Seon Ahyun did not stutter.

"...In the future, with the same attitude as now, I will... take this as a message... to keep doing my best, and always try my hardest."

It was slow, and there were many sections where he stopped to take a breath. There were parts where the pronunciation was dragged and the sentence was connected.

But he never stuttered.

"...And, to the Loviewers, who support us, ...thank you so much and I love you!"

"I love you Loviewer!"

"Thank you!"

The members livened up the mood behind Seon Ahyun, who finished the last sentence safely.

But there was no need for that.

The fans in their seats were already in a whirlpool of shock and being deeply moved.

Aaah!

Well done! Well done!

Oh my god!! Ahhh!!

Even those who watched the video could hear the sound of the auditorium ringing from TeStar's microphone.

Like this, TeStar finished the award while proving themselves.

There was no shadow of the ridicule and condemnation that people expected at the end of last year.

* * *

After winning the award and returning to the singer's seats, the group members praised Seon Ahyun one by one.

"Congratulations on achieving your goal, Ahyun-ah!"

"Congratulations!"

Seon Ahyun blushed.

"Th-thank you..."

Well, he deserved to be congratulated. Since he went through a lot for quite a long time.

'He practiced... for about a month and a half.'

Seon Ahyun started treatment for his stuttering at the same time as he was very busy with end-of-year performance practice.

Since this was our beginning phase, we each set a short-term goal that wasn't difficult for a sense of purpose, and this was what Seon Ahyun had set.

It was to express his gratitude during the acceptance speech without stuttering.

Because of that, I could see Seon Ahyun muttering that short statement all day long in the dorm, the practice room, and in the car.

'...Within a week, even the manager memorized the whole speech.'

And soon after, everyone started to treat Seon Ahyun's mutterings as ASMR for sleeping.

Anyway, it was definitely impressive that he practiced well for a long time without being overly impatient and succeeded.

'There's also the fact that once you succeed, you'll keep going.'

It would also be good for the whole group if there was a possibility that Seon Ahyun's status abnormality recurrence went away.

I also praised him.

"I told you it would be okay even if it didn't come out as you practiced, but there was no need for me to say that. You did a good job."

"...! I-it's not to that extent... There were parts where I took a breath too much. Ne-next time I'll do really well...!"

"..."

No, I was just saying he did well. Why did he reply with an excuse like that?

However, before I could correct anything, Seon Ahyun started first.

"Th-thank you for... telling me to get counseling."

Well, maybe that deserved some appreciation. I nodded my head.

"It was nothing."

"Oh, it's heart-warming~"

"Our team atmosphere is really good."

The controversies had disappeared and the Rookie of the Year award had gone well. With all their worries gone, the guys headed to the singer's seats happily smiling.

However, my mood got soiled as I returned to the singer's seat. This was because TeStar's seating position was placed right next to VTIC.

'Why did they place rookies next to them?'

Because of that, I had to bow to greet VTIC whenever we moved, but just that much was fine.

"Congratulations~"

"Thank you!"

The issue was that every time we greeted each other, Chungryeo seemed to look at me while snickering.

'Fuck.'

People who saw it would just think that he was smiling for being happy.

It was because this bastard did a pretty good job covering up the social media post that sparked the controversy over the Rookie of the Year award.

Every time he appeared on the end-of-the-year programs, he uploaded many pictures on social media, and among the pictures, he added random performers with phrases similar to when he posted with Onyx.

It was to water it down, so to speak.

Thanks to their fans' active clarification, everyone seemed to think that the Onyx case was a coincidence.

Let me just say that the response 'It was strange since he seemed to have a close relationship with Park Moondae' was the most upsetting.

"..."

After we greeted them, I deliberately moved slowly and sat down on a chair as far away from VTIC as possible. It didn't mean much and it was just to make me feel less upset.

Shortly thereafter, the first part ended and a few minutes of commercial time went into it.

And the commercials appeared on the big displays as well.

"Uaack!"

"Wah, please..."

The members screamed in agony and hit their heads on the table at the public documentation of this dark history (currently ongoing). The Russian roulette of horror was turning.

The victim this time was Bae Sejin.

Bae Sejin's acting with the CG hamster ears was natural but the current main body was completely knocked down.

"...The bath, bathroom, please."

Bae Sejin staggered from his seat, his face turning red, and hurriedly ran.

