Chapter 580
Chapter 580
A concert is a total art form.
TeSTAR knew this better than anyone. They poured an immense amount of time into the stage composition and direction, engaging in endless discussions with various staff members.
However, there was one exception.
For their individual solo stages, they were only given keywords; the members themselves were responsible for deciding the entirety of their own performances.
After all, there had to be some element of spontaneous fun.
—So, Cheong-woo hyung, you’ll be using a lift mechanism on the stairs… Moon-dae, what about you?
—Hmm.
Park Moon-dae had agonized for quite a while over how to implement his solo stage.
Should he show an unexpected side of himself?
Or should he show what he did best?
‘Both have their pros and cons.’
So, he chose both.
‘I’ll just assign one to each choice.’
It didn't matter if the two options were polar opposites. He was the only one who had to shoulder the burden.
Yet, deep down, he was leaning toward the former.
‘An unexpected side would be more interesting.’
Since the fans were already familiar with so many aspects of him, a subconscious obsession with showing something new influenced his decision.
‘…There’s a limit to the impact of just doing what I’ve always been good at.’
People already knew Park Moon-dae was good at that. They were used to it.
Even as he strictly partitioned his practice time, that impression remained in the back of his mind.
So, internally, he thought he should design the choices for the first concert so that people would be more likely to pick the ‘unexpected side’…
And now, time had passed.
The audience’s choice was made.
[Stay in the elevator.]
[WONDER]
“……”
On the darkened stage, Keun-dal held his breath and looked up.
The clear, aching sound of string instruments echoed around the elevator, which floated alone in the air under a spotlight.
The accompaniment was delicate, filled with flats that created a tingling sensation.
It was a familiar melody.
Before he could even consciously identify what it was, a voice poured out from the slowly opening elevator.
[Turn the wheel
So we can fly far away]
“…!!”
[The melody rings out so beautifully
Reaching the heart, let it pop]
Familiar lyrics.
Keun-dal realized it like a bolt of lightning.
This wasn't a track from their latest album, nor was it Park Moon-dae’s personal OST, a formally released solo song, or a cover of another artist he’d performed on a variety show.
It was a TeSTAR title track from a long time ago.
[Turn the wheel
To visit your dreams]
Within a more lyrical and quiet arrangement, Park Moon-dae’s voice drifted.
‘Ah…’
It was a full version of a song he hadn't heard in a while.
This song hadn't managed to remain a staple on TeSTAR’s concert setlists. It was because it had lost its place to a new song that combined this track with its double title, Nightmare.
That made its return all the more welcome.
Especially since the one singing it was Park Moon-dae.
And since he was singing it… this well.
[Stay today just like this
It won't end, let me in]
Clear, breathy high notes filled the speakers with crystalline precision.
Rather than being forceful, the sound was somehow transparent and loose, possessing a resonance that commanded one’s full attention.
‘Ah.’
With just one chorus sung over almost nothing, the audience stared at the stage, their minds cleared of all other thoughts.
Then.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Along with the sound of knocking from inside the elevator, the doors opened completely.
“…!!”
The moment they swung wide, a blue fragrance seemed to spill out.
The interior of the elevator was fully revealed.
[Wooo— wo, wooo—]
The space, bathed in the warm glow of electric lights, was overflowing with flowers and greenery.
It was filled with the lushness of spring and summer in full bloom.
“Ah…!”
In the center of it all, Park Moon-dae stood before a rugged standing microphone.
He hadn't brought a flashy, overwhelming choreography or a radical rearrangement.
He was simply standing inside a stage set floating in mid-air.
Singing.
[Before I fall asleep
I always think of you
I want to meet you
Still, completely, forever]
Inside the elevator, a barefoot Park Moon-dae, wearing a loose white knit sweater, gently placed both hands on the head of the rusted, vine-covered standing mic.
