Chapter 73

Chapter 73

It was during a boring wait at the pre-recording of a music show that one of the VTIC members who’d been playing around on their phone called over to Cheongryeo. The video he showed Cheongryeo was #9 on WeTube’s trending page.

[First-place idol gets hit with water spray at his own showcase!]

[On the evening of the 18th, the debut showcase of an idol group took place in the Red Square Theatre. They are none other than the winning contestants of the audition show that took the country by storm a few months ago [...]]

The news WeTuber was excitedly describing the water bottle incident accompanied by a generous side helping of personal opinion.

“This is that kid, right? From Idol Incorporated?”

“Oh...” Cheongryeo glanced at the screen, then recalled the stupid personality test. “Park Moondae.”

[“Good instincts.”]

The video of the event was very small and featured low-quality footage—for copyright reasons, of course. It showed Park Moondae smoothly preventing the situation from getting out of hand.

“He seems pretty smart.”

“Seems so.”

“But it’s pretty sad. Their debut coincided with our comeback, unluckily for them...”

Some of the other members who’d gathered around to watch joined the conversation.

“This isn’t the first time Tnet’s gotten up to these shenanigans.”

“They seem to be doing pretty great. It’s a shame they won’t get first place.”

They all sounded a little pitying, suggesting they were certain they would take first place even in their second week. It was inevitable, really.

[#1 Night Sign / VTIC]

Their song was at the top of the biggest music streaming site in the country’s daily charts. Ever since the chart had been changed so they no longer showed real-time data, it was impossible in most cases to break through the existing ranks and reach first place right away.

It’ll take a week, at the very least. This applied to TeSTAR’s songs as well, which would be released at midnight today. If TeSTAR’s album sales in the first week were triple that of VTIC’s second-week sales, they could reasonably expect to reach first place. Unfortunately, there was a one-day overlap between their first week and VTIC’s.

Unless TeSTAR managed to set an unprecedented record in album sales, they were bound to lose. And of course, even if the group was from an audition show, it was illogical to expect a new male idol group to hit the top of the charts at the beginning of their career.

“Oh, forget it! If we have time to worry about some rookies, we should be using it to focus on upping our game!”

“That’s right!”

VTIC immediately returned to minding their own business. Cheongryeo cupped his chin in his hand thoughtfully.

I think we might actually lose.

***

The debut showcase ended successfully, met with fervent reactions from the crowd. There would be no special celebration dinner afterward, however.

“We’ve just debuted, we can’t show up on TV with our faces bloated like dumplings. I’ll bet they wouldn’t let us drink much anyway.”

“But dumplings are tasty!” Eugene protested loudly.

“We’re supposed to be handsome, not puffy.”

“Ah!”

Eugene seemed to understand. I was amazed momentarily at Big Sejin’s ability to communicate, despite the language barrier that sometimes cropped up with Eugene. Of course, it wasn’t long before I was the subject of their conversation once more.

“Still, Moondae’s reaction was worthy of a massive afterparty.”

“Y-yeah.”

“It was amazing.”

“Right... Thank you.”

“Haha! No need to be shy!”

Ever since the showcase had ended, every waking moment had been filled with the other members repeating some variation of the statement, “Park Moondae is smooth as hell.”

I was past feeling sheepish over it now—in fact, it was starting to grate on my nerves. In particular, Big Sejin seemed to be making a big deal about it on purpose to make me feel embarrassed, which irritated me a little.

“Good work, everyone. Let’s... let’s take a break,” Chungwoo said.

“All right!”

“Finally!”

We got some time to rest instead of having an afterparty. The members reacted with a variety of emotions, from relief to joy, as they scattered to their rooms. I chose to sleep. Lee Sejin, who was my roommate, also slept, which greatly enhanced the quality of my own rest.

I miss having the trait that allowed me to go without sleep. The reality show cameras were still running, however, and after a brief break, we had to gather up in the living room again.

“You all look well-rested.”

“Hehe,” Eugene giggled—it was obvious he’d been refueling with snacks.

All of us gathered together, peering down at Chungwoo’s phone.

“It feels odd that the release date is already here.”

“I-I’m nervous...”

Our debut album was being released at midnight. As for the reason that all of us were looking at a single person’s phone when we had our own—I assumed it was in order to give the cameras a heartwarming scene.

