Chapter 116 : He Was Male
Chapter 116: He Was Male
[Stardust’s New Album Sells 320,000 Copies in First Week, Becomes 3rd-Gen Rising Star]
The group Stardust’s 2nd mini-album Starline recorded first-week sales of 320,000 copies.
Although Stardust had only debuted this April, they had already won 1st place on music broadcasts, achieved their own first-week career high, and secured their position as a next-generation rising star with remarkable growth.
The results for the 2nd album were more than satisfying.
We had experienced our first-ever triple crown on music broadcasts, and reached our goal for this album—over 300,000 copies sold in the first week.
Considering it had only been half a year since our debut, it was quite an achievement.
Even the company was in a celebratory mood.
Since our two weeks of music broadcast promotions had ended without a hitch, we decided to throw a party at the dorm today, just among the members.
Just then, the two who had gone to pick up the cake returned.
Thud-thud-thud—
A noisy entrance.
“Hey, hey, you’re gonna wreck the whole house.”
“Junseo-hyung, I bought cake with Seyoon! And not just any cake… a sweet chocolate cake!”
“…Feels like I’m gonna get diabetes. Doesn’t look good for your health.”
“Hyung, the caffeine you drink is the real root of all diseases.”
“Eh? Something that sweet needs to be eaten with coffee.”
“No way.”
“……!”
Jin Sehyun was once again acting as Ha Junseo’s caffeine police.
“Hyung, you’re fine now, but ten years from now, you’ll regret it to the bone. You’ll have to pay back all the health you’re borrowing now—with interest.”
“Why do you talk like such an old man?”
“I nag because I care about you, hyung.”
“Mm, fine, fine.”
Anyone watching would think he was the one who had time-traveled back.
What is this, a second life?
Listening from the side, I let out a dry chuckle.
Regardless, Jin Sehyun and Seo Haim took out candles from the cake box and began a serious discussion on how to arrange them.
“There are seven members, so we should stick in seven candles.”
“Maybe we should’ve bought number-shaped ones instead? To match our debut date?”
“Let’s save that for our first debut anniversary!”
“Hey, Seo Haim. Space them out evenly. Junseo-hyung, this is too much, don’t you think?”
“This definitely doesn’t have that Stargram vibe….”
I glanced over and saw the candles stuck in chaotically, making the cake look like it had horns.
That was bad.
Really bad.
Clicking my tongue, I approached the cake.
“Should I do it?”
“Oh, Seohan. Yeah, maybe you should—”
Exactly five seconds later.
“You get out too.”
I was promptly kicked away.
“My hands have a slight tremor…”
“Seohan, don’t make ridiculous excuses.”
“Okaay.”
Turns out arranging them nicely was harder than I thought.
After wrestling with the cake for a while, Jin Sehyun and Ha Junseo finally restored it to a presentable state.
If it were just for us, we could’ve left it messy, but since Junseo-hyung planned to post it on the official Stargram, that disaster wouldn’t do.
You could really tell the touch of professionals.
So neat.
After reviving the cake, Ha Junseo straightened his back.
“Alright, the cake’s saved. Everyone gather for a picture.”
“Should we light the candles after taking the photo?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
At his words, Seo Ian, who had somehow appeared behind us, pulled out his phone.
Even the leader came out of his room, so all the members were gathered—
Except for one.
“Seongbin-hyung, come out!”
“I’ll go get him.”
Was Cha Seongbin sleeping?
Given that I hadn’t seen him for a while, he was probably holed up in his room.
I knocked on the door he shared with Seo Haim.
Since I hadn’t seen him leave, he had to be inside.
“Hyung, I’m coming in.”
Clack—
When I opened the door, Cha Seongbin looked up in surprise.
He wasn’t even wearing earphones, so how hadn’t he heard me?
“Whoa, you scared me.”
“What are you doing?”
Swoosh—
My eyes naturally shifted to the monitor in front of him.
He was watching something intently—
A very familiar screen.
[In this mission, I will show you everything I have.]
