Chapter 21: Survival Show - Cover Song (6)

A live broadcast suddenly started in the bustling practice room, and the chat room became wild at the request of a fan to perform “Magic Pendant Woooah.”

- ???????????????????? Magic Pendant Woooah!

- Magic Pendant Woooah!

- Magic Pendant Woooah!

- Magic Pendant Woooah!

- ?????????????????? What? ??????

- Magic Pendant Woooah!

The chat room started to be filled with mentions of “Magic Pendant.” Meanwhile, Sae-Youn from Allure looked on in confusion as he was unfamiliar with the

Red Riding Hood Cha-Cha

phenomenon.

"What is this 'Magic Pendant Woooah' thing?" asked Sae-Youn, feeling puzzled.

"Ma...Magic... Pen...dant... Ahahahaha..."

Unable to contain their laughter any longer, the previously tense members of Chronos finally burst out laughing. This meme was well-known among those who kept up with recent idol trends or frequented UTube.

“Magic Pendant Woooah.”

It was a viral text representation of the high note I had hit in the popular

Red Riding Hood Cha-Cha

performance

.

Recently, the comments section of that video had been swamped with cries of "Magic Pendant Woooah," almost like a rite of passage for viewers. It had only been a week since the upload, and I already became a laughingstock, relentlessly teased by my fellow group members back at the dorm.

Thanks to that, my face was turning all shades of red by the time Tucan read the chat.

"Oh, that! Uh... hy-hyung," I stuttered.

"Why is everyone laughing? What? What? Tell me!" asked Sae-Youn again.

The only ones not laughing were the clueless Sae-Youn and me.

"Come on, do it. Hyungs are as-king," said Yoo-Joon.

"Goh Yoo-Joon, this isn't the time to laugh. Do it here...?" I asked.

‘We just introduced ourselves so gracefully, didn't we?’

The chat that was occasionally filled with comments about how handsome and heartwarming we were was now flooded with "??" and "Pendant Woooah."

"... Uh, hyung," I muttered.

"Why? You should do it, Hyun-Woo. It's a good opportunity to showcase yourself, so you should."

"Let's do it. Come on. Hyun-Woo, step forward."

"I will get you a full-body shot. Just a moment."

‘Seriously, guys!’

Tucan excitedly moved next to the mirror and inadvertently captured me in his video, who was standing in a daze. However, I couldn’t say anything as the camera was on. Allure members were urging me to quickly try the gesture, saying it would make us more popular. Meanwhile, Chronos members were in the back, shrugging it off as it wasn’t their business and just watching. I was the only one feeling embarrassed.

What could I do? As the Allure members pointed out, I was just a rookie who had not even debuted. If enduring a bit of teasing was the price to pay for increasing our group's popularity, then I had to embrace it.

‘Ugh, singing high notes makes me feel drained, but oh well!’

“Okay, let’s go. One, two, three!” On Da-Win's count, I took a deep breath.

"Woah, ma, magic, pen-dan-t, woo-ah!"

Following that, the entire practice room erupted in laughter. The Allure members, our manager, and especially my fellow Chronos members were in stitches. Some were even shedding tears from the sheer hilarity, and even Sae-Youn, who had been previously clueless, couldn't resist joining in the laughter.

So, this was the expected outcome. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but find it not funny at all.

“Ah, dang! I spaced out for a moment there. It’s even funnier seeing it in real life!”

“It’s funnier because the most obedient-looking one is doing it!”

With a mild frustration in my voice, I exclaimed, "Since then, it seems like everyone I meet only talks about that!"

Even my family would replay the video endlessly and say that my dad had finally found his sense of humor. However, weren’t they all laughing a bit too much at my expense?

I found the whole situation irritating, especially Goh Yoo-Joon's reaction. He seemed to be laughing the hardest, and that irked me the most.

I then spoke with a slightly disgruntled face as I faced the camera. "But hyung, am I the only one doing this?"

"Haha, cough... um, what?" Da-Win looked at me while trying to hold back his laughter. It was clear that he found my acting amusing.

I complained, “Please give my members a chance to showcase their abilities too. It seems unfair for me to do it myself.”

“Oh, right! What about the other members? Jin-Sung took off his wig and danced, right?”

“Yes! That!”

