Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Accompanied by applause from the audience, a microphone appeared in front of the May Bridegroom hologram.

It was on a microphone stand made of marble—something that wasn’t likely to exist in real life—which was covered in colorful flowering vines and white lace. The May Bridegroom gave a polite bow and took the microphone on the stand with both gloved hands.

[“Let’s find out what the May Bridegroom has got in store for us!”]

The high schooler, once he’d recovered from the shock of seeing a bouquet in place of his head, slapped the sole of his foot.

“So over-the-top.”

He didn’t really like the look himself—it seemed to be more catered to girls. The slightly strange and spooky undercurrent that accompanied the innocence of a wedding outfit, however, was intriguing.

Dandies are always terrible singers. He did his best to deny how intrigued he was by the character and stared at the screen.

The music had begun. Two pianos were playing soft notes, and they were accompanied by cheerful brass instruments and a drum.

It’s the most beautiful of emotions

I hand you my heart, my devotion

“Huh?”

It was a classic proposal song. The first round, which consisted of ten singers, always featured songs that best matched their avatar. This song selection was fairly predictable because of this, but there was one thing viewers probably hadn’t expected.

This person’s singing voice was really good.

It’s a May full of flowers

Our youth blooms

As my heart goodness dowers

I offer you my love

His voice was neat, almost innocent, and capable of producing low, rich tones. The song didn’t require incredibly high notes or techniques that would normally give listeners shivers, but his voice suited the song to a tee. It was as though it had been written just for him.

When you hear of love

I want you to think about me

I’ll love only you

Today and tomorrow, you see

The rendition was flawless and beautiful, something listeners could listen to forever if allowed. Because the preliminary round only gave each contestant a minute and thirty seconds, the song ended just as it was about to get to the good part.

[※The notes of a sweet proposal※]

The May Bridegroom finished the song to thunderous applause and excited screen captions, then bowed politely once more.

“Whoa.”

He’s not bad. The high schooler nodded to himself. Whoever this was, they were probably a singer by trade, not an actor or a model.

A ballad singer, maybe? His singing ability wasn’t ground-breaking, but he would probably pass the first round easily.

[“The resonance of the notes… I detect considerable experience.”]

[“What a beautiful voice!”]

[“I’m willing to bet he’s a singer.”]

The musicians who’d been invited to be judges on the show made comments, but the May Bridegroom didn’t react. He just stood there quietly, cocking his head whenever he was asked a question—or rather, his bouquet.

“Damn it, that concept is so cringe.” The high schooler shuddered, wondering if this guy was an old-fashioned singer who often appeared on variety shows. The way they moved and the mood they’d created on stage was appealing, however, and he’d found himself sucked in by the performance embarrassingly enough.

[“Thank you for that wonderful performance!”]

The May Bridegroom faded from sight once the judges were done speaking. The other performances were all pretty average, except one or two. This meant the list of contestants who made it to the main round, which was announced after an ad break, wasn’t all that surprising.

[“And the third singer to move on to the main round is... the May Bridegroom!”]

Saw that coming. The high schooler marveled at his own perceptiveness. He’d guessed all six contestants except for one.

I’m amazing. Up till this point, he wasn’t expecting anything much from the May Bridegroom in his next performance, assuming he’d already seen everything the singer was capable of.

I’ll bet a thousand won that he’s banking on his pretty voice carrying him through. It was only moments later that his hypothetical one thousand won vanished into thin air.

[※Oh my god!※]

“...?!”

His mouth fell open. There were a few reasons for this reaction. The main round, consisting of six contestants, had fixed song selections. The contestants had all chosen one of the three songs pre-selected by the production team and practiced it in preparation for the main round.

This made it fun to see which singers chose which song, and it was easy to make comparisons between those who chose the same one. This time, however, an unexpected development had unfolded—no less than four people had chosen the same track—a nineties ballad classic titled “Winter Night.” The May Bridegroom had failed to escape the odds. It turned out that he’d also selected this song.

With four contestants singing the same song, there was bound to be some overlap in terms of the arrangement. The May Bridegroom managed to cleverly sidestep this obstacle, however.

Drunk on the early morning light

I sing into the sky

But the winter night hasn’t changed

The snowy wind still blows by

The original song was heavy with the sadness of a relationship at its end, but he had flipped the script and turned it into a musical-style, classy song accompanied by an orchestra. It was now determined rather than defeated.

