Debut or Die

With applause from the audience, a microphone appeared in front of the singer character’s hologram named ‘Groom in May’.

It was a standing microphone.

The marble stand microphone, which didn’t exist in reality, was intertwined with gorgeous flower vines and white lace.

Groom in May bowed politely.

And he grabbed the stand microphone with both hands wearing white gloves.

[What kind of voice will ‘Groom in May’ play out?]

The high school student, who barely escaped the impact of the colorful flower bouquet head, tapped the sole of his feet.

“What’s with the concept?”

He felt a slight resentment because it felt like this guy was trying to look cool to girls.

However, the slightly eerie and bizarre feeling that broke through the gorgeous and innocent image of a wedding was entertaining.

‘Guys who try to save faces usually f*cking suck at singing.’

The high school student tried to deny the favorable impression and looked at the screen.

The accompaniment was starting.

The shimmering sound of two pianos and the bright and cheerful sound of brass rose above the beat of the drums.

– With the most beautiful heart

My confession to you

“Huh?”

It was a very famous marriage proposal song.

Originally, in the first qualifying round with a total of 10 players, it was a rule to sing songs that were faithful to the character concept.

So, of course, the song selection was predictable, but there was only one point that the viewer didn’t predict.

He sang really well.

– In May when flowers bloom

Our youth in full bloom.

With the kindest heart

My love for you

His tidy and neat voice gave off a low, rich sound.

It was not a high-pitched sound or some sort of crazy technique. However, it was a voice that perfectly suited this song.

As if the song was supposed to be sung like this.

– When you hear love

Think of me

Today and tomorrow

I love you

It was a beautiful song that he wanted to keep listening to, without squeaking or missing some parts.

And in the preliminaries, only 1 minute and 30 seconds were allowed, so the song stopped at the unsatisfying part.

[Sweet marriage proposal song]

Beyond applause and captions, ‘The Groom in May’ finished the song and bowed politely once again.

“Ooh.”

He was pretty good.

The high school student nodded his head. Maybe he was not an actor or model, but a singer.

‘Was it a ballad song?’

It wasn’t an explosive vocal, but it seemed he could pass the first round without a hitch.

[Full of echo. Did you feel his inner strength?]

[It was such a beautiful voice~]

[I think he’s definitely a singer]

No matter what the musicians invited as judges said, there was no particular reaction from ‘The Groom in May’.

He just stood in a neat posture and tilted his head from side to side at the questions.

In other words, the bouquet was swaying.

“Ah, concept bug^[1]it is a word used to mock someone who is deeply stuck in a character they created. Probably similar to chuunibyou. -ssi.”

The high school student was sick of it, saying that he was probably an old singer who made appearances in entertainment shows.

The movements and atmosphere were so plausible that he felt embarrassed for getting immersed in them.

[Thank you~]

After hearing all of the judges’ comments, ‘The Groom in May’ soon quietly disappeared from the stage.

And the first round stages that followed were all almost the same except for one or two.

This meant that the list of finalists announced after the commercial break was obvious.

[The third singer to advance to the final is… It’s ‘Groom in May’!]

I knew it.’

The high school student admired himself for his discerning eyes which managed to get all of them right except for one finalist.

‘I’m really amazing.’

Up to this point, the high school student had no expectations for the next performance of ‘Groom in May’.

Because he thought what ‘Groom in May’ showed in the first round was his limit.

‘I’ll bet 1,000 won on the guy who pushes with his vocal.’

“…?!”

And a little later.

His 1,000 won disappeared without mercy.

[Argh!]

The high school student opened his mouth wide.

…There were several reasons why this happened.

In the finals, the six finalists had to sing an appointed song. Therefore, the cast had practiced one of the three songs presented by the production team beforehand for the finals.

Originally, it was fun to see which character selected which song and to compare the cast members who selected the same song.

This time, however, an unexpected event occurred.

Four people chose the same song.

It was a classic ballad from the 90s called ‘Winter Night’.

And ‘Groom in May’ also failed to avoid this probability and selected the corresponding song.

Since there were four of them, the arrangement was bound to overlap.

However, ‘The Groom in May’ did some expedient.

– Drunk at this late hour

Even if I sing,

Winter nights are the same

The snow wind blows hard

He arranged the sorrowful parting ballad song into a luxurious musical-style orchestra full of tragic beauty.

In other words, the high pitch of the climax was outrageous.

