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I lost the bet.

I was so confident…

I glanced at Hyeon-su, who was subtly avoiding my gaze.

…an honest young man.

He didn’t cave in to my threats.

“Ah ha, ha ha! I won, didn’t I?”

Lee Hyun-jun was noticeably pleased.

Is it really that great?

I mean, I’d be happy if I had won too…

Damn, this is infuriating.

“What? The voice tone bully? Hahaha!”

“Quit crying.”

Even as I ground my teeth, Lee Hyun-jun’s teasing continued.

If his fandom saw this, their illusions would shatter completely.

Or maybe they’d like him even more? Something about his unexpected charm.

“Ah ha ha, Hyun-jun, calm down a bit.”

In the end, Hyun-jun only calmed down after realizing he was making a fool of himself in front of his seniors.

Oh, his face went red.

Looks like he just realized he did something embarrassing.

But seeing him so happy, he must’ve been a bit concerned after all.

I heard he is quite competitive, but I didn’t expect it to be this intense…

“Isn’t Hyun-jun a bit too happy?”

“Yeah, it seems like he’s really worried.”

After Hyun-jun’s face turned red from his embarrassment,

The mischievous seniors, always ready to tease their juniors, jumped at the chance to harass Hyun-jun.

“…Soo-hyun has so much confidence that…”

But this little brat is trying to drag me down with him when he could just take the hit alone.

He should deal with his victory by himself.

Why should I also get hit as the loser?

No way.

“Me?”

“Yes? You said earlier…”

“Ah ha ha, how could I win? We were just doing this for fun, right?”

Saying that, I subtly leaned back.

The loser should give way, after all.

“Since I lost the bet, feel free to decide on my wish.”

And as I slipped away, I couldn’t resist adding,

“A wish? Is it about Hyun-jun…?”

“So that was your goal, huh?”

“Hyun-jun really is a man, isn’t he?”

“An idol…”

As expected, the expressions of the shameless seniors who wouldn’t miss an opportunity changed, and Hyun-jun stared at me in horror.

“Uh… uh…”

“Well then, I’ll be going for a bit.”

Anyway, I’ll have to come back to listen to the rest of the album tracks, but judging by the atmosphere, it looks like it’ll be later.

And above all, after the bet, Hyeon-su slowly made his way out of the recording studio.

Is he trying to escape?

I’ll make him pay for his honesty.

So I wandered around the workshop looking for Hyeon-su, and eventually found him on the sofa in front of the recording studio.

“Finally found you.”

“Ah ha ha.”

Was he embarrassed to be found? Hyeon-su smiled awkwardly.

“You know your life is precious, right?”

“Um… if being honest is a crime, then I’ll take the death penalty.”

Oh, this guy, if he’s going that far…

“Ah, whatever. It’s my fault for getting anxious halfway through.”

Saying that, I plopped down next to Hyeon-su.

This sofa feels nice every time I sit on it.

“To be honest…”

“To be honest?”

“It was really hard to choose. Both are featuring me, after all?”

“Ah ha.”

“Since you did that, it became easier for me to choose, so thanks. That was your plan, wasn’t it?”

“Uh? Uh, yeah. Of course.”

You were aiming for that?

Not one bit.

What I was aiming for was victory.

“Well, thanks.”

“…Oh.”

Now that I’ve nailed it down this hard, it’s tough to act petty.

Not that I had any plan to…

“So how do you feel?”

“How do I feel?”

“Oh, isn’t this the third album?”

This is the debut album that really put my name out there, along with the album that launched Hyeon-su as a rising star, and now this is the third album.

And…

“This is your first album after turning twenty, right?”

It’s also the first album I’m releasing as an adult.

Is it insane that I’m already a third-album artist at twenty?

“What… it’s not really that exciting. Just making and releasing songs.”

But Hyeon-su seemed really indifferent. Well, he does seem distant from wealth and fame.

“Ah, making music is fun, though. Melodies pop into my head, and lyrics get written.”

“Yeah, you’re the best.”

“What about you?”

“Me?”

“Isn’t it about time to release a new song you made with Kang Woo-hyeon?”

“Right?”

I have no idea when that will happen, but the time has come.

“I’m not really worried.”

I don’t think releasing a song will change much for me.

I did it just because it was a good opportunity.

“I’m also kind of the same.”

After saying that, we sat in silence for a moment.

But somewhere, the noise from the lobby never ceases.

Until now, Hyun-jun must still be getting teased, right?

Serves him right.

He should pay the price for his victory.

As we sat quietly for a bit, Hyeon-su suddenly spoke up.

“By the way, what are you going to do about your artist name?”

“My name?”

“Yeah, you said you’d tell me last time. Now we really need to register it.”

True… we talked about this during the last recording when we were doing the featuring.

I can’t keep my artist name under a pseudonym.

Back then, I thought it would be just once, but now it’s different.

“It’s about time to decide. And you’ve already been found out, right?”

Hyeon-su shrugged.

Indeed, no one is oblivious to the fact that I did a featuring for Wonderland, and since I’m also going to release a new song with the songwriter, I can’t leave my name empty forever.

“Actually, I thought about it a bit…”

“Did you come up with something?”

“How about Miro?”

“Oh… that’s lame.”

“Wanna die?”

“Haha, I’m serious!”

Okay, I accept it’s lame!

But can Slim Gold really say anything?

“Why Miro, of all names? Is it similar to Mirror?”

“Um, not really.”

Well, if I had to justify it, there are many reasons, but the biggest one is that I just felt drawn to the name.

In a way, me and Kim Soo-hyun might have similar naming senses.

“Or how about just Soo-hyun?”

