The ATEN mbers waiting backstage were panting as the music video played on the big screen.
‘This is driving crazy...’
Their hearts felt like they’d burst. Even just breathing made their bodies tremble like leaves. Only Kim Eui-ji, forr national soccer player, was calmly doing deep breaths. The others were so tense they felt like throwing up.
“Uaaaah!”
“Heaven, Buddha—please let not make a single mistake today. I’m so nervous I could die.”
“No mistakes. No mistakes...”
They swallowed hard. Until just before going on, they’d only been moderately nervous—but every cheer from the crowd as the MV played mid-way made their chests clamp shut. Their mouths were dry, their legs shaking.
‘One thousand five hundred people—is that really this many?’
At the NewBlack concert they’d been at recently, there’d been around twelve thousand. This was only an eighth of that, but to them it felt like hundreds of thousands.
Each roar of the audience forced them to take deep breaths and crane their necks.
“We’re standing by!”
A stagehand’s call made them check their in-ears and mics. As the video neared its climax, Kim Eui-ji offered his hand with a tense smile.
“Before we go on, let’s cheer each other—one, two, three, fighting!”
The ATEN mbers silently placed their hands atop his. He gave a wry grin.
“Wow—you usually tell to tone it down, but you quiet ones are awfully silent now.”
“...”
“You bunch of scaredy-cats.”
Their eldest tease made the others bristle.
“Who are you calling scared? You’ve been up nights, too, haven’t you?”
“I—I don’t know anything about that. Who said that?”
“Your wife’s SNS. She posted a video of you gazing at NewBlack’s performances all night.”
“...Let’s not talk about that.”
They laughed at his clearing of the throat. In the slightly eased mood, he looked at his younger mbers and said,
“I won’t keep it long. Everyone’s worked so hard—practicing all night, forcing flexibility with splits, screaming takes in the studio until it’s right.”
They all nodded.
“-‘You want to sleep at one AM? Sure, go ahead—but if you do, you won’t sleep after seeing the stage later!’ haha.”
“-‘You need more splits, seniors. If you can’t do it, Junghyun will press your legs next week!’”
“-‘Why isn’t the voice coming out?’”
...Half joking, half serious.
“And think of everyone else—how much they had to go through for us to look like decent people.”
“Right. Everyone really suffered.”
They’d burned through personnel to prep the debut album. Especially their producer—juggling album and concert prep to help their debut.
“After preparing an album myself, I see just how extraordinary this is,” said Mo Beom-ju. They all nodded.
‘It’s insane.’
Even doing one of these would be exhausting—yet they’d done all three at once, and successfully. Feeling awed, he thought: if people can pull off the impossible, then a showcase like this is no sweat.
“Let’s show that no one’s hard work was in vain—let’s nail today’s stage.”
“Absolutely, hyung.”
The ATEN mbers nodded. As the MV wound down, a stagehand began counting down on his fingers.
“One, two, three—fighting!”
They patted each other’s backs and walked onto the darkened stage, backs to the audience, hands clasped.
“Hoo...”
Their breathing was faintly audible, shoulders rising and falling with deep breaths. As they steeled themselves, the lights slowly brightened and cheers erupted behind them.
“Waaaaaa—!”
At the NewBlack concert, they’d thought “those cheers are loud.” Standing onstage, the heat of the crowd was on another level.
‘Unreal...’
Yet sohow that roar eased their nerves—and uplifted their spirits. They felt certain they could do this. Smiles kept creeping onto their faces.
‘We can do this!’
The six n stood back to the audience, eyes shining with confidence. Then the music began.
It started with a soft sound effect. Then, at center stage, Hong Seok spun elegantly and tipped his fedora. A wicked grin spread beneath his tousled hair.
‘No way...!’
Screams burst from the audience at how handso he looked with idol makeup. The mbers to either side mirrored his motion, then a rhythmic drum beat exploded.
“Waaaaa—!”
In ti with the beat, the six n in disco suits popped their waists and flicked their hands. As the cheers grew, the crowd clapped along. The mbers split to the sides, and Hong Seok strode forward.
Yeah,
We ran out of breath
Chasing this path insane
Just like in the MV, he perford with a bright expression, stepping close to the stage lip and flicking his fingers. Hair swaying beneath his hat, he cocked his chin and struck a playful smile. Then Mo Beom-ju bounded in.
