Keun Sejin was grumbling for quite some time.

"You really don't know how to play along. It's not like I asked if you got a female idol's number."

"..."

If he did then something else other than glucose candy would have flown his way.

Anyway, Keun Sejin felt better after eating all the candy, and after we got into the car, he did another one of his antics again.

"Ah, I get it. Is there a female idol Moondae wants to meet?"

There isn't, you punk.

'I've already seen a lot of them at events.'

I smirked and retorted.

"And you?"

"Ah, I'm married to the fans~ Female idol? What's that?"

I could hear Ryu Chungwoo laughing at Keun Sejin's nonchalant words.

Kim Raebin responded seriously.

"That's right. We have to be careful not to be too entangled with other groups, regardless of gender."

"Huh?"

"Because female idols are also competitors...!"

"...?"

No one could answer anything for a moment to Kim Raebin's sudden sharp exclaims.

Kim Raebin continued to explain more seriously, with the way he had interpreted this conversation.

"Think about it. Idols are a long-term competition. However, people who like idols are limited. Then, regardless of gender, idol groups will continue to exist for a long time, and the more they try different concepts, the more their target audience will overlap... !"

Seon Ahyun was very surprised.

"I-I see...!"

"That's right. So we must always be vigilant about idol groups with overlapping demands!"

"..."

"...Uhm."

A moment of silence passed.

'Let's just... match up with him.'

I struggled to open my mouth.

"Um, yeah, you're right."

"...!! That's right!"

Kim Raebin's eyes sparkled as he seemed to enjoy the moment of recognition. Ryu Chungwoo gently took over the situation.

"You're very smart, Raebin."

"Thank you!"

Behind Kim Raebin's enthusiastic voice, Cha Yujin could be heard softly mumbling.

"Is he an idiot?"

These two similar idiots are looking down on each other. That's very understandable.

* * *

Filming for the music shows continued every day until Sunday.

After doing pre-recordings in the middle of the night every other day, my head began to feel dizzy.

Fortunately, the pre-recording on Friday started at 9 o'clock in the morning, so I got to take a little breather. Although it didn't make much of a difference since we had to start working at 7 am.

Since I was in this state even with the 'Bacchus 500' ability, it was obvious what kind of state the other guys would be in.

'Lee Sejin almost collapsed yesterday.'

Fortunately, he fell down in the car and didn't injure himself. The agency also got surprised, and since then, the zero-fat diet became a little more relaxed.

In the midst of this, it was natural for the stamina to break apart as we also tried to do the reality show content in the evening.

'...Do I have to do this every week?'

The only good thing was the moments I was performing while hearing the cheering of the fans. It was the kind of structure that both fans and idols had to endure to arrive at that moment.

It was even more so when I consider that there are many more people who are crying because they couldn't seize this opportunity.

'You are squeezing people.'

I sighed.

"The most popular song in the third week of June... Congratulations, VTIC's Night Sign!"

Anyway, the last music show broadcast of the week is finally over. I mechanically applauded the first-place winner.

'I could sleep a little longer because they didn't let us do the pre-recording here.'

According to what I picked up, it seemed that this broadcasting station was a bit territorial because we were from an audition show on a cable channel.

That's why the order of our performance was in the early and middle of the show.

Of course, there were pros and cons. There was no pre-recording, so there was a limit to the composition of the performance. This was because the performance had to finish with just one live broadcast.

'In the first week of promotions... pre-recording would be useful.'

It's ridiculous when I think about it, but if there's not going to be a work-life balance anyway, I think it would be better to work for better results.

"Shall we take some pictures?"

"Yes!"

"How about taking a selfie, Moondae?"

As soon as we returned to the waiting room, there was a request to take a photo first.

'It's for social media posts.'

We had to take a picture of this. Needless to say, I just picked up my smartphone and turned on the front camera.

I adjusted the angle for seven people so that the outfit on the upper body would be visible, and took pictures consecutively. Like this, they can excitedly pick the picture among themselves.

Sure enough, there were people arguing again over which picture to upload.

"See, isn't the 3rd picture the best? It's better to see all 7 people smiling well~"

"My mouth is weird. Use the next one!"