– When the night I shed tears goes away

When the cold morning comes,

With the sunlight by the window,

Come searching

It ended in a low pitch and was raised all the way up to a super high pitch.

In contrast with the first song, which was sweet and soft, the overflowing high pitch and strong vocalization came as a shock.

And on the live stage, this great vocal stunt worked well.

[Waaaaaa!!]

After the performance, the applause and cheers were incomparable to the first stage.

Originally, the high pitch was excessive enough to ruin the afterglow, but thanks to the grand arrangement, it ended with a thrill.

It was like winning a 1:3 bare-chested duel in the Colosseum.

“That’s awesome.”

The high school student admired his voice.

What was assumed to be an old-fashioned singer making appearances in entertainment shows was transformed into a ‘real singer who is lost to the light of times’.

‘Even considering the adjustment, isn’t he a top tier?’

Even if he was a concept bug, it was acceptable.

The high school student nodded.

He was speculating whether he was an indie singer with an artistic disease or an old man who wanted to look cool or something like that, but someone suddenly appeared.

It was his older sister.

“…What are you doing?”

Kim Raebin’s solo fan, the older sister of the high school student, was watching the TV with her mouth wide open.

It seemed she had heard ‘Groom in May’ singing on the way. Or she had listened and ran out here because it was so amazing.

The high school student said with a shrug.

“Did you see that? That’s a real singer!”

In the end, noona also recognized this true value, not those corrupt male idols who danced. The high school student was proud that they shared the same feeling for the first time in a long time.

Kim Rabin’s solo fan shouted.

“Isn’t that Moondae…?!”

“…?!”

The high school student doubted his ears for a moment.

Park Moondae… He was one of noona’s favorite male idols!

“Stop talking bullshit, it wasn’t that kind of voice~ Is that how he sings?”

“Just listening to him, he’s definitely Moondae, idiot!”

“Ah, assh*le, why are you doing this to me?”

The siblings started pointing fingers at each other and shouting.

And this conversation was happening on the Internet as well.

* * *

“Have a safe trip, Mr. Moondae~”

“Thank you.”

On my way back from this week’s consultation.

Seon Ahyeon was filming a cosmetic commercial so he left to the filming set after saying goodbye via text message.

[Moondae, I was sad that I couldn’t monitor your appearance in <The Singer I Made> because of yesterday’s schedule, but I’m even more sad that I won’t be able to see you until later because I have a tight schedule today. I’ll make time to watch it somehow… (more)]

‘…It’s a long message again.’

It was almost like a letter.

I replied moderately with, ‘It’s really okay, so take a break when you have to’.

‘Come to think of it, is it a good time to check?’

My stage… I mean, the stage of ‘Groom in May’ that I made.

As soon as the main broadcast ended last night, the clip would have been uploaded to the Internet, so there should be enough reactions now.

‘Let’s look at it now.’

I logged on to WeTube.

[Looking for a bride] ‘Groom in May’. <One Day in May> <The Singer I Made> Preliminary Stage 202X0611]

Fortunately, the views on both stages were quite good.

‘I thought the first stage would have fewer views.’

Because it was a song that didn’t have particular high notes.

However, it seemed there were a lot of people who were more interested in the shape of the character.

– Bouquet head is crazy, I f*cking love itㅠㅠ

– Honestly, the flower head is a bit scary, but the moment he sang, it was all blown away and combined into a handsome man

– Thank you for the marriage proposal. Where is our wedding hall?

– Look at how immersed he is with the character. Is the flower supposed to be cute and handsome?ㅋㅋㅠㅠㅠ

– A white suit and a veil? A standing mic with flowers? It is an unacceptable combination unless he is handsome, so he must be handsome

“Oh…”

Maybe because it was a song that matched the character set, a lot of people were more immersed than I thought.

‘As long as you have fun.’

I shrugged and checked the next video. The comments on the video of ‘Winter Night’ I sang at the finals were like this.

– Really he’s f*cking amazing, I feel good

– I’ve been playing it all day, please release the songㅠㅠ

– See you, next week’s winner~

– I’m curious~ who could he be^^ Just looking at his movements makes my heart flutter, so handsome… I’m really looking forward to it…

– His head is weird, but his singing is one of the best in the world.

– Even if the bride dies early, he is truly a master singer and groom who will go to the underworld to find her.

…I guess it suited the tastes of the elderly.

‘Is it because I arranged it in an old-fashioned way?’