This day’s too fine
To just let pass by
Tall and lanky, Hong Seok had long limbs; Beom-ju, shorter but springy, danced with elastic energy. The audience marveled at the contrast.
‘Who is this different person...?’
Gone was the puppet-like stiffness that had horrified viewers. While not yet pro-level, he no longer looked dance-incompetent. The backup dancers matched perfectly in choreo and positioning, reflecting punishing practice.
New clothes on
Let’s take a walk
Today’s the day
At center, Choo Ki-seok removed his fedora and twirled it on his finger. When he tossed it to the audience, the other mbers threw theirs, too.
“Waaaa—!”
PBS caras captured standing fans jumping or stretching to catch the hats. In the anti, Kim Eui-ji and Nam Do-hoon took center stage. The ex-athlete and burly actor grounded the performance, each clutching sothing beneath their jackets.
“...?”
When they revealed their props, the crowd went wild. The six handso n erged, gripping their suspenders and doing a wave.
“...!”
They swayed smoothly and smiled mischievously. Their cheerful yet provocatively smoldering gazes had the audience waving lightsticks in delight.
‘This is incredible...!’
‘No way Biju choreographed this, right?’
‘Who knew they could do this...?’
Impressed by the unexpected performance, the crowd, eyes wide, admired their concept mastery.
‘It suits them perfectly.’
Perhaps because ATEN averaged in their thirties, a disco-punk party vibe fit them better than any young idol could pull off. They looked like adults who truly knew how to have fun. The six in suits grooving to punk music shone brilliantly.
‘So that’s why he chose this genre...!’
Just as NewBlack’s leader’s foresight impressed again. Suddenly, Ahn Jae-hee—the ballad singer—belted out the chorus:
Just want attention
We’ll have a party tonight
His usually gentle tone gave way to a bold shout. Cheers followed—an exhilarating chorus by a genius composer, driven by backing vocals that fired up the crowd. The singer and audience bounced together, transforming cheers into raw fuel.
“It’s working...!”
PD Shin Mu-rok clenched his fist. On monitors he saw staff and writers cheering, clapping, singing along. The energy was so infectious viewers at ho would catch it.
The writers beside him, relieved, grinned: “Viewers will love this.”
“I didn’t expect it to go this far. They must not have seen this coming.”
“One sigh of relief. With this vibe...”
Shin Mu-rok nodded. ‘This project is a success.’ No matter the variety stunts, the essence was the stage. Even with TV rolling and a difficult composer, debuting well was what mattered.
As he bead at the dancing mbers, he looked up to the second floor—where the best producers sat.
‘Thank you...’
Then, from the audience, Junghyun’s head turned. Though distance and backlight should have obscured him, he locked eyes with NewBlack’s rapper and nodded with a fond smile.
Shocked, Shin Mu-rok nodded back. ‘How did he know?’ Maybe he had radar. It would’ve been creepy if it weren’t friendly.
When Shin Mu-rok’s face tensed again, cheers erupted.
The second floor was in a frenzy. Normally standing fans would be louder, but here the so-called “nonfans” were louder.
“Waaaa! ATEN!”
“Gwuaaaaak!”
“I love you ATEN! Let’s be together—forever!”
Five handso n in the front row jumped and cheered. Each ti the main and lead vocals cupped their faces and “Waaaaaa!” the second floor shook. The maknae beckoned, “Co on—clap!” Polarized fans soon roared in sync.
Not everyone, though. The Lemon Ent. staff beside NewBlack waved neon sticks like limp squid.
‘My ears...’
‘Is this ear torture?’
‘Why can’t I hear the song? Only ringing.’
Each cheer from NewBlack muffled the music like a mute button. Their ears throbbed; they squinched their eyes shut. anwhile, on the other side, KM Ent. CEO Heo Gang-min calmly observed, savoring production details as an advisory producer.
‘Their skill is no joke.’
He rubbed his chin. ‘Putting Eui-ji’s grounded presence at the second verse intro cald the energy, then flipping to Beom-ju was brilliant.’ Each stepped forward like a perfectly cast lead.
The most astonishing was the stage flow. ‘They even arranged positioning by height and build?’ From the short Beom-ju to the tall Hong Seok, their formations rose and fell in harmony with the song, a level of detail you don’t expect in production.