And the members sympathized and laughed at the same time.

"Ahahahaha!!"

"Sejin-ah, it's ok- puhah!"

From the guys clapping their hands to the ones putting their heads down on their laps, all sorts of reactions came out.

'As long as it's not me.'

That's right. I nodded and opened a water bottle.

As soon as I put the water bottle to my mouth, someone sat on Bae Sejin's seat.

And asked.

"There's one for each member, right? How fun."

"Pfft."

The water almost came out of my nose.

'Fuck.'

It was Chungryeo.

The laughing members bowed in surprise.

"Hello!"

"Yes. Hello. I'll just talk with Moondae for a while."

"Yes!"

Please, show that you feel uncomfortable, you punks.

However, since Bae Sejin was not there, there was no one to do that. Damn it.

At least, Keun Sejin had seemed almost certain that Chungryeo's social media post incident was intentional, but now he was just smiling and nodding his head.

And honestly, it was correct for them to act like that.

'There are close-up cameras installed on the singer's seats.'

Someone in the stands must be taking pictures of this scene.

Whether it was of VTIC or TeStar members, the current situation would surely be caught on at least twenty cameras.

'Let's stay calm.'

Anyway, even if we talked here, the conversation wouldn't spread since it was so loud. Unless I deliberately spoke loudly, even the members wouldn't be able to hear us.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"I told you on the phone last time... Don't you remember?"

Ah, he was talking about how there were no bad intentions with the uploaded post on his social media.

In short, he wanted to explain 'I didn't mean to screw you up' in elaboration.

Now that it was like this, I would roughly listen and respond with'Oh, is that so? I understand'. Or so I would want to finish this but there was a problem.

"...You're going to explain everything within the commercial time?"

"Ah, enough. Listen to me."

Chungryeo smiled and nodded his head.

"It's most convenient to die once at this timing."

"...!"

"I thought about it, and that was the hardest thing for me at first. I was reluctant to start over."

Chungryeo tapped the table.

"But once you try it, you realize right away that it wasn't a big deal. Then things are much easier after that."

"..."

The reason for him being insane beyond imagination came out.

'Wow, this isn't a joke.'

I consciously lifted the water bottle and gulped down.

My palms became sweaty.

"You must have some regrets this time, too, right? Go back and fix it. Then that burdensome feeling goes away... and instead, there is a sense of accomplishment."

"Wait."

I put down the water bottle.

"Then it's true that you were trying to make me die by making me fail to get the Rookie of the Year award."

"Would you be unable to get the rookie award just because I did that? That wouldn't be the case, ...it would just make it a bit bothersome."

Chungryeo kindly added an explanation.

"The public opinion was bad, and the situation was annoying, so you might want to try again."

"...So you tried to help my progress go smoothly by reducing my reluctance to die?"

"Yes."

"Mm, don't lie."

"...What?"

"Whether my progress was going smoothly or not has nothing to do with you sunbae-nim, so there's no reason for you to do that."

"...!"

Even if I had a very favorable relationship with this guy, there was no way that this guy moved with altruistic intentions without any intentions to profit from it.

I was going to listen to it roughly and move on, but at this point, I couldn't predict what bullshit would come out, so I cut him off.

Chungryeo made a slightly embarrassed expression.

"Well, of course, I took my position into consideration as well with that choice."

"..."

"It's not like it would have any effect on you, hoobae-nim... I was just, a bit curious."

Chungryeo slightly turned his neck.

"I wanted to know if I will also restart if you die."

"...!"

"Right. It doesn't matter if it wasn't back to the time when I first went back. The point of your return is fine too. There are a few things I wanted to fix in the first half of this year."

This bastard was completely insane.

This was a reset syndrome in the truest sense.

"Ah, of course, I'm not saying that I want you to start all over again... but it's better to confirm in advance. Is it not?"

"Wait a minute."

If things went wrong, I was starting to think that this bastard could be burying my body in darkness on the day a scandal of VTIC broke out.

'I'm going crazy.'

...I didn't mean to reveal it, but I thought that it would be less risky if I told him.

First of all... it seemed like this guy was still able to use some logic, so let's start with logic.

"...To begin with, it seems that if I fail, it might just be the end for me."

"...Hmh?"

"It feels like that. It seems like I will just die."

Since I couldn't tell him about the status window, I just dismissed it as a feeling, but it was still true.

