Chapter 75

Chapter 75

It was Thursday, nearing seven o’clock, and MusicBomb was set to air. There was an unprecedented number of people waiting for the show to start while chatting on various forums across the internet.

- The lineup is amazing.

- TeSTAR will be up first. Please summon me when it starts LOL

Not only were two popular male idol groups featured on the episode, one of them was performing their debut song for the first time on TV. The TeSTAR fans were very talkative as a result.

- Did you see the stuff they uploaded this morning? They were so cute T_T

└ They even uploaded an apology picture... I was so touched. But please upload selfies next time instead of an apology

- We don’t care if they upload fifty million posts in the early morning. I wish they’d upload more

- The lunch boxes were amazing by the way. I hope they got to eat properly, after all that hard work so early in the morning T_T

- I nearly died of envy seeing the posts people uploaded after attending the prerec... They filmed about three times and the members apparently talked with the audience a whole lot in between

- Moondae made a heart at the crowd...

└ Holy sh*t

└ Why did I fail the application?

└ Did nobody take any fancams? T_T Please upload them, I beg of you

The fans had already familiarized themselves with the stage outfits, makeup, fan service, what was said, and everything else that had gone on in the prerecording now that people who’d attended had started sharing their experiences. As a result, they had only grown more excited, waiting impatiently for the show to start.

- Hi-five is going to be live, right? They didn’t prerecord it?

└ Yep. I’m looking forward to seeing what baseball uniform they’ll be wearing...

- I wonder when they’ll perform? T_T Anybody know the order of the line-up today?

Sadly, the fans were forced to wait quite a while for TeSTAR to appear on stage. Because MusicBomb belonged to Tnet, Testar was being treated like royalty. Usually, the line-up was determined by seniority, with the newest groups performing at the beginning of the show, while the more popular and senior acts came toward the end.

- The line-up... They’re performing so late?

- I’m happy for them, but it also makes me sad because we have to wait longer

- Where are you, guys? T_T

A small consolation to the fans was that a short group interview aired just past the midpoint of the show.

[※Introducing the rising stars of the K-pop scene, TeSTAR!※]

[※Take your STAR! Hello, we are TeSTAR!※]

TeSTAR appeared onscreen, smiling and waving. They were wearing baseball uniforms and each had a prop that suited their image, including baseball gloves and face guards.

- Holy crap, the baseball uniforms

- T_T Moondae looks great with black hair. Now he’s a puppy with black fur

- Whoever dyed Eugene’s hair pink, thank you! I love it!

- They’re so good-looking T_T

- I love the team greeting

[※So, TeSTAR, how do you feel about your upcoming stage?※]

[※We’re very nervous, but we’ve been doing all we can to prepare for this performance. Hopefully, we can show you everything we practiced!※]

The interview wasn’t anything special, consisting of the usual dialogue and a snatch of the chorus. The fans, however, were just happy to watch the members.

Then the performance finally began onscreen.

- What the hell?

The reactions were immediate.

- They’re so f*cking good

- Wait, I thought the audition show bias was supposed to wear off? Why are they still so good? LOL

- Their concept could have been the perfect setup for failure, but they’re executing it so well... Is it because they’re the ones who came up with it?

- I’m not kidding guys, I think I just fell in love. Holy sh*t, who is that beautiful boy with the doe eyes?

└ Seon Ahyeon

└ Good eye! He is indeed an angel

- I’m TeSTAR’s baseball manager from now on. I won’t take no for an answer.

The live performance of Hi-five was extremely good from start to finish. TeSTAR had no trouble locating the cameras with playful expressions, giving innocent smiles, and looking perfectly at ease with their concept.

Because they’d decided who would take each part after a discussion between them, they did well when performing live. The choreography was relaxed and flawless, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves all throughout the performance.

- Gosh, this is so fun

- Yeeeeeeees! Idols who kill it performing live are the best

People were already happy after seeing Hi-five performed, but when Magical Boys came next, the comments and social media exploded with reactions once more.

