Chapter 18: Rookie Promotions Part 2
"So that's how it is…" JYP PD-nim said.
He just finished explaining why Alpha was going to be the guest for Weekly Idol instead of GOT7. Mark-hyung and Jinyoung-hyung were sick at the moment and he wanted them to get better before we start practicing for our collaboration for KBS Song Festival.
"I see. Well, it's just for a couple of hours boys. No worries." I told the team.
Well who am I to complain. It's usually hard enough for a rookie on its first year. As a rookie, we don't get paid yet because most shows won't ask rookies to come to their shows. We had to find ways to promote ourselves. So I didn't complain when we got this chance to be on Weekly Idol.
They nodded solemnly as if they were still not happy about the sudden changes in schedule. We all know that we have to be flexible but our breaks were usually respected.
So I had to do something that'll cheer them up. "Tell you what. I'll treat you guys together with the staff of Weekly Idol for some barbecue. How about that?"
They all snapped their heads at me and nodded wildly. They were really happy with the idea.
"Sounds great, hyung." Even Zhang who seemed the most exhausted one among us agreed to the idea.
He had so many schedules lined-up because he was the visual for the group. He had a lot of photoshoots and commercial shoots to go to.
"For now, let's head to our practice room and rehearse for tomorrow. I kind of forgot the choreography for Wolf." I told them.
They all groaned in response.
___________
"Hello, everyone to… Weekly Idol!" The song Wolf plays as the MCs introduced the show.
I was getting nervous and so were my members but I patted each of them reminding them that this is just going to be a walk in the park again.
"This week is about a group that has grown together and has debuted together. They are all special friends." Coni-hyung said.
"That's right. Although there are 9 of them, they can be divided in to 3 different units and 3 more sub units. But they say that together they make one team." The other MC said.
"This week we have the well-known 'Super Rookies' who went through a lot just to debut, Alpha!" Doni-hyung welcomed us.
We walked to the center of the room bowing and greeting one another. The song Wolf played which made us feel even more welcomed.
We then lined up to greet the audience. "1, 2, 3… Take the lead! Alpha! Hello we are… Alpha!"
We then applauded and began acting in character. There are many cameras, so we have to be careful on how we act and what we say from now on. It was a norm that even though we would tease each other on variety shows to make it more lively, we also promised to protect each other.
"After almost a year of your debut, you finally made it to Weekly Idol." Coni-hyung said which made us thank him and the staff.
"Wow! Who's the leader of the group again?" Doni-hyung asked.
I raised my hand.
Coni-hyung tried reading my nametag. "Jay-"
"Wasn't it Zee?" Doni-hyung interjected which made everyone laugh. He then continued to ask. "Didn't you tell me you were the leader?"
We were laughing at his reaction when he tried his best to deny it. The atmosphere was getting less tense.
Coni-hyung then continued. "Even Yo Chul was watching when you were asked and you said you were the leader."
Doni-hyung went along and said, "You said that Alpha is yours."
We all laughed and clapped at the same time. It was the first time that Zee couldn't speak up.
"Anyway, Alpha, who hasn't even debuted in Japan has already become first in Oricon Chart." Doni-hyung said.
We applauded and thanked the audience.
Coni-hyung then added more list of awards. "Also 2nd in Billboard Album Chart. Wow! That's some feat for a group who hasn't even reached a year in their career."
We just bowed and thanked everyone.
"So who can speak for the team right now?" Doni-hyung asked.
"Since you're the leader. Why don't you do it Zee?" Coni-hyung didn't let this go and started teasing Zee even more.
We continued to laugh about it and then Zee started to explain it fluently that we were number one in the Oricon Charts with our Korean album.
"Wow! That's amazing. So? When are you going to debut in Japan?" Doni-hyung asked.
We turn to look at Zee which he replied that we were still busy establishing and solidifying our foundations in South Korea.
"Wow… you really act like you're the leader… shamelessly." We all laughed at Coni-hyung's comment.
Doni-hyung then said, "JayB doesn't really talk much."
Coni-hyung then continued to kid around. "Is it because JayB is kind or Zee is just greedy."
We all started laughing at the comment again.
Zee couldn't take it anymore and just said, "JayB-hyung should say something about the upcoming promotions."
So I explained and shared what we have been through all this time and what other plans we have. I was also very careful on what to share.
"Wow! Even JayB has a drama that's going to air next month, right?" Coni-hyung asked.
I then nodded. "That's right."
