72

I heard that the music video for 'Magical Boy' was released at
midnight.

However, there was no time for us to check it out. Cha Yujin, who was
mumbling half-asleep was a proof of that.

"Hmh...? The hair is done?"

"The hair was done earlier. We're moving in the car now."

"Oh..."

Cha Yujin uttered with a pale face and fell back to sleep again.

That's right. We have been moving around since last night polishing
ourselves, filming different things and doing interviews...

Since we couldn't sleep properly for the past month, it wouldn't be

strange if one of us became confused while thinking 'where am I and
who am I'.

"N-now is the showcase, right?"

"That's right~"

I could hear Seon Ahyun taking a deep breath after timidly asking the
manager. It seems that he was nervous again because things were just
around the corner.

"Well, all the things we have been preparing during this month... Let's
show everything. No matter what happens, the amount of practice
doesn't betray us."

"That's right~"
"Yes, yes!"

Some of the members who were awake responded to Ryu Chungwoo's

encouragement, whose voice sounded hoarse from tiredness.

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

"...Actually, the amount of practice is high when compared to the

limited time period, but in terms of absolute amount of practice, it is
still insufficient..."

"..."

As I silently stared at him, he quietly changed his words.

"...Nevertheless, I think we can show a passionate performance on

stage."

"Okay."

It's a good thing that he's an observant person, even though he lacked
social skills.

***

Most of the reporters who attended the showcase had high

expectations.

Although not about TeStar's skills, but the buzzworthiness it would

bring to the press.

'First of all, it will surely pull some article views.'

'If they fail, they are as good as ruined.'

The reporters taking pictures and the reporters writing columns

eagerly waited for the showcase to start.

And the shareholders who purchased the stock package from <Idol
Co> sat in front and behind of the reporters.

Most of them had brought slogan signs and cheering tools. There were
different shapes and colors because the official lightstick had not been
released yet, but the excitement of the fans could still be felt.

In that whole atmosphere of excitement, the dark stage lit up and the
opening began.

- High five!

Wearing the same baseball uniform that they wore in the music video,
TeStar performed the choreography more accurately than they did in
the music video.

- MY FEET ARE MOVING

LIKE ZOOMING IN

TO YOU

DDAN DDAN DARADARA DAAN YEAH!

The choreography also frequently featured jumping movements in
which the body moved excitedly to match the fun song.

Fweet~

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

'They're good.'

'The song is good, too!'

The witty ad-libs, such as playing rock-paper-scissors or greeting each

other on stage, were also cleverly cute.

'They don't look like rookies.'

'The audition show members are good at what they are doing.'

The reporters worked hard to think about the title by processing the
sentiment of the favorable uproar.

['Hi-Five' TeStar's proof of popularity begins.]

[TeStar finishes the opening with a homerun!]

Meanwhile, TeStar members briefly went in after finishing the

opening. And instead, the MC came out and drew out the time.

It was a face everyone knew.

"Hello~"
"Ooh!!"

When fans were both happy and disgusted by the familiar MC of <Idol
Co>, TeStar were frantically changing clothes with the help of the staff
behind the stage.

"Ack, my hair!"

"This baseball uniform seriously isn't coming off..."

While TeStar ran out after barely putting on the school uniform jacket
with colorful epaulettes, the MC skillfully led the audience's rections.

"Wow~ It's been a while, dear shareholders! ...Huh? You're not happy
to see me? Aw, let's not do that between us~ We've known each other
for three months! Obviously, only you shareholders have seen my
face."

There was a moment of laughter, mischievous booing and cheers. The

MC laughed and introduced the next stage.

"Then I hope you can meet your stock after a long time. Your stock has
taken off!"

And the lights on the stage lit up again.

TeStar were smiling and began to dance to the prelude of the song.

It was to the song <It's me>.

"...!!"

It hasn't been long since the end of the show, the audience was
enveloped with a strange sentimental feeling.

Besides, it was a new feeling to see TeStar singing <It's Me> with a
smile as they divided the parts with each other.
It felt like watching an epilogue after a happy ending, so the audience
enjoyed the performance feeling warm in their hearts.

- THE ONE SHINING ON STAGE TODAY

IT'S ME!

YES, THE SHINING STAR YOU MAKE

IT'S ME!

"Finally waking up and shining~"

Eventually, a chorus of fanchants kept going.

The TeStar members were positively bewildered by this and sang the
song with a bigger smile.

It was a fun popular song and even the reporters who have
watched <Idol Co> were nodding their heads.

However, this did not warm everyone's hearts.

Some felt frigid about it.

'So they're all done with their songs.'

'Are you that excited to share the song's parts?'

They were fans of the contestants, who were eliminated from <Idol
Co> who attended the showcase without any good intentions.
Of course, most of the fans of the eliminated ones were just enjoying
the stage. There were some members in TeStar who they liked to
some extent, even though the member wasn't their favorite in the
show.

However, there were always a few exceptions.

"This was the Challenger version! Thank you."

The incident occurred after the next song was over, and the members
were briefly talking.

"This version! I really wanted to do it!"

"Yes~ Congratulations, young Cha Yujin."

"Heh."

Cha Yujin was excited to try another team's version of the

song <Final> which was performed in the finals, and the other
members thought it was cuter than when there was no camera.

The reporters did not ask particularly malicious questions

either. However, a few sharp or small trap questions were posed.

"Everyone seems close, but who is the least friendly member?"

