“Are there a lot of people?”
“There are seriously so many!”
“Even though there are still more than eight hours until the performance begins, I saw quite a few people already gathered together and chatting…!”
Kim Raebin and Cha Eugene, who had gone outside to spy on the situation under the pretense of going to the bathroom, reported excitedly.
The members standing onstage covered their faces or took deep breaths.
“Whew……”
“They’ll be able to hear the whole rehearsal.”
That’s right. We had just come onstage for the concert rehearsal.
Idols on overseas tours sometimes sold tickets that included access to the rehearsal, so I was glad this wasn’t one of those cases.
If we had to reveal even the rehearsal at our first concert, there probably would have been members ten times more nervous than they were now.
Of course, even now, everyone was wound up tight.
“Let’s seriously do well. We practiced that much, so we should at least show them as much as we practiced.”
“That’s right!”
“We really… really practiced a lot.”
Bae Sejin’s face turned slightly pale.
He seemed to be remembering the recent practice period.
‘It was pretty brutal.’
More than once, I had thought that forget stamina or whatever, my lung capacity simply wasn’t going to hold up.
We ended up putting an exercise bike in the dorm because everyone unanimously agreed that personal-training sessions alone weren’t enough.
And in the middle of all that, we had to appear energetic on the unit-stage production reality show, so it had been no ordinary task.
‘…Still, the day finally came.’
I wasn’t regretful or anxious.
We had finished preparing.
And that was probably true for the others as well.
“Right. This time, let’s trust the amount of practice we’ve put in.”
“Yes!”
In the middle of that firm atmosphere, Big Sejin quietly raised a hand.
“Should we shout our slogan once before we start~?”
“Slogan?”
“You know, that one~”
“…Ah.”
Only then did the guys realize what he meant, and exclamation marks practically appeared over their heads.
A moment later, hands stacked together one after another.
“Ah, TeSTAR’s going to show them something today!”
“Let’s go!”
…It was a phrase that traded embarrassment directly for atmosphere, but it worked.
“We start from the opening, right?”
The rehearsal went smoothly without any problems.
There truly wasn’t much time left before the still-empty audience seats would be completely filled.
The area in front of the Gymnastics Arena was packed shoulder to shoulder.
There were several reasons for that, but one of the main ones was buying concert merchandise.
‘I got all the merch!!’
Park Moondae’s fansite master also stood in the entry line with shopping bags filling both hands.
They were the spoils of a successful hunt.
And the quality of everything was pretty good!
In particular, the set of sparkling decorative parts that could be attached to and used to customize the light stick was extremely pretty.
She had already seen on SNS that they had been the first item to sell out during the advance sale, based on the promotional images alone.
‘They came out way better than I expected.’
Recently, T1 had been fully demonstrating the advantages of being a major corporation, and quite a few fans had softened toward the company.
With one well-made product after another being released, some people were even starting to become favorable toward them.
But the fansite master steeled herself.
‘…Don’t let your guard down.’
After all, once the concert Blu-ray came out, they might discover that the members themselves had proposed the designs for this and that too.
Still, separate from all of that, she couldn’t help feeling excited.
‘They really prepared the hell out of this, didn’t they?!’
She was looking forward to the concert so much that a smile spread across her entire face.
The satisfaction available only to those who possessed tickets was already surging through her like a tide.
And on top of that, her seat was…
Section eight on the second floor!
The exact section Park Moondae had intended to go for before failing without even getting the chance to try.
‘Moondae, I’m sitting here…!’
Originally, she had planned to find someone to trade with for a standing ticket so she could get better fancams.
But the instant she watched TeSTAR’s ticketing video, she had accepted it as fate and decided to keep the seat.
‘I’ll just film more seriously tomorrow!’
That was the kind of composure only someone who also had a ticket for tomorrow could afford.
“Um, would you like some of this…?”
“Gasp, thank you!”
She accepted snacks and a small photo postcard prepared by the unfamiliar Kim Raebin fan sitting beside her.
As they talked and occasionally checked SNS for updates, time flew by.
It was almost time for the concert to begin.
An announcement echoed throughout the venue.
“……Whew.”
Park Moondae’s fansite master expertly took out her camera and concealed it among her belongings.
At that moment, the venue lights dimmed.
“……!”
The murmuring crowd abruptly went silent as light poured from the enormous screen.
Wooooong—.
Filling the screen were…
Seven figures lying in a circle on the floor of a classroom.
TeSTAR.
WAAAAAAAH!!!
The video unfolded amid the cheers.
Close-ups showed TeSTAR opening their eyes one by one on the floor, and the next instant, soap bubbles swept over their heads.
The members chased the bubbles and lightly threw themselves out through the classroom windows flooded with sunlight.
Then, with a click, the screen went dark.
♬♪♩♪- ♬♪♬♪- ♪♩-
The concert hall darkened again.
A familiar melody rang out in a much more extravagant arrangement.
