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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 weeks–no, 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.

‘...How fun.’ 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.

—Kyaaaah!

—Tae-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, ‘...Is it now?’

It was time for me to use Insight. My Insight ability strengthened after succeeding in the last mission, but I didn’t know how much.

“Haaa.” I breathed in and out deeply.

Ziiing.

I activated my Insight. I didn’t expect much at first. Even if the ability strengthened, I thought there wouldn’t be much of a difference because of how unbelievable it had been from the beginning.

‘...Huh?’ 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.

‘...My goodness.’

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 wouldn’t 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.

“Ah...” But without meaning to, tears trickled down my cheeks. The camera was still rolling, and I couldn’t believe I was crying while making my ending pose. Furthermore, it was a live broadcast.

‘Damn it.’ 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.

—Tae-Yooooon!

—Don’t cry!

I quickly turned my head. I felt embarrassed that I cried without intending to. Yeon-Hoon approached me then.

“Uggggh...Tae-Yoo....”

“...Yeon-Hoon?”

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.

“Yeon-Hoon...it’s okay...”

Fans seemed to have noticed this as they also cried out.

—Yeon-Hooon!

—Kyaaaah!

Though they seemed sympathetic to my tears, the fans appeared strangely excited seeing Yeon-Hoon crying instead.

“Everyone, you did so well...really, truly good job.” Woon then approached me and Yeon-Hoon.

“Woon?” I saw that Woon’s eyes were also teary, and he silently hugged me.

“We really were the best.”

“...You guys were all so cool.” 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.

‘...But it’s nice.’ Not caring about how we came out on the cameras, I didn’t 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.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Yeon-Hoon! Yeon-Hoon!”

“Tae-Yoon!”

“Lee Woon!”

“Kang Do-Seung!”

“Dong-Jun!”

Siren fans still appeared enchanted by the performance and continued to chant the members’ names. Like them, Only One had also shown a splendid performance, and fans cheered for them long after the performance too.

‘But something feels different.’ Now that Siren’s performance was over, Park Soo-Chul felt a different energy from the concert hall than he had felt after Only One’s 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 didn’t know who would win in the end.

“Producer, I think we are about close to the final results now, do you want to know what it is?” One of the writers asked him.

Park Soo-Chul shook his head. “It’s okay. I will also hear it when it’s announced.”

“...Oh, really?”

“Why?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Park Soo-Chul stared at the stage again. Siren members were still hugging each other.

‘Though it’s not like the other team members have a bad relationship, Siren is a bit special,’ he thought. The Siren members’ feelings for each other felt especially more touching and soulful, and it felt like the members wouldn’t be able to live without each other. Park Soo-Chul thought this was a good scene to shoot and directed the cameras.

“Okay, let’s break up these guys now and start the ending lines.”

“I understand.” Then, the staff moved, and it appeared one of the Siren members noticed the staff’s signal, and the members naturally parted from each other.

“...Huh?”

“...Pft.”

“Hahaha!”

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.

“I should later use that as a thumbnail,” he said and then continued, “Okay, let’s start the ending lines.”

***

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 didn’t realize it because we had been too focused on crying and hugging each other, but the performance wasn’t over yet.

‘We have to give our ending lines.’

But our crying must have been funny as I saw the two hosts try their best to repress their laughter. “Um...let’s begin after you all wipe your tears.”

“...Thank you...” Yeon-Hoon walked to accept the tissue while sniffing back his tears.

“Pft! Ah, Mr. Yeon-Hoon...”

“Ah...hmph.”

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.

“...Why is everyone laughing...?” Yeon-Hoon asked. He was the only one who didn’t know why this situation was laughable.

“Okay, then, can we ask each of you how you feel after your performance?” 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 hadn’t calmed himself down yet, Woon did the job for him.

“So 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.” After Woon said his heartfelt lines, the mike was handed over to Do-Seung.

“This is a song we made for our fans. I hope you enjoyed the performance with us, and the song’s message was properly conveyed to you all. Thank you.”

Dong-Jun spoke next. “I was always happy while performing on The Showcase’s stage. I loved meeting our fans like this and I will work harder to see them all in a better place and more frequently.” I was a bit surprised by how serious and mature Dong-Jun sounded.

Finally, the turn went back to Yeon-Hoon. “...Thank you all so, so much...I am so grateful to our fans and I love you all. And to my group members...ahh...” Yeon-Hoon began tearing up again while saying his ending line. Still, he didn’t place his mike down and opened his mouth again after holding back his tears.

“I want to also thank them... It must have been hard for them to follow a leader lacking in so many ways,” 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 didn’t 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, “Thank 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.” It was a promise that we wouldn’t abandon those who had shown us unconditional support and faith.

“I hope that you will continue to watch over Siren,” I said and put down the mike.

“Thank you for your heartfelt lines, everyone. Then...” The host, Mr. Kim Young-Jin progressed the show accordingly, and I didn’t pay attention to his commentaries but looked back at my group members. This was something we couldn’t 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, “We will now ask all five groups who had lit up The Showcase 2 until now to come up the stage.”

At this time, there was only one reason why we were asked to come up to the stage like this.

‘They are going to announce the winners.’ 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.

“Haaa.” I breathed in and out.

‘If we fail the mission, I should remain calm and act according to plan,’ 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 wasn’t 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.

“Haaa.”

“Ahh.”

“It’s killing me...”

We had gone all out the past couple of months to hear the results right now. We couldn’t 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 wasn’t aware of what even the audience knew.

He spoke in a more serious voice than before. “...Right now, I am holding a piece of paper with The Showcase 2’s final winner written on it.” Kim Young-Jin held his breath and scanned his surroundings. “The name I call will become the final winner of this show, and the name I don’t call will stay in second place.”

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.

“Two groups are remaining now—the two that had been battling for the first and second spots throughout the whole show.”

Not just us but the fans also appeared nervous. The concert hall was only filled with tense silence except for the host’s voice. “The winner to become the glorious main characters of Showcase 2 First Chance is...!” Kim Young-Jin said and paused.

Sigh.

“Ah, Ahh.”

“Please.”

My group members and I felt our breaths stop at Kim Young-Jin’s 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.

“Siren! Congratulations to you all!” It was then our name came out of Kim Young-Jin’s mouth.

Pop! Flower petals exploded into the sky again.

“Ah, Ahh! Ahhh!”

“Ahhhh!”

“Everyone!”

“You guys!”

“Ahhhhh!”

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-Seung’s 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.

“Uhhh!”

“Tae-Yoon!”