Cruising Toward Reality

The single's track Cruise rang out over the venue as the opening song.

From the very first beat, Kang Min's drums shattered into thirty-second notes. Over that, a rhythmic bass line and a dazzling guitar wove together into a song that was bright and upbeat at its core, yet complicated in the way it was built. Its structure made it a little less accessible than Rendezvous, but in terms of sheer energy, it was no less powerful.

The intro came crashing in without warning, and at the same moment Cha Seoha, quite literally, started running across the stage.

"Wow, whoa!"

"Aaaaaah!"

"Woooooah!"

The audience burst into cheers before they even realized it, caught up in the force of Cha Seoha's movements and the music's violence. People started jumping in place all around the venue.

As the first verse began, melody receded almost entirely. Only the kick drum, bass, scattered keyboard comping, and guitar backing were left, throwing everything into rhythm and tension. It felt like the breath before a voyage across a wide-open sea, the moment before departure when an adventure seems about to begin any second.

Cha Seoha's eyes found the audience. Some people had both hands clasped tightly, their eyes bright with excitement. Others were clapping or nodding along, letting the rhythm carry them. Of course, it was a completely different atmosphere from busking.

As the pre-chorus built, the instruments started adding layer after layer of momentum. The drums and bass drove the groove harder, Kim Jihoo's piano drew out dramatic chord changes, and Heo Junseong's guitar followed the top line with a sharp, expressive feel. Cha Seoha pressed more and more power into the vocal.

The chorus was coming. Just thinking about the explosive, high-energy section they were about to play made the members of OKTOP feel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠quietly exhilarated.

The pre-chorus ended, and in the tiniest instant of silence, every instrument and every vocal exploded together at once.

"Waaah!"

The crowd roared with them.

Some people were even singing along.

Cha Seoha's piercing high notes and Heo Junseong's bright, lively guitar tone locked together beautifully in unison, while Lee Doyeong's bass and Kim Jihoo's keys entered in half-bar staggered figures that gave the whole arrangement a stylish shape. Everything rode on top of Kang Min's solid, unwavering drumming.

Singing over his friends' near-perfect ensemble, Cha Seoha felt his vision go distant for a moment.

His head was suddenly full of countless ifs. What if this regression was a dream? What if he woke up tomorrow in a luxury penthouse instead of the house he'd grown up in? If it was all just a dream, how was he supposed to keep living? What about Grandma? What about Lee Doyeong? What about OKTOP and their dream?

But he decided then and there that he wouldn't worry about those ifs anymore.

The dream they had failed to realize in their last life, of stepping onto Band Slam and announcing their existence to the band scene, had by now become only one small road on the way to success.

And yet it was still the precious dream they were in the middle of fulfilling.

That was reality.

And then his vision sharpened again.

The audience was cheering.

They were listening to OKTOP's music.

This was reality.

A clear reality that no amount of ifs could ever change.

OKTOP's first stage wasn't the only thing people were watching. Everyone waiting in the backstage room was watching too.

The monitors mounted inside the room were showing the stage in a full shot.

Unlike the noisy stage area, the waiting room was wrapped in silence.

Then someone's impression broke the quiet.

"What, they're seriously good?"

OKTOP's first song had a way of pulling everyone's attention in and holding it there. At first, everyone watched the performance as if they were under a spell, but once the room filled with artists, the evaluations started spilling out.

"What, their guitar and bass got way better?"

"They didn't seem that good when they were on TV..."

"That's weird. I'm pretty sure those two string guys were the weakest ones before..."

"Weren't they just 'pretty decent for high schoolers'?"

Some of the people here had already seen OKTOP on television or at Banwol Park busking.

The Heo Junseong and Lee Doyeong they remembered had been merely decent for their age.

But somewhere along the way, the two of them had grown terrifyingly good.

"Is that keyboard player a music major? He looks like he can really play."

"The vocalist is the weapon of this team."

"Man, Kang Min really hasn't lost his form, huh?"

"Feels like he's gotten even better."

"Yeah, no, he definitely has."

"The skill gap is there, but their chemistry is good, at least."

"Yeah, I admit it. Their ensemble is really good."

Little by little, reactions like that began to blossom in the waiting room.

There was no malice in those comments, but there wasn't much praise in them either.

They were just the sort of things an artist naturally thought while listening to music — the kind of professional reflex that came out without warning.

And then there were the other reactions.

"Does that bass player only just pick up his instrument?"

"The song is just smeared with mainstream appeal. It's not my taste."

"They really don't have any roots, do they?"

"Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did a visual band come here? Is there really that little to watch?"

"They're just riding the traitor buzz."

"Kang Min?"

"Yeah."

Of course, there were opinions packed full of malice too.

Many of the people saying them had been greeting Kang Min warmly just a little while ago.

The roughly twenty people in the room were all part of the first half of the lineup.

Some were jealous, some impressed, and some even felt genuine admiration.

There were also a few who simply disliked OKTOP because of rumors they had heard somewhere along the line.