- Wow. Just wow

- Moondae’s got such a good eye. I can see why he pushed for this one

└ Yep, he’s always been a smart Tibetan fox since his Idol Inc. days

└ You got that right, LOL

- It’s rare for male idols to pull off dreamy themes like this and actually not seem cringe. TeSTAR is one of those rare groups

It was a pleasant deep house tune that the members danced to as a dreamy music box melody mixed with the instrumental. Subtle visual effects had been added, since the stage had been prerecorded, and the combination of glitter and glitching was only just noticeable enough to emphasize the key themes, centered around the supernatural and magic.

Because the song was also themed around a schoolboy concept, the members projected the air of teenagers going through an innocent and unstable part of their lives, though it wasn’t so emphasized as to be off-putting.

This was achieved by adding some dramatic flair at key points in the choreography. In addition, the members who took the main roles when dancing executed this with impressive ease. People watched with amazement, discussing their preferences in the comments.

- Frankly, I think the baseball song earlier will appeal to a wider audience, but this song is the one that will grab new fans

└ ? I thought it was the opposite. This song is way more trendy, while the baseball song is intended to dazzle

└ Let’s just say both of them are good LOL

- This is history in the making, guys. How are both songs so good? And then they managed to perform them perfectly, too?

- Frankly, Magical Boys takes the cake. The story, the choreography, the melody—everything is top-notch. High Five is the lesser of the two.

└ Sure, say what you like, but Hi-five ranks higher in the music charts!

└ That will change soon

└ Guys, don’t fight T_T. TeSTAR’s performing both of them, can’t you see?

└ Yeah, just enjoy ourselves...

Excited, the fans relished the feeling of enjoying a fantastic performance.

- What kind of group kills it from their debut? That would be TeSTAR, of course.

- Now I’m starting to feel like I need to be a better person to be a fan worthy of these boys

- Shareholders, kudos to you for your foresight... Seriously...

- They split up the parts really well, too. I can tell they did their best not to disappoint any of their fans T_T

A well-established ballad group was up next, but TeSTAR fans were too busy savoring their group’s successful debut to notice.

The mood changed slightly after VTIC appeared on stage, however.

- Classy as always LOL

- Holy cow, how are they so good?

- I’m starting to think they should be named a national treasure or something at this point

- Where are all those people who were saying VTIC needed to retire after T-Holic? LOL

The slightly dark swing house music was impressively elaborate and powerful, but as always, people were more interested in novelty and the underdog, and talk of TeSTAR continued unabated.

- K-pop has a bright future, guys!

- We’ll be seeing these two groups perform all week LOL

Since VTIC had been last to perform, the announcement for this week’s winner took place right afterward.

[※Today’s first place winner is... “Night Sign” by VTIC! Congratulations!※]

[※Wow!※]

VTIC had skipped participating in MusicBomb last week to appear on a popular variety show instead. As a result, they were now receiving the first-place trophy on the same day as their comeback performance, which was extremely rare.

- Congratz, congratz

- This was exactly what I expected, I nearly forgot to even celebrate

- Congratulations!

[※Thank you so much. First of all, we’d like to thank the people whose help was essential to the success of this album...※]

Neither VTIC nor the netizens were surprised. They gave a short, pleasant thank you speech, though it wasn’t particularly moving. Once they were finished, the emcees wrapped up the show.

[※Enjoyment of music at its absolute best!※]

[※Music Bomb! See you next week!※]

- That was fun!

- I haven’t watched MusicBomb in a while.

As everyone in the comments expressed feeling content with today’s show, the VTIC members remained on stage to perform an encore of their winning song—their reward for getting first place.

Onscreen, a scene that took everyone by surprise was unfolding. Cheongryeo, as he stepped to the front of the stage, turned to TeSTAR as they were leaving and smiled, waving at them.

- Huh? Did you guys see that?

- ?? That was Cheongryeo, right?

- Wait, what’s up with Cheongryeo? I thought he didn’t ever make friends in other groups? LOL

- I guess he just made some?

- That was cute haha

- I guess he finds the rookies cute, too

Everyone enjoyed themselves talking about the tiny interaction, but no one had any idea how taken aback TeSTAR themselves were by it.

***

Why did he wave at us like that? Because VTIC had arrived just in time for the live broadcast because they had other pressing schedules to attend, the groups hadn’t really had time to greet one other. That meant this was our first time seeing Cheongryeo since he’d appeared on Idol Inc. We hadn’t even made eye contact, but he’d waved to us in front of everyone.

