Seunghyun, who had spent his morning in a rush, finally left for his individual schedule.
Unlike the other members who were digesting tight schedules every single day, Seunghyun’s schedule was relaxed.
Whether it was due to Director Yoon’s influence or not, it was the company’s decision.
‘Actually, I like it better this way.’
It aligned with the original motto of Joo Seunghyun, who was extremely wary of over-consuming his image, and because he hadn’t fully adapted to the idol lifestyle—both physically and mentally—by 100%, he always welcomed the rest.
Although it was called a drama schedule, it wasn’t straight into full-scale filming.
There was a script reading first. Today was that very day.
Joo Seunghyun had occasionally tried his hand at acting, mostly in minor roles or cameos.
Was it true that his acting skills were finally being recognized, leading to offers for more substantial roles?
‘His mask (face) is truly unrivaled, after all.’
His wet-looking gaze seemed full of stories, and his harmonious features and clear skin were closer to that of an actor than an idol.
His voice and vocalization were also clean and lacked any particular habits, earning him a reputation for a crisp acting tone.
As verified during his crash course in acting lessons, the current Seunghyun could read scripts with similar competence.
He had been so embarrassed just filming the music video that he doubted he could pull off acting, but he was truly relieved that the skills inherently learned by the body remained intact.
[Photo]
Look at all this snow.
Everyone, be careful on the roads.
While getting his makeup done, he sent a photo he’d taken on his way to work that morning via Cloud Message (Cloud-Me).
Whether he had a schedule or not, he never forgot to send at least one Cloud-Me message a day.
He couldn’t bring himself to skip chatting, knowing that fans were paying a subscription fee every month just for a service that was essentially just chatting.
Moreover, a significant number of the fans currently subscribed were the ones who hadn’t left during Joo Seunghyun’s hiatus.
‘How fortunate it is that I can repay them with such small things.’
The Cloud-Me window immediately became noisy and bustling.
Watching the messages arrive one after another, Seunghyun smirked and closed the app.
‘They’re cute.’
The hands touching his face stopped.
Looking in the mirror, his fully styled face stared back at him.
Confirming the setup was finished, Seunghyun leaned back comfortably.
‘The momentum is good.’
Even though HALO’s new song was a digital single, didn’t appear on music shows, and wasn’t exactly a song easy to listen to for the New Year, it had remained in the top ranks of music sites for nearly a month.
And so, this laughable situation occurred.
—This week’s #1 is! Congratulations! HALO’s ‘New GENE’!
They had taken the top spot on a music show they hadn’t even appeared on.
Of course, it was a peripheral music show that didn’t even reflect album scores, but it couldn’t escape the prying eyes of gossips who loved to tear things apart.
‘LOL so greedy. They’re openly showing they’ve abandoned domestic fans to target only the overseas market, acting like that while snatching 1st place without even showing up on music shows LOL’
‘Isn’t it deceptive to domestic fans to fly all the way to the US and do a perfectly fine outdoor stage for tens of minutes in the dead of winter, but then refuse to stand on a 3-minute domestic stage using health as an excuse? LOL’
Hmm…….
It was a track written with lines excerpted from Joo Seunghyun’s diary, and it was produced in a hurry without caring about chart performance to time the release with his stage comeback.
He hadn’t thought they wouldn’t hit #1 at all, but Seunghyun’s brow furrowed at the more intense reaction than expected.
‘Well, it can’t be helped.’
People on this side are desperate, too.
In any case, the online world ends when you turn off the internet.
Unlike the original Joo Seunghyun, who was afraid that public love would leave him, Seunghyun had entered this industry after confirming the fans’ love with his own eyes.
Plus, he knew all the members wouldn’t leave either.
He didn’t care about the words of gossips whose faces he didn’t even know.
What he was actually worried about right now was……
‘Han Kangwoo.’
This side.
No matter how much of a benefactor he was, how could no one tell him that Han Kangwoo was also making a special appearance in this drama?
On top of that, today was the first script reading.
Naturally, cameras were set up everywhere to film behind-the-scenes footage for promotional purposes, and some related reporters had been invited.
Which meant this was a place where Joo Seunghyun could not afford to ignore the greeting of his acting senior, Han Kangwoo.
“Have you been well?”
His attitude, asking with a slight smile while reaching out for a handshake, was plain and simple.
No matter how he thought about it, this wasn’t a drama where he should be making a special appearance, not a lead role.
Seunghyun tried his best not to let his agitation show on his face as he took Han Kangwoo’s hand.
He was thoroughly controlling his pheromones so that not even a single drop would leak out.
Suddenly, the touch he’d felt in his dream came to mind.
Goosebumps rose all over his skin.
