“Trump card? Are you planning to spray water on the audience or something?”


  “Correct.”


  Lee HyunJi was flabbergasted. Wasn’t KangYoon practically saying that he would make it rain?

  “It’s good that we have water…. but there are a lot of problems. Yes, it would be good to spray water, but there is electronic equipment here, which may get damaged, and there may also be people in the audience that may not want to get their clothes wet.”


  There were many problems with spraying water. There may be human casualties trying to avoid the heat. However, KangYoon shook his head saying that it was okay.

  “The direction of the wind and the direction we are spraying it will be important. We’ll spray it from the stage towards the audience. We’ll also adjust the output, and have the audience take a few steps back. Oh, we can’t forget to spray water on the floor first.”


  As soon as KangYoon finished his words, there was an announcement for the audience to take steps back, and one of the sprinkler trucks started spraying water on the ground. The volume of water was considerable and the water made puddles here and there.

  Lee HyunJi was flabbergasted by the sudden onslaught of water. Drinking water and sprinkled water. Playing in the water was the best for performing in the hot summer.

  “Haa, do HyunAh and the others know about this?”


  “I did call them beforehand. HyunAh also said that she will spray water on her face during the performance. She told me that headbanging with wet hair looks sexy or something.”


  Lee HyunJi chuckled at KangYoon’s joke.

  The sprinkler truck finished spraying water over the concrete floor and the audience filled in the space again. Everyone seemed confused but most of them liked the fact that it became much cooler than before.

  At that moment, another announcement flowed out-

  Attention please. Your clothes may get wet during the performance. Please enjoy the performance outside the white line if you do not have any spare clothing.

  There was a white line drawn outside the area of effect where water will be sprayed as well.

  People started whispering among themselves.

  “Water? Is this a theme park?”


  “Wow, that sounds fun.”


  “I’m staying back. These are the only clothes I have.”


  There were many opinions. Their clothes would get wet during the performance? They also saw two large sprinkler trucks. Most of them chose to enjoy the performance even if it meant that their clothes would get wet. Though, there were many that chose to forgo this opportunity and stepped outside the white line.

  Moments later, people were clearly divided by the white line. Around ? of the people stepped behind the line while the rest decided to enjoy the performance with the water.

  Lee HyunJi dumbfoundedly muttered while looking at the people’s choices.

  “…I never knew you’d bring a sprinkler truck to stave off the heat.”


  Kim JiMin felt the same. The sprinkler trucks were parked next to the stage and their grandeur made her gasp. This was the best kind of rest for a hot day. Playing with water while listening to rock music? This was the best thing ever.

  “I want to go play too.”


  Hearing her muttering, KangYoon pushed her back.

  “Go on.”


  “What? Can… can I really go?”


  “Kids grow up by playing.”


  “I’m plenty tall, you know?”


  KangYoon smiled at Kim JiMin’s frowning and waved his hand. He was gesturing to her to go. Kim JiMin went off and Lee HyunJi asked KangYoon worriedly.

  “Borrowing sprinkler trucks? I didn’t even think about it. Even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to borrow them. Where did you get them from?”


  “There’s an apartment construction site nearby. There were sprinkler trucks there. The construction for today was delayed to a later date, so I grabbed them before they went home.”


  “You’re very lucky, but you really are something to think about going to a construction site.”


  Lee HyunJi was shocked by KangYoon’s actions. He thought about bringing a sprinkler truck, went to an actual construction site, and actually luckily ended up getting two of them.

  As KangYoon had already talked to the organizers about bringing sprinkler trucks beforehand, there weren’t any problems.

  When the time for their performance came, White Moonlight went up on stage. With the drummer Kim JinDae sitting on his seat, and the others finding their place, the band started jamming lightly. The distorted electric guitar, the deep bass drums, and the bouncing snares – a fancy sound filled the entire venue.

  Then, the drummer beat four times with the sticks and they started playing.

  “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”


  It was a cheerful rhythm. Although the lyrics hadn’t started yet the crisp snare drum sound pleasured the audience’s ears, and the bass pleased the audience with the deep sounds. The electric guitar topped it off with rapid chord movements and the cheers got louder.

  Jung ChanGyu’s fingers rapidly moved up and down the electric guitar and finished it off with some distortion. The drums didn’t lose out with its tom-toms and snares. Fantastic sounds ruled over the stage. The bass brought the other sounds to life so the audience hopped their shoulders to the rhythm.

  Lee HyunAh walked out along with the crystal-like cymbal sounds.

