At exactly 2 pm, the duo left their shared dorm room and made their way towards the venue. The venue wasn’t too far, it was just by the largest quad in the middle of the campus where they had the biggest field. They could easily travel by foot, but the contestants needed to enter through the back to make sure no one sees them or each other.

Seems they were stricter about the ‘not seeing each other part’ than he thought. Before he could get off the car, Minhyun had to tell the other vocal students that he had one of the contestants with him. Suddenly, he felt like one of those important guests in a fashion gala because the students (who are currently playing their roles as the staff) crowded the car door and covered his face from the sides while Minhyun guided him in front to his waiting room.

They continued walking through the maze of a corridor until they eventually reached a room with the name ‘Vega’ plastered onto the door. After he was finally ushered inside, Seongwoo looked around the room before Minhyun followed him inside. It was like the usual waiting rooms they saw on television. A vanity was set up by the side and a sofa by the opposite end while a small monitor was placed in the middle of the room. The screen was currently blank, but a website where the competition was going to be streamed was open.

“Sorry, but you can’t leave this room until the competition starts. All contestants are strictly kept confidential except for the staff that assisted you earlier.” Minhyun explained but Seongwoo already figured that was the situation anyway, “Is this going to stream the competition live?” He gestured to the blank monitor and Minhyun nodded in confirmation. Seongwoo felt a rush of excitement at the whole thing. He was finally here, at the very least just an hour away before the very opportunity could either give him the chance to turn over a new leaf or none at all.

Of course, he hoped that it could reap some good results.

“One last thing…” Minhyun starts that instantly snaps Seongwoo out of his thoughts. “Those need to go.” He says as he points at the spectacles that have always rested on Seongwoo’s nose bridge. “W-What? B-But I can’t―” He defensively starts but Minhyun cuts him off before he could start.

“You can’t see, I know. I’ve been your roommate for months. That’s why I brought your contacts with me. Got it from the bathroom while you were fixing yourself.” The older male casually cuts him off as he hands the small container which indeed contained the new contact lenses Seongwoo’s mother gave him. “No worries, I made sure to clean it before bringing it of course.” He added to reassure Seongwoo who looked hesitant about the idea. Yet, he knew he had to use it since the mask wasn’t probably made to accommodate his glasses as well.

“...Alright. I’ll put it on before going on stage.” Seongwoo mutters as he takes the case and placed it by the vanity. “Well, I have to help with the preparations now. Daniel said he’s on his way though so just stay put. I made sure to give him access here.” Minhyun said in which Seongwoo nodded, slightly feeling all bubbly inside at the news of Daniel arriving soon. He needed all the support he could get right now, it was an important day and he felt like he couldn’t breathe due to all the nerves.

Minhyun left shortly after he handed Seongwoo his mask carefully placed in a box. The mask was definitely a work of art that perfectly portrayed his alias for tonight. The mask was shaped in a way that covered the upper half of his face from his nose and up while a black veil was stitched at the bottom to cover the lower half. However, what amazed Seongwoo was the very design that portrayed him as ‘Vega’.

The mask was painted at one side in various shades of blue and purple melded together to look like the galaxy with few white specks that represented the stars of the night sky before the entire design fades to black as it progresses to the left. By the right side of the mask were the three constellations ―Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila― with their brightest stars painted with a faint glow and thin white lines that interconnect the three to form the Summer Triangle asterism.

It was simple and it strongly lived to its galaxy theme that Seongwoo loved it. He was obviously going to keep this after the competition.

Regardless if he wins or not.

~ .oOo. ~

“Please be ready in 10 minutes, we’re about to start the program in 15” Came a voice from Seongwoo’s door, probably one of the staff so Seongwoo’s calls back with an affirmation. He’s been fidgeting with his fingers for the past… 5? 10? 30 minutes? He lost track of time since he was too focused on the live stream of the entire event. The screen was only portraying the audience coming in and how everyone else was getting ready while he just feels lost if he should be excited or not.

