By Taylor'd Festival
“Dain. You seen this?”
Lunchtime. As Dain was hanging out with her two friends, a kid from the next class over came up and spoke to her. On his phone screen was the festival schedule. And there, the name Group Sound was listed.
“Nah, first I'm hearing of it.”
“Isn't this Suyeon's band? She mentioned doing a band before, right?”
At her classmate's words, Dain racked her brain. Something had come up...
“Oh, is this that thing she talked about the other day?”
“What thing?”
“Y'know, Yeonseong or whoever said she was heading out somewhere. Some festival or whatever. This it?”
At Chaerin's words, Dain vaguely recalled something like that. Come to think of it, yeah, there had been talk like that.
“Maybe? But why?”
“Ah... I was gonna ask if you knew about invite tickets or something, since Suyeon usually comes around, but she wasn't there. Figured maybe you had some...”
Dain felt a pang of nostalgia at her friend's hesitant question. Back at the start of the school year, this kid had been one of the ones Suyeon bullied casually, and even after Suyeon changed, he'd been one of the last to forgive her. And now he was coming straight to her about invite tickets? Dain thought Suyeon's reputation had really turned around.
“Oh, yeah, I think she gave me some. Said to give 'em to whoever wants.”
“I didn't get any.”
“You weren't around then.”
Suhyeon, who'd been listening in, suddenly remembered something and pulled out a ticket, handing it to the kid from next door. The friend bounced off, overjoyed, thanking her nonstop.
“Kids have really changed, huh.”
“Yeah.”
Fiddling with her hair, Dain glanced out the window for a moment.
Suyeon's strategy of 'improving her reputation' seemed to be working. She couldn't do much about the rumors outside school, but at least the victims... or the kids at Han Seung High no longer saw Suyeon as the resident bully who doled out school violence.
That said, there were still some gaps left behind.
As her friend, guess I gotta help patch those up.
Dain thought to herself.
“Those are the kids? Our lead-in act?”
The indie band Yun Hyeonjun Band, who flew the flag of modern rock. Their leader and vocalist, Hyeonjun, unconsciously tossed the question to his bandmates.
“That's what they say.”
Those were the Group Sound kids that Taylor'd's Kim Cheol-yeon had slotted in, right?
“They're all so pretty.”
One of the session players muttered it, and Hyeonjun agreed. How'd they round up a lineup like that? It felt like the band was formed based on looks, not skill.
“Anyone heard their songs?”
“I heard the title track...”
“How was it?”
“Kinda easy listening, y'know? Not a bad song, but just too safe.”
Hyeonjun scratched his head at the bassist's words.
The rumors floating around the indie scene—“Kim Cheol-yeon's finally lost it,” “Kim Cheol-yeon's cheating,” “Kim Cheol-yeon's hooked up with a major label to make a rookie idol band”—Hyeonjun usually ignored them. Who cared about other bands?
The problem was... even if he didn't want to care, as the leader of Yun Hyeonjun Band, he had to.
Hyeonjun had played a couple other festivals, but this was his first at By Taylor'd, just like those kids.
I'm not great at hyping the crowd, honestly.
His band did solid modern rock. They'd get polite applause after a song, but nothing that got people jumping. But Hungry Socrates was a punk rock band that built an insane party vibe, or so he'd heard. Their live shows were killer too, so he'd figured they'd carry the momentum. But now...
“This is bad.”
Hyeonjun muttered as he stepped out of the waiting room.
Rehearsals were underway, and he spotted a few familiar bands.
“Yo~ Old man Yoon~”
“How's the headliner prep going?”
“We're golden. Just gotta sync up... and boom, we're alive~ Did it just now, all good.”
“That's some ancient slang.”
Hyeonjun and the other band chuckled a bit. Then, in a lull, the guy hit him with a question.
“Heard your lead-in's those girls? Y'know, the high school girl band.”
“Yeah.”
“They cute? You see their faces?”
Hyeonjun gave him a pitying look.
This dumbass. Not 'are they any good?' but straight to looks. Guy's got a girlfriend.
“Dude. Humans are animals too. And animals' top mission? Procreate. I'm just fulfilling my duty.”
Shrugging off the guy's usual nonsense, Hyeonjun described them. One had big boobs, hime-cut hair, heavy makeup, quirky outfit. Another had small chest, long hair, half-shaved head, light makeup, all-black clothes.
“What about their songs?”
“Heard that one that charted on Melon...”
