The debut event of the debonaire was overflowing with excitement, especially being the largest university festival in Korea!
“Isn’t it an outdoor stage? This is my first time too!”
“Can we take a group photo together?”
“This is my first debut at a college festival…!”
In the car, my unnis all showed signs of excitement.
“It’s been so long, this should be fun.”
Seo-yoon Unni, experienced and always ready, was already thrilled.
“Ha, these kids.”
“But the weather is looking a bit gloomy. I heard there’s supposed to be rain today.”
Am I the only one who can keep my composure even in moments like this?
“Oh, by the way, I heard Ailee is coming too.”
“Huh? You know the lineup? That’s a secret.”
“Se-ra Unni told me. She said she knows we’re coming and wants to meet us before the performance.”
“What? I thought it was a secret, and I wasn’t going to say anything…”
“I got about 30 texts from her.”
“From private chat?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, Eun-Se-ra didn’t text me at all.”
Seo-yoon Unni seemed to feel betrayed by her same-age best friend.
“But isn’t it true that we won’t get to meet anyway because of the schedule?”
“Well, since she keeps messaging, she even called me last night to whine about it.”
“Aah!”
Anyway, the chatter in the car, as usual, turned into a stream of consciousness discussing university stuff among the front seat members.
“Hehe, actually, I did study a bit?”
“Huh? Weren’t your grades not great in high school?”
“Ha, that’s just because of Korean!”
“Is that so? Well, anyway, I’ve never thought about anything other than being an idol. Maybe because I’ve been a trainee since elementary school?”
“I-I too! Exactly!”
“Eh~ But everyone must have some campus dreams.”
“I’m not sure. But I’d like to attend a liberal arts class at least once. What about you, Unni? Do you have any dreams?”
They were discussing what they would have wanted to do if they hadn’t become celebrities.
“I probably would have entered early childhood education or teaching. I wanted to be a teacher since I was little.”
Na-eun Unni really suits the teacher role, being both kind and a bit strict.
“Oh! That’s the perfect image! Teacher Na-eun!”
Still, I couldn’t help but shake my head as I joined the conversation.
“I’m the opposite.”
“Huh?”
“Unni, think about it carefully. How many Chiyo Unnis do you think would be in the classroom at that age?”
“What do you mean by that, Do-hee?”
I can confidently say that elementary school kids are pure evil.
“…True. Becoming an idol was definitely the right choice.”
“…Sensei? Na-eun Sensei!?”
Although there was a scuffle happening in the front row, at least it was our turn for Q&A now.
“I don’t know.”
Seo-yoon Unni pondered seriously.
“Model wife?”
“…? A model wife?”
“What, what! Hey, then what about you?!”
“Me?”
“That’s right! What do you think Do-hee would be?!”
“I wonder.”
“I’m so curious…!”
The Unnis in the front row were also looking curious, and even Chiyo Unni stopped hitting Na-eun Unni and turned to us.
Honestly, there were too many possibilities; I didn’t know what to say.
“Ah, whatever, anything would have been fine.”
I didn’t really want to brag to the Unnis about anything.
Besides, I didn’t have anything in mind anyway.
“Ah, tell me!”
Of course, if I didn’t say anything, they’d probably bug me about it, so I had to say something.
If that’s the case…
“Well, when I won first place in a competition during elementary school, I occasionally got offers to learn piano directly from professors at university.”
“I’ve heard that a few times.”
“Yeah, there was even a professor from Korea University. He was about to retire.”
“…Really!?”
The Unnis’ eyes widened in unison.
“See?”
Of course, I had already become a Topist trainee by then.
“So anyway, if I had gone, I might be studying abroad in Germany or America by now and could have become a pretty famous pianist.”
“…I can’t argue with that.”
“Right…”
The Unnis looked a bit taken aback, surprised that the youngest, who usually played around with them, was suddenly seen as a genius by the world.
So I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“But honestly, just playing piano would be super boring, so I might have lost interest quickly anyway.”
“Then Do-hee would have studied really hard and got into Korea University, right?”
Well, as Woo-ah Unni said, I could have become popular for being both talented and beautiful if I had gone to Korea University.
Or maybe I would have gotten a perfect score on the college entrance exam and made headlines?
“But I’m just happy being an idol. I love the stage, the attention, and the freedom in music.”
More than anything, I really enjoyed meeting the members and forming all these connections.
Of course, I kept those thoughts to myself.
“But aren’t you all nervous? It’s your first event today!”
It was awkward because everyone was acting so bashful.
*
Ailee.
“Do, Do-hee…!”
“Hah, Do-hee Lee! Run away!”
Ailee had just gone on stage right in front of the performer, and it was our first chance to face our group against another group.
“Hello, Do-hee Unni!”
“Hi, cute Bomi! Oh, and Miho Unni, hi.”
“Ah~ I knew you guys would come!”
Of course, everyone was too busy happily greeting each other for the first time or reuniting.
Busy.
“Hana Unni, how have you been?”
