Chapter 521
Chapter 521
The day TeSTAR’s performance was confirmed, following the enthusiastic welcome from the Ruin Factory CEO couple.
“Oh, it’s been a while since we did a wedding song~”
“Se-jin, have you… ever sung at a wedding before?”
“Not by myself, but when my high school teacher got married, I did it with all the other kids!”
For the record, that video had already been unearthed on WeTube early in their debut. It was titled something like ‘TeSTAR Lee Se-jin Wedding Song lol.’
It had become a minor hot topic.
Anyway, as expected of guys who became idols in their early twenties, that was the extent of this team’s wedding song experience.
Me?
As if.
I’d cut off all contact while preparing for the civil service exam; there was no way I’d ever been asked to sing at a wedding.
I did get one request to take photos, but they wanted free labor, so I just blocked them without replying.
Thanks to that, the preparations for this wedding song started from square one with preliminary research.
Gathered in the living room as usual, the guys worked hard to pitch songs that came to mind when they thought of weddings.
Bright and happy songs!
“How about… Picnic…!”
“We have quite a few ballads in our albums, right?”
Title tracks, B-sides, and various love songs were brought up as candidates and listed.
However, there wasn't a single song that felt like 'the one.'
“Hmm, they all feel a bit plain.”
“True.”
Eventually, songs that we had covered but weren't ours also made the list.
“Park Moon-dae, you know that song you sang on The Singer I Made? The one that’s famous as a wedding song.”
“That’s a good one. But the part distribution might be difficult.”
“…Is that so?”
Sure.
Of course, there was another reason.
The version I sang alone is way too well-known to the public.
If we did it, there would be no shortage of bastards trying to compare the version I sang solo to the version TeSTAR sang as a group.
There’s no need to give them ammunition.
Lately, people have been popping up left and right trying to provoke TeSTAR by using Bae Se-jin.
They wouldn't miss such a golden opportunity to put down either me personally or TeSTAR as a whole.
In the end, Bae Se-jin conceded to the majority vote with a slightly dissatisfied expression.
“Fine.”
In this manner, every time an opinion was voiced, it was put on hold or rejected for various reasons.
As a result, later on, songs that had absolutely nothing to do with us started flying out at random.
“I want to do this one!”
“Yu-jin, let’s save that for when we’re proposing to the fans.”
It reached the point where someone even suggested a thirty-second proposal challenge song currently trending on TickTackTok.
“A better song!”
“I’ll… try my best to think of one…!”
The discussion grew increasingly serious. Honestly, it was at a level where I wondered if we really needed to go this far for a wedding song.
I was planning on suggesting something moderately cute.
Meanwhile, Steer Kim Rae-bin, whom I had tried to subtly nudge to get some opinions out of, was listening in a stiff, upright posture as if he thought he had no authority to speak. It was driving me crazy.
Should we just sing a medley?
Fortunately, about an hour later, the leader stepped up to settle the situation like a true leader.
“Hmm, wouldn't it be best to just do the song the couple wants?”
“Ah.”
It was a very reasonable point.
It was someone else’s celebration, after all; taking a gamble on something like a 'surprise' was risky. It was better to play it safe.
“I’ll contact them right away.”
“Good.”
And the wedding song the Ruin Factory CEO couple wanted was…
[Wow! Then, you know that first collab song we did, the Section 127 trailer song? I really want to hear that one!]
“…….”
That’s a bit much.
Weren't the lyrics something like ‘I won’t die, I’ll survive’?
Singing that at a wedding might sound like we’re inciting a domestic dispute.
[Or the current title track would be great, too! ‘Roll the Dice’!]
You want us to start a free-for-all at the wedding?
It seemed their idea of a wedding song had been distorted into simply requesting the songs they personally wanted to hear, regardless of the occasion.
“Haha, yes. One moment, please.”
I paused the call, muted the phone, and looked around.
The members desperately started pouring out opinions.
“There must be a song among ours that feels like it’s congratulating a couple! How about we recommend something like that?”
“I know. We don’t have any.”
“Why! Something like High Five… wait, that would sound like we’re the ones proposing.”
“Exactly. That’s why my recommendation was rejected.”
He was basically telling them to give up on choosing proposal-like songs since he wasn't allowed to do it either.
“……Then what song should we sing?”
A dizzying silence fell.
That was when Seon A-hyun raised his hand.
“Um, couldn't we just… sing what they want?”
“Uh, A-hyun?”
