Idol of the Heavenly One - Chapter 74.2
Every morning, I woke up and ran straight to the practice room to rehearse choreography. In the evening, we recorded songs, then immediately moved to filming locations. The repeated schedule slowly wore down our bodies, yet strangely, our hearts grew more excited with anticipation for the new stage. Each exhausting day was filled with a quiet sense of expectation.
This second mini album marked a turning point for us as we entered adulthood. Our goal was to show a completely new image, different from anything before. To achieve that, both our hairstyles and styling changed dramatically.
Lee Soonbok transformed into a bright yet mysteriously moody shade of dark orange. Baek Jae-heon shed his soft, boyish image for a deeper brown that gave him a mature, grounded presence. Joo I-rip and Go Hee-min chose calmer, toned-down colors instead of flashy changes, projecting stability. And Kwon Ji-hak, still a student who ate school lunches, kept his natural black hair.
As for me—
I went blonde.
When our stylist noona led me to the mirror to reveal my new golden hair, I was honestly stunned. For a moment, my own reflection felt unfamiliar, and I wondered if that was really me. The shimmering blonde strands in the mirror looked strange and fascinating all at once.
If I hadn’t become an idol, I never would have dared to try a hairstyle like this in my lifetime. It looked both fitting and unfitting at the same time.
“It’s pretty.”
“I’m a guy.”
“Guys can be pretty too.”
Baek Jae-heon really liked my hair.
“At this point, isn’t this just a one-sided crush?”
“This is too weird.”
“Jae-heon’s gone crazy…”
“Hyung, seriously, stop.”
He liked it so much that he constantly told me how pretty it was, regardless of whether the members were around.
“Please stop already…”
Even when I tried to push him away, glancing around nervously, Baek Jae-heon didn’t care. He kept snapping photos of me nonstop with his phone. Meanwhile, Kwon Ji-hak filmed him filming me. The same Ji-hak who had told Jae-heon to cut it out—funny, right?
No, not funny at all. When the music video was released, Ji-hak uploaded that clip to Universe, and soon the short videos were everywhere. People called Jae-heon a fanboy obsessed with his own group member, Ji Cheonmyeong. I had worked so hard to keep our relationship subtle, but all for nothing.
And finally, the release of our second mini album.
The title track was “Flame.”
Once the music video went live, the response exploded. Unlike our debut or single tracks, this one had a stronger appeal to the general public, and the praise didn’t stop. Many people’s attention was drawn to me—maybe because of the blonde hair, or maybe because the mood suited the song perfectly. Comments flooded in saying things like “Ji Myeong-hyeon’s face shines even more now.”
JiMyeonghyeon’s1212thWife: “The company finally gets it. Ji Myeong-hyeon was meant to be blonde.”
ILoveCheonmyeong(Not1K): “I only ever loved black hair, but this is the first time I’ve fallen for a blonde. That’s how good it looks.”
HundredThousand: “You know it’s perfect when even his member won’t stop taking pictures. Please let Ji Myeong-hyeon keep the blonde hair forever.”
ThanksToHeaven: “Honestly, I wasn’t a MINIT before, but I fell for Cheonmyeong the moment he went blonde…”
Reading each of the comments made me laugh and feel genuinely happy. It felt like we had fulfilled our fans’ wishes. Of course, I pretended not to see any comments mentioning Baek Jae-heon.
Then came the announcement of our official fandom name: MINIT.
It meant, “Every minute we share becomes us.”
The name was revealed during our comeback showcase along with our performance. The fans there looked thrilled and overjoyed, though online reactions were split between those who loved it and those who didn’t. Of course, everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but personally, I loved it. I loved it so much that I felt touched.
Every minute we share becomes us.
It meant that each and every fan came together to form us, YEARZ. How could that not move me?
The moment the fandom name was announced, I instinctively brought both hands to my chest. My eyes grew warm as emotion welled up, and I wanted to express it with my whole body. Maybe my reaction was too intense, though, because fans captured that moment and turned it into a meme. Soon, that image of my face became known as the “emotional reaction meme.”
Seeing it circulate endlessly on social media made me feel both embarrassed and oddly proud.
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