The Idol Training Simulation I Messed Up

Chapter 23

After revealing Jae Min’s return, the fandom still hadn’t fully stabilized, so they couldn’t immediately resume active promotions.

Instead, Newma Entertainment released an announcement. The gist was as follows:

“[After mutual agreement with former member Myung Jae Min, he has decided to rejoin as a member. Moving forward, Newma Entertainment will dedicate all efforts to supporting Monochrome’s activities. We ask for your continued support.]”

It was judged that giving people, whether they were welcoming or discontent, time to process and accept the situation would be beneficial.

It was still a noisy situation in some corners, so showing them cheerfully getting along might feel out of place.

The members also temporarily paused their interactions on platforms like VLive. Thanks to this, they could fully focus on album preparation, which was fortunate in its own way.

But they didn’t just let it quietly pass without giving the fans anything.

Though the behind-the-scenes photos from the previous profile photo shoot were shelved, the behind-the-scenes video of the live clip was uploaded to the official channel.

[It’s been so long since Monchrome movedㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[Why am I crying when Jae Min is smiling on the screenㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ I’ve been waiting so long to see that smileㅜㅜㅜ]

[Jun-hae looks so scary in that all-white outfit. I’m worried he’ll pull out hidden angel wings and fly back to heaven..]

[Am I the only one seeing Haerang play the piano for the first time? Ah, my heart]

[Why does Han-yi sound like he’s teaching us how to warm up our throatsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He sounds like a pterodactylㅜㅜㅋㅋㅋㅋ He’s gonna strain his throat trying to warm it upㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Please upload Woohyung’s piano performance unedited]

[Got chills when the complete group sat together…ㅠㅠ]

[When I sit in chairs like those, my feet dangle. How long are their legs?]

They briefly considered keeping Haerang’s piano scene for a later surprise reveal, but there was no need to withhold it from fans starving for content, so they included it.

‘It was a scene I was quite proud of.’

As expected, seeing the fans enjoy it made them feel satisfied.

While reading the comments, they noticed that mentions of ‘ㅋㅋㅋㅋ’ usually referred to Han-yi, while mentions of ‘ㅠㅠㅠㅠ’ mostly referred to Jae Min.

Since this was the first behind-the-scenes activity after Jae Min’s return, mentions of him naturally dominated, but considering that, all members were mentioned with almost equal weight.

Some fans left multiple comments highlighting what they liked about each member.

Perhaps because they had gone through so many hardships together, the fans also seemed to be tightly bonded, just like the members.

‘I can’t even imagine what the atmosphere would’ve been like if Yunhwan were still here…….’

Did the people who were Yunhwan’s fans and became Colors stay, or did they leave?

The fan index of the group could be checked on the My Enter screen, and when it was briefly checked before:

531, 533, 530, 528……

In the game, the numbers used to rise or fall by 50 or 100 after a schedule or event, but now they fluctuated in real-time by units of 1, which was nerve-wracking to watch.

‘Were these numbers always this volatile in real-time?’

Iris’s index exceeded 3,000, while Monochrome’s lingered in the 500s.

This wasn’t a direct reflection of the number of fans but rather an abstract figure.

How people’s feelings were converted into this index was a mystery.

Monochrome’s fan index and public recognition were only slightly higher than those of a newly debuted rookie.

Their recognition, originally in the 700s, briefly exceeded 1,000 when they trended for a moment but quickly dropped again, resulting in a minimal overall increase.

It was an objective confirmation that they hadn’t left a lasting impression on the public.

It was like watching a stock graph plummet in real-time, which wasn’t good for one’s mental state, so they quietly clicked the back button.

‘Fan reactions are more intuitive than these ambiguous numbers.’

With that thought, they continued scrolling and noticed a comment comparing Jun-hae to an angel.

Seeing that brought back memories of the members watching Jun-hae’s profile photo shoot, making them smile unconsciously.

Were fans starting to resemble their favorite idols?