“What else was there?”

As Da-Win recalled the memorable moments from the video, I quietly suggested, “How about we all do it together here?”

“All together?”

“Yes, but just for a minute so as to not disturb your livestream,” I said.

My request to not disturb their livestream seemed to be well-received, as indicated by the chatroom’s positive response. Thankfully, they didn't see us as a nuisance, which brought me a sense of relief. Da-Win also seemed on board with the idea.

"Wow, I want to see. Let's see why our fans are so enamored with

Cha-Cha

." When Sae-Youn supported me, Da-Win glanced at the chat and nodded. “Alright, I do want to see it in person as well. Dear Perfume (name of Allure's fanbase), we will sit in the front and react to it.”

Multiple chat messages followed.

- OMG, are they performing without the red cape????? OMG ??????

- I’m laughing so much that I feel like I am going to die! ??????

- This group is as funny as Allure. ??????

- Does Chronos usually call the seniors 'hyung'?

- Okay... but only a minute! Not more! The rest of the time is for Allure, juniors.

- LOL, never expected to see

Red Riding Hood Cha-Cha

here! ??????

Throughout the live broadcast, we performed various playful acts while feeling embarrassed. Our expressions must have given away our awkwardness even if the viewers couldn't see our faces clearly.

Fortunately, Allure was adjusting their camera and didn’t show our full expressions. Also, I could feel the intense stares from my fellow Chronos members, but I chose to ignore them and just grin.

"Come on, hurry up and get ready, guys." My voice was light and playful as I called the members forward. Hence, they joined me, albeit reluctantly.

"I heard the second verse is better than the first. Let’s start from there. However, just one minute."

Our members started to do the

Cha-Cha

dance in casual attire. At first, they moved awkwardly, but they got into the groove when the song started. While they didn't want to do it, they knew that this was a golden opportunity to appeal to Allure's fans.

The moment the catchy beat played, the

Cha-Cha

stage, led by Jin-Sung, had Allure members rolling on the floor, laughing at our comical points. Goh Yoo-Joon, who had been glaring at me earlier, was now enjoying himself and showing off cute dance moves with his hips. As the only member of Chronos with a rugged image and buff body, it was an entirely unexpected and amusing transformation for him.

After the one-minute performance, the members of Allure took a moment to tidy up the floor where they had been laughing, while Chronos was trying to catch their breath and compose themselves.

“Ah, this was hilarious. I am going to watch that program from now on.”

"I didn't know you guys are like this. Every time we passed by, you looked so gentle and naive.”

After spending ten minutes introducing their junior group to their fans, the Allure members left the practice room. However, before that, they didn’t forget to say, "Please support Chronos."

A minute of awkward silence then ensued, with fellow members shooting me glances. However, didn't we effectively appeal and please the fans?

"What are you all looking at? Let's get back to practicing ‘Moon Sea.’"

I quickly went back to my laptop.

"Seriously, we just said we were going to break the comedic image this time. How are we going to do that if you eagerly reenact

Red Riding Hood

?"

"He must have wanted us all to be embarrassed. Geez."

"Forget it. Yoo-Joon, you were the most excited one back there. Why are you blaming Hyun-Woo? Let's spread out and practice again."

We immediately went back to our preparations with the lingering excitement of the live broadcast.

***

We practiced the choreography tirelessly all night, and the unexpected ten-minute stint on the live broadcast resulted in an overwhelmingly positive response. Fans who had initially come for Allure started embracing us warmly, and our performance spawned a flurry of shared clips, GIFs, and photos that were humorously titled “the Red Riding Hood guys.” Finally, Chronos was starting to carve out its own niche in the fan community.

Bbyorong @bb_wrong2 · 1 hour ago

When we get serious, we flip the red hood over.

(Pic of a serious face in Red Riding Hood audition.jpg)

Retweets 912 Likes 1.2K Dislikes 302

Monstar @pigonhe · 1 hour ago

This video is going to be my favorite for the next ten years

(Training wear choreography video.gif)

Retweets 332 Likes 250 Dislikes 3

Tucan @twokan · 2 hours ago

(Video of Suh Hyun-Woo saying 'Sunbaenim[1]’ to Kim Da-Win.gif)

Are Allure and Chronos close in private? Looks like he wanted to call him 'bro' but quickly changed it to 'senior'

Retweets 288 Likes 40 Dislikes 1

HotSix @hotsix_32 · 30 minutes ago

I'm mad. I found these fresh rookies secretly play-fighting and couldn't help but smile... darn...

