episode_0221

As the new year began and we returned from our short vacation, we gathered at Han Si-woo’s practice room.

It was to prepare for the Rookies’ last activity.

“We have finished producing the last song for Rookies.”

“Ah… .”

I thought I had made up my mind… but we quickly became depressed when Han Si-woo said that it was his last song.

But we couldn’t show our sadness openly, so we tried to have a cheerful conversation as much as possible.

“I’m really looking forward to it…! I wonder what kind of song you’ll write this time.”

“What is the genre? What is the song title?”

Han Si-woo answered our continued questions with a small smile.

“This activity is an album activity like the first time… , and the title of this album is .”

“… !”

.

The direct translation is ‘graduation’.

“And the title song of Rookies’ 2nd album is…, .”

“ … .”

The album name and the title song… they all leave you with lingering emotions.

“You should listen to it yourself. I’ll play it for you right now.”

Han Si-woo turned on his laptop while looking at the Rookies members who were making mysterious expressions.

and….

♪♪♬-!

Soon the intro to started playing.

**

The new year has arrived.

When the new year begins, everyone sets goals for the year.

And Yoo Chang-seon’s goal for this year is….

[1. Going to the Rookies Concert]

… was.

“Changseon-ah! It’s the new year, so don’t just stay at home and play on the computer all day!”

“Ah, I got it…!”

“You decided to return to school this semester! You have to adjust well when you go back to college so you can get a job and have a good relationship!”

“I said I understand!”

Yoo Chang-seon answered his mother’s words vaguely and let it go in one ear.

College, job, dating.

All are important.

But that can be done at any time… .

The Rookies are now coming to an end after the last 3 months, right?

“Sigh… , damn it. I hope they don’t disband.”

It’s really too bad that Rookies is a project group.

So, as much as he felt regretful, Yoo Chang-sun planned to do everything for the Rookies during these last three months.

‘First, I check the fan signing schedule and go to all the ones I can… and when a new song comes out, I stream it…’

The most important of these was going to the Rookies concert, as I wrote in my New Year’s resolution.

Up until now, we have never held a Rookies concert even once… .

Now that we have the Rookies’ songs piled up, we’ll have one concert before we disband.

Although many Rookies fans are expected to flock to the concert, Yoo Chang-sun was determined to get concert tickets no matter what.

‘If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just break my military savings account.’

It was at that time that Yoo Chang-seon was having such extreme thoughts.

Druk.

“Hmm… ?”

[Rookies ‘Eternal Rookies’ Teaser (First Release)]

“What? It came up faster than I thought?”

Yoo Chang-sun, who saw the teaser for Rookies’ new song on the refreshed YouTube screen, pressed play on the video as if he had found 50,000 won in the back pocket of an old pair of pants.

I thought we’d have to wait at least a week… but I’m excited about the early release.

Hold on.

[… … .]

“Huh?”

When I pressed play on the video, the first thing that appeared was a blank black screen.

At that moment, Yoo Chang-seon tilted his head, wondering if he had pressed the wrong button… .

[My Idol Academia! Let’s start now!]

[Show me your dream!]

“… … !”

The production began with one scene appearing and slowly transitioning to the next scene like a panorama.

Yoo Chang-seon knew what it was as soon as he saw it.

In the first scene of Naaah, who made the current Rookies…, it was a slow progression with the flow of time.

“Ah… , I liked Yerin since then.”

Yoo Chang-sun watched the teaser with the feeling of reminiscing about the past.

From the first time Ha Ye-rin came out and sang a G-Dragon song…, the first team stage, the duo stage between Ha Ye-rin and Yoo Seol, I remember that…, and the finals.

[The winner of glory is…! Congratulations! This is contestant Ha Ye-rin from Brother Planning!]

The debut members have been decided, and Ha Ye-rin is the final winner.

We held our first showcase and released our first album.

Release two digital singles.

Received several awards, including the grand prize, at the year-end awards ceremony.

“… … .”

Yoo Chang-seon watched the Rookies Chronicles with bated breath.

And the last moment… .

[Eternal Rookies]

[Rookies’ Last Eternal Moment Coming soon]

♪♪♬-!

The video ended with the final phrase and a short intro.

“… … .”

Yoo Chang-seon stared at the black screen that reflected his face for a long time after the video ended.

and….

