I couldn't figure out what Chungryeo, that lunatic guy was thinking about.

It hasn't even been more than a couple of days since he posted on social media implying to me that he could screw me up, and now he was up to some bullshit again.

'You even called the company?'

I even happened to be at the salon right now, since I was preparing for a schedule in the evening.

I could see Kim Raebin, who was being blow-dried next to me, looking with his eyes wide open. It was clear that he had read the manager's mouth.

I was even more reluctant since this place was full of all kinds of people involved.

'I don't know what he's going to say.'

In the meantime, the hairdresser who was holding my hair readily accelerated the situation.

"Take it, take it~ It's fine. I'm almost done."

The hairdresser probably thought that I was hesitating for fear of getting in the way of getting my hair done.

'I don't want to take it, but...'

I held back my sigh. And I told the manager for now.

"Can you tell him that I'll contact him later?"

"Oh, but you don't know his number. He changed his number and called me like this. Since you don't answer numbers you don't know."

"..."

It was obvious that he had gone through the company to call me when he could have done it via text message.

'This is why I blocked him.'

There was nothing I could do if he even went this far.

It was also not a good look to keep commanding the manager to do things.

Let's end it quickly.

"Okay. Then."

I got the smartphone from the manager and put it to my ear.

"I exchanged the phone. This is Park Moondae."

I could hear a voice full of amusement.

Did I even have to listen to him snicker like this?

"I heard you changed your phone number. I will save this number."

I automatically tightened my grip on the chair's handle.

"The award ceremony isn't finished, so we don't know yet. So..."

As soon as I was about to finish my words, Chungryeo answered without giving me a break.

I'm not curious, you bastard.

Even if I interacted with this guy, I didn't think I would get the proper information from him anyway.

He hit me on the back of my head and then tries to gently tempt me.

"Not really. Anyway, I will save this number. I hope the rest of your end-of-the-year activities will go well. Sunbae-nim."

By that, I meant to cut this off now.

Then, all of sudden, he started to sound slightly awkward.

Really sounds like you have a line.

"I see. All right."

"It would be great to have a chance to see you. Then, I'm sorry but I have a schedule so I will hang up now."

Chungryeo jokingly replied.

"Yes. Then."

I quickly hung up. If I was at the dorms, I would not have been able to hold it in and said something more, but I endured it since we were at the salon.

Then I gave the phone back to the manager.

"Here, hyung. Thank you."

"Okay~ Ah, I'll text you his number."

"..."

I couldn't curse at the manager's kindness who didn't know the whole story. I held back a sigh and closed my eyes as I leaned against the seat.

'This is annoying.'

At first, I wondered if I could benefit anything from this, but there was no one else as much of a troll as that bastard.

Besides, the way he suddenly changed his attitude on the phone like a lunatic made him unpredictable.

'As I thought, the answer is to cut him off.'

I should quietly end things with him.

The future I knew of would be over in two years anyway. Then, since there would be nothing for him to use me for, he would naturally fall off.

Until then, I could just not get involved with him while avoiding the situation.

Apart from being insane, it seemed that he was also quite obsessed with his status as an idol.

'Then we just need to avoid building up bad feelings about each other to the point of wanting the other to die.'

Well, I was originally going to let it go somehow since I was so upset, but once things got settled and I thought about it rationally, my risk was too great.

'There's no need to risk my life to get back at the troll.'

I took this as a backup plan just in case. I cleared my thoughts and opened my eyes.

And Kim Raebin, whose eyes were shining next to me, spoke.

"...About that music arrangement program..."

"It's classified."

"I see..."

I was sorry, but it doesn't seem like there was going to be a day when I would ask for him.

I threw one of my glucose candies to Kim Raebin, who was sullen.

* * *

After running through a few year-end events, the day for a new end-of-the-year performance arrived.

This time it was the KBC Gayo Daechukje.

//TN: KBC Song Festival

Since only singers, who were considerably active this year were invited, we received relatively better screen time performances than other public broadcasters...

Which is why the problem was elsewhere.

"We're appearing!"

"Woah, it's the advertisement from that time! That artificial intelligence ad!"

"Oh my god!"

...It was an interim advertisement between the first and second parts, and I was able to see the actual product of the three-month 350 million won advertisement.

On the screen, TeStar members sitting in a white living room set were shown holding different props.

For reference, I had a light stick. It was also in a form of a sparkling magic wand.

...I would like to make an excuse here that I had no choice.

In any case, the artificial intelligence assistant we contracted with for this advertisement, had a benefit which was that it was small and could be removed here and there.

And suddenly, the screen showed a character-type artificial intelligence speaker with unclear eyes.

Cha Yujin laughed and tapped the speaker.

Then, out of nowhere, the speaker began to release a powerful low-pitched sound of an airplane flying.

After the surprised Cha Yujin's scene, Park Moondae with a calm expression appeared.

Park Moondae smiled and waved the light stick.

Then, the audio was filled with TeStar's song 'Airplane'.

On top of the clear sound quality BGM, a scene of TeStar members making gestures passed.

...There, Park Moondae with dog ears on, shouted 'Curious!' while pretending to be a puppy, and the advertisement instantly ended.

And the waiting room was filled with laughter.

"Uhahahaha!!"

"Pftt."

That... was the laughter that came out of relief that they weren't the ones who had to do that.

"..."

I held back my sigh. Ryu Chungwoo, who was the first to stop laughing, cleared his throat and only then began comforting me.

"Ehem, it must have been because you were ranked 1st, Moondae-ya. Isn't it really good to have a lot of content in commercials?"

