a/n: hi guys! i was trying to think of stuff for bonuses but i realized I'm not that creative lollll is there anything/any trope that you guys want to see with moonmin?
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[ Park Moondae's POV ]
I was dying.
So were our fans.
TeSTAR had gone silent after its agency announced that the official debut day was June 18th.
It was set 5 days later than previously stated, but the fans were happy about the little information they got after days of radio silence.
- Ah finally
- Ig something must have been going on...phew
- Nothing has been posted on the kids' SNS other than their first post ㅠㅠ I hope they're doing well
Although some fans were dissatisfied with the lack of information, the general reaction was to wait and see.
And then a week later, less than two weeks until the comeback, fans went rampant.
- Why isn't anything coming out?
- Is the agency actually working?
- There haven't even been any eyewitnesses about the kids. They didn't put them on an island, did they?
- I swear to god if the agency is neglecting the kids, I won't let them go
Even the agency's website was inaccessible due to traffic overload as fans tried to contact them for information.
So the agency worked hastily to post something.
The teaser of one of our music videos was released at midnight that same day.
[ TeSTAR 'Magical Boy' Official Teaser ]
On the thumbnail, there were two hands outstretched to the sky. The sky was a mixture of soft yellow and purple.
When you first clicked the play button, this dreamy scenery would disappear, leaving you with a black screen with English narration and 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. ]
Click. The sound of a film being played could be heard.
And then, at that moment, the sunset sky filled the screen again. Golden and purple and red streaks of sunlight glistened over each other.
A music box rang.
The visualized two-note scales soaked the screen like water droplets and colored it dreamily.
Suddenly, the camera began to move back and exposed a white border surrounding the sky. It was a window frame with fluttering curtains.
On the window frame, a figure could be seen sleeping-- the back view of a dark-haired boy in a white summer school uniform.
There were old gloves and baseballs scattered around the classroom.
As the sun set further into the horizon, the boy's uniform turned pink.
The fluttering curtains unfolded and shattered down like white crystals, pouring around the boy's back. The purple hue of the sunset scattered between the shards.
And when it felt like it was at its peak, the screen turned black.
[ Magical Boy ]
[ 06.18 00:00 ]
It was a short 30-second video.
I looked at the view count.
[ 5,191,045 views ]
It was crazy. It even took less than a day to reach three million, which was crazy considering that TeSTAR didn't have an overseas fanbase.
Unlike during Idol Inc., we all had our phones to monitor. But people decided against checking themselves.
"...What do you think?"
Somehow, the job landed on me and Seungmin, who were unanimously agreed upon to have the strongest mental minds.
Gathered in a waiting room with cups of Seungmin's caffeinated tea, the members sat in front of us.
"P-people...do they like it?"
I glanced at Seungmin, who smiled. That punk was telling me to tell them.
"I guess it's because it was my idea."
I turned back to the others and nodded.
"Yeah, the fans are happy."
"T-thank goodness!" Ahyun exclaimed, immediately releasing the strength he had while clutching his cup.
The tension eased, and the fatigue that they held back seemed to darken the skin under their eyes.
It was understandable.
Honestly, if the response wasn't good, my mental state would have deteriorated. We had been working like a cow with insomnia for 25 days now.
Frankly, the teaser wasn't even supposed to be released that night because the full music video of 'Magical Boy' wasn't even edited yet, but the agency had the brains to see that delaying it any longer would cause fans to vomit blood.
"'What's with this crazy quality,' 'It's already fun! I can tell it's a great song,' 'What's this? Magical boy? You guys are my magic...augh,' 'My wallet belongs to TeSTAR,'" Seungmin read out loud some of the trending comments on the teaser.
Keun Sejin teased him for his lack of enthusiasm while I also scrolled through.
There weren't any upsetting comments, which meant that the general consensus was good enough that the dislikes were pushed down.
I was a bit worried that people's expectations were growing too high, but the song was good, so I was sure that we could cover it.
"Guys," the leader announced, "let's get up and get ready again."
He thanked Seungmin for the tea before continuing in a tired voice, "Great job so far. For the music video...it's over after we shoot this song. And then we'll focus on dance practice."
Only Cha Eugene answered excitedly to this.
Then the staff approached us.
"We're done setting up~"
The filming of the second music video was slowly coming to an end.
We should have been filming at least a month in advance, but we were doing it in less than two weeks. There was no crazier schedule than this, not just for us but for the staff hired.
"Luckily, it's a famous director, so I won't have to worry about the MV editing too much."
It was probably done with personal connections like how the agency's director was, but we had a decent storyline in both MVs thanks to it.
"Have you guys familiarized yourself with your parts in the filming?"
"I didn't have anything in particular to memorize."
"Me too!"
"None of us did," Keun Sejin said in a playful tone. "But Sejin hyungnim must be having a hard time?"
"...Not really. Seungmin also has some parts."
It was blunt, but it wasn't uncooperative.
Since both MVs had storylines, we decided to make good use of Lee Sejin's background as a child actor. But Seungmin also ended up with some more parts because the director liked how he acted.
"It must be his 'On the Spot' characteristic," I thought.
His charm and visual stats would rise to an A+ every time he was acting. I was envious of how high they were, but I couldn't do anything about it, so I sucked it up. I had long gotten used to the notion that Seungmin's stats might have all already reached S and he was doing whatever best fit the situation. Plus, wasn't it good if we had more than one person who could act?
But his character was...
"Well, no point in thinking about it."
I looked at the child actor.
"Actually, I was kind of impressed. You're really good."
They weren't empty words. Among us, he looked the most professional and natural in the unedited cuts. And saying this, I thought, might motivate him to work harder.
"I understand how Moondae feels. He's embarrassed that only the back of his head is shown in the teaser~"
The response came from the wrong Sejin.
I turned around, but Keun Sejin quickly averted his eyes.
"That bastard..."
"I was going to make a living from it, so I have to do it well."
"Yes?"
Lee Sejin didn't answer further. He just followed the staff to retouch his make-up with a sunken face. I didn't know what else to do if he was going to continue with that attitude even after being complimented.
"Okay, let's start with the group dance scene," the director said into the microphone.
We all shouted, "Yes!" and got into place on the set.
I posed at my spot and waited for the cue.
The music began to play.
We all began to dance.