Debut or Die - Chapter 480
TeSTAR at Waterbomb was crazily taking over SNS.
-OMG, Ryu Chungwoo shirtless!!
-Waterbomb was crazy; I’m using a phone with a shattered screen right now.
-What to do, what to do, what to do?!
-Hahahahahaha, everyone went nuts.
Real-time shared impressions, videos, and photos. Heat and energy; every expression was filled with exclamation marks, brimming with liveliness and dynamism. There was an excitement close to madness. And undoubtedly, the MVP was…
-Crazy guy (video)
It was Cha Eugene.
Cha Eugene, who suddenly appeared in the middle and dominated the stage as if to devour it, was captured from all angles by phone cameras and uploaded to the internet. Numerous eye-contact photos and videos were pouring in even now.
In this short time, how many tens or hundreds of people were captured? There seemed to be hundreds of posts raving about making eye contact with Cha Eugene.
-I can’t hear, Cha Eugene. Every time you come, there’s so much screaming, Cha Eugene is here.
–ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ (photo)
-Does Cha Eugene always look like this? (video)
A midsummer night. Cha Eugene, with eyes shining against the backlight of lights that seemed to pierce like the sun, looked like he could swallow all the gazes.
-Wow, damn
-I thought he was sick.
-He’s flying around like crazy;;;
-He must be insane. Oh, please, I sold my ticket because I thought you wouldn’t come, you b*stardㅠㅠㅠ
Of course, among Cha Eugene’s personal fans, there were quite a few cries. Just a few days ago, there was an announcement that Cha Eugene would be absent from the schedule for health reasons. Naturally, it was widely believed that he would likely miss Waterbomb as well. But on the day…
-????
-What’s going on?
Without any other words, he suddenly appeared in the middle and ran madly towards the stage and the audience, leaving everyone stunned. And soon, they started screaming. But the complaints due to individual losses were hardly noticeable…
– Cha Eugene, wow, crazy
It was overwhelming. Even through the low-resolution screen, the gleam in Cha Eugene’s eyes at Waterbomb was visible, with water droplets and moisture clinging to the lens. His expressions, movements, and intensity.
-He’s a legend.
-I thought Cha Eugene would suit Waterbomb, but I didn’t expect this…
-Did Cha Eugene come back from some intense training instead of being sick?
Of course, if you looked closely at the details, you might have noticed something off. Like how TeSTAR allocated fewer group dance parts or increased the ad-lib sections to avoid perfect synchronization. Or how Cha Eugene’s vocal stability seemed a bit off. But the audience didn’t have the mental space to care about such details.
In this festival-like event, the most maximized ability was the presence of his charisma stat. That alone captured everyone’s attention.
-I posted a 3-second clip of Cha Eugene on Insta, and it already has over 50,000 views in 10 minutes;
Just posting a short clip with hashtags on SNS garnered a flood of views.
-Ah, I should have come
-Does Waterbomb sell VODs or something? Please
The reactions of people online, who were hitting the ground in regret, were not out of place.
The audience in the video seemed to be going crazy. And they really were.
At the Waterbomb venue.
Waaaah!!
The stage was running wild.
[In the pose!]
The third stage was the latest song, ‘Pose,’ with a fun American 80s high-teen concept. Originally a playful and exciting song focusing on youthful charm, it was adapted to feel more relaxed and hot for Waterbomb.
Although Cha Eugene didn’t comment on it, Stier Cha Eugene quite liked this song. So, he tried not to think too deeply about it. He performed the learned choreography and went wild.
“Hoo.”
And finally, the interlude between songs arrived.
[Did you enjoy it~?]
Finally, the sound of the host’s voice could be heard.
…Wow.
Catching his breath and running a hand through his hair, he saw a sturdy hand offering him a water bottle. It was Leader Ryu Chungwoo.
“…”
STier Cha Eugene almost mistook it for a moment. It was the adrenaline. But soon, he realized the situation again.
It’s okay.
“Thanks.”
He drank half of it in one go and poured the rest over his head with a grin. Screams erupted from the audience again.
And then, the cheerful voice of Lee Sejin. [That’s right, Cha Eugene has appeared as a special guest~ Everyone, are you happy?!]
Aaaah, yes!!
Yes!!
Screams mixed with affirmation, admiration, and even some curses filled the air.
The audience, the audience!
Oh, damn. Though it was embarrassing to use such words, Cha Eugene felt a tingling sensation as if his hair was standing on end. Was it because it had been so long since he received such a reaction?
Park Moondae, who was wringing out his jacket beside him and got splashed with water again, noticed Cha Eugene’s expression. Was he overwhelmed for a moment? He knew the exact reason. It was because it had been so long since STier had been in such an environment.
Unlike TeSTAR.
…TeSTAR is the headliner of the performance. So, the audience for this performance was already prepared to give them attention.
….
That was something STier Cha Eugene had never had, no matter how much he had been active.
STier was already a ‘cooled down’ group. The public loses interest in a topic once it has been overused, and they won’t pay attention to it again until its ‘cool time’ returns.
People don’t pay attention. How terrifying are human psychology and preconceptions. These traits even made people ignore Cha Eugene’s stage.
However, In that miraculous moment when the public’s interest returns. Stier Cha Eugene’s presence, honed to the very end while waiting for that single moment, now displayed an overwhelming and almost violent level of attraction. At least Park Moondae knew this and smiled for various reasons.
Yes. Finally…
Until Park Moondae was drenched again.
“Take it off!!”
“…Yes.”
Wow!!!
