Chapter 312

Chapter 312

The two days of concerts came to a successful end.

- Please, we need moar

- Excuse me you beautiful bastards, how can you only do two days after putting together something so incredible? (positive, but not really)

- Everyone, you have to buy the VOD when it releases. Just buy it. Trust me

The overwhelming majority of the audience had liked what they saw. The concert, for one, had been fun and novel. It had been a theatrical concert that included a flowing story.

And that we’re good performers probably helped us quite a bit in pulling it off. I had the status window to reassure me of that, so there had been no need for caution on that front. Our performances had been excellent.

Some people were disappointed with the lack of perceived closeness and communication, but any complaints had died down as soon as we had our W Live stream as planned.

[(Celebrate!) TeSTAR noraebang now ☞OPEN☜]

We hadn’t only talked about behind-the-scenes concert stuff—we’d also taken song requests from the audience and performed them like we were in a noraebang. It had done a number on our throats… but it had been worth it.

Good. I gulped down the remainder of the throat-soothing bellflower and pear juice I’d been drinking. A cold wind was blowing outside.

The members who had gone out were probably having a tough time.

“Moondae, are you sure you don’t want to come?”

Big Sejin had kept asking right up until they’d left, but in the end, he’d left as well, determined to enjoy his single-day vacation. I didn’t blame him. It was early November, a time period we were supposed to spend honing our performances for the end-of-the-year shows. Ergo, we could not expect another day of rest until well into next year.

Actually, we’re bound to be very busy until February. The long months of hard work would end with the awards ceremonies and a tour. The staff hadn’t contacted us much today, since they were probably busy as all hell. Given the special format of the concert, it was difficult to pull off in the usual concert venues we performed in. They were probably assiduously modifying the plans to fit each venue, incorporating more standard concert elements where the complex elements weren’t possible.

It’s a busy time. Today would be the last break I would get in a while, so I should probably set aside all worries and rest.

My phone vibrated.

[VTIC Cheongryeo: (picture)]

[VTIC Cheongryeo: How are you?]

I stared at the screen.

I’m pretty sure we’re not friends. Nothing good had ever come of him getting in touch with me while I was on vacation, so ignoring him was my best bet. The attached image, however, changed my mind. I’d expected another dog photo, but it was actually a screen capture of an internet article.

[“The Magical Boys who fight villains with music!” TeSTAR appears on T-Holic’s Show Business]

So he’s trying to provoke me, huh?

I replied to his messages.

[Yes. I’ve been working hard. The photo you sent me—so many people were so amused by it, I’ve come to just accept it]

People had liked what they’d seen, and our appearance on the show had been a rousing success. What did it matter what they called us? I wasn’t just trying to justify things to myself. People were still talking about our episode online. We were the hottest male idols in the country this year, beyond any doubt.

We did not make a single mistake this year. Everything went perfectly. We hadn’t taken any hits in terms of performance, popularity, or buzz. One of the awards ceremonies affiliated with T1 was almost certain to give us a daesang, at the very least.

Is this guy upset by that?

A response arrived immediately.

[VTIC Cheongryeo: I see. I was going to say it suits your group perfectly :)]

Son of a b*tch, is he trying to insult us? So you think you made up for everything you did by cooperating with Goldie #2, is that it? I decided I preferred the dog photos. Briefly wondering if I should just turn off my phone, I was interrupted by a phone call coming through before I’d even responded to the text.

[VTIC Cheongryeo]

“…?”

What the hell does he want? Since there was information to be gleaned from his nonsense, I answered the call.

“What is it?” I asked.

He spoke calmly. “Hmm… I was wondering if you had anything to say to me.”

“What?”

The hell?

There was a brief silence, then he said in a slightly disappointed tone, “So not yet, then?”

“Not yet?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just talking to myself. I’m curious about how you’re doing, is all.”

I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.

“As I said, I’m doing fine.” Surely this didn’t mean he’d set a trap for me, and he was waiting for it to explode in my face? I decided to just ask him outright. “Are you expecting something to happen?”

“Hmm?”

“You said ‘not yet?’”

A quiet laugh could be heard through the phone speaker. “Oh, it’s nothing. Really. I was just wondering if you’d returned to Korea yet.”

TeSTAR had gone overseas for a short item on their schedule last week, that much was true, but Cheongryeo sounded as though he was just trying to distract from his original intentions. There was no sign that he was up to anything, however, so I decided to let it go for now.

“We’re back in the country, you see.”

