Chapter 345
Chapter 345
It was mid-May when TeSTAR’s album teaser was released.
It happened just as Cosmic Gunner, the movie in which they made a cameo, was leaving theaters after a massive global success, drawing 8 million viewers in Korea alone.
A few people whispered at the rumors and the comeback news that had suddenly popped up only three days before the teaser release without any prior notice.
Park Moon-dae’s first fansite master was on the verge of biting her nails.
‘That General Manager seems like an idiot obsessed with the American market…! Don’t tell me he’s doing this to TeSTAR too?’
The General Manager had luckily been fixated on Mirinae, allowing TeSTAR to escape his evil clutches until now, but she suddenly feared he might have finally gotten ahead of himself. Of course, those whispering were in the minority; most people who heard the news of TeSTAR’s comeback were still riding the high of the national pride they felt through Cosmic Gunner.
That, in itself, was actually a bit worrying.
‘…The expectations for these guys are hitting the ceiling.’
Moon-dae had never disappointed her, but things in life didn't always go according to plan.
‘Even if Moon-dae and the kids do well, it’s no use if the company does something stupid again…!’
Even the quote from a company official at the end of the article—describing it as "an album that will delight a diverse global fandom"—felt unsettling.
She shared the comeback article with that comment, but it was strictly for public consumption.
‘I am a famous fansite master…. I must… stay calm…….’
She particularly missed the Moon-dae who used to stick the apple-rice-cake stickers she drew onto his cheeks during fan signing events.
…At the very least, she would be able to see that again once they made their comeback. They would definitely hold fan signings.
‘Right. Let’s trust them and wait.’
Actually, looking at the interval between releases, it was about time for a comeback anyway!
She settled her mind with a fairly pure fan’s heart.
And three days later.
Amidst tension and excitement, she clicked the teaser. It began with black smoke rising like a haze.
What unfolded was a dark, somber modern-era banquet hall.
In that elegant yet slightly ominous place where shadows lay thick, glamorous masked figures were dancing.
Silhouettes overlapped and harmonized.
Just as a sequence resembling a scene from a 20th-century art film continued for a few seconds…
The sound suddenly changed.
—Rumble!
Thunder.
“…!”
Amidst the flashing light, the screen shifted to the dark, pale exterior of the banquet hall.
Atop a castle gate in the middle of a rainy night, the lights of the banquet hall leaked through the windows.
[……]
Splash.
Then, a pair of bare feet stopped in front of the rain-soaked castle gate.
The skin was stained red, dripping and spreading into the water.
Contaminating it.
“…!”
The camera work and editing were somewhat eerie.
Slowly, the perspective shifted upward.
What was revealed… was a faceless shadow wearing a red hood.
A mask with no features.
Whooooosh.
The moment that chilling grotesqueness was confirmed, the screen turned pitch black again.
Blackout.
A riff melody echoed through the darkness.
—Mmmmmm.
An elegant, slow, low-pitched violin flowed ominously and sharply, and the laughter of the people in the banquet hall faded away.
The album title appeared.
[OVER the Masquerade]
[TeSTAR]
“Wow.”
The atmosphere was distinct.
Elegant, ominous, dark, and luxurious.
Contrary to the speculations and concerns of some netizens, the visual quality—packed with high production value—was excellent.
Those who had been expecting a "national pride meta" immediately began chattering excitedly, giving it high marks.
The problem arose a bit later.
This abstruse yet aesthetic and intense atmosphere created a sense of dissonance.
It was because it felt familiar.
The dark, fatal, and luxurious symbols reminded people of VTIC, who had a firm grip on the American niche market, as well as several other idols whose global momentum was better than their domestic standing.
It was common for idols to change concepts, but the sudden switch, which felt like a calculated move at the perfect timing, left many people unable to laugh.
In other words, they felt the group was losing its "vibe."
“Mmmmmm.”
She felt they were being a bit forced, but the momentum of other groups' fans, who were attacking out of a sense of crisis, was excessive.
‘Still, the general public’s reaction is okay.’
Many people discovered various classical symbols in the short teaser.
However, she also felt somewhat uneasy.
