Chapter 81
'Full band live...'
Kim So-young swallowed a sigh containing a hint of surprise and admiration.
The teams that appeared on Green Note naturally defaulted to live performances, so she had somewhat expected it when she heard Weers was appearing.
But she didn't expect the accompaniment to be fully live as well.
'Will they be able to pull off the live well?'
The reason Kim So-young worried about this first was because the choreography for this title track progressed so tightly without a single moment to catch their breath.
'Especially with the increasing number of antis lately. If they make even one mistake on Green Note...'
The antis' activities were increasing rapidly in proportion to Weers' suddenly growing popularity.
It was noticeable that posts picking apart their live skills had suddenly increased, as if the antis had received some kind of directive for this comeback.
'Their live skills were already fully verified during National Idol.'
She was brushing it off as rampaging by ignorant antis, but...
She couldn't help but secretly worry that if such talk continued, people might actually start doubting Weers' skills.
No matter how good their current results were, Weers was still a rookie group that hadn't even debuted a year ago, after all.
The image created now would likely follow them throughout all their future activities.
'Don't tell me that's why...?'
Come to think of it, was that the reason they appeared on Green Note so suddenly without any notice?
Now that she thought about it, there had been a similar case before.
'Cross did that.'
Cross, who was currently focusing on American activities, had also faced skill controversies early in their debut.
She recalled the memory of them earning the title of skilled idol in one go by showcasing perfect knife-like synchronization and stable live vocals on Yoo Hee-seok's Green Note.
Then could Weers also be...?
Such a thought crossed her mind for a moment, but...
'That's too much of a stretch.'
Kim So-young shook her head and dismissed the thought.
Cross's story was already from 4 years ago, and it was hard to believe that Weers was moving with all of that in mind right now.
Still...
Kim So-young felt her heart racing for the first time in a while and focused on the screen.
The eyes of the Weers members seemed full of determination, as if they would show everything on this stage, just like the trainees during their National Idol days.
And soon, the members could be seen dancing to the intro.
Bzzzzzzzt-
The guitar riff carrying the main melody resonated.
Over that, unlike the original track, the sound of a synthesizer replacing the orchestra was overlaid.
'This feels different.'
Although she was watching the stage through a screen, the feeling from the intro was intense enough to sense the atmosphere of the venue.
Another thing that caught her eye was—
'Shi-hyun is flying...!'
The sight of Baek Shi-hyun flying around the stage like a butterfly, as if declaring this section his domain.
Combined with the choreography of the members supporting Baek Shi-hyun from behind, the even more splendid choreography flowed as naturally as water.
'The choreography is truly on another level.'
The intro section, where the dazzling choreography that captivated the eyes from the start unfolded, ended.
—Tell me quickly
So this dream can become reality
White hair fluttering and scattering on the stage.
As always, the first verse was Sunwoo Rin's part.
The sight of Sunwoo Rin starting her part without a single breath out of place even after the intro choreography ended.
'Truly insane visuals...'
Sunwoo Rin's appearance starting the first verse with slightly disheveled hair, exuding a dreamlike atmosphere to the fullest.
Just as Kim So-young was barely suppressing her desire to jump into the screen and gathering her thoughts—
—I found you in that universe
shining like a star
'Aaaagh...!'
At the sight of Kang A-jin singing while gazing softly into the distance, her barely suppressed heart felt like it would burst again.
And when the Weers members, who had instantly changed formation, stood in a line behind Kang A-jin and executed the choreography of drawing stars—
Park Han-hwi and Shim Sung-ha, who stepped out from the center of the formation to either side, faced each other and sang as if whispering softly.
—When we meet again at the end of this road
I hope you haven't changed at all
Looking at each other
Smiling, tell me hello
The moment the two's part ended, the sound of drums gradually rising could be heard, and soon Woo Jung-woo appeared.
—In the fairy tale that begins
We'll be forever!
High notes bursting out as naturally as breathing.
'Wow!'
At Woo Jung-woo's high notes that felt even more powerful than when listening to the recorded track, Kim So-young let out a cheer inwardly.
Then, at the chorus section of the song, Eugene Kim's powerful voice, enough to surpass Woo Jung-woo's high notes, resonated.
—We're remember
remember this moment
The chorus section continuing with breathtakingly high tones.
An extraordinary feast of high notes that seemed impossible to handle unless it was Eugene Kim and Woo Jung-woo unfolded on the stage.
—We'll be forever
forever this moment
When they completely took over the stage with the synergy of the two main vocalists—
Weers' group dance began once more.
If there was a difference from the intro at the beginning—
'Rin is holding the center.'
Along with Baek Shi-hyun's butterfly-like choreography, Sunwoo Rin's powerful movements combined to begin dominating the center of the stage.
The harmony between the two could be felt even in the relentlessly continuing group dance.
It was a choreography composition that went beyond the simple expression of knife-like synchronization, clearly showing the two people's styles.
'Since when did Rin's dance skills improve this much?'
It wasn't just the feeling of dancing powerfully well.
It was the feeling that she was now interpreting the choreography to fit her own style.
During their Hero activities, it wasn't to this extent.
'Did she improve this much while preparing for this album?'
While Kim So-young was focusing intently on the stage, mesmerized by Sunwoo Rin's improved dance skills—
As if preparing for the final climax, the pre-chorus section arrived, calm like the lull before the storm.
