Chapter 79: The Stage Behind the Curtain

The reason Taeha was currently standing backstage.

It was because of a request from Seon Min-gi, who had returned to Korea after finishing his life in the United States. Seon Min-gi’s request was, surprisingly, for him to participate as a guest in his fan meeting.

‘A guest at a fan meeting…’

For Taeha, it was one of the things he never imagined he would do. It was that unexpected, which was why he couldn’t help but be surprised. Even more so, Seon Min-gi’s request didn’t end with just participating as a guest.

“I heard you were an Idol. I looked up videos because of this, and your dancing and singing are quite good. Ahem, so my request is… could you perform on stage with me?”

The request had come in to perform together. It was a difficult situation.

Back when he met the Freesia members and went to a Singing Room, he realized this body had more talent for singing and dancing than he thought. Thanks to that, Taeha could also feel a joy he hadn’t experienced during his days as Ho-jun. During his time as Ho-jun, he had two left feet and, frankly, his singing skills weren’t even at a level where they could be called “decent” in a kind way.

But that was it. Taeha had no confidence in standing on stage to sing and dance himself. To be honest, he didn’t think he could do well. After all, the one who debuted as an Idol after going through trainee days was Taeha, not Ho-jun.

So, Taeha intended to politely decline Seon Min-gi’s proposal. He planned to say that performing a song or dance together would be difficult, but he could participate as a guest to chat lightly, solve problems, or play games.

However, as if anticipating the rejection, Seon Min-gi’s persuasive words changed Taeha’s mind.

“Won’t you be holding your own fan meeting someday too? I think it would be good to think of this as practice for then. What do you think? Are you really not interested?”

Indeed, Taeha would also have to hold a fan meeting later. And it made no sense to skip a special stage at that time. It was unacceptable not to give even this much of a gift to the Taecho, who would make the difficult journey to see him. Since even Seon Min-gi was stepping up to sing and dance, it was only natural. And if he was going to do it, he wanted to show the Taecho a good performance.

“A rehearsal for that, huh.”

After much deliberation, Taeha accepted Seon Min-gi’s proposal. He had to admit that Seon Min-gi’s words were persuasive. That was the reason Taeha was now standing backstage, waiting for his name to be called.

Then, Taeha recalled the practice sessions he had conducted for this stage.

‘Physically, it was quite difficult.’

That was inevitable. Realistically, the only time Taeha could practice for the stage was late at night, after the Filming for “Your Brilliant Sparkle” was over. Sometimes, he had to practice after finishing a night shoot, which made it even tougher. At least the evaluations from the vocal and dance trainers provided by Seon Min-gi’s Entertainment Agency were not bad.

First, the vocal trainer.

“You can definitely tell he’s been trained. His basic vocal range is good, and he doesn’t have any bad habits. His singing ability is almost at the level of a Lead Vocal for a decent Idol group — maybe even higher?”

Next, the dance trainer.

“Wow. His basics are so good. His body is so flexible and soft that it feels like he just absorbs every move I teach him. This might be rude, but… with someone like you, Taeha, why didn’t that Idol group succeed?”

Taeha gave a bitter smile at the dance trainer’s question and replied, “I don’t know.”

But for some reason, he knew the reason well. The planning was poor. All the members had good skills and visuals, but the terrible planning ability typical of small agencies became an obstacle to Success. One could tell just by looking at the fact that the group’s name was Freesia.

Anyway, because of this situation, he was able to progress through singing and dancing practice without much difficulty. For the song, he decided to record it immediately after practicing for a few days, and for the dance, he focused on learning the moves quickly to synchronize with Seon Min-gi.

Fortunately, after returning to Korea, Seon Min-gi didn’t take on other schedules and only focused on reviewing his next project, so it was easy for him to come to practice according to Taeha’s time. Since it was Seon Min-gi who had requested the guest appearance, it was only natural for him to match Taeha’s schedule.

Then came the process of formally synchronizing with Seon Min-gi. A new problem arose during this process. It was the fact that Seon Min-gi was a worse dancer than expected. He used his body well in action films, so it was quite a surprise. It was a good example of how the realms of sports and dance were different.

Even though Seon Min-gi practiced separately when Taeha wasn’t there, his dancing didn’t improve much. The dance trainer was inevitably in a difficult spot. Eventually, drastic measures were taken. The dance trainer decided to simplify the choreography, which was already simplified for the fan meeting, one more time.

For Taeha, whose body moved freely, the moves were almost like a rhythmic exercise. Thanks to that, Taeha was able to ease the burden of practice, and the pressure of the stage decreased proportionally. Since the movements were so simple, he thought he wouldn’t make a mistake unless something went wrong.

It was a great relief for Taeha, whose nerves had been on edge due to the difficult Part Six kiss scene Filming.

Taeha was looking back on the journey leading up to Seon Min-gi’s fan meeting. On stage, the comments from the comedian Broccoli, who was hosting the fan meeting today, flowed out.