  “HELLO EVERYONE!”


  “Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!”


  There were no other words. The drum high hat gave 4 beats, the bass did a slide and a fast pace music beat started. The drums started beating faster and the bass played ghost notes to ride along.

  The hundreds of people in the audience started jumping at once. Everyone was enjoying themselves.

  – Lately – it is very sunny — very comfortable, yet very frustrating —


  The hundreds of people all jumping around was very spectacular. Lee HyunAh seemed just as cheerful. She shouted;

  – I am a childish – little – girl – but I will soon —


  Lee HyunAh’s low yet colorful voice spread out to the audience. People were enchanted by her voice and shook their heads around in madness.

  Then came the chorus.

  – That’s it — more and more — what about me is not —


  The hundreds of people started jumping feverously. The scorching sun shone down on them and sweat drops started forming on the heads of the audience. Though, no one minded due to the music.

  However, that only lasted a moment.

  As they progressed into the 2nd song, people’s jumping movements died down as they became more fatigued. Usually, most of the audience would last until the 5th song without getting tired, but the heat was scary.

  ‘This is bad.’


  She had heard from Lee HyunJi that a lot of people had left the audience during yesterday’s performance. She had heard the advice that she should consider the stamina of the audience. She had planned so that they would jump in excitement until the 3rd song and do something more relaxing for the 4th one, but it was already turning out like this.

  This was because it was hotter and more humid than yesterday.

  – You must be tired from fighting with your lover – sick and tired of being compared to someone else.

  Lee HyunAh was very nervous as she sang the 2nd song. Although the people were following her performance with their tired bodies, it was unknown when they would fully tire out.

  ‘When are they going to start sprinkling the water?’


  She had heard about the sprinkler truck from KangYoon, yet the two trucks stood there doing nothing. She thought that now would be the right time to spray water, but the situation wasn’t getting better.

  Lee HyunAh felt stuffy, and the other band members felt the same.

  The song continued nonetheless.

  They were now past the chorus and were heading to the climax.

  – Forget everything — and let go —


  Her shout resounded across. As this was the climax, the high pitched voice excited the audience. Though, their tired bodies prevented them from jumping. Their bodies had turned slightly red from the heat.

  ‘Just when is the water coming?’


  Lee HyunAh was frustrated. At this rate, the audience would start to leave after this song. A musician would be very dejected when the audience left mid-way through the performance. Moreover, this was due to the heat, so she couldn’t complain about it either, well, maybe the organizers for giving them this time slot.

  With her head in a mess, Lee HyunAh went past the climax part.

  At that moment.

  Pssssh.

  Along with a cool, refreshing sound, the two trucks started spraying water at the audience. It was as though it was drizzling and cooled off the venue.

  “So cool!”


  “Yay!”


  The audience was in a frenzy, like farmers who had finally encountered the rain during a long drought. People embraced the drizzles of water. Some of them even closed their eyes to immerse themselves. They did not care about their clothes getting wet and started jumping again.

  – The blue ocean — the high skies — is always next to me —


  Lee HyunAh’s singing topped off the cool rain. The audience had already let go of themselves to the music and the water.

  KangYoon, on the other hand, was met with completely different scenery.

  ‘The color… changed.’


  He was aware that special effects affected the music, but he didn’t realize that water would do the same. Before the water was sprayed, the light was white. However, when HyunAh returned to the chorus part after the climax part, it was a faint silver. The only difference? It was sprinkling the water.

  ‘Silver, it’s silver. No way…’


  Although he had seen it a few times until now, this still felt wonderful to him. Although the light was faint, it was still that refreshing sensation incomparable to anything else.

  Due to the faint silver light, some of the audience outside the white line entered the range of the water. It might be just the water that affected them, but the fact that they came forward was meaningful.

  “Well then. Are you ready for another round?”


  “Yeaaaaaah!”


  Lee HyunAh’s voice seemed more energized.

  The sprinkler truck also rained more water.

  ***

  The 1 hour-long performance went by in a flash.

  The audience was panting without even minding their drenched clothes.

  White Moonlight, whether it was Lee HyunAh, Kim JinDae, Jung ChanGyu, or Lee ChaHee, were also drenched in sweat after all that jumping.

  As Lee HyunAh had poured water on her head as well during the performance, her hair and some of her clothes were drenched.

  “Encore, encore!”


  They had finished all the songs they prepared for the festival, but the crowd was asking for more.

  Lee HyunAh raised her hand to calm down the audience and raised her mic.

  “There is one song we haven’t done….”