Minhyun was too busy, he was one of the organizers after all and he wouldn’t want to disturb him any further. Jaehwan and the others were probably by the crowd by now (He’s just hoping they aren’t holding up any distracting or embarrassing banners). Daniel is nowhere to be found despite how Minhyun said he was already on his way. Seongwoo took in a deep breath and clenched his shaking fingers.

“I-It’s going to be okay…” He chanted to himself with as much positivity that he could muster, “You can do this… Minhyun believes in you, Daniel believes in you. Heck, even your vocal major friends believe in you…” He continued to take deep breaths until his hands died down to small tremors. No doubt, the nerves were still there but at least he was able to reduce it to a significant amount.

“You’ve been warming up the whole time while waiting… They don’t know you… Not yet, at least… You can do this…” He continues to repeat as he walks over to the vanity where he placed his mask, the intricately designed mask. “I gotta wear my contacts first―” He continues to mutter to himself as he carefully slips his spectacles off his face and carefully placing it down the vanity.

Everything was quite a blur with only blobs of color and the light of the vanity fillings his vision. Luckily, the contacts weren’t hard to locate. With much care and precision, Seongwoo carefully inserted the contact lenses into his eyes and blinked for a few moments to get used to the sensation. It’s been a while since he last wore contacts that it all felt new yet oddly familiar. After he finally adjusted to the feeling he looked back at the mirror and was greeted by the most surprising and strangest sight.

The very reflection that was no doubt his own, was staring back at him with icy blue eyes that could make people mistake him as a vampire. “W-What? But the contacts―” Seongwoo suddenly became frantic, it was most definitely the case he had on his side of the bathroom but why the hell was it blue?!

“Please come out in 3 minutes, the performers need to be on standby soon”

“Ah, y-yes!” Seongwoo called out to the staff who has once again knocked on his door before looking back at his reflection. “... Ah screw it, just deal with it later―” Not like he could do anything about it right now. After a few fixes to his hair, Seongwoo carefully puts on the mask and fastens it at the back before making a few jumps to make sure it wouldn’t fall off.

“Alright… Here goes.” After another deep breath, Seongwoo finally opens the door and follows the staff to his position backstage. They were already informed beforehand that they all needed to sing a song at the start of the program as an entrance of the contestants so they all had to split the parts. The song was pretty fitting for the objective. The vocal majors chose an original song, ‘Pick Me’, by their composing professor Ryan Jhun.

The song itself was quite high, thankfully so was Seongwoo’s vocal pitch so it gave him quite an edge. Though he also had to shoulder some burden by taking charge of the first part of the chorus. It wasn’t too hard, he was just afraid he’d crack again so he let out another deep breath. He already warmed up enough, it was just a matter of calming down so that’s what he did (at least that’s what he was trying to do).

“All contestants, please take your places!” And so they did. After a few more seconds, the familiar instrumental started to play and the crowd cheered as the vocal major emcees made their entrance to start off the song. A minute afterward, the crowd cheered at the entrance of the first competitor.

눈부셔 Shining Shining

(Dazzling, Shining Shining)

제발 내 맘을 Pick me Pick me

(Please pick my heart, Pick me Pick me)

The first contestant wore a costume with the concept of a gift box. The box was red with white polka dots, therefore, his mask donned a similar design with a green ribbon hanging off at the side. The second competitor followed suit, mask donning a deep blue shade and a few flowers scattered all around his face while his outfit resembled that of a sailor uniform.  

너와 있는 이 시간

(Time spent with you)

난 너무 빨라 불안해

(Goes too fast, I get nervous)

And finally, it was his turn. No one knows who you, are you have no history here, so just do what you always do. With another deep breath, he takes his first step with the mic now by his lips.

멈춰줘 Hold me Hold me

(Stop, Hold me Hold me)

마지막까지 Pick me Pick me

(Until the end, Pick me Pick me)

He did better than expected, which was obviously a good thing. Now that he was at the stage, he got a good look at the audience and immediately found the gang jumping around in excitement the moment he came out to sing his lines. Deneb was already present but Vega was still missing his Altair. Yet, he couldn’t afford to be distracted now and instead needed to focus more than ever. The high pitched chorus was coming and so he took another deep breath as he pushed the in-ear to hear himself better.

