Chapter 339
Chapter 339
It was mid-April, and TeSTAR’s tour had only a few weeks left in the United States.
“Let’s go to the cinema again!”
“We don’t have time.”
“Then make some!”
He’s being particularly persistent today.
I stared at Cha Yu-jin, who was singing the same old tune about watching the movie even here at the composition camp. Because of this guy, we had been sneaking into theaters like thieves in every city on the tour just to watch Cosmic Gunner.
‘Quite a few sightings have popped up online, too.’
We had stopped going because people were starting to predict our movements and wait for us, but he was acting like he was going through withdrawal.
“Cha Yu-jin, the act of continuously depriving the older members of their sleep time to re-watch a cameo appearance that lasts only a few seconds is not—”
“My voice comes out for a long time! And we looked cool!”
“Haha, that’s true. It was pretty cool hearing our song during the end credits.”
Right. I honestly didn’t expect them to go as far as adopting our song as the main theme. I don’t know the details, but the producer showing up in person last time must have been because he liked the song more than I imagined.
‘Even though those bastards stubbornly refused to pay us more.’
Let’s just consider it a promotional fee. The composer himself is currently over the moon, anyway.
“Yes! I also found it quite fascinating!”
“I bet.”
“I wasn’t surprised at all, you know? Rae-bin’s song was just that good~”
Praise was showered upon the primary contributor once again. Even Cha Yu-jin nodded in agreement.
“Kim Rae-bin’s song was cool, too.”
Kim Rae-bin nodded solemnly.
“Due to the rushed production, there were some aspects I found lacking in terms of perfection, but since I supplemented it with feedback after the filming, I have judged that it was ultimately completed to a level I need not be ashamed of.”
“GOOD~”
Rarely do those two agree without a fight.
“The, the reaction is really good. Even in America… articles are coming out.”
“Oh~ really?”
It seemed Seon A-hyun had even attempted to search for them, which was rare. Doing something out of the ordinary yields all sorts of results. I translated the article he held out.
“It says that the K-pop boy band that composed the main insert song for this Limestone movie… and the identity of that impressive cameo performer… is surprising the public.”
“Ooh~”
It’s too early to be impressed by articles since they’ll write about anything, but when I actually dug through anonymous American communities, posts were popping up here and there.
‘First of all, the movie itself is a huge hit.’
That was something out of our control, so we got lucky. Regardless, thanks to making a strong impression in such a popular film, it seemed posts about us were already surfacing—complete with low-quality leaked clips of TeSTAR’s cameo scene.
The funny thing was that many people didn’t even realize it was a cameo; there were many comments saying, ‘I thought they were supporting characters, so I was confused when they didn’t show up again.’
Because of that, it seemed posts summarizing exactly who these guys were were now being uploaded. I recalled the comments on a popular post titled ‘The Identity of the Crazy Band in Cosmic Gunner.’
And if you go a bit further, the variety show where we sold hotteok in America is often attached as a recommendation at the end. In short, the overseas reaction was better than expected.
“The overall reaction is really great.”
“I agree.”
And here, we had someone listening intently to all of this while pretending not to. The very person who, along with Kim Rae-bin, was the driving force behind this reaction. I turned my head.
“You did act very well, Hyung.”
“…Ahem.”
It was Bae Se-jin.
Since this wasn’t the first or second time people had reacted this way, he was now just acting a bit shy. At first, he had been absolutely horrified.
Cha Yu-jin cheered.
“That’s right! It was truly perfect!”
“It wasn’t actually perfect. I tried my best to interpret the lines to fit the makeup and the situation, but there were pronunciation issues and… anyway! Thanks! You, you helped me a lot with the pronunciation.”
“I know!”
Bae Se-jin stopped there and readily admitted it. It seemed he had finally started to realize that if he got all serious here, it would make the atmosphere awkward. The fact that he had seen so many good reviews probably played a part, too.
I recalled the favorable reactions that had poured in just a day after the release.
To be honest, it was surprising even to me.
‘I noticed he was asking a lot of questions on set.’
Bae Se-jin had used Cha Yu-jin as a translator to try and grasp as much as possible about the script and the situation.
‘Even the ad-lib he did at the end passed in one take.’
Originally, the cameo lines were just a single line of humorous swearing and provocation. However, thinking it might be funnier to say one last thing at the end, they consulted on the spot, and that ad-lib was the result.
— Come back to listen again.
It was a pun, knowing that our song would play again during the battle scene in the latter half. I didn’t expect it to be paid off by the full version with vocals appearing in the end credits, though.
Regardless, his stats related to acting and star quality were top-tier, enough to sweep up almost overwhelmingly positive reviews. Of course, some people tried to stir up trouble because of it.
This level of trolling was so predictable that the group’s fans were already prepared to shut it down. However, the problem was that these kinds of reactions were also coming from ordinary moviegoers and cinephiles.
There were predictions and expectations that once he had more years under his belt, Bae Se-jin would naturally pivot his career entirely toward acting.
‘I suppose actors are still held in higher regard than idols.’
Is it a matter of career longevity and the nature of the job? I thought briefly before just shrugging it off.
‘Let’s just let him enjoy it for now.’
Right now, public opinion is maintaining a balance without collapsing because TeSTAR just raised the group’s status by winning a Grand Prize. Since TeSTAR participated in this movie through the OST, Bae Se-jin appeared as a member of that group. This means the atmosphere isn’t one where people expect him to quit the group ‘right now’ to start acting.
‘Still, if he wants to naturally balance group activities with solo work later, we need to start paying attention now.’
I don’t know what these guys will prioritize when the time comes… but for now, it’s safer to create an environment where they have choices.
‘It’s best to produce good results through various group activities.’
