* * *
“RT?”
RT was a function in Twittee that allowed users to share content so others could see it.
Naturally, the higher the number of shares, the more popular the content was.
The video that had been briefly edited and uploaded 30 minutes ago had already been shared over 8,000 times.
Dojae checked the video that Heungmin mentioned on his phone.
― “How dare you. Such insolence.”
A low, solemn voice played from the video.
‘Ah…’
In the video, he looked as stern as he did when he severely reprimanded the young court ladies for their big mistake.
Wearing an ikseongwan, he had intended to gently make the fan leave, but he didn’t expect this video to become a separate hot topic.
Since becoming a hot topic didn’t necessarily mean it was a good thing, Dojae worried for a moment if there might be a problem.
“You look like you’re filming a historical drama.”
“I was right next to you. Hyung, you’re amazing. Sometimes you already sound like someone from the past… Maybe that’s why? It felt like a king from the Joseon era had come.”
“The fan must have really felt like they were being scolded by a king, huh?”
Heungmin’s comment made Woochul sigh.
“Ha… If it weren’t for Dojae hyung, that fan would’ve been scolded and kicked out by Giljoo hyung. That fan made me do a hundred poses and did the same to Dojae hyung… If they had gone to Kyuseong hyung like that, they might have cried from the trouble.”
“Ah… That could have really happened.”
Kyuseong agreed with Woochul.
The members all agreed that Dojae handled the situation well.
The reaction on the internet was the same.
The Twittee video quickly spread across various communities.
A post that gathered photos of Dojae taken at the fan signing event along with the video quickly surpassed 100 comments and became a popular post.
[A born idol who perfectly adapted to his first fan sign event (feat. fit for a king)]
– Wow, what? I’ve never seen an idol who suits a crown so well.
– All the photos are amazing.. I saved them like I was possessed.
– King Dojaeㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– King Dojaeㅠㅠ It’s a perfect fit.
– He’s really handsome and has this high-class vibe.
– Right, he’s not a classic handsome guy, but he has a sophisticated aura, really like a crown prince.
– Why is his voice so good, haha.
– Needless to say, high-quality acting.
– But what’s this situation? Did he do a roleplay? He’d be good at acting too.
– These guys’ posts are coming up a lot lately. At least once a day, they’re a popular post.
– Seriously hot.
– Rookie group MOST is getting a lot of attention!!!
– Seems like everyone is already very interested.
– Confident visual member, confident center position.
– He sings well too. Where did they find a member like this?
– The fan wouldn’t leave, so security and the manager were going to drag them out, but Dojae said that and sent them away.
– What???
– Seriously?
– The fan kept making unreasonable demands on each member; even when told to move on, they wouldn’t leave. Dojae cleverly said something, and they backed down.
– The members were already troubled by that fan, and Dojae’s words calmed them down.
– Honestly, he saved the fan from being embarrassed.
– Seriously, fans like that should be dragged out once.
– They’ve already got problematic fans as rookies, must’ve been tough from the first fan sign.
– It’s worse because they’re rookies, and they’re treated well…
– Today’s MOST fan sign was a huge hit, but I’m worried there’ll be more problematic fans next time.
– Still, good thing Dojae handled it sensibly.
– Is this real??? It’s amazing… Even if it was just acting, it’s amazing.
– Fans’ reviews say it’s real.
– Dojae was the epitome of kindness at the fan sign, seriously listened to all the fans’ stories and answered themㅠㅠ
– Was it Kang Dojae? This guy is something… He’s something in my heart.. Please…
– Dojaeㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
***
MOST had been a subject of interest among idol fans since their debut.
Every day, posts related to MOST were uploaded to famous communities.
The video of Dojae at the fan signing event only fueled this interest further.
Just the visuals and acting in the video were enough to catch people’s attention, but once the situation was known, he was called the “Crisis Handling King Idol,” and it became a hot topic.
Soon, fan-made captures and short videos spread not only in idol-centered communities but also on humor sites, reaching the general public.
A card news piece with the title ‘The story of an idol shouting ‘How dare you’ at a fan?’ was made and posted on MyGram, one of the major SNS platforms.
Even on MyGram, where the main function was sharing daily photos, people were buzzing about this handsome and sensible guy.
“Wow… Hyung, did you know what your autograph meant?”
During a break from practice, Woochul checked the fan cafe and showed his phone.
Just because they debuted didn’t mean they could slack off on practice.
Even on days without schedules, the members kept practicing for their next broadcast.
Dojae, who was drinking water near the water dispenser, glanced at Woochul’s phone screen.
[Did you see Dojae oppa’s autograph?ㅠㅠ There’s a new fan sign review on Twittee, and it says Dojae oppa’s autograph is drawn with a different Chinese character for ‘Do’ㅠㅠ In this era where everyone signs in English, oppa is truly unique..]
– What ‘Do’?
– The one for blessing!
– 祹祹祹.. I can’t even write my own name in Chinese characters, but now I can write this!!!
– I thought his autograph looked like a drawing!!! It turns out it was a different Chinese character!!! Cool].[
– This is the same character as King Sejong’s name ‘Do,’ so it’s a big deal in the community.
– Amazing.
– Truly, he’s Dojae Jeonhaㅠㅠ His parents had great foresightㅠㅠ
Two days after the buzz around the fan signing event video had died down.