‘This isn't even an image similar to their movie appearance.’
Wasn't it too heavy? It didn't feel like the usual TeSTAR….
“…….”
Regardless, since the quality was good despite her worries, she concluded that there would be no problem as long as they endured the initial trolling during the release.
‘Let’s hit a career high this promotion too!’
But in truth, these worries and concerns had already been processed by the members themselves.
What is the essence of TeSTAR?
Where is the source of their uniqueness?
—I think it eventually comes back to one thing.
Taking Seon A-hyun’s analysis, Park Moon-dae reached this conclusion.
—It’s being fun.
Fun.
And the magnetic force that the charm of that fun exerts.
Immersion.
—That’s why the first keyword A-hyun pulled out after analyzing all of this was "immersion."
They had never made ambiguous symbols and allusions their primary value.
Those were merely additional talking points.
The primary value was one thing.
‘The fun of seeing and hearing.’
The most primal and fundamental value that a stage and a song possess.
A refreshing pleasure that can be enjoyed without burden or a lingering unpleasant aftertaste.
TeSTAR’s core had never changed. And it would be the same for this album.
—Let’s go.
One week after the teaser release. The music video was unveiled.
“Ugh!”
The fansite master clicked the video immediately, her hands trembling.
The music video began with a partially torn-down castle gate.
It was a cut that followed the teaser, but there was a clear difference.
‘…There’s no light.’
The light from the banquet hall that had been leaking out faintly was gone. And there was no rain.
A bleak midnight outdoor landscape where everything had stopped.
Whooooosh.
The chill lasted only a moment.
The camera work, moving as if being sucked into the castle gate, passed through a darkened hallway and led to a dim banquet hall.
Broken masks. Red paint.
In the middle of that mess, which was already no different from a ruin, the mysterious figure in the red robe from the teaser was captured in the center. They looked like the cause of this calamity to anyone watching.
‘Hmm……. Is that the plague?’
Could it be one of the members? That eerie feeling?
However, the camera did not zoom in further.
Instead, the scene flipped.
Back to the castle gate.
—Huu.
The sound of a short intake of breath. Facing the massive, partially torn gate, a back view was captured standing with its back to the camera.
Instead of silence, the sounds of the night forest and insects were heard.
A tall person wearing a navy-blue do-po.
At that moment, the music returned.
Vrooooom—!
The sounds of drums and trombones intersected rapidly and grandly, and the person standing in front slowly looked up at the sky.
Crash!
Thunder and lightning struck.
It rained.
But perhaps because of the music, instead of the gloominess seen in the teaser, it was a scene that felt somewhat refreshing and overwhelming.
‘Huh?’
The moment the figure turned around and took off the mask.
A close-up shot captured the face.
It was Park Moon-dae.
“…!”
Techwear elements of a military uniform were attached to his shadowed neck, shoulders, and even ears like sci-fi equipment.
But that was only visible for a split second.
In the very next scene, Park Moon-dae whipped off the navy hood he was wearing.
White hair with a blue tint fluttered.
Zzzzt!
A glitch seemed to spark behind his head, and then a blue light sprouted over his shoulders like a mane, flickering.
“…!?”
Park Moon-dae smirked.
[Ha!]
With a short shout, the bleak outdoors instantly became a stage overflowing with sci-fi neon lights!
—That voice calling out desperately over there
Hear it, the sound of my footsteps diving in
The one who appeared first
The lead!
From the first line, a melodic rap followed by a refreshing high note sliced through the accompaniment like a spear.
The moment Park Moon-dae struck the floor as if jumping down along with the highest note, the camera pulled back, and his do-po fluttered behind him.
And from within that space, the other six members appeared.
Kim Rae-bin’s low-pitched rap, pushing to the center, intersected with the high-pitched first line.
—Yeah, give me that baton.
Symbol of the Rule, the bell of justice
It rings louder today
Ex-ex-ex-pan-ding
Arrival!
Park Moon-dae doubled the last line.
The sense of speed created by the racing rap and the piercing high notes.
Furthermore, the chorus exploded immediately along with the performance of throwing back the hoods and fluttering robes.
—That’s ma savior!