오늘 밤 주인공은 나야 나 나야 나

(Tonight, the star is me, it’s me, it’s me)

너만을 기다려 온 나야 나 나야 나

(Only waited for you, it’s me, it’s me, it’s me)

Ah, finally I could breathe! Seongwoo thought to himself as he stays put in their fixed positions on stage. He still had the whole end of the chorus to prepare for the next lines he had. For the meantime, his focus went back to the crowd where he finally spotted Minhyun as one of the backstage crew who gave him an encouraging smile. Seongwoo still smiled back even if the other wouldn’t see it either way before shifting his gaze back to the crowd.

The venue was definitely packed with plenty of girls by the front since it was only the guys who were scheduled to compete tonight. That doesn’t stop Minki and the others from pushing themselves as close to the front as possible though. With every passing second, Seongwoo starts to wonder if Daniel was okay. Why isn’t he here yet? What if something happened and no one knew? Before his thoughts could completely drown in all things Daniel, his mind snapped back to reality just in time to sing his next line.

이제는 Call me Call me

(Now Call me Call me)

말해줘 내게 빠져 버렸다고

(Tell me you’ve fallen for me)

Just one more chorus and I’m done. Breathe, Seongwoo. You’ll be fine… Was his latest mantra before he took another breath to start off the final chorus.

오늘 밤 주인공은 나야 나 나야 나

(Tonight, the star is me, it’s me, it’s me)

너만을 기다려 온 나야 나 나야 나

(Only waited for you, it’s me, it’s me, it’s me)

Out of faith’s mischief, Seongwoo’s eyes instantly caught sight of a figure that stood out the most in the sea of people that stretched across in front of him. Despite everyone else wearing black coats to keep themselves warm from the cold January breeze, a sole individual was daring enough to opt for a simpler get up. The person simply wore a red oversized hoodie paired with an inverted white cap and what Seongwoo realized were locks of silky-looking silver hair.

But what surprised Seongwoo the most was the face of the said unique individual for it was no one else but his Altair, Kang Daniel.

~ .oOo. ~

“Is the program starting?” Daniel questions with a tinge of panic in his voice. The entire dyeing process took much longer than he expected and now he was running late. Jisung already went on ahead to keep him updated, “It’s just about to, you need to get here soon or you might miss the opening.” Daniel sighed in slight relief while running to Seongwoo's dorm to get changed, his shoes were probably thrown somewhere by the doorway but he’ll worry about that later. Right now he had to quickly go through whatever clothes he has left in the duffel bag he brought to their dorm room. 

“What are most of the people wearing?” He asked that has Jisung raising an eyebrow from the other end of the line.

“What?”

“What are most of the people wearing? Like the color or something.”

There was a pause on the other end and was instead filled with rustling sounds, probably Jisung moving around to get a look. “Most of the audience went for black. Why?”

“Nothing, I’ll try to get there as soon as I can!” He finished and immediately hang up without waiting for Jisung’s reply. Luckily, he just needed to wear bright colors to stand out (Though his newly dyed hair was already a big stand out on its own). The now silver-haired male hurriedly removed his shirt and threw it at the side before putting on a new one with an oversized red hoodie as a finish. It was probably his brightest piece of clothing right now considering how most of his bright ones were in the laundry (Or probably lurking somewhere in the corner when he throws around his clothes). “Oh! Last bit―” He mumbles as he puts on his sun necklace, the one that went with Seongwoo’s moon one, and hurriedly left his room. Though Daniel spots the said moon necklace on his peripheral vision where it was hanging by the side of Seongwoo's vanity. As a last minute idea, he also snatches it off from the mirror and carefully tucks it into his pocket.