Although they were the ones who criticized the company, and by extension, me the most, they were truly on the same side as Monochrome.

For those fans, until they had something newsworthy to share, they decided to release still cuts and behind-the-scenes videos from the concept image shoot to tide them over.

The saying ‘No news is good news’ doesn’t apply in this industry. Fans shouldn’t be left to wither in a drought of updates.

‘So this is how important it is to provide behind-the-scenes content.’

They silently thanked Yun-hee for taking care of it in advance.

With a few more pieces of content left to upload, they were able to focus on work without the pressure of needing to provide immediate updates.

The scheduler they kept close by for frequent checks showed the days when Jae Min would be in and out of the company.

Jae Min was busy preparing for both the album and the Dance Competition, shuttling back and forth between Newma and the dance team.

While both Newma and the dance team tried to avoid interfering with each other’s schedules as much as possible, Jae Min couldn’t help but be overworked handling both.

Still, Jae Min’s face was full of energy whenever they ran into him at the company.

It seemed the members also helped him out with his solo practice in the rehearsal room.

All they could do to help was pull out the company card.

As those busy days continued, Monochrome’s departure date finally arrived.

***

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

“They say it’s warm over there.”

“So that’s why Han-yi hyung didn’t wear his padded jacket.”

“Ugh, block the wind for me!”

Han-yi started fussing about the cold wind as soon as he got out of the car and squeezed between the members.

All the members were wearing padded jackets or winter coats, except Han-yi, who was dressed for late autumn.

‘Going straight indoors, it wasn’t a bad choice to lighten the load.’

It was probably cool in LA by now. There was no rain in the local forecast.

Escaping the severe cold for good weather—this was the charm of traveling, or rather, a business trip abroad!

Among the dark-haired heads huddled together against the cold, Jae Min’s light, blonde hair stood out.

His hair had been bleached for the music video shoot, turning him into a blonde temporarily.

After his return, his hair was scheduled to be dyed back to its original color to match this album, and he would return to this bright blonde for the next album.

Seeing Haerang’s fiery red-dyed hair had made them want to protect the members’ scalps as much as possible, but there was no choice with the schedule pushed forward.

“But who are those people?”

While waiting for the light to change at the crosswalk, they noticed a group of people gathered near an entrance.

At first, they thought it was a group of tourists, but the group showed no signs of moving, merely staying by the entrance.

When they asked, Yun-hee quickly replied.

“Those are reporters and fans. It seems another celebrity is departing today.”

Ah, so that’s what those airport fashion articles were about.

They were just waiting around to snap photos when the celebrities arrived.

As someone who had only recently been thrust into the entertainment industry, this was a world they didn’t know much about.

Naturally, there were no reporters or Monochrome fans at the entrance they were heading to.

‘Well, I shouldn’t say naturally!’

It wasn’t like it was a public schedule, and we were suddenly leaving. Yes, that’s it.

They tried to reassure themselves internally, but the two adjacent entrances still felt very far apart.

“Could they be idols?”

As they crossed the street, a few of those waiting who had been idly looking over at the celebrity entrance turned their attention towards them.

Amidst the staff, five men walking side by side didn’t look like ordinary people.

Besides, with hair like that flying around, of course, they would draw attention.

“I don’t know. If they were idols, wouldn’t fans be with them?”

“True. But they really don’t look like ordinary people.”

“Right.”

……Yes, that’s true. They weren’t ordinary people; they were celebrities.

Unfortunately, their guess didn’t reach the realization that these five were actual idols.

Was it that their ears were just particularly sharp? These kinds of stinging remarks somehow always seemed to be the ones heard the clearest.

At the Idol Sports Championship, even fans of other fandoms recognized Monochrome and Colors and looked at them sympathetically.

But that was only because they knew the person in front of them was an idol and the person sitting was a fan.

There were people who vaguely recognized them as a group but didn’t know each member’s face individually.

Those who briefly glanced over seemed to dismiss the idea that idols would walk around so casually and soon lost interest.