[I’ll prove what it means to be a perfect main vocal.]
It was one of those standard idol survival show lines—something I’d probably said myself at least once.
But this wasn’t a Starf rerun; it was Boy’s Dream.
As my eyebrow twitched, Cha Seongbin gave an awkward smile.
“Uh… just watching because it reminded me of our Starf days.”
“Ah, really?”
“Next week’s the first ranking announcement. The second evaluation will start soon.”
Boy’s Dream was a show where I personally knew many of the contestants, so I occasionally checked in on the news.
It seemed Ray-hyung was holding steady within debut range, and Lee Junhyeok and Jang Juwon would comfortably pass the first ranking announcement.
Of the two, Lee Junhyeok had more connections with me than with Cha Seongbin.
Which meant… it was probably that guy.
Jang Juwon.
Cha Seongbin’s classmate.
The one who, in this small industry, had created an anonymous account to backstab his senior.
Was he rewatching this survival show—despite not being that interested—because of him?
“……”
With a slightly complicated expression, Cha Seongbin smiled faintly.
“They said they bought cake? I’ll be out now.”
Wait a second.
“Hyung, everything’s fine, right?”
“Huh? Of course~.”
I couldn’t bring myself to press further, so I didn’t stop Cha Seongbin as he stood up.
But watching his back as he walked away, I bit down hard on my lower lip.
Because a bad premonition had struck me right in the chest.
What was this?
“This feels… off.”
Yeah, definitely off.
Our ocean sunfish time bomb…
It felt like it was going to explode any day now.
The next day, we had a visual radio schedule in the morning.
When we’d just debuted, having a live radio broadcast felt like a burden in itself, but for this second album, we’d been booked for so many visual radios that I’d gotten used to them.
Relaxedly bobbing my head along to the music, I waved at the camera from time to time.
When the song ended and the radio’s signature BGM started to play, I straightened my posture.
“Hello, this is Sun and Moon Radio. I’m your Haedal DJ, Sujin!”
DJ Yang Sujin-sunbaenim, who’d been hosting Haedal Radio for two years now, naturally kicked off the show.
Her announcer background came through in her crisp diction that rang in my ears.
“Today, we’re joined by next-generation rising stars, Stardust, who’ve come back with their 2nd mini-album Starline. Could you each give a short introduction for the listeners?”
“Yep. Shine bright!”
“Hello, we’re Stardust! Please take care of us!”
With our now well-coordinated greeting, we bowed our heads.
After that, each member was given a brief moment for a self-introduction.
When it was my turn, I leaned into the mic and gave a concise line.
“I’m Stardust’s youngest member, Do Seohan.”
“Waaah!”
“Ah, you can tell right away—you totally have maknae vibes.”
“Right? Right?”
“Even from 100 kilometers away, you’d still look like the youngest.”
“……”
I’m twenty-six, though?
If you count my pre-regression life, I’m actually the oldest here.
I wanted to point that out to the DJ, but I held back.
“Yes, thank you….”
Live radio doesn’t have time to waste.
Before I knew it, we’d already rushed into the first listener story.
“Our deep-voiced Kang Siwoo, could you read the first one for us?”
“Yes, got it.”
Kang Siwoo cleared his throat and checked the script.
With the steady tone befitting a leader, he began.
[Here’s the first story. I’m a 21-year-old university student living in Seoul. Lately, I’ve been facing the biggest dilemma of my life. I’ve fallen in love at first sight… with a returning student senior at my school.]
“Oh my…”
This was supposed to be an idol guest episode.
We weren’t even that far into our careers yet!
And yet the very first story was a listener’s romance problem.
Maybe because the listener demographic was a bit older, the writers clearly didn’t get the vibe.
My throat suddenly felt dry.
I reached for my water bottle.
[The senior treated me to a meal after our OT, and since then, we’ve spent a lot of time together through the same club. From the first impression, they were exactly my type, and even their personality matched mine perfectly. We share the same taste in music, movies, and even hobbies, so I ended up developing a crush.]