[Small wishes
Float up like bubbles
Above that rotating Ferris wheel
They sparkle dazzlingly]
The accompaniment was but a single thread of a string instrument.
His voice, sounding almost like he was speaking, echoed to the very back of the silent concert hall.
[Lean against the window and imagine
Me,
Like in the childhood days of the past]
An elevator is a space for movement.
But for those who chose to stay, he intended to gift them the most fantastic kind of staying.
A beautiful reminiscence.
A dream connected to the past.
[Your eternal childhood
That’s me
Forget your insomnia and fall asleep—]
The voice that had touched the low notes soared back up.
As if to let a thrilling sense of pleasure brush past.
[Ohh— oh—]
He pulled the note upward in a single breath, without a hint of strain.
With the final note of his voice, all the instruments that had been held back rushed in, covering the audience like a wave.
From the deepest bass to the highest riff melody.
From the low notes to the high.
And at the very center, a voice shining as if burning brightly.
[Turn the wheel]
Bubbles poured out around the elevator.
[So we can fly far away]
Faintly glittering reflections flickered on the stage, shining all the way to the audience seats.
[The melody rings out so beautifully
Reaching you too, let it pop]
The colors of the lightsticks surged like an aurora.
[Turn the wheel
So we can fly far away]
The chorus surged along with them.
[The melody will never disappear
Staying with you, let it be]
Park Moon-dae raised his voice with desperate intensity.
[Breathe in with all your might
So this heat can seep into you too—]
For the people who had chosen this option, which he hadn't expected.
In truth, the choice he had tried to induce for the first concert… wasn't this one.
It was ‘RED.’
—Of course they’ll choose to leave.
An elevator is a place meant for transit.
And people like stimulation.
From those two facts, Park Moon-dae had easily drawn a conclusion. He assumed that if a choice appeared in the VCR, they would naturally choose to leave the elevator.
Anyone immersed in the story would excitedly choose to go outside and run into the flickering darkness.
Something more provocative, something new.
That was why he had unhesitatingly attached the ‘unexpected side’ to that choice.
However, the concert hadn't gone as planned, and Park Moon-dae had been absent from the first show due to an unexpected accident.
In this situation, the people who were worried about him had subconsciously chosen the more moderate and familiar option.
Staying in the elevator.
—WONDER.
And ‘WONDER’ was the choice that showed them what Park Moon-dae did best.
Pure singing.
……Park Moon-dae’s vocals.
[Turn the wheel
To stay in your dreams]
The singing grew deeper.
Inside the swaying elevator, Park Moon-dae looked at the lights filling his vision… and realized it in a passing thought.
‘I see.’
He had been less confident in this choice, but perhaps because of that, he wanted to show it even more clearly.
No, he wanted to show them.
He wanted to satisfy every expectation.
For the people who had chosen the Park Moon-dae they knew instead of something new.
For the people who had chosen to stay together.
To do that…
‘I just have to do even better than they expect.’
Park Moon-dae gripped the head of the microphone.
[So our never-ending story
Can be locked in your ears]
More desperately.
[Umm—]
His voice stretched out, seizing the ensemble of strings blooming brilliantly.
It didn't show off, nor was it buried.
His voice, with its distinct presence, wound around every melody of the accompaniment like a core, becoming a harmonious and powerful focal point.
Now, the hotel lobby or the wires no longer registered. He didn't care about the lights, the equipment, or the direction.
Only Park Moon-dae inside the elevator and his voice commanded everyone's attention.
[Wooo—!]
He wanted to satisfy them.
He didn't even want to give them the breathing room to evaluate him as having performed well live.
Park Moon-dae tuned every single syllable with all his might.
Intensely.
[The end will never come
Inside the shining lens
Like a film, the me who will remain]
His voice stretched out alone, without accompaniment.
Inside the elevator, he lightly closed his eyes and lowered his hands.
He filled the space with nothing but his breath and voice, without a single other melody.