“Even if it’s a bit awkward, I think those would be the most meaningful songs to them…! Because it would remind them of how they achieved great results at the company they run together. I think they’d be happy.”
“…….”
“Oh….”
A few of the guys seemed moved by that sincere sentiment.
However, my mind was already racing.
I was basically running the numbers.
Setting aside whether it suited a wedding or not…
It’ll definitely generate buzz.
There was a story there, wasn't there?
The CEOs of a game company get married and are congratulated by top-tier idols singing a song from their own game?
I could already hear the clicks racking up on WeTube.
But there was no need to voice that conclusion. I nodded in agreement, acting like one of the moved members.
“True. Since they said they want to hear it.”
This time, no particular objections were raised.
“Mhm!”
Seon A-hyun nodded with a bright face.
“Ahem, then it’s decided?”
“Yep~”
With that, we politely resumed the call with the Ruin Factory CEO couple.
“We will prepare the two songs you mentioned.”
It was the wedding song they chose themselves. They would have to take responsibility for any sense of mismatch with the wedding atmosphere.
[Really? Wait a second… Honey, come here quick. They said they’d do it!]
[No way.]
[Wow, I’m already so excited! Thank you so much!]
They were people truly full of the will to live life doing exactly what they wanted.
After listening to the CEO couple chatter over the speakerphone, the call ended harmoniously.
[Then we’ll see you that day!]
After hanging up.
We looked at each other and nodded.
“……Shall we practice?”
Right.
A super-intense, powerful title track from a conceptual boy group.
Confirmed as a wedding song.
“Um… by the way, what kind of song is Bonus Book?”
Let’s start by educating this guy first.
After finishing the call, I went back to the room and played the song Steer Kim Rae-bin hadn't encountered yet among those mentioned.
It was ‘Bonus Book,’ the background track for the trailer video released as a collaboration with Section 127.
“So this is also a song I composed….”
“Right.”
Sitting between the beds, Steer Kim Rae-bin watched the trailer with rapt attention.
I naturally followed it up by playing ‘Better Me,’ the title track from that time which shared part of the melody with the collab song, and showed him the stage performance.
Specifically, Kim Rae-bin’s solo fancam.
[Searching for a BETTER ME]
Whenever the rhythmic choreography hit in time with the riff melody, cheers erupted through the music.
When Kim Rae-bin, wearing a mask with a zipper on the mouth, ripped the mask off, threw it, and began his rap, the screams were piercing.
Waaaaaa—!
I spoke up.
“Aren't you good?”
“…….”
Kim Rae-bin didn't answer for a long time, just staring at his own image in the vertical video.
Only when the song was nearly over did he reply.
“I am not sure. Was the evaluation of me good for this performance?”
Yeah. You spent your life hearing that you looked like you’d jumped straight out of a cyberpunk manga.
But Kim Rae-bin had an ambiguous expression.
“You don’t like it?”
“I can see that the audience’s reaction is very favorable, but I cannot judge for myself if I am doing well….”
Hmm.
“Ah, but I am indirectly aware of it by looking at the reactions!”
“Right.”
I crossed my arms.
As far as I could remember, there was fundamentally no difference in stage management between Steer Kim Rae-bin and TeSTAR Kim Rae-bin.
If I had to nitpick, maybe the songs TeSTAR Kim Rae-bin performed were better?
And he was more proactive, using his movements and expressions more naturally to add ad-libs without overthinking it.
But there wasn't enough of a difference to think they were entirely different people. Because they were the same person.
But Steer Kim Rae-bin has already concluded that he’s bad at performing, while TeSTAR Kim Rae-bin just isn't sure if he’s good?
This was the strange part.
Originally, this guy had a very good eye for evaluating stage performance stats.
Since he’s a guy with a talent for producing, he makes sharp judgments.
It was almost to a cruel degree.
This was an attitude and ability he’d had since his days on Idol Inc. before debut.
For example… in the second team match, the first time he and I were on a team together, do you know why he picked Bae Se-jin out of all those people?
Even though Bae Se-jin was a beginner at the time, participating in an idol survival show only because of pressure from his agency.
—Because I do not think you will cause conflict in the team to take more parts, and your expressiveness in your assigned parts is good!
In short, he judged that since Se-jin lacked skill, he would take fewer parts but would grit his teeth and execute the parts he did get properly.
He identified the Star Quality stat and Perseverance trait, which were the only high things Bae Se-jin had.
His performance evaluation was cold and clear.
