Chapter 382: Red Rouge (1)

"A smile? Just like that?"

"Yeah, give me a nice smile. Whether you look at the camera or at me, just smile."

"Umm, but..." On-Sae's face turned red in an instant. It was a consistent reaction, both in the past and now. He always had this way of turning beet red whenever he felt embarrassed or put on the spot.

‘Really? Do I really have to? I’m embarrassed, but really?’ On-Sae's eyes were questioning me, almost pleading for mercy.

I just nodded instead of giving away that I understood his hesitation.

"Come on, smile!" I mimed lifting the corners of my mouth with my fingers and signaled him to smile.

On-Sae hesitated for a moment, then his trembling lips slowly formed a smile.

"On-Sae, try to smile naturally."

"What?" He hesitated again before slightly raising the corners of his mouth. The awkwardness and embarrassment he felt were almost palpable to me.

"Is that what you call a natural smile?" I asked.

On-Sae nodded. He still had the same awkward smile.

I pointed to the mirror. "Take a look in the mirror and see how awkward your smile is right now."

On-Sae checked his reflection and quickly adjusted his expression, eyes widening in surprise.

"What's wrong? Does your smile look weird?"

"Yeah, it's just, really embarrassing."

"Have you ever practiced smiling in front of the mirror?"

"Practice smiling... I only did a little during lessons..." On-Sae's expression darkened. He knew it was ridiculous for an idol to admit they hadn't practiced their facial expressions much. He seemed to be blaming himself for not putting in enough effort.

"You need to practice your expressions a lot. Being an idol isn't just about dancing and singing. It's about showcasing yourself through your face, expressions, song, and dance in front of the camera."

"Right, you’re correct, hyung."

"You can't just sing, dance, and leave. You need to engage with the camera, flirt a bit, and appeal to the fans who come to see you perform and watch your broadcasts."

On-Sae's problem was a lack of showmanship. He performed too straightforwardly on stage without adding flair.

"Sometimes, take a different pose from the other members when you are in the center. Show some self-confidence, and act a bit fatal."

If a talented member worried about lacking impact in the center, this was usually the reason. On-Sae thought for a moment before looking at the mirror again. He tried to lift the corners of his mouth slightly, then quickly looked away because he got embarrassed.

"You’re right, hyung. I always focused on dancing and singing properly, but I never paid attention to appealing to the camera or my expressions."

"These are things you need to catch and practice on your own, On-Sae. You’re good, so you will get better quickly."

On-Sae, who had been looking downcast, finally smiled at my encouragement. "Thank you, hyung. I will practice my expressions hard."

"You will do great. I look forward to your next stage."

"Yes."

The personal coaching session between Chronos and Sequence members ended. We weren't sure how much help we could offer, but the Sequence members' eyes were filled with confidence by the time the filming wrapped up. It was a relief to see that our guidance had an impact.

Meanwhile, Goh Yoo-Joon had managed to get the phone numbers of all Sequence members.

"I will definitely watch your performance. I hope you get great results. You did well today."

"Thank you!"

Unfortunately, we would likely watch their stage through broadcasts or clips due to our comeback preparations. But I was confident that they would do great. We caught a glimpse of the Sequence members hurrying into a meeting as we finished filming and headed back to the practice room.

***

The day before our comeback music show recording, today was the release day of the "Red Rouge" music video.

As always, we paused our practice and gathered in front of a camera and a laptop. We had an hour before the music video release, so we decided to spend some time interacting with our fans through a surprise

Q-App

live session.

"Let's start."

"Okay."

The members gathered a little closer around Yoon-Chan, and Tae-Seong started the live stream. At the same time, my phone lit up with notifications that the live broadcast had started. Clicking the link, I saw many people already in the chat, sending messages.

"One, two, three!"

"Hello, we are Chronos and Park Yoon-Chan!"

- Wow..I joined right at the start for the first time!!!

- ?

- Oh my gosh, you scared me

- I was waiting... I knew you’d come..

- Hahaha Park Yoon-Chan's group hahaha

- Hahaha are you really using that greeting chant? Lmao

"Someone's asking if we’re really using 'We are Chronos and Park Yoon-Chan’ for introduction," I read from the chat.

Joo-Han and Goh Yoo-Joon nodded, while Yoon-Chan and Jin-Sung shook their heads vigorously in disagreement.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"No! We decided to only use it when it's just us and Rings."

