Chapter 170 : Rookie Award (2)
Chapter 170: Rookie Award (2)
I was dragged in front of the stage in a daze before I could even process what was happening.
It didn’t feel real, and my legs were shaking on their own.
Even as I walked forward to receive the award, I could clearly hear the cheers of our fans ringing in my ears.
"Stardust! Stardust! Stardust!"
“Kyaaaah!”
There’s no way I could get any words out in this state.
At times like this, I was glad I wasn’t the leader.
Kang Siwoo was the first to grab the mic with trembling hands.
“Dusty everyone….”
He wasn’t the type to cry often, but maybe because it was our first rookie award, his voice trembled.
Maybe the recent issue crossed his mind. There were a lot of emotions wrapped up in this moment.
“First of all, thank you so much…for letting us receive this award….”
Even as he sniffled, Kang Siwoo delivered his speech calmly.
His voice wavered a little, but the message was clear and heartfelt enough not to be distracting.
“To our CEO who always works hard, the Doubles staff, our manager hyung… and our beloved members….”
“Waaaah….”
“Thanks to you all, we were able to receive this award, and I just want to say thank you so much.”
Kang Siwoo bowed deeply and tried to hand the mic to Jin Sehyun….
But he failed.
“Ughuhuh… ugh…”
Because Jin Sehyun was bawling.
In the end, the mic went to Seo Ian who was standing beside him.
“Dusty… I love you…!”
It seemed he was crying too much to give a long speech.
Cha Seongbin, who was the most sober among us, snatched the mic from the middle.
“I think this precious award was given to us as encouragement to keep working hard. We, Stardust, will continue to bring you better songs and better performances so we never disappoint you.”
As Cha Seongbin gave a steady speech, the other members gradually started to calm down.
He smiled gently and paused for a moment after finishing his message.
“And….”
Hm?
All eyes turned toward me.
“Seohan, give it a try.”
Ha Junseo, who had been crying, burst into laughter.
“……”
Ah.
No way.
I could tell what that look meant and I wanted to run.
“Just once.”
Damn it.
Before I knew it, the mic had ended up in my hand while I was still out of it.
Cha Seongbin grinned and casually tossed the line to me.
“We can’t skip hearing from our youngest.”
“Ha….”
Even if I wanted to avoid the subtle glances from the hyungs, there were just too many cameras watching.
My ears were burning, but it felt like I’d be more at ease if I just got it over with.
So.
In the end… I blurted it out.
“Thank you for the rookie award. Standing on such an honorable stage brings back memories of our debut like it was yesterday. Holding on to that feeling… going forward….”
So.
Yeah.
“I’ll… live kindly….”
I really wanted to run away.
[Do Hamjji’s award speech today had me dying of laughter]
“I’ll live kindly.”
Final line of his Starf final announcement speech ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Definitely feels like the hyungs made him do it.
Seeing him do it with his ears red was so cute and funny.
—I never expected someone to say that at a cool awards show ㅋㅋㅋ They wrecked Dance Break and ended it with a repentance line ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└The way the hyungs’ eyes sparkled, silently telling him to hurry up, was so high-school-boy-coded ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└That’s why I love them, they don’t feel like a survival show group ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The fans are going wild
└Only during missions do they act like they’re in a survival show
└Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That’s for real….
—Do Seohan’s “I’ll live kindly” is definitely gonna become a teasing point again ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why are they all so serious about teasing Dusty’s youngest ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Maybe Seohan enjoys it too
└Nah… ears don’t lie… anyone could tell he wanted to disappear into a mouse hole, he was the ultimate hamjji stew
└Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Sorry, Seohan ㅠㅠㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I had a great time though
—Feels like Stardust is going to sweep all rookie awards this year, and I’m already bursting with pride, this is a problem ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└I wish the whole world knew how amazing my babies are… no, wait, I hope only I know… become famous… but don’t become famous, guys….
—Do I look like a fan of a group that’s swept public broadcast #1s, music show triple crowns, 500K first-week sales, and the Seoul K-pop Awards rookie trophy?
└Dusty’s shoulders are piercing the sky
└Thank you for always giving us reasons to be proud ㅠㅠ I’m so happy to be a Dusty ㅠㅠㅠha
└They don’t cause trouble, they communicate with fans, every song is a masterpiece, they’re climbing their careers… how could anyone not stan Dusty….
└I cried watching them get their rookie award and got treated like a weirdo at home ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
.
.
.
.
The day after the awards show,
The members went live to celebrate winning the rookie award at the Seoul K-pop Awards.
As if fans had been waiting, the viewer count shot up the moment the notification popped up.
Our Stargram Live viewer count had been rising recently, but today it was going up even faster.
“Oh, people are joining.”
Cha Seongbin, who was fiddling with the camera, stepped back in surprise.
The members seated behind him grinned brightly and waved enthusiastically at the camera.
It was a special day, after all, so everyone was in a good mood.
“Shall we begin?”
“Let’s do thiiis!”
Once they confirmed that fans were safely in the live, Kang Siwoo opened with a booming voice.
“Yes! We received the NEW ARTIST award at the Seoul K-pop Awards!”
“Waaaah!”
“Wohoo!”
Cha Seongbin carefully lifted the trophy and showed it off to the camera.
—They’re all so hyped, it’s adorable ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Are you guys that happy?
—They’re way too excitedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Looking at this makes me want to give them every trophy in the world ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—Cha Seongbin’s genuine happy face is showing
It was great.
I was so excited I couldn’t sleep last night, so I ended up ordering late-night snacks with the members.
