"Hmmhh..."

Before I knew it, the dorm's living room had become quiet.

We took 1st place, but as soon as alcohol was added, the tension was relieved and the accumulated fatigue disappeared, and most of them were stretched out sleeping.

Both minors fell asleep at the same time. Lee Sejin had already entered the room halfway through perhaps due to stamina problems. He was also probably asleep.

So the only ones left in the living room...

"Are you okay, Moondae?"

It was just me and Ryu Chungwoo.

It was because he could handle alcohol well, and thanks to the 'Bacchus 500' ability, I was still able to keep my senses.

"Yes. I am okay."

"Then I'm glad."

Ryu Chungwoo smiled brightly and drank the beer in his hand.

'How many cans has he been drinking?'

It doesn't matter as he hardly seemed drunk, but he must have drunk more than six cans.

It was clear that his alcohol tolerance was enormous.

"Um, how have you been doing?"

"Well, I have just been normal."

"Haha, you're always composed, Moondae."

Ryu Chungwoo flattened the can of beer he drank and put it aside. His expression looked very sad.

'Why is he like that again?'

Even though we won first place, he seemed to worry about something again as his face didn't look good.

"I wish I was as composed as you."

"...I think hyung is composed enough though?"

Considering the temperament this guy has had for the past two months after , it was a nonsensical statement. However, Ryu Chungwoo shook his head.

"No, I think I have poor judgement at the decisive moments. I couldn't even properly say how I felt when we got first place today... Overall, that's how it is."

"...?"

This is even more absurd.

'What does he mean by messing up the first-place speech.'

"Hyung, you have been a good leader ever since the audition. I don't think such a thing is a problem."

"I was the leader because I was the oldest, not because I was good. There's never been a time when the team did well, except for the 2nd round we did together."

Honestly, that wasn't really Ryu Chungwoo's fault.

'It's just that you didn't have much luck with your team.'

I bitterly grabbed another beer.

"At the time of, there were fewer teams that worked well because it was a short-lived survival show. And TeStar has been doing well anyway."

"...I'm worried my mistakes will cause problems since it's going well."

Ryu Chungwoo smiled bitterly.

"Honestly, the only position I can take to contribute to this team is by being the leader but... it seems like that's the limit. I'm originally not the type to be patient with anything like this."

"Hmm."

No wonder Ryu Chunwoo's attitude became more conservative and restrained since the formation of TeStar. He seems to have been holding it in.

'When I think about the second round, he used to have a more challenging and cheerful personality.'

It seems that the conflicts he experienced in the past during IdolCo must have strangely affected his development.

Meanwhile, Ryu Chungwoo continued to speak. It seems like he has really been keeping it in.

"I was a bit worried about it during IdolCo. I wondered if coming there was the right choice..."

"..."

Come to think of it, there was no reason for him to quit archery and appear on an audition program that had previously failed after winning a gold medal.

"How did you happen to participate?"

"Oh, I don't think anyone knows this. One of the writers of IdolCo is my relative."

"...!"

Wait a minute.

"You don't mean writer Ryu Seojin?"

"That's right. Did you figure it out right away because of the same last name?"

Ryu Chungwoo laughed, but I couldn't laugh at it.

"That nuna asked me to do it so many times that this is how I ended up taking a new career path, and so I participated."

I broke out in a cold sweat.

'Wouldn't it be a scandal if this gets revealed...?'

It wouldn't matter that the audition show was thought to be ruined because of the previous season, because now season 3 of has established itself as a wildly popular program.

But one of the members, who debuted, is acquainted with one of the writers?

'Ryu Chungwoo even received a lot of friendly editing.'

This is totally... a scandal.

Ryu Chungwoo smiled and added as if he had also sensed it.

"There will be no harm to you guys. She was a distant relative, and we hardly knew each other. One day, she suddenly contacted me... so it was like getting cast."

Most likely in terms of the arrangement alone, it was no different from what I had received.

However, if the articles appeared, there was no way they would kindly indicate such a thing.

Only titles such as 'A TeStar member was, in fact, a relative of the writer of IdolCo', 'A relative who was invited until debuting...' or 'The dark side of IdolCo' will come out.

I barely opened my mouth.

"...Please, don't tell anyone."

"Well, don't worry about that either. Because it's my first time telling you."

Writer Ryu Seorin had also requested for it as soon as she saw the response for the first episode.

'...We just have to let the time pass.'

If it gets revealed a year or two later by the time the next season of comes out, it will go on without much trouble.

And if it doesn't explode throughout the show yet, then it's probably right that no one knows about it yet.

I checked with Ryu Chungwoo again just in case.

"How distant is your relation to the writer?"

"Um... Except for the fact that we are from the same Pungsan Ryu clan... I don't even know how many villages away it is. That's about it."

