READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 328
Chapter 328. Youth’s End (3)
Miro’s inclination towards weaving storylines into their music was well-known, but this time it seemed they had something more substantial up their sleeve.
Windy, having just calmed her excitement after watching the trailer, replayed the video in her mind.
‘So what’s the gist of it? From what I can tell so far… Is Haru waking up in a world without his older brothers or first love in the school universe? Or maybe it’s the opposite—Haru, in the school universe, suddenly becomes aware of the dreamy, ethereal world?’
Judging by the recurring mention of memories, the main plot seemed to revolve around Haru waking up in a school world where he was alone, confused about whether the dreamy world he experienced was real. It felt as if the role Eun-chan had in the *Over the Night* music video had now shifted to Haru.
“Wow, Haru’s vibe definitely changes with darker hair. Maybe he’s playing the main role this time? My hands are shaking.”
Although Windy had started as a Dan Haru fan and had since become an all-fan, there was still something satisfying about seeing her original favorite take on a significant role. It wasn’t her child, but she couldn’t help feeling a sense of pride.
‘…Let’s see if those who said Dan Haru only had his cuteness to offer will finally shut up.’
The idea that “Dan Haru only has his cuteness” was a narrative pushed mainly by fans of Joo Eun-chan, who wanted to emphasize his “more youthful than the youngest” image, or by fans of Jung Si-woo, who didn’t want to share the main vocal position.
Kairos, as a survival show group, had a fairly stable fanbase dynamic (thanks in part to the large-scale fan-cleansing efforts led by Kang Hajin’s fandom). Still, the occasional power struggle among individual fanbases was inevitable.
‘I mean, I get it with Jung Si-woo fans, but I don’t understand what the Eun-chan stans are thinking.’
With Jung Si-woo, there wasn’t much of a connection between him and Haru, so fans of only Jung Si-woo might feel a bit threatened by Dan Haru, who shared the main vocal position.
But Joo Eun-chan was a different story!
Joo Eun-chan was well-known for treating himself and Dan Haru as a set, even calling them “Chick Brothers” in private—a fact known to both the members and the fans.
Despite his own younger sibling energy, Joo Eun-chan made a concerted effort to play the older brother role to Haru, which was one of his key appeal points.
‘Why do they see Haru as a threat? It would make more sense if Seo Tae-hyun fans were the ones feeling that way.’
As Windy mulled over the inexplicable mindset of toxic solo fans, she quietly opened her laptop and launched Photoshop. It was time to make some GIFs of Haru from the trailer.
‘I hope this comeback solidifies Haru’s position….’
Unlike Kang Hajin, who had quickly risen to prominence after receiving a leader buff following their debut, Haru, who had gained popularity as a skilled youngest member, had somewhat lost momentum post-debut.
It wasn’t that Haru had done anything wrong, which made it all the more frustrating. However, with this album seemingly centering around him, it might finally breathe new life into Haru’s individual fanbase.
The fact that the first unit song was neatly divided into older and younger lines was also satisfying. It felt like the perfect balance among the members, with enough tools to weave various relationships within the fandom, which would help maintain the all-fan mindset.
‘To be honest… aside from a few Joo Eun-chan solo fans, there aren’t many troublemakers yet…’
This was partly because Seo Tae-hyun’s fandom, the largest at the start, hadn’t been particularly territorial, which helped. Also, Kang Hajin’s fandom, which had a significant influence, was firm about promoting an all-fan culture.
To be fair, most of Joo Eun-chan’s fandom was made up of soft-hearted, easygoing fans, much like Eun-chan himself. The problem was the toxic solo fans who only cared about his visuals and their parasocial relationships with him.
‘Can’t they just embrace the “cute troublemaker maknaes” concept and move on…? It’s already annoying enough that fans get annoyed when people ask, “Who’s the youngest in Kairos?” and automatically include Eun-chan.’
If Haru had been positioned as a mature, cynical youngest member, they probably would have loved him.
Even as she cursed in her head, Windy’s hands were busy clicking and typing away, creating GIFs of each member from the concept trailer. Despite all her complaints, when she looked at the screen, she saw that all seven members were equally represented in her GIF collection.
But what could she do? They were all beautiful and in their prime. It wasn’t her mind but her instincts driving her actions.
“…Ugh, this damn all-fan syndrome.”
Windy clicked her tongue in exasperation, reorganizing the GIFs by member and age. As she sorted through the clips from Si-woo to Haru, she found herself repeatedly thinking, ‘This one’s pretty, no, this one’s amazing, no, but this one is…’
She realized she had gone too deep to turn back now.
