“Frog? Why a frog all of a sudden?”
“Hey, Kwon Taejin. What the hell do you mean, frog?”
“No, I’m telling you, it sounded like frog.”
“……”
“Ah……”
While Taejin desperately tried to deny reality, the others had gone quiet and calm. Only Seok Dojae still looked as if to say, Isn’t it fine?
Seriously, his mental game is insane.
If positivity could take human form, it would probably be him. But this wasn’t the time for that.
“A band that’s strong only in live performance… and only in live performance……”
We’d practiced endlessly together, but this was the first time we’d ever filmed a proper video.
I thought we’d gained experience through busking, but no—we were a band that only shone in actual concerts.
“Should we call this a good thing, or a bad thing?”
“It’s a good thing!”
“Yeah. Life is live battle, isn’t it—”
An unexpected obstacle. Of course, it wasn’t that the video performance was bad. Everyone had practiced hard; taken individually, the playing wasn’t poor.
But.
It didn’t mesh at all.
Unlike live shows, a recording flattens everything. That’s why people spend so much time mixing and editing.
And in our current video, not a single advantage of live performance showed.
“Looks like we need an audience.”
We still had plenty of time to polish recordings. As long as we cleared this preliminary audition, we’d be performing in front of audiences throughout the survival show. Even the very first round, even if there wasn’t a general audience, would still have contestants and judges watching in droves.
Which meant the solution was simple.
“Call your families.”
People who could be our audience without breaking the secrecy. Their families.
“Our families?”
“Just like that?”
“Damn, that actually sounds fun.”
“My mom’s probably busy though……”
They each muttered something, then suddenly all at once clapped their hands over their mouths. Eight eyes turned toward me.
I see you, Seok Dojae.
That rough hand poking at Go Hangyeol’s side—and in the end, Hangyeol was the first to speak.
“Juyeon……”
“It’s fine.”
We’re not in a relationship where I need to spell everything out, are we?
***
My memories of my parents were always the same. Both of them screaming, fighting all night, again and again. It was a wonder they’d ever married, since they were different in everything from one to ten.
A father who believed money could solve anything, and a mother obsessed with beauty. A father who saw the price tag first in everything, and a mother who had never once looked at a price tag in her life. The biggest tragedy was that they’d both been born with too much.
Even after all love between them had long died, they couldn’t divorce easily because there was too much to divide.
Their fighting had begun when I entered elementary school, and it finally ended when I entered high school. By then, of course, each already had a lover. Both declared they couldn’t stand staying in Korea, where memories of the other lingered, and said they would live abroad.
“Juyeon, who do you want to live with, Mom or Dad?”
My first and last choice. And my answer had already been decided.
“I’ll stay in Korea until I graduate.”
“Ah……”
“……”
I shouldn’t have looked up.
At my answer, both their faces showed relief. The first and last time they ever looked the same.
A spacious apartment under my name, huge allowances wired into my account every month. For birthdays, expensive gifts sent across the ocean in competition.
As if they were competing with each other.
Back then, all of it felt meaningless. As if throwing money around was their way of easing their conscience—at least we’re fulfilling our duties as parents, right?
Nearly killed myself with part-time jobs instead.
I hated using their money so much I worked myself ragged, until I almost injured my hands. Only then did I drop that pitiful pride. Even after that, I still only used the bare minimum for living. My last shred of self-respect.
Even when JW Entertainment trampled me and I left Korea, I refused my parents’ help. In America, I really did start from the bottom. I played in pubs without pay, grateful just for room and board.
“I don’t need to do that anymore.”
All that grueling experience remained with me. Doing it again would just be a waste of time.
And.
“A band eats money like crazy.”
I didn’t know why I’d been sent back to the past, but this time I had one goal only.
To make Blank the best band. With all five of us together.
For that, there was no reason to hesitate over anything.
***
We rented a new practice room for the shoot. With more than ten people crammed into the space where it was usually just the five of us, it felt far livelier.
“I was wondering how you’d been practicing all this time—finally showing us, huh?”
“Sorry, we had our reasons.”
“My boy, it’s been ages since I saw you play drums!”
“He probably plays better than you now, Dad.”
“Oh ho. You think you can surpass your master?”
The mood in Seok Dojae’s family was warm. Probably the most supportive family out of all the members.
“You never study……”
“You took a leave of absence the moment you entered college—was it for the band?”
“Yessir~ I’ll succeed and make it up to you!”
“God, who did he take after—”
“Of course, he’s half Mr. Kwon, half Mrs. Baek!”
“Quit fooling around!”
Even I got nervous under Taejin’s parents’ eyes. Taejin himself, though, was grinning slyly as he teased them.
“You came early?”
“Don’t ask. I’ve got to work late every night starting tomorrow.”
