ยฉNovelKiss
The Maknae Has to Be an Idol-Chapter 129
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Chapter 129
The show was over. We stood on the stage with our ending poses. This was the performance we had been preparing for nonstop the past two weeksโno, not just two weeks but all our struggles and efforts for the past two months had been working up for this performance. This was the end of The Showcase 2. My heart swelled as I looked at the camera while forcefully repressing my heavy breathing. I had been scared of standing on stage when I first began this show, but it was different now.
โ...How fun.โ I felt as if I was breathing in unison with the audience. Furthermore, finishing a show that we prepared so hard without any mistakes gave me more joy and thrill than anything I had ever done. I turned my head and looked toward my members. My members seemed to be overflowing with emotions too. Flower petals were still scattering over the stage, and I turned my attention to the audience.
โKyaaaah!
โTae-Yoon!
I spotted people holding our name signs from among the crowd. People cheered for us, some cried, some laughed, and some stared at us blankly, mesmerized. All sorts of emotions were intertwining and focusing on us. I felt it instinctively then, โ...Is it now?โ
It was time for me to use Insight. My Insight ability strengthened after succeeding in the last mission, but I didnโt know how much.
โHaaa.โ I breathed in and out deeply.
Ziiing.
I activated my Insight. I didnโt expect much at first. Even if the ability strengthened, I thought there wouldnโt be much of a difference because of how unbelievable it had been from the beginning.
โ...Huh?โ The whole world seemed to be sucked into a vacuum with me in the center, and the flow of time, scenery, and air seemed to halt. It was the same as before, but my senses felt much more intense than before, and the change became more evident as my ability continued.
โ...My goodness.โ
The emotions of the people in this stage began to pour over me simultaneously; there was happiness, sadness, jealousy, and even rage. Each of these giant, intertwined emotions in this concert hall felt like mine. I had thought Insight was an ability that allowed me to retrieve more information about an object or situation and increase my reaction speed. Yet, it was much more than that, and I felt as if I could read the minds of the people around me.
I held my breath. No, it was like I was running out of breath, and I canceled my Insight because I felt like I wouldnโt be able to endure it any longer. The speed of the world returned to its original speed and regained its vitality. The thousands of emotions that had shot towards me gradually returned to their original owners. I calmly exhaled and pretended to be calm.
โAh...โ But without meaning to, tears trickled down my cheeks. The camera was still rolling, and I couldnโt believe I was crying while making my ending pose. Furthermore, it was a live broadcast.
โDamn it.โ The camera zoomed into my face, and the face of me crying seemed to have come up on the big screen as people cried out.
โTae-Yooooon!
โDonโt cry!
I quickly turned my head. I felt embarrassed that I cried without intending to. Yeon-Hoon approached me then.
โUggggh...Tae-Yoo....โ
โ...Yeon-Hoon?โ
Though mine had been a drop of tear trickling down my face, Yeon-Hoon was wailing his heart out. It seemed he had approached me to give me a hug, but I ended up comforting him.
โYeon-Hoon...itโs okay...โ
Fans seemed to have noticed this as they also cried out.
โYeon-Hooon!
โKyaaaah!
Though they seemed sympathetic to my tears, the fans appeared strangely excited seeing Yeon-Hoon crying instead.
โEveryone, you did so well...really, truly good job.โ Woon then approached me and Yeon-Hoon.
โWoon?โ I saw that Woonโs eyes were also teary, and he silently hugged me.
โWe really were the best.โ
โ...You guys were all so cool.โ Following that, Do-Seung and Dong-Jun also approached us. I didn't know how the scene of all five of us gathering in a circle on top of the stage and hugging would appear on the screen.
โ...But itโs nice.โ Not caring about how we came out on the cameras, I didnโt want to miss this moment. That was all I cared about as my group members hugged me.
***
Park Soo-Chul looked at Siren gathered in a circle.
โKyaaaaah!โ
โYeon-Hoon! Yeon-Hoon!โ
โTae-Yoon!โ
โLee Woon!โ
โKang Do-Seung!โ
โDong-Jun!โ
Siren fans still appeared enchanted by the performance and continued to chant the membersโ names. Like them, Only One had also shown a splendid performance, and fans cheered for them long after the performance too.
