When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar

# 199

First match (3)

***

In front of Times Square in New York.

Although it was close to midnight, the area in front of Times Square was literally crowded. It was said to be much less crowded than during the day, so it was difficult to predict how crowded it would be with New Yorkers and tourists during busy times.

People were people, but what caught my eye as I stood in front of Times Square were the bright lights coming from the electronic display board.

The moment I arrived at the center of Times Square, I felt like I was possessed.

“oh. “It’s really gorgeous.”

“It’s so big….”

“We’ve finally made it to Times Square!”

At the place where the largest electronic display board was visible, the KK members looked up at the electronic display board and left their impressions.

“I’m in tears. “Sigh!”

Ahn Hyeong-seo spoke exaggeratedly and pretended to wipe his tears with his sleeve. The other members were busy looking around.

Although the members went on tour all over the world, the number of times they actually went to famous tourist destinations was just a handful. Since we were on tour, most of the time, eating around the concert hall was all we did in that country.

I only briefly visited tourist sites when the schedule suited me or when filming took place there.

In the case of the United States, even though I had come to work on an album with LIL, come to receive an award from Billboard, and come to appear on a TV show, I had never been to Times Square.

Of course, we didn’t just come out for sightseeing today.

“wow. That is…….”

Kim Won raised his hand and pointed to the electronic display board that boasted the largest screen among the huge electronic display boards. The members’ eyes focused on that place.

“Oh…”

“Something is amazing.”

There was an advertisement for a Korean company there.

Tourists from all over the world were passing by and looking at the advertisement. The KK members felt proud when they saw the logo of a familiar Korean company in an unfamiliar land.

“It seems like a sense of patriotism that wasn’t there before will arise…”

Everyone laughed and agreed with Seok Ji-hoon’s words.

At the same time, the members felt like they knew whether KK fans or the Korean public, even if they were not necessarily fans, were proud of KK gaining so much popularity and love overseas.

After the Korean company’s advertisement was passed, other advertisements were repeated several times.

Dowook took out his cell phone and checked his watch. Director Oh Baek-ho was looking at his watch.

“It was 15 seconds ago!”

As Do-wook shouted in a slightly tense tone, the members fixed their eyes on the screen.

“10!”

Dowook looked at his phone and started counting down. All the members were swallowing dry saliva and looking at the screen.

“It’s now…!”

As he spoke, Dowook also raised his head and looked at the electronic display board.

At exactly midnight, a large white logo of KK appeared on the black screen of the electronic signboard.

‘FINALLY KK IN THE USA’

Sentences began to emerge, one by one, with the effect of writing on a typewriter. After that, an edited video of KK’s ‘Continue’ and ‘Connection’ music videos was played.

The members looked around.

Although many people passed by the ordinary Asian youth wearing a hoodie and jeans without recognizing them, there were quite a few people who were interested in KK in the video that appeared on the electronic display board.

Like the KK members, there were a few girls who stopped and watched the video on the electronic display board.

This was the first advertisement the members had ever seen. This was because it was the first advertisement to be released on a large electronic display board in Times Square and on the MyTube Page V TV channel at midnight today.

Although it was clearly visible at the hotel, the members came out to Times Square to share this special moment.

After the music video, moments of guerrilla performances in Korea provided by the Me app quickly passed by in a panoramic format. This part was designed to remind anyone who saw the advertisement of KK’s guerrilla performance.

Afterwards, program snap photos filmed in advance at the V TV studio were released with each member’s name.

After introducing the six members, a large logo for the reality program [COME HERE] planned by V TV appeared on the screen.

‘They are coming to see you soon.’

It was the last phrase.

They will come looking for you soon. It was exactly as the phrase was. KK’s American Guerrilla performance was held tomorrow in New York, the first city.

Of all the cities, it was only natural that New York would be the first venue for the performance.

It had symbolic meaning because it was the center of American culture. Because it was a city where many Koreans lived, the psychological burden was less on KK.

After the first advertisement aired, it was mixed with other advertisements, and when the turn came, KK’s program advertisement appeared.

“Now! It comes again!”

The members gathered in front of the electronic display board with flushed expressions and stood in a formation as if taking a group jacket photo.

“brother! “Let’s all come out, right?!”

“You have to get the right picture!”

“You can take a rough picture of this person. Stop talking nonsense and stand up properly quickly! Skip the commercial!”

Even as he said that, Director Oh Baek-ho retreated to a far distance in order to make the electronic display board visible as much as possible. Then he sat down on the floor and passionately took pictures with his cell phone.

The members smiled brightly while drawing a V or a heart with each finger.

In the car on the way back to the accommodation.

Ahn Hyeong-seo was muttering while holding his cell phone, trying to upload a photo he had just taken.

“I came to New York…. Good news…. Did everyone see it…? “We saw the advertisement that also appeared in Times Square with our own eyes… Please look forward to it…”

Ahn Hyeong-seo, who was speaking as he wrote, paused for a moment. I asked while fixing it.

“Can’t I just say I’ll come visit you tomorrow?”

