Superstar From Age 0

Episode 25

Lim Yeon felt invincible as a high school senior who had just finished the college entrance exam. She grinned as she held a placard and a cheering stick in both hands and took her seat.

She was a newbie fan of Westwing, the hottest boy band in the country. She was thrilled to be at the broadcasting station for the first time, seeing the things she had only watched on TV.

“Are you Lim Yeon?”

A voice asked her.

“Hi, nice to meet you!”

She replied.

She had never been to a music show before, so she had agreed to meet a senior fan she had befriended on social media. The woman had the username Your Sky and greeted her with a smile.

She sat next to Lim Yeon.

“Westwing will be the last act. Until then, enjoy the other singers’ performances and cheer for them too.”

“Okay. I will!”

Lim Yeon waited anxiously, and then the show began.

[Welcome to The Music Show, the program that brings you the best music every Thursday at 6 o’clock!]

[I’m your host, MC Lia!]

[And I’m MC Minwoo!]

“Wow!”

Lim Yeon exclaimed.

The staff signaled for applause.

Your Sky clapped expertly, and Lim Yeon followed a beat later.

“They’re so gorgeous.”

She understood why people were crazy about idols.

The MCs looked even more stunning and handsome in person.

She overheard a whisper from the seat in front of her.

“Looks like we’re the only ones here.”

“Well, what can we do? They’re rookies and they don’t have any famous trainees. It’s a miracle that we’re here at all.”

Who are they talking about?

She peeked and saw some people holding signs that said [Love BrBl!]

[Brown Black Fighting!]

[Congratulations on your debut!].

Are they debuting today? Brown Black? She wondered.

[We’re so nervous for their first stage today.]

[Yes, we have some amazing newcomers debuting today.]

[Have you met them, Lia?]

[No, I’m about to see them now!]

Lim Yeon nodded along with the MCs’ introduction.

The first stage must be the group that the people in front of her supported.

“I hope they don’t mess up their debut stage.”

“I know, right? Westwing’s debut stage was…”

Your Sky shook her head, remembering.

It was a disastrous debut stage that became a notorious legend. But that video also made them famous, so it was a mixed blessing for the fans.

[Their names are as sweet as cocoa!]

[We hope that all of you watching The Music Show will have a wonderful ‘Start!’ like their songs!]

[Here comes Brown Black!]

Lim Yeon and Your Sky didn’t expect much. They just decided to clap for them out of courtesy.

Four men in suits appeared on the stage.

They looked like fresh graduates who had just landed their first jobs, or college freshmen who had dressed up nicely.

The music started, and the audience went silent.

The fans who were waiting for their own idols, the small talk they had made, the coughs and the creaks of the chairs, everything vanished.

Only Seo-jun, who was not there, could see the numbers that glittered above Brown Black’s heads.

[The orchestra conductor’s connection is activated.]

Lim Yeon was mesmerized by the idol’s stage that she saw for the first time in her life.

She stared at the stage without blinking. Her mouth was slightly open.

Before she could react, brown Black’s song reached its climax, and

Bang!

The confetti exploded. She got goosebumps.

“Wow…”

Brown Black, who finished their stage, took a deep breath and bowed to the audience.

Lim Yeon clapped without realizing it. Her applause was followed by cheers and shouts from the audience.

Brown Black, who were heading backstage, heard the cheers and nodded repeatedly as they disappeared.

“Wow. So this is what live performance is like? I only watched TV all the time because I was studying… I never went to a concert! Wow. If a debut group is this good, west Wing’s stage must be amazing!”

Lim Yeon chattered excitedly.

She was impressed by the unexpected stage.

If a group that just debuted was this good, how amazing would West Wing’s stage be, a group that was famous and had been active for five years?

Her heart raced.

Next to Lim Yeon, who was sparkling with excitement, Your Sky snapped out of her trance.

“Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

Your Sky shook her head. It was better to show than to tell.

She looked at the people in front of her.

They must have been the fans of the group that performed the amazing stage.