And I suspect the things from this movie project that haven’t been properly revealed yet will help with that. Just then, a similar topic came up among the members.
“Umm~ Hyung, was there any separate talk about when the full version of our OST will be released?”
The OST we sang for this movie.
“Black Hole.”
Even though the official track wasn’t out yet, illegal audio ripped from the trailer was already circulating. It even had an auto-complete suggestion on Google in English. However, we didn’t have full authority over the release.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t been given a specific date… it’ll probably be released according to the movie studio’s schedule.”
I nodded.
“Right. It’ll be included in their OST album, not our own album.”
From T1’s perspective, that’s how the contract went, so there’s nothing they can do.
……And actually, I had aimed for this.
‘If we had the authority, they would have excitedly released it on the very first day of the premiere.’
These things are best released when demand is at its peak, but they wouldn’t have been able to wait that long, intoxicated by the public reaction. I’m certain of it. Furthermore, there was the most important reason.
“Limestone will take care of it.”
It was the title ‘Limestone’ itself. A famous American hero movie series.
‘Being released as an OST for this movie is a huge advantage in the US.’
The moment it’s released under the familiar and cool Limestone title, rather than the name of an unfamiliar foreign K-pop singer, the barrier to entry for the song disappears. The removal of stereotypes and prejudice. It was the best reward.
‘This makes it worth doing.’
Plus, there was content that would act as a booster.
‘Hmm.’
“An American album… that is also quite fascinating.”
“I, I agree. It was our first movie song, too… You worked hard, Rae-bin…!”
“A-hyun Hyung, you also worked hard with your smooth communication support and performance guidance!”
Watching those guys exchange words as if the ‘experience alone was enjoyable,’ I busily crunched the numbers for the return on investment in my head.
And a few days later.
Under the guise of ‘gratitude for the support,’ the OST was released under the Limestone label. And along with the music, a short video was also released to the world.
It was the live performance we had filmed on the bar set of the movie. Right, those Limestone bastards had decided to release the whole thing for promotion instead of saving it for the VOD or Director’s Cut.
On the day the OST and the performance video were released.
We, who were briefly returning to Korea, watched the video on a tablet using the in-flight Wi-Fi.
“Wow.”
“The editing is definitely different.”
Since it was edited to feel like a part of the movie, rather than using the typical camera work for music shows, the unfamiliar vibe was top-notch.
[Black - hole!]
Hands and feet handling instruments, chins, lighting, and silhouettes were captured artistically under multi-colored lights resembling neon signs. The avant-garde outfits and background, the rebellious performance, and the vocals with distinct tones. The band performance, which fully captured the atmosphere of Cosmic Gunner, was truly a sight to behold.
Because the guys who had actually handled similar instruments were assigned to the bizarre space instruments, it looked natural.
[Hit it like a comet!]
I nodded as I watched the camera capture Cha Yu-jin throwing the microphone at the center from a low angle at the end.
‘They put quite a bit of effort into this.’
It was full of American sensibility, but perhaps because the image of this band in the movie was so strong, it felt unique. It had a firm charm. And I don’t think I’m saying that just because I was one of the performers.
[22,938,704]
It hadn’t even been a few hours since it was released, and it had already surpassed tens of millions of views. At that moment, Cha Yu-jin whistled.
“We’re number 2 in popularity in America!”
“Ooh~”
“You mean the real-time trending videos ranking?”
“Yes!”
That’s how I knew what was driving these views. It was the target market. It worked.
Whether it was thanks to the movie or not, there was nothing bad about the views for a high-quality performance video skyrocketing. It might take some time to explain that we aren’t actually a band, but we can just turn that into an anecdote on some talk show.
‘This is a sweet way to build recognition.’
I was racking my brain on how to maximize this when Keun Se-jin, who had finished the video long ago and was monitoring the reaction, suddenly tapped my shoulder. What now?
“Park Moon-dae.”
“What.”
“Take a look at this.”
I checked the smartphone he held out.
[Comparison of TeSTAR OST Plagiarism Controversy]
“…!!”
Plagiarism?
I immediately checked Kim Rae-bin’s face in the front seat. Then, Keun Se-jin shook his head and pulled my neck back.
“Keep reading.”
“…….”
I turned my eyes back to the screen. And I read the contents of the post…….
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TeSTAR’s Cosmic Gunner OST ‘Black Hole’ Bridge (from 1:30)
Arrangement from WeTuber ‘Starry Melody’ channel <127 Section> Time Running (from 2:56)
Judge for yourselves.
+ For reference, Starry Melody is a student, but not an amateur; they’ve participated in official game theme songs before.
========================
“…??”
What is this? Why is our arrangement account being mentioned?
I immediately called Kim Rae-bin over. Then I showed him the post.
“…??”
He wore the same stupid expression I had two minutes ago. I waited patiently for a bit more of a reaction. Fortunately, Kim Rae-bin soon shouted as if he realized something.
“…! I see, it seems that because I was working in a hurry, some of the samples I had previously produced overlapped!”
“Ah.”
“I am sorry. Since it is the same world-building, I failed to notice it during the rushed work and ended up…”
To summarize the explanation that followed:
‘I worked on the OST by frantically picking from previously created beats and samples, but since it’s the same world-building, it seems they overlapped. It is my mistake! I will reflect deeply and work on a solution simultaneously!’
“No, wait a second.”
I calmed Kim Rae-bin down.
“Moon-dae, Moon-dae?”
After gesturing for Keun Se-jin to wait a moment as well, I first went into the ‘Starry Melody’ account. The comments on that video were already exploding. And the main sentiment was this:
“Oh.”
Everyone’s having a field day.
I rubbed my chin. This… if I play my cards right, I can use this.