Debut or Die

The status abnormality related to the Rookie of the Year Award was resolved faster than expected.

‘I thought it wouldn’t happen until February.’

The fact that it was resolved as soon as I received the award at the last large awards ceremony… It meant the current public opinion was overwhelming.

It must have been the effect of breaking through the mess of the Rookie Award controversy. I didn’t know that it would reach the timing when the status abnormality was lifted.

‘Well, it’s good to be able to check quickly, but.’

I didn’t intend to click ‘Check the truth’ for a while anyway, since there was no point in getting a new status abnormality early just because it was resolved quickly.

“Thank you!”

While I was thinking about it, Keun Sejin finished his speech and moved out of his seat, giving up the seat in front of the stand mic.

That meant it was my turn.

I walked out slowly and stood in front of the microphone.

The flashing waves in front of me disturbed my vision.

It was Testar’s lightstick with luminous power that could be easily seen from a distance.

‘…There are overwhelmingly more of them here than at other awards ceremonies.’

Perhaps it was because VTIC was absent. I confirmed the view and brought my mouth to the microphone.

“First of all, I’d like to start by saying thank you.”

I didn’t mind saying my award speech, but I’d never felt the need to step out and did it.

‘I am only doing this because we are taking turns.’

But now looking at it… It was a good way to express my gratitude.

“…Testar is not a group that has been prepared as a team for a long time. We, who have not been verified as a team, have put a lot of thought and effort into debuting as a group after a short preparation period.”

Of course, I didn’t just agonize over it, I also cursed at the company, but it was the truth without lies, anyway.

And so were the next words.

“And our driving force is…that there are people waiting for us.”

…It wasn’t just preparations for our debut.

The same was true for the controversy over the Rookie of the Year Award. Because I knew there were people who would respond right away when the situation turned around… I could choose such a primitive way.

Isn’t it strange and amazing that there are people who wait for you and want to like you as long you come up with a good result?

“Thank you for trusting and waiting, and for looking forward to it.”

Thank you for not giving up your expectations even in the midst of tiring public opinion and annoying situations.

“We will continue to do our best without forgetting our current feelings so that we can be a group that can give you excitement rather than worries when you think of tomorrow’s Testar. Thank you.”

I bowed my head. And for a while, I continued to express our gratitude.

Brilliant cheers poured over my head.

The sound, as powerful as the luminous power of the lightstick, somehow felt hot.

And I felt hands tapping on my back.

‘It must be the members.’

Just as I tried to think positively that it would be a good picture, I heard a slightly flustered whisper.

‘M-Moondae, are you okay?’

‘Are you crying?’

I’m not crying.

Another whispered earnestly.

‘If you want to raise your head straight, cover your face and turn around.’

Why do you think I would be too embarrassed to lift my head for crying?

‘Isn’t it normal to think that speeches get longer with emotion and gratitude?’

I held back my sigh and looked up.

Then, the lightsticks, which were as brilliant as the cheers, swayed and rippled countless times.

Somehow, it looked bigger than before, like the Milky Way.

“…”

‘That was close.’

If I raised my head without thinking, I would have burst into tears by myself.

Thanks to those who misunderstood that I was crying, I cooled down and neutralized my feeling, so I managed to avoid getting laughed at.

‘I’m breaking out in a cold sweat.’

And at the same time, I was reminded of the characteristic I had thrown away a few months ago.

[Characteristic: Faucet under the eyes (B)]

Turning on and off with ease!

: Tear control ability MAX.

A slight chill went down my spine.

‘…Don’t tell me I am going to need it.’

I suspected for a moment that it might be just like the strong heart that I needed as soon I threw it away…I shook my head.

‘Even so, I can’t give up my other characteristics for something like this.’

It was okay to get a little embarrassed.

And well, would that happen often? It was only for a day like today when complex circumstances overlapped.

‘Let’s just wave hands.’

I waved and bowed to the audience along with the guys who were trying to poke me in the side with an attitude that seemed to say, ‘I thought you were crying!’

The light was still hot.

* * *

After the awards season was over, preparations for the concert began in earnest.

Among them, of course, there was a process of preparing for the unit stage with the camera.

[Magical Boy Testar’s magical artificial intelligence secretary!]

“It’s even on WeTube now.”

“It’s Chungwoo hyung!”

