Wow!!
Deafening music and cheers.
Cha Eugene checked outside and blew a whistle.
"Wow, there are so many people here!"
"Oh~ That's right. It's really powerful."
It wasn't the same as seeing a lot of audience members for a day or two, but it was definitely spectacular to see people of the same age dancing and singing in unison.
When I thought about how we would be performing in front of such people in 30 minutes, it certainly felt surprising.
"There are three more groups that have to perform until it's our turn. Do you guys have enough time to warm up?"
"Yes!"
"I am very glad that we arrived within the expected time."
"That's right. Hoo, you've worked hard, manager hyung~"
The manager sighed in relief and started running to talk to the person in charge.
We sat in the space created as a waiting room and waited while warming up our necks and bodies.
'Was there ever a place like this?'
Maybe it was because I wasn't interested in festivals when I was in school, so I didn't even know there was a space like this. No, even if I knew, I would never have entered a place like this.
Anyway, we had to do well in the performance.
The college festival was actually just an event, but there were many people who were secretly looking forward to it.
'Is it because it can be used as a measure of popularity?'
Direct fancams were also quite popular.
In fact, until this morning, I was amazed to see the lineup that was persistently private.
'I don't know who pushed it this time, but we tried our best to keep it a secret.'
Of course, the moment we got here, we got caught coming out of the van.
-TeStar??? TeStar?
-Is it really TeStar?
└ㅇㅇYes, that's what the fans said.
-It's crazy. What is this year's lineup? Did they invite TeStar?
- Ticket prices are going up in real-time. Wow ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
At the same time, a reasonable article was posted asking for a tuition fee reduction since the school had money like this, but it didn't matter because it didn't have anything to do with us. I didn't even have a diploma anymore. It was good to know.
Still, it should be worth the money.
"Moondae hyung, do you need to drink some water before stretching?"
"I'm okay."
"Give it to me!"
"Cha Eugene, you are sitting closer to the water than me!"
They were still the same.
I continued stretching after the two guys warmed up by fighting.
By the way, next to me, Seon Ahyeon was warming up his body in the order of large muscles to small ones.
It was something I saw every time.
It was as easy as breathing for him.
Well, it was natural since he had been doing that since he was little.
Hmm, maybe I should have learned from him.
"Ahyeon-ah."
"Yes?"
"Can you tell me the order just once?"
"O-of course… !"
Seon Ahyeon's face brightened in an instant.
'… To that extent?'
Somehow, it reminded me of the days when I learned the choreography from him during
I half-voluntarily followed the stretching secret. It was because Seon Ahyeon taught me too passionately.
'This guy would have made a living even if he became a teacher.'
"The last one… Again, the whole body."
"Mhm."
I finished the last move neatly.
It was actually pretty good? I would continue to do this in the future. I should have found out sooner.
"Thanks. I like this."
"… …"
However, Seon Ahyeon did not answer for a long time, and then suddenly opened his mouth.
"Um… Moo-Moondae."
"What is it?"
"… … N-nothing."
Seon Ahyeon smiled faintly.
"That… Let's work hard again today."
"… Okay."
I didn't think he would talk about it.
I closed my mouth.
'… It's awkward after all.'
He may have had many thoughts about the fact that I was older than I originally was supposed to be.
'… It was in vain.'
No, let's stop thinking.
Since I had to work, I should only think about work. I stopped guessing and got up.
"Let's get ready!"
And after a while…
The outdoor stage where we jumped up was already hot with heat.
Wow, wow!!
There were loud voices that were already hoarse and people rushing in from under the stage. Waves of people swayed from behind.
It was wild enough.
'Was it like this?'
It was also a different taste to have such a large community, not fans, screaming passionately.
No, there were fans too.
Park Moondae!!
I laughed when I saw a few brave people holding cheering sticks.
As soon as we went up, we sang last year's grand prize song 'Promise', and the atmosphere was very good. This was why events were easy if there were popular songs.
'People are also singing along.'
It was to the extent that there were even some members who performed while listening with one of their in-ears out.
And the moment the final accompaniment of Promise ended, we stood upright with tearing shouts.
And handheld microphones were delivered.
"Take your star! Hello, we are TeStar!"
Wow!!
After greeting with the spear of Ryu Chungwoo, who was out of breath, the talk was built smoothly.
"Today, we are very happy to meet the wonderful students of Yeonhee University…"
But when Ryu Chungwoo saw this, he suddenly laughed.
'What.'
