The More They Hate Us
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“It’s over!”
Band Slam had come to a successful close once again this year. For fans of the indie scene, it was the kind of event that marked the end of the entire year. They snapped photos with the bands invited to the lineup and even got a few autographs.
It was only after the last seat had been cleared and the performers were on their way out of the venue that it happened.
“Hey, Hyuntaek. How could you say something like that on stage?”
At last, Kang Min could no longer hold it in and confronted Lim Hyuntaek, the vocalist of Destruction.
“Huh? What did I say?”
Lim Hyuntaek answered as if he had no idea what Kang Min was talking about.
“An idol trainee? How can you say that when you don’t know anything?”
“Ah, isn’t that true?”
“It isn’t.”
“Oh? It wasn’t? Then never mind.”
“Then never mind?”
Kang Min bristled.
“Yeah, if it’s wrong, it’s wrong. Why are you getting so worked up over it?”
Kang Min looked utterly incredulous.
“Whether you’re idols or not, learn how to carry yourselves. You know people are tearing you apart right now, don’t you?”
Lim Hyuntaek kept pressing the attack, riding the momentum.
“You’ve got no roots, but you go on variety shows and act like genius prodigies. Of course you’re getting hate. Like you said, you’re not really celebrities, and you’re not exactly a band with a pedigree either. For a high school band, you’re passable, but that’s all you are, isn’t it? Stuck in the middle.”
“Was it wrong to get a good opportunity and go on TV?”
“Yes, it was! That’s why people are ripping you apart. You really think they’d be cursing you out for no reason?”
Kang Min’s clenched fist shook hard enough to be visible.
“Min, let it go.”
“Cha Seoha.”
Lim Hyuntaek’s attitude—waving a club around based on public sentiment alone, with no real reasoning behind it—was childish.
And I hated the idea of Kang Min getting dragged into an argument with someone that petty.
“Looks like you don’t like a bunch of nobodies like us showing up here.”
Lim Hyuntaek’s expression twisted.
It was the face of someone thinking, What the hell is this?
I’d been watching him for a while, and it wasn’t just him.
There were quite a few people behind him who seemed to share the same sour feeling.
“Fine. So we just won’t get involved here again, then.”
“If you get it, take your friends and leave.”
“Yes, understood. We’ll do our own thing. You guys keep working hard too.”
“You guys? Kid’s got no manners.”
“Ah, sorry. You were older than me, right? It must’ve been tough holding on to something that never went anywhere for so long.”
“What did you say?”
“I should really learn that kind of persistence from you. Real musicians with roots really are different.”
In the end, Lim Hyuntaek started spewing profanities too ugly to repeat, and the event organizer, unable to stand it any longer, stepped in to stop him.
“Let’s go. I don’t think there’s any reason for us to stay here.”
“Yeah.”
And so I led Kang Min and the others out of Main Hall.
The Band Slam that had been our dream ended in a complete mess.
The performance itself had gone well, but it left a sour aftertaste.
I’d wanted to give my friends a good memory, but life didn’t always bend to my feelings.
I was sad, sure, but I couldn’t afford to sink into it.
I had to look further ahead.
We were going to be okay.
The next day, Lim Hyuntaek posted a short message on social media along with a photo.
“Wow, that hyung is hopeless.”
“What is it?”
“Look at this.”
Kang Min showed me the post that had gone up.
To be honest, I didn’t think much of it.
Sure, mosquitoes buzzing in your ear were annoying, but that didn’t exactly mean your life was ruined.
“Ugh, this is so irritating...”
Kang Min muttered into the air.
“You really that pissed off?”
“It’s not just Lim Hyuntaek. Yesterday, when you and he were arguing, did you look around?”
“Yeah.”
Just as I’d noticed, it hadn’t only been Lim Hyuntaek and Destruction looking at us askance.
Not everyone felt that way, of course, but with one or two exceptions, almost everyone had either nodded along with Lim Hyuntaek or frowned at me and Kang Min when we spoke.
“Disgusting. Seriously, when did this become a scene where even good music gets dismissed?”
