CHAPTER 310: FIRE AND ASH FAMILIA (6)

"You seem upset. Angry that they’re not performing your song in the way you envisioned?" Shin Ji-yong whispered to JM of Golden Generation in a teasing tone.

They were waiting for the next group to come out after Areum finished her commentary, and since he was bored and the camera wasn’t on him, Shin Ji-yong decided to needle JM, whom he had known for a while.

He could tell by the body posture and neutral expression that JM wasn’t too thrilled with the outfit choice of the contestants performing his group’s song, which he was quite proud of since it brought him their most music show wins against BTZ.

"It’s fine," JM replied calmly.

"Is it? Will the kids be okay?" Shin Ji-yong asked, not satisfied with the answer.

Turning his head to the side, Shin Ji-yong saw the contestants getting ready at the edge of the stage.

They looked quite frazzled, with one boy’s face actually looking green even from a distance, but that all changed when a boy with bright red hair appeared in a burst of speed.

Shin Ji-yong watched as the boldly confident boy he had met, who looked unexpectedly soft right now, put on his in-ears with one hand, patted the back of his blonde teammate with the other, and spoke to a third person with an apologetic expression.

"Look at the little leader of the team full of kiddies. I remember when we were struggling to keep our team together like that when we first debuted. It’s so cute."

"Is it?" JM repeated the mocking question back at Shin Ji-yong, who simply laughed before complaining.

"It is. And now, look at how far we’ve come. You get to be the judge now. Isn’t life funny?"

With envious eyes, Shin Ji-yong watched as Ari arranged the fur coat on his shoulders that really elevated the style of the outfit before complaining, "As always, he looks quite cool. I didn’t look that cool at his age and wasn’t even half as confident. I want one of the matriarchs of fashion to gift me the fur coat off her back and personally style me, too. Is it because I’m not French? Should I just steal the coat as his senior? He’s a fiesty one, though, so I wonder what his face will look like if it happens."

Hearing the childish complaints, JM had to do his best not to roll his eyes.

Despite reaching and maintaining a high status, Shin Ji-yong remained petty and volatile.

It was really annoying how this man repeatedly won Idol of the Year, Most Handsome Man, Most Mature Idol, Ideal Boyfriend, etc, when he was secretly a brat who always wanted things to go his way and toyed with people like a cat.

"Don’t be childish and go around causing trouble for your manager. You can buy any fur coat you want and pay the best stylists in the world to style you so you look just as cool."

"It’s not the same, you know. That’s the Chloé Laurent. She’s the Crème de la crème in the fashion world. You can’t just buy her time even if you have the money. Each time my management messages her team, they get ignored. And being childish is part of my charm."

"Whatever. Just watch the performance. They’re starting."

"Ah, you’re right. I hope they do your song justice. Otherwise, wouldn’t the win record of the song be broken when the team performing my song goes tonight? Their the closer and they even won first at that cursed field day."

"Just. Watch. Quietly."

"Ohhh, angry. Haha."

Shin Ji-yong turned to stare at the stage, whose lights had suddenly turned off.

Flick.

As the lights turned back on, along with the soundtrack, the slim boy dressed in red began walking forward.

With a cold expression on that strikingly handsome face, his fur coat swaying like a cape as he walked with a confidence that made it seem like he owned the place, and the cane slamming onto the ground on beat, Shin Ji-yong felt for a moment that he was watching a young mafia boss walking to his throne.

"What are the kids calling it these days? Aura farming? He really looks cool. I’m very jealous. I want that coat."

"Quiet."

Boom.

Snap.

Boom.

Snap.

As the beat of the song started playing, the bass, trumpets, drums, and keyboard came together to create a jazzy, funk-pop beat that everyone could recognize.

But unlike the bright, sparkly, high-energy visuals that people expected, this was something darker and more serious.

Like a model down the runway, the walk was precise and focused, each step and thump of the cane hitting the ground perfectly in time with the drums, and when he got to the microphone stand, a smooth spin was executed, tossing the fur coat off to one side and sliding the cane down to the ground without a sound.

The cameraman couldn’t help but zoom in to capture the insane visuals that didn’t seem real.

With an intense gaze that seemed to be staring straight at the viewers, in an almost sensual manner, slender fingers covered with satiny red leather ran up the length of the microphone stand, lifting it to a higher height and angling it toward his mouth.

Those red lips opened-

Standing Next To You~

And a voice as smooth and as sweet as honey with a hint of a rasp filled the air.

Snap.

Snap.

Snap.

As slim red fingers pointed off to the side, a different voice was heard this time.

Standing Next To You~

The camera panned to a tall boy with long, silvery blonde hair wearing a black and silver pinstriped suit, stepping forward with a skip-like walk while using his own cane to keep the beat.

When he reached the front of the stage, Jamie tossed his cane off to the side while pointing to Ari, who sang next.

Standing Next To You~

The two boys spun simultaneously, performing a leg kick, then rocking back and forth on one leg, pretending to play the guitar, and jumping down into jazz splits before leaping up with their canes tucked into their armpits and singing in unison.

Standing Next To You~

Boom boom boom boom boom boom badun~

The bright sounds of trumpets rang out.

With their canes tucked under their arms, the two boys nodded at each other, performed a secret handshake, and then slid to opposite sides, exposing Choi Woobin dressed in his red and black pinstriped suit, and standing in a dramatic pose.

