Chapter 391

Chapter 391

Today was the day of the ambitious art-themed performances on the LeTi survival show, and some of the contestants were gathered backstage.

“Why don’t we do a chant before we go?”

“Okay!”

The team members responded loudly, holding out their hands. Ryu Chungwoo did the same.

“D Team! We rock at everything!”

It was Shin Jaehyeon who had smiled and requested the chant—or, as Chungwoo knew him, Cheongryeo. He was VTIC’s leader, but at the moment, they were all in this strange situation together.

I didn’t think I would ever be doing a performance with him like this. It was a surprising turn of events for Chungwoo. Though the same could be said for returning to the past with Ryu Gunwoo and attending college with him, of course.

It feels like fiction. He’d never dreamed that he would experience something so surreal. However, he’d come to accept it more or less, as a novel experience in another life. Preparing for the performance with the VTIC leader at the helm had gone smoothly.

He is… very resourceful and knows where everything needs to go. He seemed to know just what to do with all the contestants and even the trainers. It was surprising to Chungwoo. The way he’d already planned everything out and executed it all in his head was scarily skilled and resolute.

There was something mechanical about it, but Chungwoo had to admit that the guy seemed more capable of leading on stage than he was.

I suppose I should work on the things that I am good at. Chungwoo chose to think this way instead of smiling bitterly over his perceived defeat.

“Please stand by.”

“Okay!”

The cameraman who had filmed them doing the chant moved away to hunt down another target, leaving only the mounted cameras filming them backstage. Chungwoo’s team was performing last, so he had already watched every performance take place from the waiting room below.

They all did well. Cha Eugene and Kim Raebin had been split up, each joining a different team and contributing a lot with their many talents.

Yeah!

He thought of Eugene, who had been at the center of a performance that involved painting live on stage, as well as Raebin, who had almost single-handedly managed the arrangement after meeting an orchestra conductor and exchanging an excited conversation with him.

Raebin, in particular, is amazing. His progress was palpable. Chungwoo had thought as much before, but the guy was certainly a genius, especially considering he didn’t even have his memories back.

“Hmm.”

Now the third performance was about to start, then his team would be up. Park Moondae and two VTIC members made up this team. In the real world, such a team composition would have had people fainting, but that wasn’t the case here

I hope this is going to work out… Chungwoo recalled what Eugene had whispered to him the moment he saw Moondae’s team practicing in the practice room.

“That’s that team performance! From ‘October 31,’ you know?”

It had been the first team performance on Idol Inc., and was so impressive that Eugene still remembered the team name.

They crushed our team, if I remember right. Chungwoo’s team had been up against October 31. If luck had been on his side, he could’ve ended up on the same team, but a single button press had determined this not to be his fate.

Though I pretended otherwise back then, I was actually pretty disappointed. Chungwoo nearly smiled as he thought back—those days were nothing more than fond memories now—but he froze when his mind drifted elsewhere. He was suddenly reminded of Park Moondae’s state of mind as he practiced the almost identical performance. To be perfectly straightforward, Moondae had seemed like he was spiraling.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Gunwoo, are you sick? What’s wrong?” Eugene had asked.

“No. I’m not sick.”

He’d almost been gray in the face. It had been so obvious that he and the other TeSTAR members had hovered around Moondae, even though they were on different teams. But everyone except Kim Raebin could guess at why he was struggling, and they found it difficult to talk about it.

This was Moondae’s performance, and they had no right to tell him what to do. This was especially true since Moondae’s goal at the moment was to eventually win a daesang and get out of here.

If that mood had lasted a few more days, I would have figured out a way to talk to him. But things had changed after the interim evaluation. Moondae had changed the performance entirely.

“You don’t have enough time for that, do you?”

“We still think it’s worth trying,”

Moondae had responded, the light returned to his eyes and his tone as resolute as it always was. It was no longer shaky.

Eugene had simply concluded, “Moondae thinks too much. He needs to practice doing less of that. We just need to watch.”

