Chapter 116
Iseo had launched a surprise mental attack, but Myeongjeon ultimately bought the thing. It was the only item left in existence that reminded him of his childhood, long, long ago.
His father and mother. People whose faces he could now recall only vaguely. Rather than sadness at their deaths, all he could think was, ‘Go to a good place… I’ll be there soon too…’
Nevertheless, people inevitably find themselves longing for their childhood at least once. Myeongjeon was human too, so it couldn’t be helped.
“Are you really going to buy that?”
…Seeing Iseo keep attacking him from beside him, he wanted to quit everything, but what annoyed him even more was that the person speaking seemed to have no intention of attacking him at all.
“You can buy it if you want.”
“It looks really old, though… Make sure you wash it when we get home. They say there are lots of bedbugs these days. You never know.”
The merciless high school girl had turned his memories into bedbugs. Myeongjeon approached Iseo, drove a straight punch into her side, and headed for the counter. Hyein, who had been waiting to pay, opened her mouth.
“Suyeon. Did you find anything too?”
“Yes.”
After looking at the doll Myeongjeon had shown her, Hyein fell silent for a moment with a nostalgic look in her eyes before speaking.
“Retro things really are in fashion these days. It was a cartoon Mom watched when she was little, but even back then, it was already a little old.”
“…You know it too, Mom?”
“Yeah. Still, your mother watched cartoons when she was young. Not as much as Hyuna, though. It was already a pretty old cartoon back then.”
Hyein said, “It’s nostalgic~.” But Myeongjeon felt as though he had been struck out of nowhere. Seriously, these people.
But he couldn’t retaliate. The other side hadn’t actually hit him. Myeongjeon was the only one being attacked, and the only one getting angry about it. He had to endure it. If he suddenly got angry here, people would just think he was crazy. She was still a female high school student, not even the radiant eighteen-year-old symbol of youth. If he suddenly attacked her over her age, he’d be the strange one…
* * *
“
Here you are. Is there anything else you need besides this?
”
Along with some incomprehensible Japanese, the clerk handed out the instruments. Myeongjeon accepted the Strat, while Iseo made noises like, “Can you maybe take this off… this. This out. Take this out. Can… can you?” as she asked him to remove the Rickenbacker’s pickup cover.
“Ah, I should’ve played guitar too.”
Hyuna and Seoha looked a little regretful, but it couldn’t be helped. Unlike basses and guitars, which could be hand-carried despite being heavy, keyboards and drums were completely impossible to carry by hand. They had bought them, but the shop was going to send them by air freight, so they wouldn’t receive them until they got back to Korea.
“But when you think about it.”
“Hmm?”
“Did we really need to buy this now? Wouldn’t it have been better to buy it on the day we leave? Carrying it around is going to be tiring.”
The thought suddenly occurred to Myeongjeon. Buying it had been fine, but now they had to visit Enoshima and Hakone. They would have to carry the instrument around the entire time. Myeongjeon wondered whether he should ask them to send his by air freight too. It wasn’t as though this Strat was essential.
“Yeah. Now that you mention it, you’re right. If we’d bought it on the last day, we could’ve just taken it with us.”
Iseo answered while watching the bass modification with keen interest.
“Still, maybe we could practice a bit while carrying it around?”
“Do we really have to practice on vacation…?”
While Myeongjeon and Iseo talked, Hyuna stood there looking thoughtful. Once their conversation ended, she cautiously spoke up.
“I thought about it…”
“Yeah.”
“What about… busking?”
“Busking?”
Hyuna nodded and continued, saying things like, “Japan is also famous for busking, and Shibuya is the holy land of busking.” Iseo nodded and said, “That sounds good.”
But Myeongjeon reacted negatively. The problem wasn’t busking itself; it was something else.
“No, we don’t have any equipment. We don’t have an amp or a battery. We can’t do it like this.”
“Oh, right.”
When people thought of busking, they often imagined someone sitting on a street with nothing but a guitar, strumming away. In reality, it was different. It required a lot of equipment—not as much as a formal concert, but still quite a bit.
The reason Myeongjeon had been able to busk so often in Korea was that Hyein had transported the equipment for them. Even an acoustic guitar needed an amp, so what about an electric guitar and a bass?
“Besides, we can’t play the keyboard or drums. In the end, we’d be saying that just the two of us should busk, and at that point we might as well do it alone—or not at all. A band is made up of four people. Two of us alone wouldn’t mean much.”
Without saying a word, Seoha hugged Myeongjeon. Hyuna and Iseo also awkwardly approached him. While Hyein beamed and took pictures of the sudden barrage of hugs, Hyuna pulled away and opened her mouth.
“Um, what about renting them…?”
“Renting?”
“Then wouldn’t the keyboard and drums still be a problem? Even if we rented a small amp and carried it with us…”
At Hyuna’s words, Myeongjeon expressed his opposition once again. He wanted to join in since the girls clearly wanted to do it, but realistically, it was impossible. In situations like this, someone had to raise objections.
The band members pondered his words. Then Seoha threw out an idea.
“…How about asking the people here?”
“
We’d be fine with that. If anything, we’re the ones who’d like to ask you a favor.
”
“
Is that so?
”
The clerk nodded. Hyuna turned around and signaled that it seemed possible. Amid the excited reactions of the band members, the clerk continued speaking.
“
Normally, we don’t rent out busking equipment or anything like that.
”
“
What? Then why…
”
“
But you filmed a video here yesterday before you left, right? We uploaded it to our music store’s YouTube channel, and it got over ten thousand views in a single day. We’re not sure how it happened. A couple of customers even said they came after seeing it. It seems to have been pretty good publicity.
”
Ten thousand views was not an especially large number. Compared to Group Sound’s usual view counts, it was quite small. However, the music store’s YouTube channel had never recorded that many views before, so it seemed they were willing to lend the equipment in hopes of another windfall.
