041

School violence in the idol industry was a scandal that had no real answer. The data accumulated from the past incidents that had occurred so far proved that.

Especially when bullying or physical violence entered the list, it was over. I'd never seen any other way that worked out other than just resigning and going to the military.

But for it to happen to a participant from the same team?

'…Let's check first.'

I clicked on the first post. In the meantime, more comments piled up.

[3rd place! Idol Inc. Keun Sejin is accused of bullying] (425)]

: Hold on, hold on, I'm writing this because I feel like I'm going to die if I don't

Participant Lee Sejin of Re-listed! Idol Inc., nicknamed Keun Sejin, bullied people throughout his studies at Cheongsol High School.

I saw articles posted on the internet saying that he looked like a model student running for the student council president election in high school, I was so upset that I couldn't sleep.

Lee Sejin had been drinking and smoking since middle school, and he bullied me by hanging out with a group of people who pretend to be kind.

….

The long writing that followed insisted on Keun Sejin's subtle bullying in school.

The description of the one-on-one bullying was detailed and even included detailed examples. At first glance, it seemed convincing even to me.

'This not just an aggro rumor that has been used once.'

Whether it was true or not, it was a deliberate post. They even attached a picture at the bottom.

The author's own high school graduation album.

And it was a picture of Keun Sejin with a cigarette on his finger.

Below the picture, this text was added.

[I have a lot of other pictures. If you understand the situation, resign now. I don't know about anything else, but I can't stand a guy like him being an idol.]

'… Even if it's not real, once the label is attached, it's hard to remove, and they even uploaded a photo.'

In an audition program, it was almost a death sentence. And it was huge bad news for the team.

Even if Keun Sejin survived, the team editing was over, and even if he resigned, it would be hell. From the part distribution to the movement, we would have to practice from scratch again.

"…"

I sighed and raised my head.

'Let's check first.'

"I just read the article."

"…"

There was a heavy silence.

Nobody asked what was going on.

'It seems everyone else saw it too.'

Keun Sejin silently lowered his head down to the smartphone screen.

"Are you sure this picture is you?"

"…I don't know."

Keun Sejin muttered in a dazed voice.

"I've never taken a picture of anything like this…"

But you can't say for sure.

I asked again.

"Did you smoke?"

"Wait, when I was a freshman in high school… I did a little. …but I stopped right away. And I never did anything like this. Seriously, why would I do this at school…"

Keun Sejin, whose voice was getting louder and louder, closed his mouth as if he was suffocated. Then he lowered his eyes to the smartphone again.

'You're reading the comments.'

It was obvious that the comments would be terrible. Gold 1 noticed the situation and quickly stopped him.

"Hey, don't look at it. Just turn it off. Turn it off."

"…I have to see it to respond. But… Yes, it's already over."

Keun Sejin put down his smartphone. The hand that put it down was trembling.

"Honestly, even I wouldn't believe myself either. I smoked, but I never took a picture, and if I say that everything except for the cigarettes is a lie… It's not convincing."

As he spoke, Keun Sejin was getting calmer. No, rather than calming down… He had resigned.

"…People won't trust me, right?"

"…"

With a picture attached, turning the situation upside down seemed difficult.

Apart from that, Keun Sejin looked upset over being treated unfairly. In addition, the action described in the accusation post was quite different from Keun Sejin's attitude.

'Judging from his personality… Even if he bullies someone, I don't think he's the type who makes them leave a grudge.'

Wouldn't it be possible for him to cleverly manipulate the situation so that they wouldn't even know they were being bullied and made them suffer from their own deeds?

He wasn't the kind of guy that would slander people this way.

But this was also just a guess. We hadn't known each other for a long time, so I couldn't jump to conclusions. Because human beings have many facets.

Aren't there a lot of cases where someone is a trashy condescending boss but is a reliable father to his son?

"…"

After thinking for a while, I turned on the smartphone screen again. And I started to read all the accusations against Keun Sejin from the very beginning.

In the meantime, Keun Sejin and the team members began to struggle with despair and sadness.

Keun Sejin murmured in a low voice.

"I… I will resign tomorrow."

"…!"

"Hey, wait a minute."