[Is right here]
In that way, he covered all the incidents, and like a flood, a single image was etched onto the surface once more.
The thing everyone was already familiar with.
Just how incredible a singer he was.
[Draw me endlessly
Inside of you]
Park Moon-dae smiled and pulled away from the microphone.
[Still, completely, forever]
…….
A breathless silence.
A single string instrument began a soft accompaniment alone.
In the midst of it, the elevator carrying Park Moon-dae began to slowly ascend, still open.
Park Moon-dae leaned loosely against the standing mic, looking at the audience in the upper tiers.
And the moment he reached the ceiling, the lights went out.
Click.
The song ended.
The fansite master, who had been clapping while barely able to breathe, realized she had almost snapped her lightstick.
Not a single thought could enter her mind.
*
Backstage.
“M-Moon-dae, that was really, really amazing… that stage just now…!!”
“……”
“Moon-dae…?”
“Thanks.”
Park Moon-dae blinked.
His head was spinning.
‘What did I just do?’
It was the first time he had ever been this immersed.
He usually had good concentration, and thanks to his S-rank trait that helped with immersion on stage, he thought he was second to none.
But…
‘This was different.’
It was the first time he had performed while thinking of nothing but the act of singing.
He had a brain that calculated all sorts of effects derived from a stage. Since he had started his stage experience on a survival program, it was somewhat inevitable.
Grades, schedules, public opinion, all sorts of external factors… A stage was something he climbed after putting all those things in his head and organizing them to avoid stepping on any landmines.
‘But this time… no.’
Nothing else was necessary.
A strange sense of mission and a primal desire to somehow satisfy the people watching right here, right now, had filled his head.
And even the sense of satisfaction and catharsis.
To think… to think there was a stage like this.
“……”
Park Moon-dae leaned his head against the wall and licked the saltiness from his lips before suddenly snapping out of it.
‘This isn't the time for this.’
The concert wasn't over yet. He had to move immediately. He stood up and placed a hand on the shoulder of Seon A-hyun, who was waiting for the VCR to end.
“You’re on standby for your solo stage, right?”
“Y-yeah. For me, my outfit doesn't change, so.”
Seon A-hyun, who was in charge of the last solo song among the members, smiled brightly.
He had such a pure impression that it was hard to believe that if the ‘RED’ route had been chosen, he would have gone out with paint splattered all over that face and outfit.
But because of that, it would have been an incredibly powerful stage.
‘I have to do the next one properly too.’
Park Moon-dae composed his emotions. There were still stages left.
“…I know you’ll do great, so I’ll just cheer for you.”
“Yeah!”
Seon A-hyun wanted to say more about Park Moon-dae’s previous stage, but he decided to talk about it after the concert and stepped forward like a professional.
His heart was pounding.
‘It was incredible.’
He had felt it even though he had only heard it indirectly from backstage.
Though, as is the nature of the aesthetics of the moment, he couldn't describe it exactly.
However, there was someone here who knew exactly how to describe it.
“……Hyung.”
Keun-dal barely regained his thoughts after being dazed and out of it until the next stage began.
The hand holding the lightstick was slippery with heat.
The audience seats were melted and blended together in complete heat and immersion, as if they had never been unsettled by worry or curiosity.
It was only natural.
‘That was…….’
Even though he was wearing a VR headset, he almost hallucinated that he was actually there. He was completely lost in the song.
But at the same time, it was so frustrating and maddening that he wasn't actually there. Because he felt like the song would have been even more incredible if he had been there in person.
His heart raced at that imagination.
He felt those conflicting emotions.
‘It was amazing. Really… truly.’
He wiped away his cold sweat and caught his breath.
Neither he nor TeSTAR’s Park Moon-dae had a status window anymore.
But in the eyes of someone who used to be a status window, it was visible.
In what way, and with what resulting value, the singer of that stage would be expressed.
Vividly.
[Vocals: EX]