Chapter 264 : As the Year Comes to an End
Chapter 264: As the Year Comes to an End
The year was coming to an end.
After letting go of a year filled with twists and turns, it was the season when everyone began waiting for the next one.
At the same time, for people with jobs like ours, it was also the busiest period of all.
Year-end music festivals season.
There were award ceremonies and performances scheduled practically every single day.
I should probably be grateful we hadn’t booked a separate year-end concert.
Still, things were better than last year, when I cluelessly got dragged around everywhere without understanding anything.
Humans really were creatures of adaptation.
At some point, I’d grown somewhat accustomed to this chaotic schedule.
Even so, there was still one thing worrying me….
“Well, well, look at our MC~.”
I had ended up taking the MC position for this SBC Music Festival.
Since I’d fallen into the role unexpectedly, I still wasn’t mentally prepared, but from the waiting room alone, the hyungs were already teasing me with sparkling eyes.
Cha Seongbin glanced sideways and secretly checked my script.
“Did you memorize it all?”
“No, I’m still reading through it….”
It wasn’t like I had to memorize the entire script word for word, but I was reading it over repeatedly just in case my pronunciation got twisted.
“Ah, I’m nervous.”
This was a live broadcast airing nationwide.
What if I messed up?
Even small mistakes on stage got talked about forever, so if I made a mistake as an MC, it felt like there’d be nothing more embarrassing than that.
Most importantly… those hyenas would never leave me alone!
“Wow, this is your first time hosting for several hours, right…. What if Seohan makes a mistake?”
“We should save the recording and replay it every night before sleeping.”
“Should we make it the dorm morning alarm?”
“That’s actually a good idea~.”
“H-Hey now.”
Cha Seongbin and Jin Sehyun were grinning as they teased me.
They were already acting like this now, so if I slipped up on even a single line… my voice might genuinely end up playing through the dorm every morning like an alarm.
“There’s no way I’m making a mistake.”
I clenched my fists tightly while trembling.
Kang Siwoo patted my back and burst into laughter.
“It’s okay, just relax. I made tons of mistakes too.”
As expected, only the leader who constantly had to speak understood my suffering….
“But I should record it too.”
“…What?”
No, he didn’t.
I was briefly thrown off by Kang Siwoo’s curveball, but quickly regained composure.
Well, if that was how it was going to be—
“Then I’ll show you.”
I intended to properly demonstrate what clean hosting really looked like.
---
“It’s already December 30th! Ahead of 2019, I’m Ayoon, who’ll be hosting the 2018 SBC Music Festival…!”
“And I’m Do Seohan of Stardust.”
An outdoor stage packed with audience members.
The MC area was located slightly away from the main stage itself.
Even so, there were still so many people nearby that the cheers were captured clearly in the audio.
“Waaaaaaah!”
“Kyaaaaah! Seohan-ah!”
Hearing the familiar calls of his name, Do Seohan turned his head and smiled brightly.
Dusty Minji was watching the live broadcast from atop a warm electric blanket.
“Right now, there are so many fans here who love K-pop. Ayoon-nim, can you hear these passionate cheers too?”
“Yes! It feels like even my heart is heating up together with them.”
Actress Ayoon, who was hosting alongside Do Seohan, spoke smoothly in a gentle voice.
And surprisingly, Do Seohan’s responses were far more natural than expected.
Despite barely having any hosting experience, he was handling things quite smoothly.
* What??? Our hamster is actually good at this!!!
* Ah, he’s trying so hard to pronounce everything clearly, so cuteㅠㅠ
* Their visual chemistry is insane. Tofu-type and tofu-type…. Their art style matches perfectly.
“Continuing this passionate energy, who is the artist opening up the very first stage tonight?”
“Ah, I’ll give you a hint.”
Seohan smiled softly and lowered the microphone for a moment.
Swoosh. Spin, spin.
The gesture of raising one arm and spinning it energetically was an incredibly familiar point choreography move.
It was You&’s <With me, With you>, a song that had become wildly popular this year through dance challenges.
* Ahㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Do Seohan’s embarrassed.
* His voice sounds super calm, but those bright red ears aren’t lying.
* Which one is the truth? His calm face or his ears that look ready to explode?
Maybe both were true.
Tightly gripping the microphone, Seohan shouted energetically,
“We’ll return after You&’s <With me, With you> performance!”
“See you soon!”
The start was good.
The first stage had been hosted smoothly without fumbling a single word.
Dusty Minji smiled proudly and muttered quietly,
“What the heck, Seohan’s actually really good at hosting.”
* My baby talks so well.
* Mam-Seohan’s embarrassed but still doing everything perfectlyㅋㅋㅋㅋ
* Our hamster baby isn’t even nervous. So admirable.
At least up until then, everyone thought there wouldn’t be any mistakes.
.
.
.
.
An hour straight of waiting and filming.
Standing on stage in below-freezing weather with nothing but a thin coat on, I was gradually losing feeling in my legs.
Seohan warmed his frozen hands with hot packs.
Whoooosh.
The wind whipping against my ears made my head feel slightly numb.
That was the annoying thing about outdoor stages.
Even so, the hosting continued smoothly despite the harsh conditions.
It was time for the cameras to roll again.
The moment the red recording light turned on, Seohan immediately recovered the smile on his face.
At this point, managing expressions had practically become instinctive.
No matter how cold or exhausted he was, he couldn’t openly show it.
Likewise, Ayoon raised her energy to the maximum and spoke brightly.
“Yes! So who’s preparing the next stage for us? Seohan-ssi, do you know?”
“Mmm, I’m curious.”
“I’ll give you a hint. They’re people Seohan-ssi knows very well too.”