"Don't listen to that. It's unreasonable to use a picture where only one person stands out."

"A-all the pictures came out well..."

Of course, even Seon Ahyun's reassurance didn't stop them.

In conclusion, two pictures were uploaded, one selected by Keun Sejin and one selected by Cha Yujin.

Lee Sejin watched the process with a tired expression and shook his head.

He seemed to have completely forgotten yesterday's rant about posting something where he didn't come out well.

'Haha, the team is doing really well.'

It's just fortunate that there was a camera, so a fight couldn't build up.

Anyway, this is how the first week of promotions seemed to end.

'...I'm glad that the responses to our performance were good.'

I check it every now and then. Both views and overall reviews were very good.

'As expected, it was right to choose the dance.'

To be honest... I had invested my one remaining point in the dance stats just before the filming of the music video.

This was because not only the vocals but also the amount for my stage appearance itself was more than I thought.

'There were a lot of parts where I appeared as the center so I was being filmed a lot.'

I was agonizing over the other stats until the last minute but concluded that supplementing the weakest stats should be a priority.

'If I become a ridiculed meme because of my dancing skills for no reason, I'd be in trouble.'

Thanks to this, my current dance stat was 'B-'.

It just means that I want to be able to dance quite well.

'...Of course, with the three guys whose dance stats were rated as A, I didn't really gain much.'

This is not an individual competition anymore, so let's be satisfied with the leap to a level that contributes to the quality of our performances.

...Well, it's also fun to see fans enjoying Park Moondae's personal fancam.

"Thank you for your hard work∼"

"The first week of promotions ended successfully!"

Before leaving the waiting room, the members and the staff celebrated with a smile. The manager added a word.

"Congratulations on making it into the top 10 in music charts~"

"Ha ha ha!"

That's right. As the manager said, the rankings of the songs were encouragingly rising.

I thought of the 24Hits ranking screenshot posted in the group chat room today.

'I guess there really is such a thing as a music show buff.'

What was a little surprising was that the Magical Boy turned the tables.

Perhaps it was because of the performance, but the fact that the song didn't sound boring also played a part.

'Since I think 'Magical Boy' would be better for those who think Hi-five sounds too loud.'

I was satisfied because my new characteristic of choosing songs seemed to be quite effective.

Of course, VTIC still managed to top the music charts. They were really amazing guys.

'Hmm, is it out of reach to rank 1st on public television with these current activities?'

Looking at the situation, I think the next album will be released within this year, and the results of this album were good, so it didn't seem like there was anything to worry about.

...It would have been better if there was not this damn situation where sudden death got restarted from the beginning.

The deep anger that I had forgotten about due to my busy schedule was rising from the inside, but I managed to barely hold it down.

Getting angry doesn't change the situation, so let's calm down.

'I'm not sure if I'm happy with what I've got on track'

I shrugged and grabbed my bag. I heard Ryu Chungwoo asking the manager from beside me.

"Then, should we go straight to the dorms today?"

"Oh... Actually, I had an urgent meeting today."

"Yes?"

"You wanted to be on a variety show. It's an entertainment show!"

As the manager spoke brightly, several people were tricked by his tone in the midst of exhaustion.

"Oh, what kind of variety show is it?"

"Is the variety show fun?"

The manager nodded proudly.

"It's a program called !"

"...?"

"This is a new program launched by TVC, you know that, right? All the variety shows made there went well."

"Ooh!"

Several members shook their heads as if they were tempted. The manager added more words.

"It's an entertainment show where you can experience unique jobs, and the PD-nim is a good person. Everyone has high expectations. They said they definitely wanted to do it with TeStar, so let's work hard!"

"..."

...Ah, I'm already having a feeling.

'It was weird from the moment he talked about it exaggeratedly.'

TVC is a T1-affiliated broadcasting station. In short, since they are launching a new variety show in the T1 family, they wanted to use TeStar to make the headlines.

In addition, it is a program that I have never even heard of, even though I came from three years later in the future.

'You put us in because you think you're going to screw up the program.'

Since TeStar has not been able to win first place in other broadcasting companies, it would be difficult to get an invite as someone who was formerly from a cable audition show, so it seems they are fighting it by casting their own affiliates in the variety show.