As she expected, they were talking with bright faces. Your Sky saw the placards they were holding.

[Brown Black]

It was the debut of a remarkable rookie.

The Music Show continued. But unlike usual, the audience’s reaction was not very enthusiastic.

They responded to the singers they liked, but it was weak.

They were still captivated by the first stage.

She couldn’t help but compare the first stage with the other singers’ stages.

The Music Show ended with West Wing’s stage.

Lim Yeon got up from her seat with a disappointed expression.

“I don’t know. I was looking forward to it, but it was not that great. The songs seemed like half lip-synced, and the dance was not in sync either.”

“It was the first group that was amazing.”

Your Sky patted Lim Yeon’s shoulder, who had lost her energy.

Lim Yeon recalled the first stage of The Music Show, which made her heart beat even when she thought about it again.

“What was the name of that group?”

“Brown Black.”

Your Sky, who decided to become a fan of Brown Black, said with a smile.

***

The Music Show was over.

The staff were cleaning up the confetti that had exploded at the end.

Kim Min-hyuk came with a cup of coffee, smiling.

PD Lee Sang-cheon took the cup and took a sip. He wanted to work with this guy just for the coffee.

“It was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”

“Hmm? What was?”

“Brown Black? The group with the rich kid.”

“They’re doomed.”

“What?!”

Kim Min-hyuk was shocked by Lee Sang-cheon’s words. How could they be doomed when the stage was so good?

“Didn’t you like them too, so you set off the confetti for their stage?”

“That was really embarrassing…”

PD Lee Sang-cheon rubbed his forehead. Why did his work ethic have to show up at such an inconvenient time? He didn’t even know he had such a thing in him.

He had unwittingly set off the confetti and had a hard time cleaning it up.

He had to sweep the stage of the confetti for the next singer, and he had to prepare the confetti for the announcement of the first place.

PD Lee Sang-cheon felt dizzy when he thought of what happened an hour ago. He was lucky that he had some spare confetti.

Kim Min-hyuk sat on a chair and asked.

“Do you think our ratings will be amazing today? The SNS was buzzing with how awesome our stage was after it ended…”

“It would be a hit if it was a recorded broadcast. But we’re live, you know. People switched channels after hearing how great our first stage was, but they saw the same old thing. The online forums must be exploding by now.”

Kim Min-hyuk wondered and turned on his phone.

“Besides, you know you’ve been talking about them non-stop, right? They overshadowed the back-half with their stage. We’re screwed. We should have switched their order to the back-half. They were so nervous during the rehearsal!”

Despite Lee Sang-cheon’s lament, Kim Min-hyuk just stared blankly at his phone. Isangcheon PD sensed something was wrong and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’re on the real-time search…”

Kim Min-hyuk showed him the phone screen.

The Music Show’s first stage

Brown Black The Music Show

Brown Black

Brown Black’s debut

The Music Show’s audience review

…

NEW! 48 hours with Brown Black and Jun

***

“They’re on the real-time search!”

Seo Eun-hye quickly looked at her phone at Lee Min-jun’s words.

Seo-jun, who was in his mother’s arms, also looked at the phone screen.

“Brown Black, audience review, first stage…!”

“Wow. Amazing!”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were flustered.

They were trembling until they video-called them, but their stage was so brilliant that it gave them goosebumps.

And it seemed that they were not the only ones who felt that way.

People wanted to know who the group was that performed the first stage.

“Seo-jun, your hyungs are really amazing! Wow! Really, I thought they were just hard-working guys, but they did such a cool stage!”

“I wish I could have seen it in person! It’s such a shame, really.”

While Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye praised Brown Black endlessly, seo-jun, who was looking at the blackened television, felt something burning in his chest. It felt like something was on fire deep inside.

The stage of Brown Black that Seo-jun saw was definitely amazing. It was not only the result of [the connection of the orchestra conductor], but also their effort, skill, and talent.

The applause and cheers that came from beyond the television after Brown Black’s stage.

Seo-jun felt the admiration and excitement in them.