"C-C-Calm d-down…"

"I've done enough already. It's true that I smoked… If I keep holding on here, I think the controversy will only grow."

Keun Sejin sounded like he was struggling to keep his voice clear.

"After it subsides a little, I will explain it well, then wouldn't I be able to debut in a year or so? And it's a bit… I really don't remember taking that picture, but it comes out, so it's a bit scary."

"…"

Keun Sejin, who always had an inch of leisure left to spare, said that, so the other team members seemed to be unable to be able to say anything.

I replied back, still staring at my phone.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"…Why?"

"The person who posted this wrote, 'If you understand the situation, resign now.' If you resign now, these words will become established facts."

It was not really my business, but as I continued to answer, Keun Sejin's anger seemed to rise gradually.

"Stop it. It'll only make me feel bad. Even if I refute it in this situation, the result is the same."

"It's important to have a good rebuttal material."

"What?"

I picked up my smartphone and turned the screen to Keun Sejin.

On the screen, the last photo included in the accusation post was zoomed in.

"This is photoshopped."

"…!"

Your eyes are going to pop out. Stop being surprised.

In fact, if he had thought about it calmly, he would have guessed that it was photoshopped first, but I guess he couldn't because he was scared.

I handed over my smartphone to Keun Sejin. And I pointed to the obvious part of the picture on the screen with my index finger.

First, the hand holding the cigarette.

"Here, if you zoom in to the design program…. The pixel is a bit broken. I guess they lowered the quality on purpose, but some points are still obvious."

And cigarettes.

"Only the cigarettes don't fit the brightness. Looking at the exposure value of this photo, it should be brighter than this, but it looks too white, so they lowered it a bit in the process of lowering it."

It was an easy mistake for a beginner to make when putting a white object in a picture. It was true that white things stood out, but because it looked awkward, they crushed it.

My smartphone's performance was so poor that it got cut off a bit, but there was no problem with this verification.

'…I didn't expect my data adjustment work to benefit me like this.'

I briefly recalled the past when I granted requests like 'Please erase that damn pattern on my clothes ㅜㅜ' and received an extra fee.

"H-How do you know this? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Keun Sejin looked at the smartphone without saying a word.

Gold 1 shouted at the sight of a glimmer of hope.

"Hey! Then give them an explanation right now! It's photoshopped!"

"O-Oh… Yes! You have to upload it…"

"No, wait a minute."

It seemed because he was a popular guy in real life, he was ignorant of internet physiology. I explained calmly.

"I've looked into it too, I'm sure there are some of your fans who recognized that it was photoshopped."

"Ah!"

"T-Then if you just wait, t-the fans will…."

"No, I mean… It means that even though some parts are obviously photoshopped, they won't believe it because they have fun cursing at you. They would be sarcastic because this claim comes from people who like Keun Sejin."

"…Ah."

Before the atmosphere of the room deteriorated, I added an explanation right away.

"So find it."

"What?"

"The original picture. If you upload it with the original, they can't refute that it's photoshopped."

Seeing that Keun Sejin in the picture was staring at the lens, it means that he already knew the existence of the camera.

If so, it was highly likely that someone who was an acquaintance took the picture.

'However, it is dangerous to contact your acquaintances in this situation.'

Maybe the person who posted it was his acquaintance.

'Seeing that the person who posted the accusation confidently uploaded this photo, I'm sure not many people have the original photo…'

No, wait. Since it was easy to specify, it seemed unlikely.

'Well, if that's not the case…'

I was deep in thought and asked Keun Sejin.

"When you take pictures with other people, do you tend to save them all?"

"The pictures where I show up, yes."

"Well, first of all… Why don't you look at the album from the day you took a lot of photos for some event or gathering?"

If they changed the background after cropping Keun Sejin from a group photo that had been taken several times, it was understandable that they would be triumphant since he wouldn't be able to find the original photo.

"Moondae, what kind of things did you do before? Are you actually an NIS employee?"

"No way."

Gold 1's nonsense was quickly passed over.

The other team members were already sitting next to Keun Sejin, looking for the picture together with their big eyes.

"Look at the group photos, not the individual photos. Maybe it's zoomed in."

