The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 118

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

A Former Idol’s Hard Carry in an Indie Band
Chapter 118
“Hey, if we hadn’t shown up, the whole vibe would’ve been ruined.”
“Right? They’re all seriously killing it.”
The far end of the stage.
From the back of the audience seating, Jo Sung Hoon and his band members were filming the entire performance.
The other members filmed from the front, the sides, and occasionally climbed onto the stage itself.
Some of today’s performances would be uploaded to YouTube as video content.
As the Maruru Band’s set drew toward its end.
Jo Sung Hoon had a thought.
‘If this spreads, all hell’s going to break loose.’
“Hey, Oktatop’s starting now. Come on, get out there.”
“Oh? Yeah, right. I’m heading out.”
At his band member’s words, Jo Sung Hoon grabbed the camera and rushed toward the stage.
* * *
The Maruru Band wrapped their set, perfectly threading the line between emotional and intense.
And now came the turn for Oktatop.
“Hmm… no, that’s not it…”
Cha Seo Ha took the stage and immediately appeared with a tilted head.
The audience, seeing this madman, wondered what he was about to say and chuckled softly.
“No, that’s definitely not it!!!”
“Hahahaha!”
The audience, bewildered by the situation, simply laughed.
“The last band got such a good reaction! Today’s star is me!”
“Wooooah!”
“That’s right!”
“No it’s not!!”
“Yeah, it wasn’t!!”
“Yes! That’s it!!”
All manner of responses mixed into the roar of applause.
Then Kim Ji Hu suddenly began hammering the keyboard in exasperation.
“What?”
Cha Seo Ha looked at Kim Ji Hu and asked; Kim Ji Hu’s expression said, ‘How do you not get it?’
“Oh, oh! Sorry—it’s not me, it’s Oktatop who’s the star.”
“Hahahaha”
Laughter erupted again, and Kim Ji Hu, satisfied, launched into a beautiful melody.
The playing was so delicate and lovely that laughter broke out once more.
“Okay, shall we get going?”
“Yeeeeeah!”
“Okay, let’s do this.”
After a brief, crisp preamble, the first song of the final set began.
And from the audience seating erupted a roar unlike anything before.
That song which had devoured the number one spot on the Lemon Chart recently.
The song that announced the beginning of Oktatop Core.
rolled in with its intro.
A siren sound that wasn’t in the original had been inserted.
The lighting swung to a vibrant red.
The intro stretched out a touch longer than usual.
“Hey!!!”
Cha Seo Ha suddenly roared into the microphone, and the audience roared back.
“Hey! I like you guys!”
Cha Seo Ha roamed the stage, taking in the crowd’s faces.
Then he crouched down somewhere to the left and pointed into the audience with his finger.
“Hey, you—you’re pulling off that look great.”
He was pointing to a fan who’d really nailed the Oktatop Core aesthetic.
A near-shriek of joy burst from that section, and fans in front began clamoring to show off their own outfits.
Cha Seo Ha gave them all a thumbs up, showing his respect.
It seemed like that would be the end of it, but it wasn’t.
Cha Seo Ha felt something snag beneath his feet.
Clothing.
Looking back toward the audience, pieces of dark fabric started flying toward the stage.
A few fans began throwing the clothes they were wearing at Oktatop.
And Cha Seo Ha casually began collecting them, draping them one by one over his body.
The look on his face was satisfied—it had been a while since he’d encountered this kind of culture.
“Huh?”
Then he noticed something: underwear.
“Hey, they’re men’s underwear!”
Cha Seo Ha made a face of pure disgust.
And the audience went wild with laughter.
The Oktatop members began laughing hysterically too.
Cha Seo Ha grabbed the underwear and bolted toward Heo Jun Sung.
“Nooooo!”
And Cha Seo Ha came back with the underwear perched on his head.
Heo Jun Sung, mid-performance, couldn’t remove it and just kept playing with the underwear sitting on his head.
A lot had happened in a short span of time.
Laughter never stopped coming from the audience.
Powered by that energy, Cha Seo Ha began to sing.
An easy-listening BPM.
Yet the rhythm instruments were saturated with decadence.
A piano tinged with bittersweet feeling and a melodic vocal line.
, with its unique mystique, had ensnared everyone afflicted with Hongdae Syndrome, and it was sailing smoothly.
Cha Seo Ha, draped in garments, was being filmed up close by Jo Sung Hoon, who had climbed onto the stage.
Somewhere during the second verse.
Cha Seo Ha suddenly got an idea and snatched the camera from Jo Sung Hoon.
Holding the selfie stick, Cha Seo Ha began filming himself.
The crowd, thinking it looked cool, screamed again.
Jo Sung Hoon, suddenly without a job when his camera was stolen, was momentarily flustered.
But he decided he should step off stage until he got another cue.
As he was heading off, he felt his collar being tugged.
It was Cha Seo Ha.
“What?”
