Chapter 211: Cute But Not Sorry (3)
Kang Hajin’s Music Show MC Adaptation (or rather, Trial by Fire) Was Far from Over
“Jini! Did you know that we have other fairytale friends who came on a picnic to A Countdown today?”
“Yes, that’s right. Calls me again—, the song that captures the sweet and thrilling start of love, ‘Call Me’ by INEZ, and the song about shining stars, ‘Shooting Star Challenge’ by Stormheader, who have caused a whirlwind, will be joining today’s picnic! So, everyone, stay tuned and focus!”
After singing a medley of the guest performances,
“Huh? Where did Hyuni go? Destis, MC Hyuni is nowhere to be seen!”
“If you give me a rice cake, I won’t eat you!”
“Oh, gosh! It’s a wolf! A wolf has appeared…! But wait, isn’t this the tiger’s line from *Sun and Moon*?”
With the red hood and ribbon nowhere to be seen, I appeared wearing a wolf headband and a black jacket, shouting lines from another genre, completely shattering the narrative.
“Come on. Don’t be scared, Hyuni.”
“No, Jini? What’s going on! Jini was the boy in the red hood?”
“Nine werewolves who embark on a dangerous adventure under the blue moon! This performance was prepared to introduce Saint’s ‘Blue Moon Boys’ stage~”
“Ah~ I was really shocked! Hyuni is really scared of wolves! How about you, Jini?”
“……”
“…Hurry…. Say your line quickly. I’m embarrassed too.”
“…Jini, too… Sniff…”
“Oh, come on!”
“Sniff, Jini is also scared of wolves!”
Despite flashing a menacing gleam in his eyes with the wolf headband on, he covered his face with his delicate, slender hands and let out a cutesy, babyish voice.
“……”
As the scene transitioned to the stage and the red light of the camera turned off, Hajin collapsed into the MC waiting chair with a face full of exhaustion.
His soul had already been half-drained, but with Destis in the audience there for the live broadcast, he couldn’t afford to show it.
“Hyung, here’s some water.”
“Oh, thanks.”
As Taehyun wiped his sweat with a tissue handed to him by a makeup staff member, he took the water from the manager and passed it to Hajin. With two more teams set to perform in succession and a VCR playing in between, there was a brief moment to rest.
“Are our kids up next?”
“Yeah, they’re coming from the waiting room now. We’ll do the interview, they’ll change outfits during the other team’s stage, and after our performance, we’ll change back into the MC outfits…”
“Ugh, stop talking. I’m already getting anxious.”
“I’m thinking of just putting the stage pants over these ones.”
As they exchanged weary smiles, thinking about the breathless cue sheet, Taehyun flopped down beside Hajin.
“Still, I’m glad I’m doing this with you, hyung. I’d be pretty nervous if I were alone.”
“What are you going to do from next week when I’m not here? Who was it again? Seul-ah? Seul-ah-nim?”
“Yeah. Senior Seul-ah from G.Nation and Senior Nam Gun-ho.”
Nam Gun-ho… Wasn’t he that former child actor?
Hajin’s eyes sparkled as he recalled celebrities from those distant times. Then, he placed both hands together under his chin like a flower and shamelessly asked,
“So, how is it? Isn’t it exciting, fun, and reassuring to have a super cool, handsome, smart, and even cute hyung like me by your side?”
“…Every time you say things like that, I feel like I want to tell you that even the correct things are wrong.”
“Why would you say something correct is wrong? Are you a contrarian?”
“Ribbit…”
Taehyun turned his head with a bitter smile, preferring to be a frog rather than responding to Hajin’s cutesy antics. Still, it was true that having Hajin around made the burden of the first broadcast a bit easier to handle. Taehyun, who didn’t want that sincere feeling to be lost in their playful banter, checked the timer and the prompter.
“What I said about being glad to do this with you is true.”
In response to Taehyun’s genuine words, Hajin laughed softly as if it were obvious.