"Okay."

Keun Sejin, who barely returned to his usual tone, quickly opened the gallery with his smartphone.

And the eye-sickening search time continued.

Sejin took so many pictures. The pictures from high school came out endlessly.

Half an hour had passed, but we hadn't finished the first year yet.

"S-Sejin, you have a lot of friends."

"…Haha."

Even Seon Ahyeon sounded fed up as he muttered this. Keun Sejin flipped through the photos with an embarrassed laugh.

And when the picture of the first semester of the second year came out.

"Hyung, this!"

"…!"

Kim Raebin pointed to a picture that passed over his fingers. Keun Sejin quickly checked the picture.

It was a picture of five or six people standing together and smiling at the camera. There were several pictures of different poses, taken in the same place, back and forth.

Keun Sejin was a little far away in the corner. And when I zoomed in on his upper body, I could see it clearly.

It was the photo in the accusation post.

"…Ha."

Keun Sejin bowed his head and let out a long sigh of relief.

Then he muttered in a somewhat dejected voice.

"…It's a picture from the election campaign."

"Hmm."

Come to think of it, at the beginning of the accusation post, there was something about running for president of the student body. I didn't know who it was, but they must have been a bit of a bother.

'Maybe I should have told him to look for the picture from that time first.'

But we found it anyway, so it's fine.

"Huff…"

Keun Sejin stretched back as if the tension had been relieved. He almost hit his head on the wall behind the bed, but it was clear that he couldn't care about it now.

"Thank God. It's in my photo album."

"Right."

I nodded.

Next to him, Gold 1 spoke vigorously.

"Good! You have an agency, right? Send it to them right away! Ask them to write a rebuttal!"

It was advice that made sense. Since things had already gotten bigger, it would be better to officially respond with evidence.

However, a shaky response came back.

"To my agency?"

Keun Sejin rubbed the back of his neck with a mysterious expression.

"Hm… That's a bit…"

"…?"

It was supposed to be the agency's job.

042

Keun Sejin smiled bitterly.

"My agency… It's Happy Friend, you know."

"Ah."

At that moment, aspiring idols roughly grasped the atmosphere.

And I, who used to sell data, noticed.

'That place… It's a place famous for not giving initial responses to controversies.'

Come to think of it, it had already been an hour since the article was posted but the agency hadn't contacted him in the middle of this mess, and now there was a riot on all SNS. If it had been a small-scale and fast-paced agency, they would have already contacted Keun Sejin.

"Well.. Still, I joined because that place released albums well. haha."

Keun Sejin laughed formally a few times and got up from the bed.

"T-Then, how about asking your friend to p-post it? Y-You have a lot of friends."

"Hmm… According to the regulations, official Internet activities are prohibited during filming, so let's ask your acquaintances. If you send them a picture and ask them to upload it, they'll get excited and know what to do."

"…"

'Should I just leave it alone?'

Even now, I was about to regret it because I had meddled too much. But in the end, I gave advice, thinking that I should deal with it until the very end.

"If you personally ask them, they might record it. It's better to tell the producers and upload it yourself."

He indirectly said, 'I think one of your acquaintances is the culprit, so be careful'. Keun Sejin nodded as if he noticed it at once.

"That would be better. Let's see…"

Keun Sejin opened the notepad app on his smartphone, then smiled at the rest of the team members who were still huddled together.

"Thank you for taking care of me, everyone must be tired. I'll write it quietly by myself. You should go to bed now."

"Hey, it's a bit weird for us to sleep and leave you alone in a situation like this."

Keun Sejin replied seriously to Gold 1's worries.

"If we all can't sleep, aren't we really going to see hell tomorrow…"

"…"

There was an awful lot of work to do tomorrow.

It was a very convincing statement.

Eventually, all the rest of the team members returned to their beds with haggard faces.

I also lay in bed and fell asleep.

Unfortunately, however, I woke up early in the morning. Because I was thirsty.

'I talked too much before I went to bed.'

As I got up quietly and headed to the sink, Keun Sejin, who sat at the table and looked at his smartphone, reacted.

"Oh, you're not sleeping?"

"I'm thirsty."

"I see."

