Little Pink Starfish

Choi Jaesung’s withdrawal was reversed.

Sedalbaekil’s corporate entity SBI officially signed a production sponsorship contract with SBN.

“The names sound similar, and somehow it feels nice.”

The PD made a useless comment while being pleased, but…

Honestly, though they call it sponsorship, just looking at the conditions, they’re practically gangsters.

Even so, our conditions are probably more generous than those of other companies.

Because they’re not trying to buy the participant’s fame.

Usually, when entertainment companies share profits with audition programs, it’s because they acknowledge that the program helped the participant rise to stardom.

But in Choi Jaesung’s case, the story is different.

Even without elaborate explanations, it’s absurd to say Sedalbaekil became famous thanks to Stage Number Zero.

If limited to Choi Jaesung individually, there might be some influence, but ultimately, Choi Jaesung is a member of Sedalbaekil.

So the broadcasting station also adjusted the conditions within reasonable limits.

While signing the contract, we heard an interesting story: quite a few of the top 10 participants were interested in our company.

They said if we made a profit-sharing contract instead of a sponsorship one, we could connect with the participants as well.

But for a group that hasn’t even debuted for a full year, raising other singers is nonsense.

Of course, the fact that such a suggestion is even made is proof that Sedalbaekil is something different, so there’s nothing to feel bad about.

Anyway, Choi Jaesung’s Stage Number Zero seems to be wrapping up at this point.

Since Stage Number Zero doesn’t have dorm life, there’s nothing more to worry about.

Now, there are exactly three things we need to care about.

First, filming for Self Made.

Second, the concert.

Third, the fan signing event.

The first and second will proceed slowly, and the third is about to begin.

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Choi Sehee, who switched her favorite from Drop Out to Sedalbaekil, was so busy with real life lately that she barely noticed how time was passing.

When real life gets busy, hobbies naturally get pushed back.

Of course, that didn’t mean she stopped being a fan entirely — she still visited the official social media and homepage regularly.

Two days ago, she listened to the radio where Sedalbaekil appeared, and she managed to catch various contents.

But unlike other fans, she wasn’t anxiously waiting for the fan signing event, and she had completely forgotten about the survey she participated in.

No, rather than forgetting, it would be more accurate to say she pushed it into a corner of her mind.

So when her busy real life settled down, a question suddenly popped into her head.

‘But when is the fan signing event?’

It was at that moment.

[Would it be possible for us to invite Choi Sehee?]

If it had been a notification from a random app, she would have 100% thought it was an ad and skipped it.

Or maybe even deleted the app.

But it wasn’t.

Reflecting how serious Sedalbaekil was about their official color above all, a deep blue glowing notification.

This was a notification from the official homepage app.

Choi Sehee hurriedly clicked the notification, and she saw three options.

They weren’t grand choices.

Just times written down.

October 21st – Saturday 5PM

October 22nd – Sunday 2PM

October 28th – Saturday 4PM

The venue was already set at some convention center in Seoul, with no option to change.

Since she lived in Seoul anyway, there was no reason to change it.

The first thought that popped into Choi Sehee’s head was purely fan-hearted.

‘Can’t I go to all three?’

But apparently, that wasn’t possible.

After checking her schedule, Choi Sehee chose October 21st.

October 22nd was also possible, but if possible, sooner is better!

Besides, Saturdays are more fun than Sundays.

But even as she chose the 21st, she didn’t think this would be final.

Fan signings aren’t that easy to attend.

You usually have to do something, prove something, or spend money.

No matter how much Sedalbaekil takes an independent path in many ways, this is the foundation of the idol industry…

“Uh?”

But then Choi Sehee saw a screen that left her flustered.

From what to bring, how to get there, and various other instructions.

Could it be that her participation was confirmed?

“I didn’t do anything though?”

Reactions exactly like Choi Sehee’s began to spread among Sedalbaekil’s fandom with confusion.

Of course, information was exchanged among individuals, and while cross-checking the info, some speculations about the fan signing emerged.

First and most certain was that the first official fan club members were given priority.

There were some second-term members who got the confirmation too, but the dates of notifications were different.

It seemed like the first-term members chose their dates first, and the remaining spots went to the second-term members.

Another thing was that the fan signing event seemed completely unrelated to album purchase quantity.

TT first-term and second-term members had slightly different tendencies.

To explain in detail, first-term members were at the level of detachment, while second-term members were still in denial.

What that means is, the first-term members acknowledged that Sedalbaekil was completely different from existing idols.

There were many parts they didn’t like.

But conversely, there were many parts they loved.

So the first-term members now saw Sedalbaekil as they were, without trying to change them to fit their own standards.

It was understandable since the first-term members had witnessed so much since Coming Up Next ended.

They couldn’t go on music shows, wandered around the indie scene, did random place busking instead of random play dance.

When hoping for variety shows, they appeared on Color Show, and released six teaser fragments.

Nothing ever went as expected.

