Chapter 68

"…"

There was a moment of deceptive silence.

The director asked as if he had heard a random joke.

"…Magical Girl? You mean like what the kids watch? Like Luna Moon?"

"Yes."

Park Moondae quickly cleared up the situation before the director became displeased.

Thud.

"Of course, I don't really mean Magical Girls for toddlers."

As the PPT went over one more slide, they could see cuts of props in dreamy colors.

A classroom window glittering in the glow of the sunset.

The sky wallpaper on a cracked phone.

Classroom clock with purple effect.

...

"However, if only the symbolic motive of the genre is reconstructed, it can compete well enough. The retro sentiment is trendy these days, so it's also a choice that can capture both popularity and batting eyes."

(Author Note: batting eyes = the ability to distinguish between a ball and a strike in baseball.)

"…Hmm."

Park Moondae posted some examples of retro marketing in several PPTs. Among them, there was a viral SNS conducted by T1, the parent company of the agency.

"Also, if the song's dreamy atmosphere and the keywords 'Youth' and 'Magic' are combined, I think we can bring out the artistry with the composition of art films."

Art.

He poked at the weak part of high-ranking people like the director.

When the director talked about self-produced idols, Park Moondae noticed the image he expected from the agency's business.

'He wants to look good, so he has no choice but to do it well.'

Since he talked about popularity a lot in front of them, Park Moondae also made enough excuses for the commercial.

"Related image references and arrangement plans."

Park Moondae turned over the PPT slide and showed additional image data he had selected with the members.

And lastly, he briefly played song number 7.

It was the chorus part.

However, it felt different from the demo.

"…!"

"We want to proceed with the overall arrangement in this direction."

Kim Raebin, who was standing together and looking at the presentation materials, nodded slightly.

The rest of the members were slightly relieved because it gave a strange comfort to see the person who led the arrangement being satisfied.

'I couldn't sleep a wink because of that.'

It was fortunate for them that Ryu Chungwoo had a car and a driver's license. They were able to go to the studio just by texting the manager.

Of course, the manager who woke up in the morning and saw the text had freaked out.

"Oh…"

The director gave a strange exclamation and soon nodded his head.

And he clapped.

"Oh, I  definitely need to have friends who are young and talented. In just one day! You even prepared a presentation~"

'I guess he likes it.'

Park Moondae held back a snort.

The director shouted compliments to the staff, saying, 'They seem to be better than the kids who joined the company these days', and finally got to the point.

"Okay~ Let's proceed like this."

"Thank you!"

"Oh, I'm okay with this because it's me. Other directors, those old people don't know much about these things~"

Looking at the director who was showing off, Park Moondae smiled as sincerely as possible.

It was the vibe of dealing with a professor.

By the way, the members who saw that scene were exchanging glances behind, saying, 'You want to go with number 7 that much?'

"Right. Director, I believe you so there's one more thing I want to tell you."

"What is it?"

Park Moondae turned over one more slide on the PPT that the director thought was over.

"It's the opinion on the song that the company gave us."

"…?"

"Ah, we really like the concept of a baseball club. Isn't that right?"

"Of course!"

"I really want to try it."

"I heard it's the director who decided it. Thank you!"

Park Moondae and the members eagerly exchanged responses that were already planned.

'Let's finish it before the company staff come to their senses.'

"So to make it more like a traditional baseball club, why don't we add another genre instead of disco?"

"W-What?

Park Moondae smiled faintly.

"How about using Rock?"

* * *

Two weeks before Testar's debut date which was officially approved by the agency.

An article was posted on the portal site.

[<Idol Inc.>'s Testar debuts on June 18]

[Big rookie Testas from the audition, the countdown to debut]

[Testar (TeSTAR) appears… music upheaval in June]

The debut was set about five days later than previously stated, but the fans were still enthusiastic.

Because there had been no news for the past two weeks.

– Ah, finally

– Something must have been going on. Phew…

– There are 20 days left. I can finally wait in peace.

