Second Try Idol

Chapter 105: Blue Room Party (2)

Jin-Sung, who had been hitting the books in the quiet living room, seemed eager to jump into the noisy fun of this room.

“Are you done with your studying?"

“Ah, hyung! I just finished! Joo-Han hyung said that I could take a thirty-minute break."

Jin-Sung casually flopped onto the chair's armrest. “What's this, a water balloon game? No wonder it's so loud."

— LMAO Chronos, guaranteed A's

— Jin-Sung, are you on informal terms with your hyungs now? Weren't you polite before?

— Yeah. When did you guys decide to talk casually to each other?

— Hey Jin-Sung!!!

— Jin-Sung, did you ace your test? I bombed mine :’(

“Ah, let's not dive into test talk, Rings. We've all agreed to go informal, yeah?"

“Yes, it was Joo-Han hyung's idea."

The Rings found this new casual banter a bit unfamiliar as the last episode of Chronos History had not been broadcast yet.

Goh Yoo-Joon stretched his arms and said, “But Yoon-Chan still can't drop the formalities."

“Exactly. Even when the other hyungs encouraged him, Yoon-Chan hyung couldn't break the habit. It’s just like him, right?"

“But Jin-Sung, you are still talking formally with Joo-Han hyung, huh?"

Right then, the door swung open again, and Joo-Han stepped in. “I was wondering where Jin-Sung scampered off to. You guys talking about me?"

“Ah, hyuuung...... you are not here to drag me back already, are you? It's not been thirty minutes yet."

The chat room was abuzz with the members' successive appearances. Being on casual chats in laid-back attire was not something people would usually see from a rookie idol group.

“Why are you here, Joo-Han hyung?"

“Thought I'd bring some drinks for your broadcast. Then I overheard you guys mentioning me."

“Ah, yeah. About Jin-Sung not going informal with you."

“Ah." Joo-Han let out a chuckle and gave Jin-Sung's back a couple of friendly pats. “True, he won't drop the formalities even if I tell him to. But then, we have someone here who switched to informal in a heartbeat when asked."

Joo-Han grinned slyly and rested his hand on Goh Yoo-Joon's shoulder. Suddenly, a memory from the trip made me burst into laughter. “Hahaha, the moment Joo-Han hyung said 'go informal,' Goh Yoo-Joon was like 'Joo-han-ah!'"

- HAHAHAHAHA! Joo-han-ah...

- Lol, just seize the moment hahaha!

- Ah, Yoo-Joon-ah XD

Goh Yoo-Joon laughed, reminiscing about that instant, while Joo-Han shot him a look of mock disdain. “That moment will probably come out in Chronos History, so make sure to watch it."

“Whoa, you are amazing, hyung. I didn’t think you would promote the show even during the Q-app session."

“Hehe." Joo-Han just chuckled lightly and stood up from his relaxed perch.

“So, should I bring in some drinks?"

“No, we are fine." I glanced at the live stream timer on the screen and realized that we had barely ten minutes left.

“Looks like we are almost done here."

“Ah, really? Got it. Jin-Sung, stop bugging them and come out with me. You are a nice boy, right?"

“Ah, hyung! I'm not done resting!"

“Shush! Take a leaf out of Yoon-Chan's book! He is still studying in his room!" Joo-Han hoisted Jin-Sung to his feet.

Making a pouty face, Jin-Sung looked at the camera. “Ahh! How would anyone know if Yoon-Chan hyung's studying or snoozing!?"

“Doesn't matter if Yoon-Chan's studying or sleeping, he's always top of the class. Stop bothering them and come on. Let the guys wrap up."

We waved Jin-Sung goodbye as he was ushered out and then turned our attention back to the screen. I was worried the Rings might not appreciate our random chit-chat, but it turned out that they were actually enjoying it. It seemed they liked the genuine, unscripted vibe.

— It's like I've sneaked a peek into Chronos's real talks, and I'm loving the vibe.

— Jin-Sung, the ultimate baby of the group haha!

— And there's Yoon-Chan, even acing his studies, wow...

— Oppas, could you send us some good luck for our exams?

— Ahh... Looks like I'll be hitting the books after this live show.

“Man, I wanted to play with you all a bit more, but look at the time. We are done for today."

“Apologies for not dropping by more often, everyone. We'll make time, I promise."

And just like that, it was time to wrap up the live.

— Noooo. Please, don't go :’(

— Then how about we keep gaming post-live? We'll slyly figure out the password ourselves!

— Ah, take care... You guys need the rest.....

— Make sure to visit more often!

We exchanged heartfelt goodbyes and a bit more banter with the Rings, feeling their disappointment as the live came to an end. Though it started off as a spoiler session, the Q-app became an enjoyable mix of gaming and bonding, bringing us closer to our Rings.

Stepping out of Joo-Han's room, we found ourselves next to Jin-Sung, who was back to studying amidst tears.

“So when are you all going live? Tomorrow?"

Instead of Jin-Sung, Joo-Han responded, “Nope, can't do it tomorrow. We have the final stage for Music World tomorrow, so the day after?"

“Ah, already the final curtain."

‘Time sure does fly.’ It felt like it was just yesterday when we kicked off with our debut showcase and the “Parade,” and now we were already winding down. However, at least, we are bowing out on a high, having snagged all that attention and topped the charts.