“Soo-hyun?”

“A lot of people just stick with their real names, after all.”

Well… that could work.

“I’ll just go with Miro.”

If it’s lame, so what?

As long as it gets the meaning across and I like it.

“Then that’s what I’ll go with.”

“Alright.”

“Make sure to update your info on the music site too.”

“Got it, I’ll do it when I get home.”

Now that I think about it, I’ll have two accounts on the music site.

Miro and Miro.

No, thinking about it this way, Miro’s actually sounding kind of lame?

Hmm…

As I pondered for a while, I spotted Hyun-jun coming from afar.

“Hey Hyeon-su, it’s about time you get back. We need to listen to the songs.”

“Ah, have you been teased to the limit?”

“Wanna die?”

Hah, should I ask an idol about something?

After all, it’s a job sensitive to trends.

“Hyun-jun.”

“What?”

Hyun-jun sounded a bit grumpy, maybe he was annoyed at me.

A grown man acting like this…

“How about Mirror?”

“You mean the mirror mirror?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to use that as a name?”

“You caught on quickly?”

Did I ask too suddenly? He realized it was a name straight away.

“Do what you want.”

“Is that really okay?”

In response to my question, Hyun-jun spoke casually, as if it was no big deal.

“What matters is the content. The Beatles originally meant ‘beetles’.”

“Really?”

I didn’t know that.

Well, it’s true that the action is more critical than the name.

“Hyun-jun, the Beatles combined the English name for beetles, Beetles, with Beat…”

“Shut up; that’s close enough.”

Hyun-jun’s sharp words made Hyeon-su clamp his mouth shut.

Yeah, that was definitely a bit of an awkward comment.

“Anyway, do what you like with the name. Let’s hurry and go listen to more songs. The seniors are waiting for us now.”

“Ah.”

And so we returned to the lobby to listen to the remaining albums.

It might be because all the songs here were crafted by everyone who contributed, but it was really something.

I wonder if songwriter Kang Woo-hyeon already knows this?

He’s not just stalling.

He’s merely waiting.

Was I missing the point of taking a step back to take a giant leap forward?

Anyway, the songs were really great.

I even thought I should add them to my playlist once they’re released.

“Okay, now that everyone’s gathered in the workshop, shall we take a photo?”

“Hyung, are you really going to post this? Like with the juniors— in this sort of way.”

“Are you kidding me! Of course I am! Hahaha.”

After listening to all the songs, a middle-aged man who looked like the oldest among us gathered everyone.

“Are we taking a photo?”

As people gathered, Hyeon-su asked me that.

Hmm, is he offering to be considerate?

Since my viewers are going to see this photo, unlike last time.

It’s different than having embarrassing drunk photos spread everywhere and having recognizable photos circulate when seen on the street.

“No, let’s not take one together.”

Just a little covering my face with my hand is enough.

Did he know that my face is small enough to be covered with just one hand?

“Okay, I’m taking it.”

And with that, we took a photo.

“Now let’s go for a company dinner!”

“Let’s eat meat, meat!”

The excited group of people grabbed their coats, ready to head out for dinner.

We took a picture together, but…

“I’ll go ahead.”

Dinner is a bit…

I have to go home and broadcast.

I could’ve gone last time; do I really need to go again?

“Aren’t you staying anymore?”

“Yeah, I have to go.”

Due to how often I had been skipping out, Hyeon-su didn’t even bother trying to say anything.

Guess with enough stacking, he doesn’t hear much.

While saying vague goodbyes, I suddenly remembered something and went to speak with Hyun-jun.

“Hyun-jun.”

“Yes?”

“Can you give me an autograph?”

“An autograph?”

I smiled at Hyun-jun’s baffled expression of, “What autograph?” now.

“I made friends when I went to Japan. He’s a huge fan of the Beatles.”

“Oh… really?”

But upon hearing there’s a fan, his expression changed.

“They must really like you.”

“Is there anything wrong with them liking me? I’ll get it to you right away.”

Unexpectedly enthusiastic, Hyun-jun disappeared into the lobby for a moment before quickly returning with a notebook and a pen.

“Oh, what’s that person’s name?”

“Um…”

At that moment, I did hear Sake’s real name, but…

More than his real name… well.

“It’s Izakaya Sake.”

“Eh?”

“You know, that VTuber.”

As I found out, fans generally know about Izakaya Sake being a K-pop fan.

I should brag about it on stream or something.

Or not? It might be a stretch to show off a male idol’s autograph on stream?

Well, that’s up to him to decide.

Anyway, I think Sake would be thrilled just to receive the autograph.

“Why are you making connections like that?”

“Turns out it was a friend’s acquaintance.”

Hyun-jun, who had looked at me with a puzzled expression, promptly gave me the autograph.

I don’t know when, but if I ever have a chance to go to Japan, I’ll make sure to pass this on.

“So, I’ll be heading out now.”

“Are you really going? It’s not easy to have dinner with seniors.”

Yeah, I know that. Of course, it’s not common; many people want it, and so on.

But…

“I have to broadcast.”

“Man, I’m kind of jealous.”

I mentioned it was a good opportunity earlier, but now that I’m saying I’m going home, Hyun-jun looked at me like he was a bit envious.

Guess he’s feeling pressured being a senior.

“Ah ha ha, you enjoy your teasing alone.”

“No…!”

“I’m off now.”

And with that, I said my farewells to Hyun-jun and left the workshop first.

“Whoo….”

As I took a deep breath, staring at the dark sky and watching my breath puff out in the cold air, I made my way to the subway station.

“I have to go home.”

It’s still far from the end of my day.

 

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