The Long-Awaited Debut
The long-awaited debut day had arrived.
The debut album Ashes by the rookie group Starlight had been released, and it had already drawn the attention of many people.
And as the release time approached, the music video for the title track Blue Flame was unveiled.
* * *
The music video began with a scene of Han I-jae sitting on the railing of the school rooftop, gazing at the sky.
Half his body leaning over the railing, he threw the paper airplane he was holding into the air.
A paper airplane soared in a parabolic arc toward the blue sky, its wingtips trailing blue flames that flickered and burned.
− Beneath the setting sun
− The waves crashing blue
After the intro ended, the scene shifted as the verse part began.
Even though it was inside the swimming pool, waves crashed in an eerie scene, and Won Ji-an was seen watching it.
− My brand new blue tears like Blue
− As I dream
− I forget how to breathe
The music video had a dreamy dream-core feel overall.
Won Ji-an diving into the wave-swept swimming pool. When he opened his eyes underwater, he was swimming in the middle of the sea.
Overhead, the paper airplane flew, and the scene shifted again.
− No looking back
− Just move ahead
The Ferris wheel lights were on, and the scene showed Hyeon Si-woo running in front of the returning Ferris wheel lights.
The Ferris wheel lights blinking on and off, and Hyeon Si-woo staggering as if about to fall in front of it.
− All time turns to ashes
− Even if nothing is left
− Look, I'm just me
The scene shifted to Lee Hae-won and Na Jae-hyun sitting face to face inside the Ferris wheel.
Looking at the landscape outside the Ferris wheel where blue fireworks were bursting, the two took photos with an old digital camera.
At the same time the flash went off, the Ferris wheel lights went out and fell downward.
− I burn blue
− Forget about sadness
− Even if gray tears flow
The next scene was the members holding hands and running out of the school.
The screen shook as if with noise, breaking, and continued to run in an unstable atmosphere.
Next to the members, the landscape outside the window where fireworks were bursting was visible.
Then Do Won-woo fell.
− (Look, I'm just me)
− Start over from the beginning
The moment he got up, the empty hallway where everyone had disappeared unfolded.
− The color of despair is deep blue
− Let's go anywhere, with me
− Forget the past and live in the present
− It's not easy like it sounds
Inside an empty classroom.
Kang In-hyeok, sitting in the back row, rested his chin on his hand, looking out the window.
A burning paper airplane flew low over the playground. And someone's hand caught the flying paper airplane.
− I can't fly on a paper airplane
− Only I can know you.
In the middle of the playground, Kwon Hak-jin dancing, surrounded by flying paper airplanes.
− My brand new blue youth like Blue
− As I erase you
− I forget how to dream
The scene shifted, and Jeong Hui-min appeared writing on the blackboard.
When I turned around, Kang In-hyeok was frozen in place as if time had stopped. Then Jeong Hui-min turned back to look at the blackboard.
The blackboard was filled with incomprehensible sentences, and he tilted his head curiously.
− No looking back
− Just move ahead
− All time turns to ashes
− Even if nothing is left
− Look, I'm just me
Again, the scene of the members running as if being chased by something.
− I burn blue
Bridge part.
A large wave crashed in the swimming pool, submerging everything....
− And reborn again
Under the surface, the members sinking with miscellaneous items.
With the sound growing louder, the members holding each other's hands rising toward the surface.
− Let me become
In the last scene, the members woke up on a boat in the middle of the sea.
The wet paper airplane was floating on the sea with its strength lost....
When Do Won-woo picked up the paper airplane, blue flames appeared on the wingtips again, and thus the music video ended.
* * *
After the album was released, the reactions were generally not bad.
Since they were still rookies, the reactions weren't explosively positive, but since they had already introduced the group name through the survival show, they could be said to be receiving a lot of attention compared to other rookies.
The music video also received criticism for having a somewhat cryptic concept for rookies, but the video quality itself was excellent and received good reviews.
'28th place... successful entry.'
They had broken through the difficult chart and entered the chart.
It was similar to the original work's development. In the original work, they had entered at a similar rank. And surprisingly, all tracks had charted.
'Of course, currently it's flowing in a similar way to the existing development, but how it will turn out in the future is unknown.'
Honestly, I still couldn't focus on the rankings.
Just a few months ago, it was a matter of survival. I was in the position of begging to debut with Won Ji-an.