Cha Seongbin hummed a tune and clapped his hands.
“Rookie Award! NEW ARTIST! So wonderful!”
His energy was off the charts.
Kang Siwoo hurried to stop Cha Seongbin who was now spouting nonsense from excitement.
Not that it helped.
Cha Seongbin beamed and nudged Seo Haim in the side.
“Haim, how do you feel?”
The answer came out immediately.
“I feel sooo thrilled.”
—Awww did you really~?
—Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He said thrilled, that was such a raw reaction ㅠㅠㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—Such a classic little Haim response, seriously ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Kang Siwoo looked on fondly at the scene. Ha Junseo chuckled and turned his head.
“Mr. Do Seohan, who promised to live kindly, please share your thoughts too.”
“This morning, I woke up early to live kindly.”
“I didn’t sleep at all.”
“I slept… just a little bit.”
—“Why is waking up early considered being kind, oh you sweet baby ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ㅠㅠ”
—“The kindest thing Do Hamjji, who lives so harmlessly, can do: waking up early.”
—“It’s so fucking cute I’m losing my mind seriously ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
—“Are you a new-world baby Hamster?”
While casually chatting with fans in the comments, Kang Siwoo returned with three bottles of sparkling water and some paper cups.
The purpose of today’s live broadcast.
It was to have a celebratory toast as part of their company dinner.
“We’re having a company dinner today.”
They called it a company dinner, but the twist was that all the members were holding sparkling water.
Seo Haim asked with wide eyes.
“You’re going to pour it for us yourself?”
“Yes, I’ll show you my skills.”
“Our underage members wouldn’t know this stuff~.”
Kang Siwoo spun the bottle around with a snap of his wrist, shaking the sparkling water.
Cha Seongbin, silently watching, tilted his head.
“Sorry, but that’s going to explode.”
Correct.
“Uwaaaah!”
As soon as the cap opened, the foam exploded wildly and Seo Haim flinched to the right.
—“Siwoo, that’s not soju, you know ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
—“If you shake sparkling water like that, it’s doomed…”
—“Stardust’s company dinner (feat. volcanic eruption)”
“…….”
The mess was for the one who caused it to clean up.
“S-sorry….”
“Ahahahahah!”
“Siwoo hyung… what are you doing….”
Kang Siwoo awkwardly poured the remaining sparkling water into a paper cup and held it up to the camera.
“Anyway, let’s all have a drink. Shall we toast?”
“Dusties, crack open your sparkling water too!”
“Yeah, love it.”
A Stardust-style company dinner, even looking out for the Dusties beyond the screen.
“Cheers, let’s do this.”
“Get up. Get up.”
The members, who had laid out a small snack table in front of the camera, all stood up at once.
Then.
With a charged-up voice, Kang Siwoo shouted loudly.
“To Stardust!”
“To Starduuust!”
Clink—
Well, more like a soft pop as paper cups bumped together.
At the same time, while Stardust was raising their glasses in celebration.
The atmosphere at BK’s dorm was anything but peaceful.
BK had also returned with the [TOP 10 ARTIST] trophy, but Taekyung’s mind was too tangled to feel purely happy.
“Let’s just talk about why you did it.”
Something had been off with Han Gabin since a few days ago.
It was hard to pinpoint, so they’d let it slide, but after the huge mess he caused yesterday, it couldn’t be ignored anymore.
“…….”
But Han Gabin didn’t respond, even when Taekyung pressed for an answer.
Trying to reason with him, Taekyung spoke again.
“Keeping your mouth shut won’t fix anything.”
He had told Seohan it was because he was sick, but they both knew that wasn’t the truth.
From the outside, he had looked perfectly fine.
“Was the schedule too tight? Or was there something that pissed you off?”
“…….”
“Hey.”
At Taekyung’s words, Han Gabin hung his head low.
“Phew…”
Han Gabin ran a hand through his hair and let out a deep sigh.
“Yeah.”
Looking back on it now, he realized how insane it was.
“I must’ve lost my mind…”
“…You’re only realizing that now?”
“Ha.”
There were plenty of people watching, and he just rammed into it, not thinking about the aftermath.
It wasn’t even someone from the same team or company—he had gone out of his way to help a rookie in their first year with no connection to him.
“Ugh, what’s so great about those guys anyway…”
Han Gabin laughed hollowly and pressed his temples with his fingers.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
Obviously, it wasn’t because he found them cute.
With a frown, Han Gabin muttered under his breath.
“Something just triggered me.”
He had his own family issues to deal with.
Maybe what Lee Changhyeon said had been the trigger that made him snap.
Other than saying he lost his mind for a moment, he had nothing else to say.
He hadn’t stepped in out of righteous fury, so why had he gotten involved?
“I’ve just been sensitive lately…”
It wasn’t a sufficient explanation, but it was all he could offer.
With a heavy heart, Han Gabin leaned his head back against the seat.
And just then.
His phone blared loudly from his pocket.
Dding—
Dding—
He had a bad feeling.
Grabbing his head again, Han Gabin checked the top message.
It was exactly what he had hoped not to see—a threatening text in a rough tone.
Sharp words from someone tied to old debts.
—“Gabin-ah, tell your father to pay back the 30 million won.”
—“Or pay it off yourself.”
“Ha.”
No sooner had he read it than the notifications buzzed again.
Dding—
Dding—
—“Next time · we’ll hang a banner · for real”
—“Let’s keep it civil, Gabin-ah.”
“Fuck…”
He was really at his limit.
“Hey! Are you crazy?”
Thud—
In a fit of rage, Han Gabin hurled his phone across the room.