'My status abnormality only states 'death'.'

There was no description of 'going back' like the status abnormality of that bastard.

'It will probably end with this one time.'

Even if I could go back, there was no need to take the chance. It was better for me to just think that it would really be the end for me if I died.

But Chungryeo burst out laughing.

"Ah, it's like that at first. But it wouldn't be like that in the end."

"..."

"Don't be afraid and try it."

This bastard, seriously.

I heatedly answered.

"Nope. I don't want to start over in the first place. I want to see to the end here now. I like the members right now, and I like the fans. There is nothing I want to change."

"..."

Chungryeo shut his mouth. And looked into the void with no expression.

'...Did I go too far?'

He wasn't going to pull a sledgehammer out of nowhere and smash my head with it, was he?

However, Chungryeo soon nodded his head.

"...I guess, I was like that, too."

"..."

"Mm, I understand. Well, if that's the case then."

Did it work?

Suddenly, I almost let go of my nervousness but held it in. He was the kind of guy who might catch me off guard again.

However, Chungryeo only had a slightly apologetic expression.

"Anyway, I'm sorry if you had a hard time because of me this time."

"...It's fine. But next time, please check my intentions first."

"Yes. Ah, then I should tell you something that would make you feel at ease... Mm, that's right."

"...?"

"I'll tell you the task criteria for the Rookie of the Year award."

Chungryeo laughed.

"It's to get the Rookie of the Year award in Korean Music Awards."

"...!"

Korean Music Awards?

'That' Korean Music Awards?

was a place where they excluded the commercial value and only evaluated based on musicality.

As far as I knew, no idol had ever received the Rookie of the Year award...

Wait a minute, then this bastard would not have gotten it either.

"Haha! I'm obviously joking."

"..."

One day... when the status abnormality was over, I would crush this bastard's face with TeStar's trophy.

Fortunately, before my patience could run out, Chungryeo spat out the right information.

"What matters is the public opinion after winning the Rookie of the Year award."

"...!"

"The reaction that you had received an award you deserved has to be a solid public opinion for it to pass. Of course, the premise is to win an award at real award ceremonies and half of the votes."

...I see.

'Was the 'most prestigious award ceremony' that the status window mentioned the public opinion?'

It was plausible.

It was no wonder that the pop-up about achieving the goal of the status abnormality did not appear even at this Gold Disc's Rookie of the Year award, so it was likely that it wouldn't appear until February.

And the moment I came to a conclusion, Bae Sejin, who had run away, returned.

"...! Erm."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I'll get up. Moondae-ya, I'll contact you again."

"..."

I couldn't dare to give an affirmative answer but still nodded, being aware of the close-up cameras.

Chungryeo waved to all of TeStar and went back to his seat.

Bae Sejin looked at Chungryeo with a slightly confused face, and then he sat down feeling a little uncomfortable about his seat.

"...Are you close to that person?"

I briefly wondered why he didn't call Chungryeo sunbae, but soon realized that it had been over 14 years since Bae Sejin first debuted.

That's why he could comfortably address him with a straight face.

"No. We were talking about work."

"...Work?"

"Oh, Moondae's social life."

Perhaps our voice had been a little loud as Keun Sejin laughed when he heard us. It seemed that he probably guessed that Chungryeo had given an explanation about the social media issue.

However, Bae Sejin whispered with a slightly serious face.

"Tell me if he bothers you."

"..."

Perhaps Bae Sejin was recalling his past experience as a child actor and thought about the abuse of power by the sunbaes' of the industry... Wait, this was also true in a sense.

Anyway, since it was an impossible problem to explain, I just gave a vague nod.

"I will tell you if it becomes like that. Thank you."

"...Well."

On this day, TeStar received the main award and returned home after performing well on the stage without any mistakes.

For reference, VTIC got the grand award.

...Until the day my status abnormality ended, I hoped that VTIC would continue to win the grand award. By this, I meant that otherwise, some lunatic might attack me in the middle of the night to restart.

* * *

And the day after the Gold Disc Awards.

I had already slowly prepared my mind, but I heard some unpleasant news.

"I heard they start working today."

A new director was appointed to the company.

//TN: I wasn't sure whether to cry or laugh while translating every word that came out of Chungryeo's mouth. Moondae wasn't even just annoyed like he normally was but straight up terrified by that man 😭