Throw away the tension and enjoy
The night of victory!
“Gasp.”
A thrilling and pleasant beat.
While she watched the video with her mouth agape at the atmosphere that had shifted in an instant, the seven members were already beckoning to the camera and running into the castle gate.
Wherever they went, yellow and blue neon lights flickered to life in the candlelight. The accompaniment of string instruments, sharp yet cheerful and full of technique, followed as if supporting them.
And once again, the eerie, red-robed, barefoot figure drew focus as if being sucked in.
Zinnnnng!
The members each took their places in seven differently colored banquet halls, and intense performance cuts, like a battle, intersected for each of their parts.
Like heroes fighting a villain.
“Wow.”
Thanks to the short, snappy editing of the parts where the impact of the collision exploded beautifully, it didn't look like a clumsy action movie.
It simply made the dynamism of the performance feel more realistic.
‘What kind of concept is this?? Who are they?’
The excited fansite master clenched her fists, but no clear answer came to mind.
But it was okay! What was certain was that… TeSTAR, running wild while wearing techwear mixed with traditional military uniform details, was cool and fun.
Yes, it was fun!
—Climb aboard this dance
The drawing of the bowstring, the cast of the die
Don’t stop the march
The melody!
Lightning struck the dark banquet hall. And as rain poured down, it scattered around the glamorous dance.
The spectacle of the performance created by the afterimages of burning blue light.
And the intense choreography of the bridge, where they connected their postures and bodies to form something like a giant siege cannon.
—That’s ma savior!
A hand reaching out.
The red hood was grabbed by the head in an instant.
At that moment, the performance and music, which had been racing as if out of control, stopped dead.
[……]
The fabric around the grabbed head went limp, and the red hood fell to the floor.
There was nothing inside. Because it was the personification of disease and fear itself.
All that remained was the mask held in Cha Yu-jin’s hand.
Whooooosh.
For a moment, white noise flowed on the screen, and the color palette and camera work shifted to something slightly chilling.
But Cha Yu-jin, who was holding the mask… just tilted his head as if he didn't understand.
The tension vanished instantly.
“…?”
Furthermore, Bae Se-jin, who was standing behind him, walked out as if it were nothing, snatched the mask, smashed it without hesitation, and threw it out the window.
[……]
Then, with a face that said, "Happy now?" he looked back at the rest of the members.
[Clap… clap clap clap!]
The quirky, 4D appearance of the members awkwardly yet diligently clapping as if reading the room contrasted with the intense performance, eliciting a strange laugh.
“Ah, what was that!”
The fansite master also chuckled. The screen was concluding with the members trudging out of the banquet hall while encouraging each other.
—Ring the bell, Ring my bell
I wanna be your savior
The empty banquet hall was no longer ominous.
The last line appeared in large subtitles, cleanly ending all sounds and cuts.
It was a perfect ending that made her want to see more.
“Haa…….”
But before the fansite master could even think of a reaction, the video returned.
“Huh??”
A clearing in the castle gate where the clouds had cleared and moonlight was shining down.
Seven round stone statues arranged in a circle were captured from an aerial view.
And they were statues she recognized.
“…! This is….”
The giant, rounded bodies she had seen in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace.
They were Haetae.
“…?!”
In Korea, they were mystical animals whose protective nature—punishing the wicked—was traditionally emphasized.
And the fansite master had a lightning-bolt realization.
“That… that’s why!”
This… was a Haetae concept catching the plague!
There was even a post-credits scene.
The members, the Haetae, opened the temple doors and ran out refreshingly toward the city below the mountain.
In the city, the night view was already sparkling, recovered as if it had never disappeared due to the plague.
“Wow….”
The fansite master’s mouth hung open.
It was like a collection of the essence of all TeSTAR’s album promotions so far… As expected of the masters of concept performances, they were just different… No, anyway!!
‘It’s fun just to watch! And it’s even more fun when you know the meaning!’
And the members wearing techwear were insanely handsome and sang so well!
Especially Park Moon-dae!
A few minutes later, when she finally calmed down and turned on social media, posts were already overflowing.
And the members were also quickly monitoring all of this.