Chapter 84:
Chapter 84
Lee Ju-hyuk reached out his hand in the air.
Park Seo-dam placed her hand on top of his.
One by one, the other members joined their hands.
“Don’t worry if you make mistakes, just don’t get hurt.”
“Ju-hyuk hyung, are you less nervous now? You didn’t bite off your nails, did you?”
“I’m feeling better now.”
AWY, the idol group, gathered backstage as they always did.
They formed a circle and looked at each other. Ian, who brought the hand mark, put his hand over the others’.
“Are they doing the countdown outside?”
“Wow, I’m so nervous.”
The staff urged them to get ready.
“Let’s have fun and enjoy ourselves. We are who we are?”
“AWY!”
With Ju-hyuk’s shout, the members lined up on the lift and put on their earpieces. The countdown went from 10 to 9, 8… The lift slowly rose up.
“Kyaaah!”
As the lift went up, the fans saw the members’ faces and screamed louder.
The light sticks in the seats waved and flickered.
The lift reached the top, and the round screen on the stage showed close-ups of the members’ faces.
Finally, after showing Ian’s face, the music started.
The first song was naturally AWY’s debut song.
“This moment with you, we are eternal”
As Ian sang the intro of the song with his microphone, Lee Da-sol and Jang Min-hee, who had become close friends, held hands and shook their light sticks vigorously.
The fans chanted along.
While AWY danced, their stage outfits, which were carefully made by the styling team, sparkled under the concert lights.
“Hello everyone!”
“Two, three!”
“Always by your side! Hello, we are AWY!”
After finishing the first song, the members waved their hands and greeted the fans.
The members drank some water prepared in front of the prompter and took off their earpieces.
They wanted to hear the fans’ voices.
“This is our first concert.”
“We were so nervous that we couldn’t sleep well. How about you, our AWY fans?”
‘Us too!’ A fan in front of the standing area shouted.
“Then shall we check if our AWY fans are ready to have fun?”
“Let’s start with this area in front of us. Please scream as much as you like us!”
The fans in front of them shouted loudly.
The members laughed.
They felt good that so many people liked them and watched them.
The members turned around and looked at the opposite side.
“The atmosphere is amazing here.”
“We can’t lose to them. This area too! Scream!”
After a time of screaming together, the members gave their comments.
“We prepared a lot to show you a good stage, so we hope you have a good time.”
“Shall we go to the next song?”
After a short comment time, AWY went back to their choreography.
AWY performed two songs in a row and went backstage while a concert VCR was played.
The stage was in the center to accommodate more people, and it was too far to go to the waiting room.
So the members had no choice but to change their clothes right under the stage.
“Did you see the fans?”
“No kidding. That’s why everyone’s crazy about concerts.”
“I keep wanting to take out one in-ear monitor…”
Ian and Jotaewoong chatted while quickly changing their clothes. Staff bustled around, fixing their hair and makeup.
“What’s after our ‘Dawn’ and ‘Phoenix’ performances?”
“The unit special stage.”
“I can’t even remember the order. Without the prompter, I would’ve forgotten the lyrics.”
“Didn’t we rehearse yesterday and today? We shouldn’t forget.”
As they prepared for the next stage, a concert VCR showed the members’ preparation process and video letters to fans.
“Ugh, I don’t want to listen to that.”
“I get weirdly emotional during that part.”
Seodam hurriedly put in his in-ear monitor, and Ian muttered. Just then, Juyeong’s video voice was heard backstage.
(Fans to me… Well, it’s hard to define in words. They’re people who aren’t taken for granted but would be nice if they were?)
“Look, Juyeong is a poet.”
“Don’t listen! It’s cringy!”
Juyeong rushed to cover Ian’s mouth. Ian dodged him and hid behind Juhyeok.
“Guys, we need to go back on stage soon. Put in your in-ears.”
At the staff’s signal, Juhyeok spoke softly.
The distracted members obediently listened.
Next, Awi performed the group version of ‘Phoenix’ and the song ‘Dawn’ made by Bluemix.
Afterward, the members went backstage without further comments.
Another VCR was broadcasted, featuring a special concert part with song swapping.
“Next stage is with Juhyeok and Jinho?”
The unit stage proceeded. The hip-hop unit, Juhyeok and Jinhyuk, changed outfits and went on stage.
“Wow… The cheers are amazing.”
“Don’t the fans get tired?”
Members attached to a small monitor watched the concert situation while gulping water and wiping sweat.
“Aren’t you guys serious? Not even out of breath?”
“You rocked the stage.”
With powerful raps, Jinhyuk and Juhyeok dominated the stage, running around without seeming breathless.
Fans waved their hands back and forth in response.
The light sticks in their hands glowed green under central control.
“You guys were awesome.”
Seodam high-fived Juhyeok and Jinhyuk as they came backstage. Ian and Jotaewoong also gave them thumbs up before going on stage.
Next was the vocal unit’s turn: Seodam, Jotaewoong, and Ian.
They didn’t have a unit song, so they were considering what to do when Ian visited Heesang’s studio.