And soon after, their conversation shifted back to, ‘I just want to see our boys soon.’

Since they referred to them as ‘boys,’ it seemed that they were also waiting for an idol group.

‘We’re idols too…….’

Shouldn’t we also, like, oh? Be escorted with bodyguards forming a barrier? Oh? Shouldn’t that be happening?

Of course, we hadn’t arranged for such security in advance.

The sad thing was realizing this only after arriving at the airport.

Even sadder was that the members didn’t seem to think much about this situation, where there was such a gap compared to other idols.

‘Don’t get used to this, guys!’

It was disheartening, but since they were the ones who had caused this situation, they couldn’t confidently voice it.

Only Yun-hee, who was still talking with them, seemed to notice their expression and shook her head slightly.

“Don’t get too caught up in every little thing.”

“Yes…….”

As expected of a fan manager with a strong mentality, she remained composed even in this situation.

Or perhaps she had simply become desensitized.

***

Since the music video shoot was scheduled after Jae Min’s Dance Competition, the members and staff didn’t need to depart before Jae Min.

However, they decided to leave on the same day to align with the dance team’s schedule until the competition day.

It would be a bit awkward if only Jae Min went back and forth, and the dance team had said it would be fine if they watched the practice.

They could refresh themselves in a foreign country and possibly find new inspiration.

Most importantly……

‘It’s company money!’

With the overseas schedule inserted, they had recently rushed through song production and handled a tight schedule.

This was a kind of mid-term break. Though it couldn’t really be considered a break for Jae Min.

Plus, they hadn’t found much to spend their salary on lately, so this was a chance to indulge in some luxury.

They joined up with the dance team after arriving in the U.S.

“Jae Min~. Welcome!”

As they entered the hotel lobby where they had agreed to meet, a short-haired woman greeted Jae Min first with a hug.

‘Jae Min’ seemed to be a nickname for Jae Min.

Jae Min immediately started introducing them.

“These are the members of ‘Team Miro’ I was with. This is the leader, Jung Min-hoo, and this is the de facto leader, Lee Ro-ah. They’re married.”

“Just think of me as the real leader!”

The woman who had greeted Jae Min first, introduced as the ‘de facto leader,’ was Lee Ro-ah.

When she pointed to the supposed leader, Jung Min-hoo, and stepped forward, the leader said, “Then what does that make me…?” and pulled her back.

“Just think of the leader as another team member.”

“Okay. Let me reintroduce him. This is just a regular team member, Jung Min-hoo.”

“You little rascal!”

They really did seem to be the team Jae Min had been part of. A free and easygoing atmosphere with everyone being comfortable around each other.

The team members’ introductions continued in this lively atmosphere.

‘These are the people who taught Jae Min…….’

They were the ones who had raised Jae Min’s dance level to 9.

Even during the short introductions, they playfully bickered among themselves, but to me, they all seemed truly impressive.

Well, even without considering the level, if they were going to represent Korea in a world competition, their skills were certainly top-notch.

After introducing the team members, Jae Min pointed at me.

“And this is…….”

Seeing the atmosphere, I thought he might say Master, so I quickly stepped in.

“I’m Shin Joo-in, Director of Newma Entertainment.”

“Oh my, we’d only heard about the director, but we didn’t expect you to be so young.”

“Haha.”

I held back the words, “Well, it’s because I’m on a parachute appointment.”

“These are our Monochrome members.”

“Hello, we are Monochrome!”

When the members greeted in unison, Team Miro’s attention was drawn.

“That’s awesome. We should also practice our greeting in sync like that.”

“If we did, it’d probably take longer to synchronize our greetings than our choreography.”

So the natural conversation continued.

Our members and Team Miro’s members seemed curious about each other and started chatting, while I confirmed the schedule with the leader couple.

“Then, we’ll borrow and return him in good condition.”

Min-hoo, the team leader, placed a hand on Jae Min’s shoulder and said to me.

It was time for Jae Min to temporarily return to being a member of Team Miro.