Chapter 67
[Amid reports of a novel infectious disease originating in Wuhan, China, voices are calling for authorities to strengthen security during the entry process…]
Everything stopped, and so much else changed.
It shook humanity’s way of life itself, and people’s cultural lives changed drastically as well.
At least, that was how the epidemic in my previous life went.
All the concerts were canceled, and merely gathering in groups was enough to earn people furious condemnation from the public.
As far as the entertainment industry was concerned, it was no exaggeration to call this a dark age.
I knew countless people would suffer irreversible harm and die because of this plague, but even so, I felt relieved that the disease had arrived in this world too.
The reason was simple.
Although the timing and other details didn’t align perfectly with my previous life, this world was also following the course I knew.
If I’d had a tremendous interest in stocks and cryptocurrency, this fact alone might have made me a tycoon of the new age, but I was an artist.
I couldn’t make an enormous profit merely because the epidemic had arrived, but there were more than a few small ways I could benefit.
The epidemic would begin having a serious impact domestically right after the first confirmed case appeared.
After that, this plague was going to devour every news outlet and issue, so whether I hit No. 1 on the charts or released a fucking insane album, people probably wouldn’t care much.
So I was rushing every part of the process to release the album as quickly as possible.
Mixing was finished, and I’d already sent it off for mastering.
The album’s planning was completely finished as well, and I was actively promoting it through Twitter and Instagram.
Preorders were open, and all the plans for supplying various bookstores and record shops were complete.
The physical albums would probably be printed within two or three days, and the album would be released almost as soon as they came out.
-It seems like your secondary sexual development is happening a little earlier than in other children…
I inwardly sighed as I remembered the doctor muttering those words at the university hospital I’d visited last time.
“Siyeon! Get in!”
“Hello, unnis.”
At long last, the day of the WMA dawned.
The place where I got into the manager’s car wasn’t Neulneul Orphanage. Since rehearsals had started the day before, I’d spent the night at the company-arranged lodging in Seoul.
“Haaam… How long will it take to get to the salon?”
“About thirty minutes. If you’re sleepy, go ahead and sleep.”
“No, I’m not that sleepy. Thank you for worrying about me.”
To be honest, I’d originally wondered whether I really needed to go to a salon at all.
My natural looks were so unfairly good that I was cute enough without makeup or anything, and since I was still young, I felt makeup would only make me look more unnatural.
And that was probably true assuming I was doing my own makeup.
“Oh.”
But if professionals at a salon styled me from head to toe…
That changed the whole story.
It was a long, torturous ordeal, but my appearance afterward was nothing short of astonishing.
Even I was stunned by how cute the girl in the mirror looked.
A black, idol-like outfit suited to my cynical impression.
The skirt was a little short, which bothered me, but I was past the point of feeling embarrassed over something like that.
I actually thought a skirt designed to be outright cute was better than one that was ambiguously long.
I wore an outfit that more or less matched Blooming’s.
We had to perform the opening stage together, and our assigned spots were right next to each other.
Besides, seeing that people I knew, like Jia and Saki, had also been assigned nearby, I felt the organizers had been quite considerate of my young age.
Well, I didn’t particularly need that consideration, but if they were offering it, I should gratefully accept it.
“Oh! Siyeon, you look totally kyoot!”
“…What’s with the baby talk?”
“Come on, humor me.”
“…You girls look pretty too.”
As expected, all the Blooming members were wearing black uniforms like mine, modified into idol-like outfits.
You might wonder what happened to the dress we went to look at last time, but it hadn’t been bought for me to wear here.
I could have worn it if I really wanted to, but I decided not to because changing outfits after the stage sounded like a hassle.
I’d refused so vehemently because it felt too burdensome that I ultimately didn’t buy it, but I’d originally planned to wear it to the Korean Music Awards.
However, considering the situation, it seemed unlikely that the Korean Music Awards would be held in person, so not buying it had turned out to be an excellent decision.
