t h r e e . 

Rewind: A few hours ago

Junmyeon felt his heart beating fast as they passed the gates of the Kingdom of Red in their carriage.

“Oh my gosh, we’re in the Kingdom of Red.” He heard one of his performing friends exclaimed in another carriage.

Jongdae lifted the curtains up slightly, taking a peek outside.

“You know, this place doesn’t look as bad as it sounds. It’s quite nice here.” He stated, pulling the curtains up.

Junmyeon looked out and nodded in agreement, it does look like a nice place. It was similar to his hometown.

Baekhyun shrugged, “I told you that it was an okay place.”

“I want to take a tour around. I smell something nice.” Kyungsoo said, sniffing the air.

“We can go to our lodging before we set up the tent with the others. If we have time, we can explore the town.” Junmyeon said, smiling at the other three who were sharing the carriage with him.

“I can show you guys around tomorrow. Jongin can join us too.” Baekhyun smiled.

“Great!” Kyungsoo grinned.

“Tonight’s your first performance with us. Excited?” Junmyeon asked.

Baekhyun bit his lips, “A little nervous.”

“You’re good. You learned your part of the choreography quickly, so you will do great, don’t worry.” Jongdae comforted the male.

Junmyeon nodded, agreeing with Jongdae.

***

Setting up the tent for their performance and for their dressing rooms took quite a while, considering how there were some girls who came by and disrupted them with their screams.

It was settled quickly since they had their own security team who kept those girls away. Soon, they managed to put the tents up. It was a thirty-minute break for them before they had to standby for their first performance in the Kingdom.

“Damn, I never knew we were that popular.” Jongin grinned as he saw the security team bringing a group of girls away from their tents.

Kyungsoo made a face, “Sometimes I wish that we weren’t that popular.”

“And if we weren’t this popular, we would be sleeping on the streets.” Jongdae chuckled.

Kyungsoo sighed.

Baekhyun his lips, “I need to breathe. I’m too nervous. Help me.”

Junmyeon looked at Baekhyun worriedly, “Are you okay?”

“Ah, Hongbin has some tips to relax before a performance. You can go find him!” Jongin suggested.

“I’ll go with you.” Kyungsoo offered, which Baekhyun agreed to take.

And with that, the two boys went off to find Hongbin.

“Poor Baekhyun, he’s having the first performance nerves.” Jongdae pouted.

“I can relate well,” Jongin said, “I’m impressed though, he managed to learn his part within a day.”

“I’m glad he joined us.” Jongdae grinned, “He’s really good.”

Junmyeon took a look of his watch, “15 minutes before standby.”

Jongin stood up, “I’ll go do some stretches with Taemin. See you later!”

The two other boys nodded.

“Hey Junmyeon,” Jongdae nudged the other boy.

Junmyeon turned his head and looked at Jongdae, “Yeah?”

“Do you think the Red Queen will come to watch us?” Jongdae asked, biting his lips nervously.

“I honestly don’t know.” Junmyeon shrugged, “I think if she were to attend our shows, Jay would’ve made a big fuss about it.”

Jongdae nodded, “True, Jay would start panicking if she were to come, but seeing how relaxed he is, I guessed not. Let’s go warm up too.”

***

1 minute to standby. Every performer was gathered backstage.

“Today’s our first performance in this kingdom and we’re going to blow their minds with our performances, aren’t we?” Jay grinned.

Everyone cheered, putting their hands in the centre, stacking on top of each other.

“XCITE!” They shouted, raising their arms to the air.

The lights were dimmed and they could hear the audience screaming in excitement. Junmyeon took his place with his instrument, preparing to play the music to get the whole performance started.

He looked at his fellow performers who were with their instruments as well, and with a nod, they started play