A/N:     

Ages:

Chanyeol: 41

Baekhyun: 43

Yifan: 18

Yixing: 17

Jongdae: 16

Minsoon: 13

~

Jongdae fiddled with the wires of his microphone. One of the stage managers had come a few moments ago to inform them that they were performing in five minutes. As the seconds passed, Jongdae grew more and more anxious.

Once Jongdae had entered high school, he joined many clubs pertaining to music and singing, to be specific. He had joined choir for half the year before he quit due to personal reasons and musical theater. Yet he resigned when he realized that acting was a huge component as well. Let’s just say that acting is not his forte.

Once he reached sophomore year, a dear friend of his, Dowoon, offered him the opportunity of becoming the temporary vocalist of his band, Ace ‘N Spades. (The previous one had been involved in an accident that rendered his voice useless for the next three months or so). Without hesitation, Jongdae accepted the offer. Although it took some time to memorize the songs, he proved to be an outstanding substitute. They performed at local areas and most of the feedback had been positive, save for the occasionally hater or two.

As the months wear on, it had been discovered that the former main singer still needed a few more months to recover, that is if you include vocal therapy. Unfortunately, it conflicted with the annual ‘Battle of the Bands’ they were preparing to compete in.

The plan was for Jongdae to substitute in for a few weeks to continue their local gigs while their main singer recovered. He was suppose to be back in commission a few weeks before the competition. With one more desperate offer, Dowoon asked Jongdae to be their vocalist. If he didn’t accept the offer, they were forced to drop out; due to the fact that the minimum amount of members for this competition was five.

Tonight was the night of the competition. After many grueling hours of practice, Jongdae was prepared. At least, he thought he was. According to Sanha, their guitarist, there are about twenty to twenty-five bands here to compete, including themselves. With their luck, they managed to be one of the last groups performing their song.

At first, Jongdae did not mind. In fact, he mentally cheered when he noticed the order list. Yet with each group that went on stage and gave their all, Jongdae grew more and more intimidated. They were good. Really good. As in Big Bang good. And it terrified him. Jongdae wasn’t looking to win, perse. He just felt as though he will let Ace ‘N Spades down.

It did not help that he knew his entire family, and the people he considered family, will be in the audience during the whole competition. To make matters worse, the actual main vocalist of Ace ‘N Spades, Dongyoung, will be in the audience as well.

As their time came closer and closer, Jongdae began to pace to and fro while fiddling with his microphone wires nervously. Sensing his anxiousness, Juhyun, their keyboardist, gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You’ll do fine, Jongdae-ah,” she reassured him, “Your voice will blow the judges away.”

He smiled in return as he could not find the right words. Juhyun was the first person other than Dowoon to warm up to him after their whole fiasco. She was like an older sister to him. Jongdae would miss her when his time with Ace ‘N Spades expired.

After a few more moments, the same stage manager as before held up one finger to signify that they had less than a minute.

“Break a leg, Jongdae.” Juhyun pat his cheek as a friendly, ‘good luck’ gesture and prepared to head out on stage.

It’s go time.

Taking a deep breath, Jongdae plastered a smile and stalked to the stage.

~

“Oh my god!” Sanha exclaimed as they finished their song. “We could actually win this thing!”

To be honest, Jongdae enjoyed the thrill it gave him to be up there. He could faintly hear his brothers and sister screaming during the performance while his parents yell, “That’s my boy!” They even created a banner that had his name with the band’s name underneath. Apparently, Dongyoung had found his family and was right there with them. With a great smile, Dongyoung gave Jongdae an enthusiastic thumbs up. However, the one person he wished to be there was not present in the crowd: Kim Sehun. His family was, though. Hiding his disappointment, Jongdae continued to give the performance his all and drifted his attention away from Sehun’s family.

As the group left the stage, smiles, joy, and relief washed upon their faces. Maybe, just maybe, they impressed the judges enough to win this competition. However, Jongdae distanced himself  from the rest and slightly pouted while staring at the group. He promised, he thought, he promised me.

“Don’t give up hope on him.” The voice of Juhyun suddenly appeared from nowhere, causing Jongdae to slightly jump. “He might be running a bit late.”

“I hope so…” Jongdae trailed on. “I really hope so.”

~

After all of the groups performed, the judges huddled together to choose one winner. It had been an agonizing wait. The tension was so thick, Jongdae could literally slice it like butter. It had taken them approximately five minutes to choose a winner as the main judge stepped on stage to announce the winner of this year’s ‘Battle of the Bands.’

She stepped to the microphone, holding the prize of a trophy, and cleared . “We would like to congratulate all of bands today in participating in this year’s competition. As expected, each and every one of them possessed the ability of being this year’s winner. However, rules are rules and only one group must be declared the winner. We are proud to announce that this year’s winner is…” She trailed off.

On the sidelines, Jongdae alternated between biting his lip and his fingernails. Next to him, the rest of Ace ‘N Spades held their breaths in unison.

“... Ace ‘N Spades!”

For a moment, Jongdae forgot how to breathe before he and the rest of the group rushed on stage to receive their prize. Around him, he could hear the shrill voices of his siblings cheering him on.

“THAT’S MY BROTHER!”

“YOU DESERVED IT, JONGDAE!”

“YOU DID IT!!”

Yet, the one thing that stood out most was a person holding balloons and an awfully large banner pushing through the crowd. As the person came closer and closer, Jongdae widened his eyes in surprise.

It was Sehun. His beloved boyfriend holding what seemed like twenty balloons and a large banner, spelling out the words, “Jong <3 Dae.” He seemed out of breath yet nonetheless, he wore a broad smile on his face as he cheered for Jongdae.

The entire night, Jongdae felt good.

[“He gets that from me, you know.”

“Nope. His performing genes come from me, Baek.”

“Clearly, they are from me.”

“Why am I even arguing with you about this?”

“You started it. I wanted to finished it.”

“Shush.”

“... He still gets it from me.”

“SHUSH!”]

A/N:

A double update!! I hope you enjoyed it...? See you guys next week!!

Tootles!!