Duo Act for the Festival
Myeongjeon hadn't refused the kids' invitation to perform at the school festival out of any malice. Sure, his mental age was leagues beyond theirs, but he was still human—he genuinely liked these girls and held them dear. Even so, he had several reasons for turning down the offer. The biggest one...
"Because of Hyeona?"
"Exactly."
Choi Iseo had apparently heard the story from her classmates in their grade by now and burst into the practice room, all excited, yelling, "Hey, let's do the festival!" Myeongjeon grabbed her and launched into an explanation.
"If I'm not doing a solo act, we'd have to go as a full band, right? Like we did at Hyeona's school before."
"Yeah."
"You gonna drag Hyeona over and rehearse with her? When she's smack in the middle of entrance exam season?"
Apart from his own indifference toward college and exams as an individual, he didn't want to ruin his friend's big chance. Iseo's face fell with an oh crap expression at his words.
"Still, one day wouldn't be so bad, right?"
"One day won't cut it. I saw Seoha's drum practice the other day—her timing was all over the place. Getting all four of us together to sync up again? That'd take forever to tune. And Hyeona'd be sidelined the whole time, doing nothing."
If they just slapped something together barely playable for the show, it might only take a few hours—three? Five? Definitely not a full day. But back in his session days, Myeongjeon was the type who'd chuck his instrument at clients or juniors suggesting that crap, yelling, "If you're gonna half-ass it like that, fucking quit!" No matter the paycheck, pros were pros. His creed was that anyone who didn't push for their absolute best and just stalled out would never improve. And with his personality, starting rehearsals in their current state with the girls would mean at least three days of 2-3 hours daily to get it tight.
Snatching three precious days from a kid in the thick of exam prep? Unthinkable.
"Then we just do it without Hyeona-unnie. The three of us."
Myeongjeon shot Iseo a rare look of outright contempt. As she flinched under it, he murmured low.
"If you couldn't join the band for some reason and the other three went ahead without you—think you'd feel good about that?"
Iseo fell silent. Myeongjeon twirled a lock of hair absently. No matter how well he led these kids, they were still high schoolers. He had to preempt any mental cracks. Even bands with decades together had drama—imagine it with girls who'd barely known each other long? Instant explosion.
And if that happens... He'd have to recruit new members for the band. Finding an all-girls lineup would be tough, leading to mixed bands. And what came next... He brushed the goosebumps rising on his arms. He didn't even want to think about it.
"How about a duo? Seoha-unnie's at a different school, so skip her. Just you and me. That'd work, right?"
What the hell has she even been listening to? Leaving someone out was a recipe for discord. But Myeongjeon couldn't dismiss the idea outright. Seoha being at another school made excluding her less weird, and Iseo was from the same one.
"Does it have to be with me?"
"You don't wanna?"
Her eyes went wide like an abandoned puppy. Myeongjeon sighed deeply.
"Fine, let's do it. But we gotta talk to the others first..."
"Super easy peasy."
"What'd you eat to make you this dense?"
He glanced at the schedule the festival teacher had given him. Including setup, he had about 30 minutes. Not too much, not too little.
"Save me."
"Just die."
Iseo was sprawled on the practice room floor, and that's how Myeongjeon responded. She'd posted some TikTok cosplay bass videos for promo, so he'd figured she'd practiced. Nope.
How was her sense of rhythm and timing this demolished?
"You even pick up the bass after your break? Not counting those videos you posted."
"Uh..."
She couldn't answer. He sighed heavily. No wonder nothing stuck.
"I said rest, not flop around playing dead. Two hours a day at home is baseline. You can tell—you just jammed whatever you felt like, no real practice."
"But when you're resting, you rest, right...?"
"That's for vets with years under their belt and solid basics. You've barely got a year and a half. Yeah, your skills grew fast, but without tightening the screws, it crumbles just as quick. Sprawled out like this? You're going nowhere. You know how many kids like you are out there? Strutting around like 'I'm a genius, no one plays guitar or bass like me,' then years later, still stuck, whining 'I'm a genius, why doesn't the world see it?' They're everywhere."
"Dude, you sound like some fifty-year-old. Aigoo, Suyeon-ssi must be feeling her age, huh? This crazy old-man cosplay..."
Myeongjeon flinched. It was an old habit from lecturing talented juniors back in the day, slipping out unchecked. He'd usually kept it inside, but comfort had made him careless.
"Anyway, that's the point. Rock history's full of it."
"Yeah, yeah, got it, sir."
She flopped back down. Myeongjeon tsked his tongue. What to do with this one? She followed great during grind sessions, but one taste of break time and she was done. Maybe lock her in for 12 straight hours on metronome...
Festival day.
Unlike the grand high school cultural festivals in Japanese anime (which even Japan doesn't do that big), Korean high school festivals were bare-bones. Kids threw together half-assed booths no one wanted, hung out crammed somewhere on campus, then shuffled to the auditorium for a sloppy talent show. Done.
Han Seung High School's was no different. Classes made booths and such, but they didn't spark any real interest, same as everywhere else.
"Just send us home early."
A first-year who'd just started at Han Seung this year muttered it. He wanted to ditch and game at home.
No seniors in short skirts dancing or anything? Nothing else worth seeing, he figured.
It made sense to him. What was there to see at a high school festival? Maybe some popular kids dancing, a band or whatever talent show bit.
That thought peaked when he saw the auditorium schedule. "Han Seung High Girls Dance Club"—looked like delinquents playing tough—and some guys who seemed rowdy. Below: "Ha Suyeon / Choi Iseo."
Ha Suyeon?
He snorted in disbelief. Ha Suyeon—second-year senior, right? Famous for school violence then turning over a new leaf. Sounded ridiculous to him.
Pretty, I heard...
He headed in with zero expectations.
"Han Seung High School festival begins!"
The student council president's announcement kicked it off. The stage filled with earnest but amateurish acts. A kid bombing stand-up with zero laughs. The "Girls Dance Club" getting wild cheers. "Kim Wooseok and the Boys" doing awkward K-pop boy group dances that were more wriggling than actual moves.
"God, they're so bad."
A tough-looking second-year girl muttered it. In the quiet auditorium, it rang out loud, voicing everyone's thoughts.
Nothing watchable but the dance club. He nodded inwardly and checked the schedule again. When does this circus end?
Why 30 minutes for this?
Next up: Ha Suyeon / Choi Iseo. But something was off. Way longer slot. The lame band earlier had been under 15 minutes with setup.
Why 30 for these two?
"Ha Suyeon's performing?"
"Guess so. Didn't she do a band?"
"Heard she does music."
"30 minutes? Gonna drag."
"Suyeon's in a band."
"For real?"
Overheard chatter: "Heard she does music but never seen it," "You're her friend and don't know?" "She was on TV—how don't you know!" "Ha Suyeon on TV? What?" "You don't watch news?" Despite her viral school bully fame, few seemed to have heard her music.
Makes sense.
He hadn't either. Maybe caught snippets somewhere, but never sought out Ha Suyeon's sound. No interest.
The skeptical murmurs about her skills quieted when two figures appeared stage-side with guitar and bass.
"Hello. Setup won't take long—bear with us a sec."
A soft voice over the mic. Followed by a chipper, "They gave us 30 minutes, but trust me, it'll feel short once you hear it~!"
He was dumbfounded. Even killer vocals got old at 30 minutes. Not like they were pros... Let's see you try.