Chapter 138

Chapter 138

When she clicked on the music video, it was the title rather than the five-second ad that she noticed first.

[TeSTAR | Midnight, and After (00:01) | Official MV]

[22,147,586 views]

Whoa. Twenty-two million! It had been twenty million not all that long ago, and the view count was still increasing rapidly even though it had been a week since its release. It had reached ten million views in a record-breaking amount of time for TeSTAR.

I mean, I’m watching it again, aren’t I? The graduate student shrugged, thinking to herself that it was not surprising. This music video was different from TeSTAR’s earlier ones.

“Oh, it’s starting!”

The ad ended and the video began to play.

An antique phonograph covered in dust and cobwebs appeared. A pale hand came from the corner of the shot and set the needle on the record.

The cobwebs broke apart, and a slow, cracking melody began to play. It was lo-fi jazz, the quality low on purpose. The romantic, sad notes of a piano came from the phonograph.

The scene shifted to show the front entrance of a grandiose mansion. It was old, but there were still traces of luxury and it cut an impressive image within the video. The camera focused on seven figures sitting in formation under a glowing, dusty chandelier.

The singing began.

Time slowly sinks

into the deep night

I don’t want to leave it

It’s quiet now,

no songs or dreams

I want you to forget them all

This your midnight

The seven began to dance, their movements reminiscent of both modern dance and a waltz. It was a graceful and complicated choreography, utilizing their entire bodies and often supporting each other as they moved.

Their long sleeves fluttered with their movements. There was nothing repetitive, easy to memorize, or easy to mimic—the sole purpose of the dance was to hold the viewer spellbound. The structured motions continued for a time under the glow of the chandelier.

The clock is ticking, sending its invite

But it can’t pull me away, it never can

I’m here, your midnight

This is your midnight

The video faded from an old but luxurious entrance to a neat study being flooded with rain, then to a vast dinner table covered in rusted bird cages, and finally to a bathroom filled with red candles. Each time, their outfits and hair changed in style and color to match the backdrop perfectly.

The visuals were jaw-dropping. There was now a bedroom with a blue and gold butterfly fluttering about. Their endlessly changing outfits, a variety of fancy suits, finally reached their final form. It was a classic light-weight shirt.

Dark brown cranks could be seen protruding from between their shoulder blades.

Midnight, it spreads

The disrupted focus

Shaking, squeezing time with dread

The choreography exploded into more energetic movements as the final chorus began. The butterflies scattered and fluttered about whenever the formation changed, landing on the cranks once they’d settled.

The shadows cast by their wings on the floor elongated.

Midnight, it overflows

Its shape distorted

Torn, bringing a new day as it goes

There were no cutscenes with hidden meanings, acting, or a prominent story. The video consisted only of the choreography and close-up shots of whoever was singing, and it mesmerized the viewers from beginning to end. The music video was an amazing combination of visual beauty and a song that was a perfect companion to the video.

It’s when I met you

Midnight

There were no more lyrics from this point on. All sounds ceased for a moment, and the final part of the accompaniment resumed quietly. As the piano and contrabass intertwined, the hand from the start of the video reappeared. But this time, the camera followed the arm up to reveal the person’s face.

The pale hand belonged to Seon Ahyeon. Stepping out of the formation, Seon Ahyeon went to a grandfather clock on the other side of the living room. He tore free the lower right wing of a preserved butterfly that was hung above it.

There was a horizontal crack in the glass that had been hidden by the wing.

[00:01]

Words written in flowing cursive appeared above the clock, and the video came to an end.

Phew! It was lovely, no matter how many times she re-watched it. Unable to contain her grin, she went back to the last verse where there was a closeup of Moondae. His flushed face as he looked slightly up while a blue butterfly fluttered its wings near his temple was a sight to behold. There was also another lovely detail in this scene.

He’s wearing a choker! Though the song itself and the vibes were completely different, the accessory reminded her of the second team battle on Idol Inc., the first time she’d seen Park Moondae. This detail only made her like it more.

She took another screen capture of this part, even though she’d already done so.

This music video is amazing! And the song is so good! There were no puzzles or mysteries to solve. It was just four minutes of eye candy and a song that was easy on the ears. The new release was definitely her cup of tea.

This simplicity was reflected in the thumbnail itself—since releasing “Magical Boys,” TeSTAR had always used artistic thumbnails, including hands, scenery, or significant props both to be suggestive and for narrative purposes. But this time there was only a close-up of one of the member’s upper bodies—Kim Raebin.

“Hmm...”

She was disappointed it wasn’t Moondae, and it just so happened that fans hadn’t had a good first impression of Kim Raebin. She found the choice to use him in the thumbnail a little odd. The picture itself, however, was beautiful.

Raebin is certainly very handsome... In the picture he was slightly sweaty, wearing a choker laced closed around his neck with a blue butterfly hovering under his chin. It was an impressive image. He was perfectly suited to the new song as well.

The concept was both relaxed and luxurious, so the decadent-feeling Kim Raebin was well-suited to it. The music video itself focused entirely on overwhelming the viewer’s senses, paying no mind to the storyline in TeSTAR’s existing universe.

Oh, it’s playing another video. While she was lost in thought for a moment, the video ended and the app was auto-playing a related video. It was the first time they’d performed this same song at the concert.

The crowd was screaming so loudly that the singing was hard to hear.

Oh right! All the videos came out like this! She thought, recalling and laughing to herself. Her friend, the fansite master, had sent her a link to the fancam that she’d filmed. That one had cleanly edited audio, making the graduate student forget how loud it had been in reality.