Seeing that he hadn't slept yet, it seemed Keun Sejin hadn't finished working on the explanation yet. Or he was still rummaging through Internet public opinion.

Neither sign was very good.

"Are you done?"

"Um… I did write it down."

Keun Sejin looked down at the smartphone with a conflicted expression, then after a little time passed, he spoke.

"I thought if I uploaded it myself, another noisy mess would come out of it."

"What noisy mess?"

"Well, first of all, they would say that communicating directly on SNS during filming is a privilege… If my explanation sounds stern, they would react like 'I didn't know his personality was like that', and if it sounds compassionate, I think they would say 'He's doing this because he got caught'."

It was a likely scenario.

"So I tried to write it down pretending to be an anonymous acquaintance, do you want to see it?"

Keun Sejin handed over the smartphone.

[This is Keun Sejin's friend]

: The photo of the accusation posted today is photoshopped. One of the photos I have is the original photo.

(Original picture) (photoshopped picture) The second photo is made by cropping the first photo.

"…"

"What do you think?"

What to do with this?

If this were normal academic life, it would be a good explanation. He included everything that needed to be said and he made it easy to understand by adding parentheses.

The problem was that the article was not suitable for Internet anonymous sites.

I unconsciously looked back. The bed was waiting for me.

But if I told him to post this, there was a very high chance that everything we did at midnight would be in vain.

'Ha…'

Sleep… Let's sleep tomorrow.

"…This isn't right."

"What?"

"I said this isn't right."

In the end, I sucked it up and brought out my smartphone.

F*ck, I am the one who does everything in the end

3:30 in the morning.

It was time for most people to go to bed. At a time when only the most hardcore Internet users were saying useless things at night.

The controversy over Keun Sejin's school bullying was also swept away at once and it was time to come up with sporadic gossip.

At that time, an article was posted on an anonymous site related to an idol.

[I think I found a picture of Keun Sejin]

: (Photoshopped photo) Isn't this the original? (Original photo)

Attached to the article was a group photo of Keun Sejin and other students whose faces were roughly blackened.

It was a light article written with a common IP, but comments from early-morning users who confirmed the contents quickly increased.

– What

– What is it

– Where did you get it?

– Hey, I think this is real;;;;

– Is it a pilgrimage?

– Did they cut out that photo?

– How did you know?

└I found this Keun Sejin's photo on my friend's private account

└Isn't this a stalker;;

└You would have done it too

└ㅋㅋㅋYou hit with facts

└Wow, the little bastard covered their face, are you scared of getting chargesㅋㅋㅋ

The author's feedback fueled the atmosphere of the comment section even more, and soon someone who checked the article made an accurate comparison shot.

– When cropped, it's the same. (Picture)

└Hiii

└ㄷㄷㄷ

└Crazy

– ㅋㅋㅋㅋIt's funny that it's photoshopped, are they such a loser that they have to make that up?

– Wow, I thought Keun Sejin is resigning but he's actually operating the stocks

└Crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└Let's buy it nowㄱㄱ

The comments grew bigger and faster.

It wasn't long before someone discovered that the original photo was taken when Keun Sejin was running for student council president.

– I searched the website of Cheongsol High School and found a similar promotional photo. I think it's during the election campaign. (Link)

└Wow, that's really hot

└They're blatantly against the election in the fake postㅋㅋ

└Wow, the sulky kid must have written that with clenched teeth

└They're caught right now so they're going to lose it

After coming this far, the captures of this article started circulating on social media and in communities.

[Unanswered (feat. Keun Sejin is not a school bully)]

– Keun Sejin's fabricated school bullying photo has surfaced.

– Who found Keun Sejin's original photo?

Just like when the first article was posted, the number of comments increased in an instant.

With the implications that it seemed to be discovered by chance, this article seemed more truthful.

Public opinion quickly turned to ridicule the school bullying accusation.

Keun Sejin's fans, who couldn't sleep, quickly joined the job of uploading the captured copies.

They commented diligently, kicking out people who said 'The photo is a hoax, but the content may be true' and told them to stop the bullshit.

The information that the accusation was fabricated quickly occupied Internet public opinion.

It happened before the end of the day's rush hours.

