A Humpback Whale on the Human Stage
The teaser video was attached to the end of every program on the PLu channel, and the publicity machine for Idol Travel began to hum to life.
Then the group performance of the signal song was released simultaneously on PLu’s music show and its MuTube channel, and when the signal song itself went on sale, anticipation climbed a little higher still.
How do these ridiculously handsome guys keep popping out of nowhere?
The center is insane. That eye-smile is lethal T_T
Now I get why HaOnHa is the center. This kid’s definitely debuting.
Another survival show? God, how many times are they going to run this into the ground? I’m so sick of it.
The saviors who are about to empty my bank account have arrived.
When Cheong smiles, those little dimples are adorable ♥♥♥ I’m rooting for Cheong!
Whoa! Yuri shows up too? T_T Clear must have been so hard on him after the disbandment, but thank you for not giving up on your dream and showing your face again. It feels like he’s improved even more in the meantime—so proud of him!
Lee Gal-chae dancing... ? Lee Gal-chae is... ?
Because my hearing isn’t great, I wore glasses..
3:45 Wait, so who the hell is this guy? Why does nobody know him??
* * *
Clatter!
[Younger Sister: Unnieee! Unnie unnie unnie!]
[Younger Sister: Look at this!]
[Younger Sister: (link)]
[Younger Sister: I’ve finally found the meaning of my life.]
The law student, who had been juggling tutoring gigs and TOEIC prep after the semester ended, was jolted by the shrill buzz of her smartphone.
“Teacher, you can just look at it.”
“Huh? No, I’m sorry. I should’ve put it on silent.”
“It’s okay. It seems like something urgent. You can check it while I solve this problem.”
“Sure, thanks.”
People often said things like, “Kids these days are scary,” or “They don’t show proper respect to teachers,” but the law student’s tutoring pupil was an absolutely sweet and adorable middle school girl.
While the student worked through the problem set, the law student switched her phone to silent and checked her sister’s message.
Following the link, she found some idol survival-show video.
Signal Song Group Performance MV
She had liked idols up through middle school, but stopped stanning them once the college entrance exam hit during high school. The law student shoved the phone back into her bag and thought, Why am I looking at idols now?
While she studied her heart out, her old-oppa kept getting hauled in and out of the detention center.
When she got into law school and did a victory dance, her old-oppa was being indicted.
Stan life... is pointless...
She hadn’t enrolled in law school to learn the exact charges against her old bias and the severity of his punishment.
After witnessing the cowardly, filthy side of someone she had once adored with all her heart, she felt... oddly hollow.
It was frightening, too, to imagine falling head over heels for someone else again.
On the subway ride home after tutoring ended, the law student fiddled with her smartphone, slipped in her wireless earphones, and opened the MuTube app. It took about ten minutes to reach her stop, and the video her sister had sent was only seven minutes long.
It’s boring anyway. I’ll just watch it to kill time.
Planning to watch it casually and that was all, she hit play. Then, through the earphones, an announcement like the voice of a flight attendant began to flow in a pleasantly soft tone.
[Passengers, good day. Thank you for boarding the Idol Travel flight, bound for the brightest idols in the world. Our flight attendants will do everything in our power to ensure that your journey is enjoyable and happy.]
[Please take a comfortable seat, or lie down if you prefer, and place your smartphone and other electronic devices somewhere easy to see. To avoid interruptions during the video, please turn off your Totok or text notifications for a moment. Thank you.]
[Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to IDOL TRAVEL....]
On the screen was the image of an airplane window, just like the view from a window seat.
Wow, how long has it been since I last flew?
Her heart began to flutter at the feeling of setting off for somewhere far away. The English announcement gradually faded, and then—
Dong— Dong— Dong— Dong—
She heard an electronic tone that resembled a takeoff signal.
[Passengers, we will be taking off shortly.]
Whiiiiirr—
Like the sound of an airplane lifting into the sky, a thin electronic note began softly, almost tickling her eardrums, then slowly swelled in volume.
Whoosh!
Beyond the scene, which faded out white as if being embraced by the clouds outside the airplane window, a fox appeared.
No— it was the face of a man so slyly handsome he might as well have been a fox. It was HaOnHa at center.
[Left behind in a lonely sea
An island where no one ever comes
I'm so lonely
Me, who was always alone]
As HaOnHa, lying on a sandy beach with the blue sea behind him, reached toward the screen and rose to his feet—
Dong Dong— Dro Dong Dong—
The atmosphere brightened as tropical rhythms piled over a clearer, cheerier sound, similar to the takeoff signal from before but more sparkling and buoyant.
Bright notes like rolling droplets overlapped with the pop of a can being opened and the cool rush of waves sweeping in—swoooosh.
To HaOnHa’s left and right, another handsome boy, then another, then another appeared in a rush, dancing together. They wore snow-white flight attendant uniforms with a uniform-inspired touch.