"Well, the album preparation was done in a very short period of time.
How was that possible?"

"VTIC made a comeback just a few days ago on the 12th. What do you
think about it?"

The questions were all within our expectations, so Ryu Chungwoo and
Keun Sejin both threw out answers, gently blurring the topic.
"We are all getting to know each other~ Everyone started developing
a strange camaraderie after experiencing <Idol Co> together. We're
also surprised by how fast we got close to each other."

"We were able to proceed quickly because the company had already
prepared everything for the album. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank Director Kwak Shin-gyun and the staff."

"When I meet VTIC sunbaenim, I want to get a signed album! This is on

my bucket list!"

This was the moment, when the survival interview skills that the
members had learned to avoid evil editing, shined.

And then the right question came up.

"You chose two title songs. What's the charm of 'Magical Boy' that's
different from the 'Hi-five' performance?"

"Ah."

Ryu Chungwoo reflexively tried to grab the microphone, but after a

short judgment, he passed the answer to Park Moondae, the initiator
of the idea.

'It's not a weird question, so it should be okay for Moondae to answer.'

His act was completely out of consideration, but Park Moondae was
not the kind of person who liked interviews very much.

'Damn it.'

Still, he couldn't turn down the microphone, so Park Moondae picked

it up.

"About the Magical Boy..."

It was then.

"..."

"Ah!"

Something translucent looking flew up from the bottom of the stage

and hit Park Moondae's arm.

"Careful...!"

Ryu Chungwoo pulled Park Moondae with his quick reflexes, but he
couldn't stop it properly since the object flew quite hard.

"..."

Park Moondae looked down at his arm. It was all wet.

'They threw a water bottle.'

Water dripped down from the colorful epaulettes to the sleeves.

Seeing that his forehead felt cold, the water must have splashed on the
side of his face.

His elbows throbbed slightly from pain.

'They threw it hard.'

In an instant, the venue stiffened from the perplexity.

There were all kinds of sound coming from the audience, from
worried murmurs to small screams.

And the reporters were delighted by this.

'Seriously.'
'I don't know who it is, but they did it~'

Park Moondae quickly grasped the situation.

'First of all, there are no strange substances mixed in.'

Judging from the fact that his forehead was intact, there was
no hydrochloric acid or alcohol. Even in the worst case scenario, the
guy who threw it would have just spit in it.

'Then I'll just let it go.'

The whole incident was over in three seconds after hitting the arm.

This was possible because he spent his adolescence observing and

measuring his environment and acting accordingly to situations.

Park Moondae chuckled.

"How quick-witted of you."

"...!?"

"It seems you predicted my answer."

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

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

"I was thinking that... If you see the stage in person, you can see the
distinctive charm of the song. That should be enough for you to
confirm it."

"...Ah!"
The members quickly grasped the situation, and took of their jackets
and threw it aside.

"Then we will start right away since you seem to insist. This is the
Magical Boy."

Park Moondae swept his wet hair and grabbed the microphone.

Soon, the sound of music boxes filled the concert hall.

♫♪♩♪-

♫♪♩♪-

♪♩-

In the dreamy purple stage setting, wet-haired Park Moondae opened

his mouth.

- I THINK ABOUT YOU ALL DAY

SINCE I MEET YOU TOMORROW

HAVING A DREAM AS BLUE AS DAYTIME

And the fans at the scene instantly forgot about the water bottle
incident.
***

TeStar's showcase lasted for around an hour, and it was never too
lengthy. However, articles and reviews were posted one after another
before it was even over.

Of course, there were also articles mentioning the incident.

[TeStar, the dreamy 'magical boy' soaked with water]

[The potential of the prepared stars. A crisis turned into a

performance.]

If you click on an article with these kinds of titles, you can see a
picture of Park Moondae wiping off the excess water from his hair and
the summer uniform.

Or there were pictures of him throwing the wet jacket. The water on
the epaulettes splashed and reflected in the light, enhancing the
aesthetics.

Some pictures of the water bottle were occasionally uploaded, but

most of them were screen captures from videos so the quality and the
visibility in the video was not good.

Still, the response was clear.

- What the hell are you doing, throwing a water bottle at an idol
who's just debuting?
- It was supposed to hit his face ㅋㅋㅋㅋ If Chungwoo didn't pull
him he would have been hit in the face

- That person is obviously mentally ill

- Were they caught? Please tell me they were caught and taken
away

- I was so sad that I couldn't go to the showcase, but that bastard

took my seat? lol please die.

Although the fans were outraged, they were deeply relieved by Park
Moondae's response.

- It could have ended in a mess, but it's a relief that Moondae

managed it well

- He must have been flustered, but it's amazing that he let it go

naturally...

- Nah, I think Park Moondae was just being ignorant and was
seriously talking about being urged to start the
performance ㅋㅋㅋ I think this a more accurate interpretation of
his character from Idol Co.

└ You're bringing up the stuff about his character here? Get lost.

- It was touching see the members taking off their jackets as soon
as they saw him do it. It seems the kids are getting along well.
Still, the WeTubers who profit from publicizing other people's
misfortunes did not miss this good prey.

[The true colors of <Idol Co>'s 1st place rank who got hit by a
water bottle]

[1st place idol who got hit by water at the showcase!]

Ironically, thanks to the good response, all of these have provoked a

topic of discussion like a viral marketing.

"Hyung, have you seen this?"

And the news even reached the ears of VTIC, who had just completed
their first week of promotions.