Little Pink Starfish

At that moment, with heavy footsteps, someone walked up to the grand piano and sat down.

But their face wasn’t visible.

A pure white mask—the key prop from the State Of Mind music video.

The pianist was wearing that mask.

-That’s Han Si-on, LOL

-Yeah, 100%

-But doesn’t he look a bit shorter sitting down?

-Maybe he took his insoles out?

-What do insoles have to do with sitting height?

-Maybe he removed the cushion.

Even with his face covered, people were sure it was Han Si-on.

After all, who else among Sedalbaekil could deliver a solo piano performance like this?

Then, long slender fingers rose onto the keys and the playing began.

The pouring notes were dazzling.

Back in 2017, State Of Mind had been praised for best utilizing the emo sound.

A bit unrelated, but after its MV became popular, many amateur producers began dabbling in emo hip-hop.

Emo hip-hop, descendant of post-hardcore rock, carries an inherent intensity.

And the pianist expressed that intensity with brilliance.

The blossoming performance enriched and exploded the State Of Mind melody.

Conveying intensity through brilliance isn’t easy.

So people were certain.

It had to be Han Si-on.

After 22 seconds of playing—

Crackle—

A layer of lo-fi static broke in, shifting the piano melody dramatically.

-KYAAAAAHHH!

The fans in the venue erupted.

It was K-Pop Struggle.

And this time, it wasn’t just a piano solo.

Drums, bass, guitar, and effect sounds layered in.

At the same time, two masked men appeared and began executing the signature K-Pop Struggle choreography.

Faces covered, but judging by their height—

‘Han Si-on and Lee I-on?’

That’s what the general audience guessed.

The two tallest members of Sedalbaekil.

“But…”

Han Si-on was still playing piano?

Then was it Goo Tae-hwan?

The general public made these surface-level assumptions, but Titi (the fandom) noticed subtler details.

‘That dance style…’

The habit of subdividing beats one extra time.

That distinctive rhythm even in dance.

It was Han Si-on and Goo Tae-hwan.

They were certain.

K-Pop Struggle was the song Sedalbaekil had openly let Titi choose as their promotional track.

When Colorful Struggle had become too successful on Color Show, people had started doubting Sedalbaekil’s idol identity.

This song was their counterattack.

The track was revealed on the official app, and fans voted directly.

The thrill of that moment still lived vividly in the hearts of first-gen Titi.

They had replayed that video countless times, analyzing it frame by frame.

So they knew.

The two were Han Si-on and Goo Tae-hwan.

But then…

‘The piano?’

Who was playing piano, if that was true?

Even stranger—

‘Isn’t he taller than Goo Tae-hwan? The shoulders, body proportions…’

Of course, height in showbiz can vary with shoes or insoles, but Sedalbaekil had remained visually consistent since their indie days.

Titi, with their detailed eye, felt even more puzzled.

Or perhaps, intrigued.

The confusion wasn’t unpleasant—it sparked curiosity.

And then, two more masked men entered.

The song began.

Confused,

Inside me,

Dangerous Things

It was Goo Tae-hwan’s part, and it felt like his style.

But the voice sounded different.

Maybe Choi Jae-sung? Or Onsaemiro?

It definitely wasn’t Lee I-on’s distinct timbre, but oddly, there was a hint of his voice layered in.

BANG!

The pianist slammed the keys and leapt up to join the choreography.

Dangerous Trip

From here,

I watch you—

Singing and dancing—it was clearly Choi Jae-sung.

His voice. His moves.

But he was the one playing piano just seconds ago?

That wasn’t Han Si-on?

Titi felt like they were watching a magic show.

Or more precisely, a shell game.

Sedalbaekil members performed their known choreography, perfectly as always.

The group choreography and formation breaks were all familiar.

But the individual roles were scrambled.

The one assumed to be Han Si-on was singing Choi Jae-sung’s part; the one thought to be Goo Tae-hwan was doing Lee I-on’s choreography.

Yet—

It was thrilling to watch.

The five masked men wore familiar outfits, reminiscent of Hong Kong noir.

Pinpoint stage costumes.

But the color of their boots gave them away.

-Maroon boots must be Si-on, 100%.

-But isn’t the height and dance line different? Maybe blue boots are Si-on?

-I think blue is I-on?