"..."

If that's the case then it's possible to even make an excuse that they're not related at all. It could be easily solved by saying that it was easy to cast him because the family origin was the same.

I relaxed a little.

Although I didn't know what the next status abnormality was going to be, it was clear that it wouldn't be any good if bad news came to the team, so I took it a little hard.

And I was starting to think about other things.

'Come to think of it, I was also from the Pungsan Ryu clan.'

I couldn't be sure since my parents passed away so I didn't pay much attention to it, but I think it was that.

If so, Ryu Chungwoo's name syllable was similar to mine. Ryu Gunwoo and Ryu Chungwoo.

Hmm.

'Woo (佔) is our common syllable.'

//TN: The word used here means that it's a syllable commonly used in names to show that the persons are related by blood.

Whatever. I shrugged my shoulders.

"It's strange I told you all this... I don't usually talk like this to my dongsaengs. Haha."

"..."

Did he instinctively sense that I was older?

I changed the subject.

"Then... the fact that the casting went through means that you were already preparing to be a singer."

"Yeah. I couldn't continue archery."

Ryu Chungwoo slightly moved to turn his shoulder.

"I had a big car accident when I was young... I don't know in which way it got impacted, but it was only after I grew up that the aftereffects started. My hands tremble when I put strength into them."

"..."

"So I quit two years ago... and started exploring new career paths to see what I'm good at. Haha."

His casual attitude was the same as that of a person who has already overcome it.

'Means that he's over it.'

I just nodded my head.

Just then, there was a sound of someone moving beside our feet.

"...Sniffle."

"...??"

"I'm sorry. I heard it..."

Cha Yujin, who was sleeping on the side, woke up with tears running down his face. And Kim Raebin, who was lying behind him, also moved his body while sniffling.

"Somehow, I came to my senses... I'm sorry. We didn't mean to eavesdrop..."

"We didn't. Sniffle."

"..."

The two guys without alcohol seemed to have woken up quickly to the sounds.

Ryu Chungwoo looked embarrassed for a moment but soon laughed it off.

"It's my fault for talking in the middle of the living room. Don't worry about it and go to bed."

But the two guys hesitantly wanted to say more.

"Hyung. I'll do better..."

"Chungwoo hyung is cool. You're a great idol!"

"...Mm."

Ryu Chungwoo nodded with a subtly complex expression. I added my words to it.

"Now that you heard them well, don't you think you can take it easier from now on? Leader?"

"...Have you not thought about doing it instead?"

"What? I would obviously end up giving up halfway through and failing."

"..."

Me as a leader? I'm sure one or two of them would lose their hands for pissing me off.

Ryu Chungwoo became speechless as he felt that I was being serious. It was a bit of an odd look.

"...Phew."

But soon, he responded with a more comfortable demeanour.

"...Okay. I got it. I'll keep being the leader."

"Waah!"

"Instead, you guys also stop me if I try to do something useless. Now, I can't just apply the breaks on myself unconditionally."

"Of course."

Ryu Chungwoo muttered something like 'my goodness', and soon stretched out and went to his room. His steps seemed lighter, perhaps because he had revealed his inner feelings.

And in the living room... only food waste and passed out bodies remained.

"..."

"...Shall we get in?"

"Yes."

If they wake up, they will know to go in by themselves. Let's leave it.

* * *

Shortly after the TeStar members shared the joys and sorrows of winning first place with each other.

The fans have been holding back until TeStar's first 1st place win appeared as an article and became a real-time search word. This was because they didn't want to ruin TeStar's good news.

However, in the end, no answers were received after several days.

Public opinion, which had been boiling under the water, eventually exploded, and fans eventually issued a statement directed at the agency.

Since it was not tied to any single individual member but was united through every member's individual fan community, the scale grew like crazy.

Fortunately, the agency responded to the fans who had prepared for fax and post-it protests as the next measure if the statement had not been available.

It was a declaration of surrender.

There were some fans who were annoyed by the slight nuance that 'they had already been preparing and the fans were overreacting', but the atmosphere was somewhat subdued with the talk of getting something done in the near future.

Afterwards, the agency tried to hint on the news that they were going to do an IdolCo-style event such as 'letting the fans choose the fandom name' but it was sunk by the fans' attack.

Fortunately, the agency did not go any further and prepared the schedule diligently.

So on that Friday.

The event banner popped up.

Fans who had barely seen TeStar in real-time during music shows were very excited.

TeStar's W App channel, which has yet to post a preview video, had already begun to see an excellent number of subscriptions.

And at 3 p.m. on the day of the event.

TeStar turned on the W Live.

//TN: All the members are so precious that I don't know who's my fave anymore ㅠㅠ but I guess for now I still like Moondae and Lee Sejin the most since their level of tsundereness is just my cup of tea :D