Since cover songs involve copyrights, they needed the original artist’s permission.
Heesang warmly welcomed Ian after a long time and readily agreed to let him use his song.
“You can use my song.”
“Really? Thank you!”
“But visit often. Don’t just call. Come sing with me.”
“I’ll visit more after the tour.”
Ian smiled shyly after hanging up the phone, having become close with Heesang through frequent calls.
“How are you feeling?”
“Much better.”
“Please get a health checkup soon.”
“Not that again… You take better care of me than my own son.”
“You’re like a son to me too.”
Ian smiled brightly and Kim Heesang chuckled. Ian had always urged Kim Heesang to get regular checkups to reduce his long-term illness.
“This time, Taewoong and Seodam have improved a lot in singing. Please come and see them.”
“Really?”
As a small token of gratitude, Ian gave Kim Heesang a concert ticket.
The vocal unit of three had practiced hard to not disappoint Kim Heesang, who would be watching their performance from the second floor.
“My love, don’t leave me”
Kim Heesang jolted up from his seat as the intro started with Park Seodam’s deep voice.
“Haha… So that’s why you asked me to come.”
Ian did well as expected, and Jo Taewoong’s skills had also exceeded expectations.
They were still diligent even after gaining popularity, which no one could dislike.
“They’re good.”
Kim Heesang nodded with satisfaction and smiled.
Next, the dance unit of Kim Hyun and Kim Juyeong came up on stage. The other members had changed their outfits during that time, wearing dark leather clothes with harnesses that looked like collars.
“…Come to think of it, our families are on the second floor, right?”
Lee Juhyuk muttered as he checked his clothes for the last time.
“Oh… Grandma.”
“Is this a stage that Seodam’s siblings can watch?”
“Yeah. My sister is here too. She’s going to tease me for the rest of my life.”
Park Seodam washed his face and Park Jinhyuk sighed.
The next part was a special stage that was only for the concert, which was a blatant fan service time for the fans.
They sang their track ‘Red Moon’, which was a jazz-style song with a werewolf concept. But the choreography of this song had troubled the members. It had sticky waves and explicit expressions as the basics.
“Are we really doing this?”
That was what Lee Juhyuk said when he saw the choreography plan. The choreographer nodded as if it was obvious.
“I guarantee it. The fans will love it.”
“…Really?”
“Don’t be shy. The other groups do this kind of stage at least once at their concerts.”
If the fans liked it… The members took their positions and practiced the choreography.
Lee Juhyuk sighed as he remembered what happened then.
It was the right attitude as a professional to focus on the stage no matter who was watching, but it was really embarrassing to do this kind of choreography in front of his family.
“I envy Ian.”
“It’s better to get scolded early than late. What do I have to envy? Our family will see it sooner or later anyway…”
The members had given out tickets to their families and friends.
They were watching their stage from the same section as Kim Heesang.
Ian’s family was in America, so they didn’t come to today’s concert.
“But Ian’s family has an American mindset. America is the land of dance, so this kind of thing wouldn’t be a big deal for them.”
“No matter what country, doing this kind of choreography in front of your family…”
Ian groaned.
The makeup team finished applying the dark smoky makeup that matched the mood of the song and told him not to rub his eyes.
They quickly moved away.
“What about Teacher Heesang?”
“…Teacher came too?”
“Yeah, I gave him a ticket back then.”
Lee Ju-hyuk’s pupils trembled uncontrollably.
His manager, Park Dong-soo, chuckled as he watched the scene.
He knew well that his expression would change as soon as the music started, even though he was crying now.
“We’re next with ‘Red Moon’. Are your family here, hyung?”
“Ah!”
He was not the only one to suffer. As Jo Tae-woong casually mentioned it, Kim Hyun screamed briefly.
“What about you, Ju-young?”
“My family is coming tomorrow… Oh. What am I going to do tomorrow?”
Kim Ju-young sighed as he quickly changed his clothes.
The other members laughed softly.
“What’s wrong with our choreography? The fans will love it!”
“Yeah! We’re confident!”
“Mom! Mom, your son is making money so hard!”
The members pretended to be hysterical, but their hands were faster than anyone else in arranging their microphones.
After the mid-show VCR ended, they went up on stage.
As the intro of ‘Red Moon’ played, the fans shrieked. The light sticks also flashed red to match the mood of the song.
“Red Moon…! It’s Red Moon!”
“What do we do!”
Jang Min-hee and Lee Da-sol rolled their feet while sitting.
The fans screamed again as the members started with a knee bend and then did a body wave.
“Crazy… They’re crazy!”
Kim Eun-ha, who was separated from Da-sol, took out a telescope to see the stage better.
***
And in the VIP seats, Park Jin-hyuk’s sister, Park Seo-hyun, frowned as she watched Awi’s performance.
“Ugh, disgusting…”
It was a reaction she could have as his sibling.
She couldn’t bear to see her brother’s blatant business with her eyes open.
She turned her eyes away and fixed them on Ian.
“This is it…”
Her eyes quickly found peace.
Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience