Second Try Idol

Chapter 57: Mini Fan Meeting (3)

“I will take the picture on one. Three, two, one!” At On-Sae's cue, all of us took a pose. After wrapping up the fan meeting, we all headed to a dinner gathering of Pick We Up. The venue was split between the staff and the idols, each creating their unique dining atmosphere. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits, except for one noticeable absence.

"Why aren't the Air Senior members here?" Lee Jin-Sung asked.

"They said they had other commitments and couldn’t make it to the dinner. Well, we don’t mind at all because we feel more comfortable without them," Ji-Hyuk replied, piling meat onto Jin-Sung’s plate. Seeing his plate getting filled, Jin-Sung clung to Ji-Hyuk in delight.

"Wow, our members never serve meat to each other. I'm moving to High Tension!" exclaimed Jin-Sung

"Welcome, welcome!" laughed Ji-Hyuk. It seemed like Jin-Sung was still holding onto the story about Team D taking care of On-Sae and grilling meat for him last time.

"No way, we can't let Jin-Sung go to High Tension," I joked, piling even more meat onto his already heaping plate, making Jin-Sung pout.

"Jin-Sung, look here!"

"Huh?"

Click!

Joo-Han captured Jin-Sung clinging to Ji-Hyuk with his phone.

"Gotta let him go if he's moving to High Tension. Hyung, please take care of our boy," Joo-Han said and nodded at Ji-Hyuk, who hugged Jin-Sung even tighter.

"Let’s go, Jin-Sung!"

"No, I don't want to!" Jin-Sung wriggled away.

"What did Joo-Han post on BlueBird?" Jin-Sung asked anxiously. Joo-Han then handed over his phone before returning to his seat.

Chronos @Officialchronos · 1m

Jin-Sung is moving to HighTension.

Feeling betrayed #Joo-Han

(Photo of Jin-Sung clinging to Woo Ji-Hyuk with a happy smile.jpg)

Comments 56 Retweets 104 Likes 367

"Ah, why!"

"I thought the fans might be curious about what we're up to after the fan meeting?"

"No, hyung. I hate it. And why do I look like that?" While Joo-Han and Jin-Sung bickered, Ji-Hyuk sat down beside me and said, "I'm worried about Jin-Wook."

"...Hyung, you didn’t even like Jin-Wook that much."

"No, I grew to like him. We all had dinner together, remember?"

Like he did for Jin-Sung, Ji-Hyuk placed pieces of grilled meat on my plate. I then put some in my mouth and said, "He didn't need to come. They're disbanding soon anyway."

This dinner felt more like a networking opportunity than a celebration. Therefore, Air Senior members, who were already on the brink of disbandment amidst internal strife and unenthusiastic management, had no reason to come.

Ji-Hyuk nodded. "I agree. Those guys got stuck with the worst agency. Talented members, but...”

“No, I don't pity those who start to smoke in their trainee days," I whispered as I felt they were not trying their best. Ji-Hyuk just looked at me as if he agreed.

"By the way, have you guys decided on your debut song yet?" Ji-Hyuk asked.

Joo-Han, who had been calming down Jin-Sung, shook his head. "Only the coupling song 'Chronos' is decided. The title track is still up in the air."

"Are you participating in the composing?"

"I'm not sure," Joo-Han replied with a wistful smile. "I wish I could, but I'm still a beginner in music composition. It'd be too ambitious to handle our title track," Joo-Han said modestly. He had just begun his journey in music composition, and the idea of shouldering the responsibility for our group's main song appeared to be beyond his current skill level.

"We've received a lot of songs, but we haven't found the right one for us yet," he added.

"Still searching? Your debut schedule is tight, isn’t it? It sounds risky," said Ji-Hyuk.

"That's what YMM does all the time," I chimed in. YMM often faced budget constraints, so they had a knack for transforming average songs into hits. This led to many composers gaining fame, sometimes even without the expected skills, just by signing with YMM. Now, with Chronos's rising popularity, we were exclusively considering top-notch songs from renowned composers. However, most of the songs didn't quite fit YMM's style or Chronos's image.

"If it doesn't work out, they might push back our debut," Joo-Han mentioned.

"Seriously, if they're so picky about finding the perfect song, they should spend more money! YMM is so frustrating," Ji-Hyuk muttered.

"What are you guys talking about?" Reina, the top star, joined us with a bottle of beer in hand and slid between Joo-Han and Ji-Hyuk. She poured them drinks with a casual flair and teased, "You guys are of legal drinking age, right? I'm not encouraging underage drinking, am I?"

"Yes!" they replied, feeling a bit startled but accepting the drinks graciously.

"Hyun-Woo and Jin-Sung, stick with soda, alright? I just came to check the vibe here. We are a bit isolated from the rest, right? Mind if I join you for a bit?"

Joo-Han immediately made room for her. After all, it was rare and exciting to have the chance to sit with a top celebrity like Reina. Despite having met her a few times, we were still in awe of her.

"What were you discussing? It looked serious."

"Oh, we were talking about our title track. We haven’t decided yet..."

"What? Still undecided?” Reina widened her eyes in surprise and then quickly frowned, looking displeased. “But your debut is right around the corner! YMM is dragging its feet with such talented guys like you all?"

"We've got some offers, but none that truly resonate with us. We haven’t found anything that fits our image," replied Joo-Han

"Hmm, even with renowned composers involved?" asked Reina, and Joo-Han nodded. As a veteran in this industry, Reina was familiar with YMM's stubbornness.

She guessed, "Ah, it seems like YMM is probably trying to make the most of their limited budget."

