73

During the tedious waiting time for pre-recording of music shows, one
of the VTIC members was scrolling through their phones and called
out to Chungryeo.

What was shown on his phone was the ninth most popular WeTube
video in real-time.

[1st place idol got hit by a water bottle at the showcase]

[On the evening of the 18th, an idol group's debut showcase was
held in Red Square. The audition show <Idol Corporation> that
heated up the Internet just a few months ago...]

A WeTuber news content creator was excitedly talking about the

showcase's water bottle incident and attaching their personal opinion.

"Isn't that him? From Idol Co."

"...Ah."

Chungryeo looked at the screen and remembered the ridiculous

psychological test.

"Park Moondae."

[He's quick-witted.]
Just then, the video showed a fancam with a vague quality (due to
copyright issues). It was a clip where Park Moondae gently settled the
situation.

"He seems really smart."

"I know."

"But it's kind of not working well for them. After all, they happen to be
at the same time as us..."

Other members who were watching from the side also stepped in and
clicked their tongues.

"It's not the first time for Tnet to do reckless things."

"Their indicators are good, but it must be sad not to get first place."

The slightly sympathetic tone was based on the confidence that they
would win even in the second week.

In fact, it was inevitable.

[#1 Night Sign / VTIC]

It was the daily ranking of the largest music site in Korea.

Since the music chart was organized in a way that the real-time
numbers were not visible, it was impossible to break through the
existing rankings and immediately top the charts without a lot of
effort.

'No matter how fast they grow, it takes at least a week.'

The same could be said with TeStar's music, which will be released at
midnight.

TeStar could only expect to win first place on a music show if their
album sales would surpass VTIC's second week's triple score.
Unfortunately, the initial album sale period overlapped with VTIC for
about a day.

They were meant to lose unless TeStar's side sets a record crazy
enough to exceed all expectations.

Of course, it was also absurd to mention that a new male idol group
would take the number one spot on the music chart no matter how
well they did in the audition show.

"Ah~ Forget this! If we have time to worry about our hoobaes, then
let's just do our best!"

"That's right!"

VTIC members quickly returned to their own respective interests.

But Chungryeo rested his chin on his hand and thought.

'...We could lose though.'

***

The debut showcase ended successfully in a frenzied atmosphere.

However, there was no special after-party.

"We just debuted, so we can't come out on TV looking like a dumpling
bun. This isn't a big deal~"

"Dumpling buns are delicious!"

"Your face should be good-looking, so you shouldn't become chubby

just because you want to eat it."

"Aha!"

Cha Yujin was immediately convinced. I admired Keun Sejin's amazing

communication skills for a while, but then the topic of conversation
came up again.

"Still, Moondae's achievement is the real after-party."

"Th-that's right!"

"You were great."

"...Yes. Thank you."

"Haha, he's getting shy."

"..."

I have been listening to the phrase 'Park Moondae's quickness is the

best in the world' ever since the showcase ended.

Now, I'm more uncomfortable than embarrassed. Especially since

Keun Sejin, who has been doing it on purpose to make me more
embarrassed, was starting to slightly piss me off.

"You all worked hard. Let's... rest for a while."

"Yay!"
"Finally."

Anyway, we received a short break instead of an after-party. At Ryu

Chungwoo's words, the members scattered to the dormitory, showing
various reactions from relief to joy.

I went to sleep. Lee Sejin, who shares the same room also went to
sleep and the quality of our sleep improved.

'I miss the ability of not having to sleep.'

However, the reality show cameras were still running. Because of this,
we had to gather in the living room again after a short personal time.

"Everyone seems to have had a good rest."

"Hehe."

Cha Yujin, who obviously had his face stuffed with snacks, laughed.

And we all looked at Ryu Chungwoo's smartphone together.

"I'm excited because it's already the release date."

"I-I'm nervous..."

This is because the debut album will be released at midnight.

We're not looking on our own phones, but all watching on one phone
together... Well, it's probably to make the picture seem cozy.

"Oh! It passed!"

The time on the smartphone soon changed.

[00:00]

"D-did the song appear?"

"Can you see it now?"

Kim Raebin stiffly explained.

"It takes an hour or more for the scores to be accumulated before it

shows up on the 24Hits chart."

"An hour..."

Lee Sejin disappeared into the kitchen with a sigh. Seems like he went
to get some water.

