Chapter 182
Chapter 182
Asking Seon A-hyun for cooperation regarding the stage was an already proven method.
Even back during the Idol Inc. grade evaluations when we were barely acquaintances, he was the kind of guy who would brighten up and teach me everything he knew.
However, the conversation went a bit differently than expected.
"N-no!"
"…?"
As soon as I explained the situation, Seon A-hyun shifted his stance.
‘Has this guy finally developed a competitive streak?’
I watched him, feeling a bit bewildered, but he stood his ground despite shrinking back slightly.
"Y-you’re hurt, so doing something like that is dangerous…."
Ah, so that was it.
"It’s fine. I’m not saying I’ll start practicing right away. I plan to do it once I’ve recovered sufficiently."
Since I had a baseline of physical fitness, my plan was to focus on conceptualizing and memorizing first, then start the actual practice about two weeks before the show.
I wasn't some drama character who gets shot and starts running around in the next episode; of course, I had a plan to take care of my body.
However, even after adding this specific explanation, Seon A-hyun’s complexion remained poor.
"B-but still, I think it’ll put a lot of strain on your joints… C-can’t you just not do it…?"
"Hmm…."
"Y-you’re already! You’re already such a great singer, you don’t have to go that far…."
At this rate, he looked like he was about to break into a cold sweat.
‘…He’s sensitive about injuries.’
I thought it was just because he was a former dance major, but there was something more desperate about his reaction.
"Hmm."
Anyway, it didn't seem like I'd get an answer this way, so let's try changing the approach.
"Fine. I think you’re right."
"…! R-really?"
"Yeah. I should hold back for the sake of my body."
Seon A-hyun’s face instantly brightened.
I casually added a follow-up.
"Then I’ll only use the device for a moment…. Yeah, just in case, can I ask you about some safe postures?"
"Y-yes!"
Got him.
Seon A-hyun nodded in agreement. I played a video on my smartphone and showed it to him.
"About this part where you release the tension…."
It was the so-called "illusion of compromise" tactic.
In reality, if you thought about it, I was still saying I’d do what I originally intended, but I knew that with his personality, he’d fall for the nuance of "the other person has been convinced."
I picked up several practical tips from Seon A-hyun and even secured a promise that he would demonstrate them for me at the practice room.
"Thanks."
"I-it’s nothing!"
And it was only after arriving at the massive practice room rented for the concert that Seon A-hyun noticed something was off.
The company must have finally started moving quickly, as they had already rented the equipment.
"U-uh…."
Seon A-hyun’s face was plastered with question marks, but the situation was already settled.
"T-this, I thought… you weren’t doing it…?"
"You said you’d teach me."
"B-but still…."
I shrugged.
"Well… if you don’t feel like it, you can stop. The instructor is here, so I can just take my time asking them."
"…! N-no! I’ll teach you!"
"Thanks."
And so, I even confirmed Seon A-hyun’s demonstration.
Whether he had done it before or not, he was proficient even without the instructor’s advice.
And the vibe was different.
‘…There’s definitely a difference.’
I had to master that.
"Ooh!"
The process went smoothly, except for the part where Cha Yu-jin barged in, excitedly saying he wanted to try too, and almost slammed his face into the floor.
However, a few members did ask me quietly.
"Moon-dae, did you get a check-up? Did the doctor really say it’s okay to do this?"
"Ah, it’s fine."
I immediately nodded at Ryu Cheong-woo’s cautious inquiry.
"I decided to try it within limits that won't be too taxing once I've recovered."
"…Alright. Just don't overdo it."
It really was fine. Not only had all my schedules been cleared, but my recovery speed was noticeably faster than a normal body.
‘Is it thanks to Bacchus 500?’
Since the rate of fatigue accumulation was slow, I must be getting a bonus to my recovery.
I crossed my arms and looked back at the device Cha Yu-jin had just hopped off of, giggling.
‘The visual will definitely be good.’
Now it finally felt like I was doing something worthwhile. I felt pretty good.
I was starting to look forward to the concert.
*
"This is… a success-commemoration drink."
"I love it! Cheers!!"
Park Moon-dae’s fansite master downed her beer along with her graduate student friend.
‘Aaaaah!!’
