‘It's been a while.’
Yujin, the Crescent Moon Embracing the King, sat alone in the waiting room and savored a sensation he had not experienced in a long time.
Only three months had passed, but he had spent all of that time with Chanhwi. Waiting alone to go onstage felt like something from the distant past.
-I told you I'm not going back!
He remembered what he had said to the person on the phone a few days earlier.
‘It's not as if I already miss him or anything.’
Had they said this show would be televised?
Then he would win for all to see. He would show them how much happier he was now than he had been back then.
“Please stand by!”
***
When the Crescent Moon Embracing the King came onstage in a royal robe, the celebrity panelists exclaimed in admiration.
“Wow, even the way he walks is regal......”
“Goodness, Your Majesty, have you arrived?!”
-Facing him, Do I Have the Face of a Mask King?! Grand Prince of Mask Kings!
A man wearing the face of a king and an identical royal robe came onto the stage.
“Goodness, there's another sovereign over here.”
“Your Majesty! We beg you to become the Mask King!”
Grand Prince of Mask Kings waved lightly at the panelists' playful remarks.
“There cannot be two kings beneath the same sky. Only one of them will advance to the next round!”
When MC Seong-yoon finished speaking, Crescent Moon and Grand Prince of Mask Kings looked at each other and nodded.
The song selected for their duet was ‘Bravo, your Life’ by the group Four Seasons.
Crescent Moon sang the first line.
Late in the evening beneath a waning moon, you raise a glass of soju.
You regret the years you spent stumbling through life.
“Wow......”
He had sung only the first line, yet every panelist on the judging panel could not help but marvel.
His heavy, resonant tone expressed the story and emotion contained in the song beautifully.
Grand Prince of Mask Kings, who had rehearsed with Crescent Moon several times, continued with the next line in a resigned voice.
Bravo, bravo, your life—your own life!
For the sake of the hope that carried you this far.
.......
For your radiant future.
When the song ended, cheers and applause poured from the audience.
MC Seong-yoon returned between the two contestants and addressed the judging panel.
“Yes, that was a wonderful performance from both of you. Let's hear the judges' thoughts on our first duet. Shall we begin with former Mask King Kang Seung-min?”
Kang Seung-min smiled and began to speak.
“First, I apologize for saying this, but wouldn't the vote be unanimous? That's what I think.”
He looked around as he spoke, and the others nodded one after another.
“Grand Prince of Mask Kings seemed to reach enlightenment and let everything go halfway through. All the strength just drained from the song—”
At his critique, Grand Prince of Mask Kings scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“Wouldn't Grand Prince of Mask Kings be closer to a variety entertainer than a musician?”
“Ah, an entertainer?”
“Yes. An entertainer who sings... well?”
Honestly, calling anyone good in front of Crescent Moon sounded almost meaningless, so Kang Seung-min grew cautious with his answer. But the confident claim he made next left Crescent Moon horrified.
“Crescent Moon's vocal tone was extremely compelling. He brought out the mood of the song wonderfully too. He feels like a skilled vocalist, but the stylish way he rides the rhythm... I cautiously suspect he's an idol.”
Crescent Moon's shoulders flinched almost imperceptibly.
“Then could it be Jeong-hun from PTS?”
“Or perhaps Uk-il from Male Idols.”
“I suspect Grand Prince of Mask Kings is Hong Jeong-cheol.”
The panelists named everyone they could think of, but they could not reach a conclusion.
Unable to watch any longer, MC Seong-yoon intervened.
“You all seem to have different answers. Would you rather I give you boards? Do you want to write them down?”
“Ah, I don't know. Just keep the show moving.”
“Ha ha, understood. Now, it's time to announce the result of the first matchup in round one. Who will advance to round two? We'll reveal the result now!”
Rapid drumming began with his announcement, making Crescent Moon tense as well.
What if I failed to advance to round two?
“The contestant chosen by the judging panel to advance to round two was Crescent Moon Embracing the King!”
As MC Seong-yoon announced the result, the panel's vote appeared.
20 to 1
When they saw the single vote, the panelists glared at whoever had cast it.
The person under scrutiny shrugged and joked.
“I liked that person's singing.”
Grand Prince of Mask Kings bowed to him with deep gratitude, while Crescent Moon looked up at the Leaf King sitting on the throne.
“......”
***
As King of Mask Singer began, Grass Leaf, Tree Leaf, Maple Leaf sat on the Mask King's throne.
Behind his mask, he wore a broad smile.
‘Now then, shall we see how they struggle today?’
Lee Mu-won had no doubt that he would remain Mask King this week.
Until he heard someone sing.
For the sake of the hope that carried you this far.
‘He's pretty good, isn't he?’
Only the MC received information about the contestants, so even Lee Mu-won did not know Crescent Moon's identity.
‘Was there an idol singer this good?’
He tried to reason out the answer too, but like the panelists, he could not reach a conclusion.
‘I'll be in trouble if that guy reaches me.’
He called the singer merely “pretty good” out of pride, but the thought occurred to him that he might truly be in trouble if the man advanced.
