Chapter 110
Near Hongdae.
Despite the early hour, quite a crowd was already lined up in front of the live club. She looked around while blowing a portable fan at herself, as everyone did their best to endure the heat with their own ways of staying cool.
“I’m dying of heat.”
“Hang in there a little longer.”
Her friend grumbled. She soothed her for a moment, then looked inside the club. The staff were darting around in a panic at the crowd, shouting things like, “Call the owner!” and “Yes, we’re Paradox. We’re sorry, but so many customers have shown up… Would it be possible to rent an air conditioner on short notice?”
She thought it was understandable. It was still well before the scheduled opening time. And despite that, several dozen people were already standing in line.
She had discovered Group Sound on the real-time music charts. Aside from a few songs, the charts were mostly filled with idol music. Even when she dug around looking for something to listen to, it was always more or less the same.
One day, she found a song she had never seen before. It was slowly climbing from around ninetieth place, near the bottom of the twenty-four-hour chart.
The song was called ‘Error.’
It had started simply because the name caught her interest. An unfamiliar singer called ‘Group Sound’ and the bland song title ‘Error.’ She played it while wondering whether some ballad singer had used viral marketing to settle into the charts again…
That thought was completely overturned a moment later.
It was proper rock, something she had never heard before—or at least, that was what she thought. A dreamy atmosphere, beautiful vocals, and lyrics with a clear meaning that did not simply drift by without purpose.
As if possessed, she began searching for information about Group Sound. Invasion 2024? What kind of unheard-of audition was that? Within a few days of thinking that, she had watched every audition video from beginning to end. She also bought the EP and somehow managed to find a limited-edition LP secondhand.
As if that weren’t enough, she started using Twitter despite never having done so before, then followed a suspicious Twitter account that uploaded pictures of Group Sound and the official fan club’s Twitter account, which seemed to have been created only recently.
What surprised her was that quite a few people had discovered Group Sound by following the same route she had. Many people had become fans after listening to Group Sound’s song ‘Error,’ which had entered the charts. In her eyes, perhaps fifty to sixty percent of them seemed to be new fans like her, which made her feel strangely attached to them.
While fangirling along with those new fans, she came across some news posted on Twitter a little while ago.
[Jongno District Honorary Citizen Collective @GRPSNDFCLOfficial]
They’re finally back! The weekend Paradox shows, which were put on hold while they participated in an audition, are now open again! This show will include autographs for the first 100 people and limited-edition merchandise for sale.
Date : 2024 X Month X Day 16:00 ~
Venue : Hongdae Paradox
Admission : 15,000 won per person (You can watch the performances afterward as well. One free drink; alcohol orders unavailable before 18:00. All the band members are minors, so please understand ㅠㅠ)
Ticket purchase method : On-site purchase only; online sales unavailable
Other : Not every song is an original; they perform a few covers as well. (That’s usually how it is.)
As soon as Saturday arrived, she hurried to Hongdae Paradox. Even though she had arrived three hours before the show, around twenty people were already standing in line. She had sighed in relief, rubbed her chest, and joined the queue—and that was where she was now.
“Sorry~~ We didn’t know a line would form like this. We’re really sorry.”
The staff appeared from somewhere, dragging in cooling fans that looked like mutant elephants. A sudden blast of cool air finally gave her enough peace of mind to use her phone. When she searched Twitter and various communities, she found fellow fans posting things like, [They finally turned on something like an air conditioner ㅠㅠㅠㅠ] and [I was seriously about to die from the heat].
“Is it really worth standing in line this long?”
Her friend muttered. She soothed her friend again.
“Of course it is.”
“I don’t know. Is there really a need to stand in line this long? Honestly, even when I go to other indie band shows, they’re all pretty much the same.”
“No, really. If you’re disappointed by the show, I’ll buy you dinner tonight.”
It was the kind of remark guaranteed to attract the ire of everyone in line. A few people actually turned around. Feeling heat rise slightly in her face, she tried to calm her friend down.
“You’re seriously going to thank me after the show.”
“I don’t think so…”
“We can bet on it. I’m serious.”
Her friend looked at her as though asking whether that could really be true. She really had no faith at all. If she had seen the performance, she would understand… or so she thought.
After some time, they entered the club. Four girls were sitting in a small signing corner.
The merch booth had notebooks with rather cute little logos, character stickers, and other items. After picking up and paying for a pile of merchandise that looked useful, she headed toward the girls.
“Hello~”
Iseo, Suyeon, Hyuna, and Seoha waved and greeted her. She concealed her trembling heart and returned the greeting. The band members welcomed her with bright smiles.
“Thank you. Please enjoy the show.”
Suyeon in particular even took both of her hands and bowed her head. She had initially liked the girls’ music, but before she knew it, she had come to like each of the girls as well. She calmed her trembling heart and entered the stage area. After her friend followed her in, she quickly approached and whispered to her.
“Whoa… what the hell? Are these girls from some major agency? Did they pick them for their looks?”
“No. I heard that they just happened to gather together and the pretty ones ended up being chosen.”
“This is a scam. A total scam. There was one girl who was seriously, insanely beautiful…”
Her friend babbled on, slightly excited. She waited for the performance with a pleased expression. After they waited a little longer, the signing booth was cleared away and the venue was set up for the show.
‘This is my first live performance.’