“How’s everyone feeling?”
“We’re all good, right?”
“We can’t make any mistakes onstage. We’re opening.”
“I know.”
The time we’d been given was actually rather tight. Although the stage assignments had been announced two weeks earlier, Blooming and I had been busy preparing for our comebacks, so the time we could practically spend rehearsing was limited.
“Still, it’s fortunate that you’ve been practicing regularly.”
“Hehe. I figured we’d get a chance to perform glassy sky live soon.”
My parts weren’t especially difficult anyway, so Blooming’s ensemble was the key. Fortunately, thanks to their steady practice, they quickly got back into the groove.
“Our fandom probably won’t be very big at this performance… There might even be a chilly response.”
“I know.”
The WMA was, naturally, an idol-centered awards ceremony and year-end stage.
Most of the audience consisted of idol group fans, and frankly speaking, they didn’t like us very much.
Because we’d kept the top spots on the charts locked down all year, leaving no room for the artists they liked to break through.
Starlight’s fandom was a representative example.
While casual fans and the general public had a fairly favorable impression of us, the hardcore fans who had come all the way to a place like this harbored a strange jealousy toward us.
“If we show them a good stage, they’ll accept us.”
Then the solution was simple.
Put on a perfect performance.
It was the only method, but also the simplest one.
* * *
Go Hyena, effectively the president leading Seo Siyeon’s fandom at present, had finally managed to secure a WMA ticket this time.
Although the following day was her school’s final exam… she ultimately chose to go to KSPO Dome to see Seo Siyeon instead of prioritizing her grades.
‘Yeah, I can just retake it.’
The future Go Hyena, who would take eighteen credits every semester even as a fourth-year student, would have been horrified to hear that thought, but…
At present, freshman Go Hyena, who knew nothing of that future, had no second thoughts.
“…There really are a lot of fans of other groups.”
KSPO Dome was a fairly large venue by domestic standards, but the competition for tickets was still fierce. The reason was simple.
The idols performing were simply too big.
The year-end music shows on the terrestrial networks actually had less impressive lineups.
Some broadcasters had poor relations with certain agencies, while groups popular in Japan went off to Kohaku.
But everyone came to the WMA.
This wasn’t just something people said. Every singer and idol imaginable really came.
“As expected, there’ll hardly be any Siyeon fans.”
Even after winning Singerstar, it was impossible to build a fandom capable of going toe-to-toe with the solid fandoms of top-tier idols.
The very idea of soloist Seo Siyeon building an idol-level fandom was absurd to begin with.
Blooming’s fandom at least united fairly well and formed alliances, but that was harder for Siyeon’s fandom.
“Ah! President! It’s been a while.”
“Uh… ah, hello.”
The high-school girl sitting near Go Hyena’s seat was clearly the one who had said she was a Siyeon fan the other day.
Still, comforted by the fact that an ally was nearby in this space packed with enemies, she quietly waited for the stage to begin.
‘…It’s kind of awkward not having a light stick or anything yet.’
While fans of the other idols around her held their groups’ light sticks and merchandise, she was the only one sitting there empty-handed and out of place.
At that moment.
All the lights in the venue went out.
And when they came back on…
Six girls were standing at the center of the stage.
* * *
glassy sky.
The biggest hit of all the songs I’d made in this life, and one that even I found somewhat perplexing—how had a song like this emerged from me?
Most of all, I couldn’t understand why a song like this had become a hit in Korea.
Writing songs that fit the public’s ears.
That was a composer’s mission and duty.
But sometimes, I felt like I didn’t want to do that.
Creation based solely on instinct and personal taste. A somewhat violent and selfish song that took no account of the listener, considering only the creator’s mood.
That was how glassy sky was born.
Cheers erupted here and there, along with individual fan calls tossed out by the audience.
I took those sounds in through my ears as I placed the violin bow against the strings.
And after that, there was nothing but music.