-No way, ochre boots are I-on.

While passionate debates unfolded on their official site, State Of Mind built to its climax.

La- La

La-La, accompanied by intensely subdivided shoulder-to-knee choreography.

Focus on me

Under the messy emo hip-hop sounds, pure clear vocals shone through.

No one knew what expressions the masked members wore, but the audience’s expressions were united.

Awe.

-They’re ridiculously good LOL

-You can feel the difference in power!

-LOL this is pure live, no AR audible.

-Huh? No way.

-I’m serious. The audio is so clean you can tell. 100% live.

-Nonsense. Nobody can sing fully live while dancing that hard.

-I swear it’s live;

-I feel dizzy. Like watching a shell game.

-LOL blue boots are Han Si-on.

-NNNNNNOPE. No way.

-Can Titi even tell?

-Apparently not LOL

Then, with a loud thud, the chorus ended in silence.

Cheers erupted as one man—neither the maroon boots nor blue boots—took a breath, shoulders heaving.

The man in ochre boots walked back to the piano.

Standing, he lightly tapped the keys.

♬𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

The crowd erupted again.

Of all the songs that brought Sedalbaekil to this point, it had to start here.

Created during their Independent Diary self-cam, topping charts ahead of Drop Out and NOP.

So perfect it sparked post-editing accusations, which were ultimately cleared after hitting mainstream news.

RESUME.

The man in ochre boots played with light, bouncy fingers, releasing the genre’s signature dreamy warmth, as bass and guitar joined.

Then, someone removed their mask.

Woo—Good morning,

Did you have

A good dream?

A warm feeling

It was Goo Tae-hwan.

Sweating, he smiled softly as he sang.

And people were stunned.

-It really is live?

-Fully live LOL

State Of Mind featured heavy effects and mic filters, so even without AR, people hadn’t questioned it.

But Resume was different.

Bedroom pop was designed for easy listening—not because it’s easy to sing, but easy to hear.

Han Si-on never writes easy-to-sing songs.

They seem simple at first but demand extreme difficulty to perform perfectly.

That’s why his members endure intense training and maintain high ambitions.

But Sedalbaekil succeeded.

Behind Goo Tae-hwan, Lee I-on chimed in—and removed his mask.

Once more, the crowd roared.

Woo—Good morning,

Let’s start

The day early

A fresh morning

When Resume first released, Lee I-on had to sing inside a bathroom to compensate for tonal weaknesses with natural reverb.

Not anymore.

Though born with a distorted voice, distortion is beloved worldwide on electric guitar.

If he could master precise pitch, pressure, and intervals—

His tone became an advantage.

Like now.

Resume’s choreography wasn’t flashy but cozy.

Just like the song itself.

Sedalbaekil members took turns removing their masks and smiling brightly, revealing who was who.

Surprisingly, every previous guess was wrong.

The intro pianist for State Of Mind had been Choi Jae-sung.

The one performing Han Si-on’s dance lines had been Goo Tae-hwan.

One by one, they appeared, filling the stage with perfectly live, unprocessed vocals.

The audience, especially those attending live, felt something unique.

Anyone attending a year-end music show taping was likely a passionate fan familiar with performance vs. broadcast.

But now—

Sedalbaekil wasn’t doing a broadcast.

They were performing.

No one could say exactly why, but…

‘Feels like watching a concert.’

Even for non-fans.

Starting with State Of Mind, the stage continued into Resume, then Pinpoint.

Finally, they closed with Summer Cream.

Though they sang four songs, none were performed in full, so the runtime matched other artists.

But the quality and attitude were on another level.

And with each song, it became clearer—

They were performing 100% live.

Perfectly.

The response wasn’t light.

[Idol performs 100% live at year-end show]

[The only idol group doing a concert, not a broadcast]

[Sedalbaekil’s full live fancam at MBN Year-End Awards]

Honestly, what Han Si-on proposed to For The Youth and was rejected for wasn’t that outrageous.

It was just one sentence.

“Shall we try something different?”

Of course, being different doesn’t mean lowering the bar.

Achieving that difference required enormous time and effort.

For The Youth simply didn’t find that motivation.

“Oh, our MR-removed version just dropped.”

“Every off-pitch note means one round of dishwashing?”

“Deal.”

Unlike For The Youth, Sedalbaekil delivered.