Little Pink Starfish

As I was feeling these emotions, I was startled.

Originally, I was someone who didn’t get particularly emotional about achievements, unless it was album sales.

Even singles were like that.

Of course, I felt good if a single did well, but if it was a standalone single unrelated to an album, it sometimes even annoyed me.

I always wished all the buzz and attention poured into the album instead.

I knew it was a foolish thought, but emotions don’t always follow logic.

Especially for me, a regressor whose emotions overflow uncontrollably once the dam breaks.

And yet here I was, feeling regretful and worried about the remix’s chart performance…

It felt unfamiliar.

But not in a bad way.

It felt like I was living a one-time-only life.

Just then, I saw Choi Jaesung approaching awkwardly from afar and couldn’t help but smile.

Seeing my smile, Choi Jaesung pouted exaggeratedly.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It suits you.”

“I almost died from how ticklish it was, you know?”

“Well, who told you to lose at rock-paper-scissors?”

“Argh!”

Zombie-costumed Choi Jaesung groaned and imitated a zombie, but it wasn’t scary at all.

The other members, drawn by the noise, chimed in one after another.

“Wow, it looks more real than I expected.”

“Can I touch it?”

“How long did the makeup take?”

Their voices were excited, their faces flushed.

That’s because we were filming a music video at Anyang Art Park.

Or rather, waiting for our turn to shoot.

Though it was something I was sick of experiencing, this was Sedalbaekil’s very first music video shoot.

All the videos for songs they released on Coming Up Next were just behind-the-scenes films.

Everyone seemed thrilled and fascinated.

As I was thinking that, the music video director in charge of today’s shoot came over.

Because of the tight schedule, we had barely greeted each other when we arrived earlier.

“I heard this is everyone’s first music video shoot. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Shi… must be exciting for you.”

He almost cursed just now, didn’t he?

Preparing for this MV reaffirmed one thing for me: money is everything. And after that, Billboard.

Without either, we wouldn’t have secured a skilled production team on such short notice.

Even the permit to shoot at Anyang Art Park was granted thanks to Billboard.

“Alright! Let’s begin filming!”

And so began our first music video shoot.

---

Choi Sehee, who had now made Sedalbaekil her main fandom base, was browsing the internet out of boredom.

Well, to be exact, it wasn’t that she had nothing to do.

There simply wasn’t any new content.

If there was fresh content, there would be endless things to do!

‘Two weeks ago was so good.’

When Colorful Struggle first hit Billboard, it was bliss.

The members regularly posted behind-the-scenes cuts on the official site and interacted with fans frequently.

Choi Jaesung even secretly uploaded clips of On Saemiro, Lee Iion, and Koo Taehwan messing up during Color Show practice.

Though he was caught in just ten minutes and ended up kneeling with both hands raised…

[Someday, I’ll catch Sion hyung’s pitch mistakes too (magnifying glass emoji)!!]

But Choi Jaesung was unfazed.

Yet what excited the fans the most were the photos from Six Flags amusement park in LA.

Though Choi Sehee was closer to a personal fan of Han Sion, she enjoyed seeing Lee Iion devouring an American-style hot dog (with that face) and Koo Taehwan riding a carousel (with that face).

The five of them riding family attractions together looked genuinely close.

But once the flood of content ended, a drought followed.

For two weeks after the music show schedule was announced, nothing was posted.

The K-pop remix of Colorful Struggle was like an oasis in the desert, but that was it.

They had already analyzed every frame of the video down to nanoseconds—they could replay it with their eyes closed.

Of course, TT knew Sedalbaekil was probably pouring everything into their first official promotion.

But still, the craving remained.

Couldn’t they at least upload the practice footage of the K-pop Colorful Struggle?

“More content…”

Muttering like some ghostly spirit, Choi Sehee suddenly saw a YouTube notification pop up on her phone.

She subscribed to many channels, so it was nothing unusual.

But this time was different.

A white background with three irregularly overlapping deep blue circles—the profile symbol for Sedalbaekil’s official channel.

She had mistaken notifications like this over a hundred times in the past two weeks, but this one was real.

And the video title was:

[Sedalbaekil – ‘State of mind’ Official Teaser 1/6]

It was a teaser.

“Gasp!”

Springing up from her seat, Choi Sehee ran to her computer, her mind racing.

State of mind.

A song title she’d never heard before.

Which meant this was the pre-release promotion song aside from the K-pop Struggle.

And the “Teaser 1/6” was intriguing.

Did that mean the teaser was one-sixth of the full song?

No, that made no sense.

Could it mean there would be six teasers in total?

‘Wait, but Sedalbaekil has five members?’

