Chapter 127

Chapter 127

The Rookie of the Year award status abnormality had been satisfied faster than expected.

I thought it would remain until February. That it had been disabled the moment we received our award at the final major awards ceremony probably indicated how overwhelmingly favorable public opinion was toward us at the moment. This was no doubt thanks to taking the bull by the horns during the award controversy. I hadn’t known that this would end up having an impact on when the status abnormality came off.

Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing that I can check more quickly. I had no intention of clicking “Reveal the Truth” for quite some time. I didn’t plan on taking on a new status abnormality just because I’d disabled the previous one early.

“Thank you!”

While I was thinking, Big Sejin finished his speech and stepped away from the microphone stand. He indicated that it was my turn. I slowly stepped in front of the microphone, a wave of bright lights dancing across my line of sight. It was the TeSTAR lightsticks, which were easily seen even from afar.

There are a lot more than at any of the other awards ceremonies... It was probably because VTIC hadn’t taken part in this one, so there was less competition to get audience tickets. Watching the dancing lights, I leaned into the microphone.

“First of all, I’d also like to begin by saying thank you.”

There was no real reason to avoid speaking at these ceremonies, but I’d never really felt any desire to.

I only did it because we’ve been taking turns. But now that I thought about it, it wasn’t a bad way to express our thanks to the fans.

“TeSTAR didn’t have a long preparatory period before we began working as a team. There was a lot of thought and effort required in order for us to successfully debut in such a short period of time, and we had no idea whether we were capable of working together.”

We hadn’t just spent a lot of time thinking. The truth was we’d also cursed the agency a lot, too. My next words were also true.

“And I believe a lot of our motivation came from the fact that... there were people willing to wait for us.”

This didn’t apply just to our debut preparations. The same had been true during our recent controversy. Knowing that people would immediately be on our side once the situation changed was the only reason we’d been able to go ahead with such a heads-on strategy. It was both amazing and mysterious, that we had people waiting to enjoy anything we produced, as long as it was good.

“Thank you for waiting for us and trusting us.” I was grateful that our fans hadn’t stopped believing in us despite the tiresome controversy and the annoying situation. “We’ll always remember this feeling so that we can continue to inspire excitement for our future, rather than worry. Thank you.”

I bowed, keeping my head down for longer than usual. The crowd’s roar washed over me and the sound—which was just as energetic as the pleasant glow of the lightsticks—made me feel warm inside for some reason. I felt hands patting my back.

It’s my members. I’d assumed that they were just touched by the moment when confused whispers reached my ears.

“M-Moondae, are you all right?”

“Are you crying?”

No, I’m not crying.

Another of the members said gravely, “If you don’t think you can raise your head, cover your face and turn around.”

Why in the world do you think I’m keeping my head down because I’m crying? Isn’t it more likely that I’m just feeling a little touched, and bowing longer than usual because of that? I held back a sigh and stood up straight. The sight of countless lightsticks rippling in the crowd greeted me, seemingly larger than before. It reminded me of the Milky Way.

That was close. If I’d just looked up without thinking, I might really have been touched enough to cry. The members just assuming I was crying had made me a bit salty, which negated the impact the sight might have had on me.

Gosh, I’m sweating. I was reminded of one of the traits I’d gotten rid of the moment I saw it.

[Trait: Govern Those Tears (B)]

- Cry at will!

: MAX control over your ability to cry on demand

I felt a slight chill.

Don’t tell me I’ll need that later. I wondered if the situation with the Imperturbable trait, which I’d ended up needing immediately after getting rid of it, would repeat itself. Then I dismissed the thought.

I can’t give up on the other traits I’ve managed to collect over something like this. If I did end up crying, I could just put up with a bit of embarrassment and simply move on.

Scenarios like this didn’t happen every day. There were a lot of complicated emotions hitting me all at once today, that was all.

Let’s just wave at the crowd. The others were poking me in the side, suggesting they thought I’d been crying. We all waved at the audience together and bowed again.

The lights continued to shine brightly at us.

***

After the awards ceremony season was over, our preparations for the concert really kicked off. This included practicing our subunit performances as well, which were being filmed.