“Anyway, look at the time, it's already 10 PM. Better catch some sleep when you can. We gotta be in top form for the final run starting tomorrow."

Joo-Han nudged us, and we went off to bed earlier than usual. Typically, with rehearsals stretching into the wee hours, sleep was a rare guest. However, my eyes shut surprisingly fast tonight.

***

“Something about today feels...off."

We were backstage at Music World. Thanks to a solid sleep, I was feeling pretty good, although the harness or whatever it was that wrapped tightly around my upper body to my thighs was a bit annoying. Anyway, I was in a more peaceful state than usual, which was often marred by lack of sleep.

On the other hand, Jin-Sung was constantly trying out the choreography and frowning. At first, I thought it was just his usual habit of enjoying dancing, but Jin-Sung’s behavior started to irritate me. So I asked, “Why are you doing that, Jin-Sung? What is bothering you that you keep repeating the same part?”

“Uh... Ah, seriously!" Jin-Sung finally lost his temper and sat down beside me. “I feel so heavy today. Is it because of studying? I did stretch properly earlier."

“Are you not feeling well?"

Jin-Sung shook his head. “Not at all. Hmm, maybe I gained weight."

The part Jin-Sung was repeating was a rolling foot choreography, which often caused mistakes during practice. Although he occasionally stumbled or fell during practice, he always clenched his teeth and performed perfectly during the live shows. But today, he seemed to be struggling more with that part.

“I shouldn't have taken a day off." Jin-Sung gritted his teeth in frustration.

Recently, we took a single day off at the dorm to rest and adjust our condition amidst the severe practice schedule for the live performance of Chronos History. Jin-Sung usually headed to the practice room even on his days off, but yesterday, he had to stay in the dorm all day because of an exam. It seemed like just one day off was enough to disrupt his rolling foot movement.

Unlike me, who was quite relaxed and flexible with my dance movements, Jin-Sung put a lot of strength into every move. That was the characteristic of Jin-Sung's dance, but putting so much force into each movement meant that he often slowed down or fell during the parts where he needed to move his legs quickly.

“But you'll be fine once you're on stage, right? You always do better there," I said.

“But you know those days, hyung. The ones when everything just doesn't go well. Today seems to be one of those days. It's really bad."

As I was considering whether to take a look at his moves, a staff member entered and informed us that the stage was about to start. In the end, Jin-Sung didn't manage to perfect the rolling foot choreography before going on stage.

And the stage started. Perhaps it was due to the anticipation of the leather straps that fans had eagerly awaited, or perhaps it was because it was the final stage. However, the cheers from the fans seemed louder than usual.

Encouraged by the strong support, I performed the live show in top condition. After that, the dance break started. I was worried about Jin-Sung, who was particularly anxious today, but I trusted that he would not make a mistake on stage as always. Then, I continued with my part of the choreography.

Then suddenly...

“Ah!"

“What? Oh!"

My surprised voice echoed through the microphone. There was a reason for Jin-Sung's anxiety. He indeed failed to execute the rolling foot choreography and fell.

I hesitated for a moment while looking at Jin-Sung but soon continued with my choreography. It wasn't the first time Jin-Sung had fallen in that part, but it was the first time on stage. Usually, he would quickly get up and join the formation.

However, I was wrong. Jin-Sung couldn't get up until I received the cane from the dancer. I tried to help him up in a panic, but Jin-Sung was in pain and couldn't get up at all.

‘What should I do?’ This was the first time I faced such a situation, and my mind seemed to stop for a moment. It seemed like Jin-Sung had fallen quite badly. However, this was a live broadcast, and the live performance was still ongoing.

As I looked back at the stage while singing, the staff came up and took Jin-Sung down. Despite the sudden accident, the song continued to play, and the stage had to go on. Exchanging glances, we improvised as best we could, with the member who had sung the previous part taking over Jin-Sung's part. Because of it, we had to leave a space empty in the choreography.

...And like that, our last stage ended with a lot of regrets. It was definitely not a satisfying last stage.

“We are so sorry! Thank you." We apologized to the surprised and murmuring fans and hurriedly headed backstage.

“Is Jin-Sung okay?"

It wasn't the time to worry about ruining the live broadcast. He had fallen so badly that he couldn't even get up. The quality of our stage didn’t matter at this point.

“Where's Jin-Sung, In-Hyun hyung? Is he in the waiting room?"

“Yeah, we moved him to the waiting room. He seemed to be in a lot of pain."

“We should go to the hospital, not just move him to the waiting room," Joo-Han shouted, frowning.

As we rushed to the waiting room and opened the door, Jin-Sung was spraying pain relief spray on his ankle and shedding tears.

“Hey, you! Are you okay?" We rushed to Jin-Sung and comforted him.

Jin-Sung sobbed silently, shaking his head. His ankle was visibly swollen. “It's been hard... heup... today... sob... Ah, the choreography didn't go well, sob."

As I had thought, he failed to perform a perfect dance and was in excruciating pain.

The manager looked at Jin-Sung worriedly and said, “I'll take Jin-Sung to the hospital. You guys are candidates for first place, so finish up until the end. The fans must be shocked too, so reassure them that it's okay."

“Okay...."

Jin-Sung was carried to the hospital on the manager's back.

It was our last stage, which should have ended in joy. After Jin-Sung left, the waiting room was filled with a gloomy silence.