Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 53

#53.

Do-jae was exuding an even more intense aura than when they had competed for first place. He was different now.

You couldn’t think of him as the ‘Kang Do-jae’ of the past anymore.

“Camera,” Yu Myeong-woo said in a low, cold voice. Only then did the members of The Origin turn their gazes to the front.

“Now, we have the nominees for the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award on the candidate seats. I heard that this year’s competition was fiercer than ever.”

As the presenter spoke, the camera showed the three teams standing in the nominee seats.

REGINA had their hands clasped tightly together as if in prayer, their faces trembling. The Origin waved and smiled brightly, generating immediate cheers from their fan section.

MOST, looking nervous, stared straight ahead at the camera, which only made them look endearing to their fans.

“Wow. They’re all really strong contenders. All of them are groups that have been loved this year for their professional performances and skills that don’t seem like those of rookies.”
The presenter, after examining the screen divided into three, continued his remarks.

“The ‘Rookie of the Year’ award, which can only be received once as a singer, is even more meaningful! The winner was determined by reflecting 20% of album sales, 20% of SNS [Social Networking Service] performance, 30% of digital music sales, and 30% of pre-event internet voting.”

It was a reflection ratio that appropriately balanced popularity with dedicated fandom and general public appeal.

Thanks to this, it was an awards ceremony where disagreements about the winner rarely arose.

A major difference was the absence of judge scores, which are present in other awards ceremonies.

“Then, let’s announce it. The ‘Rookie of the Year’ who shined this year is……!”

The presenter heightened the tension and proceeded with the announcement.

“Ah. I’m so nervous,” Lui muttered softly to himself, grabbing Do-jae’s hand next to him.

When he got nervous, he would either put his hand on his heart and clutch his chest, or grab the hand of the person next to him.

Lui was the type who had to grab something for reassurance.

Do-jae held that hand tightly without letting go.

Lui’s hand, which usually danced as if he were wearing winged shoes on stage, was stiff and sweaty.

As if that wasn’t enough, Lui grabbed Gyu-sung’s hand on his left.

“……!”

Gyu-sung, who was similarly frozen with nerves, seemed surprised for a moment but soon grabbed Lui’s hand tightly and visibly relaxed.

Woo-cheol, who was next to Gyu-sung, saw this and grabbed the hands of Gyu-sung and Heung-min.

In that way, the MOST members stood in a line, holding hands, and waited for the results to be announced.

“…Rookie of the Year! Congratulations.”

“…….”

“MOST!”

The members couldn’t even blink properly, as if time had stopped.

Album sales and votes were neck and neck with The Origin, but MOST’s digital music sales, which were still charting high, were overwhelming.

“Kyaaaaak!”

Before the tremendous roar pierced their ears, the MOST members couldn’t move at all for a fleeting moment.

The hands they were holding tightened.

The camera captured the blank faces of the MOST members.

“Congratulations!”

The members snapped out of it because of the lively voices coming from the seat next to them.

The REGINA members congratulated MOST, deliberately raising their voices.

While clapping, they gestured for them to go up and accept the award.

“Ah.”

Ki-joon and Do-jae took the lead, and the members rushed to the stage.

The Origin watched MOST walk to the stage with applause, wearing ambiguous smiles on their faces.

This time, it was Yu Myeong-woo who had to carefully manage his expression.

***

Ki-joon accepted the large trophy engraved with the words ‘Rookie of the Year’.

The female actress who presented the award was the one who had received the Rookie Award at a broadcasting company’s Drama Awards last year.

The woman in the red dress said, “Congratulations,” and stepped back behind the stage.

The MOST members stood in a line in front of the microphone.

“Uh…….”

Ki-joon’s voice choked up, and he couldn’t open his mouth easily.

Just in case, like when he was first nominated for first place, Ki-joon had prepared an acceptance speech this time as well.

However, as soon as he stood in front of the microphone, his mind went blank.

He even forgot that he had written the acceptance speech on the palm of his hand.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I really didn’t expect it… I thought it would be meaningful just to be on this stage… The reason we were able to receive such a precious award is all… thanks to our fans.”

Ki-joon continued his acceptance speech slowly, pouring all his heart into it.

“…Thank you to all the staff who helped us, and to our parents who gave birth to us… Thank you all. Thanks to you, we can all stand here together. And above all…….”

Ahem, Ki-joon cleared his throat and adjusted his voice.

It felt like the things he had vaguely dreamed of were within his grasp.

A sob welled up.

Lui, Woo-cheol, and Gyu-sung were already holding each other’s hands, their eyes red.

Heung-min, holding a bouquet of flowers, sniffled and barely held back his tears.

Do-jae also endured the rush of various emotions, biting his lip.

“Our members.”

“…….”

“Thank you. MOST exists because of other people, and I, the leader of MOST, can stand here because of you. Thank you. Really.”

He was calm, but the end of his voice was trembling.

Ki-joon turned away from the camera and burst into tears.

Woo-cheol and Lui, who had barely been holding back, finally shed tears as well.

Heung-min hugged Ki-joon’s back as he turned around and sobbed.

It might have looked funny to see grown young men hugging each other and crying.

However, it was a sight that made your nose tingle for no reason.

“…Heo-eong [Sobbing sound]. BEST [Fan group name], thank you so much. Mom, Dad! I did it! We are the rookie of the year!”

Lui shouted, shaking the trophy with tears in his eyes.

The members took turns saying thank you, one word at a time.

Everyone was out of their minds with the overwhelming emotions.