Resigned to her fate, Windy began editing Si-woo’s GIFs.
* * *
Kairos’s *Youth’s End* concept trailer generated significant buzz among K-pop fans.
The trailer’s high production value, combined with the intense focus on the group following recent controversies, made it a hit among fans. It was a perfect storm, capturing the attention of casual listeners and hardcore fans alike.
Reactions varied, but the most common sentiment was this:
– This actually works;;;;
Kairos has pulled off a pure concept!
They’re running barefoot through a flower field in white clothes!
And they even have blush on their cheeks!
The unbelievable news piqued people’s curiosity.
[Kairos did Igari makeup?]
Isn’t it Agari makeup?
– Damn, I laughed; that’s embarrassing.
– It was convincing.
– Actually, Yugeon did mistake Igari makeup for Agari makeupㅋㅋ
└ Wait, what’s that about?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ In the concept trailer behind-the-scenes, Yugeon kept saying Agari? Agari makeup? until Kang Hajin got all serious and corrected him.
└ LOL, why is it even funnier that it wasn’t Seo Chul who corrected him? I always thought Seo Chul would be the one to do that.
└ Seo Cherry was too busy laughing to correct him.
└ Laughing at that? Truly fitting of Kairos’s official “Hades of Laughter.”
└ ? Why Hades?
└ Because their laughter is buried deep underground.
└ Ah, damn, ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
[I’ll confess, when I first heard Kairos’s concept]
I thought it was a mental institution.
But running barefoot in a flower field in white clothes?
It had to be *Kairos has lost their mind*.
– Comment 1: Why can’t our boys be pure too? They’re rookies too, you know.
└ OP: (GIF of Doha-Hajin-Yugeon staring seriously into the camera during *Over the Night* (Mad Luv Ver.))
└ Comment 1: I apologize.
[I figured out who the boys’ first love is!!!!!!!!!!]
It’s me^♥^
They kept it secret to respect my fried chicken pride, hoho.
– snipe.
– snipe.
– snipe.
– snipe.
– Wait, why are you all sniping? Aren’t we usually about crashing? What’s snipe?
└ Snipe = sniping them so they crash.
└ Wow, the dedication to this concept…
Most of the Destis were thrilled. The fact that the title track wasn’t composed by the members but by Seo Taeil was met with acceptance. He was widely regarded as the best at handling the kind of ethereal, bittersweet concept the group was going for.
With the anticipation for the comeback matching the high expectations, the fandom’s mood turned warm and friendly. The boys seemed well-prepared, so all that was left was for the fans to gather their resources and savor the feast Kairos had prepared for them.
Rossy Day @rossy_1017
Wow, the concept trailer explains everything.
One day, the world loses the people they loved.
= In youth, things like ‘first love’ can feel like the entire world.
= When that first love is gone, it’s like the end of youth.
= Youth’s End = Spring Is Gone
It’s like their spring, their everything, has disappeared…
Damn, this is sadder than an apocalypse.
(GIFs from the Kairos concept trailer analysis.gif)
(GIFs from the Kairos concept trailer analysis.gif)
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[Did you see the fan theory on Twitter about our tracklist?]
1st Track, *Spring Is Gone* < A world where their beloved has disappeared.
2nd Track, *Wish You’re There* and 3rd Track, *Mirage* < The members’ journey through parallel universes in search of their lost love.
4th Track, *Back to Spring* < Kairos finding their first love again and regaining their spring.
The idea that the first love in the concept could be Destis or the members themselves is just
perfect…
I’m seriously excited for the title track.
– I saw that, and it seems likely.. The *Spring Is Gone* ↔ *Back to Spring* setup doesn’t seem like a coincidence.
– Whoa, so the title track might be a sad dance song? I loved the *Over the Night* Mad Luv version, so I hope it’s something like that.
– Hajin’s name is in the credits for *Spring Is Gone* so it’s definitely possibleㅋㅋㅋ Kang Hajin loves circular narratives.
└ Wait, Hajin’s name is in the credits???
└ Yeah, it wasn’t in the initial release, but it showed up later on some copyright association site! People are guessing it was either a tracklist oversight or something added later.
However, where there is light, there is always shadow.
As the influx of new fans grew, there were inevitably those who weren’t happy with the direction this comeback was taking.
– Is Eun-chan’s screentime a joke? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The loudest complaints came from Joo Eun-chan’s increasingly vocal toxic solo fans.