"For this week's Pop Core's winner.... Congratulations to..."

The whole venue was filled with drumbeats.

"ATOMIC!"

Pop! Pop!

The sounds of the confetti exploding above the stage travelled throughout the whole venue. A few moments later, the idols onstage were showered by its colorful leaves.

The Chargers in the comment section immediately burst into cheers.

– Loser drag queens!

– Today, ATOMIC prevailed.

Bouts of congratulatory messages travelled to ATOMIC's ways, whose faces were now plastered with slight smiles. They were already veterans, so a small win like this wasn't really worth celebrating. In fact, it should have been natural for them to win.

Still, they didn't let these thoughts show on their faces.

"Encore! Encore! Encore!" The entire venue rumbled with requests for encores from below the stage.

Too bad, it wasn't for SEEDZ.

Deep inside, they had been hoping that the name that would be called would be theirs. Not only did they not win, but the trophy also belonged to that arrogant group, ATOMIC.

Yeo Haru bit his lips to hide his disappointment. Meanwhile, Rayen sighed while looking at him. The nightmares seemed to have affected Rayen, so he couldn't help but check on this kid from time to time.

Although Yeo Haru seemed casual, even like a fly annoying him from time to time, in truth, he might be even more sensitive than Xu Jiji.

Since they received the news of getting nominated for Pop Core's first place, Yeo Haru had been the one looking forward to their win the most.

The two met eyes.

But suddenly, Yeo Haru reached out his hand and patted Rayen on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Bro. There are still other shows."

Rayen blinked, confused.

'Why am I the one getting comforted?'

At the same time, the camera pointed at the two of them.

– Huhu, the youngest, comforting his big brother...

– The husband, comforting his wife…

– Isn't it the wife comforting her husband?

– Rayen's eyes are so red. Don't cry!!!

If Rayen could only read these comments, he'd probably understand the reason for Yeo Haru's actions.

Recently, due to the nightmares, his complexion wasn't very well. Although the paleness in his face could be hidden under the cosmetics, the redness of his eyes was still apparent.

The rest of the members also saw Rayen's red eyes and approached him, simultaneously patting him on the back.

Rayen almost fell on the floor from the force of their hits.

'What the hell are they doing?'

"Don't cry, Eureka. We'll win next time."

"Don't cry, Rayeye... Sniff."

'Aren't you the one crying here?'

"It's fine. It's fine. We'll do better next time."

The two losing groups headed down the stage — with Rayen dragged by his members.

As soon as SEEDZ entered their waiting room, the manager, with Plotter at the lead, welcomed them with a smile.

The members of SEEDZ straightened their backs. Their limbs went stiff as they observed the managers.

Rayen immediately remembered Plotter's words.

"If you flop, you're gone."

This was their first music show where their song was finally eligible for the rankings, and yet, they didn't win anything.

Would they consider them a flop now?

Rayen shivered inwardly.

However, contrary to their imagination, Plotter approached with a pizza box in hand.

'What's a pizza box doing here?'

"It's okay. You can win next time," Plotter said with a grin.

Then, he flipped the box open.

The words written on the pizza box were different from the words that Plotter said, though.

"Congratulations on winning!"

"....."

Plotter seemed to have noticed the weird expression on their faces as they stared at the pizza. Looking down, he learned the reason why.

"..." Plotter glanced back. "Who switched the pizza?!"

Being stared at by Plotter, the managers stiffened and kept their mouths shut.

Seeing that no one was willing to admit their wrong, Plotter's smile widened. "Forget it. Bring the other one."

Reluctantly, Zi Xu trotted to the corner of the waiting room and pulled out another pizza. On its surface, a different message was written.

"Better luck next time :)"

Adrian and the others laughed wryly.

Plotter feigned a cough to shift their attention away from the pizza. "Let's dig in."

Before they could even respond, Yeo Haru stepped up and blocked them.

"Wait... Let me take pictures first."

The members halted in their places and waited for Yeo Haru to finish.

After that, they all dug into the two pizzas silently. Even when they all went home, they didn't hear anything from Plotter and the other managers.

However, even if SEEDZ and the management seemed fine with it, within the fandom, Edens were already grieving.

[I came to the pre-recording of Pop Core. Also, SEEDZ's performance was truly extraordinary during their Rookie of the Week stage on Top Song. How come they did not win?]

– I've streamed all day and night. Even having nightmares that Yeo Haru is chasing me.

– Is that even considered a nightmare?

– Where did we fall short? TT

Soon, that question was answered when Pop Core released the scoresheet.

[Pop Core Week 377 Scoresheet]

– Why? Why did you guys not stream the song well?

– Our digital score is so low...

– It's not low. The other groups were just monsters.

– I'm so sorry. I just couldn't listen to the song on repeat. I've tried my best, but my abilities just bested me TT

– The album sales, though... At least we beat the other groups with the physical album sales.

– Are you content just with this? We failed to give them their first win!

– We failed you, SEEDZ...

– We failed you, SEEDZ... +1

– We failed you, SEEDZ... +2

[How can you not listen to it repeatedly? The song is a miracle! When I went to the broadcast venue to support them, all the fans were bawling! So how can you fail them?!]

– I was there too! How can SEEDZ not get the trophy? They deserve the first win!

– Wake up, Edens! We failed our idols!

[What? How can this song fail? I'm new to the fandom and also to K-pop. I've been listening to the same song nonstop for a few days now. It's so good! How can you not listen to it.]

– Well, how can you listen to it nonstop?!

– How can you listen to it nonstop?! +1 I get chills every time!

– How can you listen to it nonstop?! +2 I cry every time.

– How can you listen to it nonstop?! +3 The jumpscare is too much!

– OP commented: What?! Isn't that the charm of the song? You get chills, but then you can't help but cry. Suddenly, the jumpscare will shock your soul and wake you up to reality! It's definitely the best song out there!

– Is this person crazy?

– Yeah, I'm crazy for that song!

Soon, similar posts appeared on the internet. Not only that, Edens who've been casually browsing on UCube and other social media platforms would encounter something unusual.

Just like Minji.

"Why the hell are my reels all horror?!"

"Is it the same with you?" Seoyun asked.

The algorithm seemed to be working in an odd way.

Edens, who've been grieving from the group's loss, all noticed the same thing.

But then, they realized one thing.

"Wait... The song... Isn't this Don Juan?"

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