Before Daniel could run out to the door, he caught his reflection in the mirror and groaned when his hair seemed to resemble his bed hair because of all the rushing he did and his clothes probably contributed to it too. “Ah screw it―” Instant solution: nearest white snapback hanging by Daniel’s bed. The Busan boy instantly snatches it from the bed and wore it backward before he went back to his shoes that ended up on both ends of the room and ran out of the door.

The faint instrumental, screams and singing voices he could hear from afar was enough for Daniel to cut the usual 15-minute walk to an 8 minute run for the sake of not missing anything important. Seongwoo could be looking for him now and he wouldn’t want to upset him for not being there. Fair enough, the sea of people were indeed filled with people wearing dark colored clothing, therefore making him stand out from the rest like a sore thumb.

“Daniel!” The said male looked up and saw Jisung waving him over and so he jogged over to his side and took in deep breaths while holding onto his knees for support. “D-Did… Did I miss anything?” He muttered in between pants. Fortunately, Jisung shook his head and pointed to one of the contestants on the stage with a galactic-themed mask donning the summer triangle on their left cheek. “No doubt that’s him.” Daniel couldn’t help but stand on his toes until Jisung gave him a small push.

“Just go!” Jisung encouraged and Daniel beams before maneuvering himself through the crowd until he was close enough to the stage, just in time when Seongwoo finished his line in the second chorus. With Daniel’s contrasting color from the rest, Seongwoo’s eyes instantly landed on Daniel’s figure that has his frozen in surprise. Partially because he was relieved that Daniel was finally there and because he caught sight of the silver fringe.

Minhyun also saw him from backstage. It wasn’t long before Daniel received a text from their vocal major friend.

From: Minhyun

Seongwoo’s the last pair to compete,

Already gave you access to his waiting room.

Daniel has never loved Minhyun so much in his entire freshman year.

From: Daniel

You’re an angel, I don’t deserve you. ╥ ╥

From: Minhyun

Shouldn’t you be on your way?

Oh, right. Daniel thought to himself as he pockets his phone and rushes backstage. “Woah there, who are you?” One of the staff, probably a vocal major, stopped him before he could enter. “I’m here to see Vega.” He simply said but the other only raises an eyebrow as if he found the very interaction ridiculous. “Vega is a contestant. You can’t just barge in here whenever you want” The other reprimands him with a stern tone and Daniel slightly panics at the remark. "You don't understand! I'm―!" The other cuts him off before he could even finish his sentence. "Save it, you aren't getting past here" Daniel instantly looked deflated, shoulders sagged as he sighs in frustration when a voice suddenly intrudes on their interaction.

“Let him through.” A voice suddenly cuts through the air and the staff member was about to rebuke but the argument died in his lips when he saw the person was none other than a senior from their department, Kwak Youngmin “B-But Hyung―” The vocal senior simply raised his hand, “Didn’t Minhyun inform you about Daniel?” Youngmin asked the staff as he looked back at the boy in a red hoodie, “You are Daniel, right?” The red hoodie kid nodded so Youming stepped aside to let Daniel pass through.

“I’m Kwak Youngmin, by the way. Vocal dept senior. You can call me Aron if you find English names easier to use.”

“Ah, I’m pure Korean actually. But thanks, Aron-hyung!” Daniel called out as he steps inside, all set to burst into a sprint. “Oh! Um, is it alright to call you hyung? I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask yet―” Aron only chuckled amidst Daniel’s embarrassment. “It’s alright.” The Busan boy once responds with a shy smile and a quick bow before running off to the corridor looking for the door with ‘Vega’ plastered onto the center.

“I really should’ve asked, Aron-hyung seemed like a nice guy―” Daniel muttered in between breaths when the hangul by the corner of his eye caught his attention so he skidded into a halt to look back. Daniel took a few steps back and re-read the signage multiple time to make sure it wasn’t his eyes playing tricks on him but indeed it was ‘Vega’ that was plastered onto the door. He instantly felt giddy so he stood up straight and cleared his throat to hopefully gain Seongwoo’s attention and gently knocked on the door.

