Chapter 104: Blue Room Party (1)

The plans for the Q-app broadcast, which I would be hosting with Goh Yoo-Joon, got locked down way faster than I thought they would. It had been ages since I had a Q-app session with fans, and my initial thought of just running a typical chat session was swiftly shelved when I heard the other team was cooking up a culinary show.

Our plan was a gaming broadcast. The fans already knew Goh Yoo-Joon and I were no strangers to gaming, so we figured it was a solid idea. For this little venture, we decided to commandeer the computer that Joo-Han usually used, which was

technically

ours.

It was the day of the Q-app broadcast. Goh Yoo-Joon hit the connection button and straightened up from his stoop.

“Hey, we should give this a try.”

“Should I hit the preview button?"

“Yeah."

With a press, the Q-app preview came to life, showing our faces and the computer screen simultaneously on the monitor.

“Nice, but how do we shrink this screen?"

“Hold on, it's probably in the options." Goh Yoo-Joon managed to downsize our screen effortlessly with a few clicks and swipes.

“Dude, you are pretty savvy with this tech stuff."

“Just did some quick online research earlier," he replied as he shrugged off.

Only five minutes were left until we had to go live. We adjusted the settings, filled the monitor with the camera feed, and settled into our chairs.

“I feel jittery," Goh Yoo-Joon confessed.

“Why? We gotta be chill for this to work. Tension's contagious, you know. The Rings will get nervous too.”

"What if we get hate comments?"

“Just brush them off," I said coolly, but honestly, my nerves were rattling as well. We had only ever done broadcasts together with the others, and Joo-Han was usually the one steering the ship, handling comments and the flow. Would we be able to pull off a whole hour just by ourselves?

“One minute to go."

We were both fixated on the ticking clock on the monitor, our faces taut with anticipation.

“Go time!" I announced, and with that, Goh Yoo-Joon hit the record button.

The broadcast was live.

“Uh... Should we wait a bit before diving in?" I wondered aloud.

“Seems like a smart move."

We watched the viewer count tick upward slowly but surely. We had picked 8 PM, the time post-school and work, so we were curious about how many viewers would show up. One hundred, three hundred, five hundred...

“Hello."

“Hi there!"

“We'll kick things off properly at a thousand viewers... Oh, look, we are there."

“Still, let's give it a moment. Not everyone has gotten here yet."

The viewer count was climbing fast. One thousand, two thousand, three thousand...

I greeted the fans, feeling a wave of excitement as we crossed the three-thousand mark.

“How's everyone doing? It's been a while since we last hopped on Q-app, hasn't it?"

The chat exploded.

— Omg, what's happening? I never expected this :0

— Just got home, and what a treat!!!

— Oh my gosh, I can’t stop crying :’(

— Is it just Yoo-Joon and Hyun-Woo today?

—- Whoa, where are you guys at???

“Yep, it's just the two of us today. Our first time without the crew.”

“We are at the dorm. This is Joo-Han's room to be precise. You know, the one with the infamous vibe."

The chat was a blur of excitement and emojis.

—

Woah

, my favs in Joo-Han's gloomy room, and getting all comfy at that? Awww I'm over the moon!

— What were you up to just now???

— I've missed you guys so much

waaaaah.

— <3 <3 <3

Goh Yoo-Joon took over. “We've been practicing and preparing for this broadcast."

“We were brainstorming about what to do today."

— I'd be blissful to just stare at your faces...

— What have you been prepping? You don’t need to... Just seeing you guys’ faces is good enough.

— You guys look even more stunning up close...

— This chat alone is making my day!!!!

“...Oh, is that so?" I sensed the chat's preference for conversation over gameplay. Did we miss the mark with our plan?

“We were thinking of gaming today, but if a chat is what you are after, why not?" I offered.

“Let's chat for a bit. We've got time," Goh Yoo-Joon quickly added.

Normally, we'd mingle and talk before jumping into any game. After all, a little warm-up and a bit of banter would be perfect.

— What about the other members?

— Can you guys get a bit closer? I want a better look!

— Just tuned in, how long's it been on? :’(

— Getting enough sleep? Still running for just a few hours???

— Ahh, you guys better be resting well, seriously!!!

— Just started, you are right on time.

We pulled our chairs closer to the camera.

“Recently, we are getting more sleep... Well, more than during our busiest times."

“Right. We are wrapping up our promotion for ‘Parade’, and

Chronos History

is over too."

“We are a bit busy because of the thing we are practicing now," I subtly said this and glanced at Goh Yoo-Joon.

He hesitated for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders while glancing at me. It was a clear “we are preparing something” and “we are hiding something” kind of awkward hint-dropping. Then, as our suspicious behavior continued, the chat room started to buzz.

— ?????? LOL What? What is it!

— Ahahahha. You can tell they are hiding something

— What??? What are you doing??? What's Chronos up to now???

— Tell us!!! Please!!! I'm so curious, aaaah!

— You two look so pretty in casual clothes, aww. So lovely!

— Could it be a spoiler for the next song??

