Chapter 393: Red Rouge (12)

“Ta-da!" Stew Rion peeled off the sticker from the panel with a dramatic flourish. The moment he did that, the members went wild.

“What the heck!”

“Oh no, this can’t be!”

The photo showed us with very serious expressions, holding flower-shaped hand poses, dressed in Cha Cha outfits, and dancing the Cha Cha.

“This picture isn't from Su-Hwan hyung's photo album, is it? No way,” Joo-Han asked with a puzzled look.

Stew Rion then snapped his fingers as if Joo-Han was sharp at recognizing it. “Joo-Han, you’ve got a keen eye.”

“Pardon me?”

“We actually heard a rumor that the background of CEO Lee's phone used to be this Cha Cha picture—”

Wait, how did they know that? In fact, when Su-Hwan first took charge of Chronos, his phone background was indeed the Cha Cha dance photo.

“Did we ever mention that?” I asked, feeling a bit lost.

Stew Rion excitedly responded, “Yes, you did. Even if you forget, your fans remember everything.” He pointed at the panel. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the exact Cha Cha picture that was his background, so I used one that I had.”

“...A photo you had?”

“Why do you have that photo?”

“Now, let’s take a look at this Cha Cha performance!” Stew Rion’s approach was similar to Joo-Han’s, which was ignoring all the confused voices and forging ahead with his own agenda.

Regardless of the chaos, we couldn’t help but stare in disbelief at the screen Stew Rion was pointing at.

“Why are you doing this to us?” Goh Yoo-Joon, who rarely got surprised or flustered, was at a loss for words and covered his eyes.

On the screen was our embarrassing performance of “Red Riding Hood Cha Cha” from

Pick We Up.

♪ Bum diggy bum diggy bum bum diggy diggy

Bum diggy diggy bum bum diggy bum diggy

“Oh, please no.”

Jin-Sung got up from his chair and turned away.

♪ Wooah, magic pen... whoaa whoaa~

“Aaah!!” I let out a shout. I didn’t want to watch this.

“Whoa, that scared me!”

Although it wasn't too long ago, that moment felt like our epitome of youthful fervor with no room to retreat. By watching the video for the first time in two years, I gradually understood what people meant when they said it was a permanent dark stain in the history of Chronos.

It was so unbearable to watch that I squirmed, yet Stew Rion laughed cheerfully at our discomfort. “Why? What's wrong, everyone? This is your legendary stage! Come on, enjoy it! You all should be proud of it!"

“Aaah!" We all groaned in unison.

“Because of this stage, the name Chronos became deeply imprinted on the public and the fans!" Stew Rion finally turned off the video. “Oh, it's too funny. I didn't expect you'd be this distressed."

Goh Yoo-Joon barely removed his hands from his eyes and tilted his head in disbelief. “Ugh, seeing it again makes my spine chill."

“How did we even do that? Unbelievable."

“What were you feeling at that time? I watched it immediately when it appeared on

UTube

. I thought, wow, you did this at your first audition? I thought you were brave."

Joo-Han pointed at me. “Since it was Hyun-Woo's idea, Hyun-Woo should explain."

Stew Rion's gaze turned from him to me. I laughed lightly. “Now there are no issues with me saying this, but back then, we were really determined and desperate."

While numerous articles were pouring out that the major agencies were debuting their trainees, we had nothing that could draw attention even before the broadcast started.

“We thought that we had to draw attention somehow. We thought of a way to draw attention while also showing our skills. And what we came up with was—"

“Red Riding Hood Cha Cha remix!" Stew Rion interrupted as if blurting out the answer of a speed quiz.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Honestly, the first audition of

Pick We Up

was already a small performance for idols who had already been confirmed to appear, so we were planning on captivating the viewers rather than the judges in front of us.

“Really, Hyun-Woo's idea hit the mark, and we received great attention and love with ‘Red Riding Hood Cha Cha.’ During

Pick We Up,

there were many legendary stages, but another one to note is—"

Stew Rion peeled off another sticker from the panel. This time, it was a group photo of the original Chronos. It didn't seem to be a photo from Su-Hwan's phone either.

“At the time of

Pick We Up,

I heard that CEO Lee wasn't Chronos' manager. So, this picture is also...!"

“Is this picture also from Stew Rion's phone?" Jin-Sung asked incredulously.

