Chapter 59: Just from the Voice

5:30 a.m.

I walked lazily down the hallway of the KBC public hall.

It was because I had rushed straight to the broadcasting station without a wink of sleep.

Manager-hyung came up to me and said,

“Wow, doing a public broadcast recording right after a performance the day before? Legendary. You okay?”

“It’s not the day before. It’s today.”

“If you can talk back, you must be fine.”

“I’m still… young, right?”

He glared at me like he was going to eat me alive, but kept kneading my shoulders.

For the record, my manager was Yoon Seonghan.

The owner of Club Sierra, the manager at KIM Entertainment—

And now even volunteering to be my U-Tal-A manager.

Does he have ten bodies or something?

Sometimes I wondered if Seonghan-hyung knew some kind of cloning technique.

How was he everywhere I went?

“You could’ve taken a day off from the performance.”

“How could I? The audience lines up for hours every day to see us. I can’t. They’d be disappointed.”

I meant it.

The Club Sierra performances were still the most important to me.

Thanks to that, I had loosened up my hands well.

And being able to carry the club’s mood and emotion straight into this was actually a good thing.

“You and your stubbornness…”

“By the way, hyung, you’ve been demoted to manager.”

“If not me, then who else?”

“Huh?”

The fact that our members were Cheongseong was a secret only we could know.

It seemed CEO Kim Minsoo had assigned the most tight-lipped person, Seonghan-hyung, to us.

“So, where are we going?”

“To the waiting room.”

The KBC public hall hallways were like a maze.

I tried to quicken my pace, but Seonghan-hyung tapped my shoulder and signaled to the members.

“Ah…”

I quietly watched the members chatting as they strolled down the corridor.

Their faces were hidden behind masks, but I could tell.

They were definitely wearing expressions full of emotion.

“You’ve changed a lot.”

“I think I’m the same.”

“So this is what they mean when they say the body remembers?”

Was this what they called experience points?

No one had told them, but they were naturally heading toward the waiting room. Was this for real?

We were walking in sync, slowly, when someone approached and greeted Seonghan-hyung politely.

“Manager Yoon, what brings you here?”

“Oh? Long time no see.”

“You’re personally acting as a manager? Wow… Just how amazing is this band for Manager Yoon himself to be here? Whoa. I’m really looking forward to it. The industry’s been paying attention too.”

Hmm. That last part didn’t need to be said.

It felt a bit awkward.

The Signum manager kept talking on and on about something or other.

Then suddenly, his gaze shifted to us.

“Oh? Hello. I’ve heard so much about you. Really looking forward to your performance.”

I stepped up to greet him on behalf of the group.

“Hello. I’m DJ Seo Rabbit from ‘The Kids Who Escaped Us.’”

“Wow, your voice is amazing. You could sing too, you know? Guys, we should greet them properly.”

Behind him stood a line of young men, gathered awkwardly.

I knew right away.

These must be Signum.

Their eyes looked awkward. Nervous, maybe.

If I weren’t wearing my mask, would I look like that too?

They hesitated for a moment—

Then, exchanging glances with one another, they stepped forward.

Perfectly in sync.

They moved like a single unit.

The once-loose air tightened instantly.

The advantage of animal masks wasn’t just that they were cute.

Thanks to them, I could move my gaze wherever I wanted.

I scanned my rivals to my heart’s content.

Honestly… they were handsome.

They weren’t called a monster rookie idol for nothing.

So this was what the big companies were like?

Sophisticated stage makeup, meticulously styled outfits, and a posture aligned right down to their toes.

“Two, three, Let’s Rock! Hello, we’re Signum.”

Ooooh!

Witnessing an idol’s group chant in person—

That’s a rare sight you couldn’t see even if you paid for it, right?

The chant itself was ordinary.

But when five people moved like machines while greeting, it gave off that “pro” feeling.

But here’s the thing.

We didn’t have anything like a chant.

The Signum manager asked us,

“You don’t have a chant?”

“Huh?”

“Ah, is it because you’re a traditional band? Well, yeah, that’s usually an idol thing.”

Seonghan-hyung bit his lip and furrowed his brow.

What? He wasn’t wrong—we were a traditional band.

