Top Idol Band - Would you like to subscribe? - Chapter 9

“Whoa, this is insane.”

“Right?”

“Dude, this is seriously… wow.”

The hypothesis that Han Sunwoo was obsessed with Cherry Village was spot-on. The moment I personally showed him how to access the hidden map—one that still wasn’t widely known—his jaw dropped and he couldn’t form a single word.

I cheered internally at the successful verification of my hypothesis.

I hadn’t actually played Cherry Village myself in the past, but I clearly remembered the uproar when the hidden map had first been discovered.

The fact that I still remembered the hidden map an old neighborhood shop owner had excitedly shown me ages ago—yeah, I really was something of a genius.

“Man, look at how many cherries there are here. I can pull the gacha more. I’ve gotta collect everything. This is crazy.”

“See? You should’ve treated me better. I even told you about the hidden map. Where else are you gonna find a guy like me?”

Han Sunwoo glanced at me briefly while staring at his phone screen, then shifted his gaze back to the game.

“Well, I’ll give you credit for not running away. With only a few days left, you wouldn’t bail now, would you?”

His eyes were practically glowing as he looked at the hidden map, and he let out a snort. With Cherry Village as a shared topic, Han Sunwoo looked more energetic than I’d ever seen him.

“Hey, I even told you about the hidden map, and that’s the way you talk?”

“Then what, you want me to swear at you like some whiny bastard?”

“I already said I was sorry about that.”

“Anyway—hey, I’m busy collecting cherries ri—no, wait. This isn’t the time. I need to practice.”

As if suddenly snapping back to reality, Han Sunwoo stopped the game and slipped his phone into his pocket. He might be crazy about Cherry Village, but at least he still had a sense of reality.

“Kim Daehyun, you made my bass practice workload heavier.”

“How is that my fault?”

“It’s gonna be hard to match with your drums later. Seriously, I can’t even tell you to stop practicing so much.”

Grumbling, Han Sunwoo picked up his bass. The reason he’d asked how much I practiced—and what I’d thought was competitive tension—was actually because he was trying to match his bass to my drums.

“Sorry for being a genius.”

I lifted my chin and declared it proudly. Han Sunwoo openly scowled at me.

“Get that ugly face out of here.”

“It’s a handsome face, actually.”

“Anyway.”

Han Sunwoo crossed his legs while sitting on the chair and rested the bass on top of them.

“…Still, since it’s come to this, let’s debut and succeed.”

He muttered the words quietly, his eyes still fixed on the bass.

“I kind of… ignored you before, so, yeah. Sorry about that. Before I saw you in the practice room, I really thought you were going to run away, so I kept watching you. But seeing you now, it looks like you practice seriously.”

His voice grew smaller and smaller.

“And you even told me about the Cherry Village hidden map… so yeah, anyway.”

He rushed to finish, his voice sounding like it was crawling into a mouse hole.

I hadn’t expected telling him about the Cherry Village hidden map to have such a huge impact, but either way, it had been a massive success.

At this point, I wasn’t just a master’s graduate in member psychology—I deserved a PhD.

But this was Han Sunwoo. The guy who’d picked fights with me every time he opened his mouth. I had too much built up to just accept this and move on with warm vibes.

So I decided to say just one last thing.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you, you were talking too quietly.”

“…Hey. Get out.”

I was kicked out of Han Sunwoo’s room.

<Idol-stage genius moments—tried copying them lol>

Smack!

<Laughed so hard my gums dried out… refreshing, juice-bursting ending fairy pose>

Smack!

<How do idols find the camera instantly? Practice! Finding the red light camera>

Smack!

<Music show sandwiches are insanely good, anyone still not tried them?>

Sm—ah, no. This one’s not it.

I stopped headbutting my phone in near mindless repetition and checked the video title on W-Tube. Thank goodness. My poor bump almost got even bigger for nothing.

The debut stage was tomorrow.

The debut track, Sky Blue (You), was released today.

I deliberately avoided music sites. I couldn’t risk a few comments affecting tomorrow’s debut stage. Honestly, I didn’t even have time to read comments carefully.