– Nothing has been posted on the kids' SNS besides the first postㅠㅠ Guys, I wish you're doing well! You're all busy preparing for the album, right?ㅠㅠ

– The reality show schedule has been set. I hope the trailer will be released soon

Some fans were slightly concerned about the overlapping schedule with VTIC, but they couldn't say the debut date that had already been announced should be delayed so they were satisfied with reality.

– The kids will love it. There are quite a few members who said they respected VTIC, right?

– It's not going to be released at the same time. It's going to be a week apart, so it'll be okay.

– I'll be able to see Moon Puppy with Cheongryeo-nim again

└Just thinking about it makes me happy

Fans used this piece of news as hot content and talked about this and that.

It wasn't that there weren't fans who expressed dissatisfaction, but the general reaction was to wait and see.

And a week later.

Less than two weeks left until the comeback.

– Why isn't anything coming out?

People exploded.

– Is the agency actually working?

– It's time for the teaser image to come out, but why isn't it showing up on their SNS?

– How come there isn't any content? It doesn't make sense

– You didn't publish the articles and put the kids on an island, did you?;;; No eyewitnesses

– You're not going to leave the kids neglected and run away with the company's investment, I won't let you go

Terrifying clouds of war hung in the air as if a statement would be announced at any moment. The website of the agency, which was made hastily, was already inaccessible due to traffic overload.

On the day the LAN cable was about to be torn apart due to the explosion of anger.

– CCCrazy something has come out (link)

The teaser was released at midnight that night.

* * *

[TeSTAR (Testar) 'Magical Boy' Official Teaser]

"…"

On the thumbnail, there were two hands outstretched to the sky. The sky with a subtle mixture of yellow and purple stood out.

But when the play button was clicked, a black screen suddenly popped up.

Click.

The English narration was accompanied by subtitles.

[As a child, I always went home before sunset.]

[There was no moonlit night in that daily life.]

[And now.]

[Looking out the window from inside the classroom.]

[The sun was setting.]

Screech- Click.

The sound of a film being played could be heard.

At that moment, the sunset sky filled the screen.

Golden and purple and red sunlight crashed into each other.

A music box rang.

♫♪♩♪-♫♪♫♪-♪♩-

The two note scales soaked the screen like water droplets and colored it dreamily.

Suddenly, the camera started to move back. A white border surrounded the fantastically colored sky.

It was a window frame with fluttering curtains.

Then, on the window frame, a figure could be seen sleeping.

[…]

Back view of a dark-haired boy in a white summer school uniform.

There were old gloves and baseballs scattered around.

The boy tossed and turned, slightly. The light of the sunset poured in.

♫♪♩♪-♫♪♫♪-♪♩-

The moment the boy's white school uniform turned pink in the sunset.

The fluttering curtains seemed to unfold wide, and then they shone white and shattered down like crystals.

Psssh…

The transparent crystal fragments poured down on the boy's back, shooting a purple sunset in all directions.

It was a feast of enchanting colors.

And.

The screen turned black.

[Magical Boy]

[06.18. 00 : 00]

"…"

A short 30-second video, that was it.

However, the terrifying number of views proved the reaction.

[View count: 5,191,045]

It was crazy.

It even took less than a day to reach three million.

Considering that Testar had no overseas base, it was stunning.

"What do you think?"

"P-People… they like it?"

I nodded.

"Yes."

"T-Thank goodness…!"

Ahead of their debut, several members who were detoxing on the internet for their mental state sat down on the floor

The tension eased, and the fatigue seemed to darken their eyes.

'It's understandable.'

To be honest, if the response was not good, my mental state would have melted.

Because I'd been working like a cow with insomnia for 25 days now.

'…Still, the date is close.'

In fact, the teaser was supposed to be released later. Because the 'Magical Boy' music video hadn't been edited yet.

However, if we delayed it any longer, people who waited for us would probably vomit blood due to stress, so everyone tried to speed it up somehow.

'It seemed the agency finally got scared.'

Anyway, the response was overwhelming… It was great.

