Chapter 129
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Translated by Sylph
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Are there many people?”
“There are really a lot!”
“Even though there are more than 8 hours left until the start of the performance, I see many people gathered and having conversations…!”
Kim Raebin and Cha Yujin, who had gone to scout outside while pretending to go to the bathroom, chattered excitedly.
The members standing on the stage covered their faces or took deep breaths.
“Hu-ah…….”
“They’ll be able to hear all the rehearsal sounds.”
That’s right. They had just come up on stage for the concert rehearsal.
In the case of idols doing overseas tours, they sometimes sold tickets that included rehearsal viewing, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case here.
If the rehearsal was open for the first concert, there would have been ten times more nervous guys than now.
Of course, everyone was already fully focused.
“Let’s really do well. We practiced so much, we should at least show as much as we did.”
“Right!”
“Really… we did it really a lot.”
Bae Sejin’s face turned slightly pale. He seemed to be recalling the past practice period.
‘It was a bit intense.’
There were more than once or twice when he thought his lung capacity wouldn’t hold out, let alone his stamina.
Thanks to that, they had brought a cycle machine into the dorm. This was because they had reached a unanimous decision that the PT time alone was not enough.
In the midst of that, they had to show a lively appearance in the unit stage production reality show, so it was no ordinary task.
‘…But finally, this day has come.’
He didn’t feel regretful or anxious. All preparations were finished.
And it would be the same for the other guys.
“Yeah. This time, let’s trust our amount of practice and go for it.”
“Yes!”
In that solid atmosphere, Big Sejin slightly raised his hand.
“Shall we shout our slogan once and go~?”
“Slogan?”
“You know, that one~”
“…Ah.”
Exclamation points appeared on the faces of the guys who finally realized what he was talking about.
And a moment later, hands were gathered one by one.
“Ah, Testa is going to show something today!”
“Let’s go!”
…It was a phrase that traded embarrassment for atmosphere, but it was effective.
“We’re going from the opening, right?”
The rehearsal proceeded smoothly without any problems.
There was really not much time left until the empty audience seats were all filled.
* * *
The front of the Gymnasium was crowded with people. There were many reasons, but one of the main purposes was to purchase concert-related merchandise.
‘I got all the MD!!’
Park Moondae’s fansite master also stood in the entry line with shopping bags full in both hands. It was evidence of a successful hunt.
Moreover, the quality of everything was decent!
In particular, the sparkling parts set that could be customized by attaching them to the lightstick was very pretty.
She had already confirmed through SNS that it had sold out first in an instant, even with only the image cuts at the time of pre-purchase.
‘They were made so much better than expected.’
Many fans were already softened by T1’s recent moves, which showed the true taste of a large corporation.
On top of that, since they were producing things well, people were starting to turn favorable.
But the fansite master composed herself.
‘…Let’s not let our guard down.’
It was because she might find out in the concert Blu-ray that the kids were the ones who submitted the drafts for this and that.
But separately, she couldn’t help her heart fluttering.
‘It looks like they prepared intensely, right?!’
She was so looking forward to the concert that a smile spread across her face. The sense of worth that only those with tickets could feel was already rushing in like a tide.
Moreover, her seat was… Section 8 on the 2nd floor!
It was the very seat that Park Moondae had tried to challenge but failed without even being able to attempt.
‘Moondae, I’m sitting here…!’
Originally, she had intended to look for an exchange with a standing ticket so that the fancam would come out well, but the moment she saw Testa’s ticketing video, she thought it was fate and decided to accept it.
‘I’ll just take the shots with more focus tomorrow!’
It was a leisure that only those who had a ticket for tomorrow could have.
“W-Would you like to have this by any chance…?”
“Heck, thank you!”
She received snacks and a small photo postcard prepared by a stranger who was a Kim Raebin fan in the next seat.
While checking the situation on SNS occasionally while talking, time passed in an instant.
It was almost time for the concert to start. The announcement echoed through the hall.
“……Phew.”
Park Moondae’s fansite master skillfully took out her camera and hid it among her luggage.
At that moment, the lights in the hall went dark.
“……!”
In the place where the people’s murmuring stopped abruptly, the light of a giant screen poured out.
Vroooooom—.
What filled the screen was… the figures of seven people lying in a circle on the classroom floor.
It was Testa.
Waaaaah!!!
The video unfolded along with cheers.
The faces of Testa members opening their eyes on the floor were shown in close-ups one by one, and in the next moment, soap bubbles blew past their heads.
Chasing the soap bubbles, the members lightly threw themselves out of the classroom window where sunlight was pouring in.
And suddenly, the screen went off.
♬♪♩♪- ♬♪♬♪- ♪♩-
The concert hall became dark again. A familiar melody rang out, arranged more gorgeously.
