Little Pink Starfish

-Oh, finally lol

-They’re so late. I only care about Sedalbaekil.

-They’re the 1st place nominees, after all.

-At least the earlier unit stages made it less boring.

The general public was thrilled that Sedalbaekil’s turn had finally come, but the industry veterans in the idol world weren’t so relaxed.

They noticed a few things that didn’t quite add up.

-What’s with the stage lineup?

-Exactly. The show’s almost over.

-Wait, did they actually schedule Sedalbaekil and Mix Way back-to-back?

-There’s no way M-Show has lost its mind.

Music shows are regular broadcast programs with a fixed runtime.

That means there’s a set number of stages they can air, and by now, it was obvious not much time remained.

Maybe two more teams at most—and Sedalbaekil and Mix Way hadn’t appeared yet.

Which meant the final two teams were Sedalbaekil and Mix Way…

-Have 1st place nominees ever gone back-to-back like this before?

-Yeah, but only when it’s a clear senior-junior group with no tension. Not when there’s unresolved drama like with these two.

-Maybe it’s just a scheduling issue?

-They already pre-recorded. The only scheduling conflict big enough to stop this would be North Korea launching a nuke.

-lol even then, the music show must go on?

-Extreme job lol

-I don’t care either way. If these two go head-to-head onstage, it’s gonna be insane.

-You can practically hear the industry DMs blowing up right now lol

-But this would’ve needed the station’s approval. It’s not something that happens accidentally.

-Are they just trying to break music show ratings records?

-Well yeah, SBN still holds the top spot with Gayo Taste.

-Really? Who was on that one?

-You don’t remember? When Han Siheon’s parents’ scandal broke out.

-Ohhh that was Sedalbaekil’s first music show, right. I remember now.

-Feels like it was years ago, but it hasn’t even been a few months.

-They’re still not even a full year into debut lol even counting Coming Up Next.

-But they already released two full albums. Crazy people.

-For real, true workers of our era.

-I’m not even a TT, but I respect that Sedalbaekil keeps putting out full albums. They’ve helped revive the full-length culture in K-pop.

Veterans of the K-pop scene weren’t necessarily anyone’s fans.

Sure, it’s hard to be completely neutral in this game, but many didn’t care who won or lost.

They concluded that M-Show’s stunt of putting the stages back-to-back was entertaining.

But actual fans didn’t feel the same way.

TTs, for instance, were upset with the performance order.

Stage order on music shows doesn’t necessarily reflect a group’s status.

It’s not always true that later = more senior, earlier = less popular.

But this case was tricky—because of the tension between the groups.

-Are they out of their minds? Shouldn’t our boys obviously close the show?

-Of course! Other than first-week sales, what did Mix Way even win?

-Their digital numbers are insane. The moment the song dropped, Mix Way’s stuff vanished from the top 10.

-How does this make any sense?

Sedalbaekil’s fandom was furious about the order.

By any metric, Sedalbaekil was the dominant force. Mix Way had no right to close the show.

But Mix Way’s fans felt the same.

-So what, our kids go up after Sedalbaekil finishes?

-There’s no way they won’t feel overshadowedㅠㅠㅠ

-This is so obviously M-Show playing favorites with Sedalbaekil.

-We need to complain. M-Show literally invested in Sedalbaekil’s album and gave them promo. That’s a conflict of interest.

The Mix Way fandom’s argument was simple:

If Sedalbaekil performed first, the crowd’s energy would peak, and Mix Way would have to go up right after—totally drowned out.

Which wasn’t totally wrong… but it wasn’t exactly right either.

Even with Sedalbaekil’s popularity, each group gets similar stage time from the station.

This was less about fairness and more about fans not wanting their babies to be hurt.

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Live reactions from Sedalbaekil vs. Mix Way fans.jpg

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Naturally, the buzz over this spicy match-up exploded online.

-Oh damn. M-Show really set the board for them. Let ’em clash.

-lol what do you mean “clash,” you lunatic lol

-But can you really gauge performance skills from a music show stage?

-Yeah, but when they’re side-by-side… it gets harder to ignore lol

-But M-Show’s obviously on Sedalbaekil’s side. Isn’t this whole thing part of their plan?

-Do you think Sedalbaekil are crazy enough to ask to be right next to Mix Way? Why would they?

-You clearly don’t know Sedalbaekil lol. They totally would.

-Yeah, true. But would they even have enough pull with M-Show to make that happen?

-Good point.

And while it was true that Sedalbaekil had made the request, the general public had no way of knowing just how close they were with M-Show.

This entire online storm lasted maybe 10 minutes.

It started when Sedalbaekil showed up in the NEXT preview, and ended the moment the two veteran artists wrapped up.

