CH 129

“Are there a lot of people?”

“There are so many!”

“Even though there are still more than eight hours left before the performance starts, I see a  lot of people gathering and chatting…!”

Kim Raebin and Cha Eugene, who had pretended to go to the bathroom and spied outside, chatted excitedly.

The members on stage either covered their faces or took deep breaths.

“Whoa…”

“You can hear all the rehearsals.”

Right. They were on the stage for the concert rehearsal.

Idols on overseas tours sold tickets including the rehearsal tickets, but fortunately, this one wasn’t like that.

If the rehearsal was revealed at the first concert, they would have been 10 times more nervous than they were now.

Of course, even now, everyone was in high spirits.

“Let’s do our best. I’ll show them how much I have practiced.”

“That’s right!”

“Really… We really have practiced a lot.”

Bae Sejin’s face turned a little pale.

It seemed he was reminiscing about the last practice period.

‘It was a bit harsh.’

It wasn’t just once or twice that I had thought my physical strength and lung capacity would not last.

Thanks to that, I brought a bicycle machine to the dorm. Because it was a unanimous consensus that the time to receive PT was not enough.

In the meantime, in the unit stage production reality, I had to keep up a lively appearance, so it was not an ordinary job.

‘…But this day has finally come.’

I wasn’t regretful or anxious. The preparations were all set.

And that would be the same for the others.

“Right. This time, let’s go and believe in the amount of practice.”

“Yes!”

In that solid atmosphere, Keun Sejin stealthily raised his hand.

“Shall we shout our slogan~?”

“Slogan?”

“You know~”

“…Ah.”

Exclamation marks appeared on the faces of the guys who finally realized what he was talking about.

Then, our hands gathered together.

“Ah, Testar will show it to you today!”

“Let’s go!”

…It was a phrase that equivalently exchanged the embarrassment with the atmosphere, but it worked.

“Are you going from the opening?”

The rehearsal went smoothly without any problems.

There really wasn’t much time left until all the empty seats were filled.

* * *

It was crowded in front of the gymnastics stadium. There might be a lot of reasons for this, but one of the main reasons was because of the purchase of concert-related products.

‘I got all the MDs!’

Park Moondae’s homma also stood in line with both hands full of shopping bags. It was evidence of a successful hunt.

Besides, they were all good quality!

In particular, the shiny parts set that could be customized by attaching it to the lightstick was very pretty.

At the time of pre-purchase, it had already been confirmed through SNS that it was already sold out with just the image cut.

‘They’re doing better than I thought.’

Recently, many fans had softened due to T1’s move that properly showed the taste of large companies.

In addition, after they selected this and that properly, some people gradually turned amicable toward them.

But the homma pulled herself together.

‘…Let’s not let our guard down.’

Because the concert Blu-ray might confirm that all these things were drafted by the kids.

But she couldn’t help but feel excited about it.

‘Doesn’t it seem like they’ve prepared hard?!’

She was looking forward to the concert so much that she had a smile all over her face. The reward that only those who had tickets could feel was already flooding in.

Besides, her seat… It was section 8 on the 2nd floor!

It was the spot that Park Moondae had tried to challenge, but failed without even trying.

‘Moondae, I’m sitting here…!’

Originally, she was thinking of getting a spot exchange so that the fancam would come out well, but as soon as she saw Testar’s ticketing video, she thought it was fate and decided to accept it.

‘Let’s film more tomorrow!’

It was something she could afford because she had a ticket for tomorrow as well.

“Excuse me, would you like this…?”

“Gasp, thank you!”

She received snacks and a small photo postcard prepared by Kim Raebin’s fan who was sitting next to her.

As she chatted and checked the situation on SNS, time flew by in an instant.

It was time for the concert to begin.

The announcement rang the hall.

“…Whoo.”

Park Moondae’s homma skillfully took out the camera and hid it with her luggage.

At that moment, the lights in the hall went dark.

“…!”

The light from the huge screen poured into the place where the buzz of people suddenly stopped.

Whoo-

What filled the screen… were seven figures lying in a circle on the classroom floor.

They were Testar.

Woooow!

The video unfolded with cheers.

The faces of Testar waking up on the floor were zoomed in one by one, and the next moment, bubbles passed over their heads.

The members chased the bubbles and lightly flew out of the classroom window where the sunlight poured.

And then, snap, the screen shut down.

♫♪♩♪-♫♪♫♪-♪♩-

The concert hall darkened again. A familiar melody rang in a more splendid variation.

And suddenly, the scene was filled with pouring bubbles and sparkling lights from the lightsticks.