โBut something feels different.โ Now that Sirenโs performance was over, Park Soo-Chul felt a different energy from the concert hall than he had felt after Only Oneโs performance. Yet, Park Soo-Chul stopped thinking more about this. Even if he tried to make predictions and guesses on who the winner would be, he didnโt know who would win in the end.
โProducer, I think we are about close to the final results now, do you want to know what it is?โ One of the writers asked him.
Park Soo-Chul shook his head. โItโs okay. I will also hear it when itโs announced.โ
โ...Oh, really?โ
โWhy?โ
โNo, itโs nothing.โ
Park Soo-Chul stared at the stage again. Siren members were still hugging each other.
โThough itโs not like the other team members have a bad relationship, Siren is a bit special,โ he thought. The Siren membersโ feelings for each other felt especially more touching and soulful, and it felt like the members wouldnโt be able to live without each other. Park Soo-Chul thought this was a good scene to shoot and directed the cameras.
โOkay, letโs break up these guys now and start the ending lines.โ
โI understand.โ Then, the staff moved, and it appeared one of the Siren members noticed the staffโs signal, and the members naturally parted from each other. ๐ง๐โฏโฏ๐คโฏ๐ฃ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ทโฏ๐ญ.๐๐ฐ๐
โ...Huh?โ
โ...Pft.โ
โHahaha!โ
Perhaps, it was because all five of them had been crying their hearts out, but all their eyes were bright red. The makeup had been so well done that it was still intact, but their eyes were swollen from crying. Even Park Soo-Chul thought these guys looked cute like his nephews.
โI should later use that as a thumbnail,โ he said and then continued, โOkay, letโs start the ending lines.โ
***
As we stood on top of the stage blankly, the mikes were handed to us. Comedian Mr. Kim Young-Jin and Ms. Nahyun also got up to the stage behind us. I didnโt realize it because we had been too focused on crying and hugging each other, but the performance wasnโt over yet.
โWe have to give our ending lines.โ
But our crying must have been funny as I saw the two hosts try their best to repress their laughter. โUm...letโs begin after you all wipe your tears.โ
โ...Thank you...โ Yeon-Hoon walked to accept the tissue while sniffing back his tears.
โPft! Ah, Mr. Yeon-Hoon...โ
โAh...hmph.โ
Mr. Kim Young-Jin burst into laughter with his head lowered while Ms. Nahyun turned her head to repress her laughter. Only Yeon-Hoon appeared perplexed about what was going on. He simply wiped his tears with the tissue he received, and the audience also exploded into laughter.
โ...Why is everyone laughing...?โ Yeon-Hoon asked. He was the only one who didnโt know why this situation was laughable. freewebno(v)el.com
โOkay, then, can we ask each of you how you feel after your performance?โ the host then asked after the situation settled down a bit.
The first person to speak was Woon. Originally, Yeon-Hoon was supposed to say his lines but because he hadnโt calmed himself down yet, Woon did the job for him.
โSo many things happened in the last two months. It felt as if we were gifted with a load of miracles. Thank you so much to you all who came to see the show, and I am even more grateful to our fans.โ After Woon said his heartfelt lines, the mike was handed over to Do-Seung.
โThis is a song we made for our fans. I hope you enjoyed the performance with us, and the songโs message was properly conveyed to you all. Thank you.โ
Dong-Jun spoke next. โI was always happy while performing on The Showcaseโs stage. I loved meeting our fans like this and I will work harder to see them all in a better place and more frequently.โ I was a bit surprised by how serious and mature Dong-Jun sounded.
Finally, the turn went back to Yeon-Hoon. โ...Thank you all so, so much...I am so grateful to our fans and I love you all. And to my group members...ahh...โ Yeon-Hoon began tearing up again while saying his ending line. Still, he didnโt place his mike down and opened his mouth again after holding back his tears.