[You appeared from beyond the world
Oh, a miraculous story
So astonishing a story]
The softly beginning EDM gradually built into something even more lively, with marimba notes layered over it. The choreography stayed simple and breezy in the main, yet the movement never stopped, one step flowing into the next without pause.
[I think I’m so excited
Running across the beach
Without even noticing the sting of bare feet]
[My trembling won’t stop
My heart won’t settle down
I’m going out to meet you]
After the pre-chorus came the chorus. Along with a swelling, exhilarating sound, choreography of a much higher difficulty surged forward.
[Welcome—
I wanted to meet you
Someday—
I knew we’d meet]
[I think I’ve been waiting
For you for a very long time]
The accompaniment was refreshing as if someone had poured carbonated water over a waterfall, and the melody stretched out cleanly and brightly. The lyrics, stripped of most of their English and sharpened for impact, somehow felt even more youthful and moving, adding greater resonance.
[The owners of this stage are you and me
It’s a dance we share
Let’s stay together! Forever
Dance, a dance that never stops]
The participants appeared evenly across the frame, and then the camera zoomed out, fitting all 81 of them into a single shot. The drumbeat, like a racing heartbeat, accelerated as if it might fly all the way to the edge of the sky.
[Do you feel the same way, too
Running across the beach
Without even noticing the sun is setting]
[My excitement won’t stop
My heart won’t sink
I’m going out to meet you]
Then, as the participants smiled brightly at the camera and jumped high into the air, the space changed. They were now on the rooftop of a building with a helipad.
[Welcome—
I wanted to meet you
Someday—
I knew we’d meet]
[I think I’ve been waiting
For you for a very long time]
The chorus and the high-difficulty dance surged once more. Over the chorus, ad-libs rose so high they seemed to reach the edge of the sky.
Hoooooh— hoo— hooooh hoo— hoo—
The background shifted from day to night in the blink of an eye. Fireworks burst brilliantly overhead. Amid the explosions, like fireworks themselves, the participants kept dancing with fierce energy.
Then came the bridge.
[Maybe this is a dream from a summer night
If it is, I’ll never wake up
So stay here with us]
Hoooooh— hoo— hooooh hoo— hoo—
Just when a mad, soul-melting high note was about to liquefy her eardrums and leave her reeling, a sculpted beauty with long, pitch-black hair swaying as he parted his lips appeared out of nowhere. Classical, textbook perfection; a beauty that transcended eras burst through the screen and announced itself with overwhelming presence.
Wow. How can a person even look like that?
But the thought couldn’t continue for long. Unlike the other boys, who had danced while looking straight ahead whenever they were on screen, this sculpted beauty was looking somewhere else.
The close-up face drew nearer. His black eyes, brimming with excitement, gazed at something beyond the screen.
As his head turned mid-dance, the reflection in his pupils revealed scenery and people. Nothing especially special, nothing especially interesting—just an ordinary sight. And yet, in his eyes, there was no mistaking the thrill and exhilaration that shimmered there.
The moment a faint smile bloomed at the corner of his mouth, the law student’s heart lurched violently out of place. The screen spun away, shifting to something else.
[The owners of this stage are you and me
It’s a dance we share
Let’s stay together! Forever]
With the fireworks nearly gone in the background, the boys kept dancing.
A film effect like the grainy texture of an old videotape was layered over the video, and the boys’ faces, smiling wistfully as they looked beyond the screen, gave off an atmosphere that was at once fresh and achingly nostalgic.
Cut. The music stopped.
Dong— Dong— Dong— Dong—
Once again, bright midday beach. As the song faded and the movements slowly came to a halt, for some reason it still felt as if their dance had not ended.
Over the sight of the boys lying on the sand with their eyes closed, the boarding announcement sounded. Even asleep, they seemed to be dancing in their dreams.
Then a sweet, clear voice whispered, almost like a song.
[Dance, a dance that never stops.]
Among the boys with their eyes closed, only HaOnHa—the center—had his eyes open, staring straight at the screen. He blinked slowly.
His expression looked as though he were gazing at a world forced to stop, even though it desperately didn’t want to.
The sleeping boys appeared on screen one by one. The last to appear was the long-haired sculpted beauty who had caught her eye from the start. With his long black eyelashes and beautiful features, it felt as if he might enchant her outright if he looked any longer.
The program logo rose onto the screen, and the video ended.
I quit my idol phase...
The law student readjusted her grip on the phone and swallowed hard. Her heart, which had stopped for a moment, was now pounding violently again.
The chorus was addictive, and the melody was so good that she had a feeling the theme song Welcome would become a huge hit.
In particular, the bridge had such an intoxicating tone that she’d nearly stopped breathing.
The law student replayed the video again and again, and in the process, she missed her stop.
(gif of a head turning)
That nose bridge is insane.
Why is such a precious face wasting itself on a shabby survival show...?
A humpback whale appeared to bring tension to the loosened idol stone stage.
Long hair suits him, but I think he’d look even more handsome if he cut it.
So what’s his name, anyway? Why is nobody telling us and just spreading his face everywhere T_T
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