"Tonight’s final YuYu Bank! Now, only the announcement of first place remains!" Year-end — the season when every award show and music festival under the sun crowds the schedule. By the time early December passes, most music programs have already wrapped up for the year. And, as always, at certain points in the season, they bring in special MCs. This year’s choice was no different: the most in-demand stars, Joo Woosung and Han Chaeri. Who the hell paired these two up? Watching two exes standing side by side, smiling professionally at the camera, I could only marvel. "Ah~, Chaeri-ssi, I’m just so, so excited to see who’ll be first place!" "Same here, my heart’s pounding~! Now then, who will take first place? Please show us the results!" The album score, broadcast score, pre-voting and live voting, online streaming points — all flashed up in sequence. "Now, after combining all the YuYu Bank chart scores, this week’s first place is—?!" There was no need to even calculate. The point gap was overwhelming. "The Dawn!! Congratulations!" The moment their congratulations rang out, fireworks went off. "The Dawn, congratulations!" Joo Woosung handed me the trophy and patted my shoulder. I returned the gesture with a small, camera-conscious smile — and caught the smirk tugging at his lips as if he’d noticed. "Noeul-deul, thank you so, so much!" "Noeul, Merry Christmas!" The MCs stepped down, and the members left on stage for the encore were riding high. The sound of carols in the air White snow touching the back of my hand】 Even bouncing around, their live was rock solid. First place on a music program was expected, but seeing our hard-working Noeul fans so happy... After finishing the song, I made a point of waving my ringed hand, drawing a bigger cheer. I lifted the ring to my lips and let it fall away, ending the encore. "Go straight home and make sure you eat." If I’d known they’d love something as simple as matching rings this much, I’d have done it ages ago. "See you all next time!" We reminded the fans one last time to be careful going home, then headed backstage, getting congratulations from every singer we passed. "Sunbaenim, congratulations!" "Congrats, Dajun-ssi~." "Ah, yes, yes, thank you!!" "Kang Ichae-ssi, can I have a word?" The busy scene felt strange to watch. Barely a year ago, we’d gotten more guarded stares than friendly ones. Now, no one tried to pick a fight. Once The Dawn’s recognition climbed past a certain point, people chose their words more carefully and held back from rash moves. Almost... boring, actually. No gossip, no snide remarks, no mocking laughs. Muttering to myself, I slipped through the crowd. If the members got cornered, the manager or road manager would pull them out soon enough. I rounded the corridor corner toward our waiting room— A kid who’d been hovering nearby, sneaking glances, suddenly locked eyes with me. Took me a second, but then I remembered — a trainee from Rising Rookies, the one where Kang Ichae was a mentor. I’d heard they’d just finalized their debut lineup after the show ended recently. "Congratulations on your debut." I greeted him warmly. "Gasp! Y-you know me! Thank you. I’m Jung Haeyoon!" Now that he spoke, his voice was familiar. Pretty sure he was one of the kids who’d loudly complained about Ichae being scary on the broadcast station stairs. "I just debuted! Please take care of me!" Looked like they’d come to the music program to both promote before their official activities and show off the performances they’d done on Rising Rookies. Survival shows usually left you with some kind of fanbase... Nothing to worry about on our end. "Uh, actually... I wanted to say something, but you looked too busy..." I smiled in that harmless, friendly way on purpose. Haeyoon glanced around, then ducked his head. "Back on the broadcast station stairs... you might not have noticed me, but I should never have spoken carelessly about Sunbaenims behind your backs. I wanted to apologize, even though you’re busy. I’m truly sorry!" For a second, I thought my heart was going to race — maybe some drama — but it quickly settled back down. Looking over the sweating, stammering rookie, —my thirty-four years of built-in wariness radar didn’t so much as twitch. "It’s fine. It happens." I tossed the empty reassurance out, and he looked utterly moved, hands clapped over his mouth. "Sunbaenim, you’re nicer than I expected... I mean — Kang Ichae-sunbaenim was just so fuc— I mean, incredibly scary, but he was also a good person." "Our Ichae treated you well?" "Yes! I respect Mentor-nim so much!!" Now I was a little more interested, and leaned in to listen. "I had this singing habit I couldn’t fix no matter how long I trained, but after hearing Kang Ichae-mentor-nim’s advice and practicing it over and over, it actually changed!" "Oh dear, you can praise my member all you want, but you’re not going to get anything out of it..." Maybe because Rising Rookies had played him up as intimidating, Haeyoon stood there like a fresh recruit, posture perfect. I still didn’t get it. Isn’t Ichae on the mild, kind side? "Haha, thank you. You work hard too, Haeyoon-ssi." There didn’t seem to be anything useful to get from