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Chapter 78: Debut (1)

In fact, there was simply no room to be sidetracked by the show. Every one of us, not just me, was focused on nailing our debut stage.

“Whoa!" Lee Jin-Sung tumbled, his stick clattering away awkwardly.

“Jin-Sung, can you get up?" We were no longer startled by such mishaps as every one of us had fallen at one point. I was the nearest, so I reached out to help him stand.

He practiced his footsteps for a few seconds and then nodded. “Yeah, I\'m good. Man, these dance steps are brutal. One tiny slip in timing and down I go..."

Our choreography demanded a dizzying six-foot roll in the blink of an eye. It felt almost like the choreographer\'s sweet revenge.

“We simplified the chorus but increased the number of movements. Gotta live up to the name of Chronos, right?"

Even Jin-Sung, who was normally so slick, slipped up once every twenty attempts. As for me, I was just about hanging in there, misstepping more often than not. The others had tried and given up after a lot of failed attempts.

Therefore, it boiled down to a duo dance routine between me and Jin-Sung. One wrong move from either of us meant starting over, so it kept us on edge throughout the dance.

“Don\'t let this happen on stage. Focus, be sharp!"

"Got it!"

“Let\'s practice from our pair dance part."

My legs were shaking as every strand of my muscle was tense. However, I shook off the stiffness and decided to prioritize precision over expression.

As the music kicked back in, we warmed up and went for the footsteps again. This time around, both Jin-Sung and I performed them flawlessly. As I kicked the tip of my stick to the left, Jin-Sung caught it and yanked it hard. While I was pulled along, the stick in my hand ended up right in front of Jin-Sung.

It was time for my solo.

No matter where you are

I will be there

You don\'t need to be afraid

Your time has stopped

The time for our hearts to deepen is forever?

‘Oh crap, live, live!’ The solo was so intense that, despite bracing my core, my voice was shaky. The choreographer seemed pleased, but I knew I was in for a long night of solo practice to calm down my frustration. That was when...

“Hold up, everyone!" Our manager burst in, abruptly putting a stop to our practice session.

“Argh!" The collective groan was out. We had just cleared the hardest part!

Normally, he would wait until the song\'s end before interrupting. What had gotten into him now? I shot him a glare filled with annoyance, but he just grinned and beckoned us over.

"Seriously! Do you know how hard we’ve been working on that step? I was about to burst into tears of relief! Why did you interrupt then?" Jin-Sung was particularly upset.

“We\'ve got the final cut of the music video. Aren\'t you guys excited to see it?"

“Oh, it\'s done?" Jin-Sung\'s frustration vanished instantly. The manager then brought over a laptop and plugged in a USB drive.

“I just got it. It\'s going public tomorrow at 6 PM, and it turned out amazing, making me tear up."

“You cried again? What a crybaby."

“Quiet, kid. It was that emotional," the manager retorted as he positioned himself opposite us and started the behind-the-scenes camera.

“Why are you filming this?!"

We all instinctively covered our faces. Drenched in sweat and messy-haired, we weren\'t exactly camera-ready. I just quickly brushed my hair back. Oblivious to our reluctance, the manager was all smiles.

“It\'s fine. You all look good. Just a bit obvious that you were practicing hard."

“Hyung, you\'re recording this?"

“Yeah, we should capture your reactions. You\'ve seen reaction videos on UTube, right?" He then finished setting up the camera. With K-POP\'s soaring global popularity, reaction videos by international UTubers to K-POP music videos and performances were all the rage. As this was our very first music video, it seemed that our manager was keen to turn our reactions into content too.

The red light flickered on the camera, and the manager nodded at us to start. Joo-Han chimed in first, “Hello. One, two, three!”

“Hello, we are Chronos. Nice to meet you!”

Ah, we had really nailed down this automatic greeting.

“Our debut single ‘Parade’ finally drops tomorrow.”

“It\'s crazy how time flies. Feels like we were just sprinting near the crosswalk yesterday," Goh Yoo-Joon mused, his voice tinged with nostalgia.

“Yeah, remember how drenched in sweat you were, Yoo-Joon hyung?"

“I thought I\'d melt in the heat that day."

“Now it\'s time to see the fruits of our labor in the music video. It\'s our first time seeing it, so I\'m pretty nervous." With a click, Joo-Han launched our much-awaited music video.

As the YMM logo faded away, our hearts raced. Just before the video kicked off, I wet my dry lips and said, “Don\'t expect me to react much. I am going to be super focused."

“Same here," chimed in the others.

Our random chatter came to an abrupt halt as the video started. The opening scene showed a giant clockwork mechanism in a room, spinning in harmony with two smaller ones. The focus then shifted to me, engrossed in assembling an incomplete clock with earnest expression.

“Whoa, Suh Hyun-Woo!"

“Hyung, you look insanely good here. I\'m genuinely awestruck."

Blushing slightly at Goh Yoo-Joon and Lee Jin-Sung\'s praise, I quickly looked at the screen again.

Thunk!

In an old, creaky wooden workshop, I flinched at a sudden noise after fixing the clock. A soft glow then lit my face, underscored by an eerie background music. After that, I smiled, got up, and walked toward the mysterious sound.

“Actually, Goh Yoo-Joon was just opposite me in that scene." I casually dropped the hint, and Goh Yoo-Joon nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, imagine Suh Hyun-Woo walking toward me like that."