'You couldn't wait for that deal so you're going to write your own variety show for our first appearance?'

It is ridiculous to see the company's people trying to draw a big picture by making choices that have no productivity to the group.

However, the members, who were not aware of this, responded to the manager enthusiastically.

"Yes!"

"Understood!"

"...Yes."

I eventually nodded, too.

Yeah. What can I do with the cameras still turning? It's not like a rookie has the right to refuse a schedule, so let's just say nothing.

And at that moment, Keun Sejin, who was smiling and nodding his head, made eye contact with me.

"..."

This seems to be damned, but his eyes look like they were asking if I can do anything about this.

After getting in the car and asking a quick question, he said that the first episode of , which aired just before, had a devastating reaction.

'As expected.'

I thought I had given up on my expectations for the company, but it seems that I have needlessly had hope while preparing the album.

Let's throw that away once more.

* * *

"Hello~"

There was a camera at the meeting with as if the discussion about our appearance with the agency has already been concluded.

'They've already decided things between themselves.'

"Let me ask you a few questions first."

"Yes!"

Whether it was urgent because the next filming was just around the corner, the meeting ended in a hurry after exchanging about ten questions and answers without any greetings.

As the title suggests , they were questions that mainly asked what you wanted to do.

'...The thing I want to do the most is not working at all.'

However, I can't write such an answer because of my current job, so I answered with a few moderately unusual jobs.

'They're in a hurry.'

The production team hastily gathered all the questions and answers they wanted and ended the meeting.

I could see that they were busy to death.

'Episode 1 didn't get a good response, so people seem to be divided.'

Anyway, thanks to that, we were able to catch the car back to the dorms before nightfall.

"Now, everyone, please raise your hands∼"

When I was waving my hand to Keun Sejin, who was taking a video to post on social media, I felt a vibration in my pocket.

'I have a bad feeling.'

After checking that Keun Sejin finished the video and turned off the camera, I checked my smartphone.

"..."

Wow, this is really awkward.

'Are you secretly scolding a rookie because he didn't contact you first?'

I know well that he didn't take my number because he wanted to get close to me.

Still, I couldn't ignore it because of his seniority, so I sent a reply.

Then a reply came in an instant.

I am dead tired.

I sent a short reply such as 'I got it, thank you' and turned off the smartphone altogether.

'I can change the explanation by saying I checked it late tomorrow.'

I was just irritated that strange guys kept tapping me to try to figure me out.

Let's change the status message while blocking contact numbers that are not in the address book.

'Anyway, today... Can we go home like this?'

Just as I was about to fall asleep in the car, I heard Ryu Chungwoo's voice.

"Guys, each of us gradually danced the choreography to a different beat. Shouldn't we set it up since we have time?"

"..."

I am now wide awake.

When I looked around, everyone had a face with 'I want to rest' written on it. However, no one could refute it since he was right, so there was only an implicit silence of consent.

I held back my sigh.

'...What do you mean, going home from work?'

I'm going to go practice.

* * *

The fans were happy with the overflowing content while TeStar pulled off the deadly schedule of the first week's activities.

The fans were also the driving force for TeStar to follow the schedule quietly.

Since the contract with TeStar was not short-term, the agency tried to create an atmosphere where people would like the group itself rather than doing a marketing method that deliberately encouraged individual competition among members.

And that effort was settling well within the fandom.

The group only uses one social media account, and there was no longer a reluctant atmosphere in posting group pictures together.

However, it couldn't be as good in one area.

It was about random photo cards that went into the albums.

Since it is a factor directly related to the album sales, the photo cards of the members randomly included in the album were put in accordance with the traditional trade.

Thanks to this, people who wanted to swear at TeStar were buzzing with the related comparison articles.

No matter how much fans reported or ignored it, there was a limit to that. The jealousy and anger pouring out towards the rising idols, who were doing better than expected, was at a level that couldn't be understood with common sense.

But on the contrary, because the ridicule was poured out towards all the members in all directions, there was a strange consensus formed among fans.

Among them, the identity 'fan of the whole group' was slowly being formed and it wasn't just a formal expression anymore.

And just around that time, a special event was coming up.

It was TeStar's first fan signing event.