Little Pink Starfish

Though the song had started out of nowhere, the viewers’ response couldn’t have been better.

There was only one reason.

Good music has power.

-Wow, it kind of makes me feel good.

-Feels like a song you’d sing together on a trip with friends lol.

-Han Sion is seriously talented. How did he come up with this so quickly? Coming Up Next only ended recently.

-It’s bedroom pop.

-What’s that?

-It means music made in a bedroom. This is exactly that vibe. Psychedelic and warm.

-Yeah, it’s pretty trendy in the US these days.

On top of that, the video, which seemed to be shot in a one-take style, was fun to watch.

From the second verse, there were individual dancing scenes, but the directing wasn’t anything fancy.

The members sat lined up on the living room sofa, and when it was their turn, they’d get up and dance lightly.

It looked like a talent show or a casual choreography meeting.

Except for the key moves Choi Jaesung had choreographed earlier, everyone seemed to dance however they wanted.

Han Sion even danced intensely with exaggerated joint movements that didn’t match the melodic song, and he choked on his breath during the last verse.

Coughing and spluttering, he missed the end of the song, and the members burst into laughter.

-Pretending it’s live, what a show.

-What are you talking about? Anyone can tell it’s live lol.

-You can totally hear the post-production on the audio, though? But yeah, I guess normal folks like you wouldn’t notice.

-lol Han Sion glared at Choi Jaesung earlier when he went flat.

-So is the echo when Lee I-on sings in the bathroom just reverb effects too?

-Ignore the troll.

In 2017, bedroom pop wasn’t yet a dominant genre.

But within a few years, it would become huge. There was a reason.

For a long time, both domestic and international music scenes were led by strong-sounding music, especially hip-hop.

Bedroom pop emerged as a counterbalance. This shift could happen in Korea too.

Even if Billboard was ruled by hip-hop, K-pop was dominated by electronic and black music genres at the time.

-The song’s good.

-It’s been a while since I’ve heard this kind of vibe. I love it.

-It’s pure easy listening.

-Oh, wait. I heard this somewhere before—wasn’t it in Fall Detector‘s intro?

-Oh really?

-Yeah, it plays very briefly.

-Was this always meant to be promo?

Meanwhile, the live performance reached its end.

The ending showed Han Sion playing guitar while Choi Jaesung played the keyboard, which he kept messing up, adding an extra bit of humor.

[Done!]

[Waaaah!]

[Everyone clap!]

As soon as the song ended, the members clapped.

But the clapping was short, and soon the mood turned mischievous.

Han Sion glanced around at the members and spoke.

[Time for confessions.]

[One miss for me.]

[Same here.]

[What are you talking about, Choi Jaesung? You messed up four times.]

[Wait, you’re counting the off-pitch notes too? Then Taehwan’s rhythm was off a bit too!]

[That was a creative impulse, not a mistake.]

The members bickered playfully.

Turns out, they had agreed that whoever made mistakes during the live would get forehead flicks (ddakbam).

In the end, Oh Saemi, Lee I-on, and Goo Taehwan had one each, Han Sion had zero, and Choi Jaesung had four.

Then Choi Jaesung objected.

[No way. Sion messed up too!]

[Me? When?]

[The coughing!]

[That was…]

[Now that I think about it, why were we letting that slide?]

Han Sion was assigned one forehead flick.

The flicks were shown in fast forward, and finally, it was Han Sion’s turn.

[Who should flick him?]

[Me!]

[Me.]

[Me too.]

[I believe it’s only right that the youngest punishes the leader.]

Everyone wanted a shot at Han Sion’s forehead.

They weren’t joking; they seemed genuinely excited.

The caption even read: “The members, who’ve bottled up a lot during live rehearsals.”

Just as Han Sion looked betrayed, glancing around at the others—

Ding-dong.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Han Sion quickly stood up and headed for the front door.

-lololololol

-Does he hate getting flicked that much?

-Han Sion’s kind of selfish. He was excited when it was his turn to flick others.

-What the hell man. You must not have any friends.

The members couldn’t give up their flicks so easily, so they all followed Han Sion.

And then—they froze.

[Ah, hello!]

[Hello!]

Coming through the door was Drop Out.

The chat exploded.

-Finally!!!

-Oh right, this is why I came. I totally forgot because the song was so good.

-Same. I was just about to rewind for another listen and then froze.

The scene jumped to Drop Out and Sedalbaekil sitting side by side in the living room.

Amidst the slightly awkward atmosphere, Han Sion opened his mouth…

And an ad started.

-???????

-Huh?

-Random ad???

It was a real advertisement.

But the five members were holding label-removed water bottles.

[We drink water.]

[Water is precious.]

[Sedalbaekil’s water. Would you like to drink with us?]

With soulless expressions, captions scrolled below.

[PPL inquiries welcome! We’ll promote your product with all our hearts!]

