Chapter 922: We are, well... uh... henchmen. (12)

This was their third stage at an American awards show.

And their first stage on Billboard.

“Ughhh....”

The youngest hugged himself with both arms and trembled.

“I’m so nervous... seriously....”

“You that nervous?”

“Really nervous.”

Jiho pouted.

“Shouldn’t you stop getting nervous by year five? You get nervous every single time before a stage.”

“Come here, Jiho.”

If you’re going to be nervous, you might as well be nervous together.

Backstage—

Ri Hyuk was fiddling with his mic.

Junghyun was stretching, cracking his neck.

Biju had his eyes closed, memorizing the stage path so he wouldn’t get lost.

Everyone looked tense.

And—

“...Same here.”

My face in the mirror was just as tense.

Compared to the stadiums we had performed in, this audience was much smaller.

And yet, I was nervous.

Maybe because these were general audience members.

Unlike fans who cheered no matter what we did, these were people who would judge the stage with cold eyes.

What would they think of Midnight Sun, which we were showing them for the first time?

Would they enjoy it?

Would they understand it, even though the lyrics were in Korean?

Would it be fun?

“...No.”

This wasn’t the time to worry about that.

Ten minutes before the stage.

Time to raise the energy as much as possible.

“Lackeys. Arms around shoulders.”

“Got it.”

“Alright. Let’s jump.”

“Ya ya~ ya ya ya ya~ ya ya ya ya ya ya ya~”

We jumped together, building up energy.

A light sweat.

Rising body heat.

As the tension loosened, a bit of endorphin kicked in.

“Alright!”

I gathered them and pressed our heads together.

“This is a very important stage today.”

“That’s right.”

“This is the first and last time Midnight Sun will be shown on American TV. For the general audience, this is basically the only thing they’ll see from us.”

“Yes!”

They nodded.

“This is a big opportunity.”

“Yes.”

“What did we always think about back when we were trainees?”

“Beef?”

“......”

That wasn’t wrong.

As I blinked, Biju laughed.

“That we wished we had just one chance.”

“Exactly.”

A thought we had every day as trainees and rookies.

—If I just get one chance....

It was something I had carried from my trainee days until now.

A lot had changed, but that one thing hadn’t.

“But.”

I looked at them.

“Let’s not get too nervous.”

“If you put too much force into the stage, the audience will feel pressured too. So relax a bit...”

I smiled.

“Let’s go up there thinking we’ll make just one person in the audience our fan.”

“Sounds good.”

“Just one person. That’s enough.”

There’s no stage loved by everyone.

No matter what you do, opinions will split.

If you try to please everyone, you end up with something mediocre.

But—

If you go up there thinking you’ll win over just one person...

Somehow, you can perform everything you prepared with confidence.

“Well.”

I smiled.

“You all know this already, but I just wanted to say it.”

“It felt like ASMR. Very intense.”

Jiho’s comment made me laugh.

“Shall we do a cheer?”

“Yep.”

We high-fived and bounced in place.

A staff member pressing their headset said,

“Sunny? You can go up now.”

“Yes.”

I nodded and stepped onto the stage.

Thunk.

Thunk.

The metallic stairs echoed as I walked onto the darkened stage.

Under the lit MC section, a singer was speaking.

“Whew....”

Backstage, the members gave me thumbs up.

‘Fighting.’

‘Fighting.’

I smiled back.

Today’s short intro before the main stage was my solo part.

A slightly different format from the original Midnight Sun stage.

—Will American audiences understand a Korean song?

Korean audiences and our fans would understand immediately.

Ah, it’s about insomnia.

But American audiences wouldn’t.

Especially since Midnight Sun was a song where I had asked the lyricist to minimize English as much as possible.

People said mixed English lyrics were harder to understand.

Even for me—

If a full English line came out, I understood it.

But if it went like “My heart is beast, your heart is fire,” I’d get confused and check the lyrics.

So—

—The stage must be understandable even without knowing the lyrics.

That was the goal.

To make Midnight Sun easy to understand.

So anyone could grasp it at a glance.

That’s why this stage would show a slightly different direction from the original message.

[Please get ready.]

The countdown came through the in-ear.

The crowd heated up.

The presenter introduced us.

“You’ve waited a long time for this! Some of you have been waiting for today!”

“Waaaaaah!”

“A global group loved by millions!”

The cheers kept rising.

The presenter made a finger heart.

“Please welcome NewBlack!”

The stage began.

The venue shook with cheers.

Like a final weapon had appeared.

“Wow....”

“Did you hear that?”

“I can’t get used to it.”

Even general audience members were impressed by the Souffle fans’ cheers.

Then the lights came on.

“...Oh.”

A ballroom-like atmosphere.

Dancers in elaborate outfits surrounded someone at the center.

A breathtakingly handsome man.

‘That outfit is insane.’

Wooju stood at the mic and began.

Soft English lyrics flowed.

“Tell me you love me.”

Cheers erupted immediately.

“Take my hand

I will be yours

And you will be mine”

A pleading voice.

Yet unstable.

Then—

[Uuuuuuuu!]

“Wait—booing?”

“No—ah!”

It was recorded.

The dancers around him were booing.

The lights tightened.

His expression changed.

Despair.

Then realization.

A faint smile.

The music darkened.

As he walked—

His clothes fell away.

Revealing a sleek black outfit.

“Waaaaaah!”

Then—

The rest of the members appeared.

A gritty guitar riff.

A villain-like vibe.

Biju began.

“Hello, it’s me

You close your eyes again

Like you don’t see me”

Then—

Ri Hyuk’s chorus.

“Cause you’re a villain.”

That one English line—

Made everything clear.

—Don’t try to be loved by everyone.

Become a villain who loves yourself.

The stage transformed.

The dancers joined them.

The performance grew.

The audience leaned in.

“Wow....”

Even without understanding the lyrics—

They understood.

“This is insane.”

Jiho flew across the stage.

Playful.

Sharp.

‘He’s insane.’

Compared to Moonlight—

This was different.

Not a boy band.

Artists.

A completely different category.

Their eyes burned.

As if saying—

Even if we collapse, we’ll keep dancing.

“Wow....”

Every member—

Top tier.

Expression.

Rap.

Vocal.

Dance.

A dream team.

The audience fell silent.

Watching.

“Cause we’re villains

There’s nothing to fear

The night is ours”

Lights exploded.

—The night is ours.

Then—

“Yeah

This is our time”

And it truly was.

When the stage ended—

Cheers exploded.

Backstage—

They collapsed, exhausted.

Laughing.

And somewhere—

People searched:

Midnight Sun

It didn’t end with the stage.

New fans were already being made.

Not one.

But many.