Chapter 129

Chapter 129

“Are there a lot of people?”

“Tons!” Eugene exclaimed.

“There’s still more than eight hours left until the performance begins, but there are already people here sitting and chatting!” Raebin said.

The two had gone outside the venue to check, pretending they needed to use the bathroom, and had returned to deliver their report with great excitement. The members were all covering their faces or taking deep breaths as they stood on stage.

“Phew...”

“So they’re going to hear us rehearse.”

This was true since we’d just climbed up on stage to begin our rehearsal. When performing on tour overseas, idols sometimes sold tickets that allowed fans to come in and watch the rehearsal, and I was relieved this wasn’t the case for us. If we had to do our first concert rehearsal in front of fans, some of the members would only be twice as nervous. Not that they weren’t nervous now, of course.

“Let’s do an amazing job. We practiced so hard, right? We should show them everything we prepared,” Chungwoo said.

“Yeah!” Eugene exclaimed.

“We really did practice a lot.” Bae Sejin was a little pale, perhaps thinking back to our many practice sessions.

It was pretty intense, to be honest. All concerns about stamina aside, I’d believed more than once that my lungs were about to give out. As a result, we’d gotten an exercise bike for the dorm, since everyone agreed that our personal training sessions at the gym just weren’t cutting it.

We’d had to remain cheerful for the camera while filming preparations for our sub-unit performances as well, so things had been extremely difficult.

Still, the day of the concert is finally here. I didn’t feel nervous and I had no regrets. I was totally prepared, and sure that the same held true for everyone else on our team.

“Yes. I think we can have faith in ourselves since we practiced so much,” Chungwoo said.

“Okay!”

It was as if pure determination was coursing through their veins that Big Sejin raised his hand.

“Why don’t we do our chant?”

“A chant?”

“You know the one!”

“Oh...”

The others seemed to realize what he was talking about, and before long we had our hands piled on top of each other.

“Let’s show ‘em, TeSTAR!”

“Let’s go!”

It was a phrase that inspired both embarrassment and cheer, but it was effective nonetheless.

“We’re starting with the opening, right?”

The rehearsal went smoothly. It wouldn’t be long until the empty audience seats would begin to fill.

***

The gymnasium was filled with milling crowds. Though the crowd had formed for many reasons, one of the major ones was that people were trying to purchase concert merchandise.

Yes! I bought one of everything! Park Moondae’s fansite master was waiting in line at the entrance, both hands laden with shopping bags—proof of a successful hunt. And all the items were of great quality, too! The set of glittering attachments, used to customize the lightstick, was particularly pretty. She’d seen on social media that these were the first things to sell out during the preorders, even though nobody had even seen the real product at that point.

It looks so much prettier than I imagined. Many fans had softened when it came to T1 of late since the company had shown exactly what a conglomerate was capable of. Everything they’d churned out lately was above average in quality, and thus some people were actually beginning to support T1. The fansite master reminded herself to stay true to herself, however.

I can’t let down my guard. It might very well come out on the concert DVD that the members had to do everything themselves in terms of planning once again. She couldn’t help feeling excited all the same.

They seem to have put a lot of effort into this! She was grinning broadly, unable to contain her happiness. The rush of dopamine she was feeling right now was only for those of them who were victorious in getting tickets. What was more, her seat was in zone eight on the second floor, the very same area Park Moondae had wanted to purchase within.

Moondae, I’m sitting in that section! She’d been planning to exchange tickets with someone who’d bought a standing seat, so her fancams would look better, but she’d decided zone eight was fate the moment she saw TeSTAR’s ticketing video.

I’ll just take more videos tomorrow! She was only able to think this way because she had a ticket for tomorrow’s concert as well.

“Excuse me, I have something for you.”

“Oh! Thank you!”

She accepted a snack and a small photocard from the Raebin fan sitting in the seat next to her. She chatted with the other girl, checking her social media every now and then, and before long it was almost time for the concert to begin. An announcement could be heard throughout the stadium.

“Phew...” She deftly pulled out her camera and hid it among her things, as the lights went down.

All talking ceased, and light poured from the enormous screen mounted over the stage. There was a humming sound, and footage appeared onscreen—seven people lying in a circle on a classroom floor. It was TeSTAR.

The crowd screamed as a video began to play. The camera zoomed in on each of the members’ faces as they opened their eyes. Soap bubbles drifted over their heads, and the members followed the bubbles, leaping through the classroom windows, which were allowing bright sunlight to stream inside.

The screen went black.

