NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 53: Chapter 211
[Ji-won, happy birthday!]
His eyelids looked more swollen and the area around his eyes seemed a bit red today, but since he seemed in a better mood than usual, Noeul just assumed it was the lighting.
Now and then, some ridiculous rumors would circulate, but fans knew well that Seong Ji-won wasn't the type to be swayed by them, so no one paid them much mind.
[Aww, our Ji-won TT Happy birthday]
[Thanks for singing, Ji-won!]
"…Ahaha, thank you all so much, too."
So everyone thought Seong Ji-won's birthday was wrapping up happily again this year—
[What even is this picture]
But late that night, after the live stream ended, a single photo was uploaded to a community site, leaving The Dawn's fandom stunned.
[Seriously, what even is this????????]
The zoomed-in photo showed Seong Ji-won, head lowered, standing outside the dorm, and Seo Hoyun standing silently in front of him.
The problem was the mood of the photo.
It looked like Ji-won had been crying.
[I know this wasn't an official schedule or anything, and yeah, randomly taking pics like this is seriously out of line but…..
…..
….
the photo is just too damn shocking]**
[Why the f* would you even take that photo]**
[Okay the photo is a violation but… I do want to know what the hell was going on]
[What is going on—why is Seo Ho-yoon comforting him]
[Ugh TT did Ji-won see something online or something… I'm about to pull my own hair out from anxiety]
No one knew what had happened, so communities and social media exploded with speculation. Questions flooded The Dawn's official Stargram, Chirpy, and Poppop.
But fans were given no answers.
Especially Seo Hoyun, who practically lived on Poppop—he was a master at pretending to know nothing.
Even when he was doing solo livestreams with the same calm expression as always, he completely ignored all comments about the photo.
[Okay.. let's stop askingㅠ]
[Please stop spamming direct questions.. looks like even Gyeong doesn't wanna talk about member stuff]
[Ugh.. I'm torn between wanting to respect the artist's privacy and… absolutely dying of curiosity to the point of headbanging in the Daepaseong practice room to a jajinmori rhythm
└ The Dawn-mori rhythm
Dun-gi-dun koong-duh-duh-duh-dun koong-gi-dun koong-duh-duh-duh-duh-dun
└└ This is driving me insane
(You don't need to declare yourself a Kang I-chae fan to say that)]**
It seemed Seo Ho-yoon really didn't want to address the issue, so everyone held back their over-immersion and started to respect his silence.
Until—
"Hoyun-ah!"
With a smile blooming like a fully opened flower, Seong Ji-won opened the door and stepped in.
"Seong Ji-won's here."
[For a second I thought I had my screen brightness on max]
[Wow look how chill Seo Hoyun is
└ His Ji-won immunity is god-tier;;]
[Seong Ji-won radiates floral perfume vibes.....
└ LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Ji-won you are my freesia, my lavender, my lilac..]
Seong Ji-won sat down, exchanged a few words with Seo Hoyun, and as the livestream gained momentum again, Ji-won saw a comment related to the photo and looked flustered.
[Ji-won, did you cry?ㅜㅜ]
"Huh? Me?"
Seo Hoyun subtly turned his face away and picked up the lemonade on the table, taking a long sip through the straw.
Apparently unaware of the whole controversy, Ji-won tilted his head and read through the comments, then let out a small ah as he grasped the general context.
"Ah."
Then, with a mischievous smile, he said,
"That was Hoyun who made me cry."
"Pfft!"
Seo Ho-yoon spit out what he had been drinking.
Even as he choked on the sour drink and coughed, Seong Ji-won giggled.
It was a joke made with a slight grudge toward Seo Ho-yoon, but when rumors of discord between them started to spread, the two of them had to sit back in front of the camera and go live again.
"Apologize. Now."
"I'm sorry. It was a joke."
Only after they uploaded an explanation video—saying that Ji-won had simply been touched by the heartfelt birthday message and cried out of joy, especially after Ho-yoon promised to get him an even better birthday gift next year—did the chatter around the photo start to die down.
After that, maybe because he enjoyed teasing Seo Hoyun, Seong Ji-won was occasionally seen joking around with him again.
By that point, the Noeuls' hearts—which had once been ticking time bombs—had softened into warm and fluffy steamed buns.
[Is there really a person in the world who cries just from a birthday greeting…
We'll never know what they talked about, but why does it warm my heart like this...]
[And Gyeong not saying a single word about it is so damn cool... is this what being a real man looks like...]
[But seriously, the guys really do rely on each other a lot..ㅜ Especially this year, it feels stronger than ever.
I mean, if my agency was Daepaseong too, I'd probably only lean on my members too
└LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL]**
Fans turned the clip of Seo Hoyun's shocked coughing into gifs and circulated them with admiration for their sweet relationship.
[Title: THE DAWN is actually ridiculousㅡㅡ
Ugh… I really wasn't gonna say anything but…
└What is it? Just say it.
└└I just want Ho-gyeong to be happy.
└└Ugh ㅠ don't make me cry at dawn.
└└What are you guys even doing....]**
And even though their packed schedule was obvious, THE DAWN never stopped pumping out self-produced content.
[Title: Right now, THE DAWN needs to focus on new fans
Anyone who gets into them ends up completely hooked, and there's no way out anyway.
That jerk Seo Hoyun still shows up on Poppop every single day to take care of fans.
There was one week where he didn't post… but thinking about it still makes my blood boil so I'll let it go…
└Huh? When was that?
└└Around the finale of Shas 2 ㅠ
└└Ah… that time… yeah, Daepaseong was dead then]**
**[Those guys are seriously consistent with their content…
Behind-the-scenes, MV reactions, challenges—
Feels like they're doing everything that's trending these days…
Honestly, I think Daepaseong is doing a good job.