And before they knew it, the scene was filled with pouring soap bubbles and the flickering lights of lightsticks.
“……!”
In that fantastic space swaying with purple lighting, the intro of Park Moondae’s ‘Magical Boy’ began to be heard.
– I think about you, whom I met tomorrow, all day today
Figures riding wires from the ceiling began to descend.
“……!”
All seven members of Testa appeared from all directions while riding wires.
The idols began to circle around the concert hall, entrusting their bodies to the stage equipment.
– But reality is breathing, All the time…
Seon Ahyun flew past her head while singing his part.
‘Crazy!’
Scream-like cheers poured out from the surroundings.
Aaaaagh!!
A soft breeze blew from where Seon Ahyun had passed, tickling her hair.
She got goosebumps.
‘Moondae, where is Moondae?!’
Park Moondae was passing by over the standing area slightly away from her.
‘My section for tomorrow is over there!!’
His blonde hair fluttering was caught on the screen. Park Moondae was smiling lightly.
‘Fairy! Please be there tomorrow too…!!’
She cried out and held up her camera.
– Cast a spell
Just before the chorus of the second verse, Testa gathered at the center stage during the small inserted interlude.
And stepping off the equipment, they began the chorus choreography.
The decorations on the school uniform costumes, which were much more gorgeous than those in the music video, sparkled in the lighting.
And without any time to catch their breath, the accompaniment was connected as if rushing, and the next song followed. It was ‘Airplane’, the title track of their second promotion period.
– My heart is fluttering, I want to fly away somewhere
Testa had flown in using wires since the opening, and with the first stage, they had instantly exhausted all the titles they possessed.
‘My god.’
The feeling that they would first make the audience immersed regardless of the next composition was intense.
However, the atmosphere was certain.
Since only hit songs came out one after another, before even worrying about the composition of the latter half of the performance, the audience’s heads heated up with adrenaline.
That was how Testa’s first concert began.
* * *
After singing one more quiet ballad included in the ‘Choose your side’ album, Testa finally proceeded with a light talk.
[Whew, the opening, was it fun??]
YES!!!
Answers of affirmation that seemed like they would tear apart filled the concert hall at the slightly echoing voice.
Ryu Chungwoo, who spoke, seemed a bit surprised by the momentum, but soon chuckled and nodded.
‘He’s also cute the more I look at him.’
While giving a generous evaluation, the fansite master’s eyes and camera were focused on Park Moondae.
Park Moondae handed the water bottle he had drunk to Seon Ahyun next to him and greeted with a slight wave.
[Hello. Loviewers. I am Moondae…. I hope you have a fun and exciting time today.]
‘Cute!!’
The effort to reproduce the SNS speech style was visible. But his ears were red as if he was quite embarrassed.
‘Our puppy gathered courage…!’
While she was holding the camera and wailing, the sound of sobbing was heard from the side.
“He’s cute…….”
“……?”
The person in the next seat was clearly a Kim Raebin individual fan.
Anyway, since it meant that Moondae was that destructively cute, she decided to think warmly of it.
[For this stage~ I think everyone has already seen us preparing hard!]
[It’s the first unit stage!]
The members looked nervous, but they still handled the talk well with excited faces.
[Ah, you’re asking which team is first? That’s… a secret!]
[Secret!]
After the playful boos of the fans and the comments of the laughing Testa members crossed a few more times, Testa prepared to go down under the stage.
[Is everyone ready? Then please wait with expectation for who will come out!]
[We’ll reveal it soon!]
And Testa ran behind the stage while waving their hands.
Only after showing all of that on purpose, the lights went off and the video began to flow on the screen again.
[Bam-ba-bam!]
[Ba-ba-ba-bam!!]
The two who poked their heads out were… Cha Yujin and Big Sejin!
‘Already??’
Because she thought that a unit that mainly performs dance would appear in the latter half due to the atmosphere.
Moreover, isn’t ‘that’ Cha Yujin there? Cha Yujin who smashes the stage, Cha Yujin the individual fan maker!
‘…Eh, whatever. It’s not like Moondae is coming out!’
She shrugged and leaned her back against the backrest. She intended to watch comfortably since Moondae wasn’t coming out.
‘Well, Cha Yujin will fly around… and Sejin will also dance well, right?’
From what she roughly remembered seeing in the Wetube reality show, she thought they would do a somewhat famous and old jazz-style R&B pop song.
The cute VCR where the two giggled also ended quickly.
[So our concept is……, what is it, Yujin?]
[Outlaw of the Wilderness!]
With Cha Yujin’s last words, the screen cut to black once.
And the screen that appeared again was… truly a desolate wilderness.