“Ask the obvious.”

“Really… I’ll come see you real quick… Can I use this much?”

Jeong Yoon-gi, who was blocking Ahn Hyeong-seo with a single cut, also had an ambiguous expression at that point.

Although he decided not to give any clues about the guerrilla performance, Jeong Yoon-gi thought, ‘Isn’t that okay?’

Do-wook said as he watched his two older brothers pondering deeply.

“Wouldn’t it be okay?”

“Oh great!”

At Do-wook’s words, Ahn Hyeong-seo wrote without even thinking about it any more.

“I raised it!”

As soon as Ahn Hyeong-seo finished speaking, comments began to appear on Facenote.

There were many Korean fans, but there were especially many comments from those living in the United States.

Fans had already learned about the new reality program through advertisements in Times Square, KK’s official account, and V TV’s official account.

In addition, V TV had officially posted a notice about the performance along with an advertisement. Since I heard that it was not just a reality program being broadcast, but a broadcast featuring guerrilla performances in the United States, it was natural that American fans in particular would react almost frantically.

Three performances in a row in one city.

This news was like a dream to them as they were overseas fans who were desperate enough to send tens of thousands of messages using the hashtag.

But even if I knew the news, there was nothing I could do right away.

This was because I didn’t know when and where I would perform. All I had to do was wait for great luck to come to me.

The only silver lining was that it was limited to ‘somewhere in New York’.

There were hundreds of comments in English from fans saying that they were so nervous because they didn’t know anything, but they were so happy just with the anticipation and hope that they might be able to see KK on stage soon.

“I guess they’ve been waiting for us for a really long time….”

Hyeong-seo Ahn said while looking at the comments. Other members were already checking Ahn Hyeong-seo’s post.

After winning the Billboard Rookie of the Year Award, they had a very brief activity in the United States, but it was not enough for American fans.

The activities at that time were before the release of ‘Connection’. The current atmosphere was different again.

It was in a much more heightened state than during ‘Continue’.

‘Connection’ perfectly inherited the good atmosphere of ‘Continue’.

It has been on the Billboard charts for over 13 weeks since the announcement. It wasn’t just in the charts, it was maintained around the top 30.

KK’s ‘Connection’ could be heard on any pop station or radio around the world, even on the streets. KK’s songs had already become part of the global pop market.

Because KK was being consumed not only for its songs but also as a boy band overseas, it also meant that there were more fans who loved the group itself.

As the song ‘Connection’ was loved, the number of fans increased, and as the number of fans increased, album sales and streaming numbers increased… a virtuous cycle continued.

Since there were a significant number of incoming fans as well as existing fans, there were bound to be many people who wanted to see the stage.

In addition, overseas fans wanted to enjoy the joy that Korean fans enjoy while watching guerrilla performances in Korea.

It was natural that there were fewer opportunities, so I had no choice but to become more desperate.

“I hope more people can come tomorrow.”

“Iknow, right. And since we did it three times… wouldn’t we be able to come to at least one place?”

“Is that so?”

While Do-wook and Ahn Hyeong-seo were talking, Director Oh Baek-ho said.

“Once you get into the hotel, don’t do anything unnecessary and go to sleep. “Do you all know that there will be three performances tomorrow only?”

“of course!”

“Yes Sir!”

The members responded energetically.

They hoped that they could present a great stage to at least one person who wanted to see them.

***

The next day, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.

After getting ready at the hotel, KK was traveling to the concert venue in a van.

Due to the nature of the performance, there were no rehearsals at all, but through many guerrilla performances, the members were mentally prepared for any unexpected situation.

The first performance time is 3 o’clock.

There were only 30 minutes left.

V TV’s original plan was to move to a different location and perform every four hours, but after considering various situations, the time was further restricted.

Saturday, the weekend, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. In this way, performances were held once every three hours.

Ahead of the first performance, a notice of the performance location was announced through the Facenote KK account and the Times Square electronic board at 2 p.m.

[COME HERE -Lincoln Center –3PM EST]

As soon as the performance location and time were announced, KK fans were excited.

The Internet has been turned upside down even more than yesterday. There was already a lot of talk about American teenage girls flocking to Lincoln Center.

Some people were confused by the sudden crowd of people and took and uploaded personal videos while asking what was going on.

“This…”

Dowook muttered, looking at the reaction of the fans who were going crazy. There seemed to be no need to worry about the number of viewers, at least based on the Internet response.

It was a time when everyone could not hide their excitement and hoped that the car would run quickly and arrive in front of Lincoln Center.

Because it was a reality program that captured performances, a cameraman was in the van in which the KK members were riding.

Several cameras were installed in the car.

The cameraman who received the call had a very gloomy look on his face and called Do-wook.

In this program, Do-wook and Kim Won were supposed to do their part without an interpreter.

When Dowook turned around, the cameraman put down the camera for a moment and told him the news he had urgently received from the producer in charge.

It is said that a message arrived to the PD in charge’s personal Facenote account.

‘I KILL YOU ALL.’

That was the first sentence of the message.