WOOOOO!
All they had done was greet the audience, yet the fans' cheers rang through the entire hall once again.
“The fans' cheers are incredible. Then could each of you introduce yourselves as well?”
We looked at each other and nodded. Following the order we had agreed on beforehand, I spoke first.
“It's nice to meet you! I'm Chanhwi, the main dancer of Sun & Moon!”
The audience erupted at my proud, energetic greeting.
‘It's been a long time since I felt this way.’
The thrill of standing onstage again enveloped my body.
I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs, but it was Yujin's turn to introduce himself next.
“It's nice to meet you. I'm Yujin, the main vocalist of Sun & Moon.”
After introducing himself, Yujin covered his face with his hands, apparently embarrassed.
Someone in the audience shouted, “Show us your face!” at his shy reaction. He slowly lowered his hands and endured his embarrassment.
“I see. Yujin must be quite shy.”
“He's like this normally, but he's completely different when he sings, so you can look forward to it.”
When I praised him, Yujin blinked at me as if asking what had gotten into me. Then the cheers poured out again, and he bowed his head once more.
“Yes. So many people came to see Sun & Moon. How does that make you feel?”
The question flowed naturally. I looked over the seats, packed as full as my heart felt, and answered.
“Honestly, I'm still dazed. Until just a few minutes ago, we were downstairs telling each other that even if only one person came, we'd give it our all. But three hundred people are here. I don't even know how much more effort we're supposed to give now.”
“Yes. There's someone special among these three hundred people. Can you see them over there?”
“Pardon?”
I turned in the direction the MC was pointing. Three slogans were raised high in the air.
On the left was a slogan featuring a picture of the sun and my face.
On the right was a slogan featuring a picture of the moon and Yujin's face.
In the middle stood my family, holding a slogan that read, “Go, Sun & Moon!”
The moment I saw them.
“Oh, dear. Chanhwi must be deeply moved.”
The MC was holding out a handkerchief to me. Why?
Only when I saw drops of water falling onto it did I realize that I was crying.
The audience stirred at my sudden tears, then began chanting, “Don't cry!”
“I'm not crying.”
Even as I answered, the tears continued to stream endlessly.
I was happy that my family was cheering for me.
I was happy to stand onstage and receive their support like this.
I was sorry that I had ignored these feelings for so many years.
That was all. It was simply that.
Chanhwi did not notice that Yujin was staring fixedly at him.
***
After I regained my composure, the real questions began.
“Sun & Moon's first single album. The title song is called ‘Prince,’ right? It's a title that suits the two of you perfectly.”
“Ha-ha. Thank you.”
“I heard you were given complete control over producing both the title song and the B-side. Is that true?”
“Yes. I handled everything myself, including record directing and creating the choreography. I had no idea the job would grow this large either. I brought this disaster on myself. I thought I'd die of exhaustion.”
The audience burst into laughter at Chanhwi's banter.
“How did you end up bringing this disaster on yourself?”
“Hmm, at first, we planned Yujin's song, ‘Blue Rose.’”
“Not the title song?”
Both of us nodded at the MC's question.
“Yujin would come up with a musical idea, and I'd flesh it out. That was all. But then I noticed a problem. It was his song, not ours.”
Both the MC and the audience nodded as they listened intently.
“But the song was still good. They told us to use it as the B-side and create another song......”
“And that's how ‘Prince’ was made. Then is ‘Prince’ Chanhwi's song?”
How could it be?
“At first, I considered making my own song. But when I thought about it, if that was what I wanted, I might as well debut separately. Why would we debut in the same group? Don't you agree?”
I shrugged and joked, making the audience giggle.
“So instead of making my song, I made our song. It contains both my strengths and Yujin's, so please look forward to hearing it later.”
“Then when will we hear Chanhwi's song?”
“When I can satisfy myself, that's when I'll release my song.”
Why wouldn't I want to release a song of my own?
But I knew perfectly well that I was not ready yet.
I turned to look at Yujin.
When I had grown enough to defeat this guy, I intended to release a song that was mine alone once again.
I put the thought aside and looked at Yujin. Mistaking it for a signal, the MC directed a question at him.
“I have a question for Yujin as well.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Between the title song ‘Prince’ and the B-side ‘Blue Rose,’ which one do you like better?”
As mentioned earlier, the title song belonged to both of us.
Blue Rose was Yujin's solo song.
Even I was a little curious about this.
As the audience focused on him, wondering which song he preferred, Yujin gave an unexpected answer.
“I'll leave that choice to all of you.”
It might have seemed slightly anticlimactic, but Yujin continued.
“But I'm certain you won't be able to choose either?”
Unlike his shy demeanor moments ago, his answer brimmed with confidence.
“Yes. Both of you are extremely confident. Then it must be about time to unveil your new songs, right? I'll step away for a moment and enjoy your performance. See you all again shortly!”
The time had finally come to show them.