"They deleted it."

Keun Sejin murmured.

When it was revealed that the photo was fabricated, public opinion completely turned over and the person who wrote the accusation quietly deleted the article and disappeared.

It would have been difficult if the situation had been messier, but it seemed they had given up because public opinion was totally reversed.

"…I'm glad, really."

With a deep sigh of relief, Keun Sejin hit his head on the table. As the tension eased, he seemed to have been crushed by fatigue.

"Thank you. I am really… ashamed."

I deserved the gratitude. It wouldn't have been like this if he had posted the draft as it was.

'Data seller wins 1…'

I never thought the time when I was snooping around to see the price flow would be used like this again. This hardship… let's just say I've settled my karma.

"In the first place… If I hadn't touched a cigarette, this mess wouldn't have happened."

Keun Sejin muttered with a sense of shame. He seemed to know it was stupid too.

"Why did you smoke?"

"…Oh, Back then…. I was behind the debut team. I even recorded a demo… They made a good debut by adding someone else besides me, and they sold their albums well."

"…In 'Happy Friends'?"

They haven't picked a group of male idols with good grades in the past 5 years, though?

"No, somewhere else. …But I don't plan on joining another team for a while, so I'm here now."

"Yes."

At this time, there were only one or two group male idols who debuted three or four years ago and did well on their first album.

And both were from big agencies.

'…Wouldn't it be better to hold on even if you would debut a little late?'

He was 22 years old now after 5 years since he turned 17 years old. It was a good age to debut as the oldest team member. It would have been more reasonable to stick to the formation than to go to Happy Friend.

"…At that time I bragged so much that I'd become a rookie within this year, and got contracted, but… It's already been 4 years since then. Haha."

"…"

So, that's why.

Originally, verbal contracts shouldn't be trusted, but since he was just a high school freshman and his mental state was crushed, I guess he couldn't afford to care.

"As you can see, none of the trainees from Happy Friend's agency can make their debut right away. So I have to make my debut on this program…"

"…"

"That's why I'm saying this, thank you once again for stopping me from leaving. Park Moondae."

This was the first time this guy exposed his inner feelings while blatantly criticizing someone else like this.

'He's sincere in his own way.'

"Okay. Thank you very much."

"…What? Haha!"

Keun Sejin laughed and hit his head on the table. I wanted to laugh, but I guess I was too tired.

I pondered bitterly.

'…Aren't I too relaxed?'

I tried to keep a distance because he was a drug addict, but at some point, I couldn't help it and we became too close.

'Looking at his track record so far, the odds seem low.'

Keun Sejin had most likely resigned and failed to make his debut when the school bullying broke out. Even if he hadn't resigned, it wouldn't have been easy to reverse public opinion like now, so it would have been hard for him to debut.

'Well, child actor Lee Sejin doesn't seem to be in a good state to debut now either.'

Still, Lee Sejin's broadcast volume and image might have been influenced by the variable 'Park Moondae', so it was also a possibility.

'Anyway, this is not an important issue right now.'

Let's just put Schrödinger's drug addict in a box. What is urgent now is the team match stage in two days.

Ta-da! Ba-da!

"Ugh!"

"Uh…"

Just in time, team members woke up from bed at the sound of the morning alarm.

'Another day without a break has begun…'

Standing with heavy eyes, Keun Sejin talked to me again. It seemed to be the continuation of the previous conversation.

"No, really… I'll buy you a meal after this. What do you want to eat?"

"Beef."

"…It doesn't have to be domestic, right?"

"As long as it's delicious."

It was exactly 50 hours before the team rehearsal.

The 3rd team battle stage was held on a large stage that belonged to 'MusicBomb', Tnet's signature music program.

It meant that we should show a great performance on a stage where senior idols had performed, but in fact, I think it was simply because they liked to pick the reaction cuts.

"On this stage, just three days ago! VTIC did a pre-recording!"

"Wooow!"

The participants cheered at the MC's words.

Actually, the stage sets were completely different, so there was nothing in common except that they had occupied the same space.

However, the participants seemed excited just by sharing the same space as the top idols.

I didn't feel bad either.

'VTIC… Those guys are fine.'