“What! That totally breaks the mood!" We all laughed.

Goh Yoo-Joon and I shared a high five even with our eyes glued to the screen. Then, as I vanished from the frame, the scene darkened, only to reveal a pastel-purple world brimming with flowers and Lee Jin-Sung in a close-up.

Jin-Sung started lip-syncing his part as the song started.

“Wow, Jin-Sung\'s skin looks so fair."

“He looks really sharp and collected."

“Hehe."

While the members dished out compliments, Jin-Sung showed a bit of a shy reaction before quickly diving back into the video.

After Jin-Sung\'s part, the scene transitioned to Joo-Han in a piano room. He had a look of resignation as he scanned his surroundings, and then it was back to me. I was navigating the pastel-lit space, different from the wooden workshop but akin to Jin-Sung and Joo-Han\'s scenes.

It was you who came into my world

Even if the sky falls and the ground crumbles

You will be by my side

Skyfall, Skyfall?

Wandering through these fantasy spots—the piano room where Joo-Han was and the flower garden where Jin-Sung was—I suddenly turned, startled by a noise.

Next, the scene shifted to Goh Yoo-Joon in a library, looking dapper in a suit. He just slumped wearily into a chair, gazing listlessly at a stack of papers on his desk.

“I think I look amazing here."

“I would\'ve praised you if you didn’t say that, Yoo-Joon."

“Ah, hyung."

“That suit is perfect on you, you know. You look like an actor."

As the sky behind Goh Yoo-Joon morphed from blue to purple, he frowned, glanced upward, and then abruptly stood up, loosening his tie. He then peered skyward as if sensing something.

The fleeting splendor will vanish with nightfall

Join me

You will want to see me entrapped in an illusion once more

You need me?

Beneath a grand chandelier, Joo-Han played a transparent piano, and I followed the sound. Suddenly, the screen cut to a close-up of Lee Jin-Sung opening his eyes, revealing Park Yoon-Chan in a school uniform, running with a face marred by scars.

“What were you shooting in that scene?" Joo-Han asked as he was surprised by the scars. Deeply immersed in the video, Park Yoon-Chan replied solemnly, “It was like... being bullied..."

He was so caught up in the video that he barely seemed to register his own response.

Park Yoon-Chan was crouched in an alley, taking labored breaths. Then, as the sky changed to purple, he looked up, his eyes brimming with tears.

Let the sky fall

Let the sky fall

Let the sky fall

I need you?

It was the song’s climax, the dance break point in the live performance. The music video showed Goh Yoo-Joon and Park Yoon-Chan running wildly, as if they sensed something mysterious.

“I seriously thought I was going to collapse from exhaustion there. I lost count of how many times we dashed across that crosswalk."

“Same here. The school we shot at is on a steep hill, remember?"

Then, the scene shifted to me. There I lay, on a huge bowl-shaped bed of light, embodying both resignation and solitude. My face still bore the marks of unease.

“Wow, Suh Hyun-Woo!"

“Shh, be quiet!" I shushed Goh Yoo-Joon.

Next, Goh Yoo-Joon, looking all disheveled with his jacket over his arm and sleeves rolled up, came into view. The scene then shifted back to me, and thereafter, Park Yoon-Chan emerged, soaked in both sweat and tears.

Finally, Goh Yoo-Joon saw the same light I had discovered. As he stepped toward it, the camera refocused on my face. The music briefly halted. There I was on the bed, with eyes closed, slowly opening them to flash a mysterious smile.

“Oooh!”

“Whoa, man!"

“Wow, hyung!"

Ah, that felt so awkward! The others excitedly jostled my shoulders, making us all crack up as our focus was gone. That smile of mine felt strangely forced. Like some major plot twist, the song kicked back in as soon as I smiled.

You don\'t need to be afraid

Your time has stopped

The time for our hearts to deepen is forever?

Forever?

My solo ended, and the instrumental bridge dramatically led us toward the finale—an abrupt stop. As the song concluded, the music video neared its ending.

Footsteps approached the smiling Lee Jin-Sung, who leaned on a cane in a flower garden. Only the ankles of someone entering the frame and stopping in front of him were visible, but the suit pants and dress shoes said it all.

The music video ended without tying up the loose ends of the story. It was an incredibly satisfying watch, so I could see why our manager nearly cried. The unseen direction and computer graphic effects employed during the shooting transported us to another world. There was a profound sense of wonder and overwhelming emotion, as if the people in the video were not us.

As we shared our thoughts, Joo-Han watched the screen with a complicated look on his face before commenting, “...It\'s good. Really good."

“Hyung?"

His voice was heavy, so I gazed at him, noticing the moisture in his eyes.

“Hyung, are you crying?" I asked softly, shielding his face from the others. He quickly dabbed his eyes and shook his head.

Right, he had been a trainee for eight years too. All of a sudden, a pang of emotion hit me, and I bit my lip to contain my feelings. Joo-Han promptly helped me sit up and delivered a closing remark. “Thank you so much for this amazing music video. Can\'t wait to see how our fans, the Rings, will react. Now, back to practice, right?"

“Yes!"

“The music video has given us a boost. Let\'s work hard!"

“We\'ll see you on our debut stage. Bye!"

“Bye! See you! Thank you!"

And that concluded our first music video viewing. All that remained was to practice diligently and eagerly await the reactions of our fans.