Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 157

#157.

Watching the members frozen in their poses, the fans held their breath.

Even the fans in the standing area, who had been pushing and shoving just moments before, had now secured their spots and focused their attention on the stage.

The grand beat of 〈Intro〉 from their debut album filled the venue.

No one reacted to the beat of 〈Intro〉 more than the fans from their early days.

With no other albums besides their debut, these were the people who listened to it so much they worried the sound source might wear out.

It felt like the sensations from the time when they first discovered MOST and helplessly fell for them were coming back to life.

Back when not many people knew about MOST, they voted to get them to number one, promoted them everywhere, and streamed their music….

Of course, they still did those things now, but their mindset was different from when the fandom had grown so much.

Hearing 〈Intro〉 from that time after so long was so exciting it made their hearts ache.

Thump. Thump. As the sound of the beat grew louder, the members walked out to the front of the stage one by one.

“Kyaaaaah!!”

As the members’ figures became clearer, the heat in the venue immediately soared.

The members were wearing school uniforms, just like in their early debut days.

The difference from their debut stage outfits was that the uniforms were a bit more like suits.

They wore their ties loosely and unbuttoned their tops to bring out the feel of stage costumes.

The fans went wild for the members who appeared in black school uniforms.

The faces of each member were zoomed in on the large screen.

“······.”

“······!”

The expressions of the members, who were looking directly at the audience and standing in their assigned positions, conveyed an undeniable emotion.

They needed to have more determined and resolute expressions, but it was difficult.

Their first concert.

A stage just for them.

The emotion was as strong as during their fan meetings, no, even more so, and it was surging greatly in their hearts.

“MOST!”

“MOST!”

“MOST!!”

The fans chanted MOST in time with the beat.

Soon, the beat transitioned, and a beautiful piano melody began to flow.

It was the intro of 〈Dynamic〉.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Ah!”

“Kang Do-jae!”

“Ruuuuui!”

“Kim Gyu-sung, I love you!!!”

The fans’ excitement surged all at once.

The ten thousand or so fans.

The time and circumstances in which they came to know the group MOST were all different.

Some saw MOST while watching TV at home without a second thought, some first learned about them from news articles on portal sites, and some saw captures or stage videos on community sites.

‘Falling into 덕통사고 [deoktong-sago, lit. ‘fangirling accident,’ meaning suddenly becoming a passionate fan]’ was literally like an accident, something that could happen anytime, anywhere.

Some had liked MOST since their debut showcase, while others had only come to like them right before the concert.

But no matter when they started liking MOST, once they liked MOST, 〈Dynamic〉 was bound to be special.

A debut song was the beginning of the group and the reason they could be where they were now.

Moreover, 〈Dynamic〉 was MOST’s debut song and the first song to make their name known to the public, as they rode the momentum well from their debut.

The fans couldn’t help but adore it.

The fans loved MOST’s youthful faces and the energy they exuded at the time, and the song 〈Dynamic〉.

And now, it was as if that image was being recreated.

The members took poses one by one, moving in perfect unison to the rhythm of the intro.

The fans, who had been randomly shouting out their 최애 [choeae, ‘ultimate bias’], began to chant the support phrases in unison.

“Yoon Gi-jun! Lee Heung-min! Kim Gyu-sung! Kang Do-jae! Park Woo-cheol! Kim Rui!”

“Together!”

“Forever!”

“We!”

-Open your eyes, look at this world, the place where we are together!

Rui, wearing a microphone, made a flawless start.

His beautiful, clear voice was as clean and clear as it was on his debut stage.

But it felt stronger from the inside out than it did back then.

The voice that came from his belly was echoing loudly through the venue.

-Things that are freezing and things that are melting

-Between the colors that rise and the colors that set

The voices of Woo-cheol and Do-jae, exchanging lines from either side, blended together.

The two of them exchanged glances and split apart to the sides.

In the middle, Gi-jun came out and spat out his rap quickly.

While the member singing the song came forward and captivated the audience with flamboyant gestures.

In the back, they moved while changing formations without making the stage feel empty.

Each individual had a free-spirited feel as if they were putting strength into it, but the overall formations matched perfectly.

That sight gave the fans looking down from the 2nd and 3rd floor seats a great ‘joy to watch’.

-I hear a voice dreaming

“Hear!”

-We spread our wings freely

“Spread!”

The fans raised their voices in support as if they were singing along.

The members continued the live performance, controlling themselves so they wouldn’t get too excited and run out of breath.

-In the world where you and I live-uh-uh!

-We run together-uh-uh-uh-uh!

The parts where Do-jae and Gyu-sung’s high notes exploded alternately were always exhilarating to hear.

It captivated the fans with the vague expectation that even if they ran to their heart’s content on the wide, green meadow, they would never have to worry about falling, and even if they did fall, the spot would be as soft as if it were on clouds.

So the fans enjoyed the 〈Dynamic〉 stage even more to their heart’s content.

-This is!

-This is our dynamic world!

The members’ 〈Dynamic〉 in school uniforms was becoming a stage that gave the same feeling as their debut while showing off their greatly improved skills.

***

The members, who continued to sing until 〈Before sunrise〉, stood in a row in the middle of the stage, dripping with sweat.

