Everything seemed to go so fast. Saeko had successfully managed to pull some strings and talk the CEO of SM Entertainment in letting them organise a showcase with some of the more popular artists signed under the same label, not to mention the goal she had set for Persona. Making them the best-selling rookie group the industry has ever seen. Was she crazy?

The two of them, alongside a lyricist had to write their own song and record it with the band, working on their own dance steps and practice every little aspect of performing. One of the conditions Soo Man had given them was that, aside from organising the showcase, they weren’t allowed to use any method the company could give them. Sure, they could hire people to help them write, record and rehearse but they were not allowed to let it be done by the professional staff that was working for the label and worked with the other artists. If they really were as capable as Saeko had bragged them to be, they would be able to pull it off on their own.

But Saeko didn’t seem that alarmed by that, she was fully prepared to get their debut going. She even managed to get them fitted for their stage costumes and had them delivered to the office just one night before the official showcase. EXO was going to be there, SHINee was going to be there, F(x) was going to be there and they managed  to get Super Junior and TaeTiSeo away from their schedules to perform during the showcase.

The showcase itself was announced on the official SM Town website along with some of the official blogs and twitters. A thousand lucky fans were able to get tickets and see the show in person, others would have to make due with watching in front of their computers at home or an internet café. The set list had been purposely leaked a few days before the showcase to get the buzz starting about the closing act, which hadn’t been released yet.  Even the idols were wondering about this mysterious closing performance, which made the fans even more excited.

Now they finally arrived at judgement day, the day of the underground showcase. Cameras had been placed throughout the tiny theatre and people were running everywhere to get things settled. In the distance the faint sound of fans happily chatting could be heard, but they hadn’t seen any of the other idols yet.

“Three days of hellishly styled dance routines and exercises… ” Riku groaned as he felt all of his muscles screaming out in pain. Three days in a row had they been rudely awakened at the crack of dawn to start with a jogging exercise along the Han River and back, then off to the recording studio or the dance studio to record and rehearse. Sometimes they wouldn’t even leave the studio until late at night and had to get up at dawn once again, leaving barely a few hours to sleep.

Dae nodded, hissing softly as even the slightest of movement made his entire body ache, “We’ll be dead before ever setting foot on that stage!”

“Saeko-nim!”

The two of them looked up to see two men approaching them, recognizing them immediately as the huge stars that they were. Jung Yunho and Shim Changmin, also known as TVXQ. What on Earth were they doing at the showcase, they weren’t on the setlist right?

“Yunho-shi! Changmin-shi! Nice to see you again,” she greeted the men, bowing politely. “So nice of you to come and support our hard-working idols tonight!”

“But of course! We can’t miss out on the revealing of this super-secret closing act, right?” Yunho chuckled kindly and bowed his head.

“Especially after hearing that Saeko-nim had chosen them herself,” Changmin agreed. “They must be promising!”

“Oh, they definitely are!” she nodded and let out one of her pitched laughs.

While their manager and Alex talked to the two idols who had apparently come to watch the show out of curiosity, Riku glanced around the backstage area. The showcase was held in a tiny theatre in Seoul, with a stage set up and all the staff hiding out backstage waiting for all the right cues before getting the idols from their dressing rooms. It all felt kind of intimidating, especially since they were performing on the same stage as higher league idols who would all be there to watch them as the everyone anticipated the ending performance.

The show had started, F(x) was the first to perform with their song Pinoccio, followed by Hot Summer, took a break to have a little chat with the audience and ended with Electric Shock.  EXO was next who performed History. After their performance they had a short MC moment before continuing with MAMA that ended in the collaboration with SHINee who performed Lucifer, Sherlock and Replay. There was a performance of Eunhyuk and Donghae, pumping up the crowd with Oppa Oppa. After them, TaeTiSeo performed their collaboration with EXO and continued with Twinkle.  There was another short MC after which Super Junior come on to perform SPY and y, Free & Single.

“Ah, I feel so nervous!” Riku peeped quietly to himself as he looked around.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to greet Alex’ smile, “Good luck and give it your best shot, alright?”