She wasn’t sure.

But whatever it was, she was ready to enjoy it.

After what felt like a thousand years, the computer finally booted, and Choi Sehee reverently accessed YouTube.

She smiled seeing the views rise rapidly, then clicked on the video.

The teaser opened with a scene of raging fire.

Wooden structures burning furiously.

Buildings collapsing silently amid the flames.

Countless embers scattering chaotically across the screen.

Gunfire, cannon blasts, screams and shouts echoed faintly in the background.

Then the scene expanded.

North, south, east, and west—there was devastation everywhere.

War… or perhaps a rebellion or uprising in a mountain village full of wooden buildings.

Though it was late enough for moonlight, the intense fires lit everything eerily bright.

And in the midst of it all…

A man wearing a mask stood alone.

Tall with long limbs.

Wearing a scorched and torn striped suit like he had emerged from the chaos.

A pure white mask that seemed to repel even the moonlight.

At that moment.

Wheeeeee—

A long, thin whistle sounded.

It was chilling, slow, and mournful, as if comforting the fiery hell.

The whistle seemed like it would end but didn’t, lingering ever longer.

Gradually, it asserted its presence.

Thump!

As the first drum beat hit, the whistle morphed into a distinct melody.

♬♪♪♪♪~

Powerful drums.

Crisp yet gritty melody.

Intense, sticky vocals delivering raw lyrics.

Blurring the line between rap and singing, focusing solely on auditory pleasure.

Born from post-hardcore rock influences, a sibling to southern-inspired mumble rap—

Emo hip-hop.

As the sound filled the screen, the man raised his pale hand and removed the mask.

It was Lee Iion.

He threw the mask aside and began dancing to the beat.

Large, sweeping movements interwoven with tight rhythmic subdivisions; the camera walked with him, capturing every precise slide.

After about eight seconds of solo dancing, Lee Iion opened his mouth.

[Alone— isolated—]

The camera then spun upwards, revealing three moons in the night sky.<See you next time>

And the teaser ended.

“Whoa.”

Choi Sehee finally exhaled, realizing how breathless she’d become.

It didn’t feel like watching a teaser.

It felt like an art film.

Sedalbaekil had certainly built recognition and secured public favor, but they still didn’t earn much revenue.

Even their music income had been reinvested into fan kits.

So no one expected a high-budget music video for their first official MV.

In fact, some doubted whether they were filming an MV at all.

But the video quality was insane.

The background scale, the camera work…

‘Ugh, I don’t even know how to explain this.’

It was overwhelming.

She wanted to make everyone in the world watch the teaser and submit 100 pages of analysis in 10-point font with 0% line spacing.

The moment the whistle blended into the beat gave her goosebumps, and she screamed when Lee Iion removed his mask.

The contrast of flames and moonlight during the dance nearly made her faint.

Not to mention the perfectly tailored, scorched, and frayed outfit revealing glimpses of skin.

If Han Sion had been the one in the teaser, she would’ve lost her mind.

‘But why only Lee Iion?’

It wasn’t unusual for teasers to feature individual members, but usually, they wouldn’t make it this obvious.

If they wanted mystery, they’d keep the mask on.

This likely meant there would be multiple teasers.

As she thought that and scrolled to check the comments, something unexpected happened on screen.

A thick line slashed across the words “See you next time” under the three moons.

See you next time

Erasing the text like crossing out a mistake.

Then, a new message appeared:

See you in an hour, TT

“?!”

She wasn’t fluent in English, but she knew what “an hour” meant.

See you in an hour.

Sure enough, fluent English speakers in the comments were saying the same thing.

And that wasn’t all.

-That outfit! It’s the one from the K-pop Struggle voting video!!

It hit her like lightning.

Right.

It was the same striped suit they wore in the official site’s Colorful Struggle version voting.

‘What? Is there a linked timeline? Or is Colorful Struggle getting a music video too?’

Her mind raced with possibilities.

The comments were filled with wild theories, but also some well-thought-out interpretations.

-Three moons likely symbolize a different dimension rather than referencing Sedalbaekil’s name directly…

Opinions were divided beneath the analysis.

But most viewers couldn’t focus on the comments.

They kept glancing at the clock, wondering what would come in one hour.

And sure enough, one hour later—

[Sedalbaekil – ‘State of mind’ Official Teaser 2/6]

“…!”

A new video appeared.

Now it was certain.

There would be six teasers.

Probably one for each member—but Choi Sehee knew Sedalbaekil wasn’t that simple.

There was definitely something more going on.

She immediately hit play on the second teaser.

This time, the star was Han Sion.