MT (4)
Seora noona waved her hand, signaling me to head on inside.
"Have fun. Stay in touch."
"Hey kid, if you ever wanna learn to work out, hit me up!"
The hyung who was dead serious about training newbies jumped in, refusing to let it go. He was the one who'd taken that gut shot earlier.
Seora noona's eyes sharpened into hatchets.
"Hey—oh, for fuck's sake! Cheol-jin, you can just straight-up ignore these bastards!"
"Haha......."
I gave an awkward laugh, said my goodbyes, and headed toward the auditorium.
'Seora noona's got more of a temper than I thought.'
I'd gone jogging with her every morning, but I'd never seen this side of her. I'd better not mess around with her.
"You sure got a ton of numbers from those Sports Science hyungs."
I still barely knew the numbers of the kids in my own department, and yet here I was with contacts from upperclassmen in other departments. Every day since starting college had been one unpredictable thing after another.
"Kkang-cheol, hurry up and sit. They said the first team's stage is about to start."
Areum patted the seat next to her—tak, tak. Once I sat down, Yu-bam sunbae stared at me intently and asked,
"Cheol-jin, I have a question."
"What are you curious about?"
"Areum calls Cheol-jin 'Kkang-cheol.' Is that a nickname?"
"Ah, yeah. My name is Kang Cheol-jin, so......."
"Kang Cheol-jin so Kkang-cheol? Ah, gangcheol! Kkang-cheol!"
Yu-bam sunbae clapped her hands together—jjak—like she'd just figured out something huge. Being a foreigner, she must not have easily connected the nickname to my name.
Soon after, the first talent show performance began.
The talent stages each team had prepared were more or less the same. Groups either did simple dance routines or sang a song. With such a short prep period, there weren't any particularly special performances.
Our department wasn't in the arts or athletics track, so that was only to be expected. How special could a freshman MT stage possibly get?
Honestly, our Team 3 was no different. We'd just prepared a few props and a concept, that was all.
Before long, it was our turn.
- Next up is the stage from 'Team Victory'!
Following the MC's lead, we grabbed the props we'd prepared in advance and climbed onto the stage. There was a short setup window before the song started.
First, we spread a large picnic mat in the center of the stage.
On the mat, we laid out props that gave off a picnic vibe—lunchboxes, a straw basket, things like that—and the team members moved to their prearranged positions.
Me, No Juwan, Pi Ah-reum, and Yu-bam sunbae sat around the mat.
Seongju Hyung positioned himself at the far left edge of the stage. Oh Si-hyeon stood just off the mat, facing Seongju Hyung.
Lastly, at the far right edge of the stage, team leader Lee So-yeon and Ahn Seong-hyeon were wearing couple tees.
- Ooh, Team Victory really came prepared with something.
The MC said it full of anticipation, but it was mostly smoke and mirrors to make it look flashy. What we were actually doing wasn't much different from the other teams who'd just sung plainly.
Stage setup was done in no time.
The lights soon went out, plunging the auditorium into darkness.
- ♩♪♬♪♬♩♪
A warm, cozy spring song started playing.
The title of the song was 'Love Under the Cherry Blossoms.'
It was a track by a very famous solo female singer, but unusually, it was a collaboration with a four-member boy group. Thanks to that, we were able to split the parts into small pieces, which lightened the burden on everyone.
The song started with Seongju Hyung.
Ppat. The stage lights came on, and Seongju Hyung, wearing a coat, began singing the first verse.
"On a cold winter day~ an empty coat pocket~."
He and Oh Si-hyeon, arms folded, walked with slow steps toward the picnic mat. Meanwhile, those of us gathered on the mat waited for our turns without moving a muscle.
"My hand inside the pocket feels lonely. All alone, it wanders the empty pocket. Winter is too cold."
Seongju Hyung, having reached the front of the mat, stopped in place. Facing Oh Si-hyeon. Just like the rest of us on the mat, his movements froze as if time had stopped.
The next part of the song came from the right.
"A warm spring breeze~ beside me, my beloved you~"
Ahn Seong-hyeon, in the couple tee, draped an arm over team leader Lee So-yeon's shoulder and walked over slowly.
"Your scent beside me. This street we walk together. The warm spring sun, and the spring breeze~."
Just as Seongju Hyung and Oh Si-hyeon had done before them, the two stopped in front of the picnic mat as well.
A single beat of rest.
Then all four stepped onto the mat simultaneously and sang.
[Oh, love is under the cherry blossoms~]
Only two people were holding mics, but all eight of us sang the chorus together.
Then the mic was passed naturally to the person next in line.
Now it was my part.
"Love is under the cherry blossoms~ a cherry blossom petal tickling my cheek settles onto my hand~."
Fortunately, my voice didn't crack. It came out smoother than I'd expected, and I managed to get through my part successfully.
Was it because the first verse went well, or did I actually have a knack for being on stage? I was even less nervous than I'd been during practice.
I naturally acted out rummaging through the straw basket. I opened a lunchbox and played along like we were all enjoying a picnic together. I pulled out my phone and pretended to take a selfie while pulling up the lyrics on screen.
We also used props we'd prepared beforehand that couldn't be seen from the audience. We sprayed pink snowflake spray upward from below the stage, out of sight.
Chiiiik—!
Pink powder snow fluttered through the air. Lit by the stage lights, it looked just like scattering cherry blossom petals.
Then the chorus again.
[Oh, love is under the cherry blossoms]
[Love is under the cherry blossoms]
[Under the fluttering cherry blossoms]
It didn't go entirely smoothly.
