Chapter 68
Chapter 68
“…….”
A silence that felt almost surreal stretched between them.
The General Manager asked back as if he’d just heard a bizarre joke.
“…Magical Girl? You mean the stuff kids watch? Like Luna Moon?”
“Yes.”
Before the General Manager could take offense, Park Moon-dae quickly took control of the situation.
Click.
“Of course, I don’t mean a literal magical girl concept for toddlers.”
He flipped to the next slide of the PPT, revealing a series of aesthetic, dreamlike shots.
A classroom window shimmering in the glow of a sunset.
The sky-blue wallpaper of a cracked flip phone.
A classroom clock swirling with purple effects.
……
“However, if we take the symbolic motifs of that genre and reconstruct them, it becomes a highly competitive concept. With the recent trend in retro aesthetics, it’s a choice that captures both public appeal and a sense of trendsetting.”
“…Hmm.”
Moon-dae displayed several examples of retro marketing on the PPT. Among them was a social media viral campaign conducted by T1, the parent company of their agency.
“Furthermore, if we blend a dreamy atmosphere with keywords like ‘youth’ and ‘magic,’ I believe we can achieve significant artistic merit through elements like an art film.”
Art.
He had poked right at the weak spot of high-ranking officials like the General Manager.
When the General Manager had talked about self-produced idols earlier, Moon-dae had realized exactly what kind of image the man wanted for this agency’s business.
‘He wants to look sophisticated. This is bound to work.’
Since he had already prattled on about public appeal earlier, he had provided enough of an excuse for its commercial viability as well.
“These are the related image references and the arrangement draft.”
Moon-dae flipped through the PPT, showing additional image materials he had selected with the members.
Finally, he played a short snippet of Song 7.
It was the chorus.
However, the feel was entirely different from the demo.
“……!”
“We intend to proceed with the overall arrangement in this direction.”
Kim Rae-bin, who was standing beside him watching the presentation, gave a slight nod.
Seeing the person who led the arrangement looking satisfied provided a strange sense of comfort, and the rest of the members felt a wave of relief.
‘We didn’t sleep a wink because of that.’
It was lucky for them that Ryu Cheong-woo had a car and a driver’s license. They were able to head to the studio after just sending a text to their manager.
Of course, the manager who woke up and saw the text in the morning had nearly had a heart attack.
“Oh…….”
The General Manager let out a curious exclamation, then soon began nodding his head rhythmically.
Then, he clapped.
“Ah, this is exactly why we need young, talented friends. To prepare a presentation like this in just one day! Just like that!”
‘Looks like he likes it.’
Moon-dae suppressed a snort.
The General Manager blathered to the working staff with a backhanded compliment, saying they were ‘better than the kids being hired these days,’ before finally getting to the point.
“Good! Let’s go with this.”
“Thank you!”
“Ah, I’m only okaying this because it’s me. Other general managers, those old folks, they wouldn’t understand this kind of thing~”
Moon-dae watched the General Manager fishing for credit and put on the most sincere smile he could muster.
It was the same vibe he used when dealing with professors.
For the record, the members who witnessed this were exchanging glances behind his back, thinking, ‘Just how badly did he want to do Song 7?’
“Indeed. Since we have your trust, General Manager, there is one more thing I’d like to mention.”
“Hmm?”
Moon-dae flipped to one more slide in the PPT that they thought was over.
“It’s our opinion regarding the song the company provided.”
“……?”
“Ah, we really liked the baseball club concept. Right, everyone?”
“Of course!”
“I’ve always wanted to try it.”
“I heard you were the one who decided on it, General Manager. Thank you!”
Moon-dae and the members enthusiastically exchanged their pre-planned reactions.
‘I’m finishing this before the company staff can come to their senses.’
“So, to better bring out that traditional baseball club feel, we were wondering if we could incorporate a different genre instead of disco.”
“Wha-what?”
Moon-dae smiled faintly.
“How about using Rock?”