└What are you talking aboutㅡㅡ
└└I'm a LeaPurple stan…
└└Oh… I'm sorry.
└└LOLLLL ㅠ don't understand themㅠ]**
They were even getting praise for their content output from fans of other groups.
Also, Shining Star Seasons 1 and 2 were both being distributed on OTT platforms overseas, and international fans were flocking to THE DAWN in droves.
**[A rabbit? lmao no way.
He's definitely a cat, you fools.]**
There was still ongoing debate in Japan about what Seo Ho-yoon's signature animal should be.
[This is the land of rabbits.
If you don't like it, you leave.
└I'm already an overseas fan, I don't even live in Korea
└└Oops, my bad]
[Daepaseong must be living large these days. Did you see their Q2 revenue? Looks like Q3 will be insane too.
└Dang, Min Ji-heon used to carry the whole company, but now they're on top with THE DAWN too
└└Yeah, Ji-heon's disaster movie did crazy well. In this day and age, how'd they even pull those numbers? LOL]
Anyway, with THE DAWN's successful launch in Japan, fans were closely watching to see when and how far Daepaseong would begin pushing them internationally.
Many Noeuls were nervous, since some companies had a habit of getting overexcited by overseas popularity and spinning their groups into never-ending foreign rotations.
Thankfully, for now, there hadn't been any official announcements about a global tour.
Instead—
"Berlin K-pop Concert: THE DAWN Confirmed to Join Lineup"
THE DAWN had recently been announced as part of the artist lineup for an upcoming K-pop concert in Europe.
[?????????]
[Why Europe all of a sudden]
[Don't they usually go to the U.S. first? Why Europe?]
There was nothing to be done now that the articles were out, but fans with lingering grudges toward Daepaseong weren't thrilled about it.
Still, on public accounts:
[THE DAWN always thinking of the Noeuls <3 So proud of you all! Have a safe trip to Europe—we'll be waiting! ]
[Our DUNGies are so amazing and precious!]
Even though only sweet words were posted on the surface,
[F***ing bastards... overseas concert...
Whose idea was this
Well fine, I guess the kids have to make money somehow…]
[If it's K-pop, can't it be held in Korea?
The 'K' stands for Korea, since when did Europe become K-Europe?]
[I think those Daepaseong jerks are just testing the waters to see how popular they are overseas.
└ I could live with that, but why Europe of all places? ㅠ]
Behind the scenes, fans were talking like this.
[Apparently they're filming a documentary too]
[Oh god lololol]
Noeuls (the fandom) reacted to the word "overseas" like they were allergic to it, but they tried to calm themselves down, saying "At least it's not a full-on tour."
[Ah sh*t]
But all that effort was in vain once the Berlin K-pop concert lineup and performance order were revealed.
Because it was: The Dawn – Hi5 – Leaperple.
[wh you f***ing bastard~~~~!!!!]
Even if it was just a slight difference, the order of performances was a sensitive issue, as it was seen as a direct indicator of popularity.
As a result, The Dawn's fandom was blazing with fury for quite some time.
---
From the moment we headed to Incheon Airport, I had made up my mind.
'Gotta avoid Hi5 at all costs.'
But that hope betrayed me right away, when Kang Yeonhu approached at the airport entrance, smiling brightly.
"Oh! Seo Hoyun!"
"Yeonhu sunbaenim."
Sure, I could put up with it when the cameras were rolling. But even after we cleared the departure gate and immigration, this guy kept sticking around, bothering me.
'What's this bastard's deal?'
I turned directly to Kang Yeonhu.
"What is it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why are you doing this when you should know better? I get the broadcast stuff last time was out of our hands, but now? There's no benefit to us being seen together."
If it were someone like Joo Woosung, who's in a completely different league popularity-wise, even if we were friendly, fans wouldn't be so touchy about it.
But Kang Yeonhu came from the same survival show and was frequently compared to me as a rival. It would only bring downsides.
"Haha, it's just…"
Hearing me out, Kang Yeonhu laughed softly, his gentle eyes crinkling.
"I just wanted to see you flustered, Seo Hoyun."
"..."
Apparently, he had a lot bottled up from the last time.
"Hmph."
So what? I thought.
I gave him a fake smile, took the neck pillow he was holding, placed it gently around his neck, and whispered quietly:
"Leave before I take it a step further."
"..."
Watching him freeze stiff, I winked.
"…I'll go."
"Yup, take care now~."
By now, Kim Seonghyeon was used to my antics. He zipped his passport into his bag and asked,
"Of all the people from WH Entertainment… why do they always come for you?"
"Jealous?"
"God, stop saying horrifying stuff like that!"
While Seonghyeon looked horrified, I calmly walked on, sorting my thoughts.
'Forget Yeonhu.'
The Dawn's approach to this Europe move could be broken into three phases.
The first phase had already begun the moment we stepped into the airport.
Of course, clueless Jeong Dajun was busy rambling excitedly.
"Hyung, hyung! Once we arrive in Europe~! Foreign fans are gonna be like whaaaa! Cheering from here to way over there, right??"
"..."
"Am I gonna become the next Asia Prince?"
"Bangbang."
I pressed Jeong Dajun's lips shut between my thumb and index finger.
"Shut it."
"I awready awm. (I already am.)"
"Shh."
I glanced over at the documentary crew walking a little behind us.
"Let's first check how the local response is…"
"Yeah yeah, let's start filming from the airport. Gotta catch those fans meeting K-pop idols for the first time."
"Let's do interviews with the idols too. Sprinkle in some talk about the Korean Wave. That's all the rage now, right?"
"Hahaha!"
'Of course.'
I clicked my tongue and let go of Dajun's lips.
Phase One:
Avoid Overdose of Nationalist Propaganda at All Costs.