17
## Chapter 17 — The Junk Car Leaves, and a Benz Arrives
At last, the day of the final showdown had arrived.
“So this is where the festival’s being held today?”
“…Yeah.”
An outdoor stage with Haenam’s beautiful sea stretching across the background.
Apparently, the claim about a thousand audience members wasn’t just exaggeration either, because even at a glance there were easily several hundred chairs lined up in front of the stage.
“Huu… We’re really performing here today.”
“…Haha, we’ve watched the Haenam Festival every year, but never imagined we’d actually stand on this stage ourselves.”
From what I heard, this was also <The Stretched Band>’s first time participating in the [Time-Traveling Haenam National Music Festival].
Because of that, every single hyung in the band looked visibly nervous.
Worried they might make mistakes from being too tense, I patted their shoulders reassuringly.
“Don’t be too nervous, everyone. A little tension improves concentration, but too much just causes mistakes.”
“Maknae…”
“If anyone brought calming medicine or anything like that, take it now. And even if we mess up the performance, nobody’s going to blame us, so just focus on enjoying the stage.”
“You…”
Seeing me trying to relax the team before the performance, the hyungs stared at me with touched expressions and said:
“…Are *you* really the one who should be saying that?”
“Huh?”
Apparently, they weren’t touched at all.
The hyungs immediately pointed at the rabbit mask covering my face with dumbfounded expressions.
“You’re saying not to be nervous when *you’re* the guy who stole my daughter’s rabbit mask because you’re scared of singing in front of people?!”
“…Ah.”
That was true.
Right now, I was wearing one of the bassist hyung’s youngest daughter’s favorite toys—a rabbit mask.
(They accidentally bought an adult-sized one, so it fit my face perfectly.)
The reason I was wearing such a ridiculous children’s toy before going on stage—
was because of stage fright born from past trauma.
Singing in front of one thousand people was on a completely different level from performing at a tiny live pub in Gwangju.
Just imagining a thousand pairs of eyes staring at me made cold sweat pour down my back and left me unable to breathe.
And the thought that someone in the crowd might recognize my face pushed my mind toward complete panic.
So in the end, I had no choice but to wear the mask.
The mask hiding my bare face was the minimum shield protecting the weak version of myself inside.
Still, there was one fortunate thing.
The other members of <The Stretched Band> fully understood me.
“This brat! Getting cocky just because you sing a little well! We’re old enough to be your uncles, punk!”
“Exactly! If *you* get nervous, lean on us hyungs instead! We’ll support you from behind nice and sturdy~!”
Not once did the members of <The Stretched Band> criticize me for wearing a mask because of stage fright.
Instead, they wrapped arms around my shoulders and comforted me with warm words while cheering me up.
Like real neighborhood older brothers I’d known for years.
During the short week we spent practicing and performing together, we had grown surprisingly close.
Thanks to the rough but heartfelt comfort(?) from the hyungs of <The Stretched Band>, my nerves finally eased a little before the festival.
“Yes…! Thank you, hyungs!”
“No, we’re the grateful ones for having you join us.”
“Don’t chicken out, kid. Like you said, all we gotta do is enjoy the stage and come back down.”
And just as we headed toward the performers’ waiting room in a cheerful mood—
“Oh? Well, look who it is, hyungs. Ahahaha.”
A mocking voice dripping with ridicule made us turn our heads.
Standing there was a skinny man in his thirties who looked vaguely like a weasel, sneering openly at <The Stretched Band>.
“I figured you’d all panic and run away, but you somehow crawled your way here after all? Damn, it’s *so* good to see you guys again. Hah.”
“……?”
Since some stranger had suddenly started provoking us, I felt more confused than angry.
But unlike me, who tilted my head in puzzlement—
“You…”
“……”
The faces of the other members of <The Stretched Band> had stiffened completely.
Apparently, they knew him.
---
Son Myungwoo, age thirty-four.
Ever since he was very young, his dream had been to become a singer.
Why?
Because the life of a singer looked easy, glamorous, and filled with money.
And on top of that, he actually had talent for singing too.
He wanted to become a famous singer quickly and live a flashy life.
But reality was brutal.
Son Myungwoo only saw the glamorous success of singers—
never the painful struggles they endured to get there.
The path of becoming a singer turned out far harsher than he expected.
He barely managed to debut in a small band, but it quickly failed and disbanded.
In the end, after returning to his hometown of Haenam, the only thing left for him was joining a tiny local band.
That childish-sounding band called <The Stretched Band> was simply a group of middle-aged men making music as a hobby.
The members of <The Stretched Band> genuinely tried to comfort him after he returned from Seoul emotionally wounded.
‘Anyone can fail. You can start over here.’
But those comforting words only irritated Son Myungwoo more.
When they said anyone could fail, it felt as though they were equating him with these failed old men.
‘Unlike you people… I’m different.’
While serving as the vocalist of <The Stretched Band>, Son Myungwoo secretly harbored those thoughts deep inside.
And eventually—
the moment a better band made him an offer, he immediately abandoned <The Stretched Band>.
‘Ah, pretending to respect a bunch of old geezers has been exhausting. Honestly? Your songs suck too. “A Story I Want to Tell You”? What garbage, hahaha.’