In an instant, Cha Seo Ha threw an arm around Jo Sung Hoon’s shoulders.
A two-shot, perfectly captured on camera.
Cha Seo Ha handed the microphone to Jo Sung Hoon.
And Jo Sung Hoon didn’t refuse.
In terms of pure vocal ability, Jo Sung Hoon surpassed Cha Seo Ha.
Subtlety was his weapon, but he was more than capable with raw, rough genres like this.
Jo Sung Hoon sang with outstanding skill.
At this sudden development, surprise rippled through the audience.
“What? What is that?”
“Why is he so good? What is this? Who is that?!”
“That’s Jo Sung Hoon! It’s definitely Jo Sung Hoon!”
“That Jo Sung Hoon?”
“Who is that? Why is he so good?”
Not many recognized Jo Sung Hoon, who had relatively less public recognition.
But what mattered was the moment itself.
Singers under a company face constraints.
Depending on the circumstances, movements during performances like this were naturally restricted.
But every move Oktatop showed today reeked of freedom.
The unfettered movements of a young artist.
Showing off that youthful energy well, Oktatop’s stage sailed on smoothly.
* * *
“Thank you! This was Oktatop!”
After all prepared songs had ended, they called out in a loud voice.
The guys who’d shown excellent ensemble playing also went wild on their instruments individually.
The lights sparkled brilliantly.
A perfect finale.
But there was still something left.
“Encore! Encore! Encore! Encore!”
The audience naturally demanded an encore.
And now you probably know.
That I won’t be taking that request right away.
“Encore! Encore! Encore! Encore!”
“Hmm…”
I tilted my head and surveyed the audience.
“Encore! Encore! Encore! Encore!”
“Hmmmm…”
My expression one of clear displeasure.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Please!!!”
“Encore! Encore! Encore! Encore!”
And so I stood in the center of the stage, arms spread wide, gazing at the ceiling, savoring the voices of five hundred people for a moment.
Feeling alive.
Of course, the audience’s throats must be killing them.
I was too happy, but the fans’ throats were precious, so I decided to wrap it up here.
“Okay!”
“Woooooah!”
I spun in a full circle and walked toward Kang Min’s drums.
“There’s one more thing we haven’t done yet, right?”
“Yeeeeeah!!”
“You know what it is?”
“Yeeeeeah!!”
“Okay. Let’s go!”
I struck Kang Min’s cymbal four times with the palm of my hand.
And the very last encore song began.
The song that was our beginning.
.
Though it was the first song we ever released, our fans say it’s what defines Oktatop when they think of us.
Paired with , which we released recently, they call it our youth anthem, and they love it.
I love this song too.
Because it reaches back from my past life.
A song that holds our youth whole and complete.
The fact that the audience loves our youth makes always bring me happiness when we perform it.
When we meet
Something begins
A new world
New music
No matter how much changes
I can recognize you
When we meet.
It began.
A new world.
New music.
It’s been nearly two years since this really unfolded before my eyes.
When did we get here?
It feels like just yesterday I asked Heo Jun Sung to start a band, and yet we’ve already filled five hundred seats with our own power.
It won’t last forever, but I’ll cherish it our whole lives—this youth of ours. I sang of our youth and took in the faces of those grateful audience members one by one.
The audience probably doesn’t know.
What role this stage they saw today will play in the music industry going forward.
And so we finished Band Night, painting the finale in the color of youth.
* * *
After the performance ended and the audience had all left, all the guests gathered on stage.
They encouraged each other, saying they’d all worked hard, and praised one another for their performances.
“Let’s all give a round of applause for the hardworking Oktatop!”
Im Hyun Taek called out loudly, and everyone applauded us.
“Hey, good work out there!”
“Oktatop! Woooah!”
“Great job, everyone!”
I felt something catch in my chest unexpectedly.
While we’d been forming the band and performing in basement venues more and more.
What I was most familiar with was still idol activities and solo concert stages.
That period had been overwhelmingly long.
Back then, when a performance ended, we’d each rest in separate green rooms and then clock out.
Offering formal greetings to people passing by, managing appearances with bows or thumbs up.
While not actually knowing who anyone was.
But this moment is real.
Everyone knows each other’s music and understands each other’s stories.
Isn’t this what the world of real musicians is like?
Receiving applause from my peers and exchanging looks with my Oktatop friends, I finally felt like I was standing properly in this world.
“Come on, we’ve all worked hard—let’s take a photo together.”
“Yes!”
And so all the performers lined up on stage.
“Come on, you too!”
I called out to Jo Sung Hoon’s band, who’d been standing awkwardly to one side.
“Oh, yeah, of course!”
“You guys really worked hard today—come be in the photo!”
“Yeah, Sung Hoon. Come on up to the middle with us.”
We included Jo Sung Hoon’s band and the crew, set the timer, and took a group photo.
Yeah.
Seeing this warm scene, I felt convinced that the band scene must happen, no matter what.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————