TeStar's music chart publicity caused a huge stir.

This had already risen to a high level of recognition in Korea.

It was a mess because all the people, who had seen at least once, had something to say.

In addition, as the competition structure between the two groups was created, the reaction of VTIC fans became colder.

//TN: The Korean word is actually 뇌피셜 which means brain-fficial. Comes from the words brain and official. Almost has the same meaning as headcanon, but more negative. Like an act of confidently claiming something as if there's evidence when their claim is only "official in their brains".

Thanks to the malicious netizens, who were excited to add fuel to the flame and drive a wedge between them, the atmosphere among the fandoms was ice cold.

However, apart from that, people who were only casually interested in idols really enjoyed it.

The following day, TeStar's songs 'Hi-Five' ranked 17th and 'Magical Boy' ranked 19th on the daily chart.

The rise was ridiculously fast, but certainly not as fast as VTIC.

Everyone was moderately surprised and the expectations were suitably met.

Then Thursday came.

It was TeStar's first pre-recording day for the music show.

* * *

"I'm so sleepy."

"I know."

I didn't know that the day would come when I could truly empathize with Cha Yujin's words.

'I knew it was going to be early in the morning but didn't think about the time to start with preparations.'

Let's say the pre-recording of the music show starts at 4:30 in the morning. Then we would have to wait at the broadcasting station by 4 o'clock at the latest. This means that we would have to go to the salons even earlier a few hours before that...

In short, it was night labour.

'We keep moving around indoors, but what about the people who are coming to see this?'

It is said that the audience could apply and they were chosen by lottery, but honestly, if you are going to call people at this time, I think you should give them an hourly wage.

It was fortunate that the weather was not cold. No one will catch a cold while waiting.

"I'm going to sleep..."

Cha Yujin stretched out on the sofa as soon as we entered the waiting room.

"Sho-should I wake him up? H-his voice won't turn out well if he wakes up at the last minute."

"He's been living like that all the time and managed to do well. Don't worry about it."

"I-is that so."

At Kim Raebin's resolute words, Seon Ahyun put his hands back together. His face looked pale.

He seemed more nervous than sleepy.

"...Wait a minute."

"Hu-huh?"

I looked through my small bag and threw a bunch of candy to Seon Ahyun.

It was glucose candy.

"Eat some. It's good when you're tired."

"Oh, okay..."

"Hey, Moondae, me too!"

Keun Sejin, who was looking at his smartphone, tried to snatch candy from Seon Ahyun, but was unexpectedly stopped by Seon Ahyun himself.

"Th-thank you for the candy!"

"No, but Ahyun..."

"..."

I took out more candy from my bag and silently threw it at him. Keun Sejin delightfully accepted it.

"Oh! Thanks!"

'Whatever it is, I have to buy three or four times as much, to eat as much as I want.'

The financial situation was not good yet, so this was not a desirable circumstance.

Then, from outside the door, the manager and Ryu Chungwoo came in with the camera.

'Is it for the reality show again?'

Seems like it was easy for the camera to enter since it was the music show of Tnet.

The manager smiled broadly and waved his hand. Ryu Chungwoo talked with a smile.

"Guys, the fans sent us lunch boxes!"

"Woah!"

"...A lunch box!"

Cha Yujin, who was sleeping, immediately jumped up. This guy is amazing.

The lunch boxes that were brought into the waiting room were dazzling.

'I didn't expect to see a 5-star-tier lunch boxed meal in person.'

I disassembled the lunch box dishes one by one while feeling a little bewildered.

Usually, lunch boxes were not as good as ordinary meals but this looked like a real meal.

There was a sticker on the top of the lunch box.

At the bottom, there was simply 'All TeSTAR Fans' written on it.

"..."

It was probably prepared jointly by several individual fan communities. Since it's the group's first debut stage, they probably prepared it together instead of giving out individual names. It was out of subtle consideration for the members.

"Let's take a picture"

"First I think it would be better to take one picture just like this and take another picture with the boxes opened."

"It's a great idea. Can Moondae take the picture since you're good at doing it quickly?"

"Sure."

"Oh?"

Without further ado, I took a few shots with my phone in focus and in different angles. Then, I adjusted the brightness and saturation to correct the colour immediately.

"It was shot really well."

"I-I think you're good with your hands."

"Thank you. Is it okay if I upload this?"

"Oh?"

Actually, I asked the members, but it's the manager's answer who I should listen to.

This is because there have not been any personal posts yet after Lee Sejin's upload. Since we didn't want to spoil anything and there was a problem with the atmosphere.

I think it should be okay to slowly start posting, and fortunately, the manager kindly gestured okay.

The members glanced at the gesture and proceeded to talk.