— The most annoying thing is when someone starts to say something then stops :(

— Ahhh!!!!

As the chat became more lively, Goh Yoo-Joon playfully spoke while doing something else. “Well, it's not like we have something to hide. Just practicing something."

I patted Goh Yoo-Joon's shoulder meaningfully and proudly smiled. “Right. Just, you know, something our fans might like. We are practicing that."

Hearing us say this conspicuously, the Rings sensed that there might be some exciting news coming.

We quickly changed the subject after checking the chat room.

“So, for our student Rings, are your exams over?"

“True, our youngest members are still taking exams. They are studying right now," I said and Goh Yoo-Joon chuckled while glancing at a closed door.

“Joo-Han hyung is teaching Jin-Sung English in the kitchen right now. He was shocked to see Jin-Sung's report card circulating online."

“The score of twenty... that means you just guessed all of the questions, you dumb!" I mimicked what Joo-Han said when he saw Jin-Sung's report card. It probably leaked during a fandom fight when

Pick We Up

was ongoing, but for Joo-Han, the grades were a bigger shock than any insult.

“If anyone in Chronos gets grade twenty in English again, he said he'll kick them out of the dorm."

— I feel guilty somehow... Oof.

— He shouldn't have said that :’(

— I'm doomed,

ughhh

.

— Twenty is pretty good!!

— LMAO Embarrassing history being revealed here hahaha

— I have exams starting tomorrow!

— Yoon-Chan and Joo-Han must be good at studying!

— Joo-Han is like Chronos's mom.

We continued talking about what we ate today, any TMI[1], stories about us, and other topics.

Twenty minutes had passed, so I clapped my hands to wrap up the conversation. “Everyone, now we'll return to our original content. We've prepared a game, something we all can play together."

As I said this, Goh Yoo-Joon zoomed in on the monitor and muttered, “It's our first time trying this on a computer."

The fans already had an idea of what game we were going to play, given how often we had talked about playing it while on the move.

“Ah, you all know."

Goh Yoo-Joon started the game. Soon, a familiar opening background music played, and the chat room became filled with laughter.

— Why does that music seem so familiar? Lol.

— Wow, I tried this in elementary school and never played it again since then, ahahaha!

— It's been so long since I played that.

Yes, we started a balloon-popping game, the old, worn-out laptop game we played every day. Many fans mentioned that they installed the balloon game after we talked about playing it often.

“This game can only accommodate eight players at a time. We will keep playing until the time is over, so if you haven’t installed it on your computer yet, please install it quickly~."

While Goh Yoo-Joon was talking, I created a game room and set a password.

“The password is... let’s do my birthday."

“For those who might not know, Hyun-Woo's birthday is October 29th."

“You remember my birthday well, but I don't even know yours."

“ I don't know. I somehow remembered it."

— LMAO You two are definitely real best friends. The way you talk... hahahaha!

— Do you usually talk like this? 😂

— Hyun-Woo’s birthday is coming up soon, right?

— Yo, it’s still over a month away ahahaha

“Alright, I'll tell you the room name now. First, six people! The room is named 'KrongKrongKkrrong."

As soon as I mentioned the room name, it was already full.

“Whoa!"

We were momentarily taken aback but quickly started the game without further conversation.

“We want to play with as many of you as possible, so those who join next, please hit the ready button straight away."

The fans who became our team members were jumping around excitedly. It was just a game and in-game chat, but their excitement was intense, making me smile without realizing it.

“Why are you smiling?"

“The chat is cute," I muttered in response to Goh Yoo-Joon's question, focusing on the game and gathering items while slowly clearing the surrounding blocks. The fans didn't hold back just because it was us, and they sent water balloons my way mercilessly.

“Whoa! Why is everyone so good!?"

“Hey, are we going to lose?"

“No, our team's fans are really good too."

“No, I mean we are going to die."

“No! Dying is all on you, Yoo-Joon.” I was actually doing quite well, running around laying water balloons everywhere. However, Goh Yoo-Joon was not so good at laying them and was busy saving our teammates who were trapped in balloons. Eventually, we burst the balloon that trapped the opposing team one by one until we trapped the last enemy in a balloon.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

— Save me :’( I want to play a little longer!!!

“Oh no...... I have no choice. I'm sorry." I sighed with sympathy for the trapped and pleading fan, sending them off with a polite apology.

The first game ended. There was about twenty-five minutes left until the end of the broadcast.

“We can play about three more rounds. Those who have joined the game, please give others a chance in the next round. To be fair, I'll change the password. The password is zero, nine, three, zero."

“Hey, what? I thought Suh Hyun-Woo didn't know my birthday."

“Just kidding, silly. Anyway, quickly! Start!"

We were short on time, so we proceeded, and the second game also went smoothly. This game was familiar to many people, so the watching fans seemed to be quite engaged.

Then, there was a knock.

“Hyung, can I come in?" Jin-Sung, who had been caught by Joo-Han for English lessons, peeked his head in, looking haggard as if he'd just gotten a break.

1. Too Much Information ☜