As expected, however, Crescent Moon breezed through the first round.
‘H-he just looked at me, didn't he?’
Their gazes met when Crescent Moon looked up.
It was as if he were saying, Wait there. I'll drag you down myself.
‘No. Don't come.’
But as people said, bad feelings rarely proved wrong.
“The winner of round two is once again Crescent Moon Embracing the King!”
He charged upward, knocking down one contestant after another.
“The winner of round three is Crescent Moon Embracing the King! Congratulations! With this, the showdown between Crescent Moon and Leaf is set.”
A showdown that should never have happened had come to pass.
“Yes, Leaf is leaving the Mask King's throne and coming onto the stage for the final contest!”
Was it Lee Mu-won's imagination, or did the MC sound more excited than usual today?
“Will Leaf become the first Mask King to defend the throne ten times? Or will a new rising star claim the crown? The long-awaited fourth round, the final stage, begins now!”
The challenger, Crescent Moon, had selected ‘Yellow Light.’
The instant Lee Mu-won saw the title, he glared at Crescent Moon in disbelief.
‘He's going to sing my own song in front of me?’
‘Yellow Light’ was Lee Mu-won's massive hit from the previous year.
Had he chosen it knowing that?
Yet before even a minute of the song had passed, Lee Mu-won had no choice but to admit it.
‘He's seriously good.’
Unlike the bright, fast-tempo original, Crescent Moon lowered it by two keys and sang it in a way that emphasized its sorrow.
Lee Mu-won had never imagined that someone would interpret his song that way.
Lee Mu-won did his best in his defense performance too. But.
“The judging panel's result is 16 to 5, an overwhelming victory for Crescent Moon! The 150th Mask King has been crowned!”
As he surrendered the Mask King's crown and robe, Lee Mu-won smiled bitterly.
‘So I was the one struggling.’
Producer Park Jeong-gi, who had watched the entire process, was delighted when the Mask King changed. Soon, however, he realized the situation was not entirely good.
‘What if this one really makes it to ten consecutive wins?’
The future could wait. For now, he decided to enjoy the moment, with the ratings having surged to 20.1 percent.
As an aside, Lee Mu-won finally removed the mask he had worn for so long, but no one was surprised.
***
[King of Mask Singer: Leaf fails his tenth title defense. Who is Crescent Moon?]
[As expected, Leaf's identity was Lee Mu-won.]
[Who is the new Mask King, Crescent Moon?]
After King of Mask Singer ended, the real-time search rankings filled with discussion of the program and Crescent Moon.
-Wow, he can seriously sing.
-Yellow Light, LOL. Wasn't that Lee Mu-won's signature song? He got it stolen right in front of him. LOL.
-But does anyone know who it is?
Viewers debated and speculated after watching the broadcast, but no clear answer emerged. Then one post attracted attention.
[Don't the King of Mask Singer panelists know anything about music?]
What, Park Hyo-min? Kim Beom-seok? You call yourselves judges?
↳ Why is this person suddenly going off?
↳ Maybe they don't know either and are just trying to act smart?
Another post followed.
[Crescent Moon is Yujin from Sun & Moon]
[Music Town photo], [King of Mask Singer photo]
Irrefutable proof that Yujin from Sun & Moon is Crescent Moon. Our Yujin holds the microphone neatly in both hands when he sings, and Crescent Moon did the same. And.
[Close-up photo], [Close-up photo]
Our Yujin and Crescent Moon have identical Adam's apples. Heh.
↳ Who are Sun & Moon? Never heard of them. Nobodies, GTFO.
↳ Is this bastard crazy? Our Sunny and Moony took third place this week.
↳ Who are Sunny and Moony now?
↳ Come on, does it make any sense for a rookie idol to beat the Mask King? LOL.
↳ No, does it make sense to identify someone by their Adam's apple? That's completely perverted.
Plenty of arguments followed on that post too, but most people said the claim made no sense.
Even so, more people searched for Sun & Moon just in case.
The rapidly rising views on Sun & Moon's videos proved it.
[I thought Sun & Moon were nobodies]
Turns out they were secret powerhouses. Wow. Yujin is Yujin, but Chanhwi's dance lines are insane as hell.
↳ LOL. Want to join Earth Star?
The snowball Chanhwi had set in motion slowly gathered speed.
“Wow, I just got chills.”
I looked at Yujin's Adam's apple, then back at the picture in the post.
I marveled once more and spoke.
“Holy shit, cover your neck whenever you go out from now on.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“People are going to walk around staring only at your Adam's apple.”
“???”
When I snickered, Yujin seemed to think I was teasing him and started to leave with an offended expression.
Well, that was enough joking around.
I handed Yujin the booklet I had received from Producer Park Jeong-gi.
“Read this.”
“What is it?”
“The spoils of war.”
It had been delivered to Director Park Hyeong-hun when Yujin defeated Lee Mu-won.
Chanhwi had been waiting for it and could not hide his excitement.
“The program we'll be appearing on next.”
The booklet bore the title ‘Program Name: <Mayhem, Mayhem, Mayhem>.’
It was time to put the finishing touch on the first snowball.