Chapter 279: James Linden (2)
James Linden responded to Stardust's group greeting with an awkward smile.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm James Linden."
He briefly wondered whether he ought to add some sort of grand introduction, but nothing came to mind, so he abandoned the idea.
There was no way he could quietly shout something like, Shine James!
Instead, he immediately got down to business.
"I thought we'd share our thoughts on the song we'll be working on today.... Um, by any chance, the person here who composes is...."
His gaze slowly stopped in front of one person.
A young man smiling slightly despite looking a little nervous.
His somewhat mischievous eyes sparkled.
James Linden recognized him at a glance.
He was the man he'd seen in the live clip of <Your Dust>.
"Ah. Could you be Mr. Cha Seongbin?"
"Oh, yes. That's right."
Cha Seongbin nodded, his eyes widening in surprise.
The one who had played the guitar while delivering a soft singing rap.
James clearly remembered him as the group's composer.
He couldn't possibly have forgotten after being so impressed by the songs he'd written.
He had only ever seen him through a screen before.
This was their first time meeting in person.
Seeing him up close...
'He's ordinary.'
Not that his face was ordinary.
His appearance was certainly exceptional.
It was simply that there was no obvious trace of a genius's madness or eccentricity.
Looking at Cha Seongbin, who simply seemed like an ordinary young man his age, James Linden extended his hand.
"You've composed many of your title tracks, haven't you? They suited my taste."
"It's an honor. I'm really not that skilled, though."
Cha Seongbin answered James Linden's compliment in unexpectedly fluent English.
"I'm personally a huge fan of yours. You've released so many famous songs that I've listened to every album you've put out. Every one of your albums is a masterpiece."
"The honor is mine. I still have many songs that fall short...."
James Linden, who had been speaking, suddenly paused.
Even while talking, he had been quietly observing each of the Stardust members one by one.
The man called their leader, who had spoken first...
He looked a little intimidating.
His large build, unusual for an East Asian man, and his cold-looking eyes left a strong impression.
He had the sort of appearance that made people instinctively feel they should watch what they said around him.
Yet his manner of speaking was remarkably gentle.
Beside him stood a youthful, adorable-looking member, another who seemed cheerful and polite, one who looked rather shy...
...and a clean-cut, handsome young man.
Lastly...
There was one boy staring directly at him with an overwhelmingly intense gaze.
He looked like the youngest in the group.
As far as James knew, he actually was the maknae.
"And this is Mr. Do Seohan...?"
Knowing his name, James Linden cautiously addressed him.
"Yes! I'm Do Seohan!"
"...?"
The leader turned toward him in surprise at the sudden burst of energy in his voice.
For some reason, he hurriedly added,
"A-As far as I know, Seohan is also a huge fan of yours. I guess he's just really excited."
"Yes!! That's right!"
"...Is he that excited?"
Cha Seongbin tilted his head as he muttered quietly.
Judging by the other members' reactions toward Do Seohan, it seemed he wasn't normally this energetic.
James Linden had only learned the members' faces through a handful of short videos.
Even so...
The Do Seohan in his memory wasn't like this either.
'What's going on...?'
And yet...
That gaze went beyond simple admiration.
It looked as though he were staring at the person who had saved his life.
James Linden cleared his throat and quietly avoided Do Seohan's unwavering stare.
At that point, this had been his first impression of Do Seohan.
A youthful boy with an innocent appearance.
Shy...
Yet bold enough to openly express his admiration for someone he idolized.
However, before long, that impression gradually began to change.
When casual conversation turned to discussing the goals for this album, life suddenly filled Do Seohan's face.
Confident words poured endlessly from his mouth.
"I want to draw fifty thousand spectators in California. It's my dream to stand on a stage that big."
"He's even giving exact numbers...."
"Wow, Do Seohan, you've been dreaming big!"
"I'd like to perform in front of seventy thousand people in LA...."
The boy was...
Remarkably ambitious.
.
.
.
.
[Stardust Concert Completely Sold Out, World Tour Begins in Seoul]
[Stardust's Three-Day 'Dream the Star' Concert, Fans: "There's No Seat Left for Me at Gocheok Dome"]
[Collaboration with James Linden, Stardust Poised for a Spectacular First Half of the Year]
The Stargram posts that shared articles from various media outlets were already filling with comments from what appeared to be fans.