♬♪♩♪- ♬♪♬♪- ♪♩-

The stadium was dark again, and an elaborate variation of a familiar melody began to play. Suddenly the enormous room was filled with soap bubbles and the glow of glittering lightsticks.

As fantastical purple light rippled throughout the enormous room, Park Moondae began to sing the intro to “Magical Boys.”

I met you today... and I’ve been thinking of you all day.

Figures descended from the ceiling. All seven members had appeared scattered around the venue, suspended by wires. The idols began to spin and dance around the gymnasium, carried around by the supports.

But reality is breathing, all the time…

Seon Ahyeon flew over the fansite master’s head, singing his part.

Holy sh*t! People were screaming all around her.

Oh my god! She felt a light breeze after Seon Ahyeon had swept past, sending her hair fluttering.

She felt a chill.

Moondae! What about Moondae? Park Moondae was passing by the standing area not too far away.

I’ll be sitting in that zone tomorrow! She caught sight of his blond hair shifting with his movements on the screen. Park Moondae was smiling gently.

A fairy! Please fly by the same spot tomorrow! she screamed internally as she lifted her camera.

Cast a spell

TeSTAR gathered on the central stage during a short instrumental section, just prior to the second verse’s chorus. They began the choreography for the chorus after they shrugged free of the wires.

The accessories and decorative trims attached to their school uniforms, much fancier than they had been in the music video, glittered under the lights. There was barely any pause as the backing track slid immediately into the next song. It was “Airplane,” the title track from their second promotional cycle.

My heart is trembling. I need to let it all fly

TeSTAR had completed the opening of their concert on wires and already performed both of their title tracks in the first performance of the night.

My god! It was obvious they had prioritized grabbing the audience’s attention immediately, regardless of what was to come.

However, they had succeeded—that much was indisputable. As hit after hit played, the audience was filled with adrenaline, and rendered incapable of worrying about what the rest of the concert had in store for them.

TeSTAR’s first concert had begun.

***

After singing a quiet ballad from their album Choose Your Side, TeSTAR took a break from singing to address the audience, chatting amongst themselves light-heartedly.

“Phew. Did you enjoy the opening?”

The crowd screamed “yes” in response to the slightly echoing question. Ryu Chungwoo, who was speaking, seemed slightly taken aback by their enthusiastic response. But he soon laughed and nodded.

He’s pretty cute, the more I look at him. The fansite master’s eyes and camera were trained on Park Moondae even as she made this generous evaluation of the group’s leader.

Park Moondae handed his water bottle to Seon Ahyeon, who was standing next to him. He waved at the audience gently.

“Hey, Loviewers! It’s me... Moondae. I hope you all have a great time today!”

So cute! It was obvious he’d tried to mimic the way he often introduced himself on social media. He seemed pretty embarrassed by the attempt, however, and his ears were bright red.

Our puppy had to work up the courage! She was nearly wailing even as she held the camera steady when she noticed someone was sobbing in the seat next to her.

“He’s so cute...”

She was sure the girl next to her was a fan of Kim Raebin though. It just went to show how adorable Moondae was, so she decided to accept the girl’s reaction as positive.

“I’m sure you all saw us preparing for this particular stage!”

“It’s our first subunit performance!”

The members were tense, but they handled talking to the crowd just fine, the excitement clear on their faces.

“Which team is going first, you ask? Well... that’s a secret!”

“A secret!”

There was some playful booing from the fans and TeSTAR exchanged a few more joking comments before they prepared to step down from the stage.

“Is everybody ready? Let’s get hype for the guys who’ll be coming on stage next!”

“You’ll see who it is soon!”

TeSTAR scampered off backstage, waving. Once they’d disappeared, the lights went out again and another video began to play.

There was much fanfare as Cha Eugene and Big Sejin peeked out onscreen.

These two are performing first? The fansite master had assumed that this sub-unit would perform later, as they would surely be focused on dancing. And their group included Cha Eugene, of all people—the stage crusher, the personal fan generator!

Oh, whatever. It’s not Moondae, so it doesn’t matter! She shrugged and leaned back in her seat. Since Moondae wasn’t performing, she was just planning on relaxing.

Cha Eugene’s going to kill it... and Sejin will do great, too, I’m sure. Based on what she remembered watching in the reality episodes on WeTube, they were doing a jazz and R&B track that was as old as it was famous.

The cute video of them laughing together soon came to an end.

“So our concept is... What was it again, Eugene?”

“Outlaws of the Wild West!”

With that, the screen went black. When it came back to life, it showed an empty desert.

Huh? It looked like a scene from a Western movie.

