An Unexpected Detour

A few days before the music festival. The stage assigned to them by the organizers was closer to a plaza than a park. It was located in front of a shopping mall adjacent to the park, quite a distance from the main festival grounds. Surrounded by several buildings and featuring a fairly high set of stairs, the area was often called "Staircase Plaza." It looked like a difficult place to set up a traditional rock festival stage. Its only real advantage was its proximity to the city center, which promised high foot traffic.

"Hmm..." Suyun muttered, studying the photo once again. Since this wasn't their solo concert, the physical setup of the stage was obviously out of their hands. The only areas where they could exercise any creative freedom were the placement of props or the visuals displayed on the screen. More than that, the real question was how they would lead the performance.

"Everyone, give me some ideas." Suyun twirled a strand of her hair, addressing the silent members. Slowly, responses began to trickle in.

"Well, for starters... there'll probably be a lot of people," Seoha offered.

"And?"

"Um..."

"Don't you think there might be... a lack of seating?" Iseor chimed in.

Filtering out Iseor's completely useless input, Suyun focused on the more substantial thoughts of the other two. First, the lack of seating. Looking at photos of past events held there, it was definitely a valid point.

"Japanese audiences don't really like jumping around and going wild, do they? That's the impression I get, at least," Suyun noted.

"Generally speaking, yeah, but not everyone is like that," Seoha replied ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to Suyun's question. "I heard they can get pretty wild at venues where those kinds of restrictions aren't enforced."

Going wild, huh. But Suyun wondered about the people who weren't there for the festival—the ones just passing by. They certainly wouldn't be jumping around. In fact, if they played overly loud, aggressive music, those passersby might just find it noisy and annoying.

"In my opinion, there won't be many people coming specifically to see our stage. Sure, some of our fans might show up, but the main audience will probably be people heading to the festival or just passing by... people drifting in and out."

"Hmm." Acknowledging the logic, Suyun scribbled in her notebook with her mechanical pencil. People drifting in and out. If there was a difference between this and busking, it was that while no one goes out specifically to watch a busker, there would at least be people who came out to see the music festival as a whole.

The other three watched in silence as Suyun scribbled away. Normally, they would have started teasing her by now. But they knew all too well that when their leader entered this state of deep focus, she was absolutely not to be disturbed.

Will this be enough? After a long silence, Suyun looked down at the finalized list. Aside from a few of their hits like Sky Garden, the majority of the list was filled with new, unreleased songs. It was a setlist that might slightly disappoint fans who only loved their existing discography. But if Suyun's calculations were correct, it was the perfect setlist to capture the public's attention, build a new fanbase, and showcase their evolving musical color.

"Let's practice with this." Suyun tapped the paper as she spoke to the members. Looking at the list, the girls' expressions stiffened for a moment before turning resolute. It was time to practice.

On a peaceful day like any other, the lineup was posted on the Chiyoda Music Festival's official website and Twitter.

People who saw the lineup began posting their thoughts online. Most of the initial reactions were positive—fans welcoming their favorite artists, or people who couldn't make it last year expressing their excitement to go this time. But there were negative reactions as well. Some complained that the lineup was weak, or questioned why certain artists were placed on certain stages. And among those negative reactions were comments regarding the appearance of Group Sound.

The reactions generally split into two camps. First, those who had absolutely no idea who Group Sound was.

The second camp consisted of people who questioned whether it was too early for Group Sound to appear at such a festival.

While it couldn't be said that the overall reception was entirely negative, these skeptical reactions were far from rare. And these Japanese reactions to Group Sound's appearance were quickly translated and spread to Korean online communities by click-hungry users, despite earning them absolutely no money.

The response was immediate.

Surprisingly, very few Korean netizens got genuinely angry or upset at the Japanese reactions. Because they didn't need to. Those who knew Group Sound remembered exactly what had happened in the past. They remembered how a band of high school girls, originally formed just to cover anime songs at a school festival, managed to sell out the KSPO DOME—a feat difficult even for major idol groups—in record time. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠They remembered the music they created and the achievements they unlocked.

Thus, the fans of Group Sound, and Koreans in general, simply watched. Watching people walk the exact same path they had already witnessed... was actually quite entertaining.

A bit of time passed. The day of the festival, the day of Group Sound's performance.

"Mom, my legs hurt."

"You haven't walked nearly enough for your legs to hurt. You need to walk a bit."

Coaxing her whining child, a mother made her way toward Hibiya Park. She wanted to let her children experience some music while also catching a performance by her own favorite artist.

"What are those people doing over there?"

"Looks like they're setting up for something."

"Can we go look?"

It was her son who tugged at her sleeve. On the way to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the park, a crowd had gathered for some reason. Seeing them, she recalled yesterday. She had passed by this area on her way back, and there had been a crowd then too...

"Ah, that must be a stage too."

"I want to go see."

"Hmm..."

Checking her phone, she saw she had plenty of time. There was still a long while before her favorite artist was scheduled to perform. However, she had been walking briskly to catch another musician she wanted to check out.

Well, a quick look won't hurt.

Her child wanted to see it, so what could she do? It wasn't as if she could tell him, "Mom has someone she wants to see, so we can't go there."

"Alright, let's go take a look," she said, taking her son's hand and walking toward the crowd.

Through the crowd, she saw several people stepping onto the stage.

"They're starting a show."

"Uh... can we watch before we go?"

"Why? We can watch shows inside the park too."

"But those people are super pretty."

At that, she looked at her son's face, then up at the stage. They say kids are the most honest judges of looks...

The four women standing on the stage were indeed exceptionally beautiful. In particular, the long-haired girl holding what looked like a guitar was so gorgeous she could easily be mistaken for a Korean idol on TV.

"Alright, fine. Let's watch for just a bit."

"Hello..."

"I think they're Korean!"

"Korean? Hmm..."

Holding her child's hand, she approached the temporary seating and sat him down. Just then, she heard Korean being spoken. Amidst her son's bright voice, she paused to think. Korean. She felt like she had heard somewhere that a Korean band was performing...

"Nice to meet you. We are Group Sound. We'll get right into the music."

Meanwhile, the Korean-sounding words continued to flow from the stage. She held her son's hand and watched the stage.

As the talking ended, the drum beat began. It carried a slight tension, as if something massive was about to unfold... filling her with a strange sense of anticipation.