Band Again starts accepting applications in about three months, in May.
We need practice optimized for the survival show as much as possible.
Once filming begins and the missions drop, the time we’ll have to practice will be tight in reality. So we had to prepare, within a big framework, for the missions that would come later.
Even three months is going to feel tight, huh?
In the meantime, the busking video began picking up modest popularity. In views too, it ranked the highest among videos uploaded to the Street Busker channel over the past few months. The moment I sent them our reply, Street Busker posted a channel announcement. The speed of it made me suspect they’d pre-written the post.
[100,000 views achieved: the stars of the “Toward Tomorrow” stage!
Band Blank will appear as regular guests on Street Busker!
Blank’s stage will be held every other week—please give them lots of your attention, subscribers!]
—What is this drive lol
—Yeah, it would’ve been a waste for it to be a one-off ㅇㅇ
—On the days they’re on, I’m going in person to watch lolol
—If I go and rip their masks off I’ll probably get reported, right?
“Did you see the view count? The response is insanely good.”
“When can we use SNS? I need to put these overflowing feelings into words…”
“Seonjae, use your words out loud, not a post.”
“If I say it out loud it loses flavor, okay?”
“I actually agree. Now that I’ve performed Real Music, my soul has sliced through time and space and arrived at the very Gate of Truth… how am I supposed to say that out loud?”
“Seok Dojae, for someone who ‘needs to think,’ you’re really good at it.”
Maybe it’s not just Cha Seonjae—maybe Dojae’s the bigger problem?
“The way I felt a little lonely because you weren’t among the countless fans…”
“Blegh.”
“Who said ‘blegh’?”
“Let’s ban Cha Seonjae from SNS even during promotions.”
“Seconded.”
“That’s the truest thing Kwon Taejin’s ever said.”
Even Go Hangyeol gave an awkward little nod and smile.
Now it was time to worry about the performance two weeks out. Leaving Seonjae to thrash in his indignation, I handed out the setlist I’d prepared in advance.
“You’re all familiar with these songs, right?”
“Whoa, did you straight-up pull my playlist?”
Cha Seonjae’s reaction was especially big. I smiled to myself. Exactly as expected.
“And there’s one more thing I want to announce.”
“I’m still scared whenever you say you’re going to announce something.”
“What is it?”
I cleared my throat.
“For this busking set, I’m thinking of building the stage around Seonjae.”
“What??”
As expected, Kwon Taejin reacted the fiercest—like a spring that had been stuffed in a box suddenly bursting into the open.
“Why? For what reason? What’s he done that’s so great? Seriously, I don’t get it.”
“C-calm down, Taejin.”
“No, Go Hangyeol, step aside. I can’t see straight right now.”
“Yeah, Hangyeol, that guy spazzes hard when he’s mad. Get close and you’ll get hit.”
“Shut it, Cha Seonjae. This is an abuse of leader power. Isn’t a band beautiful because everyone does it together? You’re gonna prop one person up and turn the rest of us into background props?”
I was satisfied with how passionately Taejin was voicing his complaints—more than I’d expected, even.
“What do I do worse than this punk?”
“Plenty, Taejin. Starting with your face…”
“I said shut it, Cha Seonjae.”
Taejin looked beyond despair, on the verge of tears. If I teased him more, he really might threaten to quit, so I offered the carrot.
“Of course you’re not lacking. I know your bass.”
“Then why?”
“Because, like they say, listen to the end. For our busking sets, I want to try building the stage around one member at a time. This time we drew lots for it, and the ladder game landed on Seonjae.”
“Oh, come on! That’s what it was?”
This really felt like being the uncle teasing a nephew…
“Okay, then let’s each prep a solo piece today and show it. We’ll prepare the next performance around whoever did the best. Seonjae, you good with that?”
Seonjae shot a glance at Taejin and lifted one shoulder.
“The result’s going to be the same anyway, right? I’d rather be acknowledged for skill than luck.”
“Let’s see how long that confidence lasts.”
“Even if I don’t get picked, I won’t whine like someone—”
For someone talking like that, he already had his guitar strapped on.
“We prep until exactly midnight, then decide.”
“Hey, I didn’t even say I’d started and he’s already practicing—isn’t that cheating?”
“Seriously, Cha Seonjae, maybe your ambition’s a bit much?”
“Oh, Kwon Taejin, were you practicing? I didn’t notice because I couldn’t hear anything.”
“This little—!”
“Is that hand-syncing I hear?”
Good. Now they’d practice on their own. The reason I lit a fire under those two first is because for them, the other is a log that never stops burning. If one person’s skill improves, the other will scramble to catch up.
“It’ll be funny if after all this, I or Hangyeol get picked.”
I quietly pressed my index finger to my lips. I’m hoping for that too, Dojae.
The two of them practiced straight through, even skipping a meal. When both their stomachs growled at the same time, the three of us stifled our giggles.
“They even held out against delivery food… brutal, truly brutal.”
When Hangyeol, unable to watch anymore, tried to put a piece of chicken to their lips, they insisted they wouldn’t eat until the other guy ate first.
“Ugh, those grade-schoolers…”
In the end, only when I and Hangyeol shoved chicken from both sides at once did they accept it.
Didn’t know they’d compete this hard.
At last, the midnight alarm rang, and Cha Seonjae and Kwon Taejin let go of their instruments like they’d collapsed.
“Okay, let’s hear it. Who wants to go first?”
“Seonjae and Taejin can rock-paper-scissors for it.”
From the start, Seok Dojae and Go Hangyeol seemed to have caught on to my intent; they didn’t look hung up on the competition.
“I’ll go first.”