“Min-gi, I hear there’s a surprise guest who came to brighten up this place despite a busy Schedule?”

“Yes. He’s a friend who’s really busy with script readings and filming, but I earnestly asked him to be here today. To me, he’s practically like a real brother.”

“Wow. If Min-gi says he’s like a real brother, I’m really looking forward to seeing who it is. Is it the person I’m thinking of?”

“It probably is.”

“Then let’s welcome our surprise guest to the stage! Please give him a round of applause!”

The stage dimmed along with the sound of applause from Seon Min-gi’s fans, and the intro of a song by a male Idol group that was currently popular started playing. At the same time, the staff members quickly cleared the chairs from the stage. Broccoli also moved to clear the space where the performance would take place.

The fans could only anticipate what was about to happen. Sure enough, cheers erupted from the fans. When the stage lit up again, six dancers, Seon Min-gi, and Taeha were in position.

The song began.

“It has started… towards you only…”

Even though the song was pre-recorded for a stable performance and many parts of the dance were simplified, the fans enjoyed the stage happily. After all, the most important thing for the fans was hearing Seon Min-gi’s voice in a song and seeing Seon Min-gi’s dance in person.

Above all, no matter how much the dance was simplified, the point choreography of the chorus was not omitted. Taeha and Seon Min-gi showcased the point choreography with perfectly synchronized movements. With Taeha’s appearance, the moment Seon Min-gi’s fan meeting became even more heated.

***

After the passionate performance of the two ended, they had a short interview session. Broccoli brought Taeha and Seon Min-gi together and naturally threw out a comment.

“Wow. I didn’t expect to see Min-gi’s singing and dancing today. And to a song by a popular Idol group, no less. I actually thought he might come out listening to something like classical music.”

“Ah. My taste is originally that way, but I specially prepared this for the fan meeting today,” Min-gi said.

“As expected of a fan meeting being held for the first time in ten years, the preparation is extraordinary. So, Taeha, how did you feel while preparing for this stage? I heard you took time out of your killer Schedule to participate in practice to help your brother.”

Broccoli’s question was directed at Taeha, and Taeha answered calmly.

“I was a bit busy, but I readily accepted because it was to help my brother, and I was able to prepare happily. It felt different from when we were matching our acting.”

“In what way?”

“During our time as Jinseong and Lee Jae-hyun, naturally, my brother was much better at acting and such, so I was the one relying on him, but this time…”

“Min-gi relied on you, Taeha?”

“Yes. There was an original choreography we prepared, right? If we had danced that original choreography exactly, a much bigger smile probably would have bloomed on all the fans’ faces.”

The fans of Seon Min-gi burst into laughter at Taeha’s joke. Because Seon Min-gi scratched his cheek as if embarrassed, the fans could laugh even more cheerfully. Broccoli, as if catching onto a good topic, asked Seon Min-gi with a broad smile on his face.

“Min-gi, what do you think? Do you agree with Taeha’s opinion?”

“Yes. I agree 200%. As expected of an former Idol, Taeha was different.”

Taeha responded to Seon Min-gi’s answer with a self-deprecating joke.

“There’s a saying like this. Even if an Idol fails, their skills last for thirty years.”

Once again, laughter erupted at the fan meeting site. Broccoli, satisfied with the improved atmosphere, followed up on Taeha’s words.

“Ah. It lasts longer than wealth. I’m so glad Taeha joined Min-gi’s special stage. Then, following this atmosphere, it would be good to have a Q&A session. I’ll ask the first question to Taeha. Oh, this question… I think a lot of people will be curious about it.”

“What is it?”

“Min-gi is very famous for being an extremely introverted actor. Could you tell us how the two of you first became close?”

It was a sensitive question that could mention the conflict during the Script Reading. However, Taeha responded to the question nonchalantly.

“I wanted to become close to Brother Min-gi so much that I approached him first and boldly asked if I could call him ‘Brother’. Since we were like sworn brothers in the play, I thought it would be great if we became like real brothers. Fortunately, he must have understood my intentions because he readily agreed, which is how we became as close as we are now.”

It was an excellent answer that captured both content and interest. At that answer, Broccoli replied welcomingly.

“Ah. It seems Min-gi is unexpectedly weak against proactive people. What do you think?”

Seon Min-gi nodded and spoke into the microphone.

“I suppose so.”

And Seon Min-gi added more to the story that seemed to have ended there.

“Actually, Taeha spoke nicely about it, but I was in a bit of a sensitive state back then because my Film hadn’t done well. At the time, I had even made an apologetic request to Writer Kim Jeong-sik. Perhaps the work could have gone in a bad direction, but the person who approached me first, gave me appropriate advice, and suggested we become close was none other than Taeha. Looking back now, I’m truly grateful. It was Taeha who pulled me up when I was lost in self-importance.”

It was a story that even Taeha, not to mention Broccoli, didn’t think Seon Min-gi would bring up. For that reason, Seon Min-gi’s fans couldn’t help but be incredibly surprised.