The headline is literally my feelings LOL. "There's no seat left for me at Gocheok Dome." LOL. Seriously, I paid money and joined the fan club, so why is there still no seat for me???
└ Same here.
└ Then why even accept fan club members, you bastards?
└ Seriously, stop keeping fan club registration open all the time;;
└ It's not always open.
└ THEY KEEP IT OPEN FOREVER DURING CONCERT SEASON!!!!
└ Doubles has to make a living too....
└ Those bastards don't do anything for us, yet all they do is take our money. Fan club benefits? We get to see the ticketing page one day early. Except we only get to look at it.
Stardust really needs to know their own worth.... Guys, why are you performing at Gocheok Dome....? Please move to an even bigger venue???
└ Seriously, know your worth, guys.
└ The view from Gocheok's upper level is absolutely insane.
└ Honestly, even if you're in the fourth floor seats, you should just say thank you and go at this point.
Please, Jamsil Olympic Stadium. 😭 Dustys without seats can only cry. 😭😭😭😭
Are they announcing the James Linden collaboration song at the concert?
└ Just the pre-release, yeah.
└ They're definitely revealing the teaser, but I don't know if they'll perform it too LOL.
└ If they actually perform it, I'm fully confident I'll faint on the spot.
As Jin Sehyun read through the article's comments, the speed at which he scrolled gradually increased.
The rehearsal was already over.
Only the main performance remained.
Ha Junseo, who had just finished his makeup in the waiting room, stood up with a smile.
"What's with your expression today, Seohan?"
"Hm?"
"No, you look completely determined. Well, that's a good thing, though!"
The concert was completely sold out.
Since it would run for three days, all 54,000 seats had been filled.
I didn't want to reduce the gratitude of our fans to mere numbers.
However—
If numbers were what I needed to continue doing this...
Then I'd simply have to create those numbers.
It was only natural that I would become this determined.
Smiling, I slowly nodded.
"I have to give everything I've got. I can't disappoint everyone who came all the way here."
"I-I mean, that's true. But your determination is on another level...."
Ha Junseo cleared his throat and blinked.
Beside him, Jin Sehyun tilted his head and quietly muttered,
"What I saw in my dream... wasn't Do Seohan dying from overwork, was it?"
"Seohan's alive!"
"That's true. Ghosts can't exist in the first place."
Although Jin Sehyun nodded in agreement with Ha Junseo, he still scratched his head.
Quite some time had already passed since he'd had the dream, but it apparently continued to bother him.
"Seventy thousand people in LA.... Fifty thousand in California.... Didn't you also say somewhere that you wanted to gather thirty thousand people too?"
"Huh?"
"Is it an arithmetic sequence...?"
Let's just let him make his own deductions.
"Who knows."
Shrugging my shoulders, I checked my in-ear monitor one last time.
There were less than ten minutes left before the performance began.
I liked to think I'd experienced quite a few stages over the past three years.
Even so...
The moments right before stepping onto the stage always made me nervous.
I swallowed dryly and let out a short breath.
"Hoo...."
It was the D-Day of the world tour.
"WAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"KYAAAAAAAHHH!"
"STARDUST! WE LOVE YOUUUUU!!"
The deafening roar crashed against my ears.
Considering how far away the audience seats were, the cheers pouring through my in-ear monitors were impossibly loud.
Startled, I looked around.
A completely sold-out Gocheok Dome.
As though proving that unbelievable number, the sea of lightsticks spread before my eyes was breathtakingly beautiful.
I'd stood on large stages before.
But this was the first time I'd ever seen such an enormous venue filled entirely with a blue ocean.
"Wow...."
Naturally, it reminded me of a blue Milky Way stretching across the night sky.
Perhaps the concert's title, <Dream the Star>, symbolized the moments when we'd dreamed of witnessing this very scene.
My heart swelled so much that I hadn't even realized I'd stopped breathing.
"Gasp...."
Only then did I take a deep breath before lowering my gaze.
The stage still lay in darkness, untouched by the spotlight.
I settled into position within the shadows.
How long had the silence lasted?
At last, a faint light shone down from above.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"Cha Seongbin! Ha Junseo! Seo Ian! Kang Siwoo! Jin Sehyun! Seo Haim! Do Seohan!"
"STARDUST—!!!"
The thunderous applause that sounded as though it would tear the air apart sent chills through my entire body.
And once again...
I realized that I was alive.