Chapter 178: Concert Meeting
The meeting room of Doubles.
Manager Song Jinha was the first to speak.
“You’ve got your solo concert schedule.”
Small gasps erupted here and there.
Ha Junseo’s eyes sparkled as he nodded vigorously.
“I’m so happy.”
“Ah, I’m already nervous!”
Though we had experienced many stages through various events, we had never once held a solo concert, aside from the showcase.
In that sense, a solo concert held great meaning for us.
It was the kind of stage every singer dreamed of.
Naturally, our hearts fluttered with excitement.
At that moment, Kang Siwoo raised his hand to ask.
“Where is it held?”
“The Gymnastics Stadium.”
Jin Sehyun drew in a short breath.
Wasn’t the Gymnastics Stadium’s seating capacity around fifteen thousand?
It was a much larger stage than what a mere first-year rookie would usually get.
No one said anything, but everyone’s eyes looked a bit more determined than before.
“So today, we’ll roughly go over the setlist—”
Song Jinha’s gaze turned toward a staff member from the planning team.
“Yes! We’ve prepared a preliminary setlist here, but we think many of your opinions will be reflected in it.”
I checked the setlist placed before us.
Of course, songs from the Stardust Project era and our album title tracks were included, but we were told to freely share our opinions for the included tracks.
It was a good opportunity.
In the relaxed atmosphere, Cha Seongbin was the first to speak.
“I don’t know about the others, but I really want this song in.”
The song Cha Seongbin played from his playlist was one of our mini album’s promotional tracks.
“Wanna Come In?”
“Do Seohan biting the necktie part must be included….”
“Excuse me.”
Wait a second.
The song was fine, but the intent behind it was suspicious.
Was this really okay?
The problem was that the planning team staff seemed to love the idea, too.
“Hmm. Since it has such a striking point choreography…! Let’s definitely include it in the setlist!”
“That…”
“Pfft.”
Seo Ian barely held back his laughter and patted my shoulder.
“Seohan, fighting…!”
Thank you for the support, really.
So I also gave my opinion.
“I’d like to add Build In. It’s a track from our first mini album.”
It wasn’t a promotional song, so we’d almost never performed it, but it had an alluring bass and a sexy concept that stood out.
Ha Junseo smiled pleasantly and added.
“Seohan, are you still that serious about sexy concepts?”
“Seohan and sexy are inseparable.”
No, that’s not it.
“I think Ian-hyung should take his shirt off at least once….”
“Hey…?”
I paid him back in kind.
“I personally believe that a concert without Seo Ian’s abs reveal is a national loss.”
“……!”
“Ian, fighting…!”
Of course, we couldn’t leave out the original troublemaker.
I turned my obvious stare toward Cha Seongbin.
“Seongbin-hyung, I heard you’ve been working out lately….”
“Hey, then what about you!”
“I’m a minor.”
Haha.
“Children don’t know anything~.”
Cha Seongbin’s face twisted beautifully.
He used to tease me for being young, but now he was speechless by the same logic.
“I’ve been defeated….”
Thanks to such impure motives, the setlist filled up in no time.
“I hope Siwoo-hyung can show the fans all his cuteness to the fullest.”
“Haim, what about you?”
“I’m a cool grown man now. An adult!”
After an hour of the concert meeting, what remained was…
Cha Seongbin and Seo Ian’s shirtless moments.
Kang Siwoo and Do Seohan’s cute act corner.
Seo Haim and Jin Sehyun’s mature charm(?).
And.
There was one person who, by staying quiet, escaped all of it.
“Hahaha!”
It was Ha Junseo.
The others, clearly displeased, spoke up.
“This won’t do. We need to make Junseo-hyung do something.”
“You monsters!”
Ha Junseo looked horrified as sharp gazes stabbed him from every direction like hyenas.
It was a pity we couldn’t finalize everything there, but we could think more about it until the concert.
As the meeting went on for a while,
I realized I had forgotten to ask the most important question.
Oh, right.
“When’s our schedule?”
Since the concert talk came up in January, it was unlikely to happen as early as next month—probably sometime in summer?
I looked toward Manager Song Jinha, guessing.
But somehow,
the planning team staff averted their eyes from me.
An uneasy silence followed.
“We’ve been considering several alternatives…”
“The Gymnastics Stadium is starting renovation this summer!”
“We originally planned for summer, but this was suddenly decided.”
“Yes, so we tried booking other venues, but the schedules didn’t match….”
The staff kept talking on, but still…
So when was it, exactly?
“It’s on April 20th and 21st.”
“Oh….”
“Wow.”
Checking the calendar, Jin Sehyun murmured quietly.
“Friday and Saturday….”
Not even the weekend?
They clearly hadn’t secured the schedule in advance.
Good grief.
Doubles was being Doubles again.
