oo1
✻⋮ serenade
Usually.
This time, I'm not sure it'll work.
"I've got two tickets, not one. If you didn't want to go, you should've told me before!"
Minyeong pouts, stabbing down at her noodles moodily. Friends since elementary school, I knew she hadn't made this "mistake" by accident. Just like last week, when she wanted to watch that new Disney movie when I was planning on the ninja one. In that regard, I learned early that Minyeong was very good at getting what she wants. And yet, I still don't know how to work around it.
Sighing heavily, I stir my jajangmyeon, sending droplets of sauce onto my chem book. "Alright, I'll go," I say, not even trying to deny her. I'd lose anyway...
Minyeong squeals and reaches over the cafe table to give me a hug. "Joo, you're the best!"
"I know. Where-dash-when are we meeting?"
"Outside the admin building? We can walk to the stage together."
I nod, slurping up some noodles. "Ah, but I lost my ID card. I'll need it to get in, right?"
Minyeong rolled her eyes. "I swear, read the E-Bulletin sometimes. They're holding it for you at the teachers' office."
"Really? Well that's good," I comment. "I'll drop by later to pick it up."
I admit - I wasn't sure what to expect. But regardless of my previous opinion on the group (whose name I'm still not completely sure of), they know how to put on a seriously great show. The atmosphere around me is buzzing with excitement, and I'm not anywhere near the throngs. Admittedly, from my seat in the far back, the view isn't perfect, but I can see enough to appreciate a good performance. Beside me, Minyeong jumps with excitement, and even I catch myself humming along at times.
I'm sipping from my soda cup when their current song stops and a guy with ash blonde hair steps forward. I recognize him as one of the main singers, but that's about it.
"How are you guys doing today?"
I have no idea what people are trying to communicate with the cheers that erupt, but apparently he took it as a good sign.
"Great! Well, the concert's almost done-"
At this point, he has to pause to wait for some of the screaming to die down. The members behind him pressed their finger to their lips, signaling for them to quiet down a bit.
"But before we go, I'd like to invide a member of the audience to come out onstage and join us for a song," he says.
Behind him, a stagehand comes out holding a large fishbowl-thing, but instead of holding water (and fish), hundreds of tiny slips of paper fills it to the brim. I watch the proceedings, vaguely intrigued.
The guy holding the mic reaches into the bowl, shifting around the papers before pulling one out.
"Would the young woman in seat...451 please come forward?"
It's like time stops at that moment as I struggle to process what he just said. Which seat number? Huh????
By the time I come back to my senses, I'm already at the foot of the stairs leading up to the stairs, unsure of how I even got there.
"Come on, don't be scared," the boy said, gesturing for me to come up.
I look past him at the other members, then at the sea of faces behind me ... and panic. I can't just go out onstage in front of everyone! Not with all those people sizing me up and just...staring. The pressure weighs down on me like a sack of bricks ... and I'm screwed.
"Come on now, get up there."
One of the techies shoves me forward, and I'm sent stumbling on the stairs. Suddenly, I'm blinded by the stage lights and moments later, deafened by renewed screams. The sensory overload caused me to barely notice when someone takes me by the hand and lead me to center stage.
"So what's your name?"
"Hw-Hwang Jooyi," I stutter, squinting in the bright light. My whole body is trembling, and I can feel my legs quiver like an airplane in serious turbulence.
"That's cute," the guy says. "What song would you like to sing?"
What song?! How am I supposed to know?! I don't even know your guys' name!
But I can't say that. So I wrack my brain, trying to think of something. Ah, didn't Minyeong make me rewrite a song for her competition? Would that work? Is it even their song?!
"My friend and I wrote a duet from "Don't Go"," I say quietly into the mic. "Um, would that be alright?"
Around me, the twelve boys laugh good-naturedly at my obvious case of nerves.
"Yeah, that'd be good," the same guy responds. "Does it need any special music?"
"Uh, it's on my phone," I say, taking it out of my pocket with a trembling hand. Quickly, I pull up the song, which a techie snatches up to plug in, replacing my phone with a hand mic.
"Alright, well let's get this started," one of the other guys says, working up the crowd. Over the speakers, the familiar piano melody begins to play.
"Your small wing movements, my attraction to you," one guy sings. I had noticed this before, but his voice is incredible. Up close, it's even better.
The others proceed to trade off lines faster than I can keep track of, and I instead focus on steadying my stomach. At that moment, I feel like my lunch was steadily making its way back up.
Eventually, the guy that had pulled me onstage to begin with sings his lines. And halfway through the first sentence, he switches his attention from the audience to, well, me. I admit, it had to be expected, but that doesn't mean I don't blush any less.
"I can't take my eyes off of you. My eyes naturally follow you each step you take," he sings, locking eyes with me. The screaming grows exponentially as he takes a step forward.
My heart skips a beat, and I don't have a clue what I'm supposed to be doing. I am just barely able to recover in time for my verse. A good thing, too, as the other members evidently have to clue as to what they should to about the unexpected change.
Trembling, I raise the mic to my mouth and sing.
Okay, so I'll probably never win Superstar K or anything, but I don't have a bad singing voice. At least, I don't think so. I don't really sing in front of people, so when the group's eyes widen in suprise, I can only hope that it's a good thing.
"I'm scared that my heart would be revealed through the gaps between my fingers."
Clutching tightly onto the mic with both hands, my surroundings become indistinct and blurry around the edges. The stage lights really are not joke, and all I can see clearly is the face of the singer in front of me. But that doesn't really help either, as I notice at the worst moment possible that he definitely didn't become a singer just because of his voice. And so I do the only thing I can.
I close my eyes and just sing.
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