I’m a Genius Idol but my Passive is Sunfish Chapter 22

“Haa…”

 

As soon as the staff left, Baekya collapsed to the floor. He buried his face in his knees, but he couldn’t hide his flushed ears.

 

“You did well, why are you like this~ It was cute. Ang!”

 

Yulmu sat down next to Baekya and slung an arm over his shoulder. What was supposed to be comfort sounded more like teasing. Baekya shook his shoulder and brushed off his arm.

 

“Get away.”

 

Yulmu bit his lip and turned his head, barely holding back laughter. His body was visibly shaking.

 

Baekya lifted his head and glared at him.

 

“You, sh…”

 

“Na Yulmu. Get away from Baekya right now.”

 

The leader’s approach-ban was quickly issued. Cheong and Yooyeon, who had been on standby, rushed over and pulled Yulmu away.

 

“Let’s not get on our Peach-nim’s nerves.”

 

“You can’t tease the hamster!”

 

Cheong, Yooyeon, and Minseong looked at Baekya with faces that were asking for praise.

 

‘Haa… My head hurts.’

 

Jihan, who was sitting on the sofa, shook his head as he looked at the five of them.

 

They’re really having fun being cute.

 

For reference, today’s music show was at the only broadcast station where even rookies could get their own waiting room due to its spacious facilities.

 

Namkyung, who had just met with the staff, gathered the members, saying it was time to start preparing for the stage.

 

Following him, they arrived at the back of the set. While DASE was moving, the stages of Violet and Nice had ended, and the stage of the remaining boy group was in full swing.

 

– Press it as much as you love me

Beep Beep Beep Beep

 

BB9.

 

They debuted only a few months earlier than DASE, but not by much, so they’d recently been framed as rivals.

 

Due to broadcast scheduling, DASE’s order was suddenly pushed back today. As a result, despite debuting later, they were performing after BB9.

 

“That team’s choreography is cool.”

 

DASE watched their stage right next to them. Especially Yooyeon’s eyes sparkled. Their performance was flashy, living up to their reputation as a ‘group dance idol.’

 

He watched their stage with a serious face for a moment. As the song ended, BB9, who had struck their ending pose, were panting.

 

The camera, which had been showing the whole stage, quickly switched to a close-up of one member’s face. The said member also seemed to have noticed, and after showing a flustered expression at first, he immediately smiled. It was a smile that made even the viewer feel good.

 

“Oh~ Ending fairy~”

 

The camera, which had been showing the whole stage, quickly switched to a close-up of one member’s face.

 

“The person who gets captured on screen at the end has to do something. How about it?”

 

“Deal! I’m totally confident.”

 

Cheong was the first to agree, saying he liked it.

 

An ending fairy referred to the singer who was captured at the very end of a music show stage, and it was one of the performances that was becoming a small topic of conversation among fans these days.

 

In the case of senior singers with many years of experience, they would run away from the stage or buy the fans’ cheers with an unexpected pose.

 

The other members didn’t seem opposed either.

 

“I think it would be okay as long as it’s not over the top.”

 

At the leader’s final permission, Yooyeon quickly gave his opinion.

 

“Should we wink? How about it?”

 

Namkyung, who had been watching, agreed that it was fine since other teams did it too. Baekya also nodded, thinking, ‘It’s not like I’ll get picked, right?’

 

– The best thing I’ve done in my life = picking a peach at my doljabi (Baekya’s wink.gif)

– A peach who’s a bit of a flirt (Baekya’s biting heart.gif)

– I found this while scrolling through my timeline, and everyone just calls him a peach.. where is this peach from?ㅠㅠ (Baekya’s wink.gif)

└ It’s DASE’s Baekya♡ It’s delicious, so give it a try

– It’s winter, but I see a lot of people looking for peaches on my timeline^^ Then I’ll drop one too… (Baekya.jpg)

– The brand with the best peach sweetness these days #Demont (DASE.jpg)

 

***

 

DASE, the rookie group unveiled for the first time in eight years by ID, had made a strong showing. As a result, the atmosphere inside the company was buzzing with excitement.

 

Given the public reaction far exceeding expectations, it was only natural that DASE’s comeback schedule was moved up. The planning team became busy once again.

 

“I heard you guys will be starting comeback preparations soon.”

 

Namkyung, who had just been to the planning office, delivered the news.

 

The song selection from the A&R team was mostly finished, and as soon as the concept was confirmed, they would start recording the next song, and DASE was surprised.

 

“Already?”

 

Jihan’s eyes widened slightly.

 

“We just started our music show rounds.”

 

Baekya also had a bewildered face. But the answer he got was nonchalant.

 

“It’s partly because you guys are rookies that you’re starting work earlier, but most other teams do this too.”

 

It meant that many singers start preparing their next album immediately after finishing one round of music-show promotions during comeback week.

 

Unless it was a digital single, even the smallest album would be a mini-album with at least five tracks. And for a full album, there were far more songs to record, which naturally took much longer.

 

“It’ll probably be a mini-album. Even if you start now, you’ll probably have a few months of downtime after promotions end.”

 

It meant that even if they prepared like this, there would be a hiatus in their activities. At Namkyung’s answer, the members looked at him with a blank face, amazed.

 

On top of that, there was another major decision the company had made after giving in to fans’ persistent requests for self-produced content.