[Universe Dust concert schedule announced]
It’s on April 20–21 (Fri–Sat).
Students Dusties are sad after seeing the dates ㅜㅜ
Why April when there’s July and August?
April’s nice… cherry blossoms are pretty….
But the cherry blossom’s meaning is midterm exams, damn it….
–Doubles… fans have real lives too, you know….
└Agreed, do they think we’re all unemployed, these bastards
└Student fans have every right to be mad… first concert or not, what can we doㅠㅠ
└If you’re going to schedule it, make it Sat–Sun, why Fri–Sat like this
└Office worker Dusty will be “sick” on Friday….
└Ahㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Me too… I’ll be “sick”ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
–Should’ve done it in May, Doubles are pissing me off
└Right, couldn’t they just delay it by a month?
└One hundred percent chance Doubles didn’t plan this in advance
└Apparently it was supposed to be in summer but got delayed because of constructionㅠㅠ
└Still, Doubles deserve a smack
└222222
[Do these Doubles guys even work?]
What’s with an April concert?
They skip summer break and choose April?? Aprilㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
I give up, I’m quitting school.
–Can I even quit school?
└You can, but I’m a teacher.
└???
└Excuse me?
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ insane
└Teacher… you still have to go to school….
Right after the concert schedule was revealed,
fans’ reactions wavered because it wasn’t even on a weekend.
Most of the complaints came from student fans, as it overlapped with their exam period.
But that only lasted a moment.
Soon, posts full of excitement for the historic first solo concert flooded in.
Doubles had done it again, as always….
And yet, no fan could give up on the concert.
[Stardust’s first solo concert—nerves are killing me]
Why only two daysㅠㅠㅠ
I don’t know if I’ll get a seat, but I’m definitely going….
I’ll see Kang Siwoo with my own eyes.
–Even if it’s Fri–Sat, I’m going no matter what to see Kang Siwoo in person.
–Honestly, maybe the date doesn’t even matter, haha, I might not get a seat anyway.
[Will Universe Dust ticketing be brutal?]
Still, it’s at the Gymnastics Stadium.
Think it’ll sell out immediately?
–Yeah, I doubt I’ll even get a seat….
–I hope the god of ticketing blesses meㅠㅠㅠ
–I don’t even want a good seat, I’ll just cling to the ceilingㅋ
└Ahㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ please suspend me midair too
While the Dusties burned with determination for ticketing,
an unexpected article suddenly dropped.
[BK’s Han Gabin to debut solo, “Want to show a broader spectrum”]
It was news that BK’s Han Gabin was preparing for his solo album.
BK fans had already known thanks to hints dropped during live streams,
but the uproar came from something else in the article.
[Cha Seongbin participates in composing Han Gabin’s solo album]
It was the news that Cha Seongbin would be producing for it.
.
.
.
“Ah, A2….”
Seohan groaned, holding his head at the sudden article.
He never expected them to lock in the deal after just hearing an unreleased demo that wasn’t even finished yet.
Nor did he expect them to publish the article before he had a chance to properly talk to Cha Seongbin about it.
That was how perfectly the song fit BK’s musical style.
A2 would’ve definitely wanted it.
Anyway, after the solo album article broke, reactions split into two types.
–Our Seongbin’s producing for another group tooㅠㅠ geniuses are finally being recognized….
–My boy really is damn good at composing.
–Everyone’s calling him up, so proudㅠㅠㅠ
That was the positive, general sentiment.
–Cha Seongbin, producing?ㅋㅋㅋ what a clownish rookie
–If he’s that serious about composing already, maybe he’ll quit performing later lol lately his limbs flail all over the stage
└Cha Seongbin’s not bad at dancing though?
└Yeah, he is~
Sure, there were a few people badmouthing him under the surface,
but they were a minority.
Cha Seongbin had always had haters who criticized him for trivial reasons.
What Seohan worried about wasn’t public opinion.
He was afraid that the good song would be buried before it was even released.
That was why he had wanted to hand it off elsewhere somehow.
But with the article already out, that possibility had vanished.
Then there was only one option left—face it head-on.
“Phew.”
Seohan scrolled through his contacts until he found one person.
[BK Taekyung-sunbaenim]
They had exchanged numbers once in a waiting room before,
but hadn’t talked much beyond a brief greeting.
After a moment’s hesitation, Seohan sent a message.
–Sunbaenim, are you available for a call?
└Yes
└I can talk now
Maybe he happened to be looking at his phone; the reply came immediately.
Good.
Seohan took a short breath and pressed the call button.
And then—
Brrr—
The ringing tone continued for a moment, then stopped.
A faint rustling was heard on the other end.
Rustle—
Then came Taekyung’s calm voice.
–Yes, what is this about?
Where should he start?
Seohan swallowed dryly and opened his mouth.
“I have something to tell you.”