‘Huh?’
It was a landscape that one would see in a typical American Western.
Bam Bam Bam Barabarararabam
The intro began to flow. Along with a saxophone rhythm much more cheerful than the original song, a picture appeared on the screen.
[WANTED]
[$100,000,000]
It was a bounty poster. It had an effect where humorous cartoon caricatures of the two were attached to the video one after another.
– Who’s next?
The moment Cha Yujin’s voice, mixed with nasality, threw a line sharply.
The two popped up simultaneously from under both ends of the center stage.
And they rushed toward each other.
“…!”
The two who rushed strongly from the left and right crossed their choreography movements as if sliding toward each other, then magically stood up and looked back at each other’s backs again.
The two tall guys were both wearing leather pants, loose shirts, tight vests, and cowboy hats pressed on crookedly.
However, Cha Yujin’s was light brown, and Big Sejin’s was dark brown.
– Now~ You have to know
What is right D’oh
What is Left
The two threw their hats at the same time.
In the midst of Big Sejin’s vocals popping along to the cheerful pop song, dancers dressed in black appeared behind the two who were smiling crookedly.
And the two took out ropes from their waists.
“……?!”
An aggressive group dance unfolded in all directions.
Using their feet and ropes, Cha Yujin and Big Sejin began to trip and knock down the dancers one by one with strange and lively movements.
Those movements had similarities with the dancers’ choreography, but they were also matched to each other. There was always a part in each verse where they performed the same movement at the same timing.
So the unity of the stage was maintained smoothly.
It was a feat to watch with an open mouth.
– Take my gun and
Bababababa-by Say
Goodbye!
The moment they entered the chorus, the two tore off their vests and threw them back.
Then, a hidden costume element revealed itself.
It was a gun holster with a gun in it.
– Oh my~
The two continued the choreography while pointing guns at each other with one hand.
The choreography, which organically connected and continuously changed positions while returning to their original spots, was quite musical-like, but at the same time, as one hand was restricted, the other movements became more violent.
And finally.
The choreography concluded with a movement of knocking away each other’s guns.
– Say Goooodbye~~
On top of the drum roll and the insanely played saxophone sound, the two slowly took an elaborate pose as if greeting by tipping a non-existent hat.
And they gradually disappeared under the stage.
– Yay ha!
Even before the last line of the song came out, the concert hall was filled with screams.
‘Hull.’
The fansite master of Park Moondae tried to close her open mouth at the stage that had passed by while she was so immersed that she didn’t have time to evaluate it.
‘It’s really good…….’
It was a stage with an intense composition that hit the elements the audience would have expected as soon as they heard the keyword ‘Outlaw of the Wilderness’ more than their expectations.
‘…Should I post this stage cut on April Fool’s Day?’
Thinking that the cut of throwing the vest came out well, she thought calmly with effort.
And like her, the stage left a deep impression on the minds of most of the audience who saw the first unit stage.
Not any individual member, but the stage.
It was a victory by decision for Big Sejin.
* * *
‘The unit stage just ended.’
While waiting after changing costumes, the vibration from the cheers echoed down below the stage.
“T-The two of them must have done really well!”
Seon Ahyun smiled with a bright expression. I nodded.
‘…They wouldn’t have been pushed back.’
Well, actually, I wasn’t very worried about Big Sejin.
It was because a few days ago, I had suddenly heard the whole story of the song selection while coming out after taking a shower.
– Moondae, should I tell you something interesting?
– What?
– I practiced my basics with that. Since I first became a trainee.
– …….
– So I ended up using that every time I practiced alone.
– ……How much?
– Well… maybe 8 years? Haha.
To put it simply, Cha Yujin was attached to a song that this guy had played with for 8 years.
Of course, just holding onto it for a long time doesn’t mean you’ll pull off the song well.
But considering Big Sejin’s personality, he must have already tried all the performances that could be pulled out from every single element of the song.
From there, he must have teased Cha Yujin by selecting only what he thought he was good at and what was good, so the result was obvious.
‘A good stage came out in the direction that Big Sejin is good at.’
Moreover, Big Sejin added one more device.
‘…There was no solo part.’
In that unit stage, there was no single part where someone moved alone. They unconditionally moved together.
And in almost every moment when the two moved together, Big Sejin didn’t just lose the spotlight.
It was because he had composed an organic stage so that the fun would be less if you only looked at one person.
Of course, it would have been useless if he didn’t have the skills. But Big Sejin had the skills.
So probably, all strategies worked well.
‘…He’s a guy whose brain really works well.’
I nodded inwardly.
Of course, there was no more time to care about someone else’s unit stage now.
“O-Our stage… is the second one. Let’s do well too!”
It was almost my turn now.