But if this guy’s own judgment was compromised to this extent, that obsessive talk about being 'bad at performing' might be linked to a trauma deeper than I expected.
I really want to talk to him more.
I wanted to coax him over a few days and reel him into a deep conversation.
The problem was that Kim Rae-bin’s own will was firm right now.
“As expected, I would like to ask you to proceed in the direction of regaining my memories as quickly as possible!”
Hmm.
If I tried to keep talking instead of giving them back, the probability of making him anxious instead was…
Likely higher.
I made a quick judgment and nodded calmly without a change in expression.
“Alright. Then shall we do it today?”
“Yes!”
That night, before midnight, I called the other guys.
“You’re giving them back now?”
“Yeah. He said he wanted them before we sang the wedding song.”
“Mmm… okay.”
Soon, Kim Rae-bin was seated in the middle of the living room as if he were about to receive a birthday celebration.
“Kim Rae-bin, did you eat a lot? You’re going to sleep now, so eat well!”
“I have eaten sufficiently! And I have already completed my own preparations by looking at the case of Cheong-woo hyung-nim!”
After answering quite bravely, Steer Kim Rae-bin lay down on the bedding.
“I am in your hands!”
Sure.
I summoned the Status Window, waded through the two types of pop-ups, and called up what I wanted.
The Preview guidance pop-up.
I muttered as I looked at it.
End Preview.
The hologram flickered without any major effect.
Vwoom.
And in an instant, the unfinished-looking interface design unique to the Preview vanished.
[Complete!]
Then everything went quiet.
Phew.
I looked away from the Status Window and turned my head.
Kim Rae-bin would probably be fallen into a deep sleep for a few hours now, just like the others…
Wait.
Kim Rae-bin, lying on the bedding, had his eyes wide open.
“…?”
“Um… Moon-dae Moon-dae, did you process it just now?”
Yeah.
We looked at Kim Rae-bin again.
What the?
Kim Rae-bin opened his mouth.
“I am sorry! I think I was dizzy for a moment… So, did Cheong-woo hyung’s memories return?”
“Eh?”
“Uh, uhhh?”
Seeing the members all wearing stupid expressions at once, Kim Rae-bin nodded as if he understood and jumped up from the bedding.
“…! It seems Moon-dae hyung has not started yet. Did you wait for me because I dozed off?”
“Rae-bin.”
“Yes?”
“What were we just doing?”
He answered with a slightly puzzled attitude.
“…? Moon-dae hyung was about to try something called a ‘Preview.’”
And everyone realized.
Kim Rae-bin’s TeSTAR memories had returned… but it seemed his Steer memories had evaporated.
Everything up to the last few days that Steer Kim Rae-bin had experienced!
“…….”
“I am sorry. I will maintain a clear mind so as not to interfere with the progress any further!”
“…The thing is.”
I pressed my eyelids.
Preview, you piece of shit…!
A few days later.
“Congratulations.”
“Oh my, it’s been a while!”
A certain wedding hall located in Seoul.
A guest attending her cousin’s wedding was inwardly impressed by the front of the hall, which was filled with strangers and various flower wreaths.
He’s really made it.
The rumor that her second cousin, the son of her great-uncle, had hit the jackpot with some game company and even bought a building in Seoul was a hot topic in the family.
Even the elders, who used to despise computer games, loved money and business.
Capitalism is truly something…
As a sociology major, she shook her head and stood in the line to give her congratulatory money.
Of course, she had no interest in games either, so she only had a faint impression that her cousin had made some famous mobile game.
Anyway, they said he made a lot of money, and the wedding that began certainly showed signs of it.
It’s quite large and unique.
The hall was filled with various young people who seemed to have met through business and company employees.
And the slightly unconventional proceedings and unique events that seemed to be taken from games gave it a fresh feel.
The food looks like it’ll be good, too.
Just as the guest was making that judgment, the wedding entered its final stages after a very short and concise sermon.
The wedding song part.
[For the wedding song… Wow, as expected of the wedding of the Ruin Factory CEOs.]
What is he talking about?
She looked at the host listlessly. Other people had similar expressions.
The host shouted with a nervous laugh.
[For the wedding song… the idol group TeSTAR has arrived!]
“Whaaaat!?”
In an instant, the majority of the guests, including her, almost jumped out of their seats.
W-what?
The moment she doubted her ears, thinking she had misheard.
[Then, let the wedding song begin.]
As she hurriedly turned her head following the lights, someone ran in from the other side of the darkened hall.
“……?!”
It was TeSTAR, dressed in suits!