Chapter 72

===================

Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

I heard the news that the ‘Magical Boy’ music video was released at midnight last night.

However, there was no time to monitor it properly. Cha Yujin’s nonsense, who was currently half-asleep over there, would prove it.

“Um…? Is my hair done?”

“The hair was finished a while ago, and now we’re moving in the car.”

“Oh…….”

Cha Yujin fell back asleep with a vague exclamation.

That’s right. Since the previous night, we had been moving here and there, getting cleaned up and polished, doing some filming, doing some interviews…….

Since we hadn’t been able to sleep properly for nearly a month, it wouldn’t have been strange even if someone had come out confused about who they were and where they were.

“I-It’s the showcase now, right…?”

“Right~”

I heard the sound of Seon Ahyun inhaling, who had asked the manager in a tone that seemed unsure. It seemed he was suddenly nervous because it was right before him.

“Um, everything we prepared for this month… let’s show it all. No matter where, the amount of practice doesn’t betray you.”

“Of course~”

“Yes, yes!”

A few members who were awake responded to the encouragement of Ryu Chungwoo, whose voice was locked.

And Kim Raebin, who was sitting next to me, muttered quietly.

“…Actually, the proportion of practice compared to the period is high, but if you calculate it by the absolute amount of practice, it’s lacking…….”

“…….”

When I stared at him without a word, his words changed subtly.

“…not at all, and I think we can digest the stage passionately enough.”

“Right.”

Fortunately, he had no social skills, but he was a guy who could read the room.

* * *

Most of the reporters who attended the showcase had high expectations.

Not about TeSTAR’s skills, but about their buzz.

‘At least the number of article views will be pulled out to some extent.’

‘If it fails, it’s good as it fails.’

Both the reporter taking pictures and the reporter writing columns passionately waited for the showcase to start from their seats.

And in front and behind the reporters sat the shareholders who had purchased the stock package in .

Most of them had brought slogans or cheering tools of various sorts. Since official lightsticks and such hadn’t come out yet, the shapes and colors were different, but the excitement of the fans could still be felt.

In that overall excited atmosphere, the lights came on on the dark stage and the opening began.

-Hi-five!

TeSTAR, wearing the same baseball uniforms they wore in the music video, performed the stage by matching the group dance even more accurately than in the music video.

-My feet move
As if dancing~
Toward you
Ddan Ddan Daradara DAAN Yeah!

To suit the pleasant song, jumping movements where they moved their bodies excitedly appeared frequently in the choreography.

Whistle~!

Every time they turned their bodies or bounced their feet to the whistle, the stage concentration increased significantly.

‘They’re good.’

‘The song is also good!’

The ad-libs full of charm, such as playing rock-paper-scissors among members or greeting each other during each interlude, were cleverly cute.

‘They don’t seem like rookies.’

‘Those from auditions are good at this kind of thing.’

The reporters sublimated those favorable impressions into a fuss and pulled out titles diligently.

[‘Hi-five’ TeSTAR’s Proof of Trend Begins]

[TeSTAR ‘A Walk-off Home Run with the Opening!’]

Meanwhile, the TeSTAR members who finished the opening went inside for a moment. And instead, the MC came out to kill time.

It was a face everyone in this place knew.

“Hello, everyone~”

“Uh, uh!!”

While the fans were feeling both welcome and disgusted at the same time at the familiar MC of , below the stage, TeSTAR was changing clothes like crazy with the help of the staff.

“Ack, hair!”

“The baseball uniform really doesn’t come off….”

While TeSTAR, who managed to even put on the school uniform jackets with fancy epaulettes, was running out, the MC skillfully led the response of the audience.

“Whoa~ it’s been a long time, shareholders! …Eh? You’re not happy to see me? Ah, let’s not be like that between us~ Aren’t we people who saw each other’s faces for three months! Of course, only the shareholders saw my face.”

At the moment when laughter, playful booing, and cheers were mixed, the MC smiled and introduced the next stage.

“Then, I hope you meet your stocks after a long time. Your stocks, have taken flight!”

And on the stage where the lights came on again.

TeSTAR smiled and started dancing to the prelude.

It was .

“…!!”

Even though it hadn’t been long since the show ended, the audience was engulfed in a strange lingering feeling.

Moreover, the impression of seeing TeSTAR singing with a smile while even dividing the parts among themselves was new.

As if watching an epilogue after a happy ending, the audience enjoyed the stage with a warm heart.

-The one shining on the stage today.
Just me!
Yes, the Shining Star you made.
Just me!

“Finally waking up and radiating light~”

“…!”

In the end, a group sing-along followed.

TeSTAR, flustered in a good way, sang the song with an even bigger smile.

It was a pleasant time for popular songs where even some of the reporters who had watched nodded their heads.

However, it didn’t warm everyone’s heart.

A few people’s hearts cooled down coldly.

‘They’ve totally made the song their own.’

‘Did they even divide parts and get excited?’

They were the fans of the eliminated participants who attended the showcase with a crooked heart.

Of course, most of the fans of the eliminated participants were just enjoying the stage.

Even if it wasn’t the participant they liked as their 1st priority, there were members they were somewhat favorable toward in TeSTAR.

However, there were small exceptions everywhere.

“It was the Challenger version! Thank you~”

The incident broke out after the next song ended, while the members were having a talk for a while.

“This version! I really wanted to do it!”

“Yes~ Congratulations, child Cha Yujin.”

“Hehe.”

Cha Yujin talked excitedly about trying another team’s version of the song he did in the final, , and other members were looking at it more cutely than when there was no camera.

Reporters didn’t ask particularly malicious questions either. However, they threw a few sharp or somewhat trap-like questions.

“You all seem close, who is the member each of you is least close with?”

