A New Career Singer Who Can Read The Future [EN]: Chapter 155

In the car heading to the stadium, I felt nervous. Even though the concert was still four days away, the word ‘stadium’ put a lot of pressure on me. Would I be able to fill the stage? I had read in the news that the tickets had sold out almost immediately. Hoya *hyung* [older brother or male friend] also said that I would see a stadium packed with fans.

Moreover, I heard that reporters from Korea would be coming to cover the event. It was a so-called ‘fam tour,’ where media outlets from about 100 different places would come to cover the concert. On the first day of the stadium performance, there would be a press conference before the show.

“Did you prepare the setlist properly? Let’s decide the order of the set and how to move around the stage after seeing it in person,” Kangho *hyung* said, handing me a printout with the setlist and stage movement positions.

Soon after arriving at the stadium, I felt overwhelmed by the sheer size of the venue. It took more than ten minutes just to get to the waiting room. It was that vast and enormous. After putting on my in-ear monitors and stepping onto the stage, I saw the empty seats at a glance. Soon, those seats would be filled, and fans would be holding up purple light sticks, shouting my name.

Fortunately, the staff who had worked with me on every Korean performance were here for this concert as well. Seeing them made me feel like I was performing back home.

“Everyone, how have you been? I missed you.”

That remark was met with chuckles. The staff joked, “We’re not your fans, why would we miss you?” Of course, I kept telling them that I missed them anyway.

“I really missed you guys. I have to stay in the US for another month before the stadium tour is over… and after the US, I have to go to Europe… I really missed talking to the Korean staff, you know?”

The staff kept laughing at my words. Hoya *hyung’s* laughter, standing far away below the protruding stage, was so loud that it reached me.

“Then, let’s start the rehearsal,” I said, pretending to be a little sulky. The first song was ‘One and Only.’ It had been a while since I’d sung this song. With so many songs released since then, I gradually stopped singing the songs from my first full album. However, considering that this was a large-scale stadium performance and about 40,000 to 50,000 of my fans would be watching, I decided that it would be good to start the show with this song.

Starting with ‘One and Only,’ I sang a total of over 20 songs, including 3 unreleased songs, 10 songs released through Monthly Dohyun, and a medley of songs from my albums.

Perhaps because I had been practicing every day, my vocal condition was quite good. Moreover, the weather forecast predicted good weather until the concert day, so I thought I could maintain an even better condition.

Not only singing but also coordinating movements was important, as this stadium performance was scheduled to be released on DVD.

I was thrilled at the thought of both the first and second day’s performances being released on DVD and Blu-ray. Until now, performances had only been released as fan-cams or company-cams, but this was the first time an official DVD would be released.

After finishing the rehearsal, I was covered in sweat and collapsed on the stage. Andy filmed me and asked a mischievous question.

“Isn’t that too natural? This side of you will be shown to the fans too!”

“Oh, it’s okay, Andy. My fans will love this side of me too. I’m sure of it.”

“If you’re okay with it, then it’s okay. But maybe you should get up?”

“I don’t know how many hours we’ve been rehearsing. To fill this huge venue, I had to pour all my energy into it from the rehearsal! I’m a little tired.”

“Ah, come to think of it, I heard ADON is going to be a guest at your concert?”

“That’s right. ADON will be joining me. Maybe when this movie is released, the video with ADON will be uploaded to YouTube.”

ADON was scheduled to join me the day before the concert to rehearse with me. He was also a very successful and busy celebrity, so we barely managed to fit it into his schedule. ADON had contacted me first, saying he wanted to perform at my concert. I thought he was just saying he would adjust to my schedule, but I didn’t expect him to really adjust his concert schedule to perform at my stadium concert. I had taken his words lightly.

“How did ADON propose it?”

“He called me first when I was in Korea. He said he wanted to work with me. He said he would adjust to my schedule. Actually, I didn’t take it seriously until then. But when I saw ADON really adjusting his schedule to mine, I was touched.”

“Oh… wow. A friendship that transcends borders.”

“Yeah, that’s right. At first, it was just a collaboration, but I realized that I was developing a deep friendship with him.”

Andy and I talked about ADON. In the meantime, the sun was setting.

* * *

“Ugh, why is there so much to prepare when going to America?”

Reporter Yoo Hana was meeting with her junior reporter, Yoon Min-hye, to discuss Dohyun’s US stadium tour. Through the fam tour, the agency was supporting the cost of flights and accommodation, so they were able to go to Dohyun’s stadium concert. Of course, the ticket for the first day was an invitation from the agency, but from the second day onwards, they had precious tickets obtained through ticketing.

“Senior, isn’t the preparation really intense? As soon as we get to America, we have to go to the press conference without even adjusting to the time difference, and then watch the concert… We both got tickets for the middle and last concerts. Just thinking about running to concerts for three days already drains my energy… I’m glad the company is considerate enough to let us rest a little.”

“Our company told us to use our vacation days. I’m so upset that I’m being forced to use two days of vacation that I should be using for Dohyun’s schedule. Seriously, media companies are so narrow-minded, picky, and stingy.”

Reporter Yoo grumbled about the company’s policy.

“Senior, by the way, how are you going to bring your camera in? In America, because of the risk of terrorism, you have to put everything in a transparent bag and bring it in so that everything is visible.”

“That’s why I’m worried now. I’ve talked to other photographers… and they said the only way is to hide it in your clothes. But there will be metal detectors, right? I’m worried about that.”

That’s right. In Korean concerts, only simple bag checks are conducted, but in concerts in the United States and other countries where firearms are legal and there is a risk of terrorism, metal detectors are used, and belongings must be placed in transparent bags that show everything inside.

The problem didn’t end there. When Korean fans came to watch the concert and took pictures with large cameras, foreign fans claimed that the Korean fans were ‘sasaengs’ [obsessive fans] and made various racist remarks, including reporting them to security. There were many cell phone photos at overseas concerts, but there was a reason why photos from photographers were rare.

“Should we bring duct tape?”

“Of course. To withstand the weight of the camera, you have to wrap duct tape around your thighs. Otherwise, you can’t handle it.”

“I’m going to bring a camcorder. Camcorders are much lighter and easier to hide….”

Reporter Yoo Hana nodded in agreement with Reporter Yoon’s words.

“A camcorder is better. But I like Dohyun’s *mosup* [appearance]…”