"Of course, it's okay~"

"Moondae had a good idea."

"Can I eat now?

Cha Yujin's earnest question was implicitly ignored.

Instead, Kim Raebin seriously nodded his head.

"Starting with this, I hope we can upload news of us more often."

"...Yeah."

But if you can... get it checked and upload it.

"Let's make sure to express our love in it."

"W-wouldn't it seem like we're only saying we love them because they gave us lunch boxes?"

"Oh!"

The members began to diligently write phrases while I was editing the photos.

"There's a 180-character limit. Let's choose our words carefully."

"Yes!"

So the finished phrase was as follows.

"Good! It's uploaded!"

While the members were proud, Ryu Chungwoo, who was looking at it with a faint smile, suddenly had a bewildered expression on his face.

"...?"

"Wait, what time is it?"

...3:50 AM

It was very late at night and early in the morning.

Seon Ahyun turned pale.

"W-we're making a notification e-early in the morning."

"Delete... If I delete it, won't the notification go away?"

"Of course, it's too late now..."

The atmosphere became glum.

Of course, there are many idols who make social media posts at dawn, but in this case, the problem was that after not posting anything for a while a new post would be notified like a new text message to everyone early in the morning.

Cha Yujin, who looked at the lunch boxes with a sad expression, asked.

"Why is it bad?"

"It would be a nuisance for people to get a notification really late at night."

"Oh."

Cha Yujin said brightly.

"We can apologize!"

"...!"

After a while, another new notification popped up on TeStar's account.

The attached photo was of TeStar in the waiting room with their heads bowed down together.

Something didn't feel right to me.

"...Wait a minute."

"Hmh?"

"I think we spoiled our outfits."

"...!!"

Fortunately, we were able to ask for forgiveness from the producers.

However, the faces of the members, who experienced an unexpected mistake just before the pre-recording, looked pale.

"... From now on, let's think about it for at least 30 minutes before posting anything on social media."

"Yes..."

After the redemption party was over, it was time for the recording.

"Now, let's quickly eat the lunch boxes!"

"We don't have time. Let's eat after we're done."

"Oh..."

Cha Yujin was heartbroken.

We took only the vitamin drinks that came with the lunch boxes, drank them one by one, and headed straight to the stage.

"Woaahh!!"

More than 200 people who had waited in line since late at night cheered.

We haven't even gone up to the stage yet. We were just moving back and forth next to the stage.

Keun Sejin said seriously.

"Let's not ask questions like 'have you eaten yet?' It would seem like we're the only ones who have been eating and taking vitamins this morning."

"But we didn't eat..."

"Let's eat as soon as we're done."

"...Yeah."

Ryu Chungwoo lightly subdued the situation.

"Let's go up!"

"Yes."

The members went up to the stage according to the staff's instructions.

The set was great. It seemed like the MV's run-down school set's main points were moved there and the purple LED and bubble effect were perfect.

'They spent some money.'

However, there was no time to look around the set in depth. This is because hundreds of people were watching us at the front.

"This is our first pre-recording performance. Everyone, please take care of us."

"Please take care of us~"

As the members greeted according to Ryu Chungwoo's lead, screams and greetings were mixed with the cheers from below.

"Is there anything you wish from TeStar..."

"Please post more often!"

"Ah, posting."

I wondered if they have all checked the social media post earlier, and an explosion of laughter erupted from below the stage. Thanks to this, Ryu Chungwoo stopped laughing.

"We will post often. Not at dawn."

"Post today!"

"If we post often, then how frequent..."

"Every day!"

The fans shouted loudly. They weren't even losing out to Kim Raebin either. That's amazing.

It was the first time having a conversation so close to the stage, so honestly, I can't say that the communication was natural.

However, it felt fresh in its own way. Being a rookie was only for a short time, so the fans will enjoy this atmosphere.

'Ah, it's starting.'

The members, who had a short conversation with each other, soon took positions on the stage with the staff's sign.

I came forward because I started from the middle position in the first part.

"Moondae-ya!"

After thinking for a while, I made a small heart. Not the so-called K-heart. It was just a finger heart.

"Ahhh!!"

My whole body felt like cringing, but people looked happy, so it was fine...

As the reactions subsided a little, the prelude came out.

And I heard powerful voices from below the stage.

'...It's a fanchant.'

I didn't expect to hear that.

"Meet you tomorrow!"

I laughed unconsciously as I entered the first verse.

It was a little fun.

//TN: help the internet comments are so hard to translate ㅠㅠ there are so many shortened words and slang that I had to google and try to make it make sense in english. sometimes I couldn't find the meaning so I just put the literal translation, which is why some sentences don't make much sense. really sorry.