Seon Hobeom and I couldn’t wear suit jackets like the other members because they were cumbersome for the handcuff choreography, so we were only wearing white dress shirts. Seon Hobeom kept talking about jackets as if envying their perfectly suited outfits, and Onseol kept bursting into laughter as if Seon Hobeom was funny.
“The intro video is ending.”
Right on cue, a staff member sent a signal that it would start soon, saying our intro video was ending.
After checking one last time whether my in-ear was properly fitted, I briefly shifted my gaze to the side of the stage. At that moment, my eyes met with Ma Doun and Park Eden who were waiting on both sides of the stage. They silently mouthed ‘fighting’ to me, then returned to their expressionless faces.
[♬♩♪~]
Our title song, <Routine>’s interlude began.
The slowly heard string instrument performance gradually sped up and grew louder. At the same time, as the lighting began to get more glamorous and bright, the bass and electric sound rang out together.
And we all raised our heads.
‘I’m nervous.’
Why am I trembling so much.
Every time the thumping sound rang out, my heart also accompanied a strange trembling and my stomach churned.
[A day’s―]
When Onseol announced the start of the song with stable vocals, the backup dancers standing beside moved busily.
A day’s routine, and a magic routine. They’re clearly the same word “routine,” but it’s a sweet confession song about turning a day’s routine that goes around like a hamster wheel into a glamorous magic routine, comparing the two that are strangely different.
“Waaah!!”
When Onseol sang while igniting fire in his hand, cheers rang out from the audience.
‘His pitch is really stable.’
Befitting the group’s main vocal, Onseol showed off truly non-rookie-like stable vocals, not wavering in pitch even while his hands were busy igniting fire. As soon as his part ended, he stood between the hands I was holding with Seon Hobeom, tightly gripped a flower and opened it. Then between his fingers, a card was suddenly inserted, and Onseol’s face showing off the card with a nonchalant expression was a born entertainer.
[―――!]
Next, Doun and Eden who had been quietly doing choreography on the side of the stage crossed the stage line to both sides and joined the very front of the formation simultaneously with the song’s strong bass ringing. The choreography that started with two spread around like spreading fire.
[♬~]
Then the five began doing the same choreography. Seon Hobeom and I still had our backs turned and danced the choreography symmetrically like a decalcomania, and the camera swept past us like that.
[Like a mirage,]
‘His voice is trembling a bit.’
It was Ma Doun’s solo part. He walked out slowly alone to the front of the stage and started rapping. Is it because it’s the first stage? He seemed quite nervous—it doesn’t show much, but among members, we would have noticed Ma Doun’s trembling voice.
“Kup.”
As expected, smiles lingered on the faces of Onseol and Park Eden who were changing stage lines in front of us. Seeing each other’s smiling faces, we almost burst into laughter so we got in trouble hurriedly managing our expressions.
Just as Ma Doun’s slightly anxious rap was ending, Park Eden started sharp rapping from the side and interjected between the songs.
[Complicated and confusing,]
Park Eden’s fast rap that stirred excitement heated up the stage and made the flow of the song flow quickly too. Seon Hobeom and I met each other’s eyes simultaneously as Park Eden’s rap stopped.
Finally it’s our turn.
Tak―
The backup dancers simultaneously moved to both sides like Moses parting the Red Sea, and we turned around to finally look straight ahead for the first time.
My expression almost reflexively frowned at the suddenly bright lighting blinding my eyes, so I quickly relaxed it, then stuck close behind like Seon Hobeom’s shadow and danced.
[Without knowing, seeping in,]
Unlike being extremely nervous, Seon Hobeom pulled off even gestures with very relaxed movements. During practice, he danced the worst among us and even when riding the groove, it felt a bit awkward, so he got scolded a lot by the dance teacher.
‘An amazing hard worker.’
That’s why Seon Hobeom practiced twice as much as others. Every time he grumbled with his mouth about how we could only practice choreography all day, but the one who always woke up first at dawn and went to work at the practice room was always Seon Hobeom.
[―If you notice, it’s too late.]
But now wasn’t the time to proudly watch Seon Hobeom singing perfectly. Because my part was approaching. Since I start by hitting a high note from the very beginning, if I catch the first pitch unstably, the next part completely fails.
‘Just thinking about it is terrible.’
Cruelly, my part was already right in front of me. Counting one, two, three in my mind like that, I quickly took my place in the center of the stage as Seon Hobeom retreated behind me, squeezed my eyes shut and hit the first note.
[―!]
Fortunately, thanks to the stable high note, I could release my tension. Even in the following lyrics, everything seemed to happen like practice, even the ending note that finished in falsetto, so I was satisfied.
‘I did it.’
My eyes met with the members who looked at me as if saying I did well for not making mistakes.
[……Repeating again-]
While finishing singing the lyrics, as Seon Hobeom and I stood side by side, all the members on stage cleared the path, and we headed to the front of the stage while doing choreography at a fast pace.
[This day,]
Until now, we had no presence in the back dancing like backup dancers doing small movements with the members’ stage lines, but right now was when our presence became greatest.
Seon Hobeom and I couldn’t escape from each other, so we continued to show off precarious choreography, and because of the violent movements that seemed like we’d get hurt and the handcuffs, it was hard to do live while dancing. Because we had to be careful not to let the handcuffs get tangled, move so our steps don’t cross, and it was choreography we danced breathing together like one body with Seon Hobeom.
‘Breathless.’
I thought I should increase my lung capacity more. I tried hard to increase it, but the pitch was still slightly unstable while dancing. As if Seon Hobeom also found it difficult to do live while performing the choreography, it was slightly precarious but he soon showed a concentrating appearance, and our part ended safely without major mistakes.
Without even time to cool down our hot bodies, we joined the following stage line and moved. In the meantime, Doun spat out a low rap and stood slightly covering the handcuffs.
[From J to K for me,]
Next, we quickly unlocked the handcuffs using the needle-thin key we were holding in our hands so no one would notice.
[From J to Q for you-]
Tak―
Simultaneously as Doun’s rap ended, we dropped the handcuffs we were holding on the stage as if we had promised, made comical expressions and moved our stage line to the very back.
‘I need to move now.’
Originally, I should dance here matching the stage line with the members, but the stage line changed because I handed the key I was holding to the backup dancers. I separated from Seon Hobeom, seeped between the backup dancers waiting in a line on both sides of the stage, gave the key to the dancer standing in front, then hurriedly bent my body and ran between them.
“……Ugh!”
But the moment I passed between the dancers, pain surged through my shoulder blade. And simultaneously, the faces of the backup dancers standing beside me spread with shock.
‘What is this?’
A suppressed groan almost reflexively came out, but thinking I had a mic, I bit my tongue to block the groan. I bit my tongue too hard so the taste of blood lingered in my mouth, but the problem was separate. When I craned my head back to look near the shoulder blade, the dress shirt was slightly torn, and blood was starting to come out around there.
At that moment, my eyes met with the dancer holding a box standing diagonally from me and I realized.
Ah. Because I tried to join the stage line quickly, I got scraped by the sharp edge of the box the dancer was holding.
Seemingly scraped quite deeply, the pain was considerable. It stung every time below the shoulder blade moved, so I frowned, and the dancer who had been holding the box turned pale and gestured for me to withdraw to the back of the stage.
‘The injury is bigger than I thought. Should I stay with the dancers on the side of the stage and just come in for the ending? But……’
The card choreography absolutely needs five people. It was choreography we practiced for several months so the five of us’ stage lines meshed perfectly, so if I’m missing, there’s a high possibility everyone will panic and ruin the live broadcast.
‘What should I do.’
The low bass thumped and resonated on the stage. From afar, Seon Hobeom who didn’t know the situation sent me a look asking why I wasn’t coming quickly, and meeting his eyes, I.
[♬~]
Squeezed my eyes shut and escaped from between the backup dancers. I felt the dancers behind calling me and trying to hold me back, but like someone who couldn’t hear anything, I put strength in my hand holding the card and only looked ahead.
* * *
Between the thumping beats, the Abyss members continued the song while dazzlingly passing cards back and forth on stage. Even within the fast dance movements, the cards went into the members’ hands so naturally as if magnets were attached to their hands, and even within that difficult choreography, the live performance was stable.
The audience’s reaction was also good at their skillful appearance, unimaginable how much effort they poured in to do this.
Just as the Abyss members’ expressions were gradually brightening from successfully completing high-difficulty movements, Onseol who had been concentrating discovered something and threw the card slightly off with a surprised face. Seon Hobeom who barely caught Onseol’s card frowned and glared at Onseol at the breathtaking moment when a choreography mistake almost happened, then soon moved his gaze together following where Onseol’s gaze was fixed.
‘Jerim’s back, why is it like that!’
Seon Hobeom was also shocked seeing Ka Jerim’s back, and simultaneously the audience also murmured as if discovering something.
“Why is the purple-haired one’s back like that?”
“Oh no. He seems hurt.”
The upper left back of Ka Jerim’s white dress shirt was torn, but it wasn’t particularly a problem since the clothes weren’t torn largely. The problem was that the area around the left shoulder blade on the back of the white dress shirt was turning red.