Park Moondae gave up on the jacket without hesitation as the water cannon hit again. The sudden cheer grew louder regardless of the progress.
[Now, we’ll go with our encore song~]
Then, slowing down the tempo a bit, the final song captured the atmosphere of a summer night. A very popular song that everyone could sing along to. The OST of the movie Limestone.
[Black-hole
Let me swallow it]
Black Hole.
The deep tone resonated in the ears. What sounded like a chorus was the audience’s voices. Ooooooo- Some excited audience members turned on their smartphone flashes and waved them around to match the mood.
Cha Eugene moved to the unfamiliar yet pleasant song that he had practiced for only a few hours. The cheers deepened again. In the surge of adrenaline, he looked at the audience and listened to the music. Deep, rich, and unique melody. And within it, he found traces he recognized
Guitar riff. He remembered the low, unconfident voice of his friend who had played it for him.
“For the next album… No, if that’s impossible, it would be nice to use it someday…”
Kim Raebin made this. It seemed that here, he was able to turn it into a song as he wished. But that thought was very brief.
To dwell on such thoughts… This stage was too long-awaited and too grand. And there were people who kept their eyes on him as if they were entranced.
“Cha Eugene!”
“Eugene!”
Are they fans of this ‘TeSTAR Cha Eugene’? Or is this purely a reaction to his performance? He couldn’t tell. But at this moment…
[Black-hole!]
He was the one standing on the stage.
Cha Eugene could fully embrace that stimulation. Moving the body, expressing, and digesting the song. And the audience reacts!
That thrill.
So he realized.
Ah.
So this was it.
[Hit it like a comet]
The reason he couldn’t simply give up and find another path. The reason he couldn’t let go.
It’s fun.
[Shatter like a shooting star]
He liked this, damn it.
* * *
The bed was comfortable. The text I was reading was quite comforting too.
-Please, just one more Waterbomb… Please.
“Hmm.”
I scrolled on my smartphone with satisfaction.
Half a day after Waterbomb ended. All the posts dominating the real-time trends were related to TeSTAR.
From safety to exposure, it was a bit of a challenging route. Even considering the risks, the buzz generated from the bold choice was worth it.
-Please come to Incheon. I’ll do really well. I’ll bring my water gun, please.
–ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠAhyeon’s shirt-ripping fancam… finally out.
-How did the Jacket Trio all lose their jackets (video)
-Lee Sejin is such a fox… did you see the teasing with the shirt off? If you don’t become a fan after this, you must not be into men.
Even humorous posts like this were popping up.
=========================
[An idol gave me a gift, but I don’t know if it was for my boyfriend or me]
(capture) (link)
A couple who received a jacket from Kim Raebin at Waterbomb is fighting over who it was given to without yielding an inch. They say Kim Raebin’s judgment is urgently needed, lol.
=========================
-Crazy, lolololololololol
-The guy says it’s his because of the size, and the girl says she made eye contact first. Both are quite convincing, lol.
-Raebin, please show up quickly before Solomon’s judgment, lol.
└Split the jacket in half, lol.
For reference, this is what he said when asked directly.
“What? Ah! The lady seemed to be cold, so I gave her my jacket…”
I knew it.
Anyway, the conclusion is…
What else could it be? It means a huge success.
I chuckled.
This automatically keeps something else in check.
But in the midst of this, what about Ĭter?
The top idol who appeared at Waterbomb took all the spotlight, so there’s no way a rookie who appeared at Summer Pool would get any mention. It was just a pointless act of doing events for cheap. Or rather…
–Hmm, seems less talented than expected
-Doesn’t it feel oddly solemn?
If you sort the comments on the WeTube fancam by the latest and look for Korean ones, you can find reactions like these. In short, by trying to market with a strong concept, they ended up exposing some weaknesses at this raw event where they got sprayed with water.
Lack of experience.
Lack of live response ability.
Hmm. I rubbed my chin. If I play this right… I could turn it against them.
It’s kind of annoying.
No matter how I think about it, trying to spread negative rumors about Cha Eugene was a bit too much. That’s not a strategy. That’s underhanded. But if they insist on thinking it’s a strategy…
I smiled and got up from the bed. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I can do the same….
“Lie down, Park Moondae.”
“…”
Damn it.
I leaned back against the headboard.
Lee Sejin sat on the edge of the bed with a beaming smile. “Wow~ As soon as the schedule ends, you get sick! A fever of 38 degrees!”
“…”
“As expected of Moondae, you finish all your schedules and then get sick again!”
Stop it.
“But does that mean you’re going to take a good rest now? Right?”
“Yeah.”
But isn’t it possible to rest your body while still using your brain? And it’s not just me who’s exhausted. If you listen closely.
“Ugh.”
“Sigh…”
That’s the sound of Kim Raebin and Bae Sejin groaning in their respective rooms.
That’s right. The only ones who were in bad shape were the ones who wore jackets at Waterbomb.
All the ones who moved the most during the Cha Eugene incident.
But we all ended up losing our jackets and running around bare, so it was an expected outcome. It seemed like the tension had been released, and our bodies felt heavy since dawn.
I nodded and soon reached a fairly credible conclusion. But even though we moved a lot, the others weren’t exactly taking it easy either, right?
Stayed up all night, ran around the company, and went through a few days of mental stress. And then we performed while getting hit by an unknown stream of water all over our bodies…
“You don’t feel well either, do you? Am I right?”
“…”
This guy is avoiding my eyes.
“Go lie down.”
“Yes.”
It was two hours later. Soon, everyone started to come down with a stable case of the flu.
“…What?”
That is, everyone except for Stier Cha Eugene.