Perhaps because they were nervous and more excited than usual, they felt like they were sweating even more.

“-We are MOST!”

One, two. Three.

Now, even without saying the numbers out loud, the six members could bow at the same beat.

The fans responded to the thunderous greeting with a roar.

The eyes of the members looking at the fans were sparkling.

The sight of the fans filling up to the top of the 3rd floor was giving them an overwhelming emotion that was hard to believe.

Do-jae, pressing down on the sweat flowing on his forehead with a prepared towel, also felt an indescribable emotion at the sight.

After introducing their names one by one, Woo-cheol called out to the fans in a loud voice as if calling out a friend’s name.

“BEST-!!! How have you been?!!”

“Yessss!!!”

The fans answered in a loud voice.

“The first concert…. It was something I only dreamed of every day. I didn’t know we would get to do it like this. It’s all thanks to BEST! Thank you!”

Following Woo-cheol’s honest feelings, Heung-min, Gyu-sung, and Gi-jun also took turns speaking.

“Thank you so much! I was really nervous and 떨렸는데 [ddeolryeotneunde, ‘shaking/nervous’], seeing you all makes me feel a little better.”

“I honestly still can’t believe it…. That we’re doing a concert here like this…. Thank you for making my dream come true.”

“….I’ve worked hard. Of course, hard work isn’t everything…. I’ll also do my best to create a stage that will make you not regret coming here. Even if my body breaks….”

At Gi-jun’s heartfelt words, voices like “No…” and pitiful groans flowed out from the audience.

Gi-jun, who had been stiff, loosened his lips a little and continued.

“I’ll try not to break.”

The members laughed a little at those words.

And together, they cast their gaze toward Do-jae.

Do-jae calmly shared his feelings.

“While doing the opening stage earlier, I thought, ‘I became a singer for today, I came to this place’…. That’s what I thought.”

At Do-jae’s heartfelt words, the fans let out another pitiful, yet touched, exclamation.

“I’ve always been happy on stage, but today is the first day since my debut stage that so many emotions have crossed my mind.”

The members nodded slowly with emotional faces.

It was because they all felt the same way.

“As a result, I’m really…. happy. No, I am happy.”

Do-jae had thought that the word happiness was very abstract.

But in his fulfilling mood, the word happy flowed out naturally.

He wished Hye-kyung could see Do-jae this happy in front of her eyes.

Voices calling out his name, “Kang Do-jae!” or confessing, “Do-jae, I love you!” erupted from here and there.

It would have been a confession that the fans couldn’t resist, even if they tried.

“I hope that all of you fans can feel this happiness at today’s concert. And our members too.”

As Do-jae finished sharing his feelings, Rui waved the towel he was wiping his sweat with and shouted to the fans in a bright voice.

“Are you ready?!!”

A roar erupted instead of a single answer.

The members smiled and waved their hands at the fans.

At the same time, the lights dimmed.

The fans raised their voices even more, full of anticipation for what the next stage would be.

The lights soon brightened, and the cheerful melody of 〈First date〉, a track from their first full album, flowed out.

On the screen behind the stage, an LED video of cherry blossom petals fluttering was unfolding, and in front of it, a drum set had been raised.

It was Heung-min who was sitting in front of the drums.

쿵, 탁! 쿵, 탁! [Kung, Tak! Kung, Tak! – Onomatopoeia for drum sounds] Heung-min twirled his sticks flamboyantly and beat the drums.

Heung-min was going to play the drum sounds that went into the intro of 〈First date〉.

“Ah! What’s up with Heung-min?! Drums?!”

“Heung-min oppa!!!”

The fans were surprised and screamed at Heung-min’s performance.

Heung-min’s appearance of rolling up his school uniform shirt and playing the drums with a stick was reminiscent of a high school band.

As Heung-min’s drum performance, which he had practiced hard for a month, came to an end, the five members who had been behind the stage came out to the front of the stage and continued the choreography.

Because it was a choreography that captured the excitement of the first date, the members moved lightly and softly more than ever.

-I already know before standing in front of the mirror that I’m smiling

-The pinwheel turns, the balloon floats into the sky, all of this

The expressions of the members singing with smiling faces were really like those of someone going on a first date.

At the same time, it reminded the fans of their first love, which they didn’t even remember.

-The trembling fingertips, the brushing shoulders, the touching smiles

The members were standing on the stage with trembling and ecstatic faces as if they were really on a date.

They were wonderful smiles and expressions that made them want to freeze the moment in time.

The fans felt ‘happiness’ as Do-jae had wanted, watching the members happily performing on stage.

-See you again tomorrow

Rui, standing in the center, winked and sent hearts, and the stage of 〈First date〉 came to an end.

And before they knew it, only Rui, Gyu-sung, and Do-jae remained on the stage.

It was for 〈Umbrella Shade〉, a vocal-oriented stage.

Soon, the color of the lights and the LED video behind the stage changed, and the mysterious and 아련한 [ahryeonhan, ‘vague and wistful’] 분위기의 intro of 〈Umbrella Shade〉 flowed out.

Do-jae quickly gripped the handheld microphone tightly.