CEO Kim Minsoo and Seonghan-hyung had both been furious about being matched with Signum on purpose, but…

I don’t know.

I actually thought it was a good thing.

Thanks to that, the Music Stage even made a “New Band Special” segment for us.

If things went well, Signum and U-Tal-A could create a synergy.

Seonghan-hyung broke the awkward silence.

“Well, a chant’s… haha, nice. I’ll look forward to it. Well then, take care…”

He was about to wrap it up in a hurry when the Signum manager looked us over and cut him off.

His tone was a little different from earlier.

“Seriously? Still, if you’re a band with a DJ, shouldn’t you be a bit trendier? You could prepare one now.”

No thanks.

We weren’t idols—why would we have that?

I glanced at Seonghan-hyung.

It wasn’t his usual gentle expression.

Even Signum’s chant wasn’t anything special.

We had our own kind of pre- and post-performance lines.

The vocal’s shout in sync with the count-in.

Still…

The atmosphere felt a little awkward.

Moon Jungbae leaned toward my ear and whispered,

“Hey, should we make one too? How about, ‘Escape! Huge Success!’”

“Huh?”

“Man, why’s he pestering us over something like that?”

“Hmm.”

Was it really that big a deal?

Couldn’t you just make something up and stick it on?

Why make people uncomfortable over it?

Blackhole’s signature sound, “Hold the beat!”—

It might sound like it came from a random hum, but I had put real thought into it.

A few words came to mind.

I strung them together and made it fit.

If you want to know, I’ll show you—it’s only proper!

I stepped forward without hesitation.

“Flip all the boundaries! Are you ready to escape?”

I shouted boldly.

Even struck a playful pose.

Saw the Signum guys doing it earlier, so why not?

The corners of the Signum manager’s mouth twitched uncertainly.

“Oh?”

Anyway—

Anything sounds cooler in English.

I quickly added,

I wanted to make sure this was clear:

“This isn’t really an idol-style chant. Think of it as more of a signature line. But since you were curious, this is the first time I’m showing it. Please take good care of us.”

The Signum manager looked away and gave an awkward cough.

“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

Seonghan-hyung winked his right eye at me.

We wrapped things up and walked casually down the hallway.

Inside my mask, the corners of my lips turned upward.

In the end, they were the ones who reacted first.

Different styles of greetings brushed past each other in the dawn-lit hallway.

And just like that, we got ready for our first broadcast recording.

“Hyung, is that band for real? What was that just now?”

No sooner had they entered the waiting room—

The youngest member of Signum asked.

Their leader, Han Jaeho, answered nonchalantly,

“What was what?”

“The masks. I thought it was just a concept, but isn’t there something behind it? Like some insanely famous person suddenly appearing?”

“Yeah right, as if.”

That’s what he said, but…

He couldn’t shake a strange feeling.

A silence settled over the waiting room.

That band—something about them was off.

They knew their manager had used the chant as an excuse to subtly provoke them.

They’d expected them to fluster and copy, or awkwardly refuse.

“Hey, hyung. What did that English mean earlier?”

The drummer, Hwang Seunghyuk, chuckled and cut in,

“As if our leader, who can’t even catch Korean properly, would understand English.”

“That’s true.”

“Flip all the boundaries…”

“Damn, that pronunciation’s insane. What does it mean?”

“Hmm… Turn over all the boundaries? Break them?”

“That’s pretty cool.”

Normally, this is where you’d tell them to cut the crap.

But Han Jaeho just stared into the mirror.

U-Tal-A.

Even with masks on, they had this weird confidence.

Especially that DJ.

I’d underestimated him because of the rabbit mask.

Even just from the voice, he didn’t sound ordinary.

“The rabbit DJ seems like the leader.”

“Yeah, I thought so too.”

“Don’t you think it’s kind of strange?”

“What is?”

“He’s different from us. How should I put it… He didn’t seem nervous at all.”

The drummer cut in again.

“Like he was performing at some place in Hongdae or something?”

“Huh?”

“I heard him saying something about a performance in the hallway earlier.”

“You must’ve misheard.”

Signum’s only “real musician,” the drummer, crossed his arms and thought.