Eugene was one of the youngest members, but he was surprisingly good at reaching the crux of a matter. Chungwoo decided he would not meddle this time. The final outcome was about to be revealed on stage. He planned on leaning out a little bit to get a closer look at the stage, which had been completely fitted out.

“He’s always incredible on stage.”

“Yes. You’re right,” Chungwoo agreed.

VTIC’s leader was the one talking to him. Chungwoo was older than him at the moment, but he couldn’t bring himself to use a more informal tone with him. Cheongryeo seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit as he watched the stage unfold.

“So this is what he prepared,” Cheongryeo said.

Chungwoo turned away.

The performance had begun, a birch forest with snow drifting from above appearing on stage.

The lights slowly dimmed, and a bell tolled as a yellow moon rose in the sky. A female chorus sang.

Ah- ha ha. Ah- ha ha.

As they sang beautifully in a minor key, figures crawled from between the trees in time with the incomplete harmony. They were slim and wore dark hoods. They spread their limbs, white arms and legs draped in linen. It was a short and intense intro.

Woo! Oooh, ooh, ooh

They stood as the chorus ended, pushing their hoods back one after the other. Their pale faces came into view, and they sang in harmony, voices soaking the stage like a spray of water.

It’s cold outside

Come here, come inside!

Drink with us tonight

“…!”

They were singing a Christmas carol, an English track from a joint winter special album released by LeTi. It was a retro carol that called to mind the nineteenth century, and though it hadn’t been a massive success, it had earned itself a fanatic fanbase on the internet.

It’s classical, heartwarming melody, when combined with an orchestral accompaniment, produced a graceful, almost secretive vibe.

And that’s only possible because…

The accompaniment includes “To a New World.”

There was no restriction on how many songs they had to use. Instead of completely changing the arrangement of “To a New World” like he had on Idol Inc., Moondae had simply tacked on the original song’s accompaniment.

The simplified, darker melody created a rich atmosphere when met with the graceful orchestral notes that were supposed to call to mind flower fairies. The song had been shifted to a rhythm that was more suitable for classical dance.

Tonight

Hear the bells outside my window

Ding-dong ding-dong

The singing in the first verse sounded like something out of a ballad. The two other members took Chaeyul by the waist and raised him into the air as he lay prone. It was a very dramatic piece of choreography.

Ryu Gunwoo joined the singing in a low voice, supporting Chaeyul’s voice, and the product sounded well-rounded and firm.

Ding-dong ding-dong

The first verse begun, a mixture of storytelling techniques and idol-like choreography. The contestants did not smile, since they were supposed to be vampires, but they wore a range of other facial expressions, along with the right gestures.

Instead of relying on fangs and fake blood to scream at the audience that they were supposed to be vampires, they used their outfits, choreography, and gestures to lead people to that conclusion. Their robes fluttered behind them like cloaks, revealing outfits adorned with elaborate chains beneath.

The beautiful sound of winter

Ding-dong ding-dong

The voice of winter

The red lining of the robe fluttered through the air. They grabbed at their own necks with both hands and spun during the pre-chorus, before moving into a controlled group dance for the chorus. The dark, elaborate orchestra grew grandiose once more past the chorus.

Tonight!

In the middle of winter

La lalalalala!

The first verse came to an end as all of them threw their bodies backwards in an impressive pose, scattering in all directions, and the accompaniment died away. A piano melody slid in over the empty stage.

♬♩ ♪♪♩- ♬♬♪- ♩

The verse melody for “To a New World” began immediately, and someone new appeared on stage. White hands came into view from behind the trees in time with the music, followed by arms. Soon, their entire figure was visible.

♩♬

Their dark-haired ballet dancer mentor wore a white outfit cut close to his figure. He performed a slight turn and a grand jeté. As he leapt through the air, his movements were not excessive but finely controlled, blending with the background nicely like he was a figure in a snow globe.

A voice that titled like a music box song began once more.

Can’t you feel me?

A hooded figure turned to face the audience from the left side of the stage.

“…!”

It was Gunwoo. He was clutching a head microphone close to his mouth with both hands and singing gently and quietly.

