Chapter 112
"Is this... the right place?"
"The address seems to match."
A shabby building located in a quiet back alley far from the bustling downtown area.
At the entrance of the stairs leading underground in the building, the members of Weus could be seen with tense expressions.
"Should we go in first?"
"Wait. I'm not mentally prepared yet..."
"Let's go."
Before Sim Sung-ha's hesitating words could even finish, I quickly went down the stairs.
"Aaah... wait!"
Ignoring the exclamation coming from behind, I went inside and soon heard the sighs of the members following me down.
As I went down the stairs, faint letters that looked like they were written with lacquer could be seen in front of the thick door that appeared next.
[Fighters]
"It seems like we came to the right place."
The bad relationship with Fighters that started with Eugene Kim's provocation.
I don't know why they called us today, but I had an ominous premonition that it wasn't something trivial.
"They told us to come as quickly as possible, so let's go right in."
But... they didn't call us to fight, right?
Thinking that, I was about to open the door when I heard the members whispering from behind.
"Since Rin hyung can handle 1-on-3 at least, if we just hold off the remaining two..."
"What if Rin hyung gets taken out first?"
"Then we have no choice but to retreat for now..."
'Sigh...'
I sighed inwardly and slowly opened the thick door.
At that moment.
[Hello Weus friends.]
A voice suddenly coming from behind.
Startled, I turned around and saw a man who looked to be in his 40s waving at us from behind.
"Wh-who are you?"
"You idiot, you should ask in English. Why are you speaking in Korean?"
"H-hello? We are Weus..."
"No, he's not asking us to introduce ourselves..."
While the members were flustered by the sudden situation.
The man came closer to us and said.
[Nice to meet you, Weus friends. Starting from here, Eugene, Han Hwi. Jung Woo, A-jin, Si-hyun, Sung-ha. Right?]
[Huh? Yes...]
The man who suddenly pointed at the members one by one and called their names soon came in front of me and extended his hand.
[And lastly, Sunwoo Rin. The leader of Weus.]
[That's correct.]
[I'm Chris Ward.]
'Chris Ward?'
I unconsciously carefully grasped the hand extended by the man who introduced himself as Chris Ward.
[Now, let's go inside.]
Chris Ward, who only said what he wanted to say without giving us a chance to ask anything, turned his back and went down toward the door.
Then, seeing us just staring at him quietly, he soon made a realization expression and said to us.
[Don't tell me you guys don't know who I am?]
Chris Ward looked at us as if dumbfounded, then sighed and said.
[This dirty world that only recognizes the vocalist. I should kick that Paul guy out on the next album and sing myself or something. Ahem, anyway, I'm the guitarist, genius composer, and producer of Fighters... if I say that, would you know now?]
[Ah...]
[Just follow me for now. Unfortunately, there's no trap, by the way.]
Chris Ward, who spoke playfully, gestured for us to follow and walked ahead first, and we naturally followed behind him.
"Is he really a member of Fighters?"
"Seems like it, Chris Ward, the guitarist of Fighters."
"The first impression doesn't seem bad though."
"He didn't look scary like Paul Ryan."
"Still, we should be careful for now."
"That's right. This is a lion's den!"
"That's why I'm telling you to just stay behind Rin hyung."
"Shh! Your voice is too loud...!"
Following behind Chris Ward and going inside, we could see the interior that looked like a remodeled old club.
A small stage and chairs placed randomly. And empty bottles placed on the tables.
And going further inside, we could see a large recording studio.
[Now, everyone sit here.]
[Thank you.]
Following Chris Ward's guidance, the members gathered and sat on the large sofa in the studio.
We were dazed by the unexpected guest treatment for a moment, but as I looked around, I asked Chris Ward a question.
[By the way, where is Paul Ryan?]
[Paul? He's somewhere around here?]
[Huh...?]
What on earth did it mean that he was somewhere. While everyone was wondering.
A hand suddenly popped out from behind the sofa we were sitting on.
"Aaaaaah!"
"Wh-what!"
[There he was. Hey Paul, get up already. The guests are here.]
[Guests my ass.]
Answering with a sullen voice at the same time, the person who popped out from the space behind the sofa was none other than Paul Ryan, the very person who called us here.
[Understand, everyone's tired because the concert is coming up soon.]
[It's not because of the concert, it's because of you, you damn it! The concert is just around the corner and I have to deal with these brats?]
[That guy is always angry, so everyone just ignore him. If you're going to be in the way, just go sit over there.]
[What?]
'What kind of situation is this?'
Seeing the two people growling at each other as soon as they met, we watched them with anxious eyes, but.
[Yeah. It's annoying, so you handle everything yourself.]
Surprisingly, the first one to back down was Paul Ryan.
As if he didn't want to be involved in this situation anymore, Paul Ryan leaned back on a chair far from the sofa we were sitting on.
'But why is he glaring like that when he said he doesn't care...'
I tried to ignore Paul Ryan's stinging gaze and said to Chris Ward.
[Um... wasn't it Paul Ryan who called us?]
[Strictly speaking, I asked Paul. I said I wanted to meet Weus.]
[Yes?]
This was the first time I heard this.
I naturally thought Paul Ryan had business with us.
[Then what's the reason you called us?]
Why did Chris Ward, whom we met for the first time today, tell Paul Ryan to call us.
Looking at how they've treated us so far, it doesn't seem like they think badly of us.
[Umm, should I get straight to the point? I wanted to talk about music... Aah, alright. I'll hurry. Don't look at me like that.]
Chris Ward, who slightly shrugged his shoulders while looking at Paul Ryan, continued speaking.
[Did I mention it earlier? We have a concert coming up. A 20th anniversary concert for Fighters, amazing right?]
[20th anniversary... that's amazing.]
[But a very slight problem has occurred.]
[A problem?]
[When we do concerts, we usually put a rookie band on the opening stage. We've always done that so far. We called an appropriate rookie band this time too, but...]
Chris Ward suddenly trailed off and glared at Paul Ryan once.
[This guy suddenly got angry at our first meeting asking if they were going to stand on the opening stage with that garbage song, so the booking fell through.]
[Is that my fault? How can you call that garbage song rock...]
[Sigh... Kids these days like that kind of thing. Anyway, thanks to that, we have to find a new guest, but how can we find a rookie that meets this picky guy's standards. He's even more picky than usual because it's the 20th anniversary.]
[Picky my ass. Such trash at a Fighters concert...]
[Aah, I got it, so just be quiet for a bit.]
Chris Ward cut off Paul Ryan who was about to go on a rampage and looked at us and said.
[In conclusion, we still haven't found a concert opening guest. And the concert is right around the corner.]
[Wait, did you call us because...?]
[Right, I watched the broadcast where that rascal appeared a while ago, and there was a rookie saying interesting things. So I looked it up out of curiosity, and you guys are quite famous, more than I thought. Anyway, I liked it, so I selected you for our concert opening stage.]
It was an absurd statement.
For Weus to stand on the opening stage of the Fighters concert?
Especially now when Fighters fans must be grinding their teeth at Eugene Kim's statement?
More than that, did that Paul Ryan allow that?
[Um, did both of you permit us to stand on the opening stage? Paul Ryan too?]
[Ah, don't worry, I've already talked with Paul. I made a bet with that guy.]
[A bet?]
[Whether the audience will cheer or boo after Weus finishes their stage. By the way, I bet on cheering, so rest assured. I've never lost a bet with Paul so far.]
[Shut up. You always win by making nonsensical forced arguments.]
Paul Ryan, looking agitated, was speaking to Chris Ward when he suddenly turned to us and said coldly.
[With that confidence that you said you'd beat Fighters, the opening stage should be no problem, right?]
When Paul Ryan spoke and Eugene Kim seemed about to say something, I hastily stopped Eugene Kim and asked Chris Ward a question.
[What if we refuse?]
[Umm. Refuse? I haven't thought about that...]
He hasn't thought about it.
Did he think from the beginning that we could normally proceed on the Fighters concert stage?
[Standing on the Fighters concert is too dangerous for us. At best, we break even if we do well. If we don't, we'll become a laughingstock.]
[Then just do well, right?]
Looking at Chris Ward looking at me as if asking why I was stating the obvious, I was reminded that this person was also a member of Fighters like Paul Ryan over there.
'I thought he was normal based on first impressions. Well, if he was normal, he wouldn't be able to work with Paul Ryan.'
While I was thinking about how to get out of this situation.
Chris Ward looked at me and made a bizarre smile, then continued speaking.
[Ah! But suddenly such an article comes to mind. Fighters extends a hand of reconciliation first to the arrogant juniors, but what returns is a cold refusal. How about it? Interesting, right?]
[Yes, it's really interesting...]
[It'll be an interesting stage. Think positively.]
With Chris Ward's words, silence lingered in the room.
'What should I do?'
The eyes of all the members were directed at me.
And I could feel the intense energy that Eugene Kim was sending with his eyes.
'Are you saying we should just do it?'
'Yes, it's rather a good opportunity.'
'No but. We should at least tell the company...'
'Let's just go for it.'
Sigh... Why is he only so stubborn at times like this.
I organized my thoughts for a moment, then nodded at the members and said.
[Alright. We'll do it.]
[Oh, good thinking! As expected, Weus is bold.]
[However. There is a condition.]
[A condition?]
When I brought up the condition, Paul Ryan's expression contorted.
[Don't tell me you're going to ask us for help or something?]
[No. Not help... Please let me participate in the bet between you two too.]
Hearing my words, Chris Ward held back his laughter as if this situation was too amusing.
[Hahaha, you want to participate in the bet too?]
[I'm the type who can't stand taking a loss.]
[Alright, good. So what are you betting on?]
In response to Chris Ward's words, I looked straight at Chris Ward and said.
[Naturally. Weus's victory.]
***
The Fighters concert was one day away.
Contrary to my initial worries, nothing special happened except getting thoroughly scolded by the company.
Even now, the day before the concert.
'That's probably because it hasn't been revealed yet that we're the guest.'
On the way back to the accommodation after finishing rehearsal.
We, who had been extremely tense in case something happened and participated in the rehearsal, were already exhausted just from the rehearsal.
"80,000 seats is really amazing. Tomorrow, 80,000 people will really be watching our stage, right?"
"Will we be okay tomorrow...?"
At Kang A-jin's words, the car suddenly became quiet.
After standing on the rehearsal stage, it seemed like everyone felt the weight even more.
The only ones who seemed okay were Eugene Kim and Park Han-hwi at best.
"We'll be fine."
I said calmly while looking at those members.
"If there are any booing audience members, um... just think of them not as people but as other objects. Yeah... fruit would be fine."
"That's right. If you think tomatoes and bananas are booing, it won't be scary."
"Ooh. That seems okay! All the booing audience members are watermelons and melons... but isn't tomato a vegetable?"
"No. That's not what's important!"
Even at this time, we didn't yet know.
The fact that after the rehearsal ended, the news that the owner of the opening stage of tomorrow's concert was Weus quickly spread among the Fighters fans.
And on the day of the concert.
When Weus appeared on the stage.
Boooooooooooooooooo-
The boos from 80,000 audience members poured down on Weus.