Chapter 148: Overcoming Today

Fan meeting reviews began flooding online from the very evening the event ended.

Surprisingly, every single review looked incredibly high quality, almost as if they had been filmed in a professional studio or by an official broadcasting station. The reason was simple.

Just like last year, Taeha had once again allowed unrestricted photo and video recording during Taecho’s fan meeting.

Because of that, Taecho members who had unfortunately failed to attend were at least able to ease some of their regret by watching the countless review videos uploaded online.

Of course, if you asked whether their regret truly disappeared—

Not at all.

If anything, even more people began saying that failing to get tickets for Kang Taeha’s fan meeting would remain a lifelong regret.

The event had been so extravagant and content-packed that the 50,000 won ticket price felt unbelievable.

Even people outside the fandom were openly envious.

• Seriously, I’m so jealous.
• Did all Taecho members accumulate virtue for three generations or something?
• Why is the review quality so insane? Is this what happens when filming is allowed?
• All the famous fan editors in the community are losing their minds right now lol. They’re making edits from Kang Taeha’s fan meeting.
• I’ve stanned idols my entire life, but I genuinely want to attend Kang Taeha’s fan meeting at least once.
• This is what a fan meeting is supposed to be like. Agencies that only care about squeezing money from fans should reflect on themselves.
• I’m usually fine as long as it feels worth the money… but this feels like they’re giving money back to the fans.
• Seriously lol. Taecho could stimulate the economy just through fan meetings.
• The first fan meeting was already amazing, but the second one is on a completely different scale.
• Proof of the scale? Over ten thousand handwritten letters^^
• But are Han Seulgi and Song Jieun actually Taecho members? Or was that just for fashion?
• Come on, obviously lip service.
• No, they literally said it themselves.
• And everyone there acknowledged them as Taecho lol.
• If those two are Taecho, then I’m the weird one for not being Taecho.
• Anyway, why does Kang Taeha create legendary moments every single fan meeting?
• Right lol. Last time Kang Sojeong, Han Yunseong, Seon Mingi, and Lee Seokhyun showed up and caused chaos too.
• Taeha isn’t just legendary at fan meetings. Every single one of his projects is legendary.
• Han Woori and Shin Sohee saying they were disappointed in Taeha is still hilarious.
• Taeha’s briefly flustered expression during that moment was so cute lol.
• But honestly, wasn’t the best part the second-half talk show “Tae Ming Out”?
• What even is “Tae Ming Out”? lol
• There were too many things to watch at the fan meeting. I can’t even choose the best part.
• The funniest sight was all the Taecho members carrying gigantic merchandise boxes bigger than their torsos lol.
• Wait, were those girls yesterday dragging luggage around like they were moving houses all Taecho members?
• My friend went to Kang Taeha’s fan meeting and literally collapsed asleep after carrying all the merch home lol.
• My fingers hurt from taking too many pictures.
• There were just too many moments worth capturing.
• Oh right, the Prequel song releases were revealed there too.
• I seriously didn’t expect them to release new Prequel songs.
• Didn’t every Taecho member already predict it though?
• I completely forgot about the new songs because there were too many other crazy things happening.
• All three songs were seriously good.
• But isn’t a triple title track a little excessive?
• I’m worried too, but the songs themselves are undeniably good.
• Watching the videos, Kang Taeha’s fan meeting feels more like a major artist’s concert.
• Taeha sings a ridiculous amount anyway lol.
• And what was that dance performance in the middle? He’s in a band, so why does his dancing keep improving?
• He probably had those skills from the start lol.

Overall, reactions to the fan meeting were overwhelmingly positive.

More than anything, countless non-Taecho fans openly expressed their envy.

Perhaps because of that aftermath, Taeha’s follower count continued rising rapidly for quite some time after the fan meeting ended.

But there was another piece of news that made Taeha even happier than the explosive growth in followers.

The chart performance of Prequel’s new releases.

Following recent trends, the title tracks from Prequel’s mini album were released one by one through AH Entertainment’s official Nutube channel.

Unlike before, this time every track also received a proper official music video.

The first song to be released was .

Matching the lyrics, the music video portrayed the daily life of an exhausted office worker—from commuting to work all the way until finally leaving the office at night.

And the employee in question was played by Taeha himself.

Originally, the role had been intended for Seo Jongwoo, who wrote the lyrics.

However, Seo Jongwoo strongly opposed the idea.

“If I play an office worker, it won’t look like a music video. It’ll look like a documentary.”