– What's with the crazy quality

– How in the world did they come up with a concept like this;; I am really perplexed, tell me their bank account number

– Guys, it's already fun. It's already a great song

– What's this? Magical boy? You are my magic…  Argh

– That's why there hasn't been any news, they were making something like this… Then it can't be helped. Okay, I understand

– My wallet belongs to Testar. It's reserved.

None of the scratching comments from fans were noticeable. It meant that the review was good enough that all dislikes were pushed away.

The teaser came out well too in my opinion.

The part of the song to be revealed was picked well, and the directing was appropriate.

'It was also a good choice to make it difficult to know who appeared since only the back side was shown.'

I didn't know what would happen if they picked out just one person to be in the teaser from a group that debuted in a survival show.

And above all, the visual beauty that the capital was poured into was excellent.

'I think people's expectations have grown too high… Since the song is good, I'm sure we can cover it.'

Additional contents would continue to appear in a few days, so fans wouldn't have to worry.

"…Guys, let's get up and get ready again."

"Yes…"

At Ryu Chungwoo's tired voice, the members lifted themselves up like zombies.

I also put my smartphone aside and joined.

"Great job. Now the music video… It's over after we shoot this song."

"Wow…"

"The schedule will return focusing on dance practice."

"…"

There was no forced march more hellish than this.

"Yes!"

In the terrible silence, only Cha Eugene's answer echoed excitedly.

Then, the staff approached.

"We're done setting up~"

"Yes!"

The filming of the second music video was slowly coming to an end.

In fact, considering that we usually start filming at least a month in advance, there was no crazier schedule than this.

'…It means that everyone involved stays up all night to finalize this.'

For reference, the director who filmed 'Magical Boy' also filmed this.

'This company, the staff are definitely doing a good job.'

No matter where they got the music video director from, they quickly recruited a new, famous director. It was probably intercepted in the middle through personal connections.

It was a move of experienced people who ambitiously gathered in T1.

The problem was that we didn't know when the ticking time bomb in the form of the director who only had the motivation and the incoherent system of the company would explode.

In particular, I would like the superiors who had been blinded by the media's brainwashing 'Testar's agency is here' and hit me with articles such as debuting within a month to quit immediately.

…Let's erase this from my head for now.

I had to work, but I was just so stressed out.

"Have you guys familiarized yourself with your parts in the filming?"

"I didn't have anything in particular to be familiar with."

"Me, too!"

"Ah, right~ We didn't have anything in particular. Sejin hyung-nim must be having a hard time?"

"…Not really."

Lee Sejin replied bluntly but did not seem uncooperative.

Somehow, both of the music videos we filmed had storylines, so we decided to make good use of his background as a child actor.

'Hmm, it wouldn't be a bad idea to make work him harder.'

I talked to Lee Sejin.

"Actually, I was kind of impressed when I saw it. …You were really good."

"…"

It wasn't completely empty talk. We definitely didn't have time left. Among us, he was the only one that didn't look amateurish in unedited cuts.

"I understand how Moondae feels. He's embarrassed that only the back of his head is shown alone in the teaser~"

The nonsense came back from the wrong guy.

When I turned around, Keun Sejin quickly averted his eyes and looked away. That bastard is really…

"…I was going to make a living from it, so I have to do it well."

"Yes?"

Lee Sejin did not answer further. He just followed the staff with a slightly sunken face.

'You're like that even if I complimented you.'

I held back my sigh. Being annoyed was just a waste of energy.

"Okay, let's start with the group dance scene~"

"Yes!"

I set my posture according to the choreography formation and reorganized the schedule in my head.

Originally, the concept photo should have appeared first, but the schedule was delayed due to the release of the teaser video, so it was planned to be released around the time the album was released.

'Then maybe… the reality show will be cleared up first.'

In fact, I thought the video trailer would be released last week at the latest, but it was still very late. There were only a few days left until the show aired.

And, as expected, the reality show trailer came out that night.

[Testar's 'Living Together' TEST]

[Revealed on Friday, June 8th at 7 pm!]