“Na-eun, it’s been ages! Are you doing okay? Seo-yoon and Do-hee are completely out of control, right? Is the leader struggling? Oh no, I’ve seen you’ve lost some weight… Should I brew some herbal medicine for you? I’ve made enough money to do that, no worries! Just send it to the Topist address!”
“I’m fine~ It’s not just those two who are struggling~ I’m used to it now.”
“…??”
Seo-yoon Unni, leaning on her crutches and crossing her arms next to me.
“Hey, isn’t that ridiculous?”
“I mean, is that really what Hana Unni should be saying?”
“What?”
Hana Unni raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing…”
“…Ahem.”
Thinking back to the days with Seven, Hana Unni’s cheeks were always glistening and shiny.
Our cheeks may have gotten thinner from all the exercises we had to do every night.
Anyway, it was only a brief greeting.
—Hey guys, we need to leave now!
Ailee also had to exit the event venue quickly for the next schedule because of safety issues.
Before that, Ye-eun Unni.
I hugged Ye-eun Unni from behind, her body shaking with the excitement and thrill from finishing the stage.
“Why, why! I’m nice…! And I did great on stage today…! I was the best…! I’m Super Veteran Park Ye-eun!”
“Who’s saying anything? I’m just complimenting you for doing well.”
And then there was another person hugging me from behind.
Sara Unni’s hand was wandering around my waist.
“Do, Do-hee, did you lose weight? That, muscle…!”
“What? How do you know? I’ve been stressed and lost about a kilo.”
“Sniff, sniff, how can Do-hee disappear by even a kilo in this world?”
What are you saying?
Anyway, for a moment, Hana Unni took care of everyone (dragging us along).
“Do, Do-hee! We’re going to hang out after activities, right?!”
“If we can see each other?”
I finally began to feel the deafening sound of music and cheers.
—Wooooo!!!!
Nice.
“Two teams left in front. Let’s stretch our bodies and throats quickly.”
“There’s, there are a lot of people here…”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m not nervous, it’s okay.”
Finally noticing the audience, the three newbies started to stutter.
From my perspective, it’s not my first time seeing a large audience, but still, it’s quite an impressive sight to see everyone in unison, dressed the same, jumping and singing along.
So, I felt a bit worried.
If the first event is this big of a festival, the chances of mistakes increase significantly.
‘It couldn’t be helped since it’s comeback season, though.’
The company even minimized the number of events as much as they could.
After all, as veterans, Seo-yoon Unni and I should be doing better.
“…Huu…”
But why is Unni so nervous?
She’s done concerts in front of 40,000 people before.
“Why, do you want a candy, too?”
“Candy licorice?”
“I swapped it out because it tasted bad. This time it’s glucose candy.”
“Me, me, please give it to me!”
*
The outdoor stage we jumped onto.
Right after the previous performance, it started to rain, making the floor a bit slick.
But as soon as we got up there, starting with our debut title ‘DEBONAIR’, it was filled with warmth.
─Wooaaah!!
A unified cheer that drowned out the sound of the rain.
The crowd was riding the waves, flowing like a tide.
‘Nice.’
The passionate energy of a united community naturally brought smiles.
Most importantly, familiar faces that I remembered well.
─Do-hee!!
I spotted quite a few of our fans who are always our support.
Running around the stage with big movements, the first performance was over in no time.
“One, two!”
“Hello, we are Debonaire!”
With cheers, we introduced ourselves with a chant.
“Everyone, do you know us, Debonaire?”
─Yeeesss!
─I saw you on variety yesterday!!
Then it was time for the short talk we had prepared.
“Since you know us so well, you must be cheering us loudly! Can we keep you in anticipation?”
─Yeeesss!
“Of course, we are so happy to meet the students of Yeonshin University today that we dressed in our full blue outfits!”
But recently, Chiyo Unni’s voice was shaking from unusual nervousness.
“Oh, today’s cheer volume…”
Of course, it was natural to feel nervous and shaky.
But the stage was slick from the rain.
With the cycle of tension tightening her body, it was easy to trip during the performance, so I had to help her calm down.
“What should we do, our Unni seems completely moved.”
So, I put my hand on her shoulder and made an impromptu comment.
“The energy from the students is amazing…! Here’s a huge secret I’ll share: actually, two years ago, I came here with Seo-yoon Unni! I don’t know how, but it feels like your voices have gotten even louder since then!?”
─Urghhh!
“That’s true, Do-hee, but that’s a well-known fact. The huge secret is that today is the first time Debonaire has come to the Yeonshin University festival, isn’t it?”
Fortunately, Chiyo Unni’s trembling was calming down a bit.
“Oh, that’s a rather incredible secret!”
─Aaaahhh!
The response was good.
Now it was time for Seo-yoon Unni to smoothly guide us to the next stage as Woo-ah Unni was set to make the introduction.
“But everyone, there’s a song we want to tell you the secret about. Do you know what it is?”
We put our fingers to our lips.
─Sweet Demon!!!
Immediately, the intro of my new self-composed song filled the stage.