'...There's a high probability that it won't show up even after an hour.'

This is because we have to compete with a song, whose score has only
been counted for an hour, among the other pieces that have been
counted for twenty-four hours.

Even VTIC had only ranked 87th in the 24-hour chart after one hour.

It seems that Kim Raebin was going to explain that fact further but
then he made eye contact with me and soon closed his mouth.

"...?"

It would have been fine for him to explain this time, though?

Keun Sejin said with a smile as if trying to offset the tense atmosphere.

"Then...how about we watch the music video of 'Magical Boy' first?"

"Ah."

Right. We haven't seen that yet.

We had just returned to our dorm and received a break so we barely

had time to think about it.

'The reality show staff asked us to film a lot of reactions for this too.'

"That's a good idea."

"Let's watch it on the big one!"

Cha Yujin quickly grabbed the remote control and changed the TV
screen to Wetube.

There was no need to search since the music video was on top of the
real-time list.

[테스타(TeSTAR) 'Magical Boy' Official MV]

"Yeah!"

"Uwah."

The members looked at the screen as if they couldn't feel it and finally
came to their senses.

"Oh. Moondae's on the thumbnail."

"I-it came out well."

The thumbnail showed Park Moondae looking back in front of the
classroom window.

Behind the white curtain, the sky coloured in scarlet and purple shone
with a backlight.

'Is this the 1st place treatment?'

I looked at the thumbnail nervously, then operated the remote control

that Cha Yujin was holding and pressed the play button.

"Oh."

The music video for 'Magical Boy' was played against the background
of Cha Yujin's bewildered voice.

The video started with a thumbnail screen.

[...]

Meanwhile, Park Moondae was looking out the window at the sunset.

The moment he looked back and made eye contact with the camera.

The song started.

- I THINK ABOUT YOU ALL DAY

SINCE I MEET YOU TOMORROW

HAVING A DREAM AS BLUE AS DAYTIME

The scene changed.

The old and run-down campus was clearly exposed under the midday
sun, and suddenly purple and shiny bubbles poured out.

♫♪♩♪-♫♪♫♪-♪♩-

And in the common everyday places of the school, the images of the
members performing unusual actions passed by each part.

- EVEN IF THE WORLD IS COLD

THE DREAMS ARE SWEET

EVEN IF REALITY COLLAPSES

THE DREAMS ARE VIVID

Cha Yujin was alone in the rundown classroom and sitting by the table.

He lined up the animal-shaped clockwork doll around the corner and

turned the clockwork. Due to the shadows and lighting, the doll looked
like a small creature.

- I DON'T WANT TO BE LOCKED

I WANT TO FALL ASLEEP

TO DRAW OUT A DREAM

BUT REALITY IS BREATHING

ALL THE TIME...

Seon Ahyun, who was sitting on the infirmary bed, ripped the
pillowcase. Things like shiny dandelion fluff flew out instead of cotton
and sparkled in the air around the bed.

- ALL THAT TIME

I PROBABLY NEEDED IT

THE MAGIC OF GOING TO THE FUTURE

SO I

Ryu Chungwoo shot at the flower bed with a toy gun. Instead of bb
marbles or water, rays of light burst out and blue petals soared.

And a camera zoom unfolds on the rooftop with a purple sunset.

- CAST A SPELL

MAKE A WISH COME TRUE

TRUE TRUE TRUE

- QUIETLY FALLING INTO THE FUTURE

- CAST A SPELL

MAKE A WISH COME TRUE

TRUE TRUE TRUE

- I FALL ASLEEP IN MY BLUE DREAMS

The interlude that came out after the chorus was split into more beats,
and following that was a colourful dance break.

The cross-edited midday rooftop scene deepened the subtlety of the

purple background.

"Everyone worked hard with the new makeup."

"That's right! Everyone, if you look closely... There's a difference in the

outfit and makeup taken in the sunset!"

Keun Sejin explained to the camera.

It was true.

While filming with the daytime in the background we had a more

natural look and during the sunset scene, our makeup had glitter and
blush under the eyes. Our outfit also had more accessories.
'Everyone must have felt like dying filming it all in a day.'

Fortunately, with everyone's hard work paying off, the scene came out
well.

♫♪♩♪-♫♪♫♪-♪♩-

And then came the second verse.