The first song was Yujin's ‘Blue Rose,’ so Chanhwi stepped off the stage and watched from behind.
“......”
A single beam of light descended upon Yujin as he stood onstage with his eyes closed.
As the prelude began, blue lighting and clouds of dry ice surrounded him. At last, he began to sing.
“In the muddy repetition of daily life.”
“Gasp!”
He had sung only one line, yet soft gasps could be heard from the audience.
Chanhwi held his breath as well. Hearing Yujin in the recording studio and hearing him onstage with the full power of the sound system were worlds apart.
Of all the singers Chanhwi had ever seen, Yujin was indisputably the greatest onstage.
In the muddy repetition of daily life.
I wandered the streets with lifeless eyes.
Heavy lyrics uncharacteristic of an idol flowed out.
But the audience was captivated by his vocal tone and focused on the song's narrative.
They could not help rooting for the child as he escaped his daily routine and finally stepped into a new world.
“Wow!”
The people who had been holding their breath as one burst into cheers.
Look at me. Please look this way.
I've bloomed in a beautiful color unlike any other flower.
A blue rose has now burst into full bloom.
The lingering finish left the audience dazed.
They wanted to preserve that lingering feeling to the very end, but as another prelude began, they slowly came back to their senses.
“I came to get you.”
Chanhwi sprang out from wherever he had been hiding behind Yujin. The bass drum sounded, and the music changed.
Please wait a moment until the door opens.
Once you pass through this door, a festival awaits.
The opening was filled with Yujin's sweet voice.
It was exactly as shown in the music video, but the audience cheered because Yujin's atmosphere was completely different from the mystical mood he had created moments earlier.
More importantly, this song was a dance track.
Yujin had lacked confidence in his dancing, but after grueling effort, the two of them could now move in sync.
Whenever one of them sang, the other prompted the audience to join the chorus, and soon everyone was on their feet enjoying the song.
Finally came the line that had also appeared in the music video.
The two reached toward a woman in the audience.
“Won't you take my hand and come with me to a world of dreams?”
“I-I will.”
As if bewitched by a nine-tailed fox, the woman answered, and the audience erupted in cheers.
“I'll follow you anywhere!”
“Oppaaaaaaaa!”
Amid the audience's shouts, the showcase's advance performances of ‘Blue Rose’ and ‘Prince’ came to a successful end.
The two waved to the cheering audience until the stage went dark.
The showcase had drawn an audience of three hundred, far more than expected. Their heat, applause, and cheers left a profound sense of satisfaction in both boys' hearts.
Chanhwi had no doubt that the future unfolding before him would be different from the past he had experienced.
***
“Why were you crying so carelessly?”
After the showcase, Eun-hee entered the live hall's waiting room and scolded Chanhwi.
“Be quiet.”
Thinking back on it now was terrifying.
I cried in front of three hundred people, didn't I?
No one recorded it, right?
As one worry after another filled my mind, Madam Jo Hyeon-jeong approached.
My gaze fell on the slogan she was cradling so carefully.
“When did you even make something like this?”
“We've done the music-show circuit plenty of times, you know. Making something like this was child's play.”
“Good grief.”
Only now had I learned a secret I had never known in ten years.
“You did well, son.”
My father looked around the waiting room and asked.
“Come to think of it, where is Yujin?”
“I don't know. Did he go to the restroom? I'll go find him.”
We came down together, so where had he gone?
I was walking through the hallway looking for him.
“I said I'm not going back!”
An agitated voice that was almost impossible to believe belonged to Yujin rang out from the restroom.
***
It was around eight in the evening after the showcase.
Sun & Moon's manager, Lee Eun-ha, sat down in front of her laptop to monitor the music video.
The music video for ‘Prince’ had been uploaded to the <Sun & Moon> NeoTube channel today at the same time the showcase began.
Although the day was not yet over, the music video had already surpassed one hundred thousand views and become popular enough to appear among the trending videos.
“Ah. Seriously, why did I agree to do it?”
She clicked the music video with an anxious heart.
The music video began with a cheerful fanfare.
The fanfare introduced two princes, Chanhwi and Yujin.
The music video followed the pair as they took the hand of someone facing them and toured the entire village together.
During that journey, the princes competed as if each were more charming than the other, then sought each other's help when unexpected situations arose. It was a beautiful, fantastical village tour shared by three people.
When the entire tour ended, both princes reached out their hands at the same time before an exotic castle.
‘It's even better than I expected?’
Eun-ha scrolled down to check the reactions in the comments.
-Wow, has it really hit one hundred thousand views already?
-When Sunny and Moony reached out at the showcase, my heart seriously stopped...
-??? That was you? I'm so freaking jealous. I was in the very back row.
-??? Are you people serious? We've only reached one hundred thousand views? Work harder.
The reactions were unanimously favorable.
-But whose hand is that woman's?
The moment she saw that comment, Eun-ha hid her face in embarrassment.