And before anyone knew it, the venue had filled with falling soap bubbles and the glittering lights of light sticks.
“……!”
Within that fantastical space shimmering under violet lighting, Park Moondae’s opening line from ‘Magical Boy’ began.
-I thought about you, whom I’ll meet tomorrow, all day today
Figures began descending from the ceiling on wires.
“……!”
All seven members of TeSTAR had appeared from every direction, suspended on wires.
Entrusting their bodies to the stage equipment, the idols began circling through the venue.
-But reality is breathing, All the time…
Seon Ahyeon swept over her head while singing his part.
‘Holy shit!’
Screams that were nearly shrieks erupted from all around her.
AAAAAAAGH!!
A gentle breeze followed in Seon Ahyeon’s wake, tickling her hair.
Goosebumps rose all over her skin.
‘Moondae, where’s Moondae?!’
Park Moondae was passing over the standing section a short distance away from her.
‘That’s my section tomorrow!!’
His blond hair swayed, captured on the screen.
Park Moondae was smiling lightly.
‘A fairy! Please be over there tomorrow too…!!’
She wailed internally and raised her camera.
-Cast a spell
Just before the second chorus, during a short instrumental break inserted into the song, TeSTAR gathered on the central stage.
Then they descended from the equipment and began the chorus choreography.
The decorations on their school-uniform outfits, far more elaborate than those in the music video, glittered under the lights.
And without even a chance to catch their breath, the accompaniment surged straight into the next song.
It was ‘Airplane,’ the title track from their second promotion period.
-My heart is fluttering, I want to send it flying somewhere
From the very opening, TeSTAR had flown in on wires and then, in their first stage, burned through every title track they had.
‘Oh my god.’
The structure gave an intense impression that they intended to drag the audience completely into the experience first and worry about everything else afterward.
But the mood was undeniable.
With hit after hit appearing back-to-back, the audience’s brains were already overheated with adrenaline before they had any chance to worry about how the second half of the concert would be structured.
That was how TeSTAR’s first concert began.
After TeSTAR performed one more soft ballad from the Choose Your Side album, they finally moved into a light talk segment.
[Whew, did you enjoy the opening??]
YES!!!
The slightly echoing voice was answered by affirmations loud enough to tear the venue apart.
Ryu Chungwoo, who had spoken, seemed slightly startled by their force, but soon laughed and nodded.
‘He’s kind of cute too, the more I see him.’
Even while evaluating him generously, the fansite master’s eyes and camera remained focused on Park Moondae.
Park Moondae handed the water bottle he had been drinking from to Seon Ahyeon beside him, then greeted them with a small wave.
[Hello, Loviewers. I’m Moondae… I hope you have a fun and exciting time today.]
‘Cute!!’
His effort to deliberately imitate the way he wrote on SNS was obvious.
But apparently he was fairly embarrassed, because his ears had turned red.
‘Our puppy worked up his courage…!’
As she wailed and held her camera, she heard someone sniffling beside her.
“He’s so cute……”
“……?”
She was quite sure the person beside her was a Kim Raebin solo fan.
Anyway, that simply meant Moondae was devastatingly cute enough to overcome such boundaries, so she decided to view it warmly.
[For this next stage~ I think you’ve probably all already seen how hard we worked preparing for it!]
[It’s our first unit stage!]
The members looked nervous, but they were still excited and handled the talk segment well.
[Ah, you’re asking which team is first? That’s… a secret!]
[Secret!]
Only after a few more exchanges between the fans’ playful boos and TeSTAR’s laughing comments did the members prepare to head below the stage.
[Is everyone ready? Then please wait with anticipation to see who comes out!]
[We’ll reveal it soon!]
And TeSTAR waved their hands and ran backstage.
Only after deliberately showing the entire process did the lights go out and another video begin playing on the screen.
[Bbam-ba-bam!]
[Bba-ba-ba-bam!!]
The two who poked their heads into view were…
Cha Eugene and Big Sejin!
‘Already?!’
She had expected the dance-performance-focused unit to appear later in the concert for the sake of the overall pacing.
And wasn’t that Cha Eugene in it?
Cha Eugene who destroyed stages.
Cha Eugene, manufacturer of solo fans!
‘…Whatever. It’s not like Moondae’s in this one!’
She shrugged and leaned back against her seat.
Since Moondae wasn’t appearing, she planned to watch this one a little more comfortably.
‘Well, Cha Eugene will fly all over the place… and Sejin will probably dance well too?’
From what she vaguely remembered seeing on the WeTube reality show, it seemed like they were going to perform a somewhat famous, older jazz-influenced R&B pop song.
The cute VCR of the two chuckling together soon ended.
[So our concept is…… What did you call it, Eugene?]
[Outlaws of the Wild West!]
With Cha Eugene’s words as the final line, the screen cut to black.
And when it lit again…
It really was a desolate wilderness.
‘Huh?’
It looked like scenery straight out of a stereotypical American Western.