Stop.

“… Huh?”

Soon he could feel a tear running down his chin.

“…Why are you crying?”

It’s just the last activity of my favorite idol… and no one’s dying… Toshite…

In that way, Yoo Chang-seon wiped away the tears he couldn’t understand with his sleeve and made a pledge once again.

This is the last activity of the Rookies… Let’s send them off without any regrets.

**

I’m tired.

I have such strong stamina that I rarely complain of being tired, but this time I was really tired.

‘What are you preparing for a new song starting from the new year…?’

Among them, the thing that made it the hardest for me, and for our Rookies, was preparing for the concert.

A concert isn’t just about jumping on stage for a few songs and then coming down.

All the album title tracks and digital singles that Rookies have released so far. And some of the songs that were a bit neglected.

There is a solo cover stage for each member.

And that’s not the end, there’s even a re-enactment of the most popular stage from the Naa era.

We really didn’t have much time to rest because we had to prepare for the concert while also preparing for the new song.

But even our rookies, who are so busy, couldn’t skip this schedule…

The reason we were going now was because it was Rookies’ last showcase.

The showcase location was the Naaah set located in Gyeonggi-do, just like the first Rookies showcase.

I looked out the window, maintaining my sanity alone among the members who were all soundly asleep.

It’s the road to the Naaah set that used to be so familiar… .

It feels a little strange now.

‘That means a lot of time has passed.’

As the new year dawns, Hayerin’s body has finally become an adult and I have experienced many changes compared to when I was first born.

Feeling the transience of time, how quickly time passes, the car raced to the showcase.

**

The order of our rookies’ showcase was always the same.

First, they performed their new song on stage, then spent time with their fans, then had a Q&A session with reporters, and then it was over.

This time it was the same.

We smiled playfully as we prepared for our surprise appearance in the dark backstage.

“Hehehe, everyone will be surprised this time too, right?”

At every showcase, we like to use the surprise production where the lights suddenly turn on on the dark stage and we make a surprise appearance.

It’s a cliché, but we enjoyed it because every time we used it, our fans were surprised and happy to see us.

We expected the same reaction from the fans this time too.

but….

♪♪♬-!

As the intro played and the lights came on on stage.

“Huh?”

“… Hmm?”

Instead, we were the ones who were embarrassed.

That would be true… .

[ROOKIES FOREVER]

[Rookies Forever]

[I love Rookies]

The lights came up on the set and what we saw was… a giant placard filling the audience seats.

“… … .”

The intro should have started and then we should have gone straight into the introduction… .

I couldn’t help but stop in my tracks because of the unexpected sight.

Ugh.

Since I was born into Hayerin’s body… I neither laugh nor cry…

I was never good at expressing any emotions… .

Since becoming an idol, I think my ability to express my emotions has definitely become more diverse.

Because of the tears that were welling up from the depths of my heart, I ended up… .

‘oh….’

I missed one move.

The thing about a stage is that if one person makes a mistake and ruins the flow, it can ruin the whole show.

We worked hard to get along so that it wouldn’t happen.

I looked at the other members, embarrassed by the mistake I made in the introduction.

and….

“… … .”

“… … ”

The other members must have felt the same way as me because they stood still like broken robots.

Lee Hye-jeong, Park Yu-jeong, Na Hanna, Seo Yu-jin.

Even Yoo Seol, who has always been the center of the Rookies.

I was just looking at the audience without any intention of performing on stage.

‘…I understand.’

Understand the members’ feelings.

I also made a mistake in my actions because I was momentarily emotional.

But to truly repay the hearts of the fans… .

The show had to go on.

Ssuk-, knock knock.

“… … !”

I quickly woke up the members by gesturing or tapping my fingers.

And in place of Seo Yu-jin, who missed her part because she was absentmindedly absentminded… .

-Time to graduation

-Now is the time for us to part ways

As she entered her part, she saved the flow that could have easily restarted the stage.

“Ah… .”

Through the small gap I created, the other members finally came to their senses and started to join in.

‘thank god.’

I’ve never been able to take on the role of leader during my time in the Rookies, but I think I’ve finally been able to do so.

When I smiled at this, the other members also smiled when they saw my face.

So we put our heavy hearts aside for a moment and started the last showcase stage happily.