CH 138

When she clicked on the music video, the video title caught her attention before the 5-second advertisement.

[Testar(TeSTAR) ‘Midnight, and Next (00:01)’ Official MV]

[View count 22,147,586]

‘Wow, it’s 22 million.’

It was 20 million when she saw it a while ago, but even though it had only been a week since its release, the number of views was accumulating quite fast.

The time it took to reach 10 million was also a new record for the group.

‘I’m watching it again.’

The graduate student shrugged, saying that it was understandable.

Because Testar’s music video this time was a bit different from the previous ones.

“Ah, here we go.”

At that moment, the commercial ended and the music video started.

[…]

An antique gramophone covered in dust and cobwebs was captured on the screen.

A white hand came out of a corner and pressed the phonograph needle.

Thud, thud, thud.

The cobweb snapped, and a slow, crackling melody began to play out.

It was lo-fi jazz with its sound quality lowered on purpose.

A romantic and sad piano rang out.

Before she knew it, the screen changed to the entrance of a mansion.

Although it was old, the structure of the mansion had a trace of luxury and displayed tremendous visual beauty in the captured frame.

And in the middle.

Under the dusty, glowing chandelier, the focus was on the figure of seven people sitting in formation.

The song began.

– Slowly falling asleep

Time, night

I don’t want to escape

– It’s quiet now

Song and dream

Forget everything, it’s midnight here.

Your Midnight

The choreography unfolded.

The tone of modern dance and waltz stood out. It was an elegant and complex choreography with a lot of movements using the whole body to support each other.

The long cuffs swayed.

There were no repetitive movements that were easy to follow or memorize. It was a move solely aimed at making people watch with their mouths open.

The structural lines were held long under the chandelier lights.

– Even if the clock’s second-hand runs and calls me

I can’t pull it up again today

I’m here, your midnight

Your Midnight

The video changed the background from an old and luxurious entrance hall to a classy study in the rain, a huge dining table lined with rusty bird cages, and a bathroom full of red-scented candles.

Each time, their hair and clothes changed shape and color, and the background was naturally absorbed in an instant.

It was a crazy visual beauty.

And the background suddenly came to the bedroom where golden blue butterflies fly around.

The seemingly endless change of clothes, which was based on colorful suits, also came to an end.

They were now wearing classic lightweight shirts.

On the spine between their shoulders, she could see pulsating clockwork springs.

– Spreading Midnight

The distorted focus…

I’m shaking, I’m struggling with time

The choreography of the last chorus fully bloomed.

Butterflies gathered each time the formation changed and sat on the windmill like birds perching on the spinning wheels.

The shadows on the floor stretched, casting long butterfly wings.

– Overflowing Midnight

Torn down Shape

Torn and a new day comes

There were no significant cutscenes, acting, or overhanging narrative.

Consisting solely of choreography and proper close-up shots, the video swallowed up time in an instant.

It was a music video with a gorgeous and ecstatic visual beauty and a song that seemed to fit together.

– I met you

Midnight

And next

The lyrics ended like that. All sounds stopped for a moment.

The last accompaniment resumed faintly.

While the piano and contrabass were playing, a white hand appeared just like in the first scene. However, this time, the camera climbed up on the arm.

The owner of the white hand was Seon Ahyeon.

Getting out of the choreography formation, Seon Ahyeon headed to the longcase clock in one of the bedrooms.

Then he tore off the right lower wing of the blue butterfly exhibit hanging on the clock.

In the glass beneath the wing, diagonal cracks were revealed.

[00 : 01]

On the longcase clock that was captured from the front, an elegant cursive caption appeared, and the video ended.

‘Whoo!’

It was great to see it again!

The graduate student couldn’t control the corners of her mouth and turned to the last verse where a close-up of Moondae was captured.

The face of Park Moondae staring upward slightly with blue butterflies flying around his temples was the best.

And there was the finishing touch.

‘Choker on his neck!’

Although the material and atmosphere were completely different, this was better because it reminded her of the second team match of <Idol Inc.> when she first saw Park Moondae.

The graduate student already did it, but she screenshotted the scene one more time.

“Ah, this music video is really good! The song is just nice to listen to!”

It was her taste to enjoy enchanting visual beauty and easy-to-listen songs for 4 minutes without question marks popping up in her head.

And that point was revealed right away from the thumbnail.

Originally, Testar used epic and meaningful thumbnails such as hands, landscapes, and props since ‘Magical Boy’.

However, this time, they openly put a close-up of a member’s upper body on the thumbnail.

It was Kim Raebin.

“Mmm.”

It was a pity that it wasn’t Moondae. The grad student also had a strange feeling about Kim Raebin because the first fan she met had left a bad impression.

But the cut itself was an art.

‘…Raebin is handsome.’

The cut of soaked Kim Raebin with a corset choker on his neck and a blue butterfly under his chin was great.

And he was a perfect match for this song.

It was a very languid and extravagant concept, so Kim Raebin, who had a slightly decadent impression, suited it well.

The music video was also a worldview and a bombardment of sight and hearing.

‘Ah, it changed over.’

While she was lost in her thoughts for a moment, the video that played again ended, and a related video was played next through automatic playback.

It was the first stage of ‘Midnight, and Next’ at the concert.

[Aaaagh!]

[Uaagh!]

She couldn’t hear the song well because of the scream.

‘Ah, right! Everyone was like this!’

She chuckled as she recalled the situation at the time.

She forgot about the link to the fancam video sent by her homma friend because she even edited the sound neatly.