"Why don't you tell us a little bit of the drama so you can promote for it as well." Doni-hyung said.
"Thank you for the love and support that you have given to our group. As the group's leader, I have taken a project to help promote the group which is a Korean drama that is starred by Taecyeon-sunbaenim, Suzy-sunbaenim and Soohyun-sunbaenim. IU-sunbaenim and I will play as the supporting roles that will also have a pair of our own. It is about a group of talented outcasts that are studying in a prestigious performing arts school. 'Dream High' takes place at Kirin High School of Art and follows the lives of students as they aspire to become superstars. It will air next month so I hope that you'll give it the same love and support that you give to our group. Thank you." I sincerely said.
"Wow… 'Dream High' really sounds nice. We'll definitely check it out once it airs." Doni-hyung said.
So after that, the MCs wanted to get to know us a little bit.
"So you guys stay in one dorm, right? How did you guys decide which rooms to use and who your roommates are?" Coni-hyung asked.
Matt-hyung decided to answer for us. "So at first, we wanted to divide ourselves according to units, but since we were already doing that in the car, we decided to do it differently for the rooms since it'll help us get to know one another better."
"Oh! Before you answer how you decided on your rooms, how many cars do you have?" Doni-asked.
"Oh we have 3 cars. And 3 managers will drive each car. We divide ourselves by units. So in one car, we have 3 members from one unit and a manager which makes it 4." Seiji-hyung answered.
"Per unit? You mean rap, vocals and performance?" Coni-hyung wanted to confirm it.
"Yes, that's right." Seiji-hyung replied.
Wow, the eldest are really doing a great job in answering the questions. I'm not even doing my job as the spokesperson for the group.
"So how did you guys decide on the rooms?" Doni-hyung asked.
Matt-hyung continued to explain it. "We decided that we'll be rooming with our age line sub unit which is the eldest line, the middle line and the maknae line."
"Oh! Right! You guys are pretty much almost the same age, right?" Coni-hyung asked.
I then replied, "That's right. Dominic, Jeong Do and I are in the middle line. The eldest line is composed of Seiji-hyung, Matt-hyung and Yo Chul-hyung. The maknae line is composed of Zee, Zhang and Jiwoo."
They were amazed with our line-up since it was pretty much rare to have someone who is not the eldest lead the group.
"So back to the rooming. How did you decide which sub unit will use this or that room?" Doni-hyung asked.
"Oh it was intense! We really had to fight to the death for it through rock-paper-scissors." Zee replied which made the MCs and even the staff roar in laughter.
"Is it because the rooms have different sizes?" Coni-hyung asked.
We all nodded in response.
"Who has the biggest room?" Doni-hyung also inquired.
Woo then answered. "There are two equally large rooms that went to the makanes and the middle line."
"What?! So the eldest line had to stay in a small room?" Doni-hyung asked.
"That's right." The eldest line sub unit answered in a sad tone.
"You guys have no respect for your eldest." Coni-hyung teased.
We all laughed at their reactions.
Doni-hyung tried to start a joke. "Well, it's okay because although Coni and I are in a two member group and I'm the leader…"
"The member sleeps in the room while the other sleeps in the bathroom." Coni-hyung continued which made the rest of us laugh.
"But the pay is just the same." He continued which made us laugh even more.
After all the getting to know and all the jokes and laughter the MCs wanted us to promote our title track which was Wolf. So I took the liberty of explaining what the song is about and how it can highlight each member's strengths equally.
"Oh. It's actually a nice song." Doni-hyung said.
"Did you hear it already?" Coni-hyung asked.
Doni-hyung acted all hurt. "Of course I did! It's actually part of my playlist. In fact, after watching their first MV called Growl. I immediately became part of the Pack."
Coni-hyung. "The… pack?"
"Ah… see. I'm more relevant than you!" Doni-hyung teased.
We all laughed at his comment and thanked Doni-hyung for the support. We explained to Coni-hyung that our fans are called the pack. We also explained the meaning behind it and they were actually touched. Coni-hyung even said that if that was the kind of idol group that he follows, he would want to be a fan as well.
We all felt touched by his comment and actually gave them both some personalized Alpha hoodies which made them very happy.
"So this group has many foreigners, right? 1 Japanese, 1 Thai, 2 Chinese and 2 Americans. Wow! More than half of the group are foreigners." Coni-hyung said.
"Wasn't it hard for you guys to train in a foreign country?" Doni-hyung asked.