This meant the notes were extremely high during the climax of the track.

When the teary nights pass on by

And the glaring morning’s return

I’ll be back at the window side

Looking for the sun

Notes that were supposed to drop in pitch had been altered so they now reached dizzying heights. It contrasted greatly with the first performance, which had been affectionate and subdued, shocking listeners with a perfect storm of pitch and steady vocals. On a live stage such as this, this display of vocal proficiency had its intended effect.

The cheering and applause that filled the studio were markedly louder than they’d been after the first performance. Had he inserted high notes in the original, it would have ruined the impact of the song. They now gave viewers chills thanks to the grandiose arrangement. This singer had just beaten three of the other contestants in one fell swoop.

“Holy sh*t,” the high schooler said out loud. He’d assumed that this contestant had to be a singer with a dead career who only appeared on variety shows. Now, however, they appeared to be a legitimate artist who was severely underrated.

Even if we take audio editing into account, this guy has to be top-tier. At this rate, he had to give the May Bridegroom kudos despite the cringey avatar.

He nodded, beginning to mentally form a more detailed guess—the May Bridegroom was likely an indie singer obsessed with his art or some older guy who wanted to look cool by appearing on a show like this. As he was thinking this he noticed someone had entered the room—his older biological sibling.

“What are you doing?”

His sister, Kim Raebin’s fan, was staring at the TV with a slack jaw. It seemed she’d heard the May Bridegroom singing in passing, or run out of her room after overhearing the stunning vocals. The high schooler suddenly felt a rush of pride.

“Heh! Do you see this? Now that’s what you call a singer!”

It had been a while since they’d had any common ground. It made him happy. His sister could see the singer’s true talent, looking beyond those gaunt male idols she loved who were always dancing to a tune.

Kim Raebin’s fan shouted, “That’s Moondae!”

Her brother couldn’t believe his ears for a moment. Park Moondae was one of the idols that his sister was obsessed with!

“Don’t be absurd. He can’t sing like that, can he?”

“That’s obviously Moondae, you idiot!”

“F*ck, you’re so embarrassing!”

They began to scream back and forth, wagging their fingers at each other. It just so happened that similar exchanges were taking place all over the internet as well.

***

“Have a great day, Moondae!”

“Thank you.”

I was on my way home from this week’s therapy session. Ahyeon was filming a cosmetic advertisement, so he’d texted me and already left for the set.

[Moondae, I felt bad that I couldn’t watch yesterday’s episode of Bespoke Singer because I had other items on my schedule. I’ve got some things to do today as well, so I won’t be able to see it until later. I’ll make time to see it no matter what [...] (Show more)]

Long-winded as always. His text was almost the length of a letter. I wrote out an appropriate reply, telling him that it was really all right and that he should get some rest.

Come to think of it, maybe now is a good time. I was thinking that I should check out my performances as the May Bridegroom. Clips would have gone up on the internet immediately after the show aired last night, so there should be plenty of comments at this point.

I’ll take a look now.

I navigated to WeTube.

[Looking for a bride. | May Bridegroom - “A Day in May” | Bespoke Singer preliminary round | 0611202X]

Thankfully, both performances had quite a lot of views.

I thought the first one might not have gotten as many. The first song I’d performed had been a rather subdued one. It seemed, however, that there were plenty of people who were very interested in my avatar.

- F*ck! The bouquet head is damn good

- The flowers-for-a-head thing is frankly a little scary, but the moment I heard the singing I could picture the guy as some super handsome dude

- Thanks, I accept your proposal. Can I have an address for the wedding hall?

- Look at these people so obsessed with the avatar LOL. How do you find flowers cute or handsome?

- A white suit and a veil? A microphone stand with flowers on it? That combination guarantees this guy is handsome. This is fact

“Well...”

Both songs had been really well suited to the avatar, and I could see that some people were really into it.

If they thought it was fun, that’s great. I shrugged and moved on to the next video. The comments on the “Winter Night” video, from the main round, went something like this.

- Holy sh*t he’s good. What an eargasm

- I’ve had this on repeat all day. Please release a proper recording T_T

- My money’s on this guy winning next week!

- I wonder who this is? The way he moves suggests he’s super good-looking... I’m looking forward to finding out...