 

“And they said your reality show has been decided. Congratulations.”

 

Namkyung smiled brightly and dropped the big news.

 

DASE’s first solo program. Although it would only be uploaded on their official YouTube account, the fact that they would have their own program with the six of them as the main characters was a happy thing in itself.

 

“It’s going to be very busy from now on, preparing for the comeback and filming the reality show. But you can do it, right?”

 

“Of course we can!”

 

An excited Cheong ran at Namkyung and hugged him. Namkyung, caught in the embrace, looked pleased too. Then, as if he were embarrassed by the gazes on him, he grumbled, saying that it was gross for a guy to act like this.

 

“Ah, and you guys need to get your passports made in advance.”

 

He added that anyone under eighteen would need consent forms from a legal guardian, and asked them to prepare the documents early, but while he was saying this, Namkyung avoided their eyes, saying he hadn’t memorized all their birth dates yet.

 

In that moment, a playful look appeared on Yulmu’s face.

 

“What~ You don’t know our birthdays? I know your birthday, hyung.”

 

“Th-that’s not it…”

 

A flustered Namkyung stuttered. But there was someone just as flustered as Namkyung here.

 

‘This is bad.’

 

It was something that would be revealed someday, but he had intended to try and fix it before then if he could. But it seemed the heavens were not on Baekya’s side.

 

“First, Minseong and Cheong said they already have their passports, right?”

 

As Namkyung quickly changed the subject, the two nodded. Yooyeon, who was a second-year in high school, still needed the documents since his birthday hadn’t passed yet, and Jihan also cooperated, answering obediently.

 

“My birthday hasn’t passed yet either, so I think I’ll have to fill one too.”

 

“Hey, why would you give that away so easily?”

 

Yulmu scolded him briefly, but he was no match for Jihan.

 

“He’s only a few days apart from me.”

 

That settled Yulmu as well. Now only Baekya remained.

 

“I think Baekya’s birthday was early. Or was it not?”

 

“Well, I am a senior in high school, but…”

 

But his expression as he answered seemed uncomfortable somewhere. At his increasingly smaller voice, Namkyung came closer.

 

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

 

“No. It’s not that…”

 

Baekya kept glancing at Yooyeon and Cheong as he spoke.

 

“Me?”

 

Tilt head. Yooyeon pointed at himself with his finger.

 

After hesitating with his lips trembling, Baekya quickly grabbed Namkyung’s arm and pulled him closer. Namkyung bent down to match Baekya’s height.

 

They whispered for a moment. Then Namkyung straightened up.

 

“You were an early birth?”

 

His expression said, ‘Why are you saying it like that?’ Namkyung looked back and forth between the anxious Baekya and the clueless maknaes. Then he soon caught on.

 

“Ah~ The kids call you hyung, right? Come to think of it, it is a little awkward.”

 

Namkyung scratched his forehead, looking troubled. The source of the trouble was that he had said he was a senior in high school when they first met.

 

It wasn’t as if he could explain in detail that he had started school a little early due to family circumstances at their first meeting. And Baekya hadn’t thought that far either.

 

So, to summarize.

 

Minseong was still the oldest. Jihan and Yulmu, who were born the following year, were the same age, both born in November. Then it was Baekya, Yooyeon, and Cheong. That was the order.

 

“Anyway, you’re a senior and your birthday is the earliest among the maknaes, right? Would it be weird to just keep things the way they are?”

 

Namkyung stepped in to sort things out.

 

‘I-is that so…?’

 

The sunfish had no conscience.

 

“How about it? It’s better to get this out of the way when it’s brought up.”

 

Speaking in place of the hesitant Baekya, Namkyung asked Yooyeon and Cheong. Contrary to his worries, Yooyeon also didn’t seem to care much.

 

“I don’t mind. What’s the big deal? But what month is it?”

 

He asked casually, without a second thought. But to everyone else watching, there was a strange tension in the air. Except for Yooyeon, they were certain his mood had subtly soured.

 

“…March.”

 

Baekya couldn’t exactly refuse to answer. He answered in a voice that was almost a whisper.

 

“…21st.”

 

In that moment, a question mark appeared above the members’ heads.

 

Does March also count as an early birth?

 

But there was one more phrase that was added belatedly.

 

“…lunar.”

 

And it was even the lunar calendar.

 

“…Hey, don’t most people celebrate their solar birthday these days? And the lunar calendar is much later. At that point, it’s basically early enrollment—urk.”

 

Yulmu didn’t mean any harm. He really didn’t want to make things worse. He was just bad at reading the room.

 

Jihan jabbed him hard in the side and warned through clenched teeth.

 

“Read the room.”

 

He hadn’t sworn, but his gaze, which looked like it could tear him to shreds in a moment, was murderous.

 

Same birth year. Turned out it was a lunar birthday.

 

All the Koreans understood. But there was also an American in this place…

 

“Early?”

 

The only foreigner couldn’t even properly understand the word ‘early’ to begin with.

 

“What’s a lunar calendar?”

 

At Cheong’s innocent question, Minseong began calmly explaining. Meanwhile, on the other side, people were busy checking Baekya’s birthday.

 

[Lunar March 21st > Solar May 3rd]

 

Huh?

 

A date that was a whole month later than Yooyeon’s birthday came out.

 

“Wait a minute.”

 

Yooyeon raised his hand.

 

Time out.

 

—