Oh no. How should we answer? Oh I know! We're from prestigious families who runs multiple businesses in South Korea so we had to learn Korean at an early age.
Of course we couldn't say that!
But Zee was quick to react. "Well, most of us, as the fans already know, were already friends from the start. We actually learned about the Korean Culture at a very young age because we got fascinated by it. So it wasn't all that bad when we started training here."
"Wow! That's amazing! I can't even say that you're Chinese, Zee." Coni-hyung said.
They tried testing out the other members by letting them spell out Korean words and other things.
After that one was the most difficult part of the show. The Random Play Dance Challenge. They will be playing a different parts from our songs and we have to quickly go to our formation and do the choreography.
And with that, the first song started. Growl's chorus was played and we immediately scrambled to formation and did the choreography. Then the verse 1 for Wolf started playing. We immediately started bumping with each other but got in to formation just in time to do the choreography.
Next was highlight. We also did a group choreography instead of a unit choreography on this one. So when the chorus played we were a bit confused but got over it a few seconds and we rushed towards our formation. We were able to dance to the choreography.
Then Wolf came back with its chorus which disrupted us a bit. I got lost a bit but I finally got in to formation and danced. But Coni-hyung and Doni-hyung didn't let it go and called me out.
That was strike one…
2 more chances left…
Wolf came back again with the Verse and we danced to it perfectly. But before it could end, it changed to Growl's Verse and it became a mess. So we failed again…
It was confusing since the verses for the song were danced separately.
1 more chance left…
So we huddled and did a team cheer to lift our spirits up.
The song went back on. It alternated between Wolf, Highlight and Growl which made it really difficult but in the end we passed the challenge.
We all yelled and cheered for our success.
The MCs commented on how well we did. They even said that our choreography was top notch yet we were able to nail it.
So that ended the Random Play Dance Challenge.
"So now we're going to do a 2x Speed Dance Challenge." Coni-hyung said.
"Is there any song that you want to dance to except Growl?" Doni-hyung said.
We all told them that we'll do Growl. But Doni-hyung was against it because the tempo was already slow in the beginning.
But we told them that the choreography is really difficult and so having it in 2x Speed would make it more difficult.
"But I want you guys to do 'Highlight' which would make it very difficult." Doni-hyung then started dancing to his 2x speed version of Highlight which looked really hilarious.
But in the end we went with Growl for our 2x Speed Dance Challenge.
(AN: For a better image of what this looks like, check out the dance practice for Growl – EXO and watch it in two times speed or 1.5 speed.)
After which… we danced to probably the most tiring dance we did in our entire lives…
"AL! PHAAAAA!" Doni-hyung cheered as he watch us collapse on the ground after finishing the dance.
I couldn't breathe really well because the dance was so fast, there wasn't practically any chance to catch our breaths.
"Although they're doing it for a variety show, they gave a hundred and ten percent of their effort to dance, and at 2x Speed at that. Wow!" Coni-hyung sounded impressed.
_________________
"Now we are here for Alpha's Profile! We've searched online for rumors about the members of the group and see if they were true." after a short break and some retouch, Coni-hyung begun the next segment where we would talk about ourselves. We sat on a high rotating stool while being lined up.
This would be a chance to get to know the members better.
"First up is Seiji Hayashida." Coni-hyung said.
"So Seiji, according to your fans, you learned to speak in Korean first before Japanese. Is this true?" Doni-hyung said.
"Yes. That's right. It's because even though both of my parents are Japanese, I spent most of my childhood in South Korea." Seiji-hyung replied.
Doni-hyung didn't really believe this one. "Aaaye… I don't believe you. Didn't your parents speak to you in Japanese when you were alone with them?"
Seiji-hyung just shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, I don't really remember."
"Believe it Doni-hyung. He's even good at complaining in Korean." Dominic interjected which made everyone laugh.
"Does he really complain a lot?" Coni-hyung asked.
We all nodded and answered with a yes.
"Your members must really hate you for exposing you like that." Doni-hyung joked which made all of us laughed.
Seiji-hyung explained that he grew up being pessimistic because he tend to question how a certain thing functions.
We all laughed at him and shared moments where he tends to question the smallest topics like why a certain food is on sale. He tends to say that it's because it's probably expired. Or if someone is selling jewelry on the street he'd call it stolen.
That's just how Seiji-hyung is.
After that, we had a challenge to see who could understand Korean Idiomatic expressions better. It was really an intense battle among all of us. But in the end, of course, without a doubt, Jeong Do won. He's a lawyer after all. He probably has more vocabulary than us.
