Debut or Die - Chapter 149

The week before the next episode of the semi-final and final of would be aired.

Thanks to the impressive hologram character that hadn’t appeared for a while, it was lightly talked about on the Internet.

– It’s fun to see something new for the first time in a while. I’ve seen them running out of all kinds of sportsman usable materials

– The profile and concept art is coming out this week, right? I’m looking forward to it. It’s been so long since my heart raced when watching TV. I’m flustered…

– I was surprised that his voice was so good, but he completely ripped apart the next stage. The bouquet head made my heart pound

– From the first stage that seems to symbolize a groom on a spring day to the next stage where the beauty of tragedy is alive. Everything was good. (link)

– He’s really good at singing, it’s his definite victoryㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Of course, because he had high-level quality and didn’t lack anything, he naturally got popular.

And, of course most of Park Moondae’s fans had guessed.

That the Groom in May would be Park Moondae.

– Honestly, it’s obvious

– It’s so obvious. If you can’t tell, you don’t have eardrums

– No, his skills got better. His voice seemed to have improved a lot since the American program, but how is this possible

└The consensus is that it’s because he’s a genius

– Honestly, no matter how you see it, the character… I had guessed the moment I saw him but hearing his voice, it was just as I expectedㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– ㅇㄱㄹㅇSeriously, the making of Magical Boy didn’t go anywhereㅋㅋㅋ

But it didn’t come out to the surface.

Thanks to having gone through so many suppressions, they had established a stance of not actively arguing when their opinions differed from the public.

It would be over once his identity was revealed anyway, so the fans refrained from speaking while looking forward to the reaction after that. It was to avoid the crazy people who sometimes tried to catch and ridicule them.

And at the long-awaited airing day for the second half of .

These people who were looking forward to ‘Groom in May’ waited for the main broadcast of the entertainment program for a long time.

Among them were this brother and sister.

“Look. It’s Park Moondae.”

“Yeah, you’re delusional~”

It was a college student, who was a fan of Kim Raebin, and her younger brother.

The younger brother was prepared for the older sister’s curses to come flying as soon as he babbled, but it didn’t happen.

“…Huft.”

The college student put up with it and just laughed it off.

It was the confidence of those who knew the outcome.

“What’s with you?”

“Fine. Just watch the broadcast.”

The pissed-off high school student huffed and turned to the TV.

Still, as soon as the broadcast started, the siblings forgot the fight.

Because ‘Groom in May’ came out on the first match of the semifinals between the remaining three cast members and one winner of the last episode.

[The audience is buzzing]

[Hey~ I’m looking forward to it]

[I don’t know what kind of performance he’ll show us!]

It was a reaction full of high anticipation from the audience and judges who had grasped the situation through the last two stages.

With captions and comments intersecting, the ‘Groom in May’ finally appeared on the stage.

“Heol.”

“He’s here.”

The flying butterflies and the more sophisticated patterns on the veil and gloves were captured in the eyes of the college student.

It seemed they slightly reinforced the hologram.

‘I guess they poured some money because of the reaction?’

The main vocalist of the first-tier idol group came out, so the college student snorted, saying that it was only natural.

“Hey, here it is! Here it is!”

“Be quiet!”

On the dark stage, only the hologram shone alone.

And the accompaniment played out.

The sweet and clear sounds of violins and oboes filled the space.

The stage was filled with bright, glaring lights. With the flowers swaying, the groom raised his right hand and gently placed it on the microphone.

– My world is

A place free of sorrow

Only joy

I share it with you

“Huh? That…”

“Shh!”

After the sweet line, a lower and more desperate line followed.

– In my world

There’s no darkness

Bright starlight

Shine on you

“Wow….”

This time, the siblings opened their mouths and looked at the screen, forgetting to prevent each other from getting in the way.

‘Groom in May’ was singing a duet song that both a man and a woman sing together.

It was a very romantic song, famous for its fairy tale lyrics and lyrical melodies.

And another characteristic of this song was that it was often used as a wedding song.