Is that so?

“You should make an appearance on T-Holic’s variety show while you’re here. I’d recommend it.”

I was curious about what they’d do with a group as boring as VTIC.

He simply responded in a drawl, “Oh, them…” His tone suggested he did not have a lot of respect for them, and his expression would have said as much if this hadn’t been a phone call. “They’re survivors. I’ve often found myself impressed by the way they keep bouncing back, even after something bad happens…”

This meant he had done all he could to wipe them out, but had failed in the end.

I summarized tersely, “The same can be said of you.”

“Is that so? Has it turned out that way?”

I had no idea why he seemed amused, but I found his glee annoying.

“In any case, thanks for the recommendation. I have no interest in being on that show, though.”

“No problem.”

He seemed calm.

He doesn’t seem worried, even if he loses one of the daesang categories. That was a good thing. It was less likely the bastard would try to go behind my back and ambush me when I was least expecting it.

Cheongryeo ended the call with laughter clear in his voice. “See you at the awards ceremonies, then.”

“All right.”

This ended up being exactly what happened.

The next time I saw Cheongryeo, we were at an awards ceremony hosted by a large music chart organization—the last one that was held that month.

***

“Let’s show ‘em, TeSTAR… We can, right?”

“Of course!”

“Haha!”

The members were ready and waiting in our dressing room for the awards ceremony to start, and they seemed equal parts excited and tense. Frankly, if there was anyone who didn’t expect that we would win an award at this point in time, it would be very strange. I hadn’t expected the others to already be breaking out the champagne, though.

“Now, how about a toast?”

“Yeah! Cheers!” Eugene shouted in English.

They’d cracked open the alcohol-free champagne provided by the catering service. They were behaving like young students about to take their college entrance exams.

Well… The vibes are good.

Chungwoo smiled, pointing at one of the members from where he stood in the midst of the cheery members. “It looks like Sejin has something to say. How about you do a toast for us?”

“M-me?”

“Yeah.”

“Ooh!” Big Sejin said.

Bae Sejin’s face went red, but his temper didn’t flare. “Ahem. In that case…” He cleared his throat a few times, then spoke in a serious voice. “Good work this year… and regardless of the results, have no doubts about how hard we worked!”

It was a surprisingly good toast, which was probably why Chungwoo had picked him.

I guess Bae Sejin planned for this.

“Wow…”

“I-I agree with you!”

“How touching!”

The vibes were immaculate.

Big Sejin didn’t complain, either, holding out his hand. “Here’s to next year being another great year! We should do our official chant, guys!”

“Okay!”

“Great!”

The members stood in a circle, leaning forward and ready to do the chant. It was a huddle reminiscent of what you’d expect to see before a sports game. Perhaps the analogy wasn’t so far off, since we would soon find out who had won, and the winner got a reward.

“Hey, Moondae. Your hand!”

I held out my hand and heard the familiar chant cry out energetically.

“Let’s show ‘em, TeSTAR!”

“Yeah!”

Adrenaline was pumping through our veins. I gulped down my champagne in one go, then put the empty glass on the table.

“All right, let’s head out.”

And so our first awards ceremony began.

The first half of the Grape Music Awards passed uneventfully. A reasonably popular rookie group delivered a meaningful performance, which sadly hadn’t done so well. There had been a performance by a rookie group from a huge agency, and so on. It was all pretty standard and pointless.

Goldie #2’s group showed up briefly. I remained alert and focused, not wanting anyone to think that I was bored—that would spark controversy. Only after the long first section of the show was finally over, and the second part had begun, did the announcement we’d been anticipating finally arrive.

Stage after stage had passed. The people who were appearing now were much more popular, and the visual effects and preludes before each group were longer and more extravagant.

“The next award goes to the artist who touched the hearts of the most people this year.”

Here we go.

“The Artist of the Year!”

It was the first daesang of the night, and the one we were aiming for. The cameras panned over to the possible candidates, showing them all on the big screen. One appeared right in front of our seats, focusing on the members in preparation.

“Wow—”

“Shh!”

Big Sejin immediately silenced Eugene, keeping him under control. Everything was perfect. The presenter paused for dramatic effect.

“The Artist of the Year Award goes to…”

There was a drumroll, and the artists all exchanged awkward smiles as the audience waved their lightsticks. Then, finally, a name rang out through the venue.

“TeSTAR!”

The indicator lights on the cameras aimed at us came on.

“Congratulations!”