He shot an intent glance at the cheering five, determined: ‘I will uncover their secret.’ Like a villain hunting a crab burger recipe, he smiled—then locked eyes with Junghyun again. Junghyun nodded politely, then returned his gaze to the stage. He blinked, unsettled by the clairvoyance.
“Waaaaa—!”
The general audience cheered:
“Want attention—!”
“We’ll have a party tonight—!”
Singing the chorus, the crowd jumped—a club-like scene. As the final chorus flowed through verse three, the mbers stomped in ti. On the last note they raised their hands.
Taat—!
Under the highlight, six panting n froze with index fingers raised.
“Waaaaa—!”
Applause erupted not from sympathy but genuine enjoynt. The ATEN mbers, serious until then, couldn’t help but laugh.
“....”
Then everything blurred. Tears welled unexpectedly. Watching each joyous face rush to applaud them flooded their emotions.
‘We did it without mistakes...!’
No cinematic replay of the past two months, just sweat pouring down and heads spinning. They wiped sweat and looked at one another.
‘You did well.’
‘You did great.’
Choo Ki-seok waved them in with a fluttering hand. Overwheld, they embraced—and the crowd cheered even louder.
“You did amazing!”
“Truly, great job, hyungs!”
“Seok-ah, are you crying?”
“...No. I’m not crying.”
Hong Seok’s thick voice cracked; the mbers patted his shoulder.
‘Well done.’
They sniffled, wiped their eyes, and waved to the audience. As they learned from their producer, they tried to et every eye in the crowd before turning to the second floor—to boast to the producers who’d given them life.
“Waaaaa! Well done!”
“Oh my! You’ve all grown up—grown up so much!”
“ATEN! ATEN!”
They waved wildly, cheering their six sons. “Please sit down...”
Ri-hyuk tugged at their collars to stop the seal-clapping. Embarrassed at behaving like hotown uncles, they sat as surrounding fans laughed.
“It’s a good thing—so good!”
“Stop dancing like an idiot. I’m dying of embarrassnt every ti soone stares.”
“Really?”
“Aah, my mouth is so dry...”
Ri-hyuk gulped bottled water to cool off. The six exchanged proud smiles. Their hearts swelled—like parents seeing their children really debut.
“Ladies and gentlen,” the six onstage picked up their mics.
“Did you enjoy the show? We ATEN have finally brought you the stage of ‘Attention’~! How was it? Did you like it?”
Together: “Yes!” Their collective cheer from our side made ATEN laugh and look over.
“The loudest answer ca from the front of the second floor.”
“Our teachers shine today as always.”
The caras caught us and the big screen showed our grins. As we cheered, Ahn Jae-hee squinted and said, “Could you dim the lightsticks a bit?” So that glow was us. They lowered the lights; Mo Beom-ju noted, “During the performance, all I saw was that. You lit up like the Big Dipper.”
“In many ways, you’re like lighthouses.”
Everyone laughed at the entertainers’ banter. Relaxed now, they chatted:
“By the way, did you like our stage?”
They held up phones with the scoreboard app showing [10]. The audience laughed. The happy ATEN mbers looked to the crowd again.
“Thank you so much for coming despite fierce competition. We promise you won’t regret these two hours—we’ve prepared many performances~! Among them is a very, very special stage. Please «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» look forward to it!”
ntioning the special stage, ATEN glanced at us, smiling. We wondered what that could an—until Kim Eui-ji grabbed the mic.
“Before that, we’d like to show you another album track. This one was composed by him.”
The cara focused on . I scowled playfully like Ujuseon; the audience roared with laughter.
“Composer-nim! Long ti no see!”
Feigning annoyance, I waved dismissively; ATEN cracked up. In the joyful chaos, Kim Eui-ji called out,
“Please give a hot round of applause for our next stage!”
“Waaaa—!”
“Look forward to it~!”
As cheers filled the hall, Biju, Jiho, and Junghyun whispered:
“Doesn’t tonight feel different?”
“Right? The tension is amazing. Our seniors don’t have that endurance normally.”
“Really? If you say so, I guess.”
Noticing ATEN’s grins each ti the crowd cheered, they exchanged amused looks. Junghyun and I shared a knowing nod—and quietly high-fived.
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