Do-jae grabbed the microphone last.

“…Thank you.”

Do-jae looked straight ahead and greeted with a choked voice.

“From some day, I wanted to sing, and I wanted more people to listen to my songs… So I wanted to be on stage.”

“…….”

“There were times when I was frustrated, empty, and desperate because that wasn’t allowed. So the time on stage where I can sing, dance, and sweat to my heart’s content was so precious to me.”

Do-jae’s sincerity echoed through the large concert hall.

The members looked at Do-jae with wet faces.

It was a somewhat unfamiliar story to the members as well.

“But I really didn’t know that I would receive such a great reward.”

“…….”

“I will use this award as a stepping stone to make songs and stages that can touch the hearts of more people. Thank you for watching over me. Thank you.”

Do-jae bowed politely.

The members also bowed in turn, following Do-jae.

It felt like their noses would touch their knees.

A round of applause erupted from the audience for the sincere acceptance speech filled with gratitude.

***

The first awards ceremony, N TV FESTA.

The lingering feeling of receiving the Rookie Award there was quite long.

They felt like they could have a Rookie Award celebration party for 2 nights and 3 days straight, but there were still awards ceremonies left.

There were two: SVS [Music Festival] on December 29th and MVS [Year-End Music Grand Prix] on the 31st.

They couldn’t neglect practicing because they were preparing slightly different performances for both awards ceremonies.

Instead of having a party, the members enjoyed the afterglow by replaying the N TV FESTA stage and award ceremony videos every time they took a break from practice.

“Ah…. Let’s watch it one more time!”

At Woo-cheol’s words, Lui pressed the play button one more time.

“I never get tired of watching it. We did so well!”

“Bro. Aren’t we getting too complacent like this?”

“Oh. Kim Lui. Complacent? Do you even know such difficult words? You didn’t even go to take the college entrance exam.”

“Heol [Expression of disbelief or annoyance]. I’m going to post on the fan cafe that hyung [older brother/male friend] is ignoring me.”

“Wow…. You really know politics, don’t you?”

The two lay on the practice room floor and giggled.

It wasn’t just the members who were reminiscing about that day’s stage.

[Idol bending over backwards.gif] [A short, looping video of an idol bowing deeply]

[MOST crying after receiving Rookie of the Year award (feat. average age 21 waiting while holding hands)]

[Lee Ki-joon’s debut story, who is amazing at everything from composing to rapping]

[Live stage of a rookie who breaks through the Gocheok Dome [Large indoor stadium in Seoul]]

[This year’s N TV Awards TOP3 stage video]

[MOST 3-minute video of the legendary stage]

MOST’s stage continued to be talked about on the internet.

It was a reaction that MOST deserved to be ‘Rookie of the Year’ without any objection, even though The Origin was a pity.

Since it was a fairly large awards ceremony in the Asian region, the video of MOST’s stage was also a huge hit on overseas sites.

In any case, since they were new faces at the awards ceremony, their topicality was as good as BIGBOYS, who received the Best Award ‘Group of the Year’, or HOH, who received the Grand Prize ‘Superstar of the Year’.

“I wonder what the next awards ceremony will be like…….”

Gyu-sung muttered while resting on one side.

He was estimating whether he could win the Rookie Award elsewhere.

Ki-joon sighed, “Hmm.”

Unlike the N TV Awards, which heavily reflected digital music sales, the SVS and MVS Awards had judge scores.

It was a part where the agency’s influence could be exerted.

“SVS will be difficult.”

Ki-joon said skeptically.

It was a well-known fact that New [Entertainment Agency] and SVS [Broadcasting Station] were close.

Even the fans had low expectations for the SVS Rookie Award.

MOST’s digital music sales were far superior, and The Origin, who had released two albums and had a fandom formed before their debut, had slightly higher album sales.

Looking at the internet voting results, the fandom size itself seemed similar.

With this much difference, The Origin could overturn MOST with the judges’ scores.

“It’s okay. I’m already so grateful that I received one ‘Rookie of the Year’ award.”

Woo-cheol, who was listening to the two’s conversation, chimed in.

At Woo-cheol’s positive words, Heung-min patted him on the shoulder, saying that he was saying something sensible for once.

“Because no one knows what will happen in the future.”

Do-jae, who spoke as if to summarize, wrapped up the atmosphere by saying, “Let’s practice.”

Again, it was practice.

***

As everyone expected, The Origin won the Rookie Award at the SVS .

Of course, there were controversies.

Criticism poured out that the awards were given to New singers for the sake of the grand prize singer, HOH.

But it was already a past award.

Do-jae thought.

‘The only way is to show a clear difference without any room for doubt.’

Fortunately, the winner of the MVS Rookie Award was MOST again.

“10!”

“9!”

Having won their second Rookie Award, MOST shouted out the numbers in excited voices.

At the MVS , the Bosingak bell [Traditional bell in Seoul] was broadcast live from the stage, and all the performers gathered together to celebrate the New Year every year.

It was already the end of the year.

The New Year’s Eve bell rang at Bosingak, and Do-jae celebrated his second December 31st in Korea on the awards ceremony stage.

“…1!”

Bang— Pow! Pow!

At the same time as the New Year dawned, colorful fireworks soared into the sky.

New Year’s greetings were exchanged here and there amidst the sound of firecrackers.

“Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year!”

“Happy new year!”

Lui also smiled and greeted Do-jae.

It was when Do-jae was about to answer Lui.

His vision blurred for a moment.