Chapter 87
"Thank you for your hard work~."
"See you tomorrow! "
The students' bright cries were heard.
Friday classes are finally over, and the weekend is just around the corner.
At the thought of getting a break, many students came out of the classroom humming.
"Let's see, I need to pack my textbooks...."
The same was true for this female student attending a high school in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
This week's classes were particularly hard, so she really wanted to rest quickly, but she still had to prepare her textbooks properly because she had to do the homework for the next class.
The moment she took the books she needed from the cabinet and went out into the hallway,.
"Lena! This is perfect timing! "
A familiar voice called her name from across the hallway.
Lena smiled and greeted the girl running towards her with her long blonde hair fluttering in the wind.
"Alyssa! Aren't you going to the club today? "
"I was just about to leave! Hey, I saw something awesome yesterday. I really wanted to show you this."
Lena's long-time childhood friend, Alyssa, had a talent for the arts and physical education.
She has loved dancing since she was young and has been consistently participating in the school cheerleading club and dance club since she was young.
Judging from the outfits, it looks like there will be cheerleading activity today too.
Lena looked at Alyssa, who was busy fiddling with her phone.
"Why do you have to show it to me right now? "
"I've been listening to a lot of K-pop since last year. That's why I've been active on social media since then."
"Yeah."
Alyssa lifted her phone with a bright expression, finally finding what she was looking for.
"There's this idol program that's really popular in Korea recently? I heard that the final round is about to start. This is totally awesome! There's even an article about it!"
It was rare to see her childhood friend this excited.
She took a quick look at her phone to see what the heck was going on.
"There's a trainee from Estonia? "
"Yeah! I don't know the details, but I heard there was an Estonian trainee among the finalists. He even ranked 3rd."
"How many people participated in total?"
"96 people. This is awesome."
It's quite an achievement to have made it to 3rd place out of 96 people.
Lena had little knowledge of other countries' cultures, especially K-pop, so she had no idea how these auditions worked.
But there was one thing she could immediately tell, even though she had no information.
"He's really handsome."
"So, what I'm saying is, his face is really out of this world. He's so handsome that I want to ask if he is really from our country. All the guys who are bragging about how handsome they are at our school are laughable."
If Alyssa, with her outstanding connections, could drive the nail in so strongly, it says it all.
Well, even if Lena, who doesn't know much about K-pop, sees him, she'll immediately say he's handsome.
How much more so is Alyssa, who has become more interested in this culture recently.
"Anyway, after seeing this face, I suddenly got motivated. If I'm going to make a K-pop dance team later, I'll have to study harder, so after the club ends today, I'll go home and watch all the stages!"
"You're so passionate, Alyssa."
"Of course!"
Alyssa, who had been smiling brightly, quickly checked the time and took a sharp breath.
"Ah! It's getting late. I'll contact you later at dinner, Lena! I'll go first! "
"Oh, oh, oh. Good luck with your practice today."
"Thank you! Be safe on your way home! "
Throwing the last sentence over, Alyssa ran at a fast pace.
Lena, now alone again, slowly packed up the rest of her luggage and left the school building.
After taking a quick break by walking along the sun-drenched streets of Tallinn, she made a quick snack as soon as she got home.
Returning to her room with a plate of kirju koer [spotted dog cake], Lena opened her textbook and sat down to do her homework.
But for some reason, the writing didn't catch her eye.
'I'm having trouble concentrating today.'
After thinking for a moment about why this is so,.
It seemed like the face of the person Alyssa had shown her at school just now kept flashing through her mind.
Lena put her notebook and textbook aside for a moment and turned on her computer.
'The name was really unique······. It was Karis von Walden. Now that I think about it, he uses 'von' in his name?'
Lena searched her memory and logged onto the social media platform that Alyssa frequently used.
And the result of trying to type in that trainee's name.
In a matter of seconds, countless posts filled her computer screen.
"Wow...."
Lena looked at the screen for a moment, exclaiming in admiration.
There were many photos that she was seeing for the first time in her life.
People on stage with flashy makeup and hairstyles.
Dazzling lights shine behind the spacious stage.
And the countless comments from people listed under each post.
She felt like she was exploring an unknown world for the first time.
First of all, since there were many articles in languages that Lena couldn't read, she ran the search engine again and found the most familiar sites.
'Oh, I think this is the post that Alyssa showed me? '
Lena quickly clicked on the post, delighted.
Above the caption in Estonian was a photo of Karis von Walden making a heart shape with his fingers.
And underneath it, there were over 7,000 recommendations and over 2,000 comments.
-This trainee was born in Estonia! He's so handsome.
└That's ridiculous. He's a person from our country? :0
└Wow XD
└The name is also unique. Was there a surname called von Walden in our country?
