Chapter 225: Every summer (3)
[Did you see the Every summer Challenge go viral???]
(Video link)
MamHamjji’s Every summer Challenge with Senior Jihoo ㅠㅠ
I don’t think they practiced that long, but their moves were perfectly in sync.
Fresh, cute, refreshing—they had it all.
Their dance lines? Insanely cool.
Do Seohan looks even more baby-like whenever he stands next to Senior Jihoo ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Their visuals together are so good ㅠㅠ
└ Tiple’s Sung Jihoo really seems to adore Mam-Seohan, is it because they're from the same company?
└ 2222 They really seem close.
└ He even filmed a challenge with him ㅠㅠ What a god-tier senior.
Power-confident Hamjji trembling only in front of Senior Jihoo is way too cute ㅠㅠㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Probably because he’s a successful fan….
└ Wait, was Do Seohan really a fan of Sung Jihoo???
└ Apparently, he was a fan even before debut ㅇㅇ He really is a successful fan.
└ Oh, no wonder ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He’s totally relaxed around other Tiple seniors, but gets super self-conscious around Sung Jihoo. But Jihoo-hyung knows that and takes such good care of Seohan ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Ah, both of them are just too cute ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└ Doubles, please give us content of these two’s chemistry ASAP….
[The kids are nonstop uploading Every summer challenges]
How many times a day are they even filming this? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Were you guys the insiders of the music show world…?
I swear Universe Dust didn’t seem like they had any close seniors, but now they’re popping up everywhere, it’s so funny ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ How did power-I Ian manage to film with four people?
└ I bet Seo Ian awkwardly approached them first. I’m dying to know how he asked ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ The music show waiting room is way too harsh for a tiny small-animal like Ian ㅠㅠ
└ Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
From what I can tell, Cha Seongbin and Seo Haim are totally enjoying this situation.
└ One hundred percent;;
└ Every time Seo Haim goes around to ask people to do the challenge, he’s probably hitting peak job satisfaction.
└ Seo Haim: Hellooow sunbaenim!!! We released a new song~ It’s called Every summer, in the Tropical House genre! Our Seongbin-hyung composed it! Isn’t it soooo good? He’s a genius! So, um, could you maybe film the challenge with us just once? Pleeease??
└ I’m dead ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ The chaos radiates through the text
The busiest person in this whole area: Do Seohan
└ Seohan-akㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ How many are you filming in one day?
└ He’s got this grim resolve to promote this god-tier song;;
└ Honestly, it really is a god-tier song
└ Everyone keep streaming, feels like our boys might get 1st place
└ They’re 2nd in real-time right now. Keep streaming gogo
The response to what’s now being called the Every summer Challenge was quite good.
In terms of views, the challenge filmed with Senior Sung Jihoo gained popularity, and perhaps because the point choreography was well-highlighted, more people had begun copying it.
What I was especially watching for was the reaction on TikTok, and while it's still early, the buzz seemed to be gradually increasing.
From this point on, all we could do was...
Leave it up to fate.
I believed the song was perfect.
I trusted the choreography was attractive enough for people to imitate.
Since the culture of doing challenges hadn’t become completely normalized yet, we’d have to wait and see how much it would catch on.
For now, let’s enjoy the moment.
There was a celebration right in front of our eyes, after all…
.
.
.
“Waaaaaah! We’re first place in real-time!!!”
The door suddenly burst open.
It was Seo Haim, bursting out with a scream.
Seo Haim clenched his fists tight and shouted out with joy.
“Seohan-ah! Did you see? We’re number one!!!”
“I did… Seongbin-hyung flooded the group chat….”
Thud.
I put down my slightly overheated phone and blinked slowly.
I already knew, but… I was still a little surprised.
“I thought something bad had happened.”
“Huh?”
“Seongbin-hyung sent, like… 100 messages in one minute.”
“Is that physically possible?”
“Ask him yourself.”
Only then did Seo Haim spot Cha Seongbin curled up on the living room sofa.
I wasn’t sure why he was like that, but maybe he couldn’t contain his joy, so he’d frozen in that position.
Ah, I did notice his shoulders were trembling earlier.
“Hrk…sniff.”
At the strange sound, Seo Haim’s eyes widened.
He’d expected a strong reaction, but probably not to this extent.
“Hyung… are you crying?”
“…I’m smiling. That’s what’s scary.”
“Hrk… I’m so happy….”
It really was scary!
I scooted a little away from Cha Seongbin.
At that moment, Seongbin was shaking as he held his face in his hands.
The trembling of his shoulders and the quiet sobbing sounds made it clear.
Wait a sec.
“He’s actually crying.”
“…This is legendary.”
Jin Sehyun gave a short word of admiration as he observed Seongbin’s expression.
Seeing how desperately he tried to flee, well….
“He’s seriously crying!”
“Back off, you hyenas!”
“Hey, film it.”
At Jin Sehyun’s words, I quickly grabbed my phone.
Tap-tap-tap.