“I know.”
Then, after giving Taehyun a light, painless tap on the shoulder, Hajin grabbed the microphone and stood up again. He could see the other members in their stage outfits coming down the hallway towards him.
“……”
Suddenly, Taehyun realized how happy he was.
The shining lights, the numerous cameras, the pretty clothes and hairstyles, and being busy singing and talking in front of people who loved him.
This moment and scene, which he was experiencing for the first time, gave Taehyun an indescribable sense of immense accomplishment.
‘This is really a first…’
As he thought that, Taehyun tilted his head, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.
‘Of course, it’s the first time since this is my debut. What am I talking about…’
But for some reason, Taehyun felt an overwhelming surge of emotion as if he had longed for all of these moments, trembling quietly.
It was an odd feeling.
As if, with just one wrong breath, tears might burst out from this sudden wave of emotion, Taehyun opened his eyes wide in surprise.
“Seo Taehyun, come on. We need to practice the questions.”
“Oh, right. Coming.”
Snapped back to reality by Hajin’s call, Taehyun quickly got up and approached the other members.
It was a live broadcast, and even a momentary lapse in focus could lead to an accident, so he couldn’t afford to let his guard down.
“I voted for you.”
“……”
“You were really good. I was so jealous, watching you.”
‘Is it because I’m reminded of that time?’
Even as he thought that, Taehyun still felt an inexplicable heaviness in his heart as he recalled the past.
At the moment when he had given up on everything and turned back, it was Hajin’s words that had led him back to this place like fate.
“Hyuni! Come quickly! Jini’s waiting for you!”
“…Ribbit.”
“Excuse me?”
At that moment, Taehyun felt grateful that he had followed his hyung onto that train.
As he joyfully stepped towards the members, Taehyun thought.
* * *
Kairos, who had been spoiling the event since the pre-recording, didn’t hold back their rookie spirit during the interview either.
“Eunchan, what’s the key point of your title track, ‘Over The Night’?”
“Yes. The key knock of our debut track, ‘Over The Night’, is the dance in the chorus.”
“……?”
First of all, Joo Eunchan blurted out nonsense with a completely calm face. Hajin, who was staring at Eunchan in disbelief, along with the members trying hard not to laugh, were the highlights. Meanwhile, Eunchan stood there stiffly, completely oblivious to what he had done wrong, with a blank, clueless expression on his face.
The key dance move of Kairos’ ‘Knock Dance’ was nearly turned into a key knock in the chorus. Fortunately, Taehyun smoothly tossed the choreography introduction to Yugeon, and they managed to introduce it to the viewers without any issues.
There were also other incidents, like Haru, who was wide-eyed as he blinked for three seconds because he suddenly forgot the song introduction he had memorized just three seconds before, and Yugeon, who, while sneaking glances at the fans in the audience, got startled by a question directed at him and made a mistake.
Every scene broadcast live without any time for editing became a hot topic, with people talking about the chaotic adaptation of a newly debuted boy group to the music show stage.
[Ah, the kids seem nervous lololololololol]
This day is full of episodes right from the pre-recording lololololol
– Lolololol is this a music show or OK (Today’s Kairos)?
– The kids are still kids 큐ㅠㅠㅠㅠ700
– The key point is that all the members who messed up are from the younger line lolololololol
└ That’s why Taehyun, the eldest of the younger members, has to stay sharp
└ There’s a reason Taehyun is the leader of the younger group
└ But didn’t the second, Doha, also spoil the mini-fan meeting during the pre-recording?
└ Ah, damn it, Taehyun, please take care of Kairos
[Current situation of Kairos’ eldest hyung, who is trending on A Countdown]
(Capture of Jung Siwoo smiling as he watches the younger members causing a mess behind him)
Enjoying the content live with wide eyes
– Wow, there’s no sign of any desire to fix the mess
– He looks so satisfied with his job, our Shushu lololololol
– As expected of the Phoenix Team Leader lololololol
– Kang Hajin is also letting loose and having fun, so Taehyun’s job is the hardest lololololololol
Kairos, who managed to create dozens of clips from just one interview.