It was worth taking pictures of them because their unit prices were expensive.

"Just like the senior idols have done, I hope you show your skills to the fullest!"

After the MC finished the script, the preparations for the rehearsal began in earnest.

"Everyone! The order is the same as the actual show!"

"Yes!"

In an instant, the stage turned chaotic with instructions and the sound of music.

According to the order, the participants still had some time to relax. So the 'Moon Rabbit' team gathered in the corner in the meantime.

"Shall we say fighting before we go? We've worked hard, so as much we've put in our effort, let's show them a wonderful stage."

"Ah, good."

"O-Okay."

The team members nodded their heads with tense faces. However, it was clear that the tension was not from anxiety, but from expectation.

"The Moon Rabbit team."

The team members gathered their hands together.

"Fighting!"

The shouts sounded almost aggressive.

'Oh, my God.'

Willingly participated in this even though there were no cameras close by felt unfamiliar to me.

It wasn't a bad feeling though.

"Then let's go!"

Indeed, the stage was right in front of our eyes.

043

It was crowded outside the stage of MusicBomb where the 3rd team match would be held.

And the majority of the crowd was not the audience, but the people who came to see if they could hear the sound from outside.

A college student who squeezed through the crowd and entered the queue line was dissatisfied with that.

'Why are you gathering together when you can't even come in?'

She didn't understand why they were excited to be here when they couldn't even see them.

'It was the same last time in the second match, but the scale has increased.'

She stood in line, feeling so fed up. Just looking at the length, it looked like it would take forever to enter.

'How annoying.'

Around her people were sharing slogans or snacks. It just so happened that the names written on those slogans were the same.

[Park Moondae Debut]

'…He's gotten really popular.'

She pouted as she recalled the previous second team match.

She felt bad because the person sitting next to her was Park Moondae's fan, but Kim Raebin, who she liked, even went on the same team as Park Moondae.

'Why do they like that concept bug?'

(TL note: Concept bug = a person who's deeply immersed in a concept character they made themselves. I guess it's similar to chuunibyou.)

She grumbled.

However, she was still in denial that she had gone crazy when the stage in the last team match was over.

…Still, she couldn't laugh at Park Moondae on the Internet anymore.

'…Well, he was okay on stage, so I'm letting it slide.'

She tried to deny it and took her eyes off Park Moondae's slogan. She didn't know who picked it, but the fact that it was pretty made it even more annoying.

"Please keep order!"

"Don't push!"

They lined up according to the number they received in advance and entered inside, but from the middle, there were a lot of people who started running. It was a place where everyone had to stand without a single seat, so the earlier you arrived and took the spots, the more advantageous it was.

She grabbed the fence right in front of the stage.

'I did it!'

She couldn't help but praise herself for succeeding in applying for an audience for the 18th time.

It was a great achievement because not only there were floods of applicants for the audience, the production team changed the application again on a first-come-first-served basis.

'I'll see him right in front of me.'

Her heart was pounding. However, some time passed, and it was only right before her expectation turned into discomfort that the MC entered.

"Welcome to the 3rd team competition stage of Re-listed! Idol Inc.!"

There was an explosive cheer mixed with relief, joy, and irritation at how it was finally starting.

'Get started already!'

She chanted inwardly, holding on to the fence.

"The theme of this team match is Self-Production! All the elements of the performance, from song selection to stage setting, were selected and created by the participants themselves!"

'Kim Raebin must have done this well!'

She recalled her own stock, which was the only thing she could do to not start getting political. She cheered like other audiences in excitement.

"Also, by analyzing shareholders' past buying tendencies with big data algorithms, the participants that shareholders like together have become a team!"

At the MC's words, the audience murmured all over the place, asking what kind of nonsense he was spouting.

It wasn't that they didn't understand his words, but they simply wondered why the production crew had to do such a useless thing instead of getting a separate vote.

Anyway, the MC naturally finished the opening.

"You seem to have high expectations, then right now! The opening stage will be revealed!"

"Wow!"

"The song chosen by the participants is… It is I Like the Wait by the sentimental Idol, Maximite!"

The audience immediately turned their attention to the stage.