Stew Rion shook his head. “As you can see, this is an unpublished group photo that even fans have never seen. It was specially sent to us by YMM for this segment. You will recognize a lot of familiar faces now."

The photo showed the original Chronos members laughing heartily after a performance. Among them were members who became Sequence, trainees who moved to other agencies, or trainees who quit altogether. It was a nostalgic scene.

The familiar faces Stew Rion referred to had to be the Sequence members.

“Il-Seong, Han Jun, and Jae-Seok from Sequence were members of the original Chronos, right?"

“Yes, that's right. Il-Seong hyung, Han Jun hyung, Jae-Seok hyung, and even On-Sae were members who appeared in

Pick We Up One

."

“At that time, I never imagined a group would be born with this combination. I heard this original Chronos was Hyun-Woo's idea?" Stew Rion asked, eyes wide with interest.

I nodded. I didn't expect they'd ask about the reason behind planning the original Chronos. Unlike the questions about Cha Cha, I should think carefully before answering this time.

The genuine reason included Han Jun quitting being a trainee, but mentioning a member who was now actively participating in

Pick We Up Two

giving up seemed inappropriate. Moreover, my answer might be misunderstood as treating the competition as a social gathering.

“To be honest, I thought a lot about various things. The original Chronos stage was the last stage of

Pick We Up

."

“Ah, right, right. I remember you guys waving the trainees onto the stage after receiving the trophy," Stew Rion reminisced.

“...Stew Rion, you know these things surprisingly well."

“I told you! I'm your true fan!" Stew Rion stood up suddenly. “Shall I dance one more time?"

“No, no!" Jin-Sung and Yoon-Chan quickly stopped him and made him sit back down. If they didn’t do that, Stew Rion would have really danced and sang again.

Yoon-Chan hurriedly explained, “No, I mean, you seem to have watched

Pick We Up

in great detail."

“Of course. I even watched the final broadcast. Anyway, I’m sorry I cut you off, Hyun-Woo. Please continue."

“Ah, yes. We thought a lot about how to stage the final performance because we felt like we had already shown everything we could with our skills."

“Everything?" Stew Rion asked, leaning forward.

"Yes," I confirmed.

We had performed with multiple concepts even before our debut while appearing on

Pick We Up.

The ideas we showed in the competition program were mostly decided by the members in front of the camera, unlike when making albums or holding concerts.

At that time, no matter how much we were praised, we were still trainees who hadn't debuted. We thought we had shown all the ideas and skills we could manage.

By the end, we already had a fandom centered around Chronos, and we could even predict the rankings. So what were we supposed to show next?

“So, we thought, ‘Since this is the end, everyone who has watched this show must already know our skills and concept. Let’s make a decision for the future after

Pick We Up.’”

“Oh... It was a decision for what would happen after

Pick We Up

.”

“Yes, we wanted to show a narrative that would keep our supporters attached to Chronos even after the program. And when we thought about what our story should be, we realized that it was—”

“The original Chronos!” Stew Rion finished confidently.

I nodded. “Yes, it didn’t make sense without those friends being part of our story at that time.”

“Wow, Hyun-Woo and the Chronos members really thought this through!”

I might have exaggerated a bit, but it wasn’t a lie. Joo-Han and Yoon-Chan discreetly gave me thumbs-up, hidden from the camera and Stew Rion. Even I had to admit that I had explained it convincingly and impressively.

“Alright! So, with the original Chronos performance, you won

Pick We Up

and took home the trophy. And the next thing you did was—Ta-da!” Stew Rion peeled off the sticker below the original Chronos photo and revealed another image.

“...Hmm?”

“What is that?”

I stared blankly at the photo while the members, who had figured it out earlier, burst into uncontrollable laughter. Goh Yoo-Joon’s laughter was particularly loud.

“This is... Umm...” I mumbled, utterly confused.

Stew Rion tried to contain his laughter and said, “Yes! It’s from your first variety show

Chronos History

!”

“Wait,

Chronos History

?”

‘But why did he choose that photo? When was it taken? Am I the only one who doesn’t remember this?’

The members were laughing hard, but it didn’t seem like they remembered the context either.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

“Hey, why are you laughing so much? It’s annoying!” I yelled as I moved closer to the photo. After a while, it finally clicked.

It was me, with my face covered in doodles, looking annoyed and making a victory sign at the camera. This was a picture from when the members drew on my face while I was sleeping during the filming of

Chronos History.