Chapter 44: The Day They Were Finally Seen

The video that fans had clipped and uploaded to Nootube had already grown beyond anyone’s control.

Fans who had taken screenshots of the video’s view count kept sending them to the members in real time through Cosmos. That day, they learned that it had officially surpassed 700,000 views.

Honestly, any kind of attention was good.

It wasn’t related to a crime or scandal. If people simply thought, “There’s a funny group out there,” that was enough. Of course, it would be even better if even one person became a fan because of that video.

After all, people often said that becoming a fan happened in an instant.

Messages wishing them luck on their comeback continued arriving from people he’d worked with during the drama shoot. While checking and replying to them, Shim Eunchan turned his gaze toward the window.

Beside him, Hyun Wooyoung called out.

“Take this. Eat something before rehearsal, even if it’s just a little.”

“Thank you.”

After rummaging through his bag, Wooyoung handed him a protein bar.

The sugar content looked a little high, but it would definitely give him more energy than eating bread alone.

“We’re doing this to make a living. Please take better care of your meals.”

It was an unexpectedly bold statement.

Depending on how one looked at it, there might be room for argument, but it certainly wasn’t wrong. Despite being younger, the way Wooyoung nagged him wasn’t annoying at all.

“You’re right.”

Nodding in agreement, Eunchan immediately opened the package and took a bite.

Perhaps hearing the rustling wrapper, Do Junseo turned around to check before facing forward again.

“I can’t steal Eunchan’s food.”

“You’ve grown up, Junseo?”

“Ah, hyung. I’m not that food-obsessed.”

“Sure, sure. Our Junseo isn’t food-obsessed at all.”

Moon Sebyeol chuckled at Junseo’s indignant reaction.

Honestly, Eunchan would have gladly shared if he’d asked. But after saying that, it felt awkward to bring it up.

As they drew closer to the broadcasting station, the atmosphere inside the van gradually changed.

This would be their first performance since the member lineup changed.

At the same time, it was their comeback stage.

Of course they were nervous.

Even Eunchan’s excitement, which had started early in the morning, had reached its peak.

The drama he appeared in was currently airing and doing extremely well in ratings.

But meeting fans as idol Shim Eunchan…

That had been a long time.

“…”

A very long time.

“Guys, there’s something I should tell you beforehand.”

The manager, who had been quietly driving, finally spoke.

His unusually serious tone immediately drew everyone’s attention.

“What is it, hyung?”

“Some of you may already know this, but one of today’s performers is Field Alpha.”

“…Ah.”

“I heard it’s their comeback stage too. Their first in a year.”

Everyone instantly understood.

Field Alpha.

A fifth-year boy group famous for its unique worldbuilding concept. Their fandom wasn’t particularly large, but it was known for being fiercely united.

And when people said famous, they also meant something else.

Their fandom had a notorious tendency to exclude other groups.

In other words, they were famous for refusing to cheer for anyone except Field Alpha.

B the 1 had experienced it firsthand before.

Once, they had shared a stage with Field Alpha and found themselves performing in front of a crowd of fans who simply stared at them expressionlessly.

No light sticks.

No cheers.

No reactions.

For a live audience, that was incredibly rare.

Because B the 1 had experience performing at all sorts of events, they handled it reasonably well. But not every group had.

Some groups got through it fine.

Others failed to hide their expressions.

And those reactions had been broadcast nationwide.

There were even Nootube clips titled:

“Idols Destroyed by Field Alpha’s Fandom.”

Enough clips existed that it clearly wasn’t an isolated incident.

And that was during normal circumstances.

Today was Field Alpha’s first comeback stage in a year.

If anything, their fans would probably be even worse.

But this time was different.

Shim Eunchan thought about one of his traits.

Human Catnip.

“Don’t worry. It’ll work out somehow.”

“Yeah? Alright then. We’ll put our faith in Eunchan.”

The manager laughed and joked in response to Eunchan’s calm confidence.

Soon the van pulled into the broadcasting station’s parking lot.

The engine shut off, and silence settled inside.

The atmosphere felt strangely tense.

“Let’s go, boys.”

The manager turned around and spoke.

The sound of doors opening.

The rustle of everyone gathering their belongings.

Every noise seemed unusually loud in the quiet air.

The moment they stepped outside, they saw a crowd gathered in the distance to watch idols arrive for work.

How many of them were actually their fans?

Before, there would have been at most two or three.

And even that was back when Lee Haemin was still in the group.

No matter how high the drama ratings were, that only meant many people were watching the drama.

It didn’t necessarily mean Shim Eunchan himself had become popular.

Still, since it was their comeback, he hoped at least a few fans had succeeded in applying for the live recording.

They walked toward the entrance and took their positions.

One thing commonly seen at music shows was the so-called “cannons”—massive camera lenses.

Every camera was pointed in a single direction, determined not to miss even a moment of their favorite idol.

Even after debuting, it had taken Eunchan a while to get used to them.

Even if none of those cameras were aimed at B the 1, the rows of lenses felt like countless eyes staring back.