“Um, the album preparation was done in a very short period. How was it possible?”

“VTIC made a comeback just a few days ago on the 12th. What do you think?”

Since they were all within the expected questions, Ryu Chungwoo and Keun Sejin tossed them to each other and blurred the subject smoothly.

“We’re all getting close~ But everyone developed a strange camaraderie while doing … We’re surprised because we got close even faster than expected!”

“The album preparation could proceed quickly because the company had already prepared everything for the progress. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank General Manager Gwak Singyun and the employees.”

“If I meet VTIC seniors, I definitely want to get an autograph on the album! It was my bucket list!”

It was the moment when the survival-type interview skills the members had learned to avoid malicious editing shone.

And a proper question also came out.

“You selected two title songs, what is the charm unique to ‘Magical Boy’ that is differentiated from the ‘Hi-five’ stage you showed earlier?”

“Ah.”

Ryu Chungwoo reflexively tried to grab the microphone, but after a short judgment, he passed the answer to Park Moondae, the proposer of the idea.

‘Since it’s not a strange question, it’ll be fine for Moondae to do it.’

It was an action that came from complete consideration, but Park Moondae wasn’t a person who particularly liked interviews.

‘Well, well.’

Still, since he couldn’t return the microphone, Park Moondae took the microphone readily.

“Magical Boy is…….”

It was then.

“……!”

“Ah!”

From somewhere below the stage, something translucent bounced strongly and hit Park Moondae’s arm.

“Be careful…!”

Ryu Chungwoo pulled Park Moondae with quick reflexes, but he couldn’t block it properly because it was thrown quite strongly.

“…….”

Park Moondae looked down at his arm blankly.

It was all wet.

‘Someone threw a water bottle.’

From the fancy epaulettes to the sleeves, water was dripping and flowing.

Seeing that his forehead was cold, it seemed some also splashed on his side face.

His elbow throbbed a bit.

‘He threw it hard.’

In an instant, the performance hall froze with embarrassment.

Among the audience, all sorts of sounds were coming out, from stirring and worried muttering to small screams.

And the reporters became happy.

‘Well, this is it.’

‘Whoever it is, they’re taking home a scoop~’

Park Moondae first identified the situation quickly.

‘For now, there are no strange components.’

Judging from the fact that his forehead was fine, it wasn’t hydrochloric acid or alcohol. In the worst case, some of the thrower’s saliva would have gone in.

‘Then I’ll just let it pass.’

All this thinking ended during the 3 seconds of shaking off his arm.

It was a thing possible thanks to having spent a youth where he always had to gauge the situation.

Park Moondae gave a smirk.

“You’re quick-witted.”

“…!?”

“I think you predicted my answer.”

And he took off his jacket. Inside the jacket, the school uniform shirt that fans already knew was revealed.

It was the white summer uniform from the Magical Boy music video.

“I thought… if you see the stage directly, you’ll be able to sufficiently confirm the differentiated charm of this song, um.”

“…Ah!”

The members caught the atmosphere in an instant, and they also took off their jackets and threw them to the side.

“Then, with the encouragement, we will start right away. Magical Boy.”

Park Moondae grabbed the microphone again while brushing back his still wet side hair.

Soon, the sound of a music box filled the performance hall.

♬♪♩♪-

♬♪♬♪-

♪♩-

In the middle of the dreamy purple stage equipment, Park Moondae with wet hair opened his mouth.

-I think of you
Whom I met tomorrow, all day long
I dream a dream as blue as the day

And the fans at the site forgot the water bottle incident in an instant.

* * *

TeSTAR’s showcase was around one hour, absolutely not long. However, even before it ended, articles and reviews were uploaded one after another.

Of course, the article mentioning the happening was not missing.

[TeSTAR, Dreamy ‘Magical Boy’ Soaked in Water]

[The Potential of a Prepared Star. A Crisis Sublimated into a Performance]

When clicking on an article with such a title, one could surely see the photo of Park Moondae shaking off the remaining moisture on his hair in summer uniform attire.

Or there was also a photo of him throwing the soaked jacket. The water on the epaulettes being splashed and reflected by the light rather saved the aesthetic sense.

Photos of being hit by a water bottle were also uploaded occasionally, but most were captures of the videos they were filming, so the quality of the dynamic scene where the object was hitting was not good.

Still, the reaction was certain.

-Exactly what kind of crazy bastard are they to throw a water bottle at an idol who is just debuting?

-That was thrown aiming for the faceㅋㅋㅋㅋ If Chungwoo hadn’t pulled him, he would have been hit right in the face for sure

-Definitely a real psychopath

-Was he caught? Please tell me he was caught and taken away

-I’m already sad that I couldn’t go to the showcase and see the stage late, and such a bastard took my seat?ㅋㅋ Just die please

While fans were furious, they were deeply relieved by Park Moondae’s response.

-ㅠㅠIt could have ended gloomily if handled wrong, but it’s a relief that Moondae settled it well, really

-He must have been flustered but it’s really amazing that he passed it over naturally without showing it…

-Eing, I think Park Moondae just truly talked about encouragement because he was clueless?ㅋㅋㅋ The Ajusa character interpretation was accurate~
└Are you bringing up the character story even here? Get out

-I was moved to see the members taking off their jackets together as soon as they saw it, I think the members match well with each other

Still, the cyber wreckers of WeTube did not miss this good bait.

Thanks to that, such a title appeared for a moment in the real-time popular videos of the day.

[The Identity of the Water Bottle That Flew to the 1st Place?]

[The 1st Place Idol Who Got a Water Shower in the Showcase!]

Funny enough, thanks to the good response, all these things brought buzz upon buzz like viral marketing.

“Hyung, did you see this?”

And this news even entered the ears of VTIC, who had just finished their 1st week of activities.