Of all things… a one-sided love dilemma.
[The senior really takes good care of me. Sometimes they walk me home after club activities, and on special days, they send me pretty expensive gifticons.
My friends all say it’s definitely something, that the senior’s about to confess to me, but I’m not so sure. When I once asked about their ideal type, their answer felt a bit far from me.]
Ah.
[I like the senior, but do they feel the same way about me? I’m curious if this is a green light.]
Kang Siwoo read every last line before nodding.
“Yes, that’s the story.”
“……”
A short silence followed.
Ah, I see.
So they sent this in because they really wanted to know if it was a green light.
Ha Junseo smiled faintly as he spoke.
“…Alright. Thank you for sharing.”
The flood of live comments right after the story ended was impossible to read one by one, but…
For a moment, I could’ve sworn I saw comments like:
Ah, I wish they wouldn’t bait the kids with stuff like this;;
For Dusty, I don’t want to hear my boys giving love advice
This story though ㅋㅋㅋ Who picked it ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Let’s list the things you should never say here.
Ah, that’s definitely a green light. Guys never spend time or money on a girl they don’t like.
That kind of smug “I know everything” advice.
The worst.
Hearing stories like this really wakes up my love cells… makes me feel all tingly.
Love cells?
If such cells existed, they should be destroyed immediately.
The truth is, this is a question with a set answer.
Even if a meteor fell from the sky,
or someone threatened you with a knife at your nose,
or a truck crashed into you mid-broadcast and you regressed—
…Wait, that last one’s my personal experience.
Anyway, the only acceptable answer from an idol’s mouth is this:
I don’t know. Absolutely no idea.
Just say you don’t know, everyone got it?
I sent a signal with my eyes, but DJ Yang Sujin opened her mouth.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had such a fresh, youthful romance concern on Haedal Radio~.”
“Right.”
“Hahaha.”
“Our members are all such warm guys, so you must know a lot about love, right?”
“……!”
Somehow, even the DJ was out of touch.
I’d expected her to be a little more careful since she was older, but this question was way more direct than I’d anticipated.
At the same time, uneasy gazes met in the air.
“Well…”
To prevent one of our pure members from falling into the trap of a leading question, I stepped up to bat.
I gently parted my lips and spoke.
“I’m only eighteen years old, so I don’t know.”
I’m eighteen.
I know nothing.
At my bright, innocent answer, the DJ’s eyes curved in a smile.
I thought we’d pass over this smoothly, but an unexpected reply came back.
“Aw, at that age you know everything.”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t?”
“No, I just don’t.”
The comment feed scrolled quickly.
– The kid’s clearly uncomfortable lol what are they doing?
– This is so annoying, why ask an 18-year-old that?
– Do Seohan gritting his teeth saying he doesn’t know ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– That’s my boy
– Yeah yeah, keep it up like that
“You really don’t know?”
“Gosh, how would I know something like that?”
“But do you feel like it’s a green light or not?”
“My instincts aren’t very good…”
I don’t know.
Even if the world collapsed, I wouldn’t know.
Confirming the crazed clarity in my eyes, Cha Seongbin bit his lower lip.
It seemed like he was holding back laughter.
“But you must’ve dated at least once.”
“Me?”
“Come on, be honest. What about in kindergarten? You must’ve been popular in kindergarten.”
“I raised a chick in kindergarten.”
– Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ totally unrelated answer ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Never saw that one coming ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Yang Sujin’s getting dragged along here
– Seohan, that quick wit was perfect
At this point, I was sure the DJ was enjoying herself.
“So was that chick male or female…?”
Wow, persistent.
I smiled lightly as I answered.
“It was male.”
– lmao an impenetrable wall regardless of species ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– It was malelolololololol
– Where’d he learn to be so sharp, that’s my boy ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Seohan ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Where should I cut this off…
“Here’s the male chick.”
“Huh? Me…?”
I sold out Seo Haim to wrap up the situation.