Chapter 198

What kind of question is he going to ask this time?

The members, except for Ian, could not understand him clearly, but they could guess what Caden asked by the way he emphasized the word “girlfriend”.

‘I knew this question would come up.’

The members suddenly looked away at the distant mountains and avoided the camera. The American studio burst into laughter at their reaction.

-There it is, Caden’s favorite question lol

-Lol look where they are looking, so cute lol

-Ian’s smile makes my heart flutter

Ian thought it was lucky that he had received the script in advance and smiled calmly. Caden narrowed his eyes and spoke with an exaggerated tone.

(*Ian, you look like you have a lot to say. Good. Let’s forget about your fans for a moment. Think of this as a conversation between you and me, and speak comfortably.)

“*Caden, you know.”

(*What do you mean?)

“*You know how the countless Korean singers you interviewed answered.”

Caden opened his mouth as if he had been hit. He coughed and continued.

(*Yeah, the dating ban clause. I always heard that. They can’t date because they are focused on their work. They are with their fans…)

“*Yes, those things. I’m sorry to disappoint you, Caden, but we can only give you those answers too.”

Ian shrugged and briefly explained to the members what he had said. The members cheered and patted Ian’s shoulder for doing well.

-Ian is so cool when he speaks in a low voice

-He dodged it well lol

-Is he a genius? So cool

‘He won’t let it go easily…’

Caden pressed his jaw. The audience laughed at him.

(*Wait a minute, let me ask you one more thing.)

Ian crossed his legs and gestured with his palm as if to say go ahead.

Caden raised one eyebrow and looked at Ian on the screen with a ‘can you believe this?’ expression.

(*Are Korean fans so harsh that you have to have such restrictions? Like, ‘the moment you debut as an idol, you can’t date’ and they give you a hard time and obsess over you… Is that common?)

A trap question. Ian translated it to the members and thought of an answer. It was a question that could create a bad impression of the domestic fans if answered wrong.

“*No, no. We just want to focus on our work.”

“It’s not that we are pressured by the fans. We just don’t have any thoughts of dating.”

Among the members who hesitated to answer, Lee Ju-hyuk answered in broken English, and Kim Hyun trusted Ian’s interpretation.

“That’s right. We don’t even think about dating anyone right now.”

“We like working.”

The other members agreed with Kim Hyun’s answer.

-Aww look at them trying to smooth things over

-It’s true that they are pressured, right? There’s no country as sensitive as ours about idol dating lol

-Why do they keep asking these questions? They do it all the time

-From their perspective, it’s a weird fan culture, so they keep asking and we can’t help it

-Ugh just look at them, they are so annoying. Where did they come from to mess around?

When the members finished their words, Ian spoke as a representative.

“*Caden, we don’t want to say anything bad about our fans. There’s nothing bad about them. Never.”

(*Okay, I get it.)

“*First of all, we are busy. We have a world tour coming up next year, and we have a lot of things to do in the future. So we don’t have time, and as Ju-hyuk said, it’s a time to focus on our work, so we don’t even think about dating or anything.”

(*Oh, you won’t budge easily.)

Caden conceded and showed his palms and leaned back on his chair.

-?

-Did he just say world tour?-World tour? Can’t we see them again?

-OMG the world tour schedule just came out

-Holy cow 3 days in Gocheok

-Crazy Busan!!! Scream!!

Ian didn’t mean to spoil it. The agency had prepared to surprise the fans by announcing the world tour schedule at this moment.

They had to cancel the concert hall schedule they had booked in advance because of the hiatus this year, and it was hard to book again.

Instead, they had reserved a 25,000-seat Gocheok Dome for 3 days in Korea from early next year, and a 30,000-seat super arena-level concert hall overseas. It was several times bigger than when Awi had their first world tour.

(*Maybe this kind of control makes K-pop artists more attractive.)

“*Yes. Control is good. We like being controlled by our fans, by Awy-doms.”

(*Oh! Wow, you are really savvy. I like it.)

Caden shouted and clapped at Ian’s witty answer. The audience also responded.

(*I’m really sorry, I hope we can meet in person and have a comfortable conversation in this studio next time.)

“*We hope so too. We hope that day will come soon.”

That’s what he said? Caden smiled faintly.

(*By the way, do you have any plans for your next album after this one? I’m sure the fans here in the studio would love to hear some good news.)

It implied the same thing as saying, why don’t you release any songs or albums here? You’re popular here too. Ian smiled meaningfully and said,

“*We do have a project that we’re trying for the first time since our debut.”

The members chuckled.

(*You’re making me excited by your laughter.)

It was a collaboration song with a foreign singer. And the first carol song by Awi, which was done with Hailey Poles, was all in English.

(*Can you give us a little hint?)

“*It’s no fun if you know in advance.”

(*I know, you guys are not easy to deal with. I won’t ask you any more difficult questions.)

“*One thing I can tell you is, it’s a song that suits the best moment that you like the most…”

“Hey, stop it.”

“Someone shut Ian up.”