“Huh? It’s midnight!”

The numbers on the smartphone’s digital clock changed quickly.

[00:00]

“D-does that mean our a-album has been released?”

“Should we check?”

Raebin interjected firmly, “It’ll take an hour for our songs to show up on the twenty-four-hour charts.”

“An hour...” Lee Sejin groaned and trudged off in the direction of the kitchen, probably to get some water or something.

It’s likely we won’t show up on the charts even after an hour. We would have to compete with how many streams the other songs had gotten in a twenty-four-hour period, with only an hour’s worth of our own streams. Even VTIC had appeared in the charts at 87th place after an hour.

Raebin seemed about to explain as much, but he locked eyes with me and seemed to think better of it. I was puzzled. There was no reason he shouldn’t explain that part.

Big Sejin smiled as if to lift the tension and said, “Why don’t we... watch the Magical Boys music video then?”

“Oh.”

Right. We haven’t seen it yet. We’d returned directly to the dorm and gone to rest straight away, so it hadn’t occurred to us to watch it.

The reality show production team asked us to film our reactions to it, too.

“That’s a good idea.”

“Let’s watch it on the big screen!”

Eugene picked up the remote and navigated to WeTube on the TV. Our music video was the top trending video. We didn’t even have to search for it.

[TeSTAR Magical Boys | Official Music Video]

“Yeah!”

“Wh-whoa.”

The members looked stunned, struggling to gather themselves but managing it after a few moments of stunned silence.

“Whoa. Moondae’s in the thumbnail.”

“Y-you look good.”

The thumbnail for the music video was Park Moondae looking over his shoulder, standing in front of the classroom window. A sky colored orange and purple shone through the white curtains.

Is it because I was first place on the show? I stared wryly at the thumbnail, then pressed the play button on the remote Eugene was holding.

“Whoa!”

With Eugene’s startled cry, the music video began to play. The video began with the same scene featured in the thumbnail.

Standing alone in an empty classroom, Park Moondae was staring out at the sunset. The moment he turned around and locked eyes with the camera, the singing began.

I met you tomorrow

But I’ve been thinking of you all day

My dreams are as blue as the sky

The scene onscreen then shifted, now showing an old, crumbling campus in the daylight, which suddenly turned purple as glittering soap bubbles poured into view.

♬♪♩♪- ♬♪♬♪- ♪♩-

A school was a very ordinary setting, but despite that, the members were all doing something quite unusual as they each sang their respective parts.

The world may be cold

but our dreams are sweet

Our reality can crumble

but our dreams stand strong

Eugene was sitting on the only desk remaining in a classroom that looked like a herd of buffalo had stampeded through it.

He had carefully arranged a variety of wind-up animals along the edge of the desk and was winding them up. Because of the strategically placed lighting, the puppets almost looked like miniature living creatures.

I don’t want to sink

I want to fall asleep

I think of my dreams,

but reality is breathing

all the time...

Ahyeon, sitting on a bed in the nurse’s office, was tearing up a pillow. Instead of cotton, tiny things resembling glittering dandelion seeds burst from the torn fabric, scattering and filling the air.

All that time,

I probably needed it

Magic to take me to the future

And I...

Chungwoo fired a toy gun at a flowerbed. Instead of pellets or water, the gun fired a ray of light that caused blue petals to scatter, drifting through the air.

Then the members started to dance on the roof, colored in a wash of purple under the light of the sunset.

Cast a spell

Make a wish come

True true true

Let the future draw you in

Cast a spell

Make a dream come

True true true

Plunge into the blue sky of your dreams

The music continued after the chorus, the beat growing faster and accompanied by an attention-grabbing dance break. Various clips taken on the roof during daylight hours were edited in at intervals, making the purple background seem even more dreamlike.

“Everyone put a lot of work into this part since we had to redo our makeup, too.”

“Yeah! If you look closely guys... there’s a slight difference in our costumes and makeup in the scenes we filmed during the day, versus those we filmed at sunset!” Big Sejin explained for the cameras.

This much was true. During the day, we’d only worn light makeup, while at sunset the makeup artist had applied glitter and even a light sweep of blush across our cheeks. Our outfits had also been adorned with more accessories at sunset.