—I'll engrave it in my heart
So even if it fades in this long dream
I can find you right away
An empty stage without a single stage device or background.
However, looking at Weers on stage, it felt as if the faint and dreamlike background from the music video was coming to mind again.
And then the resonance of the two main vocalists burst out as if gushing forth.
—We'll be forever
We'll be forever
We'll be forever
Within the repeating lyrics, the two main vocalists began a vocal tug-of-war as if trying to devour each other.
And finally, Woo Jung-woo's voice came down after hitting the ultra-high note.
'Gasp!'
It was an overwhelming vocal capacity that gave her goosebumps.
The ability of a main vocalist who made this stage his own in an instant.
Though it couldn't be seen on screen for a moment, the murmuring live sound from the audience seats was also picked up by the microphone.
'There's no choice but to be surprised.'
Kim So-young nodded as she recalled the experience of hearing Woo Jung-woo's vocals live for the first time.
The stage that had reached its climax like that was felt to be running toward its end.
—We, We, We, We
With the gentle resonance repeating as if whispering, Weers' stage came to an end.
However.
"Pfft—hahahaha!"
Kim So-young hastily covered her mouth at the sound that suddenly burst out from her lips.
'T-The ending... I was so surprised.'
The reason for Kim So-young's bewilderment was that instead of Sunwoo Rin's ending pose that should have decorated the end of the song—
Yoo Hee-seok's appearance, who was watching Weers' stage, suddenly appeared at the end of the video.
And quite explicitly at that.
'That level would be the eagle's eye that appears about once a year?'
Yoo Hee-seok's signature eagle's eye that appeared when he saw a junior singer he liked.
It was the gaze that was said to have made all the singers who received it into huge stars, a half-joking story that circulated.
'Then he must have really liked it. I've never seen him look at an idol group with those eyes before.'
Although it was a bit disappointing that she couldn't see the final ending pose, just the fact that they received Yoo Hee-seok's recognition was enough to make her feel like flying as a fan.
After watching the video to the end, she could understand why the Green Note production team released this pre-release video as a full version.
'If it had been cut off in the middle, the comment section would have literally exploded...'
Of course, that also applied to Kim So-young herself.
She was going crazy wanting to go somewhere and brag that these were her kids.
'But since there seem to be plenty of people like me already, I should hold back...'
Kim So-young momentarily restrained her itching fingers and went into the video's comment section to check the reactions.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ It's really been a while since I saw Yoo Hee-seok that spaced out.
-The last scene is legendary ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Green Note's best scene of the year came out already.
-I laughed so hard at Yoo Hee-seok's expression, but honestly I think I would've had the same expression while watching the stage...ㅋㅋ
-The stage was really, really cool. You can tell right away just from this stage why the name Weers keeps coming up lately.
The viewer base that liked Yoo Hee-seok's Green Note was actually not the demographic that liked idol groups.
Despite that, the comment section was filled with comments praising Weers' stage.
While Kim So-young was feeling vicarious satisfaction checking the comments uploaded in real time—
'Why are there suddenly so many comments? Wow... the view count already?'
About an hour after the video was uploaded.
Weers' Green Note pre-release live video was showing a tremendous real-time increase in views.
-Wow, I just came in after seeing the thumbnail, Weers is really amazing.
-I've never even watched Green Note normally, and I wondered why this suddenly popped up, but it was a legendary video ㄷㄷ
-Today too, an incomprehensible algorithm guided me here...
-This is a live video? Truly legendary ㄷ But did everyone else also come in because the video suddenly popped up like me? ㅋㅋ
Weers' live video had received the blessing of the video site's algorithm.
***
With the Sunday music broadcast as the finale, the first week of comeback activities was completely wrapped up.
'There's really no moment to rest. But the response is good, so...'
I looked at our music video videos ranking 1st and 2nd in real-time popular videos on the video site, and the live video from Yoo Hee-seok's Green Note.
'The comment reactions are all favorable too... And the senior's expression at the end really did the trick.'
Honestly, it would have been hard to receive this much attention just for doing well on a live performance.
It seemed like I should thank the Green Note production team for appropriately inserting Yoo Hee-seok's expression at the end of the video.
And also to Yoo Hee-seok.
When the video went up and it became a hot topic because of his expression, Yoo Hee-seok personally uploaded a meme of his own eagle gaze staring at Weers on his SNS.
And beneath it was a message of praise for Weers.
'This means we've been acknowledged, right?'
Being a skill recognized by Yoo Hee-seok felt like an even greater seal of approval than expected.
As the live video became a hot topic, all the criticism toward Weers' live skills disappeared in an instant.
The smooth start to the comeback activities felt very good.
As I was inwardly reflecting on this week's activities with such satisfaction—
The manager's voice could be heard speaking to us.
"You guys remember the group variety show filming next week, right?"
"Ooh!"
"Are we filming all day?"
"Where are we filming?"
The manager answered the members' questions one by one.
'So the variety show filming begins now.'
While I was looking at the members and thinking that—
The manager suddenly looked at me and spoke.
"And Rin, you remember too, right?"
"Huh?"
Remember? Was there something special I had to do?
No matter how much I thought about it... Ah!
"I told you before. You'll be appearing solo."
At the manager's words, I finally recalled the memory I had forgotten.