One of the team members momentarily blanked on the lyrics. Because of that, there was a split second where the singing faltered, but she checked the lyrics on her phone and got back on track right away.
Unlike what we'd first planned, our team had all eight members splitting parts. Of course, there were differences in the length of each person's part, but what mattered was that every team member took part.
My turn again. This time it was a duet part.
I took the mic and interlaced my fingers with Areum's as we sang.
"Plunging headfirst into this spring mood."
"My heart fluttering gently like the petals."
We traded a line each.
""With ticklish words, I try confessing.""
We sang the last line together.
It was a pretty high part, but luckily I hit the note cleanly.
[Oh, love is under the cherry blossoms]
[Love is under the cherry blossoms]
[Under the fluttering cherry blossoms]
All eight of us sang the chorus together again.
Our voices gradually grew softer and softer.
Ddiring~.
The piano keys signaled the end of the song.
'Did it end well?'
A brief silence fell, which made me anxious, but it lasted only a moment. Soon applause filled the auditorium.
- Wow! That felt like watching a whole music video! That was Team Victory's 'Love Under the Cherry Blossoms'!
Ah, it ended well.
*
After the stage ended, the team members cleaned up the props.
Seongju Hyung and I quickly wiped down the stage with mops. Since we'd prepared the mops ahead of time, we were able to get the stage cleaned up in no time.
"Oh, that cleaned up fast. I was worried about the spray, but thank god."
"We found one that isn't sticky. Couldn't let it mess things up for the next performers."
"As expected of Kkang-cheol. Thorough to a fault."
Seongju Hyung said it with a thumbs-up as we came down from the stage.
"With that, the wine is ours."
He was smacking his lips; he clearly had his eye on that wine.
"We don't know yet. There are still more team stages left."
"Come on, with this level, the win's locked in. The response was great. You planned it well."
Seongju Hyung clapped me on the back—pang-pang—as he said it.
It was a little overwhelming, but more than that, I felt good. Must've been because the stage wrapped up without incident. Standing on stage wasn't as nerve-wracking as I'd thought it'd be.
*
The final team's stage ended.
And the much-awaited first place winner of the talent show was, just as Seongju Hyung predicted, our team.
"Nice! Wine! Wine!"
"Wiiine! Fancy wine!"
Seongju Hyung and Areum threw their hands up cheering. Areum had gotten a taste for alcohol at the last gathering too.
'Wonder what kind of wine it is.'
I licked my lips in anticipation, too. I'd been holding back because of my diet, but I'd also developed a taste for drinking.
Back at our lodging, we waited eagerly for the wine. Not long after, team leader Lee So-yeon, who'd gone out as our team representative, returned clutching the wine.
But for some reason, team leader Lee So-yeon's face was flushed red. She held out the fancy-looking white wine and said,
"G-guys, this is seriously high-end wine. They said this one's almost a million won at Hana!"
"A-a million won?!"
"Oh my god, then two bottles means two hundred......?"
The team members' eyes went wide at the amount, far larger than any of us had expected. I was no different. Holy shit, does this department have money rotting away or something?
"You can cover this with student council funds?"
"I figured it'd be under 100,000 won, max."
"Is our department gonna end up in some student fee scandal later or what?"
Some people were worried because the price was so high. I thought it was a natural reaction. Common sense said blowing two hundred on an MT game prize was insane.
The team leader shook her head as if to reassure us.
"I was surprised too and asked around. Turns out some individual sponsored it. They said not a single won came from the student council budget."
"Ah, now that you mention it, didn't they say there was an anonymous sponsor?"
"Whoa. Maybe someone in our department is the kid of some major corporation executive? No way the professors sponsored it."
For a while, we started guessing who this hidden rich person could be. But it wasn't as if putting our heads together would magically produce the right answer.
The team leader got us back on track.
"Enough of that, let's crack open the wine already. You drag this out and kids from other teams are gonna come sniffing around."
"Team leader's right. Let's hurry up and drink it ourselves. It'd be a waste giving any to other people."
We quickly started pouring the wine.
Honestly, I had no clue about things like the flavor profile of wine. What would a bunch of kids barely twenty years old know anyway?
We poured the wine roughly into paper cups and gathered our hands together.
"Do a toast, a toast!"
"You know the person who suggested it has to do it, right?"
"Eh? But the team leader's here?"
"Why are you dragging me into this. Just drink."
"Yeah, let's just hurry up and drink. Here, cheers!"
"Cheers!"
We gave an energetic toast and knocked back our wine.
"Ahh! First glass is a bottoms-up, you know?"
At someone's shout, we tipped our wine straight down our throats.
"What the— who the hell does wine as a bottoms-up, you crazy bastards......."
Seongju Hyung's voice, tinged with disbelief, could be heard.
Ggolkak, ggolkak, ggolkak, ggolkak.
But it was nothing more than a hollow cry.
"This is sweet!"
"It's good!"
"Isn't this just juice? It's super sweet."
"What'd they say the name was? Château Jik-cam?"
"Dunno, just drink. Maybe 'cause it's sweet, it goes down so smooth even without any snacks."
The team members and I poured the expensive wine into our stomachs as if we were competing.
"Hey! Give us a glass of wine too!"
By the time another team came swarming in, we'd already emptied one bottle completely and dumped half of the other into our guts as well.
It wasn't exactly a secret that the professors who dropped by and saw us in that state were utterly horrified.