"Th-that's right...!"

"True true~ Chungwoo hyung said something good."

Ah, is that so?

I nodded my head.

"I guess so. You're right."

"Right?"

"Yes. I can't wait to see the others' versions too."

"...??"

"The others...?!"

Bae Sejin quietly told the truth to the shocked members.

"...It said on the script that there are 7 versions."

"...!"

For a while, whenever I would watch TV, I would get to enjoy the thrill of this Russian roulette.

The members' faces were filled with nervousness as they thought about their own scripts for the commercial.

Well, there was not much time for us to worry about this. It was because our performance was near the end of the second part.

And this performance was important.

Since it was our first end-of-the-year performance since SBC.

'We have to drive a wedge into the turned public opinion.'

If anything seemed clumsy, it would be inevitable that there would be responses such as 'I'm not sure about TeStar's skills... I guess they only tried for that special performance', coming out.

We had to do well here.

Because of that, the guys quickly became nervous for another reason.

And right before we went up on stage, we gathered together and even cheered.

"Ah, TeStar will show everyone today!"

"Let's go!"

I wondered if we had to use that phrase, but... well, the atmosphere was alive so it was fine.

TeStar rode the lift up to the stage.

Waaahh!

All kinds of lights rippled in the audience.

It still hasn't hit me that each of those lights was a person.

Still, there were light sticks that stood out. As you might have expected, they were TeStar's light sticks.

...It was because the shining power was different.

'It looks like there are flashlights among fireflies.'

In any case, it was nice to be able to recognize it right away. It was a live broadcast so even if I couldn't do anything great, I could say hello when I entered.

Meanwhile, the opening intro was ending.

I walked out to the middle and settled down.

Then, the prelude to 'Magical Boy', which was arranged for the end-of-year stage, began to play.

It was a live orchestra version.

I began the introduction to the live violin melody that resonated below the stage.

"I think about you all day since I meet you tomorrow, having a dream as blue as daytime."

The ensemble of string and wind instruments filled the hall with splendor.

It was completely live music broadcast in real-time.

What this meant was that there was no recorded backtrack added at all in an attempt to express the atmosphere of the live band.

'It makes me feel at ease since I'm the opening.'

It would have been a disaster if the note and the beat didn't match when we entered. The one with the lowest probability of failure should take charge of it.

And after that, everyone performed well live, so it was stable.

"Cast a spell"

"Make a wish come true, true"

In line with the fancy performance, the choreography was also mixed with some modern dance movements. That atmosphere became more like a fantasy epic than dreamy, but it was enjoyable in its own way.

It was embarrassing because the outfit was a bit too loose, but it seemed like people would like it.

'Seon Ahyun is flying.'

He seemed to be more excited than usual because he was the one who could pull off this concept the best. Even his artistry was felt in the dance break part where only the violin solo and percussion remained.

And it was the part where the song naturally switched to the 'Airplane chorus.'

Screeech-!

'These in-ears, seriously.'

The sound of scratching a chalkboard rang out in my ears.

The device attached to prevent missing the beat due to shouts or echoes actually hindered concentration.

Scree-eeech, scree-eeeck!

Even if the volume was too loud or I couldn't hear anything, this was the first time this became trouble.

'This is driving me insane.'

Unable to hold back any longer, I roughly pulled out the in-ear on the side where the accompaniment came from. It must have been a transmission error since I saw several members doing the same thing next to me.

'This broadcast is running really well for the end-of-the-year show.'

But something even more shocking happened next.

During the choreography where we were lying down, Bae Sejin's in-ears slipped down and fell on the stage.

It was clear that the person who adjusted it made a mistake.

'...I'll kick it away in the next part.'

However, at that moment, Seon Ahyun, who came to the center while changing position, accidentally stepped on the cord and slipped.

His head was even facing the floor!

"...!"

I reflexively grabbed Seon Ahyun's back. And on the other side, my eyes met Ryu Chungwoo, who did the same thing as me.

'I have to get up and return immediately.'

It couldn't be avoided.

The situation happened in an instant, and the time to make a judgment was over in an instant.

However, the moment I tried to give strength to my hands, just as Seon Ahyun had slipped, he kicked his feet and began to give his body a rebound.

"...!"

Seon Ahyun, using inertia, leaned his hands on my arms and on Ryu Chungwoo, who held his back, spread both legs, and did a graceful back tumble.

And landing like a picture, he sang his own part.

"...Far away, fly high. I hope my flying feelings goes beyond the milky way and becomes a shining star."

"...!"

Contrary to my shock, the modified choreography came out from my body as I practiced. It was a real relief.

The moment the last line continued, the members naturally returned to their original movement.

Bae Sejin sang while clutching the microphone. His face and voice were fine, but his fingers were trembling slightly.

"...I want our hands to touch-"

The song was finished with a choreography in which seven people standing in a circle gathered and spread their hands toward the sky.

"..."

Aaaah!

The camera's on-air lights went off with cheers.

And only after the lights were turned off, expressions that seemed drenched in cold sweat began to appear on the members' faces.

'...Was it fixed?'

First of all, the performance... No, shouldn't we start by looking at Seon Ahyun's condition?

'What kind of crazy guy falls down and does backflips there without practice.'

Wasn't it a situation that could break your head if something went wrong?

However, in the progress of the broadcast, there was no time to hesitate further. We quickly waved to the fans and came down from the stage.

And without time to make any responses, I immediately faced the monitoring screen.

"...!"