The warmth of your touch

It raises me up, that beautiful touch

It’s a garden in spring

The lights warmed to beige, and for a moment, it was no longer winter. The perfect movements of the ballet dancer, beautiful as they were powerful, continued. He did an arabesque next.

Mhm… Mhm…

It only lasted a moment, however. After the short bridge ended, the orchestra returned, and the ballet dancer raced off-stage. The three figures immediately returned to take his place. The performers threw back their hoods, throwing off their robes to reveal intricate outfits. Cold lighting washed the stage once more with explosive force.

Woo! Oooh ooh ooh

The choreography for the chorus began again. But this time some new moves had been incorporated— the same turns and jumps the ballet dancer had performed only moments ago. But they had been incorporated intelligently.

They feel different. They seemed to be mimicking the ballet dancer, but in a way that was closer to dance pop—completely different from ballet. This meant they would not be directly compared in terms of quality—instead, it forced audiences to focus on the overall completeness of the performance.

In the snowy garden

In a teacup, in a sugar bowl

They launched into an exciting idol group dance, accompanied by gestures meant for close-up shots. Then came the powerful ending.

The bell rings

Ring ri-ring

Ring-ring-ring

The quiet music had the members turning their faces away from the cameras. The arrangement then grew cacophonous, and in combination with a high note, the many sounds fused into one. They finally smiled and looked forward, their arms in the air.

The winter is… in!

The music was over.

All movement had ceased on the stage. Then, clapping and cheering filled the air. In fact, some in the audience even seemed to be screaming.

“Nice!”

The robed figures gathered themselves and bowed, smiling. The performance had been giddy, intense, and dark. It had also been rather convoluted, perhaps on purpose. If the theme had been anything else, they might have attracted negative reviews for being too experimental and ignoring public taste.

But the keyword this time was art. The viewers and judges both would be expecting something slightly different.

“Hmm.”

Ryu Chungwoo turned his head slightly, looking at the front rows of the seated audience. As expected, the president was doing his best to hide a smile as he gave a slight thumbs up. He seemed to approve.

Wow. That was fun. Chungwoo knew that it was his turn next, but he smiled and clapped eagerly, nonetheless.

***

The performance was over.

“Phew.”

I took off my hooded robe and held it in my hand. It was damned refreshing to finally be free of it.

What is this feeling? I felt an overwhelming sense of freedom. It was almost as if I had won a daesang or something. Folding up the robe, I gave it to a staff member.

That worked. I didn’t have to see the scores to know. Our changes had worked. My sluggish, swampy brain was suddenly churning again like it had never struggled in the first place.

Perfect. Onstage adrenaline could seldom be matched, once it kicked in. I pushed my hair back from my forehead.

“Gunwoo!” Cha Eugene, who had taken off his paint covered outfit, rushed over to me and threw his arm around my neck. “That was great! Amazing!”

“Ugh!”

Are you trying to choke me right now? You used to play football, remember? Are you trying to break my neck? I managed to slip free from his grasp.

A quiet voice said, “Let me tell you this in advance.”

Tell me what?

“You can use whatever performances we did together if you need to! Don’t worry about it!”

“…!”

He pointed at his head and heart in turn with the same arm that he had nearly broken my neck with a moment ago.

“Our performances are here and here. And in the real world. You won’t use them all up by doing them in another universe!”

I stared at him.

“We can’t forget that, all right?”

If I had heard these words a few days ago, I would have taken them to actually mean that I was supposed to do a better job. It would’ve had me banging my head against the wall, gritting my teeth. But it was over now, and my head was clear. And I could see he was right.

I guess I was struggling. Who knew that I would be the first to lose my sh*t in these strange circumstances? I grinned and patted him on the shoulder.

“Got it.”

“Good!” he said, grinning.

“And I am going to do the same! You wait and see!”

“Yeah, sure.”

I watched Eugene as some of the staff whisked him away for an interview, then finished changing.

Moments later, another person came down after finishing his own stage and spoke to me as soon as he entered the waiting room. It was Ryu Chungwoo.