"Next, let's see Matt's profile." Doni-hyung said.
"According to a rumor online, he can assemble a rifle with one hand in less than 30 seconds while being blindfolded." Coni-hyung said.
This made everyone go wow.
"Is this true?" Coni-hyung asked.
We all confirmed it and told them that Matt is really good with weapons and at his free time he goes to the shooting range to relax. This made the MCs laugh.
"We usually go to a café or bowling alley, but you… in a firing range?" Doni-hyung commented which made everyone laugh.
We didn't reveal much to them and just told them a small part of it.
The MCs then had someone brought over an unloaded M16 rifle which was in pieces. The staff also prepared a sleeping mask to use as a blindfold.
The items were prepared and everybody was ready to see it.
"Which hand would you want me to use?" Matt-hyung asked which impressed the MCs even more.
"Are you left handed or right handed?" Coni-hyung asked.
"He's ambidextrous actually. But he usually does things with his right hand." I answered.
We came to an agreement that we will let him use his left hand for this round and then the right hand in the next. We also wanted to see how fast he could go with two hands.
In the end, his left hand was able to assemble the gun in 29 seconds. A second before he could have failed the test. Using his right hand, he was able to assemble it in 26 seconds. The most shocking thing was when he used both hands. He was able to assemble it all in 14 seconds. Which made everyone go crazy with how amazing it was.
When the MCs asked if anyone wanted to try, Jeong Do, Jiwoo and I who were familiar with guns had a go. We were asked to do it with both hands instead and was able to assemble everything in less than a minute.
I took the longest time having the time record of 1 minute and 3 seconds. Jiwoo assembled it in 56 seconds. Jeong Do was close and had it at 57 seconds. We could honestly say that it was really hard.
"It's still amazing thinking about it now." Coni-hyung said.
"But let's move to the next person. Yo Chul, it says online that you are actually the laziest person in the group?" Doni-hyung asked.
"That's right. No question there." Yo Chul-hyung directly answered which surprised us but it made us laugh.
"But it also says here that you are the best cook among the members." Doni-hyung continued.
"Also right. Wow! I like these rumors." Yo Chul-hyung replied which made everyone else laugh.
For him to be tested, the staff brought in regular kitchen equipment and ingredients. Even low grade meat at that. His task was to make something grand with just these ingredients. It was the first time I heard Yo Chul laugh maniacally.
He then turned to me and said, "I can't believe these people would treat me like an amateur."
"Cool it, hyung. They don't know who you are, remember?" I told him.
He just harrumphed at me before he started. While he was cooking at the side, we continued with the segment.
"You just continue what you are doing Yo Chul, we'll move on to JayB." Coni-hyung told Yo Chul-hyung and he just gave an okay sign.
"JayB, according to rumors, you are proficient in 5 languages. Is that right?" Doni-hyung asked.
Before I could answer, Jiwoo interjected. "Really? I thought it was more than that?"
It earned a wow and a lot of oohs from the MCs and from the producers.
Well… He's not lying.
I had to be proficient in languages because I'm in to business. I'm currently still learning other languages but I haven't been able to catch up with my studies yet since I'm busy right now.
You know… Idol stuff…
"Really now? How many exactly?" Doni-hyung said.
"Uhm… 10? I think?" I replied ambiguously.
"10?! Waa… can you name them all?" Coni-hyung asked.
"English, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish, Filipino, French and German." I replied.
All of the people applauded.
Well, it's not that impressive because the members can speak at least 3 different languages fluently.
They then asked me to guess what language they are speaking based on the sentences that we would see from the movie clip. We ended up interpreting most of it and I was able to answer the questions as well. It was really fun but at the same time, it was stressing me out translating from one language to another.
In the end, I scored 8 out of 10 because Yo Chul and Zhang was able to answer one of the questions.
"I really enjoyed that segment but we have to move on to Dominic." Coni-hyung said.
"Based on one of your group's fan sites that we discovered, there's a rumor that says Dominic can't speak informally in Korean." Doni-hyung said.
"It's not that I can't speak, it's because I don't know how." Dominic replied.
We all agreed with him. The MCs then asked about why that was possible. He told us that when he was learning Korean from the books, all it taught him were the formal Korean words and not informal Korean words. That's why it stuck with him.
"Sometimes, people that would meet us would often mistake him as being too polite." Zee said.
