Will Jun become solo artist?

Sometime later;

"Rest well, SungJun-ssi. You have shooting tomorrow." Hwang Bo Kyung left in her vehicle after the dinner is finished.

Jun then got into his own vehicle and Seon Jeon Cheol started driving. For a while, he didn't find anything amiss but soon, he realized that something wasn't right. They aren't going toward Genesis Town but toward Michugol district, which is atleast ten kilometers away from the dorm.

He asked, "Hyung, why are we going this route?"

Manager Seon replied right away, "We need to meet someone."

"Who is this time?" Jun asked calmly.

Manager Seon answered vaguely, "You'll know when we reach there."

Jun naturally turned curious. At first, he assumed that it might be a formal meeting arranged by the agency, like earlier. But, now, he wondered whether it might be a surprise party or something like that.

And soon, the vehicle stopped outside of a restaurant named Xces.

"Jun-ah, you go inside and I'll be back after parking the vehicle." Seon Jeon Cheol proceeds to drive the vehicle and Jun entered the restaurant.

With great expectations, Jun pushes the door and walks in, only to see a large group waiting for him.

"What the…" Jun was taken aback in an instant as he never expected his backup dancers to give him such a surprise. After all, he was expecting his group mates.

It was then a staff member pressed the remote and a large vessel placed far above the top of the door tilted down.

Suddenly, a sea of confetti started falling on top of his head and everyone applauded him together, "Congratulations."

Jun got a bit overwhelmed as he had never gotten such a reception in his past life. But, he managed to control his emotions and thanked them. Feeling grateful to Noze who actually played the role of the mastermind behind this idea, Jun cut the cake before celebrating the success of 100 million views success and the music show win.

And little did everyone know at that moment that this special moment would actually play a huge role in Jun's decision in the near future.

***

It was around midnight by the time Jun returned to the dorm. The lights were switched on and he saw Daniel in the living room, watching television. The latter casually greeted him with a hand wave, "Hyung."

"Haven't slept yet?" asked Jun in return.

Daniel shook his head, "Feeling insomnia these days."

As Jun sat down nearby him, Daniel congratulated him for the win, and the manager told them to sleep before leaving for his room in tiredness.

Jun then asked about the afternoon.

"Oh, we went out for the lunch," replied Daniel.

"Ah, is that so?" Jun was a bit disappointed. For several hours, he was expecting to celebrate with his group mates but it looked like they didn't even care. They might not have a group chat but none of them had even sent him a DM.

Thinking that his solo success might not be a celebratory thing for the others like it was with his backup dancers, Jun put away his thoughts and told him what happened during the dinner, followed by the celebratory success party with others.

This time, it was Daniel's turn to get disappointed. However, unlike Jun, he expressed it outwardly, "You should have actually called us and told us about it. We actually waited until 9 to go out and celebrate. I called you but yours is out of reception. And Jeon Cheol-Hyung didn't lift the call for a while. In the end, he told us about the party and we had to order in to have dinner by ourselves."

Jun doesn't know how to react as it appeared that both of the parties are at fault and had their fair share of disappointments. As a mature adult, he tried to be understanding and let it go.

But, this is where he had made a big mistake.

Since he hadn't shown his disappointment, the others didn't think about their fault and just concluded that he was ignoring them. To make it worse, Jun's schedule for the next week was so tight that he barely talked with them. Hence, those misunderstandings never cleared up.

While the rest of the four stuck together, going through rigorous training and bonding with each other, Jun, on the other hand, was busy with winning music shows one after another and spending his time with his backup dancers or meeting other idols.

His solo debut has really changed his relationship with others more than anyone expected.

It shouldn't be a big deal if Jun hadn't realized the problem but unfortunately, he already realized that he was feeling less camaraderie with others compared to the days before his debut.

At the same time, Jun's fast-growing popularity also made it very tough for him to imagine a potential future career with the others.

However, he won't get just one success to his head either. After all, it is common that kpop groups enjoy far higher popularity when compared to solo artists. Unfortunately for him, the executives of the company started thinking differently as 'Mmmh' crossed 200 million views.

And the day arrived very quickly when the nail was hammered into the coffin, dashing his hopes of debuting in a group.

It was the evening of 7th May. The 'Clap' song won the Inkigayo, making it a 6th consecutive music show win for Jun and also ending the promotion of his debut album.

He had dinner with CEO Hwang, although not with some investors. This time, YG tagged along with both of them and Manager Seon didn't join them this time. This is the first time he had dinner with the both of them together. As he was told that the company's CEO want to relay some piece of important news to him, Jun couldn't help but stay curious until he ate his fill.

Once the dinner was finished, CEO Hwang finally decided to let Jun know of the matter. With a bit of a serious look on her face, she signaled YG, who then spoke to the idol, "SungJun-ssi, you know me. I don't speak in a roundabout way. So, pay attention to every word I say. After all, this is related to your career."

"Hmm?" Jun looked at him and nodded, "Please do."

YG then spoke, "First, let me speak of the figures just in case you weren't aware of it. So far, your debut mv had gathered more than 220 million views on YT. Both of the songs were also in the top 20 in more than 35 countries to date.

Another thing that you need to know is that more than 800,000 albums were sold physically throughout the world during the past couple of weeks. And the Gaia fandom website also had almost 1.3 million registered users.

So far, the agency received about ten offers from various brands for commercials and they want you. Of them, there's also Innisfree (a popular South Korean cosmetic company).

I guess I don't need to go on to make you understand that the popularity you have earned within a few weeks of debut is usually attained after several years' worth of hard work from usual idol groups.

In today's afternoon meeting, after a lengthy discussion between the directors, it was unanimously decided that you shouldn't be included in the upcoming group and continue to focus on having a solo career. The remaining four will form the group. We thought that this is best for your career, other artists, as well as the company's future."

"Sorry?"