It only took seconds for Seongwoo to reply with a soft ‘it’s open!’ so Daniel gently opened the door and closed it behind him. There on the couch sat Seongwoo who was currently watching the first pair through the live stream in the monitor, mask currently held in his hands. It seemed he was too immersed to even bother looking up so Daniel had to clear his throat again to get his attention. This time he was successful because Seongwoo snapped up at the sound, eyes widening when Daniel came into view.

Seongwoo practically launched himself at Daniel and nearly endangering his mask in the process. Luckily, Daniel was quick enough to prevent him from dropping it on the floor. Seongwoo instantly clung to Daniel like a koala who refused to let go and buried his face in Daniel’s shoulder. “Where have you been?” He shakily asked while Daniel placed the mask down to wrap Seongwoo into a hug while drawing comforting circles on his back.

“Sorry I took long, the whole hair dyeing process took longer than expected.” Seongwoo looked up and Daniel suddenly felt like all the air was knocked off his lungs. Instead of the soft brown that he anticipated, he found himself staring back into eyes as blue as the morning sky. Seongwoo looked equally taken aback at the silver locks that now framed Daniel’s features. He hesitantly reached out a hand and swiped at the fringe softly falling just above Daniel’s eyes.

“It’s so… shiny…” Was all he could say as he continued to run his fingers through Daniel’s silver hair but Daniel didn’t mind and even removed his snapback to let Seongwoo do so. “Is this… Is this why you were gone?” He asked and Daniel nodded in affirmation, “I’ve been thinking of doing it for a while now and then I thought this was the perfect way to stand out, you know? So did it work? Did I stand out?”

Seongwoo chuckled at the childish tone Daniel used as if he was a preschooler who sought praise from his teachers and parents. “Yes, it most definitely did. I actually love it.” He complimented as he ran his hand through Daniel’s hair. “It suits you well.” And so he was rewarded with the brightest smile he has probably seen tonight (maybe even for life).

Daniel pecked him and showered him with reassuring comments about how he was doing a good job of handling his nerves. He loved it when Seongwoo smiles so wide enough to show his perfectly imperfect teeth but something else was catching his attention today. “By the way…” He slowly started as he looked back at the smaller male’s eyes. “...Have you always had those?” He asks while eyeing the blue irises as he swipes his thumb across Seongwoo’s cheek.

“A-Ah.. well…” Seongwoo said with a sheepish scratch on his cheek, “I-I haven’t quite… figured it out either.” Now Daniel is just confused, “What do you mean?” Yet, the smaller male just lets out an awkward laugh, “Minhyun was the one who brought it with him so… I’m not quite sure where these even came from in the first place.”

Well, that made more sense. Though Daniel has to admit, it was definitely a mistake gone right. For tonight, Seongwoo looked like a prince of the north who ruled over a land of ice. His eyes radiating a strange aura of mystery and intimidation similar to that of the moon. 

And speaking the of  moon...

“Oh! I knew this would still look perfect…” Daniel muttered to himself as he takes out the moon necklace that matched the sun around his neck, the very necklace he gave to Seongwoo in Incheon. He carefully untangles the knots across the chain and puts it around Seongwoo’s neck. Luckily, it went will with Seongwoo’s entire outfit.

“Both the moon and the stars, now you’re literally the night sky in my eyes.” Daniel cheekily states with his hands on his hips to show how proud he was of the overall appearance. Seongwoo just hits him out of embarrassment again.

“Stop being so cheesy!”

Oh wow I didn't realize how close we're getting to the end. Now I am really pressured to wrap this up. I'm currently in the last chapter but I still have an epilogue to write ^^' If I don't finish it by then... then I'm sorry ; v ; Guess it's because I'm getting too hyped about my next work? Can't rush this or it would turn out trashy tho lol so it's better to take it slow anyway

Soooo yeah as usual, thanks for taking some time to read this and ‘til next Sunday! ٩( ᐛ )و