Anyway, overall, the comments were overflowing with favorable reviews and expectations.

I straightened my back.

‘Was my strategy good?’

I had considered that the first and second stages would be aired on the same episode.

‘If all of them come out in one episode anyway, both the stages will be the first impression. Then this build-up composition is correct.’

Even if the first stage was weak, they would see the following stage at once.

So, for the first stage, even if it was a bit weak, I did it in a way that saved the atmosphere of character and left out the strong arrangement.

‘I’m glad it worked out well.’

I smirked.

However, when the reactions to the stage were sorted in the latest order, some conflicts were revealed.

To sum it up, it was like this.

– I think it’s Park Moondae…

– Mr. Park is a good singer, but I don’t think this is him. Their voices are different~

– Fools, when idols come out in places like this, they purposely made funny characters to hide their identity. Seeing he openly made his character cool, he’s not an idolㅇㅋ

└If you think about it backward, maybe he is an idol

└There are a lot of idols who are good at singing… Hmm, Park Moondae that I saw in Idol Inc wasn’t this good.

└Watch the song he performed on an American program. He’s really good. I think it’s Park Moondae (link)

└He’s good, but his voice is different. He’s not Groom.

Like this, those who expressed that it might be Park Moondae were pushed into the minority.

It was fortunate that it wasn’t an atmosphere that ridiculed ‘Park Moondae’ because it was well-known that he was good at singing.

“Hmm.”

I didn’t plan for this to happen.

In fact, I didn’t know that the speculation ‘Park Moondae was Groom in May’ would cease like this.

Of course, I used a different voice on purpose because I thought it would be better to maintain the fun and tension of the speculation.

I tried to sing a little differently than when I usually sang in the group.

‘…Still, I tried to keep them confused.’

People who had heard Park Moondae sing a lot thought it was noticeable.

However, perhaps because the character was so strong, public opinion was more stubborn than I expected.

‘I should’ve just gone with the bipedal cat concept.’

I regretted it a little, thinking of the mysterious cat that stayed on my candidate list until the end, but I soon cleared it up.

‘I like this one better.’

In fact, I was a bit conscious of the advice I had received during counseling.

– Mr. Moondae, instead of objectively choosing the best one, why don’t you practice choosing the one you like? Once or twice a week.

– Your homework assignment this time is to make a list of ‘what you like’.

Well, the expert said so, I did it on a big scale at once

‘It’s not a problem that affects the status abnormality, so it should be fine.’

It was easier to see human limbs mimicking my movements rather than cat feet.

‘People seem to like it, too.’

I shrugged my shoulders, got off in front of the dorm I arrived at, and moved my feet.

‘The character profile will be released next week.’

I went through the profile I had made in advance and checked if there was anything I wanted to change.

At the same time, I opened the door of the dorm I arrived at and entered inside. The person who happened to be sitting in the living room pretended to notice.

It was Ryu Chungwoo.

“You’re here?”

“Yes, hyung.”

“I bought ice cream there. Eat.”

Ryu Chungwoo said as he lightly pointed to the refrigerator, then he got up from the sofa where he was sitting and turned around.

I knew it at that moment.

‘Are you avoiding the place where I sit?’

He got up because he was afraid that I would be uncomfortable if he stayed in the living room. So that I could relax in the living room.

‘…Huh.’

Somehow strength disappeared from my shoulders. The remaining uneasiness subsided like a knot being untied.

I opened the refrigerator and called out to Ryu Chungwoo.

“You should have some ice cream, too. What flavor do you want?”

“…Ah, should I?”

“Yes.”

Sitting down on the sofa again, Ryu Chungwoo grinned.

“Then I’ll have the orange flavor.”

Then someone came running excitedly from behind.

“I want ice cream, too!”

‘Where did he come from?’

Instinctively, I threw an ice cream to Cha Eugene, whose grammar now sounded natural, then I went to the sofa and sat down.

And we watched the rerun of <The Singer I Made> together.

“You have flowers for a head! That’s cool!”

“Thank you.”

“You’re good at singing, Moondae.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

This wasn’t so bad.

When my stage was over, Ryu Chungwoo asked.

“You just came back from filming for the next episode, right?”

“Yes.”

“How was it?”

“…It was fun.”

I smirked.

I was really looking forward to next week’s episode.

• 1. it is a word used to mock someone who is deeply stuck in a character they created. Probably similar to chuunibyou.