him, so I started to wrap it up— "Wow, our little klutz — you’re just dripping with senior vibes now." Enter: the celebrity’s celebrity. When Joo Woosung strolled over, all eyes nearby turned to him. Even Haeyoon stared, half-dazed. Seeing him this respected felt oddly foreign. What, the guy who used to be awkward with strangers was answering rookies now? Did he eat something weird? While I was watching him suspiciously, Woosung slung an arm over my shoulder and told the rookie gently, "Don’t get too close to him. He’s kind of a bad guy." "Better to get in good with someone nice, like me." So he’d cut in just to get a dig in. And then Haeyoon... actually nodded slightly, like he’d just connected the dots: Oh, you’re in the same group as Kang Ichae-mentor-nim...! Kid’s got no eye for people either. "Y-yes! No, I mean, no!" He quickly denied it, but his face still had the thought written all over it. "Good job on your stage today~. Keep it up~." Haeyoon, still glowing from the encouragement of his idol’s idol, bowed repeatedly before heading back to his group. A faint mutter drifted back to me: "Joo Woosung just got wrecked..." "What was that? You know him?" ...Didn’t you just say you liked his rehearsal? Woosung claimed he couldn’t remember generic-looking kids’ names, then pointed at me and said, "You — your klutziness was so shocking I couldn’t forget it even if I tried." I almost reminded him of our real first meeting — the one connected to that photo — but decided to be the bigger person. "Congrats on first place, bastard." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝙣𝙚𝙩 Following him down the hall, the crowd thinned until we were in one of the more deserted corners of the station. "Ah~, seeing you makes me feel like I can breathe again." "...What are you on about?" "I wish everyone would treat me like you do — just ignore me enough." Is this guy’s kink weird treatment or something? While I stared at him, Woosung stuck his lips out. "Whenever people ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) see me, it’s either whispers like I’m some contagious disease, or fake-friendly fawning hoping for crumbs to fall off. Isn’t that exhausting? I even have to act like I get along great with my members..." "Didn’t you say your relationship with your members improved?" "...That’s just a saying. Of course we’re totally fine." For all his dating scandals, the guy had never skipped a broadcast or caused a big mess, and worked steadily. If he hadn’t, even with his star power, WH Entertainment wouldn’t have covered for him so thoroughly. He didn’t look like a rookie burning with passion, but maybe like an employee summoning up just enough soul to do the job. The change felt strange to see — and then he spotted the ring on my hand and froze. "What if a fan catches you, huh? You know how big of a deal that’d be?" "...Ah, so it’s a group thing. You should’ve said so." Still, his eyes kept darting back to it. "Wow... you guys match stuff now?" Like someone who’d never owned a ring in his life — despite having several stacked on his own fingers right now. "Why? Never matched stuff , Sunbaenim?" "I have! Uh... yeah. Probably... somewhere." Avoiding my gaze, scratching at the back of his reddening neck, he abruptly changed the subject. "Anyway, I heard the collab proposal went through? With Hi-Five?" WH Entertainment had proposed a The Dawn–Hi-Five collaboration. They were normally too stuck-up for this sort of thing, so clearly the broadcast station had pushed it hard. I’d gotten the tip from a staffer I was on good terms with, then confirmed it through Woosung. Which meant I’d been able to tell Lee Jihyun ahead of time, too. Us — riding our variety popularity — and Hi-Five, still going strong with Kang Yeonhoo at the helm. Our Shining Star Season 2 rivalry plus similar popularity made it a perfect recipe for buzz. Opportunities have to be grabbed right away. "Cha Jungwoo asked how you knew. Are you secretly WH Entertainment? No — you planted a spy, didn’t you?" "...Can’t argue with that." After a low hum, Woosung asked, "But... are you sure you can handle doing a year-end stage with Kang Yeonhoo? That’s gonna get intense." "Hearing it out loud makes it sound so cringey." He rubbed his arms as if to shake it off. "Don’t worry. I’ve worked with Ria Purple — this is nothing." And like I’d ever move without a plan. "Seo Hoyun. I can see the gears turning in your head." "And you’re acting all calm about it?" When I’m already thinking about taking him down. For once picking up on my vibe, Woosung looked faintly put off — then smirked. "Hey, why not collab with me instead?" That’d burn so hot we’d both be ashes. "Pfft, cute. Bastard." Clearly satisfied with my deadpan, Woosung waved and left. Probably still nursing that grudge about the army. If I weren’t an idol right now... I’d have rolled him back and forth across a mudflat. Clicking my tongue inwardly, I pulled out my phone. A rare name had sent me a message. [Kang Yeonhoo: What are you thinking?] Looks like his years of trainee life didn’t dull his instincts. I typed back, smiling at the edge in his tone. If life felt bland without trouble... ...I could always make some myself.