The moment I checked the email that arrived a little later, I let out a shout of joy.
[Congratulations. You’ve been selected to advance past prelims for Band Again.]
“What the—sudden much?”
“I’ve never heard Choi Juyeon scream like that before.”
“No way...”
My tension snapped; I slid down and flopped over the practice-room couch.
“We did it.”
It was Band Blank’s first successful step.
“Holy crap! We really passed, right?”
“Why? If you don’t believe it, you want me to pinch you, Seonjae?”
“Listen to him dropping my surname only at times like this. Gives me chills, you punk, Kwon Taejin.”
Of course I’d thought we’d pass, but tears slipped out before I knew it.
“J-Juyeon... are you crying?”
“No way—Choi Juyeon’s crying?”
“Unreal. Look here, Juyeon.”
“Hey, I said don’t film!”
These idiots won’t even let me feel moved properly. Thanks to Cha Seonjae shoving his phone camera in my face, the tears dried right up.
Since our spot on the survival show was locked, it was time to take out the gifts I’d prepared.
“Guys, look at this.”
With everyone huddled on the couch, staring holes through the laptop replaying our video over and over, I pressed a wrapped package into each of their hands.
“Congrats-on-passing gifts?”
“Damn. Choi Juyeon’s got crazy good taste—”
“What is it, what is it?”
“What might our Young-and-Rich Choi Juyeon have prepared for us!”
“Add ‘Handsome,’ too, Taejin.”
They tore into the wrapping with high expectations.
“...”
And then: silence.
“These are... masks, right?”
“Whoa... they do look expensive.”
“They sell masks like this?”
“P-pretty...”
The gifts were upgraded animal masks.
“I had them custom-made.”
It took a whole month.
Given the nature of survival shows, recording sessions run long. We were used to performing in masks by now, but wearing them for hours was still uncomfortable.
“You could even sleep in these.”
So I’d asked around everywhere and had them made to order—zero foreign-body feel, way higher build quality, and lighter weight to boot.
They cost way more than you’d think, so yes, they count as gifts.
Not that these guys seem to think so.
“From now on, we’re practicing in these all day.”
“Sweet. No need to see Cha Seonjae’s ugly mug—”
“True. And we won’t have to watch Kwon Taejin’s nostrils flare when he concentrates.”
“When do I ever!”
“Cha Seonjae, your mouth falls open more and more when you play.”
Looks like Kwon Taejin’s natural enemy is Cha Seonjae, and Cha Seonjae’s is Seok Dojae. What a tidy little food chain.
“It’s really not long now. Time for closed-door training.”
“How could we get any more closed-door than this?”
“Why, you want to go hole up in some mountain valley, Taejin?”
“Wow... the scary part is, if Choi Juyeon says it, we’ll actually do it.”
“For real. Hey, Kwon Taejin. Zip it.”
And their natural enemy is me.
“Once the survival starts, you won’t even have time to sleep. Brace yourselves.”
“If anyone heard this, they’d think you filmed the survival show all by yourself.”
“We’re winning no matter what, so assume we’ll be filming at least three months.”
“Lord Ju— we believe.”
Seok Dojae’s eyes sparkled first.
“W-we’re... winning...?”
“Hangyeol, if we weren’t going to win, we wouldn’t have entered in the first place.”
“Mm-hm!”
Even Go Hangyeol, worry stamped all over his face, couldn’t hide his excitement.
“But you have to do exactly what I say.”
“Oho, the dictatorship officially begins?”
“Good. Like Taejin said, I’ll show you what a real dictatorship looks like.”
“Kwon Taejin, I told you to shut it, didn’t I?”
Those two? I just have to scratch them at the right timing.
“First: no swearing.”
“Wow, is that even possible?”
“For me? Easy as—”
“‘Easy as’ what, you little— that’s the problem.”
“Is ‘you little’ not a problem too, Seonjae?”
“It is, Taejin.”
“Good boy.”
Since you never know what parts of survival filming end up recorded, we had to eliminate potential problems at the source.
“Second: practice like hell.”
“Aren’t we... already doing that?”
“No. This isn’t enough. Until the first shoot, we’re rooming together on weekdays. Every day.”
“I like staying at Juyeon’s!”
“Yo, this is gonna be fun.”
“Kwon Taejin.”
“Okay, okay. I mean—what fun awaits; I can hardly contain my anticipation.”
Weird affectation, but better that than swearing.
“The last one’s the most important.”
“What is it?”
“Be handsome.”
“Wow, Juyeon—that’s impossible for our Taejin.”
“You little—! Cha Seonjae, you were a lost cause to begin with.”
Seok Dojae immediately checked a mirror; Go Hangyeol’s ears went red. They really were all different down to the bone.
“The moment we take off the masks, we’re going head-to-head with Bae Shinwoo.”
“Oh, I’ve got that, easy.”
“Bae Shinwoo? I can take him out at my level already.”
“If you beat him, Taejin, I won’t even have to step in.”
“Cha Seonjae, I told you I’d kill you, didn’t I?”
“He’s already got that full-on celebrity polish now—and by then he’ll have even more.”
“Ah...”
The power of idol-level upkeep is beyond anything they’re imagining. To control these proud, self-loving punks, I had to jab where it hurt: pride and competitive spirit.