- The head thing is weird, but his singing is top-class

- His singing could bring my dead wife back from the grave

The vibe of some of these later comments seemed to suggest that older audiences had really enjoyed it. Maybe because I’d arranged it in a vintage style. In any case, most of the comments were positive and excited.

I straightened up from where I’d been sitting slumped over.

I guess my strategy worked out. I’d taken into consideration that the two performances would be included in the same episode.

That means both songs helped form their first impression of me. The better performance had to be second. Even if the first one was lackluster, the audience would get to see the second pretty quickly after. That was why I’d focused on building character in the first, then performed the more impressive arrangement last.

Good thing it worked. I grinned. There was a bit of conflict in the comments, however, when I sorted them by latest. The most relevant ones went something like this.

- I think that’s Park Moondae...

- He’s a good singer, but I don’t think that’s him. His tone is different!

- You idiots. When idols appear on shows like this, they come up with comedic characters to hide the fact they’re idols. This avatar is meant to look cool, which means he’s not an idol. Got it?

└ Maybe that’s what he was expecting people to think?

└ I mean, there are plenty of idols who are great at singing... Hmm. The Park Moondae that I remember from Idol Inc. wasn’t this good

└ Check out his performance on that American TV show. He’s amazing. I think it’s him (link)

└ Wow, that’s good. But the voice is different. The Bridegroom is probably someone else.

Those who suspected that it was Park Moondae singing were actually the minority. Because it was pretty well known at this point that Park Moondae was a good singer, at least they weren’t mocking him or anything.

“Hmm.”

This wasn’t what I’d been going for. In truth, I hadn’t thought that so few people would believe that the May Bridegroom was Park Moondae. Of course, I had tried to make my voice sound a little different from usual to keep people guessing and add to the fun and tension. I’d used slightly different vocal techniques compared to when I was singing in TeSTAR as well.

But I was just trying to confuse them a little. That was all. I’d fully believed that those who’d heard Park Moondae sing often would see right through the disguise. However, perhaps because the avatar was too striking the public seemed firmly convinced otherwise.

Maybe I should have chosen the cat that walks on two legs. I deeply regretted not choosing the cat thief that had been on my list of candidates even now, but pushed that thought aside.

I like this one better. In truth, I’d taken some of the advice my therapist had given me and tried to apply it.

“Why don’t you practice choosing what you want, rather than what you think is objectively better? Even if it’s only a couple times per week.”

“This week’s homework is for you to write a list of the things you like.”

The advice had been given to me by a professional, so I’d implemented it in a pretty big way.

This doesn’t have much connection to my current status abnormality, so it should be fine. Human limbs looked more natural on the avatar than feline ones anyway.

And people seem to like it, too. I shrugged, getting out of the van in front of the dorm, and going inside.

The avatar profiles will be revealed next week. I read through my profile, which I’d completed in advance, and checked that there wasn’t anything that needed revising. As I did this, I went in through the dorm’s front door.

Chungwoo, who’d been sitting in the living room, greeted me.

“Hey.”

“Hey, Chungwoo.”

“I got some ice cream. It’s in the freezer. Have some,” he said easily, pointing at the fridge. Then he got up from where he’d been sitting in front of the sofa and turned to leave the room. I understood what he was doing right away.

Are you making yourself scarce for my sake? He was leaving because I might find it uncomfortable to be in the living room with him still there.

Oh, man... I felt my shoulders droop for some reason, and the last of the repulsion I felt for him fell away like a knot coming undone. I opened the door to the freezer and called to him.

“You should have one too. What flavor would you like?”

“Oh... I should?”

“Yes.”

Chungwoo sat on the edge of the sofa and grinned. “I’ll have an orange one, then.”

Someone rushed up from behind us excitedly.

“I want one, too!”

Where did you come from? Eugene’s grammar didn’t sound as awkward when he was eager to eat. I tossed him a popsicle and sat on the sofa. We watched a rerun of Bespoke Singer together.

“Your head is made of flowers! That’s cool!”

“Thanks.”

“You’re really good at singing, Moondae”

“Nah, I’m not that good.” I suddenly didn’t feel as uncomfortable around him.

The moment both my performances were over, Chungwoo asked, “You shot the next episode today, right?”

“Yes.”

“How was it?’

“It was... fun.” I grinned. I was actually looking forward to next week’s episode quite a lot.