Now, however, he was used to it.

Even when they weren’t photographing him, he would casually make eye contact with the lenses.

But something felt strange.

As they walked toward the entrance, the sound of camera shutters was much louder than expected.

Much more frequent, too.

Maybe it was his imagination…

But he thought he heard his name.

While standing there in confusion, Jung Minyu’s voice rang out.

“Two, three.”

“Hello! With your heart! Together! We are B the 1!”

The moment they finished greeting everyone—

A loud cheer erupted.

Eunchan’s eyes widened as he turned toward the source.

It wasn’t deliberate.

It was simply instinctive.

And the instant his gaze landed there—

Another loud scream followed.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Eunchan!”

“Eunchan, over here!”

It wasn’t just one direction.

People all around were calling his name.

Each time, Eunchan instinctively looked toward the sound.

This had never happened before.

For a moment, he wondered if he had imagined it.

Were they really calling his name?

But every time he looked over, camera shutters exploded like machine-gun fire.

So apparently, yes.

They really were.

What is going on?

Normally, they’d receive almost no reaction and be inside the building within thirty seconds.

Today was different.

Reporters from various media outlets approached them with microphones, asking brief questions about their comeback.

Each member answered in turn.

Eventually, the microphone reached Eunchan.

The cheers immediately grew louder.

At this point, there was no way to misunderstand.

The people standing before him liked B the 1.

They liked Shim Eunchan.

Even though their previous song had climbed back up the charts thanks to Crescent Flower, he had assumed the attention would be temporary.

Public interest was short-lived.

And it moved on quickly.

A drama could draw attention to an actor for a while.

But turning that interest into support for an idol group was much harder.

That was why Eunchan had deliberately kept his expectations low.

He hadn’t expected people to actively seek out B the 1’s comeback stage.

Yet the reality before him was—

Looking around slowly, Eunchan spoke.

“Hello, I’m Shim Eunchan. I’m really looking forward to today. We’ve practiced hard to show our fans a great performance, so I hope you’ll enjoy it just as much.”

The moment he finished speaking, another wave of cheers erupted.

He handed back the microphone and formed a heart beside his cheek.

Instantly—

“Kyaaaah!”

The screams mixed with a frenzy of camera shutters.

The reporters continued asking for comeback spoilers, so the members each demonstrated a pose from the choreography.

By the time they finished, more than five minutes had passed.

“We’ll do our best!”

“See you on stage later!”

After one final greeting, they entered the building.

“Wow.”

“Some of those people were our fans, right?”

“I think so?”

All of the members looked bewildered.

Still, none of them could deny how excited they felt.

This kind of arrival experience was completely new.

Eunchan felt the same way.

Walking ahead, he noticed that Hyun Wooyoung wasn’t beside him.

Turning around, he found him following about a step behind.

Wooyoung seemed lost in thought and only realized Eunchan was looking at him a moment later.

“What is it?”

“You nervous?”

“Yeah. More than I expected.”

He could have acted tough and denied it.

Instead, Wooyoung answered honestly.

Admitting one’s weaknesses wasn’t something a weak person could do.

Only by acknowledging them could someone move forward.

At least, that’s what Eunchan believed.

And because of that, he found Wooyoung admirable.

At such a young age, he wasn’t arrogant and genuinely worked hard.

How could anyone dislike someone like that?

Eunchan wanted to help him somehow.

Though he wasn’t sure he was doing well enough himself to be giving advice.

He reached out and draped an arm around Wooyoung’s shoulder, gently patting him.

“It’s okay. You’ll do great. You’re already good. Just do what you’ve always done. That’s exactly why we practiced so hard.”

Wooyoung’s gaze lingered on his face.

For a second, Eunchan worried that Wooyoung thought he was joking again, so he hurriedly added,

“I mean it.”

“…Yeah. I know. That’s why it’s worse.”

“Huh? That’s harsh. What do you mean, worse?”

“It’s nothing.”

Wooyoung shook his head.

When he quietly thanked him, Eunchan simply shrugged and patted his shoulder again.

Entering the waiting room with their name on it, the members dropped off their bags and sat down.

Music shows were all-day affairs.

The protein bar Wooyoung had given him was helping for now, but Eunchan was already thinking about grabbing something to eat later.

Then he remembered.

This was Wooyoung’s first time here.

He had promised to show him the convenience store.

Just as Eunchan was about to call him, the door opened and the manager—who had stepped out briefly—returned.

“Hyung, where did you go—”

Junseo suddenly stopped.

“Whoa. What is that?”

Everyone turned.

A huge box sat in the manager’s arms.

“What is this, hyung? Our names are written on it.”

“Where? Wait—whoa.”

“What? Why are you reacting like that?”

Moon Sebyeol and Ryu Seo-oh quickly gathered around as well.

When Eunchan finally joined them, he saw several beautifully wrapped shopping bags.

Each one had a member’s name written on it.

The manager grinned.

“These are for you guys.”

His voice was overflowing with excitement.

“Fan support.”