[The mystical AI assistant of the magical boys, TeSTAR!]

“It’s on WeTube now?”

“That’s Chungwoo!” Eugene cried.

He was right. The TV was playing the Ryu Chungwoo version of the advertisement. He had bird wings attached to his back, peaking out above his shoulders, and he winked as he shot finger guns at the camera.

[Catch, Curious!]

Ryu Chungwoo was portrayed as a cheerful, good-looking guy, not as a weird dude pretending to be an animal.

“Hey, wait a second!”

“Why did your ad come out so cool?” Eugene asked, outraged.

“You’re not... an animal?” Bae Sejin asked, his voice dark.

Ryu Chungwoo seemed embarrassed even of this, however, and shook his hair back, laughing. “It’s not cool... I think it’s because the fans have been comparing me to a bird a lot. That’s probably why.”

The members didn’t seem to be buying his explanation.

“You could have been a tiny chick or something. But you got a cool bird of prey,” Bae Sejin said.

“I was going to skip the ad for you, but it wasn’t even necessary,” Raebin said.

“Hey, guys, it’s not like I decided how they were going to film the ad!” Chungwoo protested, confused. He soon realized that our indignant reactions were mostly just a joke, however, and laughed the situation off.

I guess it would be nice to be compared to a hawk. Look what happened to me for pushing my puppy character. I quickly shook off the recollection of my own ad and focused on the screen.

[Je te donne des fleurs que…….]

A slow, beautiful chanson was playing. It was the subunit song that Raebin and Chungwoo had chosen.

Big Sejin marveled loudly, saying, “Wow. You’re going to use that song?”

“Yes,” Raebin said, nodding. His eyes were glittering with excitement.

“I think the melody fits Chungwoo’s voice perfectly. If we leave the piano notes and add a more kitsch rhythm, we’ll have a pretty tasteful track on our hands!”

“That’s right. I’m looking forward to it, too, since Raebin is having so much fun with it,” Chungwoo said, nodding and laughing.

I already knew exactly how things were going to go down on this team.

He’ll let Raebin do whatever he pleases. Since any decisions made were only going to affect the one subunit, Chungwoo seemed to have lowered his inhibitions, letting Raebin have free rein.

This will be interesting to watch. I was amused by how things were going so far. Eugene excitedly looked up another video and played it next. It was an old pop song, a brown album cover accompanying the music playing from the TV.

Why choose an English pop song? I wondered if this would be too advantageous to Eugene, who was Korean American, but I soon realized this couldn’t be the case.

Big Sejin had probably made it look as if he was being considerate of Eugene, but in reality, he’d ensured they ended up with a song of his own choice.

I’ll bet on my last name that he didn’t let Cha Eugene have his way. The last name I was going by wasn’t even my own, but that was beside the point.

Big Sejin shot an imperceptible wink at me when our eyes met. The pop song was definitely the one he’d wanted.

“I like this song! I’m really excited about it!” Eugene exclaimed.

“Yeah. Let’s put together an epic performance!” Big Sejin said.

“Yes!” Eugene raised his hand excitedly for a high five, and Big Sejin responded in kind.

Well, I guess both of them are happy. That’s all that matters, right? I didn’t see any problems so far.

“I-in that case... W-we’ll play the song w-we chose...” Ahyeon said.

“Yeah!”

The final team consisted of me, Bae Sejin, and Seon Ahyeon. Ahyeon went forward and found the song. An old-fashioned and slow band track began to play.

[Oooh! I can hear your heart!]

“Huh?”

The others seemed slightly taken aback, so I laughed and explained. “It’s ‘You Amaze Me’ by Miso.”

The song was released by a female solo artist in the late eighties. It was moderately cheerful and appropriately emotional. The “Oooh! It’s amazing!” part of the chorus was so well known that even teens and people in their twenties had probably heard it before, perhaps on a variety show or something. That was about it, though. Its impact and the mood of the song weren’t really suitable for a modern-day concert.

Chungwoo looked taken aback. “You three are really going to do this song?”

“Yes,” I said, nodding calmly. The other two did the same, expressions excited.

Chungwoo studied them carefully, then nodded reluctantly. “All right... Moondae chose the song, right?”