“Yes!” Riku nodded and looked around, finally noticing that Dae wasn’t by his side. “Aish… Where did Yurin go?”

Riku finally spotted Dae, standing near the entrance to the stage, looking at the audience that had started to fill the seats and were waving around their banners, light sticks and balloons. The loud voices of the crowd were starting to intimidate Dae.

“I-I’m going back!” he turned away from the stage, his eyes widening with fright. “I can’t do it! I can’t perform on stage like this! Infront of Shawols and ELFs and Sones… They will kill us!”

Stage fright had hit Dae hard and it was slowly starting to affect Riku’s confidence as well.

As Super Junior finished their performance, all of them left as Saeko took the stage with a mic, causing a buzz to carry through the audience.

“On behalf of SM Entertainment, I would like to thank all of you for coming tonight to support your idols in person, and also you at home watching the live broadcast!” She spoke in a different tone of voice, much softer and kinder than usual. “To end us off tonight, we have a brand new group performing. Please show your support for PERSONA!”

“Come on, you guys are up! Go! Go!” The stage manager pushed them on stage as Saeko had exited on the other side. Suddenly they found themselves in the spotlight with their microphones in hand and a crowd of people staring at them.

“Y-yo!” Riku quickly pulled himself together, “Persona’s Riku imnida!”

“D-D-Dae imnida…” Dae stuttered and both of them froze after that as the audience let out an awkward cough and silence.

“Opening lines!” Alex hissed from the side. “Say your opening lines! Remember what you rehearsed!”

Riku nodded hesitantly, “We are the princes amongst men, that is why we will always greet you as such! And you greet us back the same! Let’s try it! YO!”

Dae raised his hand, struggling against his own stage fright, “YO!”

It was supposed to be a witty, funny line to get the audience warmed up to them, but it sounded rather corny and made the audience let out a soft boo, making the two of them wince in awkwardness.

“Saeko-nim, that was such an awkward scene!” Changmin slightly winced, watching his two new dongsaengs embarrass themselves on stage. “Maybe it’s too soon for them to make their debut?”

“This is a test,” she replied simply. She had given Persona several tests since they had signed onto the label such as the stress of proving themselves like this and having them work day after day on their own to create their own debut song and performance. “If they can’t handle this, they won’t be able to make a name for themselves.”

“Your tactics haven’t changed one bit, have they?” Yunho crossed his arms with a slight smirk on his face and she merely nodded.

“Anyways, please listen to us…” Riku continued desperately as he felt their dream shatter as more and more light sticks in the audience turned off.  “Persona’s…-”

They got cut off by the sudden sound of a girl screaming as she jumped up from her seat and ran towards the stage, wearing a red shirt with the TVXQ logo on it.

“Stop that girl!” Security immediately jumped on stage, including stage-hands and producers. All tried to get a hold of the girl but the weapon she held in her hands kept them away. She was carrying a gun, a small black handgun and the crowd let out a collective gasp as she started waving it around, holding the security guards at bay.

“Don’t come closer! I’ll definitely do it!” she held the gun to her head and the security guards froze, backing up a few steps as cameras started flashing at the scene.

“What is this girl doing?” Riku whispered softly to Kai, afraid to make a move as the distraught girl with the weapon was standing in front of the stage.

“I want to die!” the girl screamed at the security people, announcing her intentions with the gun mere inches away from her head. “I have waited so long for my precious Rising Gods of the East to be reunited once again! It prayed! I wished for it!”

Her eyes sought out to the two idols standing on the side of the stage with Saeko and Alex and rested her eyes on them, “And now I shall die with my gods!”

The two idols seemed confused and slightly afraid at the words the girl spoke. Clearly she was a fan that had lost her mind completely, distressed or desperate for whatever reason that ultimately lead her to standing here with the gun raised at her own head.

“I was promised the return! I was promised the rise! I waited so long for that day! And then, when the set list released, I knew it. I knew my waiting was over! I knew that they would once again be united and I could watch in amazement as my heroes would take the stage again! TOGETHER!”

“L-listen, I know that you love your group but…” Dae’s words got cut off as the girl swooped around and pointed the gun at him for a moment.

