“Ya, Joon! Faster already!” yelled Soyeon.

“W-wait up, I wanna watch ‘Magic’ too,” Joon said.

“We don’t have time for that,” Soyeon said, dragging him by the collar. “Come on, they’re already calling for those in the 4^th group,”

“Oops, pardon me, coming through,” Yoseob said as he pushed through he crowd.

“Hold on, where’s Kiki?” asked Soyeon.

“Hmm? W-wait, I swear he was just behind me just now,” Yoseob panicked.

“Haih, come on, let’s go find him,” sighed Soyeon.

“No need, he’s still back there, watching the show,” Joon pointed through the crowd. “Good thing I’m tall, eh?” joked Joon.

Soyeon looked really annoyed. “You two, wait here. Don’t move,” ordered Soyeon, before pushing through the crowd to Kikwang.

Joon turned his attention to the stage. “Wow, SECRET’s pretty good,”

Yoseob strained his neck to get a better view. “Yeah, I like this one better than ‘Shy boy’ earlier,”

“I thought ‘Shy boy’ was better,” Joon replied.

“Well, everyone has their preferences,” Yoseob said calmly. “It’s kind of hard to see them from here,” whined Yoseob.

“Really? I can see them just fine,” Joon wondered.

“Hey, let’s go get a better view,” suggested Yoseob.

“Okay,” agreed Joon. “I wonder if we’ll get to see Min and Suzy,”

“Nah, they’re in the 3^rd group, so I doubt it,”

“Hmm, guess so,” Joon said. “Hey, there’s a spot over there, come on,”

***

Kikwang fixed his gaze on the stage. ‘Wah, they’re even better than when they were practicing,’ he thought to himself. While he was focusing on the performance, someone suddenly pinched his ear. “Ack! Ah, Ouch! It hurts, it hurts!” yelled Kikwang.

“Do you know how much trouble you are?” Soyeon said. She then dragged him by his ear, through the crowd.

“Ah, ack! L-let go, it hurts,” Kikwang exclaimed while being dragged by his ear.

“Who told you to run off?” Soyeon said calmly, still pinching his ear.

“F-fine, I get it. Sorry, sorry, I won’t do it again!” Kikwang said hurriedly. “L-let go!” Kikwang exclaimed.

Soyeon stopped walking, and looked around. “Haih.. I should’ve known,” she sighed in frustration. “Kiki, could you look around for Joon and Yoseob,” Soyeon asked Kikwang after letting go of his ear. “You’re taller than me, so it’s faster if you looked for them,”

Kikwang was still rubbing his pulsing ear. “Man, that hurts,” he mumbled. “Find Joon and Yoseob, got it,” Kikwang said before looking around for them. “Oh? There they are,” Kikwang pointed out through the crowd.

Soyeon strained her neck to get a better view. “I see, thanks Kiki,” smiled Soyeon, before pinching his ear, and dragging him to the other two.

“Ack! Ah, Ouch! It hurts!”

***

“My magic! Magic! Magic! My magic! Magic! Magic!” Joon and Yoseob sang along excitedly. “My music! Magic! Music! My music! Mag-Gah!” both of them yelled in surprise when they saw Soyeon standing behind them with Kikwang still in her hands.

Soyeon smiled brightly at them. “Hi, having fun?” she asked innocently.

“S-soyeon!” stuttered Joon. “This was all Yoseob’s idea!” Joon said quickly.

“What?!” Yoseob said in disbelief. “Hold on, w-we didn’t move,” denied Yoseob.

“Oh? How did you get here then? I suppose the whole stage just ‘magically’ moved next to you then?” Soyeon asked.

“I g-guess.. I mean, they are singing ‘Magic’ after all, hehe..,” Joon said slowly.

“Haha, ‘Magic’.. ‘magically’.. funny, funny,” Soyeon said laughing.

“R-really?” Yoseob said slowly.

“No,” Soyeon suddenly said with an annoyed expression plastered across her face.

***

“4^th GROUP! 4^th GROUP!” yelled the technician, motioning for the teams to go backstage. He then saw a girl dragging two boys with her, and another boy who was clutching his ear, following closely behind her. “Uh, can I help you miss?”

“Ah, yes, we’re registered under bl-east,” Soyeon said calmly.

The technician checked the list. “So you’re.. Kikwang, Joon, Yoseob, and.. miss Soyeon, correct?”

“Yup, that’s us,” Soyeon said brightly, still pinching Joon and Yoseob. “Can we go?”

“Y-yeah,”

“Thanks,”

***

“My magic! Magic! Magic! My music! Magic! Music! Wahh.. ‘Magic’ sure is catchy! Now I can’t get it out of my head,” Sulli said.

“Really? I liked ‘Shy boy’ better, ‘You are my shy, shy, shy boy’!” Jokwon sang giddily. “Oh? I’m a shy boy, could they be singing about me?” Jokwon asked.

“Aish, stop being delusional, Jokwon-ssi,” IU said.

“You’re right IU-ssi, he’s being delusional,” joked Sulli. “What about you IU, which song did you like?”

“Hmm? Me? Hmm, I think all of them were great, but I personally liked ‘Lucifer’ and ‘Be mine’,” answered IU.

“Oh? You’re right! I nearly forgot, I guess I like ‘Lucifer’ too then,” Sulli said cutely.

“Hmph, you guys are just being biased because they’re guys,” whined Jokwon. “What do you think Kikw- Oh? Where’s Kikwang?”

“Kikwang? Didn’t you know? He’s busy preparing for his performance,” IU answered.

“Really? He’ll be performing?” Sulli asked innocently.

“Yeah, but you’ll have to wait until later for his performance,” IU said.