A rookie idol group debuting with the song release today and the first stage tomorrow was swamped with last-minute checks.

Tomorrow was the debut stage.

It had finally come. All preparations were done, and my relationships with the members had improved.

From here on out, all that remained was to gather 100 million fans, reach the goal, and save my life. I was confident. With W-Tube Life, anything was possible.

Ding!

“Huh?”

A cheerful notification sound rang out from my phone—one I hadn’t heard in a while. It was W-Tube Life.

“What is it?”

A bad feeling washed over me as I cautiously tapped the notification.

[W-Tube Life Notification]

– 1 day left until subscription cancellation! If your fan count does not increase by at least 1 by tomorrow, the moment tomorrow passes, your subscription will be canceled immediately.
– If you want to extend your subscription, gain at least one fan by 24:00 tomorrow.
– If you want to cancel your subscription, perfect! You’re doing great.

“What?! The subscription gets canceled tomorrow already?!”

The moment I saw the alert, I hurriedly opened W-Tube.

[W-Tube Life]

• • Goal: Reach 100 million fans worldwide [9/100,000,000]

• • Status: 4 Headbutt Tokens

• • Notes: No increase in fans this week (Subscription cancellation D-1)

It was real. I was in serious trouble.

I sprang up from the bed and carefully reread the notification. It was true. I was currently riding an express train straight toward subscription cancellation. Forget success as a W-Tube Life subscriber—I was a subscriber on borrowed time.

My heart suddenly started racing. I’d been so busy preparing for debut that I hadn’t been able to pay attention to this.

This wasn’t the time to be headbutting videos for tomorrow’s stage. At this rate, I wouldn’t even have time to use my abilities before the subscription ended.

“Ha… this isn’t the time for this.”

In a rush, I threw on a cap and mask and stepped out of my room.

I had to go into any store—anywhere—and make a fan. Sympathy votes, pity, anything was fine. Debuting and then losing my life because the subscription ended was absolutely not an option.

“Oh! You startled me. Are you heading out right now?”

The moment I grabbed the front door handle, the manager hyung—who had just been about to enter the dorm—froze and widened his eyes in surprise.

He had a heavy bag slung over his shoulder. Inside the half-unzipped bag were stacks of printed papers.

“Yes, I’ll be right back. Really quick.”

“Sorry, but not right now. Tomorrow’s your debut stage. There’s too much to go over—announcements, details, everything. Just hold on a bit.”

“Hyung, please. I really have to go right now.”

“What’s going on? If it’s something important, I can go out later and get it for you. What do you need?”

“It’s not that… ha… I’ll really just go and come back. I promise I’ll be fast.”

“If you need something, tell me. I’m sorry, but just endure for a day or two. There’s a mountain of things you need to know right now.”

With a firm expression, the manager hyung pushed me back inside the dorm. I didn’t have time for this kind of back-and-forth. Every second counted.

“Alright, alright. Sit down first. There’s too much I need to tell you guys.”

The manager blocked the entrance, clearly thinking I was trying to leave over something trivial. Calmly, he pulled out the stack of papers from his bag.

As if that wasn’t enough, the raised voices from our argument drew the other members out of their rooms, one by one. They moved faster than I’d ever seen them before.

“This is driving me crazy.”

These were the same people who normally wouldn’t come out unless they were called.

Judging by the situation, going out now was impossible.

I took a long, deep breath to calm myself down and sat with the others. It seemed better to aim for late night—or early dawn—when everyone was asleep.

My plan to sneak out late at night or early in the morning had a fatal flaw.

First, Han Sunwoo was a member.
Second, Elliot was a member.
Third, Shin Jiwon was a member.
Fourth, I was also a member.

In short, everything was the problem.

‘Hey, Kim Daehyun. Where are you going this late?’

‘What, Sunwoo, you’re still up? I was just thinking of stepping out for a bit.’

‘At this hour? You… don’t tell me… tomorrow’s debut and you’re running away—’

‘No! I’m not!’

Unable to sleep the night before debut, Han Sunwoo had come out to the living room. The moment he saw me trying to leave, he stared at me with eyes full of suspicion.