Eyes full of anticipation turned to the dark stage, wondering if their favorite participant would appear now.

'It's better to come out later… Ah, whatever! Come out right now!'

As if to repay that thought, the light burst from the stage.

Piiing.

'Ugh!'

But it wasn't entirely bright.

Thick yellow beam lights soared from below the stage. The beams of light dizzyingly illuminated the dark stage.

At first glance, there was only a huge wooden stump on the stage.

And the sound of wind instruments ringing.

Whoo-whoo-whoo! Woo-woo-woo-.

It was the sound of daegeum in the beginning of the Korean traditional music Suyeonjangjigok. Elegant sad notes roamed the stage alone.

(TL note: The daegeum is a large bamboo flute, a transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. Sumber: Wiki.)

And a shadow came out of the left corner of the stage.

It was a terrifyingly neat somersault.

The tall man with a wooden rabbit mask ran out and turned around, cutting through the air.

"…!"

The sound of the daegeum was over.

Following the movement of the shadow who landed on one leg, the robe over his body fluttered, revealing the dress inside.

At that moment, the beams of light that divided the stage completely disappeared.

On the stage which was completely dark, a voice rang instead of the sound of the daegeum.

– My wait is long

It's always fun

Without accompaniment or a single note, It sounded perfect, as if it had been recorded.

And now the audience knew whose voice it was.

'Park Moondae…'

The light returned to the stage with a deep drumbeat.

Dung- dungdungdung! dung- dungdungdung!

On the stage, five human shadows, wearing wooden rabbit masks, were standing in a circle.

Behind them, a brilliant Milky Way was revealed as if it were pouring into the background of the black stage.

And a group dance.

Slide.

The movement that started slowly and sensibly started to become more complex and faster as the beat broke.

It was almost like a natural phenomenon.

The speed might change continuously and the timing might not be right, but there was no one who missed the beat or movement.

Following the dance, the outline of the heavy drumbeat became sharp, and the modern baseline was heavily balanced after that.

Then the daegeum and the corrected piano notes began to play on the stairs.

Uhwi- Wiwiwi-

Uhwiuhwi- Wi~~

As soon as the drum sound completely became part of the sound composition, the five of them raised their rabbit masks to the side of their heads in unison in line with the choreography.

At the same time, the person on the far right began to sing. It was Park Moondae.

– On every road, I wait for you

My heart is fluttering

Keun Sejin, who turned completely toward the stage from the far left with the choreography, smiled.

– There is no room for anxiety

Because you already know

Just like martial arts, the formation split and Kim Raebin popped out from behind.

– That you will appear here

We will meet

My heart is sure

Every space is overflowing like this!

'Raebin!'

The college student holding onto the fence cried inside. She wanted to scream, but somehow she held it in.

And when it came to his rap part, there was something that was clearly noticeable not just to her but also to the majority of the audience.

'You changed all the lyrics to Korean…'

Yes. All English that was mixed with a few words was changed to Korean and matched the atmosphere of the stage.

'As expected, my kid is a genius!'

She cried loudly inside, saying that he had changed it perfectly. She didn't even think of the possibility that it might be the other team members who had changed it.

However, as she was sucked into the stage, the sentiment disappeared behind her head in an instant.

– It's so obvious

I know you.

You'll get to know me

With Gold 1, Ha Iljun's voice backing him, Keun Sejin completed the pre-chorus.

– The answer has already been decided.

An unavoidable fate will come~

Seon Ahyeon came out to the center. The rabbit mask turned in a slightly clunky way and covered his temple.

Still, his face sparkled.

'…He's handsome.'

The college student saw Seon Ahyeon from a close distance and couldn't come up with a negative impression.

Seon Ahyeon started singing while standing up straight and gracefully.

– I like the wait

My wait is long and

It's always fun

'Uh?'

From that chorus, familiar movements began to mix.

It was the hand gestures, the point choreography of the original song.

However, a new foot movement was added offbeat to the hand movement to bring out a strong feeling.

Swish!

The choreography, which used bigger body movements than the original song, was incredibly impressive because it matched the fluttering durumagis.

(TL note: Durumagi is a variety of overcoats in hanbok, the Korean traditional garment.)