"I think it's nice, but the guys don't like it~

Sniff,

what's wrong with proudly mentioning our member's name?" Goh Yoo-Joon whined.

Yoon-Chan, for once, glared at Goh Yoo-Joon with a serious look. "Seriously, stop speaking, hyung... Please. It's so embarrassing."

Joo-Han pulled Yoon-Chan's shoulder and shook his head. "Why? It's cute."

"What's cute about it? I really hate it."

"Okay, everyone, Yoon-Chan says he doesn't like it." Joo-Han pouted. "It's a shame, but what can we do? I still plan to use it sometimes when we are with you all, though."

The phrase ‘We are Chronos and Park Yoon-Chan’ was briefly mentioned during a concert and used once during the final greetings, leading to mixed opinions among fans on whether it was considered an official greeting.

Although it probably wouldn't be used as an official greeting, Joo-Han found it quite amusing how embarrassed Yoon-Chan got and was a bit disappointed.

Goh Yoo-Joon chuckled at Yoon-Chan pouting, then put his arm around his shoulder and said, "By the way, everyone. We recently met with the Sequence members. Oh, the pre-release is out, right?"

Pick We Up Two

, which we filmed to cheer on the Sequence members, was quickly edited and uploaded as a pre-release video. Only the parts where we visited and taught them one-on-one were uploaded like a teaser, but I was acting very arrogant in it. Seeing myself at eighteen years old act like I was a trainer again was so unbearable.

Anyway, after watching the pre-release, which felt like a teaser and vice versa, our fans were so excited that #ChronosHasGrownUp became the number one real-time trend as soon as the teaser was released. Although some of the words were cut off, it was about how Chronos had grown so much and was now teaching juniors.

The video vividly captured our increasingly serious expressions and teaching moments while watching the Sequence members' performances, which made us a bit worried despite the Rings' high expectations. We were afraid of being criticized for being hard on the Sequence members.

"Anyway, they had a greeting slogan when we met with the Sequence members. Was it Scene! Stealer!?"

"Yeah, it was like, ‘We are Scene! Stealer! Sequence!’"

"Seeing that, I thought it would be nice if we had one too."

As soon as Goh Yoo-Joon said that, Joo-Han clapped his hands and said, "Let's formally have a meeting about that. I will arrange a time soon."

"Oh? Really? Are we doing the third Chronos meeting or something?"

"Who knows~"

"Oh~ hyung seems to have something only he knows~" Goh Yoo-Joon nudged Joo-Han’s side teasingly.

Yes, the third Chronos meeting was happening. Only the leader and the sub-leader knew this, but the first episode of Chronos' solo variety show had been decided to be the Chronos meeting episode. We would be discussing various topics, including the Chronos greeting slogan, and this meeting would be much longer than the first two.

"Anyway, back to the main point. Everyone, there are less than forty minutes left until the release of our new song music video. We’ve kept you waiting for a long time, right?"

"Yes!"

"We have so much to talk about since we've prepared for so long, but I don't know where to start," Joo-Han said.

Goh Yoo-Joon nodded. "That's right. We participated in everything from start to finish for this album, so once ‘Red Rouge’ is released, I want to turn on the

Q-App

again and have a long chat."

"One hour is too short!" Jin-Sung crossed his arms and snorted, trying to act cute for the fans.

I just ruffled his hair and glanced at the chat. "Then we can do it later. After the music video is released, we will come back at night for a longer talk. But, everyone, the chat is full of requests for spoilers right now. What should we do?"

To be honest, ever since the variety show talk started, the chat had been flooded with requests for spoilers of the new song. While I wondered if spoilers were really necessary so close to the music video release, the Rings were so curious that we had to address it.

Naturally, the members looked at Joo-Han. "Spoilers for the song? Or the music video?"

"Aren't they asking for music video spoilers? Everyone, you mean the music video spoilers, right?"

"Then why don't our two house representatives give a spoiler?" Joo-Han signaled for me and Goh Yoo-Joon to stand up.

"Oh, us?" Goh Yoo-Joon cheerfully agreed and grabbed my arm to stand up together. "Let's have a quick meeting."

He whispered in my ear. "Spoil that both the ‘Ario 愛’ and ‘Red Rouge’ stories are connected."

"How?"

"Just follow my lead."

With that, Goh Yoo-Joon started acting right away.