As people learned that Dojae’s autograph used the same Chinese character for ‘Do’ as King Sejong’s real name, the topic flared up again.
People were delighted by this incredible coincidence, reacting with comments like ‘No wonder he has such a different vibe. Is he the reincarnation of a king?’
“If you’re meant to be, you’re meant to be.”
“Thanks to you, my name keeps coming up too.”
“Ah… You mean as the King?”
“Yes, yes!”
“I feel regretful. My name should at least be something like a president’s name.”
Woochul clicked his tongue in disappointment.
‘It’s not just a coincidence, but actually taken from the name of the great king…’
Dojae chuckled lightly and shrugged his shoulders.
It might be a trivial matter, but the more attention they got, the better.
‘As a newcomer, I need to make my name known.’
Being mentioned even once more was beneficial.
“But what are those two talking about so intensely?”
Dojae murmured quietly, looking over at Kijoon and Heungmin, who were having a heated discussion.
Woochul, glancing at them, whispered in reply.
“They’re getting scolded.”
He spoke almost with his lips only, worried Heungmin might hear.
“Why?”
“He hasn’t shown any improvement in rapping. Heungmin hyung made a new demo and got it reviewed by Kijoon hyung yesterday.”
Woochul, who shared a room with them, knew the details.
Dojae nodded.
Kijoon was the leader and, essentially, the sub-producer of the team (next to Director Lee Jungyeop).
Heungmin was already one of the top idol rappers, but Kijoon was extremely strict.
It also meant he had high expectations for Heungmin.
Heungmin was keeping up well with those expectations.
‘Even amidst his busy schedule, he’s been working on his music. That’s really impressive.’
Dojae resolved not to slack off either.
He was also studying songwriting and composition whenever he had time, but seeing the two of them motivated him even more.
‘But first, I need to focus more on practicing singing.’
As an active singer, Dojae’s top priority was to deliver his songs and performances well.
Tomorrow’s stage required high vocal skills for ‘Dynamic’, so Dojae steeled himself.
“We are together, together…”
He heard the voice of Kyuseong, practicing his part repeatedly.
Dojae was heading towards Kyuseong to practice together when the practice room door opened and Manager Kim Seokchul entered.
***
The members, gathered in the meeting room after practice, had eyes shining brightly.
While performing on stage and at fan sign events made them realize, ‘We finally debuted,’ and ‘We have fans!’ the news they heard now had a deeper impact.
“A model offer!”
They had thought it might happen someday, but it was so unexpected and came so soon.
As a newly debuted group, they expected to receive proper advertising offers only after finishing their current album promotions.
It was rare for a group that had debuted less than a month ago to receive a model proposal unless it was passed down from a senior group in the same agency like The Origin.
Therefore, the offer wasn’t for a typical product model.
“Wow… I knew we were a big deal on the internet for a few days, but to get contacted this quickly?”
Woochul raised his voice, asking excitedly.
“There were discussions already, but with Dojae’s recent positive publicity, the higher-ups have fully approved it.”
“(Eng) Incredible, Dojae hyung! (Kor) I knew following you would bring us great opportunities!”
“You’re not mixed, so why are you always mixing English?”
Woochul remarked at Louis’s exclamation.
Louis nudged Woochul’s side, saying he’d caught him again.
While the two youngest members were excited, Kyuseong quietly tilted his head.
“But why is the city hall making a promotional video…”
“It’s for promoting local historical sites.”
“Ah! So it’s thanks to Dojae hyung!”
Woochul clapped as if he understood.
“Though it won’t be a TV or newspaper ad, becoming the model for a national agency’s promotional video is still significant, so we accepted the proposal.”
“Wow. But if it’s not on TV or in newspapers, where will it be shown?”
“The video will be uploaded on the MyTube channel and shown on monitors in district offices, county offices, and on Gyeonggi Province buses for six months.”
“That’s more than enough… We could actually get promoted through this.”
Manager Kim Seokchul nodded at Dojae’s remark.
“Yes.”
“…It won’t negatively affect our image?”
Heungmin, who had been silent since hearing about the city hall’s promotional video offer, finally spoke up.
Woochul stared at Heungmin with puzzled eyes.
He had expected Heungmin to be equally happy.
“Doing something like this might make our group seem cheap.”
Heungmin carefully avoided using the word ‘cheap’ in front of Manager Kim Seokchul .
“Wow. Hyung, what’s this? Are you already getting arrogant after one win?! This guy is something else!”
“Hyung… Do you have a star syndrome? Already? They say it takes a long time to cure that.”
The two youngest members shook their heads at Heungmin’s words.
“It’s a blessing to even receive such a proposal, Heungmin.”
Kijoon also commented to Heungmin.
Woochul quickly chimed in.
“Yeah. We’re just promoting historical sites! Doesn’t that actually make us look more prestigious?”
“Hmm. I understand what you’re saying, Heungmin. But this isn’t a local commercial or anything too cheap, so don’t worry.”
Heungmin knew the company had considered many factors before accepting the offer.
Still, he didn’t like it.
After a brief silence, Heungmin spoke in a small voice.
“I’d like to opt out of the shoot…”
Even though it was a promotional video from city hall, it was their first model offer.
To want to opt out of it…
Dojae and the members looked at Heungmin in disbelief.
* * *
*Summary page is only available for login users. Non-users can view the chapters on the chapter list.*
I feel like it might have something to do with his parents🤔