“…!”

In that fantastic space that was shimmering with purple lighting, Park Moondae’s intro of ‘Magical Boy’ began to play out.

– I think of you, whom I met tomorrow, all-day

Figures on wires began to descend from the ceiling.

“…!”

All seven Testar appeared on wires from all sides.

The idols entrusted themselves to the stage equipment and began to spin around the hall.

– But reality is breathing, All the time…

Above her head, Seon Ahyeon was flying away while singing his part.

‘Crazy!’

Screaming cheers poured from everywhere.

Aaaaagh!

A gentle breeze blew from the spot where Seon Ahyeon had passed, tickling her head.

She got goosebumps.

‘Moondae, What about Moondae?’

Park Moondae was passing by the standing area, a little away from her.

‘That spot will be my zone tomorrow!’

His blonde hair was caught on screen. Park Moondae was smiling lightly.

‘Fairy! Please stay there tomorrow too…!!’

She cried and picked up the camera.

– Cast a spell

Right before the chorus of the second verse, Testar gathered on the center stage in a small section.

And they got off the equipment and started the chorus choreography.

The decorations of the school uniform costumes, which were much more colorful than those in the music video, sparkled in the lights.

And without a chance to catch her breath, the accompaniment was connected like a storm, followed by the next song. It was the title of the second activity, ‘Airplane’.

– My heart is pounding, I want to send you somewhere

Testar flew in with the wire from the opening and in an instant, they wiped out all the title tracks they had on the first stage.

‘Oh, my God.’

She had a strong feeling that whatever the next composition was, they would let it be immersed first.

But the atmosphere was certain.

With only hit songs coming out one after another, the audience was excitedly filled with adrenaline before they could get worried about the composition of the second half of the performance.

That was how Testar’s first concert began.

* * *

Testar sang one more low-pitched ballad from the ‘Choose Your Side’ album and then proceeded with a light talk.

[Whoo, did you enjoy the opening?]

Yes!!!

The slightly echoing voices were filled with positive answers that sounded as though they would rip apart the concert hall.

The person speaking up, Ryu Chungwoo, seemed a little taken aback by the momentum, but soon he smiled and nodded.

‘I keep seeing him, so he looks cute.’

While giving the generous review, the homma’s eyes and camera were focused on Park Moondae.

Park Moondae handed over the water bottle he drank to Seon Ahyeon next to him and waved his hand in a greeting.

[Hello, Loviewer. This is Moondae… I hope you have a fun and exciting time today.]

‘So cute!’

She could see his effort to purposefully reproduce his SNS tone. However, he was quite embarrassed, so his ears turned red.

‘Our puppy mustered up the courage…!’

As she was crying and holding the camera, she heard a murmur from next to her.

“So cute…”

“…”

The person next to her was definitely Kim Raebin’s fan.

In any case, it meant that Moondae was just that destructively cute, so she decided to think about it warm-heartedly.

[This performance~ I think everyone has already seen how hard we prepare!]

[It’s the first unit performance!]

The members looked nervous, but they easily talked with excited faces.

[Ah, which team performs first? That’s… a secret!]

[Secret!]

After several more rounds of playful jeers from the mischievous fans and Testar’s laughing comments, Testar finally prepared to go down the stage.

[Is everyone ready? So who will be better, please look forward to it!]

[It’ll be revealed soon!]

Then, Testar waved their hand and ran backstage.

It was only after they purposefully showed it that all the lights went off and the video started playing on the screen again.

[Bambam!]

[Ta-da!]

The two who bowed their heads… were Cha Eugene and Keun Sejin!

‘Here already??’

She had thought that the units that mainly performed dance performances would appear in the second half due to the composition of the atmosphere.

Besides, there was also ‘that’ Cha Eugene.

Cha Eugene who smashed the stage, Cha Eugene the solo-stan makers!

‘…Ei, whatever. It’s not like it’s Moondae who is coming out!’

She shrugged and leaned her back against the backrest. She thought of watching it leisurely because Moondae didn’t come out.

‘Well, Cha Eugene flies around… Sejin can dance well too, right?’

From what she remembered watching them on the WiTube reality show, it seemed they were going to perform a famous and old jazz-style R&B pop song.

The cute VCR where the two were giggling was also over quickly.

[So our concept is… What is it, Eugene?]

[Outlaw in the Wilderness!]

With Cha Eugene’s last words, the screen blacked out.

And the screen that popped up again… It truly showed a desolate wilderness.

‘Huh?’

It was a scene that you usually would see in a typical American Western.