*
Two weeks before TeSTAR’s official debut date, as announced by the agency.
Articles began appearing on portal sites.
[Aju-sa’s TeSTAR to Make Surprise Debut on June 18th]
[Monster Rookies from Audition Program, TeSTAR, Countdown to Debut]
[TeSTAR Joins the Fray… June Music Industry Chaos]
The date was about five days later than the original deadline they had set for the debut period, but the fans’ reaction was still explosive.
This was because there had been no news for the past fortnight.
Some fans were slightly worried about the schedule overlapping with VTIC, but they couldn’t exactly ask to postpone a debut that already had a set date, so they settled for reality.
Fans discussed various things using that single line of news as bait.
While there were fans expressing dissatisfaction, the general consensus was to wait and see for now.
And then, a week later.
With less than two weeks left until the comeback.
People exploded.
A terrifying tension hung in the air, as if a formal protest statement was about to be released at any moment. The hastily built agency website was already inaccessible due to a traffic overload.
On that day, when the internet was on the verge of tearing apart from the sheer force of the fans’ rage.
The teaser dropped at midnight that night.
*
[TeSTAR ‘Magical Boy’ Official Teaser]
“…….”
The thumbnail showed two hands reaching toward the sky. A sky that was an ethereal mix of yellow and purple caught the eye.
But when you clicked play, a black screen suddenly appeared.
Click.
An English narration flowed along with subtitles.
[When I was a child, I always went home before the sun set.]
[In that daily routine, there were no nights where the moon rose.]
[And now,]
[I look out the window from inside the classroom.]
[The sun was setting.]
Chrrr-click.
The sound of a film projector running could be heard.
At that moment, the sunset sky filled the screen.
Golden, violet, and crimson sunlight collided in a dizzying display.
The sound of a music box echoed.
♫♪♩♪-♫♪♫♪-♪♩-
The two scales soaked the screen like water droplets, tinting it with a dreamlike quality.
Before long, the camera began to pull back. A white frame surrounded the fantastical colors of the sky.
It was a window frame with fluttering curtains.
And there, a figure could be seen sleeping against the window frame.
[……]
The back of a black-haired boy wearing a white summer school uniform.
Old gloves and baseballs were scattered around him.
The boy stirred slightly. Between that movement, the sunset light poured in.
♫♪♩♪-♫♪♫♪-♪♩-
The moment the boy’s white uniform was dyed pink by the sunset.
The fluttering curtains seemed to spread wide, then glowed white and shattered like crystals.
Shatter…
Those transparent crystal shards showered over the boy’s back, scattering the purple sunset in every direction.
It was a feast of ecstatic colors.
And then.
The screen turned black.
[Magical Boy]
[06.18. 00 : 00]
“…….”
The short 30-second video ended there.
But the terrifying view count proved the reaction.
[Views: 5,191,045]
The momentum was insane.
They said it didn’t even take a day to reach three million.
Considering TeSTAR had almost no international fanbase, it was a staggering level.
“How is it?”
“D-do people… like it?”
I nodded.
“Yeah.”
“T-thank goodness…!”
Several members, who had been on an internet detox for the sake of their mental health ahead of the debut, slumped to the floor.
It seemed the release of tension had allowed fatigue to cloud their vision.
‘It’s understandable.’
Honestly, if the reaction had been bad, my own mental state would have melted away.
Because I’ve been working like a sleepless ox for 25 days straight now….
‘…Still, the timing is tight.’
Actually, the teaser was supposed to be released later. The editing for the ‘Magical Boy’ music video wasn’t even finished yet.
But I felt like if we left it any longer, the people waiting would start coughing up blood from the stress, so everyone worked hard to pull it forward somehow.
‘The agency finally seemed to get a bit scared, too.’
Anyway, the reaction was overwhelmingly… good.
Not a single comment picking at the fans’ nerves was in sight. It meant the reviews were so good that any dislike was being washed away.
Even in my eyes, the teaser turned out well.