He even spat insults at them right before the festival.
So naturally, the members of <The Stretched Band> couldn’t possibly look at him kindly.
But despite fully knowing that, Son Myungwoo deliberately approached them again to provoke them further.
He wanted to scratch at their wounds even more.
“Son Myungwoo… Why are *you* here?”
“Oh, you didn’t know? The band I joined recently is also performing at the Haenam Festival this year. Haha, funny how that worked out.”
Even though he had originally practiced for the festival together with <The Stretched Band>, he switched bands at the last second and still entered the festival.
An obvious act of terrible manners.
Yet Son Myungwoo remained shameless.
“Still, I honestly didn’t think you hyungs would actually show up. Since I left at the last minute, I figured there’s no way you managed to find another vocalist— huh?”
While openly looking down on <The Stretched Band>, Son Myungwoo suddenly noticed the man quietly standing in the corner wearing a rabbit mask.
“…What’s with that guy? Why’s he wearing a rabbit on his face?”
“Him? He’s our youngest member. Our new vocalist.”
“…What? Pfft! That guy’s your new vocalist? Ahahahahaha!”
With so little time left, there was no way they could’ve found a proper vocalist.
Since Son Myungwoo had come specifically to mock them in the first place, he burst into even louder laughter at the sight of the rabbit-masked vocalist.
“You really found the *perfect* vocalist for <The Stretched Band>! Congratulations! Ahahahaha!”
After failing in Seoul, Son Myungwoo tried to repair his shattered self-esteem by trampling on others.
He wanted to prove that his life was different from these middle-aged men in the band.
But contrary to his malicious intentions—
“You think so too? Our new maknae really *does* fit our band perfectly! Hahaha!”
“Myungwoo finally said something right for once! Haha!”
The members of <The Stretched Band> merely laughed happily.
In fact, Park Sajang, the leader of <The Stretched Band>, even walked closer and patted Son Myungwoo on the shoulder.
“Thank you, Myungwoo.”
“…What?”
“Because you left, we were able to find our new vocalist. It’s all thanks to you.”
“……!”
Rather than getting angry, hearing Park Sajang sincerely thank him for leaving irritated Son Myungwoo even more.
And it didn’t stop there.
Park Sajang even looked at the trembling Son Myungwoo with genuine pity.
“…Myungwoo. Don’t live your life like that. Blessings come to people who keep kindness in their hearts.”
“……”
“You’re still young, so why’re you living like this? Every time I see you, I just feel sorry for you. …Ah, I talked too long. Let’s meet again on stage later.”
Pat.
And with that, <The Stretched Band> walked right past the statue-like frozen Son Myungwoo and headed inside.
Watching their backs, Son Myungwoo clenched his teeth hard.
‘…Those old fossils dare look down on *me*?’
What angered him even more was the fact that those washed-up middle-aged men with seemingly no talent had looked at *him* with pity.
“See you on stage? …Fine. Let’s see what happens. I’ll crush you all.”
And so, while the members of <The Stretched Band> paid him absolutely no attention whatsoever, Son Myungwoo alone remained consumed by victim mentality and shadowboxed by himself.
Completely unaware that today’s festival might become the greatest curse of his life.
---
After watching the guy muttering angrily to himself in the background, I turned to the members of <The Stretched Band> and asked:
“Who’s that? Someone you know?”
“Oh, our former vocalist.”
“Ahh.”
I already knew that <The Stretched Band>’s original vocalist had left.
That was the whole reason I ended up joining as a substitute.
But judging by the atmosphere, it definitely didn’t seem like the former vocalist had left on good terms.
As I quietly stayed silent, Park Sajang gave a bitter smile and said:
“Don’t worry about him. He’s just a pitiful guy.”
“A pitiful guy?”
“Yeah. Someone who only knows how to fill his self-esteem by putting others down. A truly pitiful person who shrinks away whenever anyone reaches out to help because of his severe victim complex.”
There was genuine sympathy in Park Sajang’s eyes when he said it.
He truly pitied the man.
After clicking his tongue a few times, Park Sajang smiled warmly at me.
“Well, honestly, he’s someone we should be thankful to. Like I said earlier, because he left, you came to us, maknae. You’ve got no idea how grateful we are.”
“No, Sajangnim. I haven’t really done anything.”
“If it weren’t for you, we never would’ve created such a beautiful song.”
It was true that over the past week, <The Stretched Band>’s original song [A Story I Want to Tell You] had improved tremendously in quality.
Park Sajang grinned as though he could hardly wait for the upcoming performance.
“Ah, I really want to get on stage already. I can’t wait to let people hear our song.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded so violently from nervousness it felt ready to explode.
But strangely enough, that made me feel alive.
I wanted to get on stage and sing as soon as possible.
And so, filled with excitement, I quickly forgot all about <The Stretched Band>’s former vocalist and focused on tuning my instrument.
And soon—
“Alright everyone! We will now begin the [Time-Traveling Haenam National Music Festival]!!”
“WAAAAAAAHHHHH—!!”
The audience seats filled completely, and together with the MC’s energetic shout—
the festival finally began.