After the strange hypnotizing finger movements were over, Kim

Raebin came out from behind.

He rapped to the melody with a slow and complex rhythm.

Intersecting in the hallway was Kim Raebin, who was sitting on a pile
of broken cabinets while throwing around an icepick.

"Oh!"

"Your voice is good."

"...Thank you."

Kim Raebin replied while feeling a bit shy, but he couldn't hide the fact
that he was proud of himself.

"But why did you choose such a scary thing like an icepick, Raebin?"

"...Because it's cute...?"

"...?"
Keun Sejin closed his mouth to the answer that was beyond his
imagination. Instead, I happily responded to him.

"Let's just say so."

"Sure. It's cute, Raebin-ah."

After confirming that the music video turned out well, the reactions
became more comfortable out of relief.

In the next scene, Lee Sejin was the last one to appear.

Lee Sejin was standing inside the school building, looking at the front
entrance. The school grounds could be seen through the glass door.

And the flowing bridge before the last chorus.

The sound of the riff melody, the music box, was lowered in tone and
the vocal melody followed the same way.

- WHAT CAN'T BE HIDDEN EVEN IF YOU HIDE IT

MAYBE IT'S MAGIC

A BREATHTAKING AND TREMBLING

DREAM

Lee Sejin broke the glass door.

At that moment, the sound of a film rolling could be heard and the
scene slowly rotated.
With a strange whisper passing by, the tape seemed to be turned back
and a scene without music was inserted.

Park Moondae walked into the campus from outside the school.

[...]

After a moment, he stopped in front of the school's front door and

reached out both of his hands to grab the handle. And then.

Clack.

He put a lock on it.

...Click.

As the film rotated, the choreography and the last chorus broke out.

- CAST A SPELL

MAKE A WISH COME TRUE

TRUE TRUE TRUE

- I QUIETLY SLEEP INTO THE FUTURE

- CAST A SPELL
MAKE A WISH COME TRUE

TRUE TRUE TRUE

- I FALL INTO A BLUE DREAM

All of a sudden, the rooftop area where the choreography took place
turned into an unrealistic space.

The railing surrounding the rooftop broke forming transparent

crystals and distorting the light like a prism.

The choreography became more complex and the contortion became

stronger as the light seemed to disturb the background.

♫♪♩♪-♫♪♫♪-♪♩-

The last part of the choreography. The members naturally changed the
formation to a circle. The song ended as soon as they laid their heads
together on the rooftop.

Puff.

Purple bubbles burst out.

[...]
And then the black screen appears.

While the slow-arranged instrumental version of 'Magical Boy' was

flowing, a classic ending credit rolled out like a short film

Only then did the members start talking again.

"Woah!"

"Didn't it turn out really well?"

"Thank you, director."

"I-I think it came out great..."

It became a strange situation in which no one spoke by the books at

the same time.

But no one cared and chatted happily.

"It's very um, it's fun that it came out meaningfully."

"I think our fans will have fun looking for various details."

"Ah, we liked it, so I hope the fans like it too~"

The atmosphere became so warmly affectionate that it couldn't

become any warmer than that.

'It was a good start, so we're just excited.'

Thanks to this, we weren't uncomfortably nervous to check the music

charts.

And the results.

"Wow! We entered it!"

We were ranked 85th and 88th.

'..One song is ranked slightly higher than VTIC's did.'

The popularity of the audition program, which was a nationwide hit,

was more than just an open thought.

'This is crazy.'

However, the members were just happy, perhaps because there are
more people who are used to saying things like 'No.1 in real-time'.

Even if you know it in your head, what you can see right now is the top
80.

So a more intense reaction erupted next.

"All, all of our songs..."

"Gasp!"

On other music sites where real-time charts are still alive, both
TeStar's title songs took first and second places side by side.

[#1 Hi-Five / TeStar] new!

[#2 Magical Boy / TeStar] new!

[#3 Night Sign / VTIC] ▼2

[...]
Even all four songs released on the album were included in the top 7.

Of course, after a while, VTIC will overtake it again. Still, this was
crazy.

The members, who realized it only then, continued to look at the

smartphone screen in shock.

"Let's- let's take a screenshot."

"That's a good idea."

This was a good signal to the beginning of our promotions when we

haven't even appeared on the music show yet.