“He’ll go first.”
“Taejin, lacking confidence? Afraid you’ll get overshadowed if you go first?”
“What are you on about? As the hyung born a month earlier, I am magnanimously yielding the chance to go first.”
Cha Seonjae’s pick was a pop song by a famous singer, “Wave.” It’s a track whose charm lies in a rhythmic beat and breezy melody. Typical of him, who favors songs with a relaxed, free vibe. After a quick tune-up, he knocked the body of his guitar a few times and started playing.
Since he mostly plays rhythm guitar, it was quite different from his usual chord-centered style. If I were a vocalist only and not a guitarist, I’d still say he’s good enough to take lead guitar. Unlike his usual self, he played with big showy moves.
Sometimes I think I could get away with just being the singer.
“Next, Kwon Taejin.”
Taejin shut his eyes and focused entirely on the performance. His pick was a song by a domestic rock band, “Pandemonium.” Just like the title, the charm of the song lies in the chaotic mingling of multiple instruments’ sounds. It’s not an instrument that dominates when everyone’s playing together, but in a solo, the bass has a uniquely captivating pull. For a guy who joked around every day, the seriousness looked strange on him.
It was a performance that showed bass can be flashy too.
We’re definitely putting in a bass solo section…
Seok Dojae prepared a piece that made the most of his biggest strength: power. The kind of playing where even a small motion sends a big vibration through the room; before I knew it, my foot was tapping a small beat.
Told you—he’s the one I worry about least.
Lastly, Go Hangyeol. Since he’d had trouble picking a song, I figured he’d bring one he usually played. But the first melody betrayed my expectations.
What song is this?
A wistful line that called to mind a historical drama. It isn’t easy to make a keyboard sound like classical piano.
Suddenly, I found myself curious to see this kid play actual classical piano. Even before I came back, I’d never seen it.
“Wow…”
Before we knew it, Taejin and Seonjae had forgotten the competition and were staring, slack-jawed, at the performance.
At first, I’d been thinking of choosing between Seok Dojae and Go Hangyeol—or leaving it to chance, blaming it on the ladder game. But watching the performances, I’d planned to choose between Cha Seonjae and Kwon Taejin.
But Hangyeol’s playing flipped my decision yet again.
“Let’s vote by a show of hands. Be honest and don’t raise your hand for your own performance.”
I deliberately started with Hangyeol. And the voting ended very quickly.
“Me? I got it?”
“Hey, Go Hangyeol. Acting like you didn’t care and then you bring out a secret weapon!”
“N-no. You’re not messing with me, right?”
“By the way, what’s the name of the piece you just played?”
“It’s from the Yeonseo OST—‘Letter of Flowers.’ It’s my mom’s favorite historical drama, so I remembered it because I’d heard it a bunch…”
As expected, it was a period-drama OST. I’m not sure yet whether the others will match well with this vibe, but if we can pull it off, it’s a chance to broaden our musical spectrum in one go.
“Then let’s build this busking set around that mood.”
Contrary to my expectation that it would cause a big stir, the first showdown ended peacefully.
***
Bae Shinwoo’s debut was excessively flashy. They even planned a special debut show for him. A rookie— and not even an idol but a male solo—doing a solo show from debut. The flashy set and stage devices grabbed the eye. On top of that, they’d booked the most popular MC these days.
They’re dead set on making him blow up.
I hoped the members wouldn’t slip up and watch the program. I didn’t want to see it either. But since so much had already changed from before I came back, I needed to know how Bae Shinwoo was going to run his mouth about our band.
“Thank you so much for celebrating my debut today!”
Sure enough, the vibe was different from the pre-return debut show. Back then, they were clearly determined from the start to cement the image of a “genius boy who overcame hardship”—he did a stage and cried, talked and cried…
[Even so, thanks to those friends, I realized how much I love music. Ah, even if I’m hated and hurt like this, music heals everything. No matter how hard it gets, I can’t give up music… Sorry, here come the tears again…]
“My neck’s getting tight.”
Time to blame my unnecessarily good memory.
His debut song, “Record of Youth,” had a similar vibe to our video that had made waves. The hopeful lyrics, the light yet faintly wistful melody, all similar. But standing among other session players, he couldn’t carry the breezy freshness from the video by himself. Above all, taking the guitar out of his hands was the best choice they could’ve made. The very item that had been his biggest popularity point at debut was gone.
The digital charting and album sales numbers were also markedly lower. Back then, with the “overcoming bullying” narrative, plus the genius image and sympathy, he’d cracked the top ten of the major streaming charts at debut, and his album had instantly set the all-time record for a male solo debut.
“A lot of people seem curious why you debuted as a solo. Ash said there’s something he really wants to say—how about laying it all out today?”
Clutching the mic in both hands, he took a deep breath and gave an awkward smile like he was shaking. I don’t know how it looked to others, but to me it was nothing but a cloying performance.
“…Hah.”
He’d simply swapped out the object of pity—from us to the public. Then and now, he’s a guy who’s frighteningly good at finding an escape hatch for himself.
“Right, because the truth doesn’t matter to anyone.”
“But it’s okay. I didn’t explain well enough, and that’s my fault too.”
I still wonder: since he has more talent for acting than music, why didn’t he dream of being an actor?
[Fans applaud Ash’s mature attitude]
“Then what’s the real truth singer Ash wants to deliver to the public?”
Bae Shinwoo wetted his lips like he was choosing his words, then met the camera’s gaze. And with a pleasant little smile, he answered brightly:
“I’m still on good terms with those friends.”
I set down the beer can I was drinking.
Right. That’s the Bae Shinwoo I know.