"Well, there is nothing we can do about it. If a good song comes out of all this process, it's all good for us."

"No, Joo-Han. In my opinion, you shouldn't delay the debut." Reina seemed to ponder, and her face suddenly lit up with a smile. "Great! I was just thinking of how I could help Chronos since you guys covered my song. This is perfect!"

"Really?"

"I'll introduce you to a professional composer friend of mine. He doesn’t just give songs to anyone, but he really likes me..." Her face beamed with confidence.

"A composer referral?" Joo-Han’s face lit up with hope.

Reina, the superstar, was offering to introduce a notable composer to us. This could mean a breakthrough, not necessarily for our title track, but still a masterpiece.

We all gazed at Reina with eager and positive expressions, and she responded with a reassuring and confident smile. “I think he will be able to give you guys a song you are looking for. Let me give you his phone number... Oh, never mind." Reina suddenly stood up from her seat, leaving us staring at her in confusion.

“R...Reina?" I blurted out, feeling puzzled as to why she abruptly stopped talking. Just as I thought she might change her mind, Reina raised her glass. “I will talk directly to your company. Just trust me. Mr. In-Hyun!" Calling for our manager, Reina strode away. Her back looked so cool and dependable.

***

Chapter: Chronos History (1)

Memorial @memory · June 19

[HQ] XX0619 UNET Mini Fan Meeting

The day we first talked

(Photo of Suh Hyun-Woo at the mini fan meeting.jpg)

#Chronos

#SuhHyunWoo #HyunWoo #HYUNWOO

Replies 3 Retweets 201 Likes 1053

Night Sea @cronbul · June 20

It was tough to wait cuz it was freaking hot, but it was worth it. They are so cute!!! My love for you guys deepens each day. I'll wait, love, and take care of you.

(4 photos from the Chronos mini fan meeting)

Replies 5 Retweets 75 Likes 186

Peach @yoojoon · June 20

XX0619 UNET Mini Fan Meeting

My babes are having fun with just one megaphone @Officialchronos

(Video of Chronos playing with a megaphone)

#CHRONOS #Chronos

Replies 2 Retweets 381 Likes 2001

Kakao Kakao @kakao · June 21

Mini Fan Meeting summary for myself, XX0619 UNET

Replies 1 Retweets 586 Likes 1028

└Kakao Kakao @kakao · June 21

Reply to Kakao @kakao

1. I saw Hyun-Woo and Jin-Sung fiddling with a toy megaphone on their way to the fan meeting place, and it was to tease Yoo-Joon > Hyun-Woo accidentally played it, making everyone laugh > Neither Hyun-Woo nor Jin-Sung knew how to turn it off, so Yoon-Chan had to do it

2. They fought a lot during Red Riding Hood Cha-Cha, especially Yoo-Joon and Hyun-Woo, as confirmed by Joo-Han (habitual bickering lol).

└Kakao @kakao · June 21

Reply to Kakao @kakao

3. The order of them showing up on the stage during the performances of ‘Chronos’ and ‘History’ was based on who joined the agency first.

4. Roommates in the dorm

Joo-Han - Sleeps alone in a small room

Hyun-Woo, Yoo-Joon - Roommates

Yoon-Chan, Jin-Sung - Roommates

Hyun-Woo and Yoo-Joon are so close that the other three had to fight for the remaining rooms.

I will continue later.

└Kakao @kakao · June 21

Reply to Kakao @kakao

*Joo-Han and Jin-Sung have super bad sleep-talking problems.

5. When they lived with units for two weeks, Hyun-Woo, Ji-Hyuk, and Jin-Wook had a conversation in the bathroom > It was off-camera because there were no cameras there > Anything they couldn't say in front of cameras was discussed there.

6. The song 'History' will be re-recorded with all five members for the album.

└Kakao @kakao · June 21

Reply to Kakao @kakao

7. The debut date hasn't been set yet. They will try to debut as soon as possible

8. Even Chronos doesn't know what they will be doing on variety shows

9. The only one in Chronos who’s familiar with Allure members is Hyun-Woo. They address each other using 'hyung' or 'dong-saeng.’ The other Chronos members call them 'seniors.'

└Kakao @kakao · June 21

Reply to Kakao @kakao

10. Team D (Hyun-Woo's team) went out for a meal together after the unit performance.

That's all for now. I will add more if I missed anything.

Replies 11 Retweets 485 Likes 1742

***

Four days had passed since the fan meeting. Despite our inexperienced hosting and minimal preparation, the fans were thankfully understanding.

"Hyun-Woo, are you checking the reactions again?" the manager teased. I then handed my phone to Joo-Han.

"Joo-Han hyung and Jin-Sung were looking at it earlier too."

“Not that many people leave hate comments now,” Joo-Han said.

The meeting we had planned for right after the competition got pushed back by three days because both our team's staff and UNET's staff suffered from hangovers. Those extra days of rest turned out to be a blessing, giving us all a chance to decompress from the competition's high stress.

And if anything really shifted since the competition, it was probably our collective fixation on Pick We Up.

"Dum-du-dum-du-dum- da-dan... Clumsy and cute..."

"The magician's mystical power..."

"YO... Clumsy, sure... But united, we're strong..."

"The magical pendant, woo-ergh..."

"Hey, Goh Yoo-Joon, Lee Jin-Sung, zip it. The woo-ergh is mine..."

We were all seemingly hooked, endlessly ribbing each other with imitations and inside jokes from the show. Those memorable lines and scenes from Pick We Up were all stuck in our brains.