Little Pink Starfish

“Come-back!”

Choi Jaesung raised his hand high as he returned to the dorm, but sadly, no one welcomed him.

Everyone was busy.

“Sion, what do you think of this? Which of the two looks better?”

“I don’t know? Does the tone of the acting even matter that much? Isn’t it just background under the stage?”

“No, it’s different.”

“What’s different?”

“The vibe’s different.”

“How exactly?”

“I don’t know.”

“…?”

“I’m asking you because I don’t know.”

“…?”

For the first time in Sedalbaekil’s history, a solo single was being released, and Onsaemiro-hyung seemed so nervous that a few screws had come loose. Sion-hyung, on the other hand, didn’t seem to understand that tension at all.

“……”

Taehwan-hyung was picking outfits, caught up in Masked Singer’s concept.

It wasn’t something he planned, but <The Real Original> never showed skin.

Hands, neck—completely covered.

Netizens were saying The Real Original was hiding age or a scar.

Jang Soohyeong had once suffered a minor burn on his hand during a music video shoot, after all.

Though that scar had long since vanished, netizens thought otherwise.

They guessed that since he wore gloves often in musicals and seemed to use concealer to hide scars, it must be him.

Even if it all started as a misunderstanding, Jaesung thought Goo Taehwan was enjoying the misconception.

If not, he wouldn’t be so carefully choosing outfits from such a large selection—trying to maintain the mysterious vibe while hiding as much skin as possible.

Eon-hyung was reviewing his list of variety show offers.

Jaesung had thought Goo Taehwan would be the one more suited to variety, but surprisingly, it was Eon who was better at it.

According to Eon-hyung, it was the “gap” that worked.

At first glance, he looked intimidatingly handsome and aloof—but the more he did variety, the more he let himself be ridiculous.

That unexpected image made people find him funnier even when he was doing the same thing as everyone else.

‘How does he manage to call himself insanely handsome with his own mouth…’

Jaesung chuckled at how Eon-hyung hadn’t changed.

Lastly, Sion-hyung wasn’t any different either.

He was just the usual Han Sion.

Didn’t seem like he was doing any special rap practice either. If anything, he was busy with outside projects.

He was apparently beating Fade into submission and working on some variety show concept with PD Kang Seokwoo, but hadn’t explained much.

He just said he couldn’t share the details yet—it might spoil the concept of the show. Just to know it was happening.

This made Choi Jaesung worry even more.

Han Sion said he was going to appear on Show Me.

To Jaesung, that had been half a joke, half nonsense when he said it.

He never thought Sion would actually go.

So one day, he gently suggested that instead of Show Me, Sion should try out for SNUMZ Season 2.

He couldn’t imagine Sion losing in SNUMZ, but he could imagine him getting eliminated from Show Me.

But Sion shook his head.

He said he was going to win Show Me and force Jaesung to rap.

Worried, Jaesung asked the others about Sion-hyung’s rapping skills—and got a weird answer.

“Jaesung.”

“Yes?”

“Remember? Our Hanyang Town Funk… no, Seoul Town Funk, the first arrangement meeting.”

“Of course. It was only a year ago.”

“Sion was obnoxious as hell, wasn’t he?”

Hard to deny.

Jaesung still remembered clearly.

In the self-producing mission, the others tried to adapt foreign songs with their own emotional take, like a creative cover.

But Sion actually produced a whole track.

“Do you all know how K-pop composition works?”

“If I come up with the core melody like ‘Ah—Ah—Ah,’ that’s called the top line. Creating a top line means composing the song.”

“But no one knows yet what kind of track that melody will become.”

“What kind of genre would a producer want to turn this line into?”

Then, using that exact line, Sion whipped out multiple songs like a madman.

Trot, hip-hop—everything.

It wasn’t all shown on broadcast, but there was more he created.

Watching that, Jaesung had to ask:

“Hyung, is that a real song already out?”

Because the quality was too high—it had to be pre-existing.

Sion’s answer?

“Of course not. I just came up with that top line. The beat was just to explain.”

And he looked at Jaesung like he was an insect.

Thinking back now, yeah.

Early Sion was insanely insufferable.

But now Jaesung understood.

Han Sion’s talent was so overwhelmingly high that when he saw others doing things, his first thought was, “Why do it that way?”

And it wasn’t out of malice or arrogance.

It was best shown in the story with Onsaemiro-hyung.

At the time, no one knew, but later it became clear—Onsaemiro once tried to quit Coming Up Next because he hit a wall against Sion’s talent.

What did Sion do?

He took Onsaemiro to the studio.

And showed him just how much of a genius he was.

Told him: “It’s natural to feel like you hit a wall. So lift your head.”

Thankfully, Onsaemiro took that experience and found new motivation in his own talent.

But thinking back… it was a really weird form of comfort.

Not “don’t despair,” but “even if you do despair, here’s a reason why it’s okay.”

That’s just who Han Sion is.

“But why bring this up? It’s not like Sion-hyung being insufferable is new.”

Surprisingly, this conversation happened with Han Sion standing right there.

He was about to say something, then just clicked his tongue and didn’t bother.