“
Oh, then what about the keyboards and drums we bought and left with you…
”
“
Yes, that’s possible. But I think we’ll need to discuss the cost first…
”
* * *
After negotiating a reasonable price, the clerk drove them to Shibuya in a car with the store’s logo prominently displayed, telling them a few things along the way. Most of it concerned busking.
“
If you want to busk in Japan, you need a busking license. Otherwise, the police will chase you away, saying you can’t busk here.
”
The clerk went on to explain a few things. The official busking license exam was held only a few times a year. Even if they took it this year, the license would not be issued until the following year. That was why most people performing in Shibuya were unlicensed and kept getting chased away.
“
Then what about us…? If we set everything up and start playing now…
”
“
It’s not right in the center, and there’s a spot we know pretty well. We know the police there, too. If you perform there, you should be able to play for about thirty or forty minutes. More than that would be difficult, though.
”
Contrary to the clerk’s words, he dropped them off in a proper, bustling commercial district. Someone was already performing there. While the clerk and Hyuna went over to negotiate, Myeongjeon looked around, thinking that this damned heat had no intention of letting up. There were so many pedestrians that performing here would easily attract attention.
‘To think I’d end up busking in Japan. Life sure brings all sorts of surprises.’
While Myeongjeon was thinking that, Hyuna returned after finishing her conversation. From what she said—“They say they’ll be done in about ten minutes”—it seemed they wouldn’t have to wait long.
The drums were assembled. The amps and keyboard were set up at suitable angles. As Myeongjeon plugged a cable into his guitar, he became aware of the attention around them. Ever since the previous busker had finished and left, expectant gazes had been fixed on them.
‘They are kind of worth looking forward to, visually.’
That was what he thought. Normally, if a single busker was fussing over equipment while preparing for a performance, the sight would never attract other people’s attention.
But what if four high school girls were preparing to perform? And what if all four of them were pretty? That was a different story. Even people who were on their way somewhere might stop and say, “Let’s see what they’re doing.” In reality, that was exactly what seemed to be happening.
“
The setup is complete!
”
The clerk’s shout rang out. Three small amps for busking. A drum kit and synthesizer keyboard set up simply. Perhaps he had experience with busking equipment, because the clerk connected the amps and microphones to a small mixer here and there and finished the setup. All four instruments were producing sound properly.
“What the heck, when did all these people get here?”
At Iseo’s mutter, Myeongjeon turned around. Just as Iseo had said, several people were watching them even though they hadn’t sung a single note yet.
“Who knows? I mean, even I’d be curious what on earth they were doing.”
Myeongjeon muttered that and looked toward Hyein. She was setting up the camera they had bought locally, and she sent him an OK sign.
“What song are we doing?”
At Iseo’s question, Myeongjeon strummed his guitar and answered.
“Hmm. Don’t we look like a girls’ band right now? It’d be a little wrong to betray their expectations, wouldn’t it? Should we start with a light song?”
“That… sounds good too…”
“Maybe something light by Silent Siren, ZUTOMAYO, or Ado—something along those lines?”
The girls continued discussing it. The one who interrupted them and firmly gave her opinion was Seoha.
“No, I think we should play something more technical and flashy. Japanese people seem to like that sort of thing.”
Myeongjeon pondered her words for a moment. She had a pretty good point.
“And we could aim for a bit of contrast, too.”
Hearing that, Myeongjeon knew what song he should play. He didn’t know whether the girls could keep up, but it was a song they had played together several times, and one they had practiced recently too.
“We might betray their expectations.”
At Iseo’s words, Myeongjeon gave a small laugh. It was understandable. Even objectively speaking, Group Sound did not look like the sort of band that would play songs like this. But that was precisely why they had received so much love despite being a new band.
“Let’s do it.”
The signal from the drumsticks began, and the small clusters of audience members let out voices of “Ooooo~.”
The song began languidly. Some might have called it lyrical, while others might have described the playing as sticky and heavy. Most of the audience looked as though they were wondering if this was right, but a few people seemed slightly excited, perhaps because they recognized the song.
But it was a somewhat boring section in several respects.
“
What…
”
“
Wasn’t this a girls’ band?
”
“
What song is this?
”
The initial anticipation seemed to cool slightly. But from the moment the guitar’s pitch began to rise and the melody started growing more dynamic, low “Ooooooo…” sounds began leaking from the audience.
And then it exploded.
A distortion solo poured from Suyeon’s guitar. Lightning-fast runs unfolded in an atmosphere completely opposite to what had come before.
“
Whoa… what?
”
As everyone focused on the performance, someone’s short cry spoke for the feelings of the entire audience.
The performance grew even more intense. It wasn’t vibrato so much as a technique that shook the guitar from top to bottom. A sound no one would ever have expected from a high school girls’ band surged over them and swept them away.
But that wasn’t the end. What shocked them once again was the unbelievable roar produced by whammy-bar work so violent that it seemed capable of breaking the guitar and throwing its tuning completely off. Along with a sound like an F1 race car speeding past…
A storm of tapping began.
“
Guaaah-
”
Someone inhaled sharply at the unimaginable speed of her hands. The tapping was so fast that an ordinary person couldn’t imitate it with bare hands, even without holding a guitar.
After pausing for a beat, another storm swept through. The audience, who had been preparing to give enthusiastic applause, thinking it must surely be over, opened their eyes wide. As people who had gathered to see what was happening stared in shock at the unbelievable technique being displayed by a high school girl, they held even their breathing…
“Tender Surrender…”
There was nothing but the surrounding street noise. With only the band’s performance filling the air, the song title someone could no longer hold back slipped from their lips, lingered faintly for a moment, and disappeared.