“I was disappointed too.”
Kim Jihoo chimed in as well.
Junseong, of course, was furious too, saying he should’ve gone up there and cursed out Lim Hyuntaek or whatever his name was.
Lee Doyeong didn’t add anything, but he looked fairly shaken as well.
“Cha Seoha, you really don’t care at all?”
“No. How could I not care?”
Junseong blinked in surprise at my answer.
“Huh? That’s unexpected. I thought you’d say something obnoxious like, ‘No, I actually found it interesting.’”
…Damn, that was exactly what I had been about to say.
“Ahem. Well, sort of. Did you guys notice anything weird yesterday?”
“Weird?”
I hadn’t expected much from Kang Min and Junseong, but even Doyeong and Jihoo didn’t immediately understand what I was getting at.
“Were there any people we didn’t know with us yesterday?”
“I don’t think there were...”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Because we were on TV?”
“Exactly.”
“Oh, right! Lim Hyuntaek definitely brought up the broadcast!”
“And what happened after we went on TV? We got dragged through the mud. You all saw the online reactions, didn’t you?”
“Oh, right! Yeah!”
“Min, you answer me. When a joint show is held, how many people usually recognize a rookie band?”
“Almost none.”
“And us?”
“Everyone recognized us.”
“That was exactly my point. We’re already pretty famous for how little time we’ve been doing this.”
“Whoa...”
Everyone looked at me like I was some kind of prophet.
“They wouldn’t have just watched the broadcast. Those little minnows probably listened to the songs too, just to see how good we were. And that wasn’t all. They probably even came to Banwol Park.”
“That actually makes sense.”
“Wow, you’re not normal.”
Just moments ago, they’d all been furious over what happened yesterday.
But the second they heard me explain it, their attitudes started shifting.
“Yeah! Just wait until we really make it. Everyone who talked trash about us will be embarrassed out of their minds!”
“Right! Let’s get even more hate! We’ll get famous enough to make all those bastards ashamed!”
“Exactly. If we’re going to be hated anyway, we might as well get hated as much as possible and flip the whole board over.”
“Hey, Cha Seoha, isn’t there somewhere else we can go get even more hate?”
When Junseong asked that while looking straight at me, I felt a burst of dopamine go off in my head.
“Oh... really? You guys want even more hate?”
Good. Let’s really turn this thing up.
After hearing that the guys wanted even more hate, my brain kicked into overdrive.
At this point, it wouldn’t have been a problem to prepare another good album and prove our skill the normal way, but like my friends said, I decided we should sink a little lower first.
The more dramatic the reversal, the better it landed.
I had a few different plans in mind.
We could do something like an audition program, or go on another variety show the way we did with Mun Gayoung.
There was also that singer who blew up around the summer this year; I could try making contact with him.
We could even get a song from a producer who was still unknown now but would soon become famous.
But honestly, none of those felt all that fun.
What I really needed was to get us onto that broadcast.
Of course, I was planning to use the media.
To appear on that show, I’d have to get in touch with the producer first, and that wasn’t going to be easy.
Did I have to use Mun Gayoung again?
I had plenty of plans, so I just had to think carefully about which route would let me make contact the fastest.
As the year turned with the close of Band Slam, the indie scene’s year-end event, another year came to an end.
The fact that OKTOP had appeared at Band Slam spread through the entire band scene in just a single day.
Of course the criticism aimed at us would only get worse from here.
The New Year’s sun rose between the buildings without caring in the slightest about the noise of the world.
Just as stage lights make the audience visible, the silhouette of the world grew clearer.
That brilliance felt like it was hinting at the start of some dazzling performance.
With the arrival of the new year, we became full-fledged examinees.
Of course, nothing much changed for Kang Min in the grand scheme of life, and neither did it for Junseong or me.
Lee Doyeong had made up his mind to devote himself to music in earnest, though even then, he still seemed a little reluctant at the thought of throwing away everything he’d built so far.
He had always been good at school.
Kim Jihoo still hadn’t made any clear statement one way or the other.
Worry was only natural when the future was uncertain.
Our positions might have differed, but everyone shared the same determination to keep OKTOP going.
Thanks to everyone’s cooperation, the number of days we gathered in the rehearsal room didn’t decrease at all.
And today, we had a special guest.
“Can I come in?”
Mun Gayoung had come to visit the rehearsal room.
“Oh, come in. But what’s all this?”
She was carrying a ridiculous amount of stuff in both hands.
“I brought chicken, pizza, and a few other things. You like hamburgers, right? This one’s yours.”
“Whoa, holy crap! Thanks!”
She had told us ahead of time that she’d stop by, but I hadn’t expected her to show up carrying an entire feast.
We spread the food out in the middle of the rehearsal room and sat down around it.
“Let’s eat!”
“Thanks, I’ll eat well.”
“Yeah, dig in. If it’s not enough, I’ll order more.”
She really had that quality of someone who’d spent her whole life dealing with the outside world—she knew how to give back, and she had a more adult side to her than the rest of us.
“Seriously, why’d you bring so much?”
There was no way six of us could finish all this alone, so why had she gone to the trouble of buying so much?
Was she that grateful?
We’d already been paid enough for the song.
“Honestly? I just felt bad.”
“Bad? About what?”
All of us, myself included, looked at Mun Gayoung in confusion.
“Your reactions lately haven’t been great. I felt like I’d ended up dragging you into something bad for no reason.”
“Hey, I was the one who asked to do it that way. What are you apologizing for? Don’t worry about it.”
“No, it’s just... I’m the one who asked for the song in the first place, so this is all because of me.”
Come to think of it, I’d actually been the one who asked Lee Doyeong to invite Yoo Yeongeun and Mun Gayoung to the busking spot first.
She didn’t know that, of course, but she really was a kind kid.
“It’s fine. We like getting hated on.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. A band needs a little of that flavor, too.”
At Doyeong’s strangely bold answer, Mun Gayoung looked genuinely surprised.
“Exactly! We’re happy being hated. It’s the kind of trial that helps us grow! Right, Kim Jihoo?”
“Shut up. Lower your voice.”
“Anyway, don’t worry about us. We’re all fine.”
“You guys really are something. That can’t be easy to take.”
“If you feel bad, you can always appear in our music video later.”
“Yeah, that would actually be really nice.”
“Well, when we’re successful.”
“Then I’ll definitely act in one. I think I’d feel better if I did at least that much.”
“For free?”
“Well, I’d have to talk to the company about—”
From there, we just talked like friends, asking about the broadcast, music, and what everyone had been up to lately.
“Come to think of it, shouldn’t we be the ones feeling sorry? We took way too much screen time in episode 2 of SkwanCam.”
As expected, sharp-eyed Kim Jihoo was the one who turned the question back on Mun Gayoung.
Stealing screen time from the main lead was probably rude to the person involved, after all.
“Ah, what’s that got to do with you? I heard from the manager oppa before that something happened between our company and the broadcast station.”
“Huh? What happened? Was it serious?”
Unable to hold back his curiosity, Junseong jumped in.
“No, nothing major. It seems the station thought you guys were under our company.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Hey, why do you think, you idiot?”
“Huh?”
Jihoo snapped at him, but Junseong’s mind clearly hadn’t gotten that far.
Did he still not understand what kind of hate we were getting right now?
Mun Gayoung gave us a rough explanation of how the broadcast had ended up going the way it did.
It looked like she didn’t know the details either.
“So? How are things between your company and the station now?”
“For now, it’s fizzled out. Our company wasn’t involved with you guys, so they just let it slide. The station seems to be looking ahead. They probably think you’ll debut with our company eventually.”
That part was true; if we ended up debuting through TM later, that would be the moment they’d make their move.
But that wasn’t going to happen.
Still, if there wasn’t a major problem on their side, then that was enough for me.
“Oh, and actually, there’s one more reason I came here today.”
“What is it?”
“Talking about the broadcast made me remember.”
“Hm?”