There was absolutely no way, but for some reason… it felt like his back was wet.
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
Kangwoo clasped his hand. His gaze traveled up the connected hands and landed on Seunghyun’s face.
Seunghyun reflexively ignored the rising goosebumps and smiled back.
“That’s a relief.”
Seunghyun endured the urge to pull his hand away immediately.
As if mocking that feeling, Han Kangwoo tightened his grip.
Then he whispered in a low voice.
“Why didn’t you reply to my text?”
“…….”
Even though he had a prepared answer, his words were blocked for a moment.
Seunghyun managed to squeeze out a reply.
“My phone…… my phone broke that day, so I didn’t know I received a message.”
“Aha.”
A brief silence hung in the air, and Han Kangwoo’s fingers tapped the back of his hand twice. Seunghyun trembled.
“I see.”
Finally, Han Kangwoo withdrew his hand.
Seunghyun swallowed the urge to rub his hand somewhere to clean it and kept his guard up.
Han Kangwoo, who left with a single smile, glanced back over his shoulder.
“Let’s keep in touch.”
The cameras weren’t rolling, but there were many eyes watching.
Seunghyun barely managed to pull up the corners of his mouth and nodded.
[Exclusive!] Han Kangwoo of Alpha lineage, shows unexpected closeness with HALO’s Joo Seunghyun, who recently manifested as an Omega… DW: “Just close colleagues.”
‘…….’
It wasn’t that he didn’t expect this, but isn’t this too fast?
Seunghyun clicked on the article photo to enlarge it.
In the photo, Han Kangwoo and Joo Seunghyun did look quite affectionate and close, even to his own eyes.
After the script reading ended, before he got into the van, Han Kangwoo had called Seunghyun over, saying he wanted to give him his number.
Since the help he had received from him was so immense, there was no justification to refuse by saying to contact him through the manager.
He had a headache thinking about when and how to contact him, so he wanted to just give him his number, but before he could say anything, Han Kangwoo had quickly entered his own number into the phone Seunghyun was holding and left cleanly.
It must have been snapped during that short moment.
‘These entertainment reporters.’
Actually, he had been contacted by the company before the article broke.
Director Yoon Daewon moved to protect Seunghyun as much as possible, but he said they could only prevent a dating rumor.
Third-rate tabloid media outlets with nothing to lose always acted more recklessly.
Seunghyun tossed his phone aside and buried himself in the sofa. It wasn’t the time to be dwelling on an article that was already out.
The song ‘New GENE’ released in the New Year wasn’t just for announcing his return.
It was a song that signaled a turning point for HALO, now in their 5th year.
The major issue of Seunghyun’s manifestation could be used as much as they wanted if they used it well.
What a dramatic topic!
Seunghyun had pitched this to the company first, and they had welcomed it.
It was time for a change in concept.
Considering the military service period of the Alpha members, to be remembered for a long time, rather than just carrying the image of idols,
‘“Artist” would be better, right?’
The beginning of that was ‘New GENE.’
The behind-the-scenes video of the Times Square performance he had filmed was actually the process of laying that foundation.
A drama of going through a change in state of mind and growing from an idol to an artist!
It was scheduled to be released on an OTT platform in the format of a reality documentary as well.
Clichés always work.
Besides, the members’ stats weren’t low, either.
Having endured the harsh trainee days of a large agency to debut, their baseline stats were outstanding.
Among them…….
“Yijeong, instead of slurring your pronunciation, let’s try breaking it up.”
Park Chiyoon.
He didn’t just dance well—it turned out he could produce incredibly brutal beats, and he grabbed concepts with sophistication.
Because they had only ever done highly refined, standard idol music, it was a talent that hadn’t been able to shine because Seunghyun often participated in the directing.
Now, testing the drafts he had piled up over the years, all the members were constantly surprised by the new side of Chiyoon.
Moreover, many of the lyrics written by Yijeong were quite usable.
He knew he was deep in thought and liked books, but he didn’t know he was that good at expressing things through writing.
With a little polishing, he would be flawless if they gave him a calm-toned track and assigned him the lyrics.
Seunghyun was somewhat surprised at himself for being able to keep up with the meetings.
Seunghyun, who hadn’t known a single thing about celebrities, let alone idols.
‘The eye for professional idols still remains.’
It was a good thing that the range of genres he could handle had widened.
After all, it was a matter directly linked to the group’s lifespan.
‘I have to capture both public popularity and fandom.’
It was still a time when they had to be desperate for results.
The digital single they released this time was an event-based thing and had great symbolism regarding his return, so he hadn’t cared much about additional factors and made it the way he wanted, but the next comeback absolutely shouldn’t be done this way.
Seunghyun tapped his thigh with his fingers, feeling a little anxious.