Bringing the microphone to his lips, Choi Woobin sang in his slightly deeper voice that was like a rich, hot chocolate.

Fast and slow

Time flows just like a river,

Blink and it just goes

(fight against the undertow)

Transitioning into another pose, he winked at the camera before singing again.

People come and go,

How you live your life is something I can’t control

(you already know)

Then Choi Woobin grabbed the mic stand that Ari had left, pulling it toward him as he spun around, exposing Justin, who was standing behind him.

And Justin, performing an easy two-step while leaning heavily on his cane, opened his mouth and sang into the mic stand that was perfectly placed in front of him.

You know that all night long,

We rock to this,

Screaming, I’ll stand beside you right here

As Justin sang, the other five boys spread out in formation slightly behind him, forming a gradient with Ari’s red being the farthest back, to Choi Woobin and Alfonso’s red and black, to Jamie and Levi’s black and silver, to Justin’s white.

Dancing the choreography, they slowly transitioned forward to surround Justin, Levi, and Jamie, supporting him on either side as he walked slowly, while the rest of them picked up the microphone stand and followed him while holding it to his mouth.

All night long,

we step to this,

Screaming, no matter what, we’ll survive the test of time, yeah

As Justin began leaning down while singing, the microphone followed him, Levi lowered him to the ground with one hand, and Jamie slid to the front in preparation for the chorus.

Just like in practice, it was as if his voice got to another level, with his head thrown back, the silvery-tinted hair trailing down his back, light moonlight shimmering from the light as he sang with his eyes closed.

No matter what you’ve done,

They can’t divide us

We’ll survive the test of time,

I promise I’ll be right here

Then he opened them, staring directly at someone before looking out at the audience.

Unlike his usual bright expression, it seemed as if venom filled his eyes as he belted out the notes while Ari filled in the adlibs at a higher pitch.

Standing next to you (next to you~)

Standing in the fire next to you~ (ohhh~)

You know it’s deeper than the rain

Deeper than the pain

It’s deep in my DNA

And they’ll never take you away~

Take-take-take-take-take-take off

Regaining a 2-row, layered formation, Ari, who was in the center, kick-flipped the microphone stand that was lying on the ground so it was upright before he, Choi Woobin, and Alfonso dropped down into jazz splits while Jamie, Levi, and Justin performed eye-catching spin moves, reminiscent of baton twirlers with the canes.

And as the three people in the front rose to their feet, Alfonso slid forward and began singing as the formation became a single line.

Stop.

The remaining 5 boys froze for a second before Alfonso continued

Can you feel that?

It’s like Heaven and Earth move,

To break our trust,

No, really, stop

They all froze once more as Alfonso slid into place while Levi moved forward and continued singing.

I know you feel that.

The universe can never separate you and I,

I’ll fight against it all with all I have, yeah,

Everyone leaned forward at an almost 45-degree angle with the help of the cane, while the fierce-looking boy began singing with an unexpectedly mellow and sweet voice.

No matter what,

We’ll survive the test of time,

I promise I’ll be right here

Slide shuffling to the center, Ari began belting out the second chorus with Jamie assisting him in ad-libs.

Standing next to you (next to you~)

Standing in the fire next to you~ (ohhh~)

You know it’s deeper than the rain

Deeper than the pain

It’s deep in my DNA

And they’ll never take you away~

Take-take-take-take-take-take off

As Ari’s voice trailed off and the dance break began, he and Jamie continued to swap ad-libs.

Splitting into two groups, one using the canes and one without the canes, the old people with silvery hair vs the youth with long, bright hair.

They began a sort of play, alternating back and forth, using the original choreography as the basis for their dance.

When one side would do a move for a few seconds, the other would imitate it with the use of a cane or vice versa, and while it wasn’t entirely the same, the essence and energy put into it were similar.

From the moon walk done across the stage and in place with the assistance of a cane, to jazz splits, to spins done with the canes versus hands, they would demonstrate the move for a few seconds before everyone joined in together as the cheerful trumpet forward instrumental sounded in the background.

The brief back and forth continued, with Justin and Ari taking the center to lead their respective sides, and while Justin really couldn’t move around too much, it came across as intentional.

Just as it was Justin’s turn again, his leg in the cast buckled, and he almost fell to the ground.

Quickly catching him with an arm around his waist, Ari continued singing even as he held him steady.

In this part of the choreography, he needed to pick up his cane and perform the last bit of the dance break with everyone else, but he could feel Justin’s leg that was in a cast shaking unsteadily and buckling each time he tried to place it on the ground.

He would probably fall if Ari were to release him, so it would be better to just stand in the center and let others complete things than to have somebody collapse on stage.

Thankfully, nobody on the team froze or stopped.

Ari continued singing, and the dance break was completed successfully.

Exchanging a quick glance with Jamie that conveyed a lot of information, Ari half-carried Justin the way Jamie was supposed to, and Jamie stepped up to dance his final lines while Ari sang from the back.

Standing~ next to you

I’m standing next to you~ (Standing~ next to you)

Dun dun dun dun!

The song came to a close, and as the stage lights got even brighter, all of them ended up in a line, arms around each other’s waists, as the audience clapped loudly while cheering.

"Thank you!"

With a unified shout and arms around each other, all six boys bowed to the audience that was cheering, before standing up and looking expectantly at the judges.