Bam Bam Bam Barabarararabam
The intro began.
Along with a much more playful saxophone rhythm than the original, an illustration appeared on the screen.
[WANTED]
[$100,000,000]
It was a wanted poster.
Comical cartoon caricatures of the two were slapped onto the video one after another.
-Who’s next?
The instant Cha Eugene’s slightly nasal voice sharply threw out that single line—
The two of them shot upward at the same time from opposite ends beneath the central stage.
Then they charged toward each other.
“…!”
After racing in fiercely from the left and right, the two crossed choreography moves as though sliding toward one another, then magically snapped upright and turned back to look at each other again.
Both tall men wore leather pants, loose shirts with fitted vests cinched over them, and cowboy hats tilted crookedly over their heads.
The only difference was that Cha Eugene wore light brown while Big Sejin wore dark brown.
-Now~ You have to know
What is right D’oh
What is Left
The two threw their hats away at the same time.
As Big Sejin’s vocals bounced lightly along with the cheerful pop song, dancers dressed in black appeared behind the two, who were grinning crookedly.
Then both of them pulled ropes from their waists.
“……?!”
Aggressive group choreography exploded across the stage.
Using both their feet and the ropes, Cha Eugene and Big Sejin began tripping the dancers one by one with strange, energetic movements.
Their movements shared similarities with the dancers’ choreography while simultaneously being synchronized with each other.
In every phrase, there was always at least one point where the two executed the exact same movement at the exact same time.
As a result, the stage’s overall unity remained smooth.
It was the kind of stunt that left you staring with your mouth hanging open.
-Take my gun and
Bababababa-by Say
Goodbye!
The instant the chorus began, the two ripped off their vests and threw them behind them.
A hidden costume element was revealed.
Gun holsters containing pistols.
-Oh my~
The two continued the choreography while aiming their guns at one another with one hand.
The choreography organically connected as they continuously changed positions only to return to their original places. It had a distinctly musical-theater quality to it, yet because one arm was restricted, the rest of their movements became even more aggressive.
And finally—
The choreography ended with each of them knocking away the other’s gun.
-Say Goooodbye~~
Over a drum roll and the sound of the saxophone being played like mad, the two carefully performed a motion as though slowly lifting nonexistent hats in greeting.
Then they gradually disappeared beneath the stage.
-Yay ha!
Before the final phrase of the song even finished, the venue was already full of screams.
‘Holy shit.’
Park Moondae’s fansite master tried to close her gaping mouth after being so immersed that the stage had swept past before she even had time to evaluate it.
‘That was insanely good……’
The stage had powerfully delivered, beyond expectations, every element the audience might have anticipated the instant they heard the keyword ‘Outlaws of the Wild West.’
‘…Maybe I should upload a shot from this stage on April Fool’s Day.’
Thinking that she had gotten a particularly good shot of them throwing off their vests, she struggled to remain calm.
And just like her, in the minds of most of the audience who had watched the first unit stage, what remained most vividly was the stage itself.
Not one particular member.
The stage.
It was Big Sejin’s victory by decision.
Read only on MUGEX
‘The unit stage must have just ended.’
As I waited after changing costumes, the cheers were so loud that the vibrations reached beneath the stage.
“Th-They must’ve done really well!”
Seon Ahyeon smiled brightly.
I nodded.
‘…He probably didn’t get overshadowed.’
Actually, I hadn’t been particularly worried about Big Sejin.
A few days earlier, I had abruptly heard the full story behind the song choice while coming out of the shower.
-Moondae, want to hear something funny?
-What?
-I practiced my fundamentals with that song. From when I first became a trainee.
-……
-So after that, whenever I practiced alone, I just kept using that song.
-……For how long?
-Let’s see… probably eight years? Haha.
Put simply, Cha Eugene had been attached to a song this bastard had spent eight years playing around with.
Of course, simply holding on to a song for a long time didn’t necessarily mean you would perform it well.
But considering Big Sejin’s personality, he must already have torn apart every element the song had to offer and tested every performance idea he could squeeze out of it.
Then he would have selected only the ones he personally thought worked well and suited him, and gently coaxed Cha Eugene into going along.
The outcome was obvious.
‘A good stage came out in the direction Big Sejin excels at.’
On top of that, Big Sejin had added one more mechanism.
‘…There were no solo parts.’
That unit stage didn’t contain a single section where one person moved alone.
They always moved together.
And in almost every moment the two moved together, Big Sejin didn’t simply have everyone’s gaze stolen away from him.
Because the stage had been constructed organically so that watching only one person made it less entertaining.
Of course, without skill, none of that would have mattered no matter what he tried.
But Big Sejin had skill.
So all of his strategies had probably worked.
‘…His brain really does work fast.’
I nodded inwardly.
Of course, I no longer had time to keep worrying about someone else’s unit stage.
“O-Our stage is… second. Let’s do well too!”
My turn was coming soon.