And naturally, he gave me the mic.
"… ??"
"How do you feel?"
Hey… Even this bastard made fun of people.
Suddenly, I spoke about my impressions of my old school. I held back a sigh and opened my mouth.
"It's passionate and I really like it. After all, blue is definitely a better color than red."
And I put my thumbs up.
'This is a national rule.'
Mention the school's representative color and say it was better than the rival schools.
(TN: Although it is called "Yeonhee University" in the novel (for copyright reasons), this is a reference to Korea's Yonsei University, which is one of the most prestigious universities in Korea. Their school's official color is blue, while Korea University's official color is red. These two schools are rival schools (alongside Seoul National University, which make up the SKY schools).)
I knew that everyone was like this anyway, and if we ever went to the next school, we would change our attitudes and say that we liked red.
Aaaaaagh! Gyaaak!
It was a good response.
Ryu Chungwoo smiled and took the microphone.
"So, we also prepared a song where blue beats red."
"Please pay attention to us and the dancers' movements and enjoy them~ Let's go to the next song!"
Keun Sejin waved his hand and settled down. This was the prelude to the title.
I went in without missing the introduction.
"There's a screaming voice over there."
They paid more attention than usual. There were dozens of cameras that could be seen right now.
The light of smartphones.
"The leader who appeared first!"
Aagh!
The reaction when the high notes exploded was also good. I ran across the stage making loud movements.
The momentum didn't diminish until the next song and the next one.
Both us and the audience.
"Whoa."
"Thank you!"
The contracted song was 3 songs. But there was still time left, so we did one more encore. It was a good thing that there were so many songs that there was no burden.
"One more?"
"Let's do it! We can do it!"
The next encore song was 〈Black Hole〉, which was the OST for the movie.
We could sing while walking around, so it was easy to distribute our stamina. The recognition was good, so the response was good as well.
'It's a success.'
I felt it intuitively.
That this school festival event also scored properly.
Maybe it was because things had been going well lately, so I didn't have a very negative premonition.
Even if it wasn't me, the excited guys next to me would be filming tomorrow morning and screaming the next song again.
"Hoouk, shall we do one more song? Is there anything you want to hear?"
Picnic! Picnic!!
Magical boy!
Popular songs were pouring in excellent numbers. We laughed and listened.
'The songs are all prepared.'
We were thinking of deciding moderately after a bit of a struggle.
But suddenly, Kim Raebin's eyes sparkled.
"I… Would it be all right if I said something?"
"Hm? Yes!"
"Anyway, since it's a college, and we have an audience preparing to go out into society anew, why don't we sing our debut song!"
Wow!!
Was this guy always so good at talking?
"… … I agree!"
Was Bae Sejin this active?
Everyone seemed to be excited today. Anyway, given the atmosphere, the answer was only one thing.
"Then, shall we?"
Yes!!
"Great! Please play 'Magical Boy'."
At Ryu Chungwoo's strong call, the staff below the stage exchanged glances.
Now, when the 'Magical Boy' music came out like this…
-Oh oh oh oh oh oh
"… … !"
"Huh."
At that time, a loud male and female chorus sound came through the speaker.
An exaggerated band sound with slightly low-pitched tones, with melodies of famous classical music.
It was definitely not the music box sound of 'Magical Boy'.
I got it right away.
'They played the wrong song.'
They turned on the cheering music first after we finished the ending.
"… … Mmm."
In a word, it was an accident.
'This can happen.'
It was a common accident that could happen at an event.
The problem was that it had been about 7 seconds now and the sound still hadn't turned off.
'I think there must have been an uproar underneath.'
The moment we all froze together in embarrassment, the encore atmosphere was created.
The smartphones were all over the place now.
'Let's at least wave our hands.'
We pretended to enjoy it.
I noticed the guys around me laughing and riding the rhythm, then I raised both hands to do a similar action.
And suddenly, I realized.
'I'd rather…'
Shouldn't it be like this?
I stepped forward and picked up the handheld microphone I had set down on the floor.
"… ?"
And I opened my mouth to the chorus.
[Wake up! A moving portrait! Woo woo woo woo~ Our voices!]
An old-fashioned cheering song flowed naturally.
Ohhh!
'I haven't forgotten this.'
Every time I went to the library during this season, I'd hear it playing outside.
'And the lyrics are from a poem.'
In fact, the lyrics could be wrong. If only it could elicit a response.
[Voice! Voice! Voice!]
I passed the time with the members by singing in unison and not overdoing it.