Everyone had a bit of a difficult time since we were trying to get the filming done in one day. Thankfully, all the hard work showed in the quality of the music video.

♬♪♩♪- ♬♪♬♪- ♪♩-

The second verse began. Following a few hypnotic gestures of his hand, Raebin stepped forward and rapped along to the melody following a very complicated, odd beat. Footage of him sitting on a pile of broken cabinets in the middle of the corridor tossing and catching an awl was dispersed throughout.

“Whoa!”

“Nice voice!”

“Thank you...”

Raebin said, unable to hide how satisfied he was with his own performance even though he looked embarrassed as well.

“But why’d you pick something as dangerous as an awl, Raebin?”

“Because it’s cute, I guess?”

Big Sejin was silent, staring judgmentally at this incredibly strange response.

“Let’s just go with it, yeah?” I told him cheerfully.

“Yeah. It’s cute, Raebin.”

The members seemed to slowly relax, set at ease by how well the music video had turned out. The next scene showed Lee Sejin, who was the final member to appear. He was standing inside the school building, gazing at the front entrance. The campus was visible through the glass doors and the bridge that came before the final chorus played.

The music box’s melody, which comprised the riff, lowered in volume and the vocals followed suit.

What can’t ever be hidden

is probably magic

A breathtaking, mind-blowing

dream.

Lee Sejin leaped through the glass. At the same moment, there was the whirring of film as various scenes sped past. There was a whispering sound like that of a tape rewinding, and then a scene was playing sans any accompanying music.

Park Moondae approached the front of the building from outside. He stopped in front of the entrance, then reached out with both hands for the handles. Then there was a click as he locked the door.

The film reel began to play again, and the final chorus burst onto the soundscape, accompanied by the choreography.

Cast a spell

Make a wish come

True true true

Let the future lull you to sleep

Cast a spell

Make a dream come

True true true

Drop into the blue sky of your dreams

The roof, where the members were dancing, had become even more fantastical. The railings surrounding the roof broke into thousands of tiny pieces, transforming into transparent crystal shards and casting shimmering light in all directions like prisms. As the light shifted and roiled chaotically in the background, the choreography grew more complicated and intense.

♬♪♩♪- ♬♪♬♪- ♪♩-

The members smoothly formed a circle as the song began to wind down, and the music ended as they lay down with their heads in the center of the circle.

Purple soap bubbles exploded into existence. Followed by a black screen. A slow version of the instrumental for Magical Boys began, and old-fashioned ending credits reminiscent of a short film crawled up the screen.

The members could finally talk through their amazement.

“Holy cow!”

“That was incredible!”

“The director did an amazing job.”

“I-I think it came out g-great...”

A strange conversation where nobody was listening to anyone else followed, all of them talking over each other.

No one seemed to mind, however.

“Hmm. It feels really, uh, profound, you know? That’s interesting.”

“I think the fans will have fun dissecting all the details in the video.”

“We loved it. I hope the fans love it, too!”

This was the best our mood had been in ages.

We’re off to a great start. As a result, my anxiety wasn’t too strong when we checked the music charts.

“Whoa! We made it!”

One of our songs was in 85th place, the second in 88th.

I think one of them did even better than the VTIC song. The popularity generated from being on an audition show that had basically become a household name was far greater than I’d dared to imagine.

This is nuts. Most of the members seemed unaware of just how big a deal this was since they probably thought #1 was the only noteworthy accomplishment. Even if they knew that it was amazing we were on the charts at all, we were not even 80th yet. This was why their reactions to the other charts were even more intense.

“Th-they’re all our songs...”

“What the!”

Other music streaming sites that had real-time charts were actually coming up with TeSTAR’s title songs in first and second place.

[#1 Hi-five/ TeSTAR] new!

[#2 Magical Boys / TeSTAR] new!

[#3 Night Sign / VTIC] ▼2

[...]

Even more stunning, all four of the songs on our album were higher than 7th place. VTIC would soon bounce back and push our rankings down again, but still, this was incredible. The members, finally realizing just what they’d managed to achieve, stared stupidly at the phone screen.

“L-let’s take a screenshot.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

This was a great sign and at such an early point in our career—we hadn’t even appeared on a music show yet.