"Good luck to us!" Seong-hun put his hands together in a prayer pose in the dark room.
Jun grinned and tried to instill confidence in his teammates. "Don't worry much. We got this, everyone!"
Since there were no staff or assistants to cheer them up backstage, the contestants had to help each other with the in-ears, music, etc. There was also no one else but them to wish each other good luck. In front of them, though, they could hear the sounds from the staff busying themselves with setting up the stage, backdrops, and the music.
"This will be our very first stage with a live audience," mumbled Daeho.
Juwon awkwardly laughed. "Now that I think about it, feeling conscious of everything when you're here is normal. I understand now why Hanada's teammates made mistakes."
Jun felt quite surprised to see Juwon acting nervous.
Ah, right. The person with him now was not the ETM idol he knew but a trainee who had yet to debut. How about Hyeon-ju?
He turned his head to his left. There, Hyeon-ju looked paler than usual. Not only he but the others wore anxious looks, too. These young men's expressions seemingly asked, 'Can I do this?' Later, when a minute passed without hearing the go-signal for them to come out, Hyeon-ju even voiced it out. "Can I do this? What if I messed up?"
"Hyeon-ju, the enemy of doubt is faith." Jun tapped him on the shoulder. He chuckled and said, "But, guys, if you really don't have enough faith in yourself, just look around later once we're up there. You will find people who bravely go outside the comfort and safety of their homes to see you."
All his teammates looked stunned for a second.
When they stepped onto the stage after the long-awaited instruction, they lined up, but none of them could immediately speak.
Jun was right. Among the hundreds of people gathered here were fans who brought placards with their faces and names on them. They were cheering for them with the most sincerity they had ever experienced. Hyeon-ju heard somebody scream his name, and when he looked over, he found a young lady wearing a black mask gesturing a heart shape with her hands.
Hyeon-ju was so moved that he nearly teared up on the spot. Juwon appeared speechless as well. The other two seemed more tense than ever.
"They look too excited... Is it really to see us?" Xavi's lips faintly trembled.
"Yes, they're here for us," answered Jun. He, too, felt so overwhelmed with emotions. He began to smile and wave his hands around.
Then, he softly told the other boys, "So now you know. This is not a performance we can afford to mess up, everyone. It's not even about beating the opposing team anymore; these people believe we will show them a fantastic stage. We can't fail them."
...
The world was slowly returning to normal. However, many people were still scared to go outside. This was why the transformed ground floor of the Greenhouse, which could accommodate 500 people, only had around 300 attendees.
Jo Ha-rin, a young woman who braved the long trip and all the cumbersome procedures to get here, could not care less, though.
"Park Young-soon, you will definitely regret it. I told you the invitation was legit."
The woman gritted her teeth, remembering her friend who refused to accompany her today despite her day off. This friend liked Juwon, but the long screening processes instantly intimidated her. Last night, the woman kept telling her that the ticket was fake, reasoning that there was no way the cheapskate KNET would sponsor a bus service for them. She lacked sleep because Young-soon did not stop phoning her along the way.
Ha-rin vowed not to share any footage she would take today with her friend. She shrieked when the emcee announced that her fave's team was finally going on stage.
"Jun! Park Seo-Jun! Eternal number 1!"
Ha-rin looked surprised since she thought the words came out of her mouth.
Even without the person in question coming out, the people surrounding her were already screaming like crazy. So far, the only other contestant with this reception was Sujin, a Nova trainee with some pre-BOI fame.
Before the show's pilot episode, all analysis pointed to Sujin taking the number 1 spot. Yet Jun shocked everyone with his memorable leadership and ace-like qualities, which were not inferior to Sujin.
Actually, Ha-rin was a fansite master, meaning she was on the frontline of the comparison war between those two contestants. She had even discussed it with the people next to her, who happened to be Jun's fans, too.
"Sujin is no. 1 for vocals, and Jun is second. Jun is the second-best dancer, while Sujin is third. Rap, pass. We don't have any clips of Sujin rapping yet. Leadership? Jun is the undisputed first, while Sujin is not even second. The mature guy from the Barren Land is really great at leading his members. He's definitely next to Jun in terms of leadership skills."
"So 2 + 2 + 1 equals 5 divided by 3. Ummm, I don't know the answer, but I'm sure it's closer to 1 than Sujin's average! In other words, Jun is the better ace!"
The girl beside her looked like a student who hated math since her face crumpled when Ha-rin mentioned numbers. However, she wholeheartedly agreed with her last statement.
A nearby Sujin fan angrily said, "Can you guys stop the unnecessary comparison? They might be in the same group in the future."
Thankfully, shadows appeared on the stage, which the audience immediately noticed. A brief silence took over. The fan wars below that nearly escalated died down. All the remaining energy of the people present went to the loud cheers and screams that filled the place.
"Yaaahh! Jun! Jun! Look here, please!"
"I love you guys!"
"Juwon, marry me!!!"
Words that used to fill the comments sections of the live broadcast were now coming from people's mouths. Some were the usual fangirl's yell, while others were borderline ridiculous and delusional.
Ha-rin absent-mindedly commented, "If the previous team had Sujin and Min as their visual members, this one has four. Unbelievable."
No wonder the crowd was going wild.
She was really impressed with Juwon's face, which seemed to rival the handsomeness of the famous KAISER visual member, Ho-Seok. His beauty was the type to steal one's breath at a glance. On-screen, he was already that handsome, but the effect almost doubled when seeing him in person.
Xavi and Hyeon-ju were also really good-looking, with charms opposite each other. One had a black-haired Greek god appeal, while the other was the type delulus would project themselves into in BL fanfics due to his softer features and warm smile.
And Jun...
"I'm dying," Ha-rin exaggeratedly clutched her chest when she saw Jun waving and smiling toward her.
One of the most popular BOI contestants, Jun, was like a combination of Xavi and Juwon—very masculine-looking when serious despite the lanky build. But when he smiled, he looked out of this world and, honestly, incredibly captivating. Ha-rin had to remind herself constantly that Jun was eighteen, younger than her by several years.
A boy whose name she did not know began to speak after Jun signaled the crowd with open palms to quiet down.
"Hello, dear starmakers. We're team 'So Near To You' with a song title opposite our team name. I'm the leader, Seong-Hun."
Xavi, Daeho, Juwon, and Hyeon-ju introduced themselves one by one after him, trying to appeal to the crowd with funny or cool gestures. The last was Jun.
With a bright smile and happy eyes, he said, "Hi everyone. I'm Park Seo-Jun, or in short, Jun, the Co-Leader of this team. We are really happy and surprised to see you all today. It's sudden and unexpected. But thank you so much for coming, and we hope to repay you for your kindness and support through this performance."
After a bow, the lights dimmed, accompanied by the crowd's applause and shouts. The audience's eyes followed the silhouettes of the boys, who went into formation.
When the spotlight fell on Xavi and those near him, gasps immediately echoed due to the pompous smirk and arrogant expression that the center showed, followed by the opening rap line,
"Well, I heard the devil is scared of me, man."