He didn’t seem the type to be so friendly. I felt a little confused by his behavior but soon waved it off. We were too busy to get hung up on random incidents.

He must just be excited to get first place, I guess.

“I think he was waving at you, Moondae. Probably because he met you during the Casting Call segment,” Chungwoo said casually.

“Hmm. Maybe,” I said, continuing to make my way to the waiting room.

Eugene sounded excited as he bounded along beside me, saying, “Can we go home now?”

“Hey, we should stop by and say hello, at least!” the manager replied.

Big Sejin muttered, “Oh, so this show does it, too.”

“Does what?”

“They make you line up and greet the PD.”

“Oh.”

I’d heard of this before. Idols usually took group photos when they won first place and were also expected to greet the PD and it was because of these practices they didn’t get to go home right away after the music shows ended.

I heard some of the public TV networks do this, too. I didn’t really like the idea, since it meant we would be going home late. It had been a struggle staying awake since early morning.

But there’s no avoiding it, is there? It’s all part of the game. It was best not to stand out from the crowd at times like this. Without a word of complaint, we followed the manager.

“Oh... T-this is kind of awkward,” Ahyeon whispered, confused, as we lined up against the wall in the main corridor.

There were quite a lot more other performers than we’d expected and people were staring at us. Any moment now someone might start making small talk with us. We’d gone around visiting the various waiting rooms to give out our album earlier, as was the norm, but this was the first time we’d been thrown into a big group like this.

The more sociable members among us will handle this just fine. Ignoring the way people were staring at us, I engaged in small talk with Ahyeon.

“How was it?” I asked.

“Huh? O-of course... i-i-it was great!”

“In what way?”

“Um... well... p-people were cheering for us, the songs came out really great, and a-all of us are good friends...”

Not all of us are actually friends though, are we? It wasn’t really worth pointing it out and killing the vibes. I didn’t comment, simply choosing to nod, and Ahyeon visibly brightened.

At that moment we noticed the crowd beginning to part like the Red Sea. Judging by the timing, it could only be VTIC. The ballad group that had performed after us had left before the first-place group was announced because they had another schedule to get to. I found it interesting that many years of experience were necessary before a group could have complete freedom to do as they pleased in this regard.

In the same vein, it seemed that VTIC was allowed to greet the PD first because of their popularity and seniority.

Don’t T1 affiliates get any preferential treatment? I wondered though it was a rather unprincipled thought. As I was thinking this, VTIC walked by us. I decided to nod to them, but someone stopped and began to speak to me.

“Oh, Moondae. So we meet again. Congratulations on winning first place on the show.”

I was stunned. It was Cheongryeo.

“Oh, Cheongryeo, so this is...”

“Yeah, this is him.”

“Wow! Nice to meet you! Best of luck for promotions!”

The other VTIC members paused too, each saying hello to me. Cheongryeo grinned.

This bastard’s doing this on purpose, isn’t he? Suspicious, I simply returned their greetings politely.

“Yes. Thank you. Nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see you again as well. Uh... why don’t we exchange numbers? It’s not common for group schedules to overlap like this,” Cheongryeo said.

“Sure, that would be great.”

Exchanging numbers wasn’t a bad idea, since it might be useful to be able to contact him down the line. I took out my phone easily but wondered why he was making this offer in a corridor full of other idol groups.

He could have just quietly asked our manager for my number. What was more, he seemed to purposely be talking to us in front of the cameras. I had a feeling something was going on that I was missing. As to what it was, though, I had no clue.

Maybe he just wants to look like he’s friends with me? It was true, after all, that I’d won first place on the show. Maybe Cheongryeo just enjoyed the attention.

I only met him once. How am I supposed to know what his personality is really like?

“I’ll be in touch,” he said.

“Thank you. Take care,” I replied, and VTIC soon vanished from the corridor. Resisting the urge to sigh, I put away my phone.

Big Sejin, who was standing next to me, clapped and grinned. “Well, well, Moondae! So it’s a male idol who asked for your number first, not a girl— Mmf!”

Eat this glucose candy and shut the hell up.