Cha Seonjae’s sister came instead of his parents. I’d heard she was a lawyer too. She must have come straight from work, still in a perfect suit. But the way she looked at her much-younger kid brother was filled with warmth.
I’ll prove to our parents that I’ve got a future in music.
The only black sheep in a family of lawyers. Taejin always teased him that he didn’t look like a guitarist, and seeing him so neatly dressed, I could see why.
“Go Hangyeol, where’s your mother?”
“Seems like she’s busy. She said she’d come if she had time, but since she’s not here yet…”
He tried not to show it, but his disappointment was obvious.
“She can come next time!”
“Yeah.”
Ding—
At that moment, a middle-aged woman came through the door. She looked so healthy I could hardly connect her to the last image I had of her before regression.
“Mom!”
“So everyone’s here… Hello, I’m Hangyeol’s mother. Sorry I’m late, traffic was awful.”
“Glad to meet you, Mrs. Go!”
Thanks to Taejin’s sociable mother, the parents didn’t feel awkward together.
“By the way, Juyeon, didn’t your family come?”
“Dad!”
Dojae’s eyes widened, then darted nervously to me. I smiled it off.
“My parents aren’t in Korea.”
“Hm?”
Nothing to hide.
“Oh, they must be busy!”
“So they’re working abroad?”
Eh?
I hadn’t expected them to be so free of prejudice.
“Then do you live alone? Do you eat properly?”
“This guy cooks like a pro. Last time we had a sleepover, he and Hangyeol made breakfast.”
“He could open a kimchi stew restaurant, I swear.”
Nice, Dojae, Taejin. Whatever the angle, it was best to leave a good impression. We planned to keep this band going for a long time.
“He must be very independent—”
“If only Taejin had half of Juyeon’s sense……”
“Madam, too perfect a son is just exhausting. Ow!”
“You’re asking for it, boy!”
Dojae chimed in too.
“Juyeon gave us all new instruments. He even paid for this practice room himself.”
“Where’d you get the money…”
“My parents said I could use my allowance however I wanted. So I decided to invest it all in the band.”
Taejin’s father looked surprised.
“Isn’t that overdoing it? This guy’s skills aren’t exactly—”
“They are exactly that. I’m investing because I trust my members’ skills.”
Maybe it was my tone of conviction, but Mr. Kwon flinched.
“We’re all serious about music. So not a single won feels wasted.”
The parents’ expressions shifted as they listened, growing more serious. Even Taejin lost his playful grin. Dojae, too, had a look I’d never seen before.
“That’s why we wanted to show you today, and ask for your honest evaluation.”
“We don’t know much about band music though. Will that be okay?”
“Of course. Our goal is to create performances that can move even people unfamiliar with bands.”
“Wait… Juyeon, you’re the same age as my kid, right?”
“Uh—yes. Twenty.”
“Would you consider joining our family as a son-in-law?”
“Mom!”
Looks like Mrs. Kwon was already planning to adopt me.
“Thank you for inviting us today. I really wanted to see Hangyeol play piano—well, keyboard. I was curious since he never showed me.”
Hangyeol jolted in shock. Knowing his family situation, I couldn’t help being tense.
“Oh my, he used to play piano? It suits him so well!”
For an instant, a flicker of awkwardness passed over his mother’s face. Beside her, Hangyeol had gone pale.
I pretended to trip over a mic cable.
SKREEECH—
Everyone clapped hands over their ears at the screech, and I bowed in apology.
“Sorry! Guess I’m nervous performing in front of parents. Are you alright?”
“It’s fine! Now you actually look like a real twenty-year-old.”
“Thank you. Then, we’ll start the performance!”
As everyone took their positions, Hangyeol passed by and murmured.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t embarrass me, alright?”
“Of course.”
His determined face was one I’d never seen. We bumped fists lightly. Once the instruments were set up, I glanced around at the members. The atmosphere was different now. More solemn.
“The song we’ll play is our original, ‘Shooting star.’ We wrote it after we went out together and saw a meteor shower, and it carries the wish we made that night. Please enjoy!”
“Our baby, fighting!”
“Hangyeol, we’re cheering for you!”
“Taejin! If you mess up, no dinner tonight!”
“Mrs. Baek, that’s too cruel!”
Laughter swept through the room.
So that’s who Taejin takes after.
I pulled out the mask I’d prepared, and the others, as if by habit, did the same.
“A mask?”
“Taejin looks more like a hamster than a cat anyway.”
Finally, the record button was pressed.
“Hello, we’re the band Blank! This is our video audition. The original song is titled ‘Shooting star’!”
I glanced at Taejin’s father, still doubtful, and drew in a deep breath.
Hoo.
I let out all the lingering tension with a sigh. My head went clear, leaving only one resolve.
Let’s show them our music.
And prove the sincerity of the members.