Normally, it’s standard to lock yourself in the practice room starting a week before your first broadcast.

Not only was it strange that they’d done a performance, but the last line of their chant kept bugging him.

‘Are you ready to escape?’

Sure, their band name was “The Kids Who Escaped Us,” so that made sense.

The problem was that the way they did it was in the style of a traditional band’s “call and response” — the kind used to interact with the audience during a performance.

Why was that?

It reminded him of the famous lines legendary rock bands used to exchange with their crowds.

Signum’s only rock geek instinctively sensed it—

They were a band you could never take lightly.

“This feels a bit off.”

“What do you mean?”

“What if we talk about them as rivals and then get completely wrecked…?”

A deep shadow of concern fell over his handsome face.

In an instant, the waiting room went quiet.

Then, breaking through the silence, the manager cut in.

“Don’t get shaken.”

His firm voice pressed down on the atmosphere.

The members straightened their backs reflexively.

The manager crossed his arms, let out a sigh, and looked at them with cold eyes.

“Why are you so hung up on it? Didn’t you hear what the company told you?”

“……”

“If you let the mood sway you this early, you’re the only ones who lose out. They’re not even rivals, okay? This is just a passing stage. You get what I mean?”

“……”

“Not answering me?”

“…Yes.”

Someone quietly clenched and unclenched his hand.

It was Hwang Seunghyuk.

Can we even pull off our live?

He swallowed the words rising to his throat.

Even though they had the title of a band idol—

They’d never actually done a proper live performance.

It was the same for all rookies.

They were only about twenty years old.

Almost no team can do a perfect live performance on their debut stage.

For stability, they either use pre-recorded tracks or at least have backing tracks playing.

But Manny Entertainment insisted on doing it live.

He looked slowly over at the members.

He was nervous—that was the honest truth.

Sensing it, the manager asked,

“Hwang Seunghyuk, what’s with your face?”

“…It’s nothing.”

“Nervous?”

“…Uh, hyung.”

Hwang Seunghyuk carefully opened his mouth.

There wasn’t much time left until rehearsal.

This was the last chance.

“Wouldn’t it be better to use MR for the guitar and keyboard?”

“…What?”

“Or maybe just for this stage, we could go with hand-sync…”

“Are you out of your mind?”

The manager’s hand went to his waist.

“Didn’t you practice? Why are you suddenly saying this? Do you know how much the live setup cost…? No, forget it. What, you’re not confident?”

“I just have a bad feeling.”

“Of course you’re nervous. Of course you’re worried. That’s normal.”

“We’re not at 100% condition.”

“They’re not at 100% either. I thought you had something real to say. You’re seriously scared over just one line? You’re still kids.”

Hwang Seunghyuk clenched his fist again.

Then he quietly drew in a breath.

Right. It was already too late.

Now, no matter what, they had to pull it off.

He silently looked around at the members.

After briefly exchanging glances, he spoke in a firm voice.

“…Let’s run through it one more time.”

Hwang Seunghyuk picked up his drumsticks.

Maybe he was too nervous.

“Huh?”

The stick he habitually spun slipped from his hand, fell to the ground, and rolled weakly across the floor.

Meanwhile—

“Why isn’t Minsoo here?”

“Why are you looking for Minsoo?”

“He’s the CEO, right? On a day like this, shouldn’t he show up with at least a three-tier lunchbox?”

“Just drink your coffee.”

The U-Tal-A waiting room was ridiculously relaxed.

There was even a member nodding off.

Taeyoon shook Bang Gicheol awake.

“Teacher! Wake up! How can you be sleeping right now?”

“What time is it? When are we starting? You’ll understand when you’re older…”

Moon Jungbae rubbed his forehead.

Why were they so laid-back!

“Hey, hey. Are we not sticking to the concept? Did you forget we’re supposed to be a rookie band?”

“Oh, right.”

“Why are you sitting there like some neighborhood uncle?”

At that moment, the waiting room door swung open.

“‘The Kids Who Escaped Us,’ you’re up next.”

Inside the rabbit mask, Taeyoon’s eyes widened.

Thump-thump-thump—

His heart pounded wildly.

Now it hit him for real.

Ah… it’s really starting.

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