Group Sound, was it? Hyeonjun had heard they played regular gigs at Paradox, his occasional haunt, but he'd never caught a live set. Same with their songs. He'd just listened to That Street We Couldn't Cross after hearing the session talk, and yeah, it was well-made, but nothing mind-blowing. Upper mid-tier at best. General rock newbies—“rice burners”—might dig it, but would the live crowd? Could be a total buzzkill.
“But isn't it Kim Cheol-yeon pushing them?”
“Yeah.”
“He must've heard something. Or they paid up?”
Word was the buyer of Echo Sound was connected to Group Sound's family or whatever. Hyeonjun laughed it off.
“Echo Sound's CEO runs a tight ship—why sell? The sale's probably bullshit.”
“Nah, it's real. My buddy went there for a release recently, and the whole staff's turned over!”
“A few quit, big deal.”
Hyeonjun sighed. What to do? Nail our set, sure, but the lead-in matters for crowd energy...
“Oh? They're heading up.”
“Yeah.”
The girls climbed the stage. A couple keyboards, guitars going up. Looked like a heavy live setup overall.
“Do they really need all that?”
Hyeonjun muttered. Heavier gear than most bands. Wonder if they even use it all...
Ugh, gonna die.
Ayoon muttered to herself. She'd never been to a festival like this, even during her idol-fan days. Sure, she'd bought CDs for signings, but shelling out big bucks—an 80,000-won day pass—for a rock fest? How'd this happen?
Guess that's why you gotta pick your faves wisely.
Luckily, transport wasn't bad, and the weather held. A bit hot, but bearable.
“It's 4 now...”
Music blared, so the show had started. To get the full hit, she'd need to catch this act too, but nah. She'd wander, catch Group Sound, then the big names later, and head home. That was the plan.
“Hurry! Gotta grab spots now~!”
“Hey, don't shove.”
A hyped-up pair rushed past—not a couple, siblings maybe? Ayoon reached the beer stand.
“Beer, one.”
“Five thousand won.”
Ayoon blinked. Surprisingly cheap? Festival food's usually jacked up, but 5,000 for 500ml? Basically coffee prices.
“Takoyaki, please.”
“Thirteen thousand for twenty.”
Her optimism shattered. After thirty minutes in line, twenty takoyaki balls for 13,000 won? What country charges that? But dinner was dinner—she took it, gritting her teeth.
“Wait, isn't Socrates next?”
Ayoon plopped down behind the stage area, munching takoyaki and watching the current band. Dissatisfied grumbles reached her ears.
Checking the timetable, people vented: why this order?
“Shouldn't have come. Who even are they? Some no-names...”
“Girls' band.”
“What the fuck kinda girls' band~~~”
Ayoon chewed, staring at the sky amid the curses and complaints.
It's been forever since the change—how do they not know? IQ issue at this point?
She wanted to slap some sense into them—what'd our girls do wrong?—but as a model democratic citizen, she held back.
Wait till they play. No one lives like our girls. Iseo, Hyeona, Seoha, Suyeon—all insane players...
Grumbling, Ayoon opened her phone and searched #ByTaylorD. Similar gripes poured in: Who's Group Sound? Kim Cheol-yeon took money? (That one kept popping up.)
“Thank you!”
The previous band wrapped, and people visibly bailed—more than usual.
Ayoon tossed her takoyaki box and beer cup in the trash, stood, and headed front.
You skipping means more room for me up front, so win-win...
Still felt bitter. No one plays like our girls. Would be fun together.
But more fans means no seats at Paradox... Complicated.
“Who are these chicks?”
“Dunno.”
“Fuckin' annoying. Where's Socrates?”
“Why girls on stage?”
“You heard their music?”
“Music slaps. Ashen Days was straight fire.”
“Group Sound fighting~!”
“High schoolers?”
“Damn, they're hot~”
Weaving through the crowd, Ayoon caught snippets. Few knew Group Sound. Others clueless, indifferent, or bitching. But in her mind, all that would flip.
Once our girls started playing.
“Ah. Hello. We're Group Sound.”
Setup done, Suyeon's dry voice echoed softly from the speakers. Mild reaction from the crowd.
“You probably don't know who we are.”
Bigger response—some laughs, a drunk-sounding shout of “Who the hell are you!!” sparking more chuckles.
“We know!!”
“Group Sound!!”
A few fans chimed in.
“Truth is, we're the same. We don't know you either. Do we strangers really need long chit-chat...?”
No warning—drums rumbled softly behind Suyeon. Cymbals and toms growled low, signaling the approach.
“What's left to say? Music's what matters. Let's start.”
Suyeon's guitar rang out.