Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: NicoleTempest
Chapter 104 It was the best I could do
The set was decorated with a screen as the background and glass pieces hanging from above like a chandelier.
They said they were saving money on the recording, but I was grateful that they didn’t make us do a live stage.
“Are you nervous?”
Seong-won suddenly asked me. I answered casually.
“No.”
I wondered how my awkward eye contact would look like in the final product. That was the only thing that mattered to me right now.
I hoped I didn’t look too weird.
I stared at the screen with a faint hope that nothing had changed much from the monitoring.
The camera slowly moved down, scanning Seon-woo’s fingertips to his face as the choreography began.
I was worried that no one would come to watch us since it was a recording, but there were quite a lot of fans filling the seats.
How did they… come to like us when there were so many popular idols in the world? I felt a heaviness in my heart.
The music started, and before the first verse, the fans chanted our names.
“Climax, Cheon Ise, Ryu Kyunghwa, Oh Yi-jun, Son Seong-won, Na Seon-woo! Drink me!”
[A siren rings in my ear ring ring]
[There’s no place to breathe can’t breath]
Seon-woo wiped his face with his gloved hand and snapped, stretching his arm out. He had been criticized for his heavy dance line until yesterday’s practice, but I was worried for nothing.
He looked so beautiful dancing with the light reflected from the glass pieces that fell from the sky like a sun catcher, that even a man would sigh.
The other members surrounded him and then stood up at the same time. They all looked majestic thanks to their height.
[Drink me, swallow me]
[Once more, like a whirlwind]
[Don’t let go of our hands]
Kyunghwa reached out his hand to the camera in the midst of the falling lights.
The angle was captured so well that it created a poignant atmosphere, as if the viewers could grab his hand right away.
[You’ll hurt me again]
[And you’ll drift away]
The camera zoomed out and swept over the whole group. The fast-paced choreography matched well with the song.
[I can’t stop]
[I keep circling the same spot for you]
I was nervous about the Music Safe’s bad reputation for the floor lighting.
But it suited the set with the gray and blue tones, and the techwear in monochrome colors. The dim spotlight from above gave it a mysterious vibe.
Behind us, there were spaces that looked like ruined buildings, and the backup dancers in combat uniforms filled the space with their military-like moves.
‘I didn’t pay attention to the background and the dancers when I was monitoring. It was worth the hard work yesterday.’
We had a hard time adjusting our movements to the stage size and background, but it made it more grand.
[Call me from the edge of the cliff you know]
[My heart only calls your name]
They changed the choreography for this part because the fans went crazy when I lifted my shirt as an ad-lib during the busking.
The original choreography was to stretch out my arms like a sniper and bounce off the recoil, but it changed to sweeping my hand from my abs to my chest and biting the hem of my clothes while turning my head.
Of course… It looked good. Regardless of my personal taste.
‘The community will go crazy over this.’
It was a predictable outcome.
Maybe it was because we had already performed the stage five times on our own.
It was our first time on a music show, but none of us seemed nervous.
But we were more serious and solemn than any previous moment.
It was partly because of the concept, but also because we felt like ‘this was our last chance.’
The desperation of rookies and unknowns was enough to drive anyone mad.
I could relate to the meaning of this comment that got a lot of likes in the community.
We wanted to succeed as much as the characters in the setting wanted to save ‘her’.
Only Yi-jun was smiling leisurely, contrasting with the other members.
[Bite me hard]
[Call your name like a prayer today]
Kyunghwa, who came forward with his back to Yi-jun, knelt down as if he was praying with his hands clasped.
The background was staged as if a ray of light shone through the ruins, making it look more sacred than when we were busking.
[You probably know]
[We keep going around and around the same place]
As Seong-won’s high notes soared, the building in the background collapsed in an instant.
Seong-won and the dancers around us also left their spots in a flash, and the lights went out with a thud.
[But I won’t give up on you trust me]
The main vocal’s Climax high notes followed, and the lights coming back on as the dancers appeared from the darkness.
My part didn’t stand out much, but I knew why.
‘I didn’t… look at the camera…’
The editor must have laughed. The leader was so lost for a five-year veteran idol.
I didn’t expect to be so distracted looking for the camera, so my face was burning.
The stage ended, and the camera zoomed in on one of the members for the last time.
I didn’t see it properly until then. Seon-woo was the center, so they must have caught him, right? As soon as I thought that, I saw myself on the screen, looking at the light reflected from the glass shards on the ceiling.
“?”
I looked around the members with a bewildered expression, wondering why I was there.
Yi-jun burst into laughter.
“Ahaha, hyung, you should look at the camera. Where were you looking when you got caught?”
I wanted to hide in a mouse hole as he looked at me, startled and flustered after staring at the light for a long time.
“Our ending fairy. You’re cute. Did you aim for the maknae spot?”
Even Kyunghwa, who usually didn’t join in teasing me, smirked and looked at me.
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
I avoided his gaze awkwardly, and Yi-jun added a remark.
“It would have been fun if you were the maknae, hyung!”
