When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar

He couldn’t tell what level of choreography Park Tae Hyung would bring yet, but Do Wook thought he was doing more than his share at this point.

He practices quietly and shows surprising passion on stage. He was already doing his part with that alone, but he was even thinking of contributing something to the team.

‘It might not be immediate, but I’m certain that his determination will be a huge help to the team’s development as time goes on.’

Do Wook was proud as he looked at Park Tae Hyung, who returned to his area and started practicing again.

‘As I thought, it was a good decision to pick him as a fellow member.’

At the same time, he also felt that he* should try harder so that he could exhibit his abilities in singing and composing as well as dancing.

(TL note: I felt I should clarify Do Wook is talking about himself here. Seeing how hard Tae Hyung is working, he was inspired to work even harder.)

***

The KK ship was really cruising.

First place on Life Song two weeks in a row. The laughter on the members’ faces after they finished their performance and got back in the car would not disappear.

“At this rate you might be able to win first place next week too…”

“Amazing~!”

Kim Won cheered at the prospect Oh Baek Ho carefully put out. The other members were also full of expectation. Even though a singer who is strong in music made a comeback, it was hard to get first place the same week as their comeback, and currently KK’s reception by the public was too good.

They continued to top the music chart as well. The album sale was not as good as they were initially, but they were consistently selling well.

M2M, the super rookie who debuted at the award ceremony, held the record of being first place for four consecutive weeks. Even if they got close with three weeks, they wouldn’t feel like they were losing to M2M.

‘It’d be nice if we could do 4 consecutive weeks…’

Do Wook tried to remember. Honestly, it was a fight worth trying.

To Do Wook’s recollection, the album of the mid level female singer making her comeback next week was in the middle* among her albums. It was first place on the music charts at the time, but it wasn't up against KK’s ‘Sorry But I Love You’ so it was hard to accurately guess which was better.

(TL note: It means it wasn’t her most popular album but it wasn’t her least popular album either. It was somewhere in the middle).

“Wow, is all of that our fans?”

Kim Won asked as he looked out the car window. At the entrance of the broadcast studio parking lot, there was a huge crowd of female students.

Fans, who had already memorized the license plate of the car KK drove around in, started crowding closer and closer as soon as they saw the car. The broadcast station security guards were blocking them but that had its limits. A couple of them got through and stood right next to the car.

“Ah, it’s starting again.”

It was a situation he had experienced a lot during his days as the manager for Monster. Manager Oh Baek Ho frowned as he held on tightly to the steering wheel. It’s the perfect scenario for an accident if you’re not careful.

Fans were running after the car as it left the broadcast station. The members opened their mouths in shock as they looked at the fans following them despite being in a car that blended in with other cars and they couldn't even see a single hair of KK since it was so heavily tinted.

“Should we have at least opened the window?”

Ahn Hyung Seo, who was a softie, muttered. Oh Baek ho, who heard him, reprimanded him with a stern voice.

“Are you going to take responsibility if we get in an accident in the street while doing that?!”

“No, I wasn’t really going to open the window…”

The members had not properly experienced their popularity yet. All they’ve encountered was seeing the fans that were in the fan section at the public broadcasts. It was natural that they’d want to interact directly with the fans. Do Wook felt the same too.

“If we get first place next week, what do you think about doing a fan meeting after the broadcast is over? The fans are what’s important.”

“That’s right! It’s the fans who got us first place! You’d know if you saw the votes today. It was straight fire.”

Ahn Hyung Seo got excited over Do Wook’s suggestion and agreed.

“You told us to treat our fans well, Manager Oh!”

When even Suk Ji Hoon, who had been minding his own business, chimed in, Manager Oh’s forehead wrinkles got even deeper.

“Okay, okay. I’ll talk with Fan Marketing.”

“Oh yes~!”

The car Oh Baek Ho was driving sped excitedly on the road and soon arrived at the agency. It was time for rehearsal again.

***

The members changed into their rehearsal clothes and came back to the rehearsal hall. It was when they were waiting for Noh Yoon Tae, who would be instructing them on the choreography for the follow up song. Park Tae Hyung came towards Do Wook.

‘You’ve thought of something!’

Do Wook’s face brightened.

“It’s nothing impressive…”

“I’ll know when I see it. Please show me already, Tae Hyung.”

At Do Wook’s encouragement, he got into position. Ahn Hyung Seo headed towards them asking what they’re talking about, and the members who were spread out started to gather one by one. Park Tae Hyung, who suddenly found himself showing all the members the choreography he made himself, hesitated.

“It’s better if everyone sees it. Don’t worry and continue.”

Do Wook genuinely believed in him. Park Tae Hyung could feel that trust.

Park Tae Hyung set it on replay and turned on the music. He counted the beats and started the choreography.

Yes, I like you. You. I like you-

Yes, I like you. You. I like you-

The first two times was the original choreography. It was a four-step movement while nodding your head. It was very simple because it only had slight movements back and forth and side to side.

The next two times, Park Tae Hyung demonstrated the choreography he made. The movements involved stretching the arms and legs at the same time and crouching. Posing as if shooting a gun while turning was also added to the last “You, I like you” part.

“Ohhhh, what’s that choreography at the end? I haven’t seen it before.”

Ahn Hyung Seo asked Park Tae Hyung when he turned off the music. It was because it was much better than the original choreography they knew.

When Park Tae Hyung, stuttering, replied that it’s choreography he made himself, everyone was surprised and praised him. They each added that he was definitely a dance genius.