Because now, at last, it was time for Sedalbaekil’s performance.

-Ooh drumroll please

-Finally happening.

–Stage, huh.

-Well, it is the title track.

Sedalbaekil’s first performance was the pre-recorded track, STAGE.

Everyone had guessed STAGE would be the title even before the album dropped.

There was a version of Stage on Side A (Masked Robbers), Side B (Choi Jaesung), and Side C (On & On).

Sedalbaekil’s full album concept was built around combining those three unit albums—and Stage was the track that emerged when all three versions were merged.

Han Siheon had designed it that way from the beginning.

But once the album came out, people were shocked—because the STAGE on the full album sounded nothing like the unit tracks.

It was a totally new song, despite using the same DNA.

And all four versions were incredible.

Eventually, streaming sites had to clarify which version was which in the rankings:

Stage (Side A)
Stage (Side B)
Stage (Side C)
Stage (Stage)

That’s how wild it got.

Masked Robbers’ Stage was R&B, Choi Jaesung’s was electronic pop, and On & On’s was unplugged folk.

So what genre was the full album’s Stage?

The answer: Slow Jam.

Despite the name, Slow Jam doesn’t necessarily mean a slow tempo.

It’s more like a smooth R&B hybrid that blends mood, sensuality, and groove—like musical jam.

Slow Jam exploded in popularity in the early 2000s through Black R&B artists, dominating U.S. pop culture.

Its momentum faded over time, but it remained a beloved mainstream genre.

Han Siheon, of course, knew that Korea had a special love for Slow Jams.

Why?

Because they’re sexy.

Not because of explicit lyrics, but because the entire genre is crafted for listening with someone—someone intimate.

And that’s exactly the vibe Sedalbaekil brought to their stage.

-!!!!!!!!!

-Insane….

The music video had shown them in simple two-button suits.

Well—simple didn’t quite describe it. More like perfectly styled.

So TTs figured they’d be wearing suits for the music show too.

And they were—sort of.

They had the blazers on… but no shirts underneath.

-Wait… is this really the same Sedalbaekil that wouldn’t even dye their hair? I’m overwhelmed….

-The BODIES… the sheer BODIES…

-So this is the “Forbes Sexiest Idol” celebration performance, huh?

-Thank you for skipping the shirts, stylist-nim.

As the TTs completely lost their minds, outsiders tilted their heads.

Sexy concepts for idols—regardless of gender—were a dime a dozen.

-Why are they freaking out lol? This isn’t even that intense.

-It’s different for TTs. Trust me.

What they didn’t realize was Sedalbaekil’s long, conservative history.

One inside joke among TTs: “The sexy concept died with Ieon’s photocard.”

-Our boys are traditionalists…

-Are they descendants of the Joseon Dynasty or what?

-How did this photocard become their final act of skin exposure…

During the 1st album, there was a special photocard series where members picked outfits for each other.

That time, Choi Jaesung made Han Siheon wear an animal onesie.

Han Siheon, pleased with Ieon’s workout progress, had wanted to take his shirt off (as a trainer would)… but the other members protested.

So instead, they gave him a loose basketball uniform.

That ended up being the most skin anyone had ever shown during a promo cycle.

So today’s stage felt like a completely unexpected Christmas miracle.

And the best part?

It was all because the other members were bitter.

“C-Can we stop now…?”

“Progressive overload.”

“What even is that…”

“Your muscle endurance is too high now. If you train like before, you’ll deflate like a balloon.”

“That’s so unfair… shouldn’t regular workouts maintain it?”

“Life and muscles are unfair, Mr. On Saemiro. One more set.”

“Stop using honorifics…”

Ten months of suffering under Han Siheon’s American macho gym persona.

One day, the injustice struck them.

They were working out like crazy, but had no opportunity to show it off.

Sure, you could tell they were in shape…

But idols need to keep muscle mass lean for choreography. Unless they take off their shirts, no one notices.

‘I wanna take it off…!’
‘This is so hard—I wanna show the world…!’

That pent-up desire finally exploded in the form of this outfit.

And they had one more little joy.

“Uh, isn’t this a bit too revealing?”

“Majority vote.”

“Still, can’t I wear something under the blazer…”

“Majority vote.”

They took great satisfaction watching Han Siheon squirm once the outfit was decided.

With all that story packed into the stage, Stage…

…was flawless.

Perfect synchronized moves, impeccable vocals.

-Damn, they crushed it.

-Are they insane?

-At first it was weird seeing them act like “normal” idols lol

-Right?? Now it’s like a side character they play—doing idol stuff, Apple ads, busking…

-And they’re good at all of it lol

It was universal acclaim.