And by the time the chorus of the first verse was passed, the music finally turned off.
Wow!!
"Thank you."
It was fortunate. I didn't know the 2nd verse. And laughter and applause poured in. The funny thing was that the members were like that too.
"I heard the encore cheer~"
"Awesome!"
… Well, it seemed to have been a good quickness.
• * *
"Oh my god!"
"It was a great ad-lib, hyung!"
On the way home, as we entered the dorm late at night, the members added in more compliments. Actually, I only knew it because of my past, so I felt a little bit guilty.
Bae Sejin murmured softly.
"You know how to sing trot well…"
"… …"
Even if he understood it like that… No, wasn't there nothing wrong with it?
And the guy who knew the situation poked me next to the people who were properly dispersed to their rooms.
"Moondaemoondae!"
Stop.
"Couldn't it be that you also actively participated in such an event and learned about it? The cheering song?"
How could that be?
"They teach it to the freshmen during orientation."
"Really??"
"Yes."
Keun Sejin burst into laughter.
"Hey."
"S-sorry! No, just imagining it… Ah, ha."
And even Ryu Chungwoo, who was standing still next to us, made a noise.
"Ahem!"
He was pretending that he didn't hear anything. They were driving me crazy.
'Do whatever you want.'
Anyway, everything went well.
"Ah~ Thanks to Moondae, we'll be uploading another popular video~"
And Keun Sejin even caught Seon Ahyeon, who was escaping into a corner.
"Ahyeon-ah, did you hear? Moondae said he learned this separately."
"… …"
However, Seon Ahyeon did not look back.
"Hm, Ahyeon-ah?"
"… Y-yes, I heard… …"
Seon Ahyeon did not look back this time either, but he answered.
But his voice died down. And as he caught his breath, his shoulders rise.
'Now…'
It felt strange.
It was the moment when I was about to speak to him.
Seon Ahyeon stumbled.
"… … !"
"Ahyeon-ah."
"… … Uh."
It was the sound of him holding his breath, or gasping.
'… Hyperventilating?'
And Seon Ahyeon, in an instant, staggered and ran.
"… !!"
Bang!
He ran to the bathroom.
"Seon Ahyeon!"
I reflexively caught up and grabbed the doorknob.
Thud!
… He locked it.
Why?
I heard someone running next to me shouting.
"Ahyeon-ah? Seon Ahyeon! Are you okay?"
There was only a gurgling sound.
"Moondae, get out of the way. Let's break it open."
"Watch out."
Cha Eugene, who ran out of nowhere, slammed his body against the door.
Bang! Bang!
Ting…
And the door opened with the sound of the door hook falling out.
When I opened the door, I saw Seon Ahyeon's back with his face sunk in the sink.
What did he do in the meantime? His head was wet.
"Seon Ahyeon, are you sick?"
"I… I will call an ambulance!"
"Wait a minute, his condition…"
I walked into the bathroom and tried to tap the guy at the sink on the shoulder.
His shoulders were hunched over.
"… !"
And a small voice was heard.
"I-I'm sorry… Moondae. I-I'm so sorry…"
"… !!"
Why…
"… …"
"Guys, wait…"
Behind me, I could hear Ryu Chungwoo taking the others out.
And I stood there as if struck by lightning.
"… What?"
I tried to speak, but his words exploded like a dam had burst.
"R-right away! I should have said it right away… B-but I couldn't- I couldn't tell you that, I like being together with you but… Y-you looked relieved when…"
"… …"
"F-for your own sake, I should have said it sooner, Moo-Moondae."
Seon Ahyeon turned his head.
His face was completely white.
"Y-you need to get treatment. Yes, with therapy… Now- y-you, it's not the time to be a-active. You're getting worse… No, if I say it like this, n-no… I-I have to say it properly…"
"… …"
"I-I'm sorry… I-It's hard to believe you… I-I can't help…"
Seon Ahyeon's face turned blue, and he started panting again.
And I had seen that face before.
-H-hello…
The daydream.
The state of Seon Ahyeon when I brought him to LeTi, who was a first-time acquaintance there.
'Ah.'
Almost reflexively, I called up his status window.
Past the grandiose stat items where A and S grades intersected… under it.
His special characteristic.
Characteristic: Resilience (disabled)
!Status Abnormality: Lack of self-esteem
A status abnormality.
[Lack of self-esteem]
I despise myself.
Reduces all stats by two levels
And I realized.
I… I made the wrong fucking choice.