It was thrilling.
It was because they had successfully finished the pre-sale for TeSTAR’s second concert just a few days ago!
Even better, both of them had succeeded.
"This is the standing area, right? Do we have to watch while standing?"
"No, no! There are chairs there! You can sit or stand depending on the atmosphere."
"Ah~ I see!"
The graduate student, who had snagged a very good spot near the front in the so-called "chair-standing" section—where folding chairs are lined up in the standing area—smiled brightly.
‘And she said she barely managed to find the time.’
Looking at her with a bit of pity, Park Moon-dae’s fansite master glanced at her vibrating smartphone.
Vrrr!
As soon as she checked the content, she clutched her phone.
"Heeeee, Moon-dae posted!"
"No way!"
=========================
Hello Loviewers,
This is Moon-dae (Puppy emoji)
This is today's dinner.
I made it myself.
(Photo) (Photo)
Cheong-woo hyung took the picture.
Loviewers, please eat a delicious meal too.
=========================
The attached photos showed a fairly decent home-cooked meal, including spicy pepper soybean paste stew and fried eggs.
There was even a photo of Park Moon-dae’s profile as he seriously took a picture of the table.
‘I’m going crazy, seriously.’
The fansite master felt like banging her head against the table.
Park Moon-dae was truly the best. But he was too much.
‘Just rest already!!’
The company probably cleared his schedule so he could rest, so why was he busy cooking?
Moreover, looking at the photos again, things that bothered her started popping out.
The graduate student muttered with a worried face.
"He’s still wearing a brace on his wrist…."
"I think he’s wearing one on his waist too. You can see the shape through his clothes."
It had already been a week since they heard the news of his injury, but they couldn't help but be concerned.
The atmosphere of the drinking session dampened slightly.
"…Still, Moon-dae’s solo song isn't a track with intense movement, so the concert should be fine, right? He sang standing up in The Singer I Made, too."
"Right. He’ll probably sing sitting down."
The two made reasonable guesses, saying that if necessary, he could even sit out the group choreography and perform while seated.
‘He must be so disappointed.’
Based on over a year of watching him, Park Moon-dae seemed like the type who had a lot of ambition for the stage, even if he didn't show it.
The fansite master suppressed the urge to wail, thinking she should send some red ginseng through the agency immediately.
"…But I think this concert will be even more fun than the first one! The venue is bigger, too!"
"Hmm, y-yeah."
The graduate student tried to change the mood, and while the fansite master played along, she couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy.
She had remembered something she had been ignoring in the joy of both of them succeeding in ticketing.
‘Of all places, Gocheok Dome….’
Last time, the concert was held at the Gymnastics Arena with 13,000 seats, but this time it was at Gocheok Sky Dome with 21,000 seats opened.
Of course, since it was a concert for TeSTAR, who were gaining momentum like crazy, expanding the scale was the right choice from the agency's perspective.
But from a fan's perspective, Gocheok Dome wasn't exactly ideal.
‘The view sucks.’
She wanted to scream for them to just extend the period and do two weeks at the Gymnastics Arena instead, but she knew that was impossible because of the tour.
‘Ugh.’
The fansite master, who found it difficult to follow the entire tour perfectly due to personal circumstances, downed her beer in one go.
‘I’ll probably have to just buy data for a few of them….’
The alcohol tasted sweet.
Then, she managed to bring up a positive topic.
"…And once the concert is over, it’ll be awards season soon. Even if they go on tour, we’ll see the boys’ faces often!"
"Oh! That’s true!"
Expectations for TeSTAR’s performance at the awards ceremonies were quite high.
‘There’s a chance VTIC might not attend.’
This was because one of the members had been embroiled in a messy social controversy that broke out at a club, delaying the group’s comeback.
Thanks to that, VTIC had only released a pre-release track and there had been no news since, leaving their fans anxious.
Since they cut off the controversial member with surgical precision, their official SNS and other channels had been quiet.
They were even silent on a member’s birthday.
‘The birthday boy was Cheong-ryeo, right?’
He was a guy she couldn't tell if he was subtly messing with their boy or if they were actually close, but anyway, the most familiar face came to mind.
But it vanished in an instant.
‘Well, they’re top-tier, they’ll figure it out.’