He ruffled my hair like he did to Seon-woo, the real maknae, without thinking.
‘He crossed the line.’
“Don’t.”
I pushed his hand away with a displeased expression, and Yi-jun backed off with a dissatisfied face.
“You’re touching him like he’s some neighborhood puppy.”
“Don’t say touching, it sounds weird.”
“It’s not wrong, though.”
As soon as the next batter took over, he started to nag me loudly.
“Now that we’ve done Music Safe today… Do we have to do Weekly Music on Friday, Showtime on Saturday, and Music Safe again on Sunday next week?”
“Probably? That’s what I heard from the manager hyung.”
That meant… next week would be filled with practice and waiting for the three music shows.
But being this busy… it’s better than having nothing to do and being bored.
I looked up the scores of Floss, recalling the N-King missions I saw on the mission list.
Not that I wanted to compete with them.
I was just curious how much they were selling, since they were at the peak of their popularity.
[Search results> Floss music show scores]
As expected of a project group that had the hottest response right after their debut, their debut single seemed to have won first place for the longest time.
‘They got 14 trophies?’
Usually… They appear on three terrestrial channels and up to five including cable.
If they go by three, that means they swept first place on every music show for almost a month.
‘That’s impressive…’
We couldn’t even hope for first place, let alone third place, on the music show we appeared on today.
‘Well… we don’t have a physical album, so we can’t count on the scores anyway.’
We had nothing to celebrate, but we had to sit and wait for almost an hour. It was inevitable that we felt bored.
“Don’t mess around and watch the other groups’ stages well. If you keep looking for the camera next week, you’ll get a lot of bad comments on the community sites.”
Kyunghwa covered my phone screen with his hand and advised me.
I kept hearing the same criticism… and now I felt a bit hurt. But Kyunghwa was right. I couldn’t act like a rookie forever.
I nodded readily.
“Okay.”
On the TV screen for monitoring, a rookie girl group was smiling brightly and doing their best on the stage.
‘They’re better at finding the camera than me.’
How did they all have such good eye movement? I needed to practice too.
“They’re so skinny.”
Yi-jun said with admiration.
The idols on the screen all had doll-like, glamorous looks, but at the same time, they had bony, thin bodies.
‘That can’t be good for their health.’
The agency must be forcing them to starve themselves to look pretty on the screen.
I felt sick thinking about the situation behind the camera.
They were putting kids who hadn’t even grown up yet into schedules that even adults would have trouble handling, and making them eat diets that didn’t even meet their basic nutrition.
This was clearly abuse, but in this glittering world, it was taken for granted.
“I’ll be back, I need to use the bathroom.”
I couldn’t bear to look at him any longer, so I finally left my seat.
What was I doing? I went to the dressing room to calm myself down, but when I came back, it was the turn of a male singer I had never seen before.
“It’s almost over.”
The award ceremony would start soon after the last stage. The contestants who didn’t expect to rank high could leave as soon as their performance was over, but that was unthinkable for us unknowns who desperately wanted to show our faces on TV.
It would be enough for us to appear one more time as the backdrop for the winning group.
“Let’s go to the stage, too.”
Soon, the manager knocked on the dressing room door and showed up.
“Let’s go, we have to decorate the award ceremony.”
He obviously didn’t expect us to be in the top ranks either.
“Yep, let’s go~.”
Yi-jun playfully dragged his words and pushed Kyunghwa’s back.
Seong-won turned his head with a disgusted look.
“Don’t push me, I can walk by myself.”
Yeah, right now… I had to think about my own business first.
I had avoided death, but I still didn’t know what kind of disadvantage I would face if I missed the recommended deadline for the main quest.
The way to the set was quite long, and when we arrived, there were already countless contestants crowded there.
Some of the obscure groups greeted us warmly as if they recognized us.
“Wow, you’re Climax, right? I saw your fancam! You were awesome!”
We bowed briefly and replied, then joined the line on the left.
As I looked at the center of the stage, I saw Seon-woo, who was wearing his stage outfit and looking at the MC.
‘Huh? He looks a bit strange.’
He seemed to be smiling nervously, and also restless.
‘Is he nervous because he’s the MC and it’s his first comeback?’
But that didn’t make sense, because Seon-woo had done the morning rehearsal very smoothly.
He didn’t seem to be particularly tense…
Then, a small woof-! sound came from Pposili, and a translucent status window popped up.
[※‘Na Seon-woo’ is feeling ‘excitement’, ‘joy’, and ‘confusion’.]
Excitement and joy? What about confusion? Did something good happen to him in the meantime?
As I was wondering, the MC started the show.
[Shall we meet this week’s most anticipated candidates for the first place?]
[The Music Safe ranking is determined by combining the viewer votes, digital sales, album sales, and broadcast scores! Let’s check it out now!]
As soon as the three candidates for the first place appeared on the screen, everyone on the stage gasped and buzzed.
I turned my eyes to Seon-woo, and met his gaze, which was now completely unrestrained as he continued the show.
[Wow! An unexpected twist has happened!]
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