Still, the fact remained that OKTOP was putting on an excellent show, and most of them had to admit it.

Whatever the reason, those kids were undeniably giving a stage that was good for their level of experience.

"Well... I mean, of course they should be good, right?"

Then one voice, soaked in malice, rose to the center of the room's murmuring.

"I guess that's only natural."

"Thank you! That was OKTOP!"

"Waaahhh!"

"I love you!"

"Hey! Don't go!"

"Waaahhh!"

Thunderous cheers followed OKTOP's exit from the stage.

The band had already gone back into the waiting room, but the afterglow still hung over the crowd.

"Damn, that was insanely fun."

"No, seriously, they're so good. Are celebrities just different?"

"They're celebrities?"

"Wait, they're not? I thought you knew."

"Man, I wish they'd do an encore."

"I came just to see OKTOP, but I guess I'll stay for more. That was too fun."

"I'm heading out. I saw OKTOP, so that's enough for me."

While the next team swapped onto the stage, the crowd's chatter and the music Nam Dohoon was playing filled the air between sets.

In that way, OKTOP decorated the opening stage of this year's Band Slam with complete success.

When OKTOP returned to the waiting room, the band members waiting for their turn congratulated them and said they'd worked hard.

We really had done our best, running around and singing with everything we had. It was probably the best performance I could manage at my current level.

The band and I caught our breath and sat down.

"Hey, you guys worked hard."

"I don't even know how I made it through that."

"I want to do it again..."

"Damn it. I messed up one keyboard touch."

"Hey, if it was only one, nobody noticed."

"Unacceptable."

"It's a disease. A real disease."

We were chatting among ourselves when someone came over toward us.

"Excuse me, I enjoyed the performance."

"Ah, yes. Thank you."

He looked to be in his mid-twenties.

I had only caught a glimpse of him during rehearsal earlier.

From what I had heard in the waiting room, he seemed to be the vocalist of a band called Destruction.

"Min, so the rumors were true — you really landed in an impressive place, huh?"

"Ah, Hyeontaek, thank you. They're all hardworking kids."

"It shows. If you left Skydiver and ended up here, then of course the skill level would have to be high."

Skydiver had been the band Kang Min was in before joining OKTOP.

"Anyway, you were really great today. I'll be keeping an eye on you from now on."

"Yes, thank you."

Something about that felt a little off.

"An impressive place," "the place you went after leaving Skydiver," "I'll be keeping an eye on you from now on."

I could hear the intent buried in a few of those lines.

It felt a lot like the kind of power game I had often seen on variety shows in my past life, when idol groups were thrown together and made to talk for the cameras.

After that, Band Slam went on in a pleasantly strong mood even after OKTOP's set.

Some teams were far behind OKTOP in pure skill.

Others showed a depth and maturity OKTOP didn't yet have.

There were even teams that were less about musicality and more about unhinged energy, and in a way they left OKTOP far behind.

With all those different groups putting on strong performances, Band Slam was able to keep its tension just right and continue delivering good stages one after another.

If there was one disappointment, it was that far too many people left after only watching OKTOP's performance.

They had come mainly to see OKTOP, not because they were fans of the band scene ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in general.

Of course they didn't even know the basic courtesy of staying until the end, because that sort of culture wasn't something they were familiar with.

There was no malice in their behavior.

But some people were bound to dislike that kind of thing.

The final slot of the first half belonged to Destruction.

While the instruments were being tuned, the vocalist, Lim Hyeontaek, started talking to the crowd.

"This is our fourth time at Band Slam, and I think this is the biggest crowd we've ever seen here."

"Waaahhh!"

The audience answered with cheers.

"But I guess everyone must be busy, because it feels like the crowd thinned out a bit compared to the beginning. That's a shame."

The audience watched him with their eyes shining no matter what he said.

That was just what it meant to stand on a stage.

"OKTOP? They seem like the fans of the people who performed first. I guess an idol trainee band really does have a lot of fans."

At that, the crowd began to murmur.

"Oh, what? They were an idol trainee band?"

"You didn't know? They were on TV too."

"No wonder they're so good-looking."

"An idol band? Huh..."

"Whoa, then they'll probably debut soon!"

"But why are idols here?"

All kinds of reactions spilled out.

"Well, I mean, they're handsome. Everyone, please support OKTOP's idol debut!"

"Yesss!"

Lim Hyeontaek didn't even know why he'd said it himself.

What he did know was that once it was out of his mouth, he immediately felt like he'd done the right thing.

How dare those pop-music types set foot in the sacred band scene?

He couldn't forgive that.

This minor genre had to stay serious music forever.

That was his belief, and that was his wish.

He couldn't allow filthy outsiders to invade paradise.

He had spent more than ten years grinding faithfully in this business, after all.

By contrast, OKTOP was a thoroughly trained visual band.

Putting aside musicality or fame or anything like that, to be honest, he was just jealous.

It felt as though all the effort he'd put in over the years was being denied.

Still, no matter what anyone said, there was nothing wrong with what he'd just said.

"Then let's hear our first song!"