Seohan stroked his chin dramatically, pretending to think hard.
“Should I give another hint?”
“Yes!”
Ayoon raised her index finger to her lips and spoke softly.
“…Shh.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Doesn’t it feel too quiet here?”
“…Pardon?”
“It’s clearly so noisy outside, but somehow my heart feels incredibly silence.”
* Holy shit
* It’s Stardust!!!
* Ah, I’m already excited because the Silence stage is gonna crush it.
* Look at Seohan pretending not to knowㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
“No way.”
It was part of the script.
Since he had already rehearsed together with Ayoon, Seohan pretended to be slightly surprised and shouted loudly,
“Staradust!!!”
Maybe because of the cold, his tongue froze.
The moment he realized the mistake, Seohan’s eyes widened.
He hurriedly corrected himself.
“S-Stardust!”
* Ahㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Seohan-ahㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
* He literally said his own group name wrongㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
* I’m getting secondhand embarrassment.
* Sssstaradust!!!
* What do we do? This is a whole year’s worth of teasing material.
* I really wanna know what expressions the Stardust members backstage are making right now.
* Ayoon’s trying so hard not to laughㅋㅋㅋㅋ seriously a professional. How is she holding it inㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
While the fans in the front openly burst into laughter, the true professional Ayoon skillfully continued the hosting.
“Yes, it’s Stardust! Shall we meet them briefly before the performance?”
And of all things, there was even an interview.
As the members climbed onto the stage at perfect timing, Seohan’s pupils began shaking rapidly.
His ears, already slightly red before, now looked so overheated they seemed ready to burst.
* Is Mam-Seohan about to explode like this?
* Our baby’s ears turned redㅋㅋㅋㅋ what’s he gonna doㅋㅋㅋㅋ
* Jin Sehyun’s grinningㅋㅋㅋㅋ that’s the face of someone planning exactly how to tease him after thisㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
While Seohan’s mentality crumbled apart, thankfully the leader calmly held the center together.
A loud greeting rang across the stage.
“Shine bright! Hello, we’re Stardust!”
“…Right! Hello, we’re Stardust!”
* Seohan missed the timingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
* Guess he forgot he had to do the greeting too because he was at the MC stand.
* Do Hamjji’s mentality is currently flying off to Andromedaㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
* Soul-escaped maknae hamster….
Though he desperately maintained composure, his pupils were trembling even faster than before.
Thankfully, other than the scripted lines, there were barely any sections where Seohan had to personally answer things.
While the maknae was half mentally absent, the interview continued smoothly.
“Then we’ll return with Stardust’s <Silence> stage.”
“Staradust?”
“……”
Along with Jin Sehyun’s low teasing voice, the screen transitioned away.
“See you later!”
Seohan hurriedly waved while wrapping up the segment.
---
[Do Hamjji Just Got Himself a Full Year’s Worth of Teasing Material]
The photo uploaded to the official Stargram right after today’s music festivalㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
(photo jpg)
They uploaded a perfectly normal picture, then tagged it with #Staradust #Sstardust
Stop teasing Seohan with the official accountㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
* I was watching proudly during the livestream like “My baby’s doing so well,” then the moment he messed up I suddenly entered a don’t-laugh challengeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Seohan’s expression was literally ㅇㅁㅇ!!!
└ Honestly it wasn’t even that huge a mistake, but you could visibly see how panicked he got.
└ Baby hamster still can’t hide his emotions yet…. Cute.
* If he’d just acted confident maybe it would’ve been different, but the way he started trembling made him ridiculously adorable so I had to cover my mouth.
└ Anyone willing to put Do Hamjji inside their pocket? 1/100000
└ ???: He’s too big to fit.
└ ???: I’m 180cm.
* Honestly any other mistake would’ve been fineㅋㅋㅋㅋ but it was his own group nameㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ the members teasing him is guaranteed.
└ Apparently he already got messages on Private Message saying the hyungs were teasing him too muchㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Did you see Jin Sehyun’s face during the interview? He looked like he’d been waiting for this exact moment.
└ The second the cameras rolled, he quietly went “Staradust…” and started teasing himㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Ahㅋㅋㅋ that’s way too meanㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ They’re seriously so warm and cute I’m losing my mind.
* Cha Seongbin said this on livestream: “Hello, this is Cha Seongbin greeting you with Staradust’s Sai-lance stage.”
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Sai-lanceㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Sounds country as hell.
└ Are you insane?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
“I shouldn’t have reacted like that….”
Even if my tongue slipped, I at least shouldn’t have looked so shocked afterward.
Thanks to that, the (Shocked Hamster gif.) was now circulating around fan communities.
Search King Jin Sehyun somehow found it perfectly and uploaded it to our group chat.
Everything after that was inevitable.
I was sitting on the sofa dry-washing my face when Cha Seongbin grinned mischievously and spoke.
“Oh? Well look who it is~.”
“Ah, stop it.”
“Staradust!!! It’s Do Seohan!”
Detecting the teasing radar, Seo Haim hurried over and joined in.
And in situations like this, Seo Ian somehow never missed the opportunity despite looking like he might.
With sparkling eyes, hyung clenched his fist dramatically.
“It’s okay. Once you become an adult, your pronunciation will improve too!”
“…An adult?”
“Agreed. Do Seohan’s becoming an aduuuult soon.”
“Seohan probably can’t wait to become an adult, huh?”
At Cha Seongbin’s response, I unconsciously let out a small laugh.
“I don’t really like getting older though.”
“You dare say something so outrageous…?”
“Then everyone else here should start building coffins!”
The final day of December.
There was only one day left until I became an adult for the second time.