The parts of the song to be revealed were well-chosen, and the direction was appropriate.
‘It was also a good choice to only show the back so people couldn’t tell exactly who was appearing.’
If a teaser for a group debuting through a survival show explicitly featured only one person, there was no telling what kind of chaos would ensue.
And above all, the visual beauty, into which capital had been poured, was exquisite. It was essentially a case of using money to make up for the lack of time.
‘It feels like people’s expectations have grown too high… but since the song is good, it should be able to cover it.’
Since more content would continue to drop within the next few days, the fans wouldn’t have to feel anxious anymore.
“…Everyone, let’s pull ourselves together and get back to preparing.”
“Yes……”
At Ryu Cheong-woo’s tired voice, the members rose like zombies.
I tossed my smartphone aside and joined them.
“Good job. Now, for the music videos… once we finish filming this song, it’s over.”
“Whoa……”
“The schedule will shift back to focusing on choreography practice.”
“…….”
It was nothing short of a hellish forced march.
“Yes!”
Amidst the heavy silence, only Cha Yu-jin’s answer rang out energetically.
Just then, a staff member approached.
“Setting is complete~!”
“Yes!”
The filming for the second music video was slowly wrapping up.
In fact, considering that filming usually starts at least a month in advance, this was an insane schedule.
‘…Which means all the staff are guaranteed to be pulling all-nighters.’
For the record, the director who filmed ‘Magical Boy’ was filming this one too.
‘The working-level staff at this company definitely know how to do their jobs.’
I don’t know where they dragged the music video director from, but they had scouted a renowned rising director in an instant. They probably used their connections to snatch him up mid-project.
It was a move worthy of the experienced hires T1 had ambitiously gathered.
…The problem was that the overeager General Manager and the disorganized company structure were unexploded bombs that could go off at any moment.
In particular, I really wish the higher-up who was so blinded by the media play of ‘TeSTAR’s agency is here’ that he started blasting articles about a debut within a month would just resign immediately.
……Let’s just erase that from my mind for now.
I have to work; getting stressed for no reason is just a waste.
“Did everyone memorize their individual filming parts?”
“I didn’t really have much to memorize.”
“Me too!”
“Ah, right~ We didn’t have much. It looked like Se-jin hyung was going to have a hard time, though?”
“…Not really.”
Lee Se-jin answered bluntly, but he didn’t seem uncooperative.
As it happened, both music videos we were filming had storylines, so we decided to make good use of the former child actor we had.
‘Hmm, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give him a little push so he works harder.’
I spoke to Lee Se-jin.
“Actually, I was quite impressed while watching. …You’re really good.”
“…….”
It wasn’t entirely empty praise. His experience definitely showed. He was the only one among us who didn’t look like an amateur in a single cut, even in the unedited state.
“I understand how Moon-dae feels. He’s the kind of guy who gets embarrassed about having a solo cut even if it’s just the back of his head in a teaser~”
Nonsense came back from the wrong person.
When I looked back, Keun Se-jin quickly averted his eyes and feigned innocence. That brat, seriously….
“…I was planning to make a living out of it, so I have to be good.”
“Pardon?”
Lee Se-jin didn’t say anything more. He simply followed the staff with a slightly subdued expression.
‘Even when I give him a compliment, he’s like that.’
I suppressed a sigh. I didn’t have the stamina to spare for being annoyed.
“Alright, we’ll start with the group choreography scene~!”
“Yes!”
As I took my position in the choreography formation, I reorganized the schedule in my head.
Normally, the concept photos should have dropped first, but because the schedule was pushed back to release the teaser video, they were set to be released around the time the album came out.
‘Then probably… the reality show will be released first.’
Actually, I thought the video trailer would drop by last week at the latest, but even now, it felt quite late. There were only a few days left until the first broadcast.
And as expected, the reality show trailer was uploaded that night.
[TeSTAR’s Living Together TEST]
[Grand Reveal on Friday, June 8th at 7 PM!]