The procedure for a music program was more complicated than expected.
During the dry rehearsal, they checked the sound, movement routes, lighting, and more.
Did it end there? Next, they turned on the cameras and held another dress rehearsal as though it were the actual broadcast.
This was where Chanhwi skillfully displayed the experience of a ten-year idol.
“Audio Director, please raise the microphone volume one notch. Ah. Ah. Okay. And please make sure the light falls directly above Yujin during ‘Blue Rose.’”
The staff members tilted their heads as they watched Chanhwi naturally help with the adjustments.
From what they had heard, he was unquestionably a rookie, wasn't he?
But judging from his behavior alone, he looked every bit like a veteran idol.
That was why someone asked cautiously.
“Are you debuting again, by any chance?”
Chanhwi's shoulders flinched at the question, but he quickly shook his head.
“Oh, no. I just thought doing things this way might work better, so I'm offering suggestions. Ha-ha. Thank you for your help!”
The dry rehearsal ended, and the dress rehearsal began.
Chanhwi was monitoring Yujin's ‘Blue Rose’ when he interrupted the flow.
“Mr. Camera Director! One moment!”
After bringing the filming to a halt, Chanhwi climbed onto the stage.
Yujin looked at him in confusion.
“Yujin, you're letting the cameras distract you too much.”
“Oh......”
The endlessly moving red lights had been throwing him off. He had not expected Chanhwi to notice.
“You only need to sing toward camera one, straight ahead. Don't worry about the others.”
“During ‘Prince’ too?”
“‘Prince’ is different, punk. When we sing it later, watch the order the lights come on.”
“......You act like some kind of veteran?”
“I've been interested in this line of work since I was young.”
That was a lie.
He acted like a veteran because of his regression.
Interested in this line of work since childhood, my ass. Before the regression, he had thrown a tantrum because he did not want to attend university and declared that he would become an idol. He had nearly driven his parents out of their minds back then.
He sighed to himself, feeling as though he had lived with lies on his lips ever since the regression.
***
Time passed, and the live broadcast of Music Town began.
Since <Sun & Moon> were rookies, they were the first to take the stage.
A slogan depicting Earth between the sun and the moon stood out in the audience.
Since they were rookies, their official light stick had not even been released yet. Instead, slogans featuring faces, phrases, and illustrations filled the crowd.
Go, Sunny and Moony!
At some point, the two had come to be called ‘Sunny’ and ‘Moony.’
Amid their fans' cheers, <Sun & Moon>'s official debut performance began.
As expected, Yujin's voice as he sang ‘Blue Rose’ succeeded in drawing even other groups' fans' attention.
Then came the performance of ‘Prince.’
Please follow me. If you do.
I'll give you the stars in the night sky.
Though their numbers were small, the fans doubled the ends of the lyrics with a group singalong.
The remaining parts also concluded smoothly.
Finally, as always, it was time for the ending fairy.
With eyes shining so brightly the camera itself might hide in embarrassment, the two reached out their hands.
As if testing which prince the viewer would reach for.
“Won't you take my hand and come with me to a world of dreams?”
The audience reached toward the two as though bewitched, then belatedly came to their senses.
“WOOOOO!”
<Sun & Moon>'s music-program debut ended successfully.
Backstage, Yujin was breathing heavily.
Chanhwi naturally handed him the bottle of water he had prepared in advance.
“How was it?”
Asked how it felt to be onstage, Yujin drank some water and answered.
“......It was different.”
‘Different, huh.......’
That was not what someone taking the stage for the first time would usually say, but Chanhwi decided to let it pass.
“More importantly, do you think we can take first place?”
He had begun to realize for himself that they had a great song and excellent singing ability, so it was a natural question to ask. However.
“That's impossible.”
Chanhwi's answer was negative.
***
Knet's real-time search panel was full of discussion about Hybrid's comeback stage and Top Secret, which had taken second place this time.
About one in every ten posts among them mentioned <Sun & Moon> as well.
<Sun & Moon>.
Two geniuses who drew public interest through consistent NeoTube activity and debuted after only three months.
What was the quality of their music like?
Some people cried as they listened to ‘Blue Rose,’ while others ended up drenched in sweat from singing along to the chorus of ‘Prince.’
On top of that, their stage presence during the final ending shot firmly captured viewers' hearts.
<Sun & Moon> were the first idol group that year to seize the audience so completely from the very beginning.
The comments beneath the video released on Knet's NeoTube channel were in an uproar.
-Are they really rookies?
-Wow, PTS oppas, I'm sorry. That ending line made my heart skip a beat.
-Sunny and Moony T_T I seriously can't help loving them. Marry this noona, please.
But despite such an excellent performance, the new song by the first-place comeback group <Hybrid> had more than ten times as many views as <Sun & Moon>'s debut track.
Yujin could not hide his disappointment at that reality.
I reminded the discouraged Yujin of something he needed to remember.
“We've only just started running, while those seniors are already far ahead. The gap is inevitable.”
Fandoms wielded enormous influence in the music market.
We were still nothing more than a small stone, while those groups were like a concrete wall before us.
However.
“Our song can become a hit.”
At my words, Yujin looked as though he wanted to know what grounds I had for saying that.
“Think about who made it.”
And just consider who sang it.
‘There will be another chance.’
Neither Yujin nor I had received much attention on our debut stages.
But I knew the outcome—that we would eventually race ahead of those groups—which was why I could remain confident.
‘Seven years is too long. Four years at most.’
This time, my goal was to reach the summit within four years.
So.
“Let's go practice.”
So we could show our fans an even better performance tomorrow than we had today.
Watching the two head toward the practice room, CEO Kim Dae-myeong smiled to himself.
“I wondered if they might be discouraged, but it seems I had nothing to worry about.”
He had walked over to console them, but the trip proved unnecessary.
“He's a sharp young man.”
The word veteran suited Chanhwi better than rookie singer.
Just as Chanhwi had said, Kim Dae-myeong was also certain this song would become a hit.
A great wall of fandom stood firmly in their path, but his experience had taught him that this industry was not sustained by fandom alone.
‘The timing is perfect.’
Hybrid, who had taken first place today, and Top Secret, the rookie group that had been popular recently, would soon begin their hiatuses.
There was talk that KG Entertainment would launch a new group, but.
“We just need to widen the gap before then.”
And he knew better than anyone that widening that gap was the agency's job.
CEO Kim Dae-myeong took his phone from his pocket and called the manager who had recently joined the company.
“Manager Lee, are you busy right now? Yes. Sorry, but you're about to get a little busier. It's time we started kicking things into gear.”
Now it was time to give them wings.
***
The experience of a ten-year idol. For Chanhwi, it was not limited merely to ingrained habits.
To him, ten years of experience meant knowing everything that was about to happen in the entertainment industry.
And at this time, there was definitely...
Chanhwi grinned.