Although she had guaranteed it to her friend, she herself had never actually seen them perform, so she felt slightly nervous. They had appeared to be quite good live on the audition program, but wasn’t reality different from television?
The sounds of setup finally ended, and before she knew it, the venue had grown quiet and dark. Blindingly bright lights suddenly shone down, making her squint, and before the audience could collect themselves… the drums began to pound.
“We’ll begin by crossing beyond that distance!”
The full performance began with the bassist’s shout. The guitar sounded slightly different from ‘Error,’ blasting the midrange and low end away. The bass raced along with the tempo, accompanied by the keyboard.
My heart on the day I met you
was just like a wave
“Make today’s me move a little farther forward~”
The audience members near the very front began singing along. As the song rang out like a group sing-along, the bassist kept waving and jumping, while the guitarist showed off more varied playing and raised the energy of the performance.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable beginning.
* * *
“Hey, thanks a lot. You really are the best.”
“Wasn’t I right?”
While organizing the equipment, Myeongjeon watched the two women leaving late. They appeared to be friends, but one of them kept expressing her gratitude and appreciation to the other.
‘Did she lend her money? Or get her a job?’
But why were they doing that at the venue? Myeongjeon put the effects pedals into the pedalboard, then gave the two women looking at him a bright smile. They whispered to each other after seeing that smile, then left.
“Today’s show was incredible! Absolutely incredible!”
When they entered the dressing room, Paradox’s owner, Kang Seongmin, greeted them with a broad grin. He habitually reached out to pat the band members on the shoulders, but flinched at the last moment and lowered his hand.
“We took the audience right up to the limit today. I thought someone might get hurt.”
“Isn’t that a bad thing…?”
“Ah, that’s just how people talk. Anyway, today was incredible! Absolutely huge. I think we might be able to give each of you several hundred thousand won. We’ll have to see the exact figures, though.”
After praising them like that, Seongmin left in high spirits, promising to deposit their earnings into their accounts on settlement day. The dressing room grew quiet.
“I wonder when our settlement money will come in.”
“Who knows.”
Myeongjeon replied to Iseo’s mutter while waiting for the girls, his luggage already packed and his eyes on his phone. There was a rumor that PD Yoon Donguk had been demoted, news that Muzaku and Velvet Monochrome had disbanded, and even a tabloid rumor that some of the Ullim Stones members wanted to apologize to him. The stories were rather dramatic, but Myeongjeon’s main impression was that they now lived in a world where the trivial affairs of some indie band became news articles.
“It looks like quite a lot will be coming in. We sold a lot of albums this time too, and what place is ‘Error’ at now…?”
“Seventy-ninth. I checked last night.”
“You keep track of things like that? Anyway, if it keeps climbing from there, the royalties will start coming in too. And the prize money…”
“Right! The prize money! How much are we getting?”
Iseo shouted as though she had only just remembered it after forgetting all about it. Myeongjeon tried to dredge up the tax law he had forgotten from his days as Seo Myeongjeon.
“Prize money from an audition program is considered miscellaneous income, right? If I remember correctly, eighty percent is treated as necessary expenses, and the remaining twenty percent is taxable.”
The prize was 100 million won. Divided among four people, that was 25 million won each. After deducting this and that, dividing it up, settling the expenses they had incurred, and paying taxes, the amount would shrink considerably.
But it was still undeniably a large sum. Not just the prize money, either. Once they added the album revenue, music royalties, performances, and whatever they earned today… it looked like they would have several tens of millions of won.
“Let’s deal with the settlement later. If necessary, we can bring someone in and have the revenue settled properly. There’s nothing we can change by discussing it like this right now.”
The girls nodded at that. But as the mood grew slightly quieter, Seoha slowly raised her hand. She seemed to have something to say.
“Why?”
“There’s something I’d like to ask.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“Could you settle my share a little sooner? I have something urgent to take care of…”
“Something urgent?”
Myeongjeon wondered what could be so urgent that she couldn’t wait for the settlement. Had her parents been injured? Or perhaps something else unfortunate had happened? If that were the case, he wished she would tell him so he could help.
“We can certainly do that. What’s the matter?”
“Um… There’s a limited-edition outfit I want to buy.”
But Myeongjeon’s concern was utterly shattered by Seoha’s words. He stared at her with a flat expression. Under that look, Seoha wondered whether she had done something wrong.
* * *
“Suyeon, you need to wake up.”
“Ugh! Ngh. Nngh, eek. Gasp.”
The voice from beside him jolted Myeongjeon awake. He sprang up and checked his phone. It was around four o’clock. His mother was the one who had woken him.
“It’s… four?”
“You have a trip today.”
“Oh.”
That’s right. Myeongjeon scratched his head. After experiencing countless things, he had finally reached vacation. The Japan trip had begun because, after Hyuna said, “I think I’ll have to start preparing for arts college entrance exams in the second semester,” Iseo had shouted, “Then let’s go to Japan during our vacation first!”
His mother had apparently already packed everything, showered, and done her makeup. All that remained was for Myeongjeon to get ready and leave.
“What time did you wake up?”
“Not long ago. About an hour ago?”
Even so, his mother looked completely energetic. Myeongjeon thought that when he had been her age, he had been unable to function unless he slept for at least seven hours a day. Maybe mothers really were made of stronger stuff.
Anyway, it was time for the trip to Japan.