  “Waaaaaa!”


  Lee HyunAh raised her index finger among the passionate cheers. She indicated that it wasn’t enough.

  “WAAAAAAH!!!”


  “It’s a new song. Are you okay with that?”


  “Yeeeees!”


  “Okay, then. Here we go!”


  Lee HyunAh seemed to be excited as well as she didn’t even introduce the song properly. It was a slight mistake. Although Kim JinDae panicked a bit, he came to himself and gave the beats. The other instruments also chimed in.

  “Set fire – to my boring life — and fly away –”


  The lyrics were easy to follow. The audience sang along to the easy lyrics and the atmosphere started heating up again.

  “Where did my — shining -self disappear — Now — I want to rediscover – my true self–”


  The music suddenly paused.

  The silence continued momentarily. Then,

  One, two, three, four!

  Kim JinDae banged on the cymbal and the band entered the chorus again. At the same time, the last ray of water sprayed out. The audience cheered at the cool feeling again and started jumping.

  “Your little actions — moved me –”


  Lee HyunAh’s voice burst out again. Her voice was like the ray of water that cooled off the heat. Regardless of their remaining stamina, the audience jumped according to the beat again and again. They sang along without a care for their voice either. Their bodies were jumping, while their ears enjoyed the music.

  Everyone had pretty much lost themselves.

  A little more than 3 minutes went by in a flash. The performance of White Moonlight closed its curtains with the fantastic sounds of the instruments.

  “Thank you!”


  “Waaaaaa!”


  Lee HyunAh took a deep bow towards the audience with a loud shout. Their passion was hotter than the scorching heat. Feeling satisfied that they won over the scorching sun, the band members gathered around in a circle and hugged each other.

  White Moonlight’s rock festival had ended and they burnt themselves to white ash.

  ***

  At an indie band club in Hongdae named Greenlight.

  The owner, Yoon ChangSeon, had gathered the owners of other clubs around. Derace, Livestart, Sweetpins as well as others – the owners of these few well-known clubs of Hongdae had gathered around a table in a Chinese restaurant.

  There were many dishes, including shark fin soup, laid out on the table, but none of the owners started eating. It was because Yoon ChangSeon hadn’t started eating yet.

  ‘Huh, why is he acting so heavy? What’s he up to?’


  ‘It’s obvious. It’s about that concert hall that World or whoever has made.’


  The owners of Hongdae Box and Spare Man whispered to each other when the owner of Sweetpins tapped on their legs to stop them. The whispering two had a look of complaint across their faces, but they still became quiet.

  Then, Yoon ChangSeon started speaking in a calm tone.

  “I’ve gathered all of you here today in order to discuss the new concert hall that opened recently.

  Everyone sat up. This was the important part.

  “That concert hall, called Lunas, only cares about their own profit and is bringing harm to the innocent shop owners around. They cut down on the renting fees a lot to attract the bands. We have our own set of rules, but they decided not to abide by it. At this rate, the order of this place will fall apart. I am planning to sanction them in some way. Does anybody have any ideas?”


  No one raised their hand. Speaking at a place like this may bring harm to themselves.

  Just as everyone was looking at each other, one person carefully raised his hand. It was the owner of Spot Hall, Min Hongbin.

  “Please speak.”


  “The owner of Lunas has brought disorder to the market. We need to set the order straight by giving them disadvantages. As such, I propose this.”


  He sipped a cup of water before continuing.

  “All indie bands that rent their hall will not be able to rent our venues again. That will be the condition for renting their venue.”


  “How cruel.”


  Yoon ChangSeon voiced his disapproval. However, Min Hongbin shook his head.

  “If we don’t do this, there will be a 2nd and a 3rd Lunas in the future. This is heartbreaking for the indie bands, but for everyone’s well-being, we should start off strong so that no one will break the order again.”


  “Agreed.”


  “I approve.”


  The owners of Derace and Sweetpins voiced their approval. Hearing that, Yoon ChangSeon asked everyone else.

  “Well said. Those that agree to Mr. Min’s suggestion, please raise your hand.”


  Everyone other than Yoon ChangSeon raised their hands. He nodded his head.

  “Okay then. Then, from here on, those of you here must not let musicians that have performed in Lunas perform in your respective venues. You may have to bear with the losses for a while, but please maintain this rule for everyone’s future.”


  Everyone agreed to Yoon ChangSeon’s words.

  ‘Good.’


  There was nothing else. Their proposition regarding Lunas was passed, and Yoon ChangSeon curved his lips.