren’t going to practice choreography here. Then there was only one thing they could do.

 

‘He wants us to fight.’

 

The quiet weirdo switch was turned on. He quickly knelt down and started to pack snow faster than anyone.

 

“…What are you doing?”

 

Baekya looked down at the action intently. Jihan held up the completed snowball and raised one corner of his mouth.

 

“Watch closely. Han Baekya.”

 

He tilted his head for a moment at the incomprehensible action. Then the snowball was mercilessly thrown at Cheong.

 

“What the…!”

 

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

 

A snowball fight that started with Jihan’s first strike. This news began to spread rapidly through a homma.

 

– 2X1231 Imjingak rehearsal waiting #DASE (DASE snowball fight.jpg)

 

– A die-hard iced coffee idol drinking iced americano at minus 21 degree Imjingak (Baekya.jpg)

└ I feel cold just looking at it lol

└ Wow.. a true die-hard iced coffee fan

└ The Iced Americano Association is here

 

– A boy group having a snowball fight after being sent to Imjingak exile (DASE.jpg)

 

– A snowball fight? At Imjingak? It’s minus 20 degrees in Paju right now?

 

– Idols losing it in extreme cold (DASE having a snowball fight.jpg)

└ These guys are amazing lol who are they?

└ And what’s more, that Cheong kid isn’t even wearing a padded jacket;

└ It’s DASE, who are having their debut stage at Imjingak today!

└ Guess young people really are different…

 

– The snowball fight idols are going to get a cast before their debut at this rate. The guy running to grab them has truly unhinged eyes (Yulmu running.jpg)

 

– I heard they were eventually dragged away by the staff lol

 

* * *

 

The time was just before the New Year. Jaehyun and Yookyung were sitting in front of the living room TV, waiting for their friend’s stage.

 

They had thought he would be on early since he was a rookie, but even after 10 teams had passed, he hadn’t been mentioned once, and the two were on the verge of their necks snapping.

 

[Kim Yookyung: Did Baekya already pass by any chance without me knowing?]

[Shin Jaehyun: Maybe the group name isn’t DASE…]

 

Since neither of them used social media, there was no way they’d seen the cue sheet.

 

Just as they were endlessly waiting for the MC to mention him, a change was finally happening in the monotonous flow.

 

“The M Gayo Daejeon! The excitement is incredible. We’re currently with you live from the Ilsan M Center and the Imjingak Haneulnuri Park.”

 

“That’s right. Despite the cold weather, Ms. Young-eun is currently at the Imjingak Haneulnuri Park to celebrate the New Year. Shall we call her? Ms. Young-eun~”

 

[Yes, hello! This is MC Yoo Young-eun.]

 

“It’s great to see you! How’s the excitement over there?”

 

[Yes, you must be curious about the atmosphere here. Despite the sudden cold wave, many people have gathered to be with the M Gayo Daejeon. Can you hear the sound?]

 

“Wow~ The excitement over there looks incredible too!”

 

[That’s right. But to blow away this cold even further, four very special teams are here, at the Imjingak Haneulnuri Park.]

 

Following that, two male and female groups from the blue and white teams were introduced. BB9 and Blossom from the blue team. DASE and Flower Moon from the white team.

 

[We’ve gathered four teams that are expected to be the hottest in the new year. And among them, there’s a team for whom today is very special. It’s the boy group from ID, out for the first time in 8 years! DASE.]

 

At the finally mentioned DASE, Jaehyun and Yookyung, who had been messaging each other, screamed and threw their phones.

 

“Mom, Mom, Mom! Dad! My friend is on now!”

 

Jaehyun woke the family members who had been dozing on the sofa and turned the volume up.

 

“Holy crap. I’m so nervous. Ah, I’m so nervous. I think I’m going to throw up.”

 

“Your friend is the one on stage, so why are you making a fuss? Just shut up for a second.”

 

Yookyung was so nervous that he couldn’t even hear the scathing curses of his sibling.

 

[Hot Debut! Let’s meet DASE’s ‘No Games’ right now!]

 

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