"There was even one time when we met Taeyeon-sunbaenim, and when Dominic left to go and get changed, Taeyeon-sunbaenim complemented him for being sweet and polite." Jeong Do added.
We all laughed at what was shared. During that segment we were able to teach him some informal ways of conversing.
We then continued with Jeong Do.
"There's a rumor saying that you can win a chess game with someone while being blindfolded." Coni-hyung said.
"What is with this group and doing things while blindfolded? Do you take a bath and prepare for your schedules while being blindfolded too?" Doni-hyung asked which made everyone laugh.
They invited someone from the camera crew who has been playing chess in his younger years. The cameraman would move while stating what his move was, hence letting Jeong Do know what's going on with the board. The camera man will also move Jeong Do's pieces on his behalf.
It was an intense game but in the end, Jeong Do won which amazed all of us. I was even surprised that he could do that.
After finishing Jeong Do's part, Yo Chul-hyung finally finished cooking for us. He was able to come up with a cheap but delicious version of Wagyu Kobe Steak.
We had a short break while we ate the food that he had prepared. The staff really enjoyed his food while we were able to relax a little.
After a 30 minute break, we started the final segment for our maknae line.
"Thank you Yo Chul for that amazing meal. You really are the best cook." Coni-hyung said.
"Now, let's proceed to the next member." Doni-hyung said.
"So Zhang, there's a rumor that you can actually identify what song is on 2 seconds after it is played." Coni-hyung said.
We all agreed to that and even dared him to do it in front of him. Which he pulled off without a sweat. The rest of the people in the room were shocked and amazed by this talent.
Of course… He wouldn't be the prodigy of music if he couldn't pull this off.
By the way, who started these rumors? How could they possibly guess that one?
"Next one is Zee. We heard that you can go through the first level of Super Mario blindfolded." Coni-hyung announced.
"Again! What is with your group and blindfolds?" We just shrugged at Doni-hyung's comment and laughed.
He did it anyway…
And like how everybody showed off, he was able to pull it off and even went as far as finishing the game in 2 minutes while blindfolded.
This guy… seriously…
The people in the room went ballistic. It was just an amazing feat.
"Jiwoo… please tell me that yours doesn't involve blindfolds? My heart can't take it anymore." We laughed at Coni-hyung's reaction. It was probably too much for anyone.
"This group is seriously intense and your hidden talents are just… wow…" Doni-hyung said as he raised his hands in the air. We just chuckled at his reaction.
"So Jiwoo, it says here that you were actually part of an action movie before when you were a kid. You did your own stunts as well. Is this true?" Coni-hyung asked.
"That's right. I was casted in one of the movies in China. It was a kung fu movie." As soon as Woo said that, the show played a video of the fighting scenes which made him cringe and stand up.
He fell to the ground in embarrassment and he even commented that he was so shy at that time because they had to cut his hair and make him bald.
We all laughed. The MCs then asked him to re-enact a specific fighting scene from the movie.
He was able to do it in one take. We applauded for him and even hugged him for being so active right now.
Though we wanted to continue, the producers decided to end the show there because we ran out of time.
After the very long shoot, we treated everyone over for barbecue as promised. The staff and producers, even Doni-hyung and Coni-hyung didn't expect this. They were so surprised that they wanted to turn the offer down.
We insisted anyway. It was an amazing early dinner for everyone. We finished eating at around 9PM and decided to call it a day since the people also had a different schedule the following day.
On the way home, we were passed out inside the cars. We were practically exhausted from the shoot and from entertaining the staff for Weekly Idol. It was a fun day, but it was also extremely tiring at the same time.
Suddenly…
*Ring! Ring! Ring!*
"Hello?" I answered the phone. I answered unknown numbers because sometimes, it's related to the business or some of the managers would switch their numbers because of the constant harassment from saesang fans.
"Oppa! It's me, Lisa!" She replied.
I smiled as soon as I found out who it was. "Oh Lisa! What's up? How's the training?"
"It's great! But exhausting at the same time. We're debuting probably late next year or early next, next year." She happily announced.
"That's great! I'm happy for you!" I sincerely replied.
She suddenly kept quiet after I replied. I could hear her releasing a deep breath. "Oppa, are you free tomorrow?"
"Hmm? Tomorrow? Yeah, we happen to be free tomorrow. Why? Is there something I could help you with?" I asked.
She then released a deep sigh. "Do you… want to go out with me?"
_____________
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Doxi
Doxi Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
I tagged this book, come and support me with a thumbs up!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone