Chapter 120

Chapter 120

It wasn’t long before the exact moment we were worried about appeared onscreen. We watched as the members and I removed our earpieces.

I hope it’s not overly obvious that he slipped. Ahyeon had gone overboard in compensating for the mistake, but it was hard to know how it had played out on camera. Our worry was unnecessary, as it turned out.

“Whoa.”

The two of us supporting Ahyeon as he did his backflip looked so natural it seemed completely intentional.

Maybe it’s because he’s such a proficient dancer. The move had been so smooth that no one would believe he had done it without any practice whatsoever. The flip was so impressive, the slip that had preceded it looked like a part of the choreography.

The fact that the floor was dark and the earpiece that he’d slipped on therefore invisible helped aid the illusion. And a long shot of the entire group came in clutch, effectively hiding the shock on all of our faces.

We were originally supposed to pause for a moment there so they could do a tight shot... but that’s beside the point. That turned out really good. It was the best possible result.

Big Sejin whistled. “Wow! Ahyeon, that was pretty impressive!”

“You were so cool!” Eugene exclaimed.

Ahyeon’s face turned pink.

“That was great! Did you practice that move in advance in case something like this happened?” Raebin asked.

“N-no. I-I just knew I-I sh-shouldn’t fall over. So I tried it!”

“That’s impressive!” Eugene said.

Ahyeon wasn’t able to hide his pleasure at receiving so much praise, a blush on his cheeks.

I decided I’d just join in for now. “It looked like the whole thing was intentional. I think it came out even better than our original choreography.”

“I-it’s probably not th-that great... b-but thanks! I’ll keep d-doing my best!”

“Let’s give it up for Seon Ahyeon!”

The members all applauded him. Even a few of the staff nearby laughed and joined in, and Ahyeon looked overwhelmed with embarrassment and gratitude.

I’ll leave him to enjoy it for a bit longer. I lingered in the waiting room on purpose. When things quieted down a little, I approached Ahyeon.

“Seon Ahyeon.”

“H-huh?”

“I’m really grateful for what you did earlier, but I don’t think you should do something like that ever again.”

He instantly went pale. “Wh-why?”

His reaction was far more affected than I’d expected. I’d assumed he’d handle it okay since everyone had been showering him with praise moments ago. I have to choose my words wisely.

“You could have been seriously hurt. It seems too dangerous to do something like that on an impulse.”

Chungwoo, who’d been wearing a complicated expression, finally chimed in. “Yeah, Ahyeon. You did great, and I’m really grateful, but... you need to make sure you don’t hurt yourself. If you’d hit the floor head-first, it would have been a disaster.” Chungwoo had obviously been worried, too, since he’d been forced to retire following his injury.

“I-I’m sorry,” Ahyeon said, his voice trembling. His excitement had disappeared, replaced with self-reproach.

Chungwoo looked bewildered. “Don’t apologize, Ahyeon! I was just worried for you, is all.”

Big Sejin, who’d been watching silently until now, said, “Hmm. I don’t think it’s such a big deal. Ahyeon is a dance major. I’m sure he knew what he was capable of. Isn’t that right?”

“Y-yeah.”

Doesn’t seem that way. Ahyeon tended to put all thoughts of his safety aside when he was under pressure. I had a feeling this was what had happened this time—he’d chosen the most impressive move he was capable of, feeling that he needed to handle the situation somehow. It was time to console him a little, though.

After a bit of thought, I finally spoke. “Of course... you did far better than any of us could ever have imagined. I’m just worried, is all. I want us to do this for as long as possible and stay healthy, you know?”

“Y-y-yeah! I-I’ll be careful!”

“Yeah.”

Thankfully, Ahyeon seemed touched by my emphasis on how I’d been worried for him. It was a good thing he was the kind of guy who was easily moved by small kind gestures.

Bae Sejin, however, apologized to the team with a dark look on his face.

What’s the matter with you now?

“Sorry... This is all because I dropped my earpiece.”

I thought as much.

“That was nobody’s fault! You were probably just as shocked as us, but you didn’t let that interrupt the performance.”

“That’s right! It wasn’t attached correctly, so it was just bad luck,” Raebin said.

“Your earpiece wire was attached the wrong way. Your earpiece should be the one apologizing!” Eugene argued with a pout.

“Th-that’s right— Wait, the earpiece?” Ahyeon tried to chip in but was distracted by his confusion at Eugene’s odd words.

Big Sejin seemed to grow tired of the conversation and cut it short. “Haha! Let’s just be thankful we handled it and move on. We did great! There’s nothing to feel bad about!”

This was true.

Chungwoo smiled. “He’s right. You all did great! Let’s take good care of our bodies and keep on killing it. Five years is a long time.”

“Hey! I thought we were aiming for contract renewals. Let’s go for ten!” Big Sejin exclaimed.

“Haha! I guess you’re right. Ten years it is!”

“Yes!”

“Great!”

We left the conversation on a cheerful note, though ten years seemed like a number that startled Bae Sejin. I was happy with how things had turned out though.

The performance itself was really good. If I had to guess, the controversy surrounding TeSTAR would be well and truly dead after this. Likely everyone would conclude that we were amazingly talented.

My hopes were up as we prepared for our ending performance. Everyone who had participated in the show would be singing together at the end with a senior singer.

“My grandmother likes this song!”

Raebin seemed particularly excited about it. The show was finally over close to midnight, and when we got in the van, the situation online had taken quite an interesting turn.

***

As Park Moondae had expected, the internet’s reaction following TeSTAR’s performance on KBC was full of praise.

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[TeSTAR Magical Boys + Airplane performance at the KBC Song Festival just now]

(Video)

=======================

- Wow, it was performed live

- They can handle this kind of concept, too?

- I gasped when I saw the flip

- I sh*t my pants. How is that possible on a live stage?

- Wait, was this lip-synced?

└ It was a live orchestra. Of course not

└ Vocal tracks can be used for live accompaniments, too

└ Really? I guess it might be lip-synced, then. Thanks

└ Eugene went into the rap lines in the middle of the song a single beat late on purpose. Watch the video first, idiots

└ I’m starting to think people like this have another version of TeSTAR living in their delusional brains

- Goddamn

- Ahyeon’s somersault was kickass

- I think this was the best arrangement in the entire show. I hope they release the mp3 online

- I knew Ahyeon was an angel, but I didn’t know he’d prove it on public television. He just flew... Now it’s official

└ LOL listen to this

- I always find Bae Sejin underwhelming. Why did he get the ending?

└ Huh? I thought he did fine this time

└ I was actually impressed at how good he was live

└ Sejin never gets long parts, but he’s never failed at pulling off whatever he’s given T_T

There were a few attempts at downplaying the quality of the performance, but they were neatly shut down. Public opinion was cementing in TeSTAR’s favor.

What Park Moondae failed to predict, however, was how much people liked the part of the performance where the members removed their earpieces. They were effusive about it.

- I love the way TeSTAR pulls out their earpieces. They feel like seasoned professionals instead of rookies LOL

- Social media is probably drowning in zoomed clips and whatnot LOL

└ For sure yeah LMAO

└ I’ll bet there are different versions for every member haha

└ I’m not even a fan and they’re already showing up in my feed... Park Moondae is so handsome. I’m putting him in my cart

└ LOL what!

- The members each portray a slightly different mood. I can’t stop watching!

└ Yeah! Haha

- I like the tall one who looks like he’s winking slightly when he smiles. I love his eyes. Can anyone tell me his name?

└ Big Sejin

└ ??? So his surname is... Big?

└ LOL. No, he’s Lee Sejin! He’s so big and cute, we fans call him Big Sejin. Thanks for liking him! (Photo of Big Sejin)

The way the members removed their earpieces had been caught clearly on most cameras, and the clips went viral. Since it happened during the chorus of “Airplane,” all the members got pretty equal air time.