As Cha Eugene said, Ryu Chungwoo was appearing on the TV screen connected to WeTube.

With a picture of a bird’s wing edited over his shoulder, Ryu Chungwoo smiled and winked and made a slight shooting motion with his index finger and thumb.

[Catch, Curious!]

It was a very normal commercial scene with Ryu Chungwoo appearing as a cheerful handsome man.

“What’s this!”

“Why is hyung the only one doing something cool?”

“…You don’t get that an animal image?”

Bae Sejin’s last question sounded almost gloomy.

However, Ryu Chungwoo was still embarrassed by the commercial, so he only smiled and shook his head.

“Haha, it’s not cool… The fans compared me with ‘bird’ a lot, so I guess it turned out like this.”

However, the members’ response was cold.

“You could’ve done a peep peep chick, but you did something cool.”

“I was going to press skip, but I didn’t have to.”

“No, it’s not something I decided, guys!”

Ryu Chungwoo was flustered for a moment but soon realized that it was a reaction from light resentment, so he laughed and looked at the situation as something adorable and moved on.

‘…It must be nice to have a hawk as an animal image.’

Someone had pushed for a puppy and it became like that.

I quickly shrugged off my commercial cuts that came to mind and focused on the video playing.

[Je te donne des fleurs que…]

A slow and beautiful chanson was flowing on the screen. It was a unit song chosen by Kim Raebin and Ryu Chungwoo.

Keun Sejin asked with inertial admiration.

“Oh, you want to use that song?”

“Yes.”

Kim Rabin nodded and his eyes twinkled.

“I think it’s a melody that goes well with Chungwoo hyung’s voice. If you change the rhythm to kitsch, leaving only the sound of the keyboard instrument, it will be a very sensual instrument…!”

“Yeah. I’m looking forward to it because Raebin seems to be having fun.”

Ryu Chungwoo smiled and nodded.

I could guess what kind of atmosphere this team had.

‘You’re letting Raebin go crazy.’

Since it was a unit stage anyway, Ryu Chungwoo didn’t make conservative judgments and seemed to fully accept Kim Raebin’s ideas.

‘It will be an entertaining picture.’

How interesting.

And next, Cha Eugene was excited and searched for the video and played it.

An old pop song was played based on the brown album cover.

‘…Why a pop song?’

I thought it would too advantageous for Korean-American Cha Eugene, but soon I realized that it wasn’t the case.

Perhaps, after taking a composition that was considerate of Cha Eugene, Keun Sejin picked the song that he wanted.

‘If that guy makes concessions in this game, he'll go to a castle^[1]It is an expression used to emphasize the claim that something is unlikely to come true, or to boast that it is certain to happen .’

It was already a divided castle, but he bet on it one more time.

When Keun Sejin met my eyes, he furrowed his eyebrows as if he couldn’t see me. Perhaps it was true that the pop song was induced by me.

“I love this song! I look forward to it!”

“Yes, let’s make a great stage~”

“Make it!”

Cha Eugene excitedly raised his hand, and Keun Sejin responded with an exhilarating high-five.

‘Well, both of them are satisfied.’

There didn’t seem to be any problem so far.

“T-Then… I’ll play the song we chose…!”

“Yeah~”

The last group was me, Bae Sejin, and Seon Ahyeon.

Seon Ahyeon came forward and operated the WeTube screen according to the script.

Then a rustic and laid-back band accompaniment began to play out.

[U! I can hear your heart~]

“Huh?”

Looking at the other groups who were a little bewildered, I explained with a smile.

“It’s Miso sunbae-nim’s <You’re Amazing>.”

It was a song by a female solo singer who was active in the late ’80s. Moderately bright, moderately emotional.

The chorus of this song, ‘Woooooo~ Amazing!’, was so well known that even teenagers or 20-year-olds had heard it at least once in variety shows.

But that was just it.

For a song that would be used at the latest concert, it must have seemed out of place in both the impact and atmosphere.

Ryu Chungwoo looked a little shocked.

“You three are going to sing this song?”

“Yes.”

I nodded nonchalantly, and the other two teammates affirmed with slightly flushed faces.

Ryu Chungwoo looked at their faces and then barely nodded.

“Okay… Did Moondae choose it?”

“…? No. Seon Ahyeon and Sejin hyung chose it.”

The two of them put it on the candidate list first, and after discussing it, we chose it together.

“…Um, I see.”

Ryu Chungwoo nodded straight away, but it was clear that he was hiding his worries.

‘If it weren’t for the camera, he would have already asked if this would be okay.’

Not noticing the sign, Seon Ahyeon just muttered with an excited face.

“I-I think it’ll go well with us, so I’m already looking forward to it!”

Bae Sejin also looked hesitant about whether he should say something, but eventually, he opened his mouth while looking at the camera.

“…I think it’s going to be a great performance, so you can look forward to it.”

Ryu Chungwoo’s face relaxed after seeing the rare positive expression from those two.

I didn’t know if he liked it, but he must have thought there was something attractive about this song.

Ryu Chungwoo looked at me for the last time. And asked with a look of final certainty.

“…Are you also confident, Moondae?”

“It’s hard to be confident on any stage. I’ll do my best to complete it.”

“…”

“Let’s all do our best!”

“Let’s do our best!”

“Testar, fighting!”

As soon as the filming was over, Ryu Chungwoo asked, ‘Is it really okay?’ three times, and I nodded my head three times.

Only then did Ryu Chungwoo disappear to make coffee with a somewhat relieved face.

‘I shouldn’t have messed around.’

I was thinking of messing around with him for avoiding the commercial Russian roulette alone, but it worked better than expected because he was a guy with a strong sense of responsibility.

‘Actually, what I’m concerned about is something else.’

My concern was… the stage for the new song.

‘It’s the song’s first performance at a concert before the song even comes out yet.’

The title track and the b-side track. We had to make the audience enjoy listening to two songs that were unfamiliar and unverified to the public.

It was important to drag it out so that the atmosphere didn’t deteriorate.

“……Hmm.”

After thinking about it, I came up with a short and clear answer.

‘Let’s pour out our capital.’

Fortunately, the company had a lot of money.

* * *

When Testar was busy preparing for concerts and new albums.

Finally, the date of the concert was announced.

[Concert notice is up]

: Two-day weekend schedule from March 30th to 31st

(notice photo)

– Crazycrazy finally a concert

– Aaaah

– Heol, it’s true

– Ah, please give me a spotㅠㅠ

– A concert 9 months after their debut. What in the world are our kids doing?

– I won’t ask for much. I really wish I could go thereㅠㅠ

– I already imagine holding a lightstick and singing a fan song

Fans were already excited because it was confirmed that the agency had rented the gymnastics stadium.

And the moment their expectation came true, people screamed of joy and immediately started preparing to buy tickets.

– For local Loviewers who are going to the concert, hurry up and book a lodging so you can relax. The reservation will quickly fill up and the price will rise a lotㅠㅠ

– Where can I check Afterpark’s server time?

– Is there anything else we can prepare for the fan club’s pre-sale tickets?

– I want to grab the standing area. I’m so desperate.

But before they could calmly start preparing to buy tickets, news poured in.

– Heol, they’re saying we will book the new album starting next month. (notice link)

└?? What

└Suddenly?

└Are they already announcing their comeback on April 1st?

└Heol, it’s the day after the concert.

└A comeback as soon as the concert is over? It’s good that there is a lot of content… Yeah…

Fans were already baffled there, but the news wasn’t over yet.

– There’s an article… It said the new song will be released for the first time at the concert (article link)

└What…?

└No, what’s going on

└So they will perform the new song for the first time at the concert even before the music video comes out?

└If I can’t go to that crazy concert, I’m going to go crazy…

There were more.

– At Testar’s first concert, they’re going to perform unit stages, and they’re going to reveal the stage production as reality content on WeTube. (interview link)

└Yes?

└Suddenly too many things happenedㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└They’re going to make a reality show and unit stages?

└It’s too good to be true, can T-One do it…?

Fans frantically struggled to digest the news, but only one fact was firmly established.

‘The competition for the concert is going to be crazy high!’

And in this whirlwind of chaos and tension. Testar uploaded an SNS post.

[Testar finally has their first concert! > _ < Will you come to see us?ㅠㅠ We are also going to try to buy a ticket together with Loviewer!]

There was no crazier challenge than this.

• 1. It is an expression used to emphasize the claim that something is unlikely to come true, or to boast that it is certain to happen