According to her friend, the concept photos that had been revealed right before the concert had contained no clues about the new song at all, adding to the crowd’s excitement.

Come to think of it, the photos they released were just pretty, but that was it. TeSTAR and their agency had purposefully made the concept photos and teaser slightly boring so the real thing would make a more dramatic impact the first time the song was revealed—this had been Park Moondae’s idea.

They’d just worn nice suits and taken the pictures posed in front of the mansion, posting the best ones as concept photos.

- I heard that TSuns finally did something without a strong concept

└ Yeah, they’re no fun anymore

└ They’re still pretty, though. That’s good enough for me

- I’m a little disappointed, to be honest

- Maybe they’re taking a breather? This is a full album, so they probably had a lot of work to do, and then there was also the concert. I guess they’re just slowing down a little bit

└ That’s a lot of wishful thinking on your part

- They’ve lost their touch

Though the graduate student hadn’t been aware, these were the sort of comments a lot of people were making secretly. The moment they performed the song at the concert, however, everything had changed.

Not only that, but TeSTAR had decided that the concert outfits should be a little dramatic and had appeared on stage wearing real cranks mounted on their backs, with butterfly props that resembled tails trailing behind them.

With all the money that had been put into the concert, the outfits didn’t look strange even when they’d been so out there.

- TSuns are serious about their concepts, aren’t they?

- Who came up with the corseted chokers and shirts? They deserve a raise

- ♡Butterfly boys, I love it♡ The school theme is getting old now. I’m fully on board with this

- I’m falling in love all over again

- Male idols look best in sexy outfits

Exclusive photos could be found in the album and select ones had been posted to their social media, all of the pictures perfect. But the graduate student didn’t need to know anything about the careful planning that had been involved. She was simply happy.

Right. I want to watch Moondae’s fancam as well! She typed in a search query with excitement and found a fancam that focused on Park Moondae as he performed the new song on a music show. His hair was styled in a way that left only half his forehead visible, and his stage costume was loose. He was stunning.

He looks amazing with blond hair! She watched the video happily and then scrolled down to the comments. She knew from experience that the top comments would all be in English, but it was still nice to find a couple of Korean ones interspersed throughout. Seeing everyone freaking out in the comments made her want to reply. She hummed happily and scrolled down until she found some in Korean.

They weren’t what she’d been expecting to see, however.

- Go Park Moondae! I like how you’re being so strong

- Let’s go, Moondae! I hope things aren’t too difficult for you T_T

Something didn’t feel right. TeSTAR’s most recent concept was not only neat and graceful, but it also bordered on sexy. Every element had an artistic flair. And Park Moondae was an extraordinary idol who handled the concept perfectly.

Why are they saying things like this instead of praising the performance? The comments were well-meaning, of course, and not necessarily unpleasant, but they did put a damper on her excitement.

“Hmm.”

She continued scrolling down. To her relief, she soon found the perfect comment, the exact sentiment she’d been looking for, and gave it a like.

- The world blinks in and out of view whenever Moondae blinks his eyes. This is what you call a Moondae eclipse!

This is it! She grinned to herself, happy. Though she soon forgot her unease, she thought she could now understand why her friend was so anxious as of late.

People seem more interested in the fact that Moondae is nice, instead of being into Moondae himself... This wasn’t true of everyone, of course, but it wasn’t great that some people were thinking this way.

I just want to see him on the variety show already. She watched the sub-unit prep videos and fancams of the sub-unit stages from the concert whenever she had the time, waiting eagerly for the variety show to air.

The day Saturday Party was set to air finally came around. She nearly choked when Park Moondae and Big Sejin appeared.

“Whoa!”

They were wearing a children’s costume... pink fairy wings. They began dancing to the music after climbing up on a small stage.

“Dance wizards! Stocks are soaring high! Two of TeSTAR’s bright stars have come down to earth today!”

They looked both cute and handsome in their suspenders, but it was the pink wings that seized everybody’s attention. There were captions as well.

“They seem ready to fly into the sky at any moment…”

“A dreamy dance!”

“Are they fairies or humans?”

Those were the DJ’s comments.

Why... Why are they wearing wings? The graduate student wondered, staring at the screen with confusion. Then it hit her.

“Oh! Butterflies!”

They seemed aware that the fans had given the new song the nickname of Butterfly Boys.

That’s adorable! It was intended to just be a funny way to promote the album, but it made the fans happy nonetheless. She laughed as she turned up the volume.

As it happened, TeSTAR happened to be doing the same thing.

***

“Hahaha!”

“A-ahem!”

The members had gathered in the living room, insisting they should watch the Saturday Gala episode together. They were laughing loudly.

This is going just as I thought it would. It was a bit embarrassing, but I’d been through too many strange experiences by now to lose my composure.

“Is it that funny?”

“Yes!” Eugene replied. Bae Sejin doubled over, finding even this response hilarious.

I should be patient with them... I resisted the urge to even look at the remote. When me and Big Sejin began dancing around the DJ’s booth onscreen, however, I reached my limit.

On the TV, my voice rang out loud and clear as I shouted,

“Wow! It’s the greatest emcee in the country!”

I pushed the mute button.

“Huh?”

“Hey now, why’d you do that?”

“It’s fun, Moondae! It’s okay!”

It wasn’t okay. I stared wryly at the screen. The second half of this episode... was going to be rough.