I caught Cha Seongbin fleeing in full panic mode right on camera.
Jin Sehyun added with a satisfied smile.
“Seohan, save it for personal collection and bring it up every time we go live!”
“Of course.”
It seemed like a handy card I could pull whenever I was cornered by Cha Seongbin’s teasing.
I saw my hyung trembling in the distance, but I hummed and let it slide.
I spoke in a calm voice.
“Hyung, enjoy it. We're number one, after all.”
“Even now, Seongbin-hyung’s bank account is being flooded with money….”
The copyright royalties were insane.
Even with a rough mental estimate, the number was huge, and I couldn’t help but let out a soft gasp.
Seo Haim nodded, as if he fully understood why Cha Seongbin was crying.
“I’d be bawling too if it were me….”
“Don’t twist my sincerity!”
Well, good things are good.
Seo Ian, who had been silently listening, smiled and chimed in.
“Then should we have a celebration party?”
“A team dinner?”
“Oh, that sounds great. Don’t we have a bit of time tomorrow?”
“I think dinner tomorrow should work?”
A team dinner after so long sounded nice.
While Kang Siwoo checked our schedule in response to Seo Ian’s sudden idea—
Ding-.
Ding—
My phone buzzed for a long time.
“Hm?”
The name that popped up on top startled me a little.
It was a name that always brought a chill to my chest whenever it showed up.
I wondered why Kim Woochan suddenly contacted me….
And the moment I opened the message, I was a bit flustered.
—Let’s film a challenge together
Before I could even process it, the phone buzzed again, this time with a loud notification tone.
Ding-!
—You must film it with me
“…….”
Ding-!
—You will film it, right?
What was with this weird obsession.
In the end… I decided to film that challenge.
The third-floor practice room of Doubles.
Kim Woochan was grinning as he looked up at the high ceiling of the practice room.
It was my first time seeing him at our company.
A quiet remark came out of Kim Woochan’s mouth.
“Wow, your practice room is nice….”
“Yes.”
“Should I transfer to Doubles? How’s the cafeteria food here?”
“…I’ll show you the challenge choreography.”
But honestly.
The more I thought about it….
“Was there a specific reason we had to film here?”
“Well, I kinda wanted to see your face~. And I thought we might as well keep it private.”
“Ah, I see.”
I chose to completely ignore comments like that from Kim Woochan.
Still, he was the main vocal of The Way, so it was likely true that he wanted to help by filming the challenge.
It would definitely stir up some buzz.
Filming with Tiple, now with The Way—what a star-studded lineup.
From a fan’s perspective, it might seem suspicious how many connections I had.
In any case, personal support was something to be grateful for.
With a composed voice, I gave a short explanation before starting the challenge.
“The choreography isn’t hard. If you watch it a few times, you should be able to follow along right away.”
“Ah. I already memorized it.”
“…Really?”
“I learned it all on the way here.”
And then, right in front of me, Kim Woochan roughly demonstrated the choreo.
It was spot-on.
There was no need to even explain the point moves.
“You’re fast.”
No wonder his group had been around a while.
Even thinking back on it, there was really no need to come all the way to Doubles’ practice room—he could’ve filmed elsewhere just fine.
“Then, should we start filming right away?”
“Sure, I’m good with that.”
Since we were both busy, we set up the camera without wasting time.
The chorus of Every summer echoed through the practice room.
Facing the camera, Kim Woochan gave a soft smile.
Every summer
Every summer
Flying across the horizon, I fly away
It’s a little far, but I can reach it
After sliding slightly to the right, he spun around once to draw a circle.
Thud.
He struck his arm down once and bounced lightly.
Remember all those summers
Every summer
Lastly, he brought his hands together, opened them, and gave a small nod.
With that, the point choreography of Every summer was done.
“Yup, thank you!”
I bowed slightly and gave a word of thanks.
Kim Woochan took a refreshing gulp of water and looked back at me.
Then, out of nowhere, he said—
“You’re aiming for Billboard, right?”
“Yes.”
Of course.
If Kim Woochan hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t have said it, but with my lifeline on the line, I had no choice but to aim for it.
“The digital performance is doing well.”
Kim Woochan acknowledged it in a calm voice.
It still felt too soon to call us part of the top tier, but it did seem like we had caught up quite a bit to The Way’s years of career in a short time.
Maybe it was okay to start looking forward to the next full album’s performance….
Leaving future matters aside, I asked something else.
“What do you think of the choreography?”
“It might… extend people’s lifespans?”
At that, we both let out a chuckle at the same time.
Kim Woochan sipped his water and continued.
“Personally, I really hope you make it to Billboard. Getting the first button right is what allows the rest to fall into place.”
The first button?
It was a little surprising to hear something like making the Billboard chart being called “the first button,” but I just let it slide and listened.
Then suddenly, Kim Woochan’s expression darkened.
“Because I… about you, Seohan….”
Hm?
“…Never mind.”
I turned my head belatedly, but Kim Woochan simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
It was somehow… an awkward smile.