‘They were the hyungs who played with me just a month ago.’

“They’re even on SNS with their pictures!”

“The video they took with Seo-jun is also on the search!”

Mom and dad were excited without knowing Seo-jun’s frustration.

In his mother’s arms, seo-jun looked at the phone screen.

The bright smiles of his hyungs on their way home.

The hyungs with red eyes from crying.

In the narrative, someone compared photos of Brown Black’s commute to work with their journey home, highlighting a transformative journey.

Initially unnoticed, a photo of Brown Black faintly captured behind a famous singer contrasted with their beaming smiles surrounded by cameras upon returning home.

Seo-jun, gazing at the photos, realized that the life he yearned for in his first existence was unfolding before him.

Brown Black’s path mirrored his own.

Unlike his first life, where he remained unknown and passed away in obscurity, they managed to shine despite starting as nobodies, stepping towards the stardom he had always desired.

The casual vow to become a superstar suddenly loomed large for Seo-jun.

Tears streamed down his face as he stared at his phone, unaware of the tears or the commotion of Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun around him.

He was too engrossed in the images on the screen to notice anything else.

Seo-jun had helped his hyungs out of sympathy for their anonymity, not wanting them to despair as he had in the past.

But seeing them now, sparkling in the limelight, he realized he truly wanted to be a superstar, independent of his past life.

***

Title: Does Anyone Know This Song?

Author: CompanyGoneUnder

Does anyone know this song? I couldn’t record it… it was coming from upstairs.

Doo-doo-doo-doo, da-ra-ra-ran, da-ra-ra-ran, doo-doo-doo-doo

Something like that!

-?

-How could anyone know?

-Isn’t it “Together” by West Wing?

-Here comes another chicken wing…

-Try writing down the lyrics

-OP: It was a soft sound, hard to hear. Something like, “Step on me, rise up, I’m getting so high I could die”?

-What incredible lyrics…

-Accusation of plagiarism!

-Brian’s Tiki-Taka!

-OP: Neither of those.

…

Thus, a popular music forum on the internet was set ablaze.

Even after the original poster who kept saying no disappeared, wild guesses continued.

Eventually, the post made it to the top.

Title: I’m the One Who Asked for Help Finding a Song Yesterday!

Author: CompanyGoneUnder

Found it.

There was a performance at our apartment’s playground!

They haven’t debuted yet, but the group’s name is BrownBlack.

The song is called “Start!” It’s really good!

Got their autograph too!

-?

-??

-???

-What’s this? Such incredible clickbait?

-Asking for help finding a song from a group that hasn’t even debuted?

-Is this how new artists promote themselves nowadays? Impressive.

-??? : You’ve gained 10,000 haters in one day.

In an instant, a huge number of comments flooded in.

The two posts written by ‘CompanyGoBroke’ spread quickly across various sites.

[The Common Way to Promote a Rookie Idol]

The man downstairs didn’t know what to do.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

He tried to find and upload his own video from the variety show of Brown Black that was on YouTube, but it looked somehow edited.

It was because Seo Eun-chan had edited it beforehand to prevent the rumors that he had hired someone to appear on the show.

The man posted another message a few weeks later.

Title: Look at this.

Author: CompanyGoBroke

I never expected my post to become such a hot topic. It’s not a promotion, it’s real.

They’re going to debut on WNET The Music Show. Their first stage is at 6 o’clock. It’s not a promotion, I swear! If you want to curse, watch their performance first!

-Yeah, right. Another promotion.

-It was really amazing, though.

-I searched hard for their song!

…

-Wow. Their first stage… A legendary legend!

-I wanted to see how good they were, and they were awesome. I got goosebumps when the pollen exploded.

-The singers after them were terrible at singing.

-You’re mistaken. It’s because their first stage was so good. Well, chickenWing was definitely bad.

-They said it was their debut stage. It was a big hit.

-I don’t know if it was a promotion or not, but the song was good.

…

-But they have a variety show on YouTube… Did you watch it?