If it weren’t for Eon-hyung being older, he might’ve said something.

“I thought that Seoul Town Funk meeting would be the peak of his insufferableness.”

“And?”

“But when I heard Sion rap, it was even worse.”

“Why?”

“…Sion, when’s the shoot again?”

“Next Monday.”

“And the broadcast?”

“Show Me runs recordings pretty close to air dates. I think there’ll be about a six-week gap. Then less.”

Show Me usually has a few pre-recorded episodes and then does the finals live.

So its record-to-air cycle is shorter than most other variety shows.

“Then Jaesung.”

“Yes?”

“You’ll see when the show airs. So just wait.”

Jaesung, being observant, more or less understood why Eon-hyung was saying this.

He must be really good at rapping.

Incredibly so.

‘So maybe I really do have talent…?’

Jaesung nodded at the thought.

He could now live normally again.

Doctors had told him to avoid putting pressure on his throat, so he was being careful with certain things, but he was getting used to it. It wasn’t too inconvenient anymore.

Still, a piece of him felt like a knife was stuck inside.

That constant discomfort, that unease.

He knew he shouldn’t think like this—but resentful thoughts kept rising.

He knew the world could hit you with terrible luck without warning.

Just look at his older brother.

An extraordinary talent in classical vocals, yet born “disadvantaged” compared to others.

No one wanted it—not him, not his parents—it was just bad luck.

Even so…

Why me?

That thought wouldn’t go away.

Still, Jaesung smiled.

His hyungs didn’t treat him any differently now that he was back.

And that, he knew, was them showing that it was normal for Choi Jaesung to be here—at Sedalbaekil’s dorm.

“Jaesung.”

“Yes?”

“You’re in the way. Go to the couch.”

Okay, he got the message.

But… wasn’t that a bit harsh?

---

The first of Eon’s variety shows to air was Touchdown.

Touchdown was a traditional role-playing variety show—a rare format these days, where observation and travel shows dominate.

The rule: stay within the Sangam and Mapo area. Slap your palm on the opponent’s base to win.

It wasn’t about just brute force or physical play.

Missions would drop, and depending on circumstances, you could assign tasks to the other team.

It was a chase-based game requiring deduction, betrayal, audience participation, team play, and more.

MBN wasn’t confident about the show, so they greenlit it as a 4-episode trial format.

Eon appeared in the first episode.

And…

[Touchdown, Episode 1 ratings: 13.2%]

A massive hit.

With weekend variety shows splitting 30–40% of the viewer pie, 13.2% was more than solid.

Especially for a first episode.

Calling it a “big hit” almost feels like an understatement.

MBN’s president and variety director reportedly danced through the lobby and promised unlimited Korean beef (not refills, unlimited beef) to the entire production team.

True story.

And Eon made a real impact.

He didn’t singlehandedly carry the whole show—

But every key moment or twist involved him.

In one bit, he hid among civilians without a cameraman (aside from a distant wide shot), but was caught immediately because he was too handsome.

That earned laughs.

His lies to escape once caught were hilarious too.

[It’s true. I swear. I have to destroy that golden palm, I swear.]

[Wait. Eon. You’re an idol, right? From Sedalbaekil.]

[Yes.]

[Will you swear it on Sedalbaekil’s name, on your friendship with your members, on your company CEO’s honor?]

[Yes. I swear it on everything.]

Naturally, it was a lie.

After escaping safely, he quipped, “If they’d made me swear on Titi, I would’ve been caught.”

The main PD, realizing Eon’s potential, gave him a chance to sing.

One mission required singing a perfect 100 in karaoke to return to base camp.

[Whoa, what the…]

[Why is he so good?]

Eon sang like he was possessed.

Even I was startled.

I knew he could do anything when pushed to the extreme, but I didn’t know that extended to variety shows too.

Or maybe it just meant he was incredibly focused on the program.

After scoring 100, he ditched the actor and comedian teammates in the karaoke room and sprinted back to base camp.

It looked like maximum effort.

-Wow, Eon is going all out

-I wasn’t gonna support someone that handsome, but he’s honestly great lol

-They’re gonna release that karaoke clip, right?

-He sings crazy good??

Of course, that was a betrayal.

He’d done something shady behind the team’s back.

-You… damn… my pure heart…

-lololololol

-This is why you shouldn’t mess with handsome dudes

-He keeps doing awful stuff but still looks good—that’s the killer part lol

-It’s like a top model wearing a potato sack. Would look stupid on anyone else, but he makes it work

With a mysterious Sedalbaekil member making such a splash, the media exploded with articles.

But one article matched the buzz in sheer volume:

[The Real Original! Wins Masked King for 2 Consecutive Weeks]

It was Goo Taehwan.

Two wins in a row—four weeks total.

Speculation about The Real Original’s identity was everywhere.

Eventually, Jang Soohyeong, feeling awkward or afraid of backlash when the truth came out, confessed.

[Jang Soohyeong: “I’m not The Real Original!” Official statement.]

He posted it himself on social media.

And the next day—

Onsaemiro’s surprise single Gladly Adrift dropped on music sites.

The whole world was Sedalbaekil.