The members shouted as they understood some of Ian’s words. Kim Ju-young, who was sitting behind him, covered Ian’s mouth, and Jo Tae-woong covered his ears and yelled loudly.

(*Good.)

Caden smiled satisfied. It took some time to deliver the words because it was done remotely, but there was someone who spoke English, so they didn’t waste time on interpretation.

So they were able to talk more in the interview, but Caden made a mischievous expression and glanced at the prompter.

‘What kind of question are you going to ask this time?’

Ian stiffened. He had a similar expression to when he was asked about his girlfriend.

(*Oh. This is very interesting. There was a newspaper article yesterday about an interview with a Japanese idol group. To summarize, they said that K-pop was influenced by Japan’s idol culture in the 1960s and…)

“Japan? Why is Japan here?”

Kim Joo-young whispered to Ian from behind.

“Wait, they said, ‘Japan’s legacy, which has been going on since the ‘60s, influenced Asian culture, and K-pop and Asian culture are basically from Japan. We listen to Midia and Awi’s music often and we are proud of them as fellow Asians.’ “

“Who said that in Japan?”

“It doesn’t matter who said it.”

The members clenched their mouths at Ian’s real-time interpretation. They didn’t know how to react to this.

-What the hell are they talking about

-Excuse me, why do you feel proud of K-pop lol

-But why does Awy look like that? Is he laughing or crying?

-Lol I’ve seen that expression a lot lol

The members tried to hold back their laughter.

[Yeah, they’re called ‘Kiseki’, they’re kind of famous in Japan… They’re trying to enter the U.S. market. I think that’s why they did the interview?]

‘That’s a weird thing to say.’

[They were also vicariously satisfied when Midia succeeded, saying it was a victory for the same Asians.](*What do you think of this statement?)

Caden made a face that said, ‘Didn’t expect this, did you?’ Ian wanted to see his face change to a perplexed one again.

“Guys, be careful not to get too excited.”

Before answering, Lee Joo-hyuk whispered to the members.

“It’s not so much exciting as… kind of funny.”

“How do we say this?”

“I’ll say it.”

While the members hesitated, Ian licked his dry lips with his tongue and stared at the camera.

“*Strictly speaking, we are… influenced by the boy band system of pop, but anyway, it doesn’t matter who is the original. I think it’s meaningless to argue about that.”

(*Why do you think so?)

“*Some people call us just idols, but we are producers, singer-songwriters, and artists who make music. We are proud of that.”

-They’re so confident

-Look at Ian’s speech speed lol

-Even the same members can’t understand him lol

Caden waved his hand as if to say, keep going.

“*It doesn’t matter who influenced whom and which country influenced which. There is music, right? Something that can communicate regardless of language or race or nationality. Some kind of… primal thing.”

(*That’s a good thing to say.)

“*My favorite singer said something. ‘Music has no limits and we have to…’ “

Caden repeated Ian’s words.

(*‘Make people understand each other through music more than anything else.’ Steve Evermore said that.)

“*Yes, he is a legend. Anyway, it doesn’t matter who is the original and whether it’s Korea or Japan or pop or Asian pop. They are also singers who make music.”

(*Okay, I get what you’re saying.)

“*I don’t want to say anything about their statement. The only thing I want to say is, we are seven talented artists and…”

Ian scanned the members one by one and then turned his head to face the camera.

“*We are proving ourselves with our music.”

To be honest, Ian had never heard a song by the group called ‘Kiseki’. They didn’t have any songs that were famous enough to be known overseas.

They were saying, our culture came to you! It was like challenging them to a musical showdown instead of arguing about who was the original of this K-pop culture that had become so popular.

Caden looked satisfied and the audience in the local studio gave them a standing ovation.

(*Thank you for your great answer. Oh, look at the time. I’m sorry, but I think we have to end the interview with you here.)

“*Oh, is it already time?”

(*I know, right? I’m very sorry too. Can I see you next to me next time?)

“*Someday, if the time is right. We’ll gladly stand by your side.”

(*How romantic, I like it. That was the talented seven from Korea, Awy. Let’s watch their stage, ‘Blue hour’ together.)

There was a three-second silence, and then the screen went off. The staff shouted that the interview was over and congratulated them.

“Thank you!”

The members also got up and bowed.

“Hey, Ian, what did you say earlier?”

Jo Tae-woong shook Ian’s shoulder and urged him to answer. Ian told the members what he had said to Caden, and the staff who were curious also gathered around Ian.

“…I said something like this.”

“Wow.”

“Wow!”

The members cheered.

“You nailed it.”

“Should we make a book of quotes?”

“Choi Ian, you should rap too. You’d be good at dissing.”

“Ah, Park Jin-hyuk, you’re a rap parrot again.”

While the members gave Ian thumbs up and praised him, Lee Joo-hyuk, who was touching his chin and thinking about something, raised his head.

“But isn’t our pre-recorded stage video coming up after the interview?”

“Yeah. The one we did at the Independence Gate… Oh.”

“!”