The crowd roared, confetti exploded, and music played. Faces that were extremely familiar to me appeared on the big screen. They all looked shocked and overjoyed. Our expressions could have been copied and pasted because they were so identical. The funny thing was, I was no different.

“Oh…”

I’d been expecting to receive this award, of course. There was a reason this award was being announced first. The older idols would receive their awards at the end of the show. But to be honest, I felt like someone had just struck a gong inside my head. The vibrations of it penetrated through my skull.

The daesang. Had we really won it this year? Big Sejin stumbled unsteadily from his seat, and I did the same, shoving back my chair. I thought maybe the people around us were clapping, but I couldn’t be sure.

Eugene was patting my shoulder, and I tugged him along, climbing to the podium together. My shoulder was pressed against Ahyeon’s. We were standing on stage, and someone was passing us bouquets of flowers and the trophy.

“Thank you.” Chungwoo turned his face away from the microphone for a moment, perhaps momentarily choked up. Then he continued calmly, “We are… truly honored to receive this award. It’s really too much. Thank you to the members who have been working so hard this year—in fact, ever since we debuted…”

Chungwoo mentioned the staff, the fans, and even his parents. I’d heard him practicing in the dorm, but I listened carefully anyway. He deserved it, and I was in the mood to hear him speak.

“…and once again, thank you.”

By the time he was done, someone was prodding me in the back. I thought it was a mistake at first, but nobody poked a person twice by mistake.

“…?”

What do you want?

Moondae, Big Sejin mouthed. He was pushing me toward the mic. The others moved aside, making room in the center.

Huh? I was pushed forward in the end, and the members all thumped me on the shoulder as I passed them. A piece of confetti stuck to my nose momentarily, then fell away, and suddenly, there was a microphone right in front of me.

I mean, come on. Are they pushing me to go now so they can have the final word? That didn’t seem likely. I grinned and took the microphone, facing the audience.

Hmm. This is rather exciting. I should say something since I’m here anyway.

At that moment, a notification appeared.

[Mission cleared!]

“…!”

It was a hologram. It had never appeared without my summoning it in all the time since I’d cleared my status abnormalities. It took me a moment to understand what was going on.

Oh. I see. As I’d guessed, public opinion seemed to matter a lot. This was a reputable daesang, given to us thanks to the popular consensus that we actually deserved it.

But even so. To think I managed to clear the mission at the first awards ceremony! I liked that. I decided to just welcome the situation, but the hologram did not disappear. It was showing messages I hadn’t requested.

[Calculating rewards…]

“…!”

Right now? The timing seemed strange.

Aren’t I supposed to accept first? Oh, f*ck! I realized I’d made a mistaken assumption. This wasn’t a status abnormality given to me by the system. That meant it wasn’t guaranteed that things would unfold in the same way they had when I’d been clearing my status abnormalities. The same was true for checking my rewards.

If I’m not supposed to push a button to receive the reward… Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck, and the hologram in front of me glitched and changed.

[Reward complete!]

Reward: A conversation with Park Moondae

Complete?

My vision faded.

“Park Moondae!”

It was just like the time I’d first cleared my first status abnormality upon debuting after Idol Inc. I was abruptly plunged into darkness.

***

In hindsight, this whole situation was really rather strange. At one point in my life, I’d never even danced in public before, and yet here I was, dancing and singing in front of other people for a living.

The original me… Why had I filmed idols? I could say it was for the money, but why had I bothered to film even the ones that weren’t profitable? The joy I’d gotten from that… Had I been vicariously living through them?

I opened my eyes with a gasp. The room was dark, and I recognized the ceiling. It had been so long since I’d last seen it, however, that it didn’t feel particularly familiar or comforting to me. It was the ceiling of my old studio apartment.

“…!”

I sat up, running a hand over my face. I was wearing glasses. It wasn’t necessary to run to the bathroom to check the mirror. This was my original body—Ryu Gunwoo, not Park Moondae.

“…!”

I balled my hands into fists and bowed my head.

I need to keep calm. This situation… I’d already had a similar experience before.

The daydream. Was this like the time I’d been in a coma? Is this also just a dream—

“E-excuse me!”

“…!”

Huh? A voice was ringing in my head—though I wasn’t sure if I was actually hearing it in the traditional sense.

“Excuse me… why am I…”

I spat, “Who are you?”

“Wh-what?”

The voice sounded sad as it echoed inside my skull. Then it said, “I’m P-Park Moondae.”

I fell silent.

What the f*ck is going on?