But the highlight of the day was the live performance of their title track, ‘Over The Night
’.
– Gasp, it’s happening
– The kids are coming out ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– Congratulations on your debut, kidsㅠㅠㅠㅠ
The stage, which had been pre-recorded, was aired first.
The members, dressed in the ‘uniform’ that every rookie idol goes through, delivered a stage performance that was far from what you would expect from newbies, showing a huge contrast with the chaotic interview earlier.
– This is it
– The kids’ hair, makeup, and costumes today are legendaryㅠㅠㅠ
– The fact that the song was written by a member lol
– The thrill of a talented idol group… It’s electrifying
– Omg, why is the fanchant so loud? The fans’ unity is amazing
With fierce live vocals and a precisely detailed choreography (obsessed over by Kang Hajin’s sense of aesthetics),
the enthusiastic chants from Destis, who had received a surprise gift of snacks and a mini fan meeting.
Everything came together to create a debut stage that could easily go down in history as legendary.
And as they stood on the stage to perform their title track, the Kairos members were listening to that perfect pre-recorded stage through their in-ears.
The Destis who had participated in the live broadcast were shaking their temporary cheer sticks (handed out by the company since there wasn’t an official one yet), chanting the cheer for ‘Over The Night’ aloud.
Even though it wasn’t necessary since the stage was pre-recorded, they had their eyes wide open, afraid that their newly debuted babies might be too nervous and make a mistake during the live broadcast.
“…Let’s do well, everyone.”
The Kairos members began to feel somewhat excited.
Especially Kang Hajin, who easily got caught up in the mood.
In fact, Hajin, who had already been hyped up from hosting the MC, didn’t miss the counting sound in his in-ear and opened his eyes wide in sync with it.
He opened his eyes.
A loud cheer could be heard.
Despite the smaller number of people compared to the pre-recording, the Destis were screaming at the top of their lungs, chanting the cheer that had been uploaded the day before.
“Jung Siwoo! Lee Doha! Kang Hajin! Seo Taehyun! Lee Yugeon! Joo Eunchan! Dan Haru! We’re running to Kairos!”
The members’ movements became noticeably lighter compared to when they were practicing, spurred on by the loud cheer from the fans. Hajin even took out one of his in-ears to enjoy the cheer from the fans.
Watching from the audience, that ‘cat person,’ Windy thought.
‘A Doberman excited about going hunting…’
Sorry, Hajin.
But looking at your face and aura, I just can’t turn you into a cute retriever or Pomeranian.
As Windy was quietly cursing her overly objective fangirl filter, that excited hunting dog, or whatever he was, finally made a mistake.
It doesn’t matter what gets in the way,
It doesn’t matter—!
“……?”
In the already chaotic third verse, filled with ad-libs and harmonies from the members,
Hajin, who already had a difficult part, suddenly decided to end his line by raising the note much higher than it was supposed to be!
And judging by his reaction, he seemed to realize his mistake right after singing it, as he nervously glanced over at Siwoo, who was up next.
And rightly so. If the note is raised like this, it could clash with Siwoo’s part, making it sound like Siwoo was off-key, or it might make Hajin’s part seem overly emotional and stand out too much.
We’ll eventually
Make it through this night
“……Wow, damn.”
But Siwoo, who gave Hajin a subtle glance, adjusted his part to match Hajin’s without a hitch.
Starting a bit higher than the original note, he lightly scratched his throat to add some emotion, then stretched out his hand towards the camera. Before anyone realized, the melody naturally returned to the original note.
– ? Was that live just now?
There was no doubt that it was an impeccable live performance.
And as Windy, who had witnessed this live, chanted along with the cheer, she thought to herself.
‘A concert… We need a concert…!’
From today, she decided to live her life praying for a Kairos solo concert.