– Sometimes sad days

Will come to find us

Please stay in this world

– My love

Your world

in a warm hug

to keep the promise

In the original song, the lyric was composed and solidified by two people exchanging melodies with each other.

However, sung alone by ‘Groom in May’, the wedding song had changed its nuance and completely turned into a song of perfect courtship.

Unlike the graceful marriage proposal song in the preliminaries stage, the composition that crossed the heights of men and women, like the tail feathers of courting peacocks, captivated the ears.

‘It really sounds nice.’

‘It’s a country-style song, but why is it good?’

The brother and sister were completely immersed in the song and listened to the rest of the song in silence.

The subtitles were frantic too.

[The love conveyed by Groom in May]

[Falling in love with his sweet voice]

The faces of the judges with closed eyes and the judges with their eyes wide open looking at the stage crossed each other.

“He’s going to the final round, right?”

“Definitely.”

Watching the ‘Groom in May’ bow down again after finishing the song and then slowly disappear, the siblings expressed the same opinion for the first time in a long time.

And, just as they predicted, ‘The Groom in May’ advanced to the final.

[The 2nd finalist is… ‘Groom in May’]

“Yeeeess!”

“Hey, if he doesn’t make it to the final, the result must be manipulated.”

As if watching a sports game, the siblings swung the remote control at the TV excitedly.

And the profiles of the semi-finalists were introduced at length.

This content was to fill the time, but there were cases where a well-made character profile caught people’s interests.

The Groom in May was like that.

– Crazy… He can only sing love songs until he meets his bride;; What’s with the concept

– So Winter Night, which he sang in the finals, was the time when he met the bride and lost her, then he was finally able to sing a breakup song?

└Heol

└You’re such an interpreter

– The bouquet head only has flowers that bloom in May… The Groom in May… If he get married in another month, the flowers change

└Please brainwash him until he becomes the Groom in June. It’s June right now

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– When he gets married, the head of the flower changes to the bride’s ideal type. This setup is too much but it’s great

As soon as the profile appeared, the college student browsed through SNS and felt proud.

‘Park Moondae is really good at things like this!’

And she was sure once again. This must be Park Moondae!

“What would you do if he is really Park Moondae?”

“I think you’ll get humiliated if you keep being like this.”

“Hey, do you want to bet 100,000 won?”

“Wow, thank you for the allowance.”

Right before the final stage, the siblings even decided to make a high-stakes bet.

The two people that couldn’t turn back anymore stared at the TV with serious faces.

“Even if he fails here, I’ll win, right?”

“Saying that from my point of view, yes.”

The two roughly skipped the first stage of the final. An old-fashioned chicken with a tinfoil ribbon sang a fun samba, but it wasn’t particularly exciting.

And finally… His turn had come.

The Groom in May reappeared on stage.

[Wooow!]

A red butterfly flew away, and a bouquet of flowers was shining through the white veil.

‘Groom in May’ held his standing microphone with both of his hands covered in white gloves.

And the stage went dark.

Clang.

Several lights from all directions shot down toward the hologram.

It was dark red.

“…!”

The lights shook distortedly.

Then, an ominous sound began to ring out.

Shhhh-shhhh-

The sound of sogeum [1] leaking like the wind was mixed with the frantic sound of a flute going back and forth between notes, creating a strange atmosphere.

A slow drum beat rang out.

Boom… Boom… Boom…

It was chilly.

In that eerie atmosphere, the Groom in May began to sing.

The white suit was stained with mottled red light.

– On the eve of April

I can’t even see the moon

You don’t come

Love is rotting away

A slightly hoarse, scraping sound echoed across the stage.

Perhaps because of the shaking of the lights, the flowers of ‘The Groom in May’ seemed to be swaying.

As if he would soon wither.

– The longing is this long

I don’t deserve to live

I suddenly open the window

Only traces remain on the road

The song played out over the restless monotony without taking a chance to breathe. The note rose up steeply, as if it was about to jump.

Then, it dropped.