If I went out right then, it felt like he’d grab the back of his neck, leap up, and chase me down to smack the back of my head.

I decided to wait until Sunwoo fell asleep. Just as he finally turned away and went back into his room—still suspicious to the end—

‘Oh, Daehyun hyung, you’re still up?’

‘Ah… Elliot. Why are you out?’

‘I woke up. Since tomorrow’s the debut, I keep waking up.’

‘Haha… I see.’

‘Hyung, I was lying down thinking, and about tomorrow’s stage—’

As if passing a baton, Elliot came into the living room the moment Sunwoo left and launched into ideas for stage performance he’d just thought of.

After pouring out every thought in his head about wanting to put on a perfect stage, Elliot looked satisfied and went back to his room.

By then, it was no longer late night—it was already past dawn.

Elliot had just gone in, so I thought I’d wait a few minutes until he fell asleep. Opening the door immediately would be suspicious.

A few minutes later—

‘Daehyun, you’re up early?’

‘…Ah… Jiwon hyung…’

‘So diligent, our drummer. You woke up early to prepare for the debut stage, huh? Same here.’

‘Ha… yeah… right…’

‘We’re finally debuting! It’s been hard, right? It was for me too. To be honest, everyone worried you might leave. I’m sorry. I know I’m not really in a position to say this, but… you worked hard, Daehyun. Guess it’s dawn emotions, haha.’

‘Uh… yeah, hyung. Thanks for saying that. But I was just about to step outside for a bit—’

‘I’m glad you seem close with the others now. I was actually surprised when I saw you looking up Hwang Cheongsimhwan. Because I really like it too. You see, back then…’

Shin Jiwon fully sat me down and started telling a long, drawn-out story—mostly about how effective Hwang Cheongsimhwan had been for him.

The reason I say “mostly” is because by that point, I was dozing off.

I was grateful that he was opening up to me, but I needed to go out. I stayed quiet, watching his mood, until it got too late—and I fell asleep sitting there.

‘So anyway—oh! The sun’s already coming up. The manager hyung will be here soon. Sunwoo and Elliot will probably wake up too.’

‘Huh? Ah… already…?’

I must have fallen completely asleep at some point. I’d been leaning against the wall, drooling, and hastily wiped my mouth when he mentioned the sunrise.

To be honest—it was a really deep sleep. Truly. I’d even completely forgotten that today was the last day to make a fan.

Yeah. Kim Daehyun, you idiot who slept like a baby. You should’ve made up an excuse and gone out.

This wasn’t the time to complain about Han Sunwoo, Elliot, or Shin Jiwon being members. The real hidden boss was me—who’d fallen asleep listening to Jiwon’s story.

There was no helping it. At this point, only one option remained.

I had to make a fan at the broadcasting station.

It was obvious the world was doing everything it could to stop my W-Tube Life subscription.

“Um… Daehyun, was it? This bump on your forehead… it looks really painful. Didn’t you take care of it?”

“Ah, it keeps forming. The company told me to make sure to keep my bangs down.”

“That’s not a bump that’ll disappear quickly… hmm. Well, leave it to me. We can fix it by securing your bangs.”

The hairstylist used an entire can of spray, fixing my bangs with all her might. This bump was the result of W-Tube headbutting. There was no helping it.

Makeup was done, and I changed into my stage outfit. My hair had already been bleached and dyed pink some time ago. Thanks to that, I now looked like a complete idol.

“…Hello!”

Feeling a bit better, I greeted everyone I met at the broadcasting station with a bright smile. Maybe—just maybe—one of them would become a fan.

[W-Tube Life]

• • Goal: Reach 100 million fans worldwide [9/100,000,000]

• • Status: 4 Headbutt Tokens

• • Notes: No increase in fans this week (Subscription cancellation D-0)

A wish was just a wish.

The broadcasting staff were far too used to celebrity faces. Not a single person showed interest in me.

Final attempt: Sneaking out at dawn without the members noticing. Failed.
Final-final attempt: Making a fan at the broadcasting station. Failed.

Then… final-final-final.

Putting on an absolutely killer debut stage.

I took out the Hwang Cheongsimhwan and poured it straight into my mouth.