“I will not forgive you! None of you! Instead of giving us gods, they gave us peasants!” she waved the gun at the two of them before turning around pointing the gun at her own head again. “I refuse to live in a world where Gods get pushed aside for peasants. I won’t accept!”

“But you can’t!” Riku called out desperately, “You can’t give up now! If you give up then your Gods will lose hope as well!”

“What?” the girl croaked, barely able to speak with the tears clogging up .

“For an idol, every fan is another ray of sunshine that brings them hope! An angel on earth to which they reach out in song to share their hope and love with those who send them hope and love in return!” Riku turned to Dae, signalling him to help out.

“Uh… That’s right!” he nodded. “But if the fan loses all hope, the idol does to. And slowly, every bit of hope will disappear!” Dae carefully took a step forwards.

Riku joined his side and nodded, “But if you are a true believer of your Gods, if you are a true fan that has faith in your idols, you have to share that happiness with everyone!”

“Yeah! If you show the world that you never lose faith, neither will the world. And then your Gods will keep the faith as well!”

“Really?” The girl sniffled, her hands trembling with the gun still pointed at her head. Naturally, they didn’t intent to make the girl believe that a reunion of all 5 members of TVXQ would definitely happen. But for people who had followed the industry for a long time now knew the hardships of the fans who waited for their beloved group to unite once again. And they couldn’t just let an innocent fan end their own lives and scare so many others because of a dispute like that.

“Yes, as long as you keep hoping and keep supporting…” Riku nodded.

“Your idols will never stop shining and never give up themselves!” Dae finished.

The girl stared at them for a moment before her arm slowly lowered itself and let go of the gun that fell to the ground with a soft thud. The girl started crying, covering her face with her hands as the security guards quickly moved forwards, kicking the gun away and gently pulling the girl away from the audience, guiding her backstage to deal with.

There was a brief silence that slowly got broken by whispers and eventually a soft applause started somewhere in the theatre. Though no one could really see who started it, everyone followed and soon the two members of Persona got a standing ovation for their hero act.

The two exchanged looks before turning to Saeko who motioned them to continue with the show.

“Uh…” Riku started. “T-that was really something, wasn’t it?” The audience replied in a loud roar of yes. “That was unexpected, but thankfully it all worked out in the end…”

“Now please let us calm those nerves with our song,” Dae sighed happily, “Today, please let Persona sing on behalf of every hopeful fan out there, thinking of their favourite idols!”

Neither of them felt any fear now. They remembered why they wanted to be an idol, Riku remembered the young girl from long ago who got lost in the crowds and felt happiness and hope through the sound of BoA’s song.

“This is… 3 Seconds!” Dae and Riku said the title together and the music began, the two of them singing and dancing as they had rehearsed as everyone in the audience was screaming and clapping for Persona.

As Persona sang on stage, only aware of the audience in front of them and blinded by the lights, the other idols had gathered backstage to watch the new group close the showcase.

“Very impressive…” Yunho nodded, watching the two perform with a smile on his face. “They managed to stay calm even in such a situation…”

“I wouldn’t know what to do if she had popped up in front of us like that… Especially since she is our fan…” Changmin nodded.

“Like I said before… These two are promising…” Saeko nodded, keeping her eyes on the two at all times. “They will change the industry for good. If they are allowed to make their official debut that is… Sooman-nim?”

In a shock, everyone else turned as they noticed the company CEO standing here, his arms crossed as he was looking at the monitor to watch the performance. He hummed softly, nodding his head thoughtfully at her question.

“This is becoming interesting…” The two certainly seemed promising. Although their start was rather awkward, they managed to keep their heads cool in a stressful situation and managed to save someone’s life. Not to mention that their voices were rather unique for male performers. “Arrange a meeting with them, tomorrow. We will discuss their future as debuting artists for SM Entertainment.”

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I just really wanted to recreate the feeling of the Persona members reaching out towards a distressed person without having to add the third character to the group. And I think this helped pretty nicely, didn't it? What would you do if someone like the desperate fan showed up like that? Would you be able to stay calm?