Honestly, he had a point.

As a result, the role eventually went to Taeha, who had the most acting experience among the Prequel members.

“Wow. Taeha’s the main character of our music video.”

“Why do I suddenly feel honored seeing Taeha acting right in front of me when I see him every day?”

During filming, the members kept making a fuss while watching Taeha act.

Hearing them while getting his makeup touched up, Taeha laughed.

“What’s wrong with you guys? You’re all appearing in the music video too.”

Just as Taeha said, every member of Prequel appeared in .

Early in the video, Seo Jongwoo briefly appeared on the subway as another exhausted salaryman.

Alex played a restaurant owner.

Choi Jinwoo appeared as a gym trainer.

Kim Gun-yul acted as a vocal instructor.

Because of that, the music video almost felt like a spin-off depicting what each member’s life might have looked like if Prequel had never reunited.

After filming wrapped up, the video was edited and officially released alongside the track.

And from the very first day, the song’s chart performance was unusual.

Then, in just a single day—

It climbed all the way to number one.

The result left both Taeha and the Prequel members shocked.

None of them had seriously expected a triple title track album to dominate the charts like this.

“So this actually works?”

“I know, right?”

“Is this the Kang Taeha effect again?”

“Huh? Honestly, I think it really is.”

The members tossed out baseless theories while staring at Taeha in disbelief.

Regardless, one thing was undeniable.

had reached number one on the charts.

And it remained there until the following week, when the second title track was released.

Surprisingly enough, the song that replaced at number one was Prequel’s second title track, .

Unlike the first music video, which leaned heavily into storytelling, used a more atmospheric image-film style.

The team believed that approach suited the song’s emotional color much better.

Thus, Taeha and the other members portrayed symbolic imagery—corridors, wings, endless falling—while expressing emotions such as loneliness, frustration, and despair.

In the process, Taeha’s decadent beauty naturally stood out, drawing explosive reactions from viewers.

Just watching him created a dreamy, languid sensation that seemed to consume the entire body.

“Wow… Taeha looks insane.”

“As expected, actors really are different.”

“What is that expression?”

“He’s overflowing with vibes.”

Even the members filming alongside him unconsciously let out admiring comments.

While the music video once again earned immense praise, the song itself also entered the charts immediately upon release.

And the very next day—

It overtook and seized the number one position.

As a result, Prequel successfully occupied both first and second place on the charts.

Yet there was still one final song left.

The following week, the last title track, , was released together with its music video.

Unlike the previous two, used a performance-style concept.

Though not an actual live stage, the music video was filmed as if it were part of a concert performance.

However, scenes of a student being bullied, collapsing, and crying were inserted throughout the video, ultimately leading to a shocking twist at the end.

Among the performing members, a mysterious man wearing a bear costume appeared like a hidden sixth member.

That figure symbolized TT—the true protagonist of the song.

At the same time, it represented anyone currently trapped in despair and frustration.

A powerful emotional twist hidden inside what initially looked like a simple performance video.

The response was explosive once again.

The reactions became so intense that articles soon began appearing online.

<“Isn’t This Basically Kang Taeha’s Next Drama?” — Prequel Captures Fans with Cinematic Music Videos>

That response was directly reflected in the charts.

also entered the rankings immediately after release—

and soon rose all the way to first place.

As a result:

ranked first.
ranked second.
ranked third.

Now, the only thing left was to see whether this momentum would carry over into music show victories.

***

There was a reason AH Entertainment released each title track one week apart.

By staggering the releases, they avoided overlapping music show promotion periods.

At the same time, maintaining strong chart performance for each individual song increased the chances of winning on music broadcasts.

However, the strategy came with one fatal downside.

The promotion period became extremely long.

Naturally, since each song needed nearly three weeks of promotions, the schedule grew exhausting.

Stage production expenses, makeup costs, transportation fees—

all of the additional burdens were covered entirely by AH Entertainment.

Thankfully, Taeha’s earnings already exceeded those costs several times over, so the company suffered no real losses.

If anything, considering that AH Entertainment had grown into its current position thanks to the influence of top star Kang Taeha, the investment felt only natural.

As a result, while the financial burden was reduced, the physical burden remained.

Still, Taeha and the other Prequel members gladly accepted the lengthy promotion period.

After all, it had been far too long since they had last stood on stage together.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“Prequel, fighting!”

With loud cheers echoing backstage, the final music show recording began.

And then—

the unexpected incident happened.

“Taeha!”