'Ah…'

Rather than the emotional and simple feeling of the original song, the stage was completed in a historical drama style with a romantic and overwhelming feeling.

– When this wait is over

I know you who I'll run into

My heart is already bright

Park Moondae sang the high note at the end of the chorus.

Perhaps its color faded during the filming, his hair was now closer to blonde and was swept away by the mask.

'…What's with that hair… It looks fine.'

She struggled to hide her excitement, making excuses saying that it was probably because the stylist put on their life's greatest stage makeup.

And at the end of the note, Park Moondae turned completely backward.

'What's this?'

The audience, who had been focusing on the participants' movements and facial expressions, reflexively turned their gazes back.

A huge dark blue trail was drawn over the starlight that flowed behind the stage.

"…!"

Soon, only strings and wind instruments remained.

With that as the background sound, the dark blue trail drew a huge circle.

The circle, which was completed with traces like an ink painting, as if drawn with ink, soon glowed blue.

Round blue light between the stars. It was the earth seen from the moon.

Uhuuu- Uhuuu- Uhu, Uuu–

Participants gently fall to the floor and rise to the rhythm, naturally taking off their durumagi and throwing them away.

– A light daydream

I'm on my way to meet you

All of a sudden, the participants stood up in full dresses.

Their bodies made a short and intense group dance.

It was a full-body movement that almost looked like a dance, and their bodies curved strongly and smoothly. It felt very strange.

The accompaniment without percussion sounded somewhat sensual.

'Kim Raebin is crazy…'

"Ooh…"

"…"

The college student was startled by the sound of her own voice, but she realized that she could hear it from all directions.

-That you've been waiting for me

Speaking, clear dizziness

By changing the lyric 'déjà vu' to 'dizziness', it sounded more mysterious as if being swallowed.

– Facing the fateful moment

Never hesitate!

Bang!

At that moment, percussion came back into the accompaniment.

The slightly blatant sensuality disappeared in an instant.

– I like the wait

My wait is long and

It's always fun

The chorus came back, and Keun Sejin came out to the center and took the center stage in the complex group dance.

The choreography became more colorful.

– When this wait is over

I know you who I'll run into

My heart is already bright

Then came the low humming.

-Hum hu hu hum- huhu DDu-ru Du-ru Du Du

It was the melody of the chorus.

With the moving choreography, it felt like they were waiting for someone and singing with excitement.

The drumming of the accompaniment sounded like a heartbeat.

The college student belatedly realized that Park Moondae was adding an octave higher to the humming.

She got goosebumps.

'…I thought it was a musical instrument.'

She gulped. On the stage, the intro choreography was once again being transformed.

As the formation constantly changed, the five naturally stood around the only prop on the stage.

'Huh?'

The huge stump of wood.

It was the stump of katsura trees.

Naturally, sitting around the stump, they immediately took off their sheepskin blazers and tossed them down.

"…!"

Revealing a man's jeogori designed like a shirt, Keun Sejin looked straight ahead and smiled.

He turned the rabbit mask back to his face and sang the last verse.

– Wait for me.

The stage was finished with the blue light of the earth falling over the moon rabbits who fell asleep leaning on each other while sitting on the stump of the katsura trees.

And there was a cheer loud enough to smash the roof of the filming set.

"Waaaah!"

"Kyaaaa!"

"Uaaah!"

Under the stage, all kinds of reactions were overflowing, from screaming to covering their mouths.

It was because everyone was excited at the stage they saw that had a superbly high level of perfection, from the opening to the unexpected combination of high-ranking participants.

In addition, there was something about this stage that stimulated the heart of the fans.

Since they couldn't interpret everything at once, they wanted to look at it more than once and find the hidden elements.

There must be many audience members who were already counting the days remaining until the broadcast.

'It's all over.'

The college student who let go of the fence mumbled proudly. She had been screaming and only barely came to her senses when the lights on the stage went out.

Since the opening was cut like this, the next team automatically set up the stage.

After hesitating, she finally admitted her excitement.

'Well, October kids are good, too.'

While muttering, 'You can debut with Ryu Chungwoo and Cha Eugene over there', the irritation she felt when she had first entered already disappeared.

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