◸ chapter | no. seven ◿
‹ ETHEREAL › shincom's first girl group / revamped 。chapter seven
ethereal's debut showcase.
July 28th, 2016
In the middle of the stage, they stood, breathless, facing the countless fans, music critics, and paparazzi present, after ending their energetic and demanding performance of their debut album ‘Tape One’ B-Side track, ‘Lucky Girl.’
The fans that stood before them waved the light sticks they had previously bought while entering the debut showcase’s venue as well as the banners they had made themselves. Whereas, the music critics, who remained stone-faced wrote on their computers, perhaps writing their opinion on the performance the girls had just offered, while the paparazzi constantly flashed their cameras, attempting to get photos from every angle they had access to.
“Let’s greet our fans,” said Jangmi, “2,3.”
Bringing their hands to their faces to make their introductory gesture, the girls all spoke “Elysian. Hello, we’re Ethereal.”
“For the first time, we’re standing on stage as Ethereal, not only to the fans that came to see us in person but also to the fans that are watching us through V Live,” Jangmi gently smiled, “Everyone, are you enjoying it?”
A loud cheer was heard, a cheer that didn’t go unnoticed by Ethereal’s maknae Saeron, “That was deafening. I think my heart fluttered.”
Dajung, one of the most eloquent members, continued the speech the girls had memorized, “We prepared a lot of surprises for our fans. Please look forward to it and stay with us until the end. I hope you’ll enjoy them.”
“Today,” Kyulbin started, “We have an exceptional guest with us here today. An extraordinary person that will be the MC for today. Aren’t you curious to know who it is?”
Pounding hearts had calmed down. However, the excitement that had controlled them mere seconds ago returned when Shin Hyesung – Shinhwa’s main vocalist – made his way onto the stage as the debut showcase’s host.
“Hello,” he bowed, “I’m Shin Hyesung, and I’ll be hosting Shinhwa’s first ever group, Ethereal, showcase, I hope you enjoy it.”
As the staff quickly provided seats for the girls and the MC, Hyesung promptly began reading the script, “You showed us a fantastic performance with ‘Lucky Girl,’ a performance not only I enjoyed but so did the fans as well.” Hyesung quieted as the fans cheered, “Tape One, Ethereal’s 1st mini album, what songs are included in it, Louise?”
“In our 1st mini album, there are seven songs, including our title track ‘Russian Roulette’” she hesitantly began, “These seven songs are all, in a way, connected as they all share the same characteristic, a vivid sound to them.”
Hyesung nodded, “Were there any memorable episodes while recording the song? Kyulbin?”
“Episodes?” Kyulbin bit her lower lip as she tried to recall the hectic recording schedule they had, “Ah,” she exclaimed as something came to her mind. “After recording my part, I listened to it, and it sounded bland. So I danced in front of the producer, and as I danced, I complained how I wanted my voice to sound as hard as I was dancing.”
The interview went on for what seemed like almost an hour. Although it was enjoyed by the fans, the majority preferred to see the girls performing.
“Ethereal will now be exchanging clothes for their upcoming performance.” As he talked, the five members of Ethereal made their way out of the stage as quickly as they could as they had to dress up in the small quantity of four minutes.
Excited, Hyesung interacted with the fans, “Have any of you seen Harry Potter? It’s a great series. Just as amazing as the song Ethereal will now be performing, ‘Mr. Potter!’ please enjoy it.”
‘Mr. Potter’ being the first full song they were set to perform at their debut showcase, the song that was set to completely captivate the music critics attention, Dajung, and Saeron were the subjects to a box magic trick that intensely captivated the attention of all the fans present.
The second song the girls would be performing was ‘Shooting Love.'
'Shooting Love' had a lot of energy and seemed to soar through the music critics mind like an arrow in flight. The whistles, popping sounds, electric guitar, and slight hip-hop, influenced beat felt like a secret track you'd find on an extreme level of Dance Dance Revolution.
The third and last song the girls would be performing before being able to interact with the fans once more was ‘Liar Liar,’ a song that seemed to compliment every member of Ethereal, or so the music critics thought.
"Liar Liar" was a dance-pop song with a hip-hop drum beat. In the lyrics, the narrator is a girl who has a secret crush on a guy but feels like she is "somewhere in between a dream and reality" because she is uncertain that her affection is returned.
As soon as they were done performing they left the stage.
The staff was all over the five girls that were exhausted. Hurriedly, the staff cleaned the sweat off their necks, foreheads and gave them water to drink. Seojun, eyed them as if he was their father, his face, it contained an expression that the ice princesses couldn’t decipher but that the warm-hearted Kyulbin could.
He was proud. He was actually beyond proud of the five girls he seemed to have slightly been raising as if he was their father. ‘Lucky Girl,’ ‘Mr. Potter,’ ‘Shooting Love,’ ‘Liar Liar,' four performances were done, performances that all demanded energy, without any mistakes despite having 2,500 people in front of them to please, including the people that were watching their debut showcase through V Live.
Without a spec of energy left on their bodies, they only managed to go onto the stage with their manager, Seojun, pushing them onto it. Six chairs were there once more, the girls sat down in age order, Jangmi and Saeron were at the wings, and Dajung was in the middle, right beside Meilin and Kyulbin.
Hyesung eyed all of them before beaming at them and turning his face in order to face the camera and of course the fans.
“Thanks to Ethereal, we got the honor to watch extremely amazing performances," Hyesung commented, “Indeed, the work that was put into their debut paid off.”
Thankful, the girls looked at him and bowed their heads very slightly.
“Louise,” Hyesung called out, “I heard you had some interesting activities before Ethereal had their official debut. A drama, right? ‘The K2’ alongside Ji Chang Wook?”
“Yes,” Meilin spoke, an uneasy smile rested on her face.
“Was it hard to prepare for Ethereal’s debut while recording your drama at the same time?” he questioned, “Were there any difficulties or hardships while managing two things that are important at the same time? Especially when the drama required you to travel to Spain.”
Nervous, she looked at the other members. “It wasn’t necessarily hard, it was essentially wearisome. I had to leave at dawn to shoot, at some point I went to Spain to shoot for the drama as you have mentioned. When shooting was done I would have to practice, and I would often only get two hours of sleep but, it was required and things seem to have turned out well, and I have confidence that’s all that matters.”
Satisfied with the answer Meilin had given, which was luckily an answer containing more than two words, Jangmi sweetly grinned towards her direction.
“When is the drama coming out?” he questioned.
Meilin her lips, “A week from now, on the 4th of August. Please look forward to it.”
Hyesung merely nodded and returned his gaze to th
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