[Your ads create our music!]

-Weren’t they weird from the moment they played Seotda for room assignments?

-What idol group blatantly begs for ads like this lol.

-Do they really not have an agency? They’re saying ads fund their music.

-lol Is it just me or are these guys hilarious? I only saw their stage clips from Coming Up Next, didn’t realize they were this funny.

-There’s subtle craziness that’s hilarious.

-Not subtle. Completely unhinged.

Meanwhile, the five members gulped down their water with soulless eyes.

-Is this an Arisu ad or something? lol

-Milk! Drink milk next time! Spill a little while you do it!

-Gross, you perv lol. But… low-key interested?

-lol

-Ugh, disgusting. But if Lee I-on did it, I might faint?

-lolololololol

Surprisingly, Sedalbaekil’s fans were quite satisfied with the unexpectedly hilarious self-content.

Public reaction was very positive.

The chats were full of people saying the music was great and Sedalbaekil was funny.

In hindsight, the content was cleverly planned and structured.

The controversy around Han Sion was turned into curiosity by bringing in Drop Out.

That curiosity led people to watch the content, and through it, they showcased Sedalbaekil’s charm.

Yet the members weren’t excessively trying to be cute or cool.

There were no individually focused fancy shots—everything was plain.

Still, their charm came through because the main content was music.

It was impressive that they performed live without dragging things out.

Their musical talent spoke for itself.

‘Who planned this?’

As Sedalbaekil’s fans shared these thoughts, the ad praising fresh oxygen ended.

[Sorry for the soulless PPL!]

[We promise to feature actual products in episode 2! – Production Team]

The scene returned to Drop Out and Sedalbaekil sitting together.

And just when it seemed like all the buildup was for nothing, Han Sion stood up neatly and apologized.

[I’m sorry. I spoke carelessly about your music and your activities. I sincerely apologize.]

Xido, Drop Out’s leader, shook his head with a smile.

[No worries. As a big fan of Fall Detector, I understand the unique circumstances.]

-Wow, Xido’s so classy.

-Yeah, honestly, even if a more successful group appears someday, there may never be a leader who fits the role better than Xido.

-What about our leader Han?

-No way. He literally ran to the front door to avoid getting flicked and jumped straight to business.

-True lol.

-Wait, is that it for the apology?

-Isn’t it true though? He said Sedalbaekil’s song was better than Selfish. Even the lie detector said he was telling the truth.

-No way…

Of course, that wasn’t all.

After thanking Xido for being so understanding, Han Sion spoke again.

[If it’s not too much, may I explain why I felt that way?]

[Why you think Sedalbaekil is better than Selfish?]

[Yes.]

-Oh no, he’s about to fall into the pit again lol.

-He’s not about to analyze every song and explain why Sedalbaekil is better, right?

-Guys, remember this isn’t actually live-live. It’s edited.

-Right. Got too immersed, thanks.

-I’m curious what he’ll say.

But what Han Sion said next was something the general public would find hard to grasp.

[Selfish was composed by a single songwriter, but Sedalbaekil’s song wasn’t. First, the initial motif came from Oh Saemi.]

[While talking with Oh Saemi, she said a particular phrase with a certain nuance, which became the song’s seed.]

[During the arrangement process, the members contributed many ideas.]

[The genre, tropical house, was chosen by Choi Jaesung. The intro style was decided by Goo Taehwan, and thanks to Lee I-on, we got a great pre-hook.]

[So I think I had a perception that I should naturally like the song we created together more than one composed by myself.]

[I apologize once again.]

-????? What’s he saying??

-Right??? If the composer of Selfish hears this, they’ll lose their mind.

-Isn’t Xido the composer of Selfish? Drop Out always self-produces their title tracks.

-Yeah, probably Xido.

-Han Sion has zero social skills. He’s basically telling the composer to understand because his song has more meaning.

-lol This guy’s nuts.

But then, Drop Out’s lead vocalist Dey shook his head and spoke.

[No, it makes perfect sense from a composer’s perspective. I’m just grateful for receiving such a good song.]

-Wait a second.

-What does that mean???

With a mischievous grin, Dey continued.

[Honestly, we’ve wanted to meet the composer for a long time because we love the song so much.]

[Uh… I’m sorry.]

[No worries. We didn’t realize you were a fellow idol. Had we known, we wouldn’t have been so persistent in reaching out.]

-No way???

-Really??

The viewers could only think of one possible explanation.

But it was so unbelievable, they hesitated to type it out.

Then, Xido confirmed it.

[We’re very satisfied with the song. How did Selfish come to be?]

-Holy sh*t!!!!!!!!

-Han Sion is the composer of Selfish???

-I just checked the music site. The composer is listed as ZION.

-Yeah, I saw that too. Thought it was just pronounced “Zion.”

-So…

-It was Han Sion?

Everything flipped in an instant.