While all the members were praising Tae Hyung, Do Wook had not given any comments. Park Tae Hyung looked at Do Wook, waiting last but not least for Do Wook’s opinion.

“Mmmm…Tae Hyung. It’s good but…I think…”

Park Tae Hyung swallowed hard. Other people’s opinions were important too, but for Park Tae Hyung Do Wook’s opinion was more important than anyone else’s.

It was when Park Tae Hyung was anxiously waiting for his response.

“Hey guys! Look at this!”

Oh Baek Ho, who entered the rehearsal hall with No Yoon Tae, was holding a shopping bag in his hand.

Oh Baek Ho let out a small sigh when he saw the members flocking to him after they saw the shopping bag.

“Huuuu…personally I really didn’t want to give it to you.”

The members’ eyes sparkled as they looked at Oh Baek Ho. The thought that ‘If it’s something he doesn’t want to give us, it’s definitely something good for us!’ went through all the members' minds.

“Here, take this.”

Oh Baek Ho quickly handed over the shopping bag to Jung Yoon Ki, who took out the boxes in the shopping bag one by one. On the boxes were pictures of the latest model cell phone.

“This is…!”

There were six boxes altogether. It was the same as the number of KK members. After giving each member a box, Jung Yoon Ki muttered out of excitement.

The latest released cell phone models were called ‘smartphones’, different from past cell phones. The Internet was a given, but the cellphone now had the capability to perform various functions that they couldn’t imagine before. Nevertheless, because of the company policy that members were prohibited from having personal cell phones at the start of their debut, they couldn’t get new cell phones.

“You know that a lot of idols, including our company’s idols Monster and Milky Way, sang the logo song together for a cell phone right?”

“I think I saw an ad for it…”

Jung Yoon Ki tried to remember as he replied to what Oh Baek Ho said.

“So we also received the latest model for our company’s idol. They gave us enough for you guys too.”

“Very kind, man!”

Kim Won yelled as he cheered, on the verge of tears. Because he knew that he could freely video call his friends abroad using a smartphone, he was one of the people that really needed a smartphone.

“Fan Marketing Team said that they’ll create accounts for you guys to update yourselves, and it seemed like you guys might need a phone for various reasons so I’m giving it to you. I’m not giving it to you so you can goof off.”

“Yes yes, of course!”

Ahn Hyung Seo answered immediately. Oh Baek Ho added doubtfully.

“Be careful who you give out your phone numbers to and who you call.”

Even as everyone replied to Oh Baek Ho, their eyes were already fixed on their phones.

However, they didn’t even have time to properly open their phones. It was because Noh Yoon Tae, who had finished preparing for the choreography lesson during that time, called the members from in front of the mirrors. The dance team, who were going to personally demonstrate the choreography, was trickling in as well.

The members left their precious cell phone boxes on one side of the rehearsal hall and headed towards Noh Yoon Tae.

“You guys watched the video and familiarized yourselves with it a little, right?”

Noh Yoon Tae asked. Everyone had taken turns watching it several times. It was when Noh Yoon Tae was about to explain that they’ll go into the demonstration and for everyone to carefully check their individual positions. Do Wook raised his hand.

“Umm…there’s choreography we came across as we were playing around while practicing the choreography together…”

Do Wook chose his words very carefully so that he doesn’t feel they thought the choreography was bad but that it just came about naturally.

“Choreography?”

“Yes. The choreography for the chorus. It’s something Tae Hyung was trying out.”

Depending on the person, they might be sensitive to editing the choreography but Noh Yoon Tae had worked in the agency for a very long time. There are also many times where things were edited based on suggestions from the company. From Noh Yoon Tae’s perspective, it was the opinion of a member who will be performing it so it wasn’t a big issue.

“Is that so? Tae Hyung had a knack for creating choreography too? Come here and show me.”

Park Tae Hyung had still not heard Do Wook’s opinion. Since Do Wook’s response was ‘It’s good but…’, he thought the words following that would be negative.

Park Tae Hyung stepped forward after hesitating.

‘Telling me to show it to Instructor Noh Yoon Tae means the choreography I made was ok, right? That’s a relief.’

With that thought in mind, he demonstrated the same movements for the chorus part that he had shown the members.

Yes, I like you. You. I like you-

Noh Yoon Tae and the dance team members’ eyes became wide as he demonstrated the choreography while singing without music.

“Tae Hyung, it’s very good!”

Noh Yoon Tae was surprised and copied the choreography Park Tae Hyung just demonstrated. He only saw it once but, as expected, an instructor was different.

“It’s like this, right?” Noh Yoon Tae asked Park Tae Hyung. Park Tae Hyung, who was praised, nodded his head with a shy expression.

“What does everyone think? I think it’ll be good to edit it with this.”

“I like it~!”

“I think it’ll be good.”

The dance team members replied to Noh Yoon Tae. The members also gave a thumbs up and agreed.

“I like it too, but…”

Do Wook started to respond, then stopped. Noh Yoon Tae gestured to continue.

“At the shooting gun pose part, what do you think of doing it facing forward the first time, then making a circle and facing the center for the second time? The bridge comes after so if you match the timing there and Tae Hyung does a back tumble there, I think it’ll be really eye-catching. How about it, Tae Hyung?”

Do Wook asked Park Tae Hyung in the middle of talking to Noh Yoon Tae. Park Tae Hyung blinked.

—

Translator's comments: Oh my gosh….it's hard to imagine a time before smartphones.

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