I’d bet my life on this; I was ready to do anything I could.
In the meantime, Bae Shinwoo made his comeback with his first full-length album. And Go Hangyeol messaged me right away.
[Hangyeol_Keys: Juyeon]
[Hangyeol_Keys: I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have given Shinwoo those files back then....]
Does brazen turn into “bold” if you push it far enough? Half that album plagiarized songs I’d worked on. Maybe to dodge accusations of a straight copy, he used sneaky tricks—changing the last note of a melody, swapping chord orders. And then had the gall to lie and call them all originals.
Reading the messages soured my mood. I didn’t want Hangyeol apologizing for the same thing again.
The new songs were getting a better response than his debut. Absurd—and yet, part of me was relieved. If high school-era originals could hit like this, then the songs we’d reveal in the audition—and the ones we’d make after debut—were as good as guaranteed.
[Ash’s album is insane]
The quality is crazy and apparently every track’s self-composed;; should’ve just debuted with self-composed tracks too
But is our Shinu being too humble? Says he only did vocals cuz he couldn’t play instruments;; people didn’t know he composes?
But I couldn’t stand him dressing up our experiences—mine and the others’—as his own lies. Memories I didn’t want to recall kept overlapping; I bit down hard on my lip.
“They say people never change—guess it’s true.”
JW wasn’t a “major” for nothing. They patched Shinwoo’s debut-era weaknesses and sent him back out. First, they blasted articles saying he’d participated in composing and writing every track.
[Ash returns with an all-original album... the rise of a genius singer-songwriter]
Ash (20), returning with his first full-length, participated in composing and writing every track, heightening fans’ expectations. His agency JW Entertainment stated, “For his debut album, the company was heavily involved to set Ash’s musical direction. But recognizing his outstanding musical talent, we decided to entrust him fully this time, and the results have been excellent internally. The public and Ash’s fans will be more than satisfied,” ...
“So that’s how they’re going to carve out the ‘genius’ image.”
He also strapped on a guitar—something they hadn’t dared touch for the debut. The shameless lie was that he’d practiced hard for this album. Of course, not knowing any of that, Ash’s fans busily pasted “hardworking genius” onto him.
A good song goes viral on its own—that’s an unshakable truth. Unlike the debut track, which hit Orange Top 10 on release day and fell off the charts in under a month, this one stayed in the top ten for nearly a week.
With full-on support at his back, Bae Shinwoo snagged his first win since debut. His oh-I-never-expected-this face acting was nauseating.
“Whatever happens, it’ll piss me off less than before regression.”
Back then he cried buckets, said he forgave us for tormenting him, that he wasn’t afraid of us anymore... turned an acceptance speech into a drama. His fans even gave him that puke-worthy nickname, “Crybaby Dumpling.”
Choked up for a moment, Bae Shinwoo cleared his throat and rattled off thanks. Thankfully, no mention of us. I relaxed and reached for the remote—then he picked the mic back up.
“Ah, could I say one more thing?”
“What now?”
Lowering his eyes as if choosing his words, he then stared straight through the camera lens.
“Um... I also want to thank some friends who might be watching me from somewhere. I’m always rooting for you too. Let’s each live brilliantly where we are!”
He smiled brightly, eyes watery. My stomach lurched.
“Fucking lunatic...”
Our group chat burst into flames.
[Seonjae_Guitar: Has that crazy fuck actually lost it?]
[Taejin_Bass: We’re supposed to hide while watching this kind of shit?]
[Dojae_Drums: I knew he wasn’t right in the head, but he’s really not right]
[Seonjae_Guitar: Didn’t he plagiarize a track from that USB he took back then?]
I scrubbed my face with dry hands. Watching that bastard still grinning, I smiled a little myself. We’d lived together for over two years, but Bae Shinwoo clearly still didn’t know my boys.
[Taejin_Bass: If we win the audition can we expose him?]
[Seonjae_Guitar: Then we’re winning for sure]
[Hangyeol_Keys: No need to poke the hornet’s nest. We can beat him on skill anyway.]
[Dojae_Drums: As expected, Go Hangyeol is the most mature here]
Looked like I’d scratched the pride of these live-and-die-by-pride punks just right.
[Nah. I’m going to fuck him up properly.]
And the one most determined would be me.
Finally, I took first place on a music show. It still annoyed me that I hadn’t hit number one with my debut track, but this win was on a different level. Now the agency wouldn’t dare treat me lightly.
“Shinwoo, congrats on your first win!”
“Thank you!”
“I saw your digital ranking climbing—at this rate you might actually hit number one on Orange!”
“It’s all thanks to the staff here.”
A night-and-day difference from my debut promotions. Ah—perfect. The world was finally spinning the way it should. Everything I’d dreamed of had become reality: the spotlight shining only on me, the sturdy support of a powerful label, even the “genius singer-songwriter” image.
I was grateful to the boys who’d gone silent for over half a year. I truly wanted to thank them. There wasn’t a single lie in the acceptance speech I gave today.
Let’s each live brilliantly where we are.
I’ll be on the stage, and you’ll be beneath it, becoming the dark. Light only stands out because there’s darkness.