“No. Ahyeon and Sejin chose it,” I said. They’d suggested the song first, and we’d decided on it after a little back and forth.

“Hmm. I see.” Chungwoo nodded again, but I could see that he was trying to hide his concern.

If it weren’t for the cameras, he would have been questioning us about whether we were sure. Ahyeon hadn’t noticed this, however, and simply continued to speak, sounding elated about their choice.

“I-I’m really looking forward to it! It’s going to suit us really well.”

Bae Sejin looked hesitant to speak up, but in the end, looked at the camera and said, “We think it’s going to turn out great.”

Chungwoo relaxed slowly as he carefully examined their faces, filled with confidence. Though he had no idea what it was, the two of them had seen a possibility in the song.

Then he glanced over at me. No doubt wanting a final reassurance, he asked, “And you’re sure about this, too?”

“It’s hard to be totally sure about any performance. We’ll give it our best though.”

He said nothing.

“Let’s all do our best!”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s go, TeSTAR!”

Chungwoo asked me three more times after the cameras were off if our performance was really going to turn out okay, and I nodded at him every time. Only then did he seem to relax somewhat, disappearing to make some coffee.

Maybe I shouldn’t have teased him like that. I’d meant to poke fun at him since he’d been the only one to come out looking good from the advertisements, but it had been more effective than I’d expected thanks to his strong sense of responsibility.

I’m actually more worried about something else. My concern was the new songs.

We’ll have to perform them live at the concert, in front of an audience who’s never even heard them. The title track and the b-side would be completely fresh and untested, and we needed to make sure the audience enjoyed both of them.

It would be important to maintain the crowd’s excitement throughout the concert.

“Hmm...” I considered for a moment, then came to a simple solution.

This is the part where money comes in handy. Thankfully, the agency had plenty of that.

***

While TeSTAR was busy preparing for their concert and new album, the date was finally revealed to the public.

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[Concert dates are out]

: March 30-31, both are weekend days.

(Announcement image)

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- Oh my god, it’s finally here!

- YES!

- So the rumors about them renting a venue were correct

- Please just let me get one ticket T_T

- A concert only nine months after their debut? This is nuts!

- I won’t ask for anything else, I just want to go to this concert T_T

- I’m already picturing myself waving my lightstick and singing the fan song

The fans were already aware that the agency had rented out a stadium and had been excited by what it might mean.

The moment their expectations became reality, TeSTAR’s fans screamed with joy and began to prepare for ticketing.

- Those of you Loviewers living outside the city should reserve a room first. If you don’t get on it fast enough, the prices will spike, and you won’t be able to find a room at all T_T

- How do I find the server time for ticketing?

- Is there anything we need to know for early fanclub reservations?

- I’m dying to nab a standing seat

Before they’d even really wrapped their head around the news, however, another announcement was made.

- Oh my gosh. Preorders are opening next month for the new album (link to announcement)

└ ?? Whut

└ That’s sudden

└ They’re announcing their April 1st comeback already?

└ It’s the day following the concert

└ A comeback right after the concert is over? It’s nice that there’s so much to look forward to, but... Uh...

The fans were already confused at this point, but that wasn’t the end of it.

- I found an article... New songs are going to be performed live at the concert (link)

└ Beg your pardon?

└ What in the world?

└ So they’re performing the songs before they even release the music videos?

└ My god, I’m going to lose it if I can’t get into the concert...

There was more.

- TeSTAR’s doing subunit performances at their first concert. They’re filming the process for WeTube, kind of like a reality show (interview link)

└ What!

└ Wait, this is too much to handle at once

└ So they’re making a reality show and preparing sub-unit performances?

└ Okay, I’m having a hard time processing all of this good news. T1 usually isn’t this hardworking.

The fans did their best to digest the news, but at the same time, they were certain of one thing.

The concert tickets are going to be insanely difficult to get our hands on! Amid all this bewilderment and excitement TeSTAR uploaded a new social media post.

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[We are finally having our first concert! >_< Will you all be coming to see us? T_T. We’re going to attempt to buy tickets of our own alongside the Loviewers!]

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If that wasn’t a challenge, then the fans didn’t know what was.