“Now that’s something to look forward to,” Jokwon said. “Sulli-ssi, I’ve been meaning to ask this for quite sometime now,”

“I’m sorry, Jokwon-ssi, but you’re not my type,” Sulli said quickly.

Jokwon had an annoyed look on his face. “I wasn’t talking about that, I was meaning to ask you, don’t you think there’s a lot more people in this year’s festival?”

“Of course there are. This year’s festival is a collaborative effort between ‘Oh My School!’ and ‘Dream High’, so there’s a lot more spectators, and participants involved,” explained Sulli.

“Oh.. So that’s why the festival’s taking a lot longer than usual,” thought Jokwon. “Oh well, it’s better this way, I guess,”

“Why?” asked Sulli.

“Well, this way, we can enjoy ourselves a lot more, because there’s a lot more performance!” explained Jokwon.

“If you put it that way, but we’re already halfway done,” Sulli said.

“Really?”

“Not to worry, Jokwon-ssi, we still have 16 teams left to perform, which adds up to a total of 32 songs left!” assured IU.

“Wow, that’s a lot!” exclaimed Jokwon.

“Yeah, but for now, let’s continue our festival with these charismatic ladies from ‘Miss A’, ‘Rainbow’, ‘4 minute’, and the cute ‘Dal Shabet’!” added IU.

“We’ll also show you the new rookie talent from ‘Teen Top’, the rap duo from ‘Supreme Team’, and a battle of the bands with ‘FT Island’ and ‘TRAX’!” announced Sulli.

“Now then.. Music.. Start!”

***

“Whew, that was tiring..,” Zinger said.

“Yeah.. But did you see how the spectators were singing along with us at the end? That sure made my day,” Sunhwa said excitedly.

“Yeah! I kinda wish we could sing one more song,” Zinger said. “Jieun! You were awesome!” she said, hugging Jieun in the process.

“Thanks, all of us were,” Jieun said calmly. “I hope we’ll win though, what do you think Hyosung?”

Hyosung thought about the oath she made to herself. “We already tried our best, so why not?” Hyosung said. “Maybe we’ll win.. No, we have to win!” exclaimed Hyosung.

“Woah, Hyosung-ssi, you sure seemed all fired up about the win,” Kikwang interjected. “Didn’t know you were so pumped about skipping homework,” joked Kikwang.

“K-Kikwang!” Hyosung stuttered in surprise.

“We’re here too you know,” Soyeon said.

“What are you all doing here?” Sunhwa asked. “And why are all your ears red?”

“They had it coming,” Soyeon answered. “As for why we’re here, we’re in the 4^th group, so we have to get ready,”

“Oh, I see,” Hyosung said slowly. “Ah, yes, guys, this is Zinger, and Jieun,” Hyosung introduced them. “Girls, you’ve already met Kikwang, this is Soyeon, Yoseob, and Joon. They’re my classmates,” Hyosung explained.

“Hi nice to meet you guys,” Jieun said brightly.

“The pleasure’s ours,” Soyeon smiled.

“You guys were great,” Joon quickly chipped in.

“Hehe, you think so?” giggled Sunhwa.

“Well.. 3 out of 4 ain’t that bad,” Joon said.

“Ya!” Sunhwa yelled at Joon.

“Hyosung, have you seen Min and Suzy?” Yoseob asked.

“Hmm? Yeah, we saw them getting on the stage on our way out, not sure if they saw us though,” Hyosung said.

“Wow, looks like the whole gang’s here,” Yonghwa interrupted.

“Yonghwa! What are you doing here?” Kikwang asked.

“What? Is it wrong for me to be here?” Yonghwa said. “I’m in the 4^th group just like you guys,”

“Really?” surprised Kikwang. “Oh? I’m pretty sure there wasn’t any ‘The Stupid’ in the registry,” puzzled Kikwang.

“Yeah, we changed our name, ‘The Stupid’ just doesn’t suit us anymore, especially since our new member’s a complete opposite of ‘stupid’,” explained Yonghwa.

“There it is again,” Kikwang said. “You keep hinting at us that you have a new member, but you don’t want to tell us who he is,” whined Kikwang.

“I told you didn’t I, it’s a surprise,” Yonghwa said coolly. “Anyway, ciao guys, I need to go and get ready,” Yonghwa said before leaving the group.

“Yeah, he’s right, we should go get ready,” Soyeon said calmly. “Best of luck guys,” Soyeon said to Hyosung’s group before leaving for their dressing room.

***

“Okay, that should do it!” Soyeon said brightly after putting the finishing touches on the boys’ clothes.

Joon was checking himself out in the mirror. “Damn, I look hot,” Joon said, flexing his muscles in front of the mirror.

“Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on,” Soyeon said. “Are you guys comfortable?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Kikwang said.

“Me too, it fits me pretty well,” Yoseob added.

“Great, I’m gonna go check who’s performing right now, you guys keep on practicing,” Soyeon said before leaving the dressing room.

“Man, she is such a slave driver,” whined Yoseob.

***

Soyeon quickly walked towards the waiting room. She peeped into the room to see who’s up next.

“Ya, old hag, what are you doing here?” came a voice from behind her.

Soyeon quickly turned around to see who it was. “Simon D, should’ve known.. what are you doing here?”

“I’m up next, witch, so get out of the way,” Simon D said rudely.

“Hey, come on man, that’s no way to talk to a lady,” interrupted the guy behind him. “I’m sorry for my friend’s rude behavior,” said the boy. “I’m E-Sans, nice to meet you,” he bowed politely towards Soyeon.

“Ah, y-yes,”

“Tch, whatever,” Simon D said. “Come on man, we’re up next,” Simon D said before he and E-Sans went up on stage.