A Spark in the Smoke

"Thank you!"

The farewell echoed from the stage as the final song came to an end. Amidst thunderous applause, several voices in the crowd began chanting for an encore. While the staff stepped in to announce, "We're terribly sorry, but due to broadcast scheduling, an encore will be difficult today..." Ryuta scratched his head, lost in thought.

'They... actually are pretty good.'

It wasn't just the tracks from their first Japanese studio album, Out of Time, which Ryuta had listened to before. The hour-long performance also featured Japanese translations of their older Korean songs. Although they had interspersed the set with brief talk segments, the time allotted was more than enough to lay bare the band's true caliber. And during that time, Group Sound had shown their skills to the fullest... No, they had completely overflowed.

They were so good, in fact, that even Ryuta—who had harbored a petty, baseless hostility toward them simply because his family loved them—was forced to acknowledge their talent.

'I don't know the technical details, but they feel way more solid than other bands...'

Even when compared to his favorite bands, their skills didn't fall short in the slightest. If anything, Ryuta felt they were even more tightly knit. Of course, his only basis for comparison was live videos he had watched on YouTube, but Ryuta believed he possessed a sharp enough ear to make that distinction. And so, seizing a brief lull in the noise, Ryuta spoke up with a newfound, albeit slight, confidence.

"Honestly..."

"Huh?"

"Honestly, they're really good. I have to hand it to them."

Nodding to himself, Ryuta muttered the words loud enough for his entire family to hear. His older sister shot him a look as if he were talking nonsense, but he didn't care. In Ryuta's mind, this was a perfect setup.

His entire family loved Group Sound, and he had been the sole holdout. But now that he had witnessed a performance he couldn't possibly deny, wouldn't it be weirder to keep pretending they were bad? If he showed them his genuine, mature appreciation, they would surely...

'They'll agree with me, right? They'll say, "See? Didn't I tell you their music is amazing?" and we'll start chatting about it...'

They would have a nice family conversation. If things went well, maybe his mom or dad would slide him some pocket money. They would chat happily, grab a delicious dinner together, and he might even exchange a friendly word or two with his sister. Imagining the perfect evening ahead, Ryuta eagerly awaited their response.

He was ready to reply with a slightly gruff but open-minded tone the moment they said, "Right? What did I tell you?"

"You have to hand it to them?"

"Yeah. They're definitely the real deal."

"Hey, who do you think you are to 'hand' them anything?"

"You listened to them and... what?"

But the responses were entirely different from what he had envisioned. Caught off guard, Ryuta stopped mid-sentence and turned to look at his sister. She was wearing a thoroughly unimpressed expression.

"Mom, look at him acting like he's some grand music critic. What did I tell you, huh? I told you Group Sound's music was incredible. Do you think we're going to throw you a party just because you're finally catching up?"

"Uh... no, that's not what I meant..."

"Ugh, just go back to whatever you were listening to. Jeez."

She raised a fist, shook it threateningly a couple of times, clicked her tongue in disapproval, and then linked arms with their mother, walking away. Ryuta turned to his father with a deeply wronged expression. However, his father's face also held a rather complicated look.

"Ryuta, I hate to say this, but you need to tone down your ego. Things can be good in this world without needing your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠personal stamp of approval."

"No, that's not what I'm saying..."

"Yes, yes. I know what you mean. I get it, so let's just head home for now."

His father spoke in a placating tone, but he was completely ignoring Ryuta's point as he led him away. Ryuta felt incredibly victimized. Was it really fair to completely shut him out just because he had criticized them a few times before? He had entirely forgotten the fact that every time he saw his sister listening to Group Sound, he had thrown around brainless remarks like, "Why the hell do you even listen to that garbage?"

And while the exact details differed, similar scenes were playing out all across Japan.

Some people were discovering them after tuning into the live broadcast, while others caught up via recorded archives or YouTube clips. In this manner, the name Group Sound was steadily carving its way into the consciousness of the Japanese public.

No matter how much radio had been pushed aside by television and the internet to become a medium of the past, it still maintained its status as a legacy giant. Its daily listenership still easily numbered in the millions.

Furthermore, FM-Wave, which held a dominant grip over the Kanto region—the heart of Japan—was a station where even the lowest-rated programs boasted listenerships in the hundreds of thousands. And the audience for Sonar Music, one of FM-Wave's flagship shows, easily cleared that bar by a wide margin.

Therefore, what transpired on the internet while Faintly, But Surely was being broadcast was, in a sense, entirely inevitable. Even if only one percent of those hundreds of thousands of listeners ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠searched for the song, it meant thousands of people were hitting search engines simultaneously.

The song began trending in real-time on Twitter and quickly shot to the top of Google's trending searches. Though temporary, it was a phenomenon that clearly demonstrated the sheer volume of interest focused on Group Sound.

Yet, the curiosity of the masses, which desperately needed an outlet, found itself hitting a brick wall and spinning in circles.

It was only natural. Faintly, But Surely was a CD-exclusive track included only on the physical release of their studio album, Out of Time. It was completely unavailable on any digital streaming services.

Even after the global music market shifted entirely to streaming, Japan steadfastly maintained its CD-centric consumption habits. However, while CD sales remained high, it didn't mean the Japanese didn't stream music. Aside from a few legacy artists and companies that strictly guarded their copyrights, the vast majority of Japanese music was readily available on streaming platforms.