According to her friend, the concept photo released right before this was even more upsetting because it didn’t give a single hint.

‘Hm, now that I see this, it’s just a pretty picture! I look forward to it! I think it was like that.’

Right.

For a more dramatic first-stage impact, Testar and the company accepted Park Moondae’s opinion and took boring concept photos and teasers.

It was just a moderately good-looking cut using a suitable suit and mansion.

– I heard that Shamstar finally got out of their world concept

└It’s no fun

└But the kids are pretty, that’s all that matters

– Ah, something’s missing

– Are they taking a break this time? Since it’s a full-length album, there are a lot of things to work on and the condominiums overlap.

└The happiness circuit is strong. It must be hard to recycle.

– I’ve lost my initial commitment, I feel like I am going to gain weight soon

The graduate student didn’t know, but the stark reaction under the surface was this bad.

But the moment the concert came out, everything turned upside down.

Even Testar’s concert outfit seemed a bit excessive, they even came out with a butterfly model attached like a tailcoat and a real clockwork spring.

Because they poured in their capital, the costume didn’t look awkward even if it was that excessive.

– Shamstar is serious about the concept.

– Corset choker and that shirt. Who gave that idea? Give them a reward.

-♡ I love Butterfly Boys so much♡

– The school worldview that sucked up all the sweet flavor is now out of date. Let’s push for this.

– Fans’ initial commitment is fully charged.

– As expected, boy idol is sexy.

After that, special photos with the concept of the music video intact were added exclusively for the album, and some of them were uploaded on Testar’s SNS, making it perfect.

However, without knowing such elaborate calculations, the grad students were just happy.

‘Okay, let’s watch Moondae’s fancam, too!’

The grad student excitedly put in the search term on WeTube and found Park Moondae’s new music show fancam.

The hairstyle with only half the forehead exposed and the loose stage suit looked really good on him.

‘Blonde is the best…!’

While watching the video happily, she suddenly opened the comment window.

Of course, she knew from experience that the top comments were plastered in English, but it was nice to find one or two comments in Korean.

When she saw the silly comments, she felt like adding something.

“Hmhmm~”

The grad student happily lowered the comment window and finally found a comment in Korean.

However… It was not the kind of comment she was thinking of.

– Park Moondae, fighting~ I like your strong and cool image

– Good luck, Moondae! I hope you don’t have a hard timeㅠㅠ

“…?”

She felt a sense of incongruity

The concept this time was a little sexy and based on coolness and elegance…It was as though each element paid attention to the artistry.

And Park Moondae was a genius idol who performed the concept properly, neither lacking nor being too much!

‘But instead of talking about the stage, why is this comment on top…?’

Of course, these were words with good intentions, so she didn’t feel bad.

But… just a little, her excitement cooled down.

“Mmm.”

The grad student just skipped the comment and shrugged it off. Fortunately, she soon found a silly comment that suited her and pressed the heart.

– Every time Moondae blinks, the world flickers. This is a total solar eclipse

‘This is it!’

The grad student smiled and felt entertained.

The discomfort was quickly forgotten, but now she felt like she had a sneak peek of what her friend was worried about.

‘They are more interested in being nice to Moondae than in Moondae himself…’

Of course, she wasn’t saying that the majority of people were like that, but she wasn’t happy that such an atmosphere had occurred.

‘I want to hurry up and watch Moondae in the variety show.’

While waiting for the variety show, the grad student watched the video of the unit stage preparation from the last concert and the fancam of the unit stage during her breaks.

And the day <Saturday Party> aired.

From the first appearance of Park Moondae and Keun Sejin, she could hear the excitement.

“Gasp!”

Park Moondae and Keun Sejin… They were wearing pink fairy wings for toddlers.

“…?!”

The two of them started dancing to the music tune from the 80s.

[Dancing magic! Soaring Stock! Testar’s two shining stars have come down to Earth!]

Of course, wearing suspenders, they looked cute and handsome.

But the pink fairy wings stole the viewer’s attention.

There were the captions, too.

[It looks like they will fly to the sky any minute…]

[Fleeting dance!]

[Fairy or human?]

It was the DJ’s new comment.

‘Why… Why are they wearing something like that?’

The grad student looked at the screen in confusion and soon realized.

“Ah, butterfly!”

It seemed they were aware that this new song was secretly called ‘Butterfly Boy’ among fans!

‘So cute!’

It was a big picture for a gag and publicity, but the fans were happy to see it anyway.

“Ahaha!!”

The grad student burst into laughter and turned up the volume.

And at the same time, Testar was doing the same.

* * *

“Ahahahaha!!”

“C-Cough”

Saying that they would monitor <Saturday Party>, the guys that were gathered in the living room burst into laughter, 

‘I knew it would be like this.’

I was a bit embarrassed, but… Haven’t I gone through too many bizarre things to get my composure broken by this?

“That’s so funny.”

“Yes!”

When Cha Eugene answered, Bae Sejin collapsed next to him. Even that answer alone seemed to be funny.

‘…Let’s put up with it.’

I focused my eyes on the remote control.

…But when the scene of me and Keun Sejin dancing around the DJ booth came out, I couldn’t take it anymore.

The me on the screen shouted.

[Wow, the best MC ever!]

Click.

I pressed the mute button.

“Huh?”

“Hey, why~”

“Moondae, it’s fun! It’s all right!”

It’s not alright.

I looked at the screen with bitter eyes.

The second half of the shoot was really… something you could look forward to.