– Still, I’ll wait

In line with the low note, the accompaniment exploded.

“…!!”

Amid the rushing sound of Korean traditional music instruments, ‘The Groom in May’ bowed his head, burying the flowers in the stand microphone.

– My heart is all rotten

Until your bony heart melts

buried under the ground

Until all the memories fade

I’ll still wait

The melancholy melody began with a very low tone and rose frantically.

In the repeated lyrics, the countless metaphors all ended with one word.

‘Waiting.’

The screen didn’t even show the audience’s reaction. Only the ‘Groom in May’ was illuminated on the red-colored stage.

There seemed to be an invisible gaze from the veil and beyond the bouquet.

Even beyond the screen, they could feel the desperate feeling as if being overwhelmed.

And at least, it arrived.

A high-pitched voice that sounded like a cry raised the final chorus lyrics.

– On the day you finally came

Until the day of your beauty

The last note followed as if he didn’t breathe.

Chasing after it, the gloomy accompaniment ran frantically… Then, it stopped.

– Waiting

“…”

A faint sound of sogeum finished the song.

In the place where fear and madness left, a painful and sad aftertaste remained.

With the bouquet on the standing microphone, the frozen ‘Groom in May’ didn’t move.

And the moment the accompaniment was completely cut off.

He disappeared from the stage as if blown away.

[Oooooh!]

[Wow…!]

Only then did the audience seats were filled with applause and admiration.

The camera that caught the unusual appearance of the judges and the audience covering their mouths finally appeared.

[The overwhelmed audience]

[They can’t take their hands off their mouths]

And the siblings who were frozen in front of the TV also came to their senses.

“…It’s really crazy.”

“I’m getting goosebumps.”

“It’s Moondae’s win.”

“You’re crossing the line again.”

The stage of ‘The Groom in May’, who seemed to have passed away while waiting for a bride who didn’t return, left a tremendous impression.

Because he dragged out a stage that could be seen as excessive, with a terrifyingly perfect song.

‘I’ll definitely watch the show next week, too.’

Convinced of the victory of ‘Groom in May’, the high school student made a decision in his heart.

He had to watch.

He even thought about buying and listening to his album once his identity was revealed.

‘Looking at each stage, he’s definitely a band vocalist. I think he’writes minor songs.’

So when the ‘Groom in May’ revealed his identity shortly after, he was completely frozen in shock.

[‘Groom in May’, the identity of the person who created this hologram character… Revealed now!]

Just before announcing the winners, the identities of the cast members were revealed in advance to make up the picture of them waiting for the announcement with their holograms on stage.

The hologram of ‘Groom in May’, whose motion link was released, stood calmly on the stage. He looked somewhat quiet for someone who had sung such a miserable song just now.

He could hear the MC’s loud voice.

[Come on in!]

At that moment, the bottom of the stage opened and the person began to appear.

And people started making strange exclamations.

“…!?”

Because what came up was… the ‘Groom in May’.

“What?”

The actual ‘Groom in May’, who had come up all the way, tilted the bouquet.

It looked just like the hologram, so he got goosebumps.

“Gasp.”

Until now, animals and food had been playfully reproduced using doll clothes, but it had never looked so similar like this.

Because he made a character out of things that were usually not used!

‘What is this bastard doing?’

Among the buzzing audience and the judges, only the MC shouted cheerfully.

[This person is…!]

The newly came-up ‘Groom in May’ ripped off the bouquet from his head with his right hand.

“…!”

A thick mesh mask covered with flowers flowed down to his neck, revealing a sweaty face and hair.

[The popular idol, Testar’s Park Moondae!]

[!!!!]

The screaming audience and the judges who deliberately pretended to be more surprised were captured and replayed continuously on the screen.

And the high school student was stunned, too.

“…”

“Hey, hey.”

Tuk-tuk, the college student tapped her brother with her foot.

“Give me 100,000 won.”

By the way, a similar situation was happening on the Internet in real-time.

1. The sogeum is a small bamboo transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. Sumber: Wiki.