So, what were people to do when they wanted to listen to something that wasn't on streaming?

The first method:

"I heard the replay views for our last episode tripled?"

"Why?"

"Well, those kids who guest-starred... apparently they have an album-only track, and people are tuning in to the replay just to hear it."

Listening to radio archives. FM-Wave offered a replay service through Radiko, and the sudden surge in replay views brought a wave of unexpected joy to the Sonar Music production team.

The second method:

["...Yes! That was lovely. And the next song... for some reason, we've been getting a ton of requests for this one lately. I've heard it playing on other stations too. It's by the newly debuted band, right? Let's listen to Group Sound's 'Faintly, But Surely.'"]

Requesting it on other radio stations. While submitting a request didn't guarantee the song would be played, it was still a way for some to partially quench their thirst.

The third method:

Buying the CD.

Those who simply couldn't get the melody out of their heads eventually broke down and purchased the physical album. While the numbers weren't astronomical, they were significant enough to make Zenith Music seriously contemplate a reprint.

Sensing an opportunity, Zenith Music sent a proposal to Label Echo Sound.

Their suggestion was to release Faintly, But Surely as a standalone single.

"This will undoubtedly boost sales. We can release it on streaming, and for the physical version, we can make it a limited edition that includes the Sonar Music live recording. We can bundle it with other merchandise—like photocards or a snippet of the composition notes. It's bound to be a massive hit."

It was a proposal from Zenith Music's business department. It made perfect sense, and Manager Jung Yuyoung, also believing it was the right move, had brought the proposal to the band.

The other members had agreed, but one person... Ha Suyun, had flatly refused.

"Why is that?"

"I know doing this would be great for sales and our popularity."

"Yes. While we don't have an exact forecast, the promotional effect would be massive."

"But it's an album-exclusive track. There are fans who bought the entire album specifically for this song. Even if it wasn't solely because of this recent performance, some fans might have felt they had no choice but to buy the CD because of the exclusive track. If we just dump it on streaming now to chase higher sales... wouldn't that be unfair to those people?"

"Ah... you have a point."

Citing that reason, Ha Suyun rejected the single release, and Faintly, But Surely remained locked as an album-exclusive track. Zenith Music grumbled, arguing, "What kind of logic is that? Does that mean we can never upload old unreleased tracks to streaming?" but Suyun's decision remained firm.

That decision effectively smothered the wildfire that Faintly, But Surely had ignited. The blazing fire died down, leaving behind only a lingering trail of smoke. Both Zenith Music and Label Echo Sound lamented the missed opportunity to rake in more profit, but they couldn't override the artist's final decision.

Yet, a fire doesn't need to rage like a wildfire burning through dry reeds to make its presence known.

["Yes, we're playing this again today due to overwhelming requests. It's practically becoming our show's theme song at this point. I keep thinking we should stop playing it, but with so many requests, we have no choice, right? Here is Group Sound's 'Faintly, But Surely,' the Sonar Music live version."]

And so, the embers continued to smolder and spread. Waiting for the day a strong wind would blow, ready to let the world know they were here.

"Don't you think coming up with those slogans must be exhausting?"

Following their appearance on Sonar Music, Group Sound took advantage of a brief gap in their schedule to return to Korea with Manager Jung Yuyoung.

Walking toward the crowd of fans waiting at the airport—how they had found out about the schedule was a mystery, though Manager Jung had technically made it public—Suyun muttered the question as she prepared to sign autographs.

"That's... because it's part of the, fun..."

"My brain could never come up with something like that. Hello. What's your name?"

"Su... Suyun! Su, Su—no! Kim Yeon-seo!"

"Kim Yeon-seo... yes. May your health and spirit remain ever robust, and please continue to show us your love. I sincerely pray for peace and prosperity in your household. Would you like the other members' autographs as well...?"

"All of them! All of them!"

After spending about half an hour signing autographs for every single fan in the crowd, Suyun, the members, and Manager Jung were finally able to escape the airport.

Inside the Starria heading toward Seoul, Manager Jung spoke up.

"Even though we do this every year, let ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me remind you again. When you get home, make sure to ask your parents if there are any additional tax deductions or benefits you can claim. Especially since we had a lot of revenue last year, you'll have quite a bit of tax to pay. If you wait until May, it'll be too late, so prepare your documents quickly."

"Yes~"

As the annual tax talk commenced, Suyun stared out the window with a bored expression before suddenly remembering something.

"By the way, Hyun-ah, did you take a leave of absence from school?"

"...It's April... if I hadn't... how would I be in Japan right now...?"

"Is that so? I've never been to college."

"No, that's just common sense. See? I told you she has zero interest in other people."

"What do you mean I have zero interest in other people? I'm incredibly interested. For example..."

"To be precise, it's not that she's uninterested in people. She's just only interested in other people's instruments. Whatever she was about to say just now, I bet it was going to be something like, 'Iseor, how do you play your bass?' or 'Hyun-ah, how do you play your keyboard?'"

As Seoha hit the nail on the head, Suyun pretended to look out the window to hide her expression. Meanwhile, the members' teasing only intensified, questioning her interest in others and her qualifications as a leader.

Manager Jung, who had been quietly smiling as she listened to the chaotic banter, waited for them to quiet down before speaking up.

"Everyone, please hold on to that energy. Since we're back in Korea, we're going to use this opportunity to shoot some self-produced content. It's been a while."