The fans found themselves relaxing and enjoying themselves for the first time in a while.

- KBC, we want fancams of each member so we can see different angles of the way they remove their earpieces T_T

- You want to see how genius idols deal with terrible, low-quality audio work? Well, you’ve come to the right place (video)

- I love the concept of the KBC performance. It’s like an expansive fairy tale. If you compare it to the flashy one from SBC, you’ll find no end to the epic stories they can generate (image comparison)

- There’s a part when Magical Boys transitions to Airplane where Moondae and Bae Sejin face each other and shake their heads. Is this an easter egg about the next album? (GIF)

- My god, Moondae was covered from head to toe in birthday gifts from his fans when he left the venue (image list)

The fans were extremely happy that no one seemed to be mocking TeSTAR or looking to pick a fight. Around this time, those who’d been re-watching the performance noticed something odd. It all began with an account belonging to a fan who edited video clips.

- I was making a close-up GIF when I found this. Ahyeon seems to have slipped right before his somersault... One sec

└ ?

└ Excuse me?

└ What

- I just rewatched it... I think I’m right. There was something under Ahyeon’s foot that nearly tripped him up. Chungwoo and Moondae grabbed him to keep him from falling (screen capture)

- Ahyeon covered it up by improvising and doing a backflip on the spot. You can see both Chungwoo and Moondae were shocked by this (screen capture)

└ Holy sh*t

└ So that was unrehearsed?

The fans began to inspect every detail of the footage, and before long, they found the root cause of the incident.

- Bae Sejin’s earpiece fell off... I think whoever pinned it on did a sloppy job (photo of the floor)

└ My god

└ This is nuts

└ Okay. I’m seriously impressed, but I’m also stupid angry. What if they got hurt?

└ Sejin’s hands are shaking at the end, guys T_T

└ So Ahyeon’s somersault was improvised? How is he even real?

The shocking information soon spread from the fans to the internet in general.

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[There seems to have been an accident involving TeSTAR during their KBC appearance]

: (link to detailed post)

TLDR: TeSTAR covered up the accident from the moment they pulled out their earpieces to the ending

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- Oh my gosh

- What? Is this for real?

- This seems like a bit of a stretch

- They handled it so calmly. If the fans are figuring it out only now, that’s seriously impressive

- What kind of idol just casually does a backflip to hide a mistake? He was just doing his choreography LOL

└ It wasn’t a mistake, it was sloppy work by the staff. I’ve been watching everything TeSTAR does since the Idol Inc. days and I think they’re more than capable of this

└ They dropped the earpiece themselves when they pulled it out. That’s a mistake. The fans really need to wake up from these delusions

└ I’m sorry, just a non-fan passing through. They’re not supposed to fall to the floor even if they’re removed. It’s definitely the staff’s fault.

- Are you sure that’s an earpiece on the floor? It doesn’t look recognizably like anything...

└ It’s an earpiece. Here (brightened screen capture)

└ Whoa you’re right

└ Sh*t so he did fall

- I think it’s true, based on the looks on their faces

- Seon Ahyeon’s somersault was probably just a part of the original choreography, though he handled the part where he nearly fell really calmly

└ I agree with this

└ But the members grab him just in case he falls. It’s hard to believe that and the flip was intentional

Every relevant online community and social media was inundated with contradictory opinions.

- This is driving me nuts. Someone ask the TeSTAR account already? LOL

- I can’t figure it out haha

Interestingly, an opportunity to ask TeSTAR live appeared.

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[Whoa, TeSTAR’s live on W Live right now]

: (link)

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They were doing a W Live stream. They hadn’t done one since the controversy about the Rookie of the Year awards had begun. This one had an interesting title.

[TeSTAR cooks dinner after the end-of-year show! On today’s menu: chicken soup for the soul (cat emoji)]