(GIF of Suh Hyun-Woo and Goh Yoo-Joon play-fighting during the live broadcast.gif)

Retweets 2K Likes 697 Dislikes 2

└ChewingGum @wang_dog · 10 minutes ago

Replying to @hotsix_32

What? Was there a live broadcast today? Did they appear? I'm clueless but they're so cute anyway.

└HotSix @hotsix_32 · 5 minutes ago

Replying to @wang_dog

Right? Reminds me of when my baby Allure were rookies. I didn’t plan to watch those UNET jerks' broadcasts, but I'll give it a try now.

CrackTile @kaka0_0 · 3 hours ago

What, so cute. I'm taking them in.

Motive

(Photo of a clueless but polite greeting.jpg)

Reason for Obsession

(GIF of Chronos innocently smiling then suddenly dancing playfully in training wear.gif)

Fans quickly fell for us, thanks to Allure’s live broadcasts and the

Red Riding Hood

clip. Even the unofficial footage helped gather momentum, and soon a dedicated fan channel for Chronos appeared on UTube.

Chronos became the second group among the

Pick We Up

cast to have fan channels established before their real debut. However, due to

unspoken

fan rules about a certain incident involving Chronos, these channels predominantly featured our humorous moments, which had recently become a hot topic.

(Video where Suh Hyun-Woo gradually involves all members)

Comments 2,539

Feelings · 30 mins ago

LOL! Hyun-Woo will never go down alone! Ta-ha! Chronos is one body!

Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Reply 2

└DarwinTicktock · 1 min ago

Party is starting with Hyun-Woo

Savice · 6 mins ago

As expected, my Hyun-Woo is the craziest...? Love you, hyung.

Likes 400 Dislikes 30

Reply 7

└SuhlA · 1 min ago

Why are you calling him ‘hyung’? That's weird...

└TwinkleYuri · 1 min ago

Excuse me, are all Chronos fans this crazy...?

└WantSomeTanghulu · 1 min ago

LOL! Of course not!

RunToYou · 4 hours ago

The way that member talks is so witty!

Likes 240 Dislikes 1

FromTodayChaCha · 1 hour ago

But why is there only mention of Hyun-Woo here? Please notice our youngest members in the background. Yoon-Chan, Jin-Sung, big sis loves you so much <3

Likes 333 Dislikes 1

Some also edited and posted profile shots from the official Chronos channel, but the only videos suitable for promoting Chronos in the short term were the

Red Riding Hood

and Allure's livestream videos.

To make matters worse...

UNET recently realized that videos uploaded under Chronos's name had been receiving positive attention, so they uploaded another video with this title.

[The man in the Red Cloak. Betting his life on Cha-Cha]

It was a video of Suh Hyun-Woo looking at Park Yoon-Chan and asking, "Is Cha-Cha a joke?"

StraightforwardPerson · 40 mins ago

Cha-Cha is a joke. If not, what is it?

Likes 3.2K Dislikes 32

Reply 37

└Natural · 5 mins ago

AHAHAHAHHA that is true

AllianceRecruitment · 3 mins ago

As expected, Suh Hyun-Woo is the funniest guy.

└WantSomeTanghulu · 1 min ago

LOL. How did this group become a comedic group even before their debut?

└SoSleepy · 30 seconds ago

Is their direct senior not Allure? They are so different from them. Their agency must be so nervous.

In their journey, Chronos would build a unique fan base that would significantly sway future viewer votes—though that was a tale for another occasion. The group was known for their lighthearted and humorous approach, radiating an endearingly quirky vibe that contrasted sharply with Allure’s serious demeanor. Over time, Chronos’s image would continue to evolve, becoming even more pronounced and comedic.

This was how fans, media outlets, and the general public saw Chronos. Little did they know, the group was gearing up to surprise everyone with a dramatic shift, showcasing their versatility through a sensual and poetic track titled “Moon Sea.”

1. ???. Refers to a senior or someone with more experience in a particular setting, such as school, work, or within industry. ?