Even without the VTIC variable, TeSTAR’s momentum was undeniable.
Park Moon-dae, in particular, had seen an even steeper rise recently.
To the point where a flood of new fansite masters had appeared over the past six months.
‘Just how many people jumped ship!’
She had witnessed more than one or two cases of fansite masters from other groups quietly switching over in person.
Even the person who happened to snag a seat in the same section as her for this concert was one of those cases.
‘She was a twin home-master, covering Keun Se-jin too!’
During the first concert, she seemed to be testing the waters by taking a few shots of Keun Se-jin, but rumors said she pulled off an incredible quality eye-contact photo during the Waiting is Good stage and leaked it on an anonymous site.
But then she actually opened a fansite and started releasing other cuts from that set.
Along with photos taken as a two-shot with Park Moon-dae!
‘…I thought she’d only take photos of Keun Se-jin, but to think she’d run it for Moon-dae too.’
A subtle sense of competition set her heart ablaze.
At this concert, she would definitely pull off a better shot of Moon-dae than that "traitorous" twin home-master!
Ignoring the fact that she herself had switched over, the fansite master made a firm vow.
"I’m going to get a truly legendary cut this time."
"Ah~ that’s great! Show me too!"
The graduate student replied brightly. Then she ordered another beer.
"Then, cheers!"
"Cheers!"
The two clinked their glasses again with fluttering hearts, thinking of the upcoming concert.
It was a time when they couldn't have imagined that on the first day of the concert, they would be wailing and shaking their lightsticks so hard they’d break them.
*
And at the rehearsal site on the day of TeSTAR’s concert.
"Alright, move this immediately!"
"Yes!"
Various people were moving busily ahead of the performance.
Among them were many daily part-time staff members hired in a hurry to fill the immediate need for labor.
‘Ah, this is fcking exhausting.’*
One daily staff member irritably set down the luggage he was carrying. He had applied because of the 70,000 won daily wage, but he was sick of the endless labor.
"……."
The daily staff member looked around and, catching a moment, sneakily pulled out his smartphone. Then he posted a post full of rage on an anonymous site.
=========================
[I’m a boy group concert staff, not taking questions]
: Just go do manual labor at a warehouse instead. They pay f*cking minimum wage but make you do so much.
There are already tons of fangirls outside, don't they have anything better to do? tsk tsk
=========================
‘The bait is good, right?’
Perhaps it was an interesting enough post, as a few comments were posted.
However, they weren't pleasant.
‘These bastards…!’
The part-timer huffed and turned off his smartphone screen.
"You there! What are you doing!"
"…! …Yes."
The part-timer flinched at the sharp reprimand and half-heartedly moved the luggage. Other part-timers moving busily around him glanced his way, but he had already lost all motivation.
‘Should I just bail?’
Just as he was looking for a chance to desert, a commotion was heard from one side.
‘What is it?’
He craned his neck to look and saw some famous faces.
"……!"
TeSTAR had arrived for the rehearsal.
They moved busily through the passage with the staff, bowing their heads here and there.
"Hello~"
"……!"
Lee Se-jin happened to make eye contact with the part-timer and greeted him genially.
He had a well-maintained, large build and a handsome face.
"Let’s go."
"Okay~"
Park Moon-dae tapped Lee Se-jin. The two bowed their heads a few more times and quickly moved on.
"They’re all so handsome."
"Wow."
"It’s kind of cool."
The other daily part-timers nearby whispered excitedly, but the one who was looking for a chance to bail felt even worse.
‘It’s not like they’re doing anything that great.’
It was a sense of deprivation.
It was an attitude born from the fact that people of a similar age had achieved enormous success, and he didn't want to acknowledge it.
However, his desire to bail decreased slightly.
‘Let’s see just how well they do.’
Whether it was personality or skill, could guys who rose to fame through a single program without any period of obscurity really be flawless?
These days, even a single verification post could testify to all sorts of facts.
‘Well, it’s anonymous, so it’s not like they can catch me, right?’
The part-timer thought carelessly, falling into a pleasant, not-so-wholesome delusion.
And regardless of one individual’s fantasy, the concert was fully prepared to proceed smoothly amidst the expectations and hard work of many people.