Bam Bam Bam Barabarararabam

The prelude began to play out. A picture appeared on the screen with a much more pleasant saxophone rhythm than the original song.

[WANTED]

[$100,000,000]

It was a bounty poster. Humorous cartoon caricatures of those two were attached to the video.

– Who’s next?

The moment when Cha Eugene’s voice, mixed with a nasal tone, sharply threw out a verse.

Those two jumped up at the same time from under both ends of the center stage.

And they rushed at each other.

“…!”

The two of them sprinted from left and right, crossing the choreography as if gliding toward each other, then magically jerked themselves up and looked back at each other again.

Both tall men were wearing leather pants, loose shirts, tight vests, and cowboy hats.

However, Cha Eugene’s clothes were light brown, and Keun Sejin’s were dark brown.

– Now~ You have to know

What is right D’oh

What is left

The two tossed their hats at the same time.

With Keun Sejin’s vocals bouncing along with the pleasant pop song, dancers dressed in black appeared behind the two who were laughing crookedly.

Then, the two of them took out a rope from their waistband and lifted it.

“…?!”

Aggressive military dance unfolded from all sides.

Cha Eugene and Keun Sejin began to knock the dancers down one by one with strange and lively movements using their feet and ropes.

The movements were similar to the dancers’ choreography, but also tailored to each other. There was always a part where the same movements were performed at the same timing for each verse.

So the sense of unity on the stage was smoothly maintained.

It was a feat that made people open their mouths wide.

– Take my gun and

Bababababa-by Say

Goodbye!

The moment they entered the chorus, the two tore off their vests and threw them behind.

Then, a hidden costume element was revealed.

It was a holster with a gun.

– Oh my~

The two continued the choreography, pointing guns at each other with one hand.

The choreography, which was organically connected and kept changing its position, was quite musical, but at the same time, one hand was restricted and other movements became more radical.

And lastly.

The choreography ended with the action of shooting each other’s guns away.

– Say Goooodbye~~

Over the sound of drum rolls and frantic saxophones, the two slowly lifted their missing hats and made elaborate gestures like a greeting.

And slowly disappeared down the stage.

-Yay ha!

Even before the last verse of the song came out, the concert hall was already filled with screams.

‘Heol.’

At the stage that passed by so quickly that she got so immersed without any time to comment, Park Moondae’s homma tried to close her mouth 

‘It was great…’

As soon as they said the keyword ‘Outlaw in the Wilderness’, it turned into a stage with an intense composition that captured elements that the audience would have expected.

‘…Let’s upload this performance cut on April Fool’s Day.’

She thought calmly, saying that the cut of throwing the vest came out well.

And like her, the stage left a deep impression in the minds of most of the audience who watched the first unit stage.

Not the individual members, but the stage itself.

It was a decisive victory for Keun Sejin.

* * *

‘The unit stage just ended.’

While I was waiting after changing my costume, I could hear cheers echoing all the way down the stage.

“T-Those two must have done a great job!”

Seon Ahyeon smiled brightly.

I nodded.

‘…I’m sure he didn’t get pushed back.’

Well, I wasn’t really worried about Keun Sejin.

Because a few days ago, when I was out of the shower, I heard the full story of the song selection.

– Moondae, can I tell you something funny?

– What?

– I practiced my basic skill with this song. Ever since I joined the agency as a trainee.

– …

– So whenever I practice alone, I end up using that.

– …How long?

– Well… Maybe eight years? Haha.

To put it simply, Cha Eugene was stuck with the song that this guy had been playing for 8 years.

Of course, just holding on to that song for a long time didn’t mean that you could perform that song well.

However, considering Keun Sejin’s characteristic, he must have already picked out all the performances that could be selected by tearing all the elements of the song.

There, he must have tempted Cha Eugene while only picking the parts he thought were good, so the result was obvious.

‘A good stage came out in the direction that Keun Sejin is good at.’

In addition, Keun Sejin added one more device.

‘…There was no solo part.’

On that unit stage, there wasn’t any part where someone moved solo.

They moved together unconditionally.

And in almost every part where the two of them moved together, Keun Sejin didn’t recklessly take their gazes away.

Because the stage was organized organically so that it would be less fun to see only one person.

Of course, whatever he did, it would be useless if he didn’t have the skills. But Keun Sejin was talented.

So perhaps, the whole strategy worked.

‘…He’s a really smart guy.’

I nodded inwardly.

Of course, I didn’t have time to pay more attention to other people’s unit performances.

“O-Our stage… Since it’s our second time, let’s do our best, too!”

It was my turn soon.