Thinking about it, just having debuted was enough to make me happy, and all these moments felt precious.
* * *
"Wow, look at this. All our songs are on the chart. It's really amazing."
The atmosphere in the car heading to the schedule was more excited than usual.
Just debuted, there was a feeling of a new beginning, and above all, our songs had risen on the chart that was notoriously difficult.
Looking at the chart where famous singers' songs usually sat, our song with our voices had risen.
Thinking from the members' perspective who had dreamed of being idols and endured the long trainee life, it wasn't strange to show such happy reactions.
'I don't feel real.'
I hadn't been aiming for idol for long compared to other members.
Thinking about it, I could say I was lucky compared to others.
'Am I lucky?'
I was in a situation where I would die if I didn't debut, but in the end, I didn't fail like other transmigrators and become a system or go crazy.
So, I was lucky. I decided to think that way.
"I'm too happy."
Looking beside me, Won Ji-an was looking at the chart with a moved expression.
His eyes looked a bit red.
'Won Ji-an is also the person who wanted to make singing his asset in his past life.'
How was Won Ji-an feeling now?
In his past life, he felt the limits of his dreams and was very cynical about the world.
But in this life, right after debuting, his songs were on the chart and doing well. Of course, Won Ji-an had probably read the original work, so he would have known it would do well in advance.
'But, seeing it with my own eyes, the feeling would be different.'
Reading about a character in a novel succeeding is one thing, but when the subject is yourself, the feeling is different.
"I'm too happy."
Won Ji-an said he was happy.
"When I was in the survival show, it was so painful like I was going to die. What if I couldn't debut... every day was painful...."
Many of the members listening to those words seemed to have their expressions change, as if deep thoughts were coming to them.
They had all endured the harsh time of the survival show and become one team.
Although it hadn't been long since they had trained as one team, an inexplicably sticky camaraderie had formed in that short time.
"Let's not forget how grateful we are."
At that moment, Kwon Hak-jin said something like that.
"Yes, of course."
All of us knew what Kwon Hak-jin's words meant.
Not forgetting gratitude. It meant we shouldn't accept all this as a given.
'Well, among our members, there doesn't seem to be anyone who would forget their gratitude so quickly after debuting.'
At that moment, the manager turned on the radio, and our song flowed out.
"Oh!"
"Our song!"
The car became noisy again.
It seemed amazing that our song was playing on the radio.
The manager just quietly smiled as if our reactions were cute.
When I went to Onpick, the fan platform, I saw comments from fans saying they were listening well.
'Even if it goes this well...'
While the feeling was good, a hidden anxiety in my heart slowly rose.
Looking back, when things go well in life, there are often unlucky events that happen.
For example, on the day I solved a problem I didn't know by guessing, on the way home, I get hit with bird poop....
'Well, what does that have to do with anything.'
After overcoming the near-death to debut, I thought that no matter what happened in the future, I could endure anything.
At that moment, our eyes met with Won Ji-an. Won Ji-an seemed to have the same thought as me.
* * *
So, we arrived at the broadcasting station for the music broadcast schedule.
On the way to the waiting room. Walking down the hallway, idols who we had only seen on TV passed by one by one.
Curious, I stared blankly, then came to my senses and greeted them.
"Hello!"
Most of them passed by with friendly reactions toward us.
Since they were rookies, it seemed like they were mostly treating us as cute.
'Cute? Me?'
Actually, it was closer to treating us as cute because we were rookies rather than because our faces were cute. I decided to think that way.
Every time I met someone in the hallway, I greeted and passed by, but then I saw a familiar face walking towards me from the opposite direction.
'Ah.'
The rookie idol group Innos that debuted from Lumen Entertainment this time.
The faces and names of the members had been known in advance through public information.
This place was where the worlds of reality and the novel merged. By the way, Lumen Entertainment was an entertainment company that actually existed in reality, not the one in the novel.
It was indeed confusing. The group Innos didn't appear in the novel, and the members weren't novel characters either.
So, they weren't transmigrators, but having a system....
'Or perhaps that crazy guy deliberately pretended to be from Lumen Entertainment to cause confusion in the information....'
While various thoughts were swirling in my head, the Innos member walking in front suddenly stopped right in front of me.
A boy with blue-tinted hair, with a mysterious impression.
"Hello."
Short greeting.
It was a moment, but a strange feeling passed through instantly.