Bam bam bam barabarararabam

An intro began, the saxophone playing accompanied by a much more upbeat rhythm than was in the original song. Something appeared onscreen.

[WANTED]

[$100,000,000]

It was a wanted poster. Silly cartoon caricatures of the two members were slapped onto the posters, the images accompanied by funny sound effects.

Who’s next?

Cha Eugene’s voice sang, sharply intruding on the soundscape with a slight nasal twang.

The two members jumped out from opposite ends of the central stage and rushed toward each other. They executed a series of smooth dance moves, falling to the stage before surging to their feet again as if by magic, turning to look over their shoulders at each other with their backs turned.

Both of the tall members wore leather pants, loose shirts, tight vests, and cowboy hats tilted at an angle. Cha Eugene’s outfit was light brown, while Big Sejin’s was dark.

Now, you have to know

What is right d’oh

What is left

They both threw aside their hats. Big Sejin’s vocals were the stand out between the two of them, as he sang along to the upbeat pop song, both of them grinning playfully. Back-up dancers appeared behind them. Then they each removed a coiled-up length of rope from their belts.

The following dance was aggressive, taking up the entirety of the stage. Cha Eugene and Big Sejin used their feet and the rope in odd, energetic movements to entangle the dancers one by one and lay them flat on the stage floor.

Their moves shared little in common with the dancers’ choreography, but they were also synchronized with each other—there was a single part in each measure where their actions aligned perfectly. This meant the performance was smooth and uniform—a jaw-dropping feat.

Take my gun and

Bababababa-by say

Goodbye!

The two tore off their vests and threw them aside as the chorus began, revealing a previously hidden aspect of their stage outfits. They were wearing gun holsters under their vests.

Oh my—

They aimed at each other with one hand as they continued to dance. Their moves slid from one to the next, the two of them constantly switching positions but always returning to the same spot. The whole performance seemed like something you’d see in a musical. Because one hand was occupied with holding the gun, the other parts of their body moved with even more passion to compensate.

The song finally ended as they each slapped the other’s gun away.

Say goooodbye—

As the drums and saxophone went nuts, the two tipped their missing hats at the audience and slowly sank beneath the stage.

Yee haw!

Before this last line of the song was even heard, the stadium had already erupted in screams.

Good god. Park Moondae’s fansite master tried to close her open mouth since her jaw had gone slack. The performance had been so good that she’d forgotten she’d wanted to watch it with a critical eye.

That was amazing… It had been a powerful performance, containing all the elements that the audience would expect from a concept inspired by the outlaws of the Wild West.

Maybe I’ll upload a cut from this performance on April Fools Day since fansites are allowed to upload content about different members then. She tried to remain calm as she realized that she’d got a great shot of them ripping off their vests. Just like her, the majority of the audience was left with a strong impression of the first sub-unit stage.

It wasn’t one member or the other that they remembered necessarily, but the stage itself. Big Sejin had gotten his wish.

***

Their performance was over pretty quickly. I was waiting after I’d changed into my next outfit and could feel the cheers rumbling through me as I waited below the stage.

“S-sounds like th-those two did a g-good job!” Ahyeon said, smiling brightly.

I nodded.

Big Sejin probably did great. I hadn’t really been worried about him, since I’d heard exactly why that particular song had been selected after coming out of the shower a few days ago.

“Want to hear something interesting, Moondae?”

“What?”

“I honed my basic skills using that song ever since I was a trainee. I danced to it whenever I practiced alone.”

“How long have you been doing that?”

“Well, I don’t know... Eight years? Haha.”

Simply put, Cha Eugene was performing a song that Big Sejin had been practicing for eight years. How much time someone had spent practicing a song wasn’t always indicative of how well they could perform it, but knowing what I did about Big Sejin, he had probably figured out every single useful element of it to utilize in his performance.

Furthermore, he’d probably suggested only the elements that he was good at when devising the choreography—which made the outcome obvious to me.

The performance turned out great, and exactly how Big Sejin wanted it to. Big Sejin had done one more thing to ensure his success.

There are no solo parts. Neither of them ever did anything alone in the choreography, doing every single part in total unison. And in every move they performed together, Big Sejin had made sure that Cha Eugene wasn’t able to steal all the attention—the composition was such that watching them both was what made the performance complete. None of that would have been possible in the first place if Big Sejin weren’t good enough to keep up, but he was good. I was pretty sure his strategy had worked.

He’s sharp, that one. I told myself. Of course, I now had no more time to waste thinking about the other’s sub-unit performance.

“O-ours is s-second. Let’s d-do our best!”

It was my turn.