โI want to also thank them... It must have been hard for them to follow a leader lacking in so many ways,โ Yeon-Hoon said and hung his head. Do-Seung and Woon hugged Yeon-Hoon again, and then I was handed the mike. I gripped the mike and looked at my audience. I didnโt have much to say since my group members already said everything that needed to be said.
The best I could come up with right now was, โThank you for showing us so much love. We will continue to improve and avoid making any mistakes so that you all can continue to love us.โ It was a promise that we wouldnโt abandon those who had shown us unconditional support and faith.
โI hope that you will continue to watch over Siren,โ I said and put down the mike.
โThank you for your heartfelt lines, everyone. Then...โ The host, Mr. Kim Young-Jin progressed the show accordingly, and I didnโt pay attention to his commentaries but looked back at my group members. This was something we couldnโt even begin in our past life, but we had managed to come all this way by trying our best somehow. I gripped my fist and made a strong resolve to stick together.
No matter what the system did or how crazy the world became, I would never lose these guys again. It was then the host announced, โWe will now ask all five groups who had lit up The Showcase 2 until now to come up the stage.โ
At this time, there was only one reason why we were asked to come up to the stage like this.
โThey are going to announce the winners.โ My group members seemed to have realized this and tensed up. Following us, Only One, OnebyOne, Bleshu, and Luminin all got up the stage. It appeared everyone else was also nervous and a strange tenseness filled up the place.
โHaaa.โ I breathed in and out.
โIf we fail the mission, I should remain calm and act according to plan,โ I thought resolutely in preparation for the worst-case scenario.
***
We waited for the results to be announced for so long that our legs hurt. The announcement wasnโt made just because all five groups got onto the stage. There still needed to be some time to tally up all the messages, and commercials needed to play at this perfect moment. During this long period of waiting for the results...all we did was stand still.
Yet, there was no room for feelings of boredom to intrude in our hearts.
โHaaa.โ
โAhh.โ
โItโs killing me...โ
We had gone all out the past couple of months to hear the results right now. We couldnโt free ourselves from our anxiety and felt nervous every minute and second. Soon afterward, the commercial ended and we began the live broadcast again. Though they were revealing the final results, the fifth to third ranks were revealed rapidly. Perhaps, the announcement felt faster because of how predictable the result had been for those ranks: 5th place was Luminin, 4th place was OnebyOne, and 3rd place was Bleshu. After the third rank was announced, the concert hall filled with a heavy silence.
Everyone knew that fifth to third place had been mere appetizers, and this was the main dish. There was no way a broadcast person like Kim Young-Jin wasnโt aware of what even the audience knew.
He spoke in a more serious voice than before. โ...Right now, I am holding a piece of paper with The Showcase 2โs final winner written on it.โ Kim Young-Jin held his breath and scanned his surroundings. โThe name I call will become the final winner of this show, and the name I donโt call will stay in second place.โ
Perhaps, I was too nervous and it felt as if nails were digging into my skin. I loosened my grip and exhaled and inhaled deeply.
โTwo groups are remaining nowโthe two that had been battling for the first and second spots throughout the whole show.โ
Not just us but the fans also appeared nervous. The concert hall was only filled with tense silence except for the hostโs voice. โThe winner to become the glorious main characters of Showcase 2 First Chance is...!โ Kim Young-Jin said and paused.
Sigh.
โAh, Ahh.โ
โPlease.โ
My group members and I felt our breaths stop at Kim Young-Jinโs devilish hosting skills. I felt my heart contract and my legs wantef to give out. I had to endure and keep standing before the result was announced.
โSiren! Congratulations to you all!โ It was then our name came out of Kim Young-Jinโs mouth.
Pop! Flower petals exploded into the sky again.
โAh, Ahh! Ahhh!โ
โAhhhh!โ
โEveryone!โ
โYou guys!โ
โAhhhhh!โ
My group members all screamed in unison. Simultaneously, I heard the messages.
[Mission success.]
[You achieved first place in The Showcase 2.]
[You prevented Kang Do-Seungโs death.]
This was the death mission that had been torturing me until now, but it was finally cleared. Perhaps because of the relief I felt, my legs gave out and I almost collapsed to the floor.
โUhhh!โ
โTae-Yoon!โ