The Best Cover Ever?
“Why? Something up?”
Choi Iseo said that as she glanced at Ha Suyeon's phone.
A video clearly shot on a phone camera. Just a snippet of the intro vocal part from Sultan of Swing. No pro YouTuber here—only about fifty subscribers, two videos of playing with a dog in an apartment racking up 200 views each, and this one. But maybe that's why the title felt so genuine. No context, no explanation—just raw footage from a home broadcast, uploaded as-is. And somehow, the inscrutable algorithm had chosen it, sending views skyrocketing. Even now, as they watched, the counter ticked up visibly.
“Know the person?”
“Nah. Popped up in recommendations, clicked it, and boom—it's me. 'Best one ever' is a bit much, though…”
Ha Suyeon muttered. Iseo patted her shoulder. “Have some confidence!” Then she checked the comments. English, so she couldn't read them perfectly, but words like Fucking insane, Awesome, Brilliant!, Expert performance!! flooded the section. Seemed like praise.
“They see good playing and call it good. What's the problem?”
“No denying I play well, but…”
At Suyeon's words, Yoo Seoha muttered without thinking, “God, you're so full of yourself.”
“I'm not the world's best. The original guy's still alive.”
“It's just hype. Don't take it so literally.”
“Still feels off, doesn't it?” To that, Iseo shot back, “You sound like an old geezer.” She knew it would get under her skin. Sure enough, Suyeon scowled, baring her teeth. Iseo found it hilarious, even if she didn't get why.
“Eh, someone just liked your playing and posted it. No big deal. They're not out to get us or anything.”
Iseo handed the phone back, muttering. It should've ended there. She thought it would.
But a few days later, Iseo noticed her YouTube algorithm flooded with weird reaction videos.
- Sultan of the Swing Korean girl Cover REACTION!!
- Rock Ladies from South Korea (‘Group Sound’ Reaction)
- WHAT A ROCKSTAR!!! First Time UK Reaction - ‘Group Sound’ Reaction
- [] !! → [Overseas Reaction] Foreigners' First Group Sound Reaction!!
- FIRST TIME WATCHING Group Sound - Reaction → Sky Garden Reaction
- Group Sound - → Why Foreigners Sobbed Just Hearing the Song (No Lyrics Needed) - Becoming a Star Reaction
Titles like that. Content was similar: reactors clutching their heads at grainy clips or official footage of guitar solos, yelling “Oh My GOD!!” Or stern old foreigners mumbling (probably guitar talk), young white guys geeking out. Iseo found it funny, fun, proud—binge-watched them all. Each one filled her with that sweet 'pride high.' The 'world-class guitarist' they're hyping? That's our band's guitarist. My friend.
Afterward, her algorithm shifted again. Still reactions, but now to Group Sound as a band. No more just Suyeon—full band hype from Koreans and foreigners alike. Views varied. Korean comments dominated (half seemed 'national pride' chasers rather than real fans), but foreigners were plenty.
Foreigners listening to our music too? She watched a few. Some seemed genuinely blown away; others felt like viewbait. Propping her chin, scrolling, a great idea hit her.
“Shoot our own content?”
Label Echo Sound's first-floor cafe. After signing autographs and snapping pics for fans, locking the door, Iseo dropped the idea. Go Kyung-min stroked his chin. Since when does she care about the label? Or maybe covering for Jeong Yu-young. Either way, good sign. Better than hating it.
“Yeah. Saw some reaction videos recently—funny stuff. Thought we could spin something cool off them.”
Iseo played one. Guitar-focused, the reactor raved:
“Whoa! Check this out. Fingerpicking with crystal clean tone? Nearly impossible. Takes insane practice.”
“Hate saying this, but if you're watching thinking 'This slaps—gonna learn guitar'… quit now. You'll never get there.”
“Takes years. She's probably restrung that guitar a million times. Ten years minimum? Two? No way—gotta be fake. How in two years?!”
He understood—the English was easy from his session gigs abroad (listening, not speaking). Yeah, a guitarist like her shouldn't exist physically. Who imagines a decades-long guitar obsessive dies and soul-swaps into a high school girl?
“So what're we doing with this?”
Seoha's question. Iseo grinned mischievously. “How about reaction to the reactions? As our own content.”
“Reaction to reactions? Huh?”
Reaction videos: footage of someone reacting to other footage. K-pop dances prompting “Oh My God!”, “That's Crazy!”, “I Love it!!” Why popular? Schadenfreude-vicarious validation. Seeing your faves praised by outsiders? Thrilling.
Reaction-to-reactions: them reacting to foreigners reacting to Group Sound.
“Sound fun, right?”
He tilted his head. Bit iffy, but smart picks could work—explaining his Echorec setup to “What pedal is that?”, sharing takes.
“What about you girls?”
“Uh… dunno.”
“Sounds fun. Let's do it.”
He nodded. Worth a shot.
But the kids' execution? Nothing like he expected.
He went serious: scoured videos, answered precisely.
“Wow, how's that tone made? Wanna ask her direct.”
“Well, my basic tone's based on David Gilmour's. Ideal's a mix of The Dark Side of the Moon era and P.U.L.S.E. tour. Using Binson Echorec, Fuzz Face, Big Muff, Electric Mistress. Settings… didn't bring it, but I'll show later.”
“Guitar's god-tier. How'd you get this good?”
“Practice. I wake early for workout, then chromatic/scales/picking/tech drills—hour daily. Chromatics hit 200-240 bpm sometimes. School, another hour practice, ear-copy Spotify tracks with good guitar tones. Aim 1-2 songs/day. Extra time? More stuff…”
But the others? Not so much.
Iseo, for example:
“Hey!! Where you live?! Address! Gimme! Think you can trash-talk 'cause you're overseas?!”
Reaction or rant? He almost scolded her, but held back—others were worse. Iseo almost looked saintly.
“…Band you don't even know… Ever tried…? If you're gonna say that… come do it yourself…”
Jeong Hyeona stewed silently (not a reaction?), then snapped. But Seoha took the cake:
“Hmph. That good? Nah. Looks like viewbait. Our songs don't wrench sobs like that.”
“Saw this guy reuse the same lines in other vids. Be real—money grab?”
Reaction chain or chaos? Kids hijacked the camera freely. He worried, but let it slide—their enthusiasm.
“Done! Take to Jeong Manager now!”
“Uh… is this okay…”
“Why not? We did the work! Praise incoming!”
Iseo led; they marched into the office proudly, footage in hand.
“We made our own content!”
Jeong Yu-young's delight soured fast.
“How do we post this? Trashing foreigners/YouTubers? Backlash city. Pure controversy.”
“But…”
Her face twisted in disbelief. She scolded the girls, then turned: “Why didn't you stop this?”
“I… at least did mine right.”
“'Right' isn't the issue—if posted, we're toast…”
The kids—never seen Yu-young mad—froze, listening meekly. He thought: Unfair… I tried so hard…
Joint liability, he remembered anew.