└I heard about it for the first time and looked it up. It turns out that the von Walden surname originated from a Swedish noble family in the 1600s. (Link) I sent you a link to WiXpedia. It seems that since our country is somewhat influenced by Nordic countries, especially Sweden, the von Walden surname still remains here and there among the general public.
└It sounded like an aristocratic name, but it was really an old noble family name. It looked like a noble family in the old days
└He's really handsome... I didn't know anything about K-pop, but now that I see Karis, I'm interested
In the comments, there were many people who, like Lena, were unfamiliar with the culture of K-pop.
For these people, SNS users who were interested in K-pop were working hard to explain.
'Oh my god, do they have to suffer this long just to debut? '
Lena read the program description that Karis von Walden was currently participating in.
After a long journey of over two months, only 7 out of 96 people succeeded in debuting.
It felt like they had to overcome a tremendous amount of pressure.
'You went all the way to a foreign land to make your dream come true? That's amazing....'
Lena browsed through social media platforms and read all the articles related to Karis.
Once she saw Karis' face, she couldn't stop wondering.
―(Video) Karis spoke in his native language at the ranking announcement ceremony!
└It feels a little awkward to speak Estonian after speaking only Korean~ XD It's cute!
└It's good that he's handsome, but it's touching that someone from our country goes to such a faraway country and works hard to achieve his dream.
└It seems like the ranking is high too? That's really amazing.
└If this is a survival game, do I have to keep voting to survive? Is there a site link or something?
└(Link) This is the homepage. Karis survived and went to the final round, so you can vote then. However, I know that the final round is live, so only text voting is possible :(
└I hope it goes well for me as a Korean~ Can global people vote too?
Lena clicked on all the links in the comments.
After reading through the website titled
It's very unfamiliar and awkward, but....
It was secretly fun.
'Is this why Alyssa likes it?'
Unlike her childhood friend, Lena had no interest in the arts or physical education.
She, who had been focusing solely on her studies, was becoming very interested in discovering new content.
As she continued to research, she began to feel like she understood why Alyssa was so fascinated by this culture.
'I guess this is a stage video.'
After wandering the vast ocean of the Internet, Lena finally settled on YouTube.
She clicked on the video that had Karis' face in the largest size among the many videos. She didn't know exactly what the fancam in the title meant, but she clicked on it because she wanted to watch it anyway.
'...wow.'
Lena gaped for a moment, her mouth open.
Karis von Walden, with his beautiful appearance, showed off his graceful movements.
He moved to the middle every now and then and sang a few lines of the song, and his resonant voice was very impressive.
And as the song reaches its climax,.
―The name of this feeling right now is Love
There was a scene where Karis made a heart with his fingers and blew wind.
The audience's cheers, heard as background music, exploded.
And as Lena opened her eyes wide and stared at the screen, she felt something burst in her head.
'...stylish.'
There were people who created such a wonderful stage in a place that Lena didn't know about.
They show off their dance moves that are in harmony with rhythmic and exciting music and interact with the audience.
He leaves a tremendous impression, boasting a look that immediately catches the eye.
She seemed to understand more and more why Alyssa liked K-pop.
So she put her homework aside and looked for videos of Karis, and before she knew it, it was night.
Lena noticed that it was getting dark outside and made a call on her cell phone.
After a few rings, the other person immediately picked up.
-Lena! I just finished practice, and you're calling me out of the blue?
"Oh, practice is over now? That's a relief."
-Yeah, good timing. But why did you call? Is something going on?
"Yeah, nothing happened.... Actually, I went home and looked for the trainee you showed me earlier."
-Really? Really? He's really handsome! Awesome!
"I've seen him perform on stage, and I think I know why you like K-pop."
-I'm so touched right now. Ah, so exciting!
Alyssa's voice on the other end of the phone sounded genuinely happy.
Lena smiled and rocked her feet back and forth.
"Can we watch that program too?"
―Hey, what can't be done in this day and age! Just wait; I'll tell you where you can watch it. Later, let's watch it all from episode 1 together at home!
"Good!"
* * *
The comments made by Karis von Walden at the 3rd ranking announcement ceremony had a truly enormous impact.
The K-pop craze has begun to spread even in relatively lesser-known European countries, especially in smaller countries like Estonia.
I'm so proud of our country's trainee, who is doing so well.
I want to help in some way.
And this interest naturally returned to the
How does the final voting work, and how many people will debut?
Karis' name became widely known not only in Estonia but also in other Western countries.
Although he was originally a popular pick among overseas fans, he was only famous among those who were deeply into K-pop.
But now, riding this wave of popularity, it has even reached people who don't usually know about K-pop.
With the new skill, Karis von Walden was able to land a huge, effective hit in the direction he was ultimately aiming for.
When things were going as he had intended from the outside,
A similar situation was unfolding within the filming set of
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