But Sedalbaekil had a clear standard they followed.

That’s why the fans reached detachment.

‘It’s fine as long as our boys are happy.’

This became the general stance, and some even began to look forward to what absurd surprise Sedalbaekil would show next.

In contrast, second-term members still tended to see Sedalbaekil with “typical idol” standards.

The second-term recruitment started around the first music broadcast and closed when they won first place for the first time.

So to the second-term, Sedalbaekil felt like a grand self-producing idol group.

Of course, intellectually they knew Sedalbaekil was very different in color, but it didn’t really hit them emotionally.

In this situation, among second-term members, there were some who thought, ‘They say all this, but they’ll ultimately pick fans based on purchase amount,’ and bought dozens of albums.

But among those, some didn’t get into the fan signing.

There were people who got in buying only 3 or 4 albums, while others who bought 40 to 50 albums didn’t get in — proving it was completely unrelated to purchase amount.

At this point, Sedalbaekil’s official homepage posted an announcement saying the first-term members had been selected first, and additional schedules would be prepared for second-term members.

-Isn’t Sedalbaekil kind of attention-seeking?

-Sort of? I have no idea what they’re trying to do, haha. Seems like they called almost all the first-term members.

-Wonder what they can even do with that number?

-Probably just take photos and call it a day.

Fans of rival groups who disliked Sedalbaekil reacted like this, but they also secretly knew.

When Sedalbaekil does something, it’s never with a sloppy plan.

Time quickly passed and October 21st arrived.

Even non-Sedalbaekil fans who were curious about what would happen at the fan signing lurked on social media.

Arriving at the fan signing, Choi Sehee was shocked.

The building looked several times larger than any typical convention center.

At the entrance it said MICE Center, though she didn’t know what it meant, it seemed like a level above a convention center.

But what really surprised her was that it seemed like Sedalbaekil had rented out the entire enormous building.

Because…

“Ms. Choi Sehee, please proceed to CASE Hall at the far left end on the 2nd floor.”

Fan managers checking fanclub ID cards began distributing the attendees.

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The feelings I have toward fans are clearly different from those of most singers.

To be honest, at the beginning of my regression, I was angry at the fans.

Even though I was consistently releasing good music, why were my sales dropping?

Those who once screamed like they would love me forever — after 5 years, after 10 years, why do they leave me?

The only ones who can save me are you, and I so desperately want you.

Why won’t you respond to my desperation?

In a way, it wasn’t so much anger as it was feeling hurt.

So I sometimes threw tantrums at my fans.

Shouting of eternity while knowing you’ll leave someday made me sad.

Thinking back, it’s really embarrassing, but I was just sulking.

Well, that was during the early days of my regression.

Before I matured mentally.

But after spending countless time since then, I realized.

The devil was right.

Supporting someone with your heart and soul — that itself is worship and offering.

Fans burn their own lives to worship me.

Getting angry that such worship isn’t eternal is selfish — like resenting them for not sacrificing themselves for me forever.

Moreover…

I will disappear someday.

In a world where I disappear, what will the fans look like?

Will they grieve my death?

Or treat my disappearance as an interesting mystery?

I don’t know.

There’s not much I can know about situations I haven’t experienced.

But I know two things for sure.

As long as I exist, I must remain an existence worthy of eternal worship.

I must not show weakness, nor falter musically.

I’m not saying I’ll live with a mysterious concept.

Even if my private life is fully revealed, if my music remains worthy of worship, fans will worship.

I learned that.

No matter how big my parents’ scandal explodes, if the music is good, fans eventually talk about the music.

The other thing is that I must accept my feelings are one-sided love.

Fans can abandon me, ignore me.

They can leave me and love another singer.

Or even spit at me and leave.

But I can’t do that.

Because the only ones who can save me are the fans who worship my music and buy my albums.

I can only keep delivering my feelings forever.

That’s why today’s event was prepared.

I don’t know how the members felt agreeing to a fan signing event that wouldn’t make a penny.

Maybe when we release the second album, they’ll want something more efficient.

But at least not today.

While thinking so, the staff gives me a signal.

The intro flows in through my in-ear monitor.

I didn’t need to worry about which song to sing first.

We already checked through the survey which fans wanted to see whom and which songs they wanted to hear.

Yes, we meet our own fans in our own halls.

Then we’ll all gather together.

I can’t deny I have the most fans, so the largest hall that can hold 350 people is mine.

The song they most want to hear is Summer Cream, second is Résumé.

But the third one is interesting.

SINCE’s Never Played Around.

Was that what I sang when determining positions on Coming Up Next?

Maybe because I’ve never sung such a mischievous song before, it ranked third.

Beating solo songs like Under the Streetlight or Falling Flowers.

It’s not even my song, nor Sedalbaekil’s, but it doesn’t matter.

As I suddenly appear on stage, 350 people scream as if they were 3,500.

Thus, a fan signing event closer to a fan meeting began.