music stage.

The lights were dim as the members took their spot on stage. Seongha couldn’t remember a time he felt this nervous. The room was silent despite the small crowd, and his palms were clammy from the jitters. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his racing heart, and then he remembered the words from their leader: "We've got this."

As the stage lights flared on, the darkness evaporated, and the vibrant energy of the performance space enveloped them. The music started, and Seongha felt a rush of adrenaline. He quickly focused on his own expression and the precise delivery of his lines. His part in the chorus was crucial, and he needed to ensure every note was perfect. He concentrated on maintaining a bright and engaging expression, his eyes locked on the front row as if drawing energy from the audience’s anticipation. As the chorus approached, he made sure to project his voice clearly and with the right tone, allowing his nerves to turn into dynamic energy. Every beat felt synchronized with his heartbeat, and he moved with a rhythm that matched the pulse of the song.

When they reached the final pose, Seongha struck his position with a blend of relief and excitement. The crowd's cheers crescendoed around them, a wave of support that made his heart swell. As the last notes faded and the applause grew louder, Seongha couldn’t help but beam with pride.

He executed his best ending fairy for the camera, his fingers forming a heart shape, he kissed them and added in a playful wink. The final touch was perfect, encapsulating the joy and energy of their debut. As the performance concluded, Seongha felt a wave of accomplishment wash over him, knowing that their hard work had truly paid off.

the difference between the vincent in the recording room and the present was inexplicable. the vincent standing along with his teammates, all brimming with exciting energy overspilling into the surroundings, were a force to be acknowledged. they were rookie of course, fresh baita thrown into the ocean with the hope that they would survive.

and survive, they would.

vincent scanned the stage and before he could think further, their leader called for their undived attention with a smile that was more reliable than the government officers handling your important documents.

they are so going to tear the stage.

(or get into the stage and vincent had no intention of that.)

a̶n̶d̶ n̶o̶ o̶n̶e̶ n̶e̶e̶d̶s̶ t̶o̶ k̶n̶o̶w̶ h̶e̶ t̶o̶o̶k̶ a̶ c̶o̶u̶p̶l̶e̶ o̶f̶ s̶i̶p̶s̶ o̶f̶ t̶h̶e̶ w̶h̶i̶s̶k̶e̶y̶ s̶t̶a̶s̶h̶e̶d̶ i̶n̶ h̶i̶s̶ b̶a̶c̶k̶p̶a̶c̶k̶. t̶h̶e̶ p̶a̶p̶e̶r̶m̶i̶n̶t̶ s̶p̶r̶a̶y̶ a̶n̶d̶ f̶r̶u̶i̶t̶y̶ g̶u̶m̶s̶ h̶i̶d̶e̶ a̶n̶y̶ t̶r̶a̶c̶e̶s̶ o̶f̶ a̶l̶c̶o̶h̶o̶l̶.

"let's go!" vincent cheered loud along, vibrating like a bottle of soda water shaken thoroughly.

and the small poster of amongst the crowd that had 'love you Vinnie' written in pretty blue on a baby pink banner certainly boosted his morale.

vincent was all alone in that record room.

and when they got on the stage, the cheers, though paled in conpation to others, still was enough to brighten his mood. under the bright light, they introduced themselves, all smiley and eager to show what they were made of.

and they did. vincent couldn't describe each moment — who did what, what happened, who made a cute gesture or something y pose — but everything felt right.

and just like that, the stage ended. vincent was a sweating mess but the toothy smile refused to die down. he did a small victory dance once the camera moved away and earned himself couple of cheers.

(if he's a bit narcissist, nobody needs to know.)

"thank you everyone! we'll be back soon!"

This was it, coming out of the parked car from the parking lot, he saw some fans line up at the gated area and he stopped standing next to Tayeang and Vincent, at first tugging on both of their sweats and quickly stopping as he noticed that cameras were approaching them. He took his headphones off as he was listening to a podcast about his favorite Demon Slayer episode and stuck a “one sign” up as to signify his first time at the Music Show venue, and then he gave a gummy smile and wrapped his arms around Taeyang and Vincent, as he hurried into the entrance with them. As he entered the venue, all hell broke loose, he was taken away from everyone and put into a chair immediately, it was like a day at Grand Central Station, with everyone coming and going, running at a cheetah’s pace but as efficient as a well-oiled machine. It was organized chaos, that would be the best way to describe the current scene. He was getting his hair straightened again, jeez, it felt like it always had to be straightened, they were doing touch ups on his brown hair that was dyed, as it needed to be a bit more “ash-y” whatever that meant, and next came the part he dreaded the most, the make-up. “Oh great..” The stylists starting laughing and applied his make-up and he was done, which felt like a life time, wasn’t really that long, he was the first one to be done, and he went over to check on the microphone headsets, he saw that they were white colored, “Aww.. no green or blue colored ones?” He laughed a bit and made his way towards s but they were still getting ready, he sighed a bit and sat on the couch waiting for them to get done.

He took is custom IEM out of its case and he admired how cool it was with his initials on one ear and on the other ear his group’s name, he wanted to get the fandoms name but that was not decided as of yet. He played with them a little bit before a staff member lightly scolded at him to not play with them as they were expensive. He started to do some simple vocal warm ups while sitting down on the couch, while playing Pokémon on his Nintendo Switch of course. He looked around and as the members were starting to get ready, his switch was yanked out of his hand by a staff member and put away. Sometimes Hyuk could be such a child, he pouted lightly at the staff member but laughed a bit and moved over towards his team, no one was speaking.. It was a dead silence, and there was something that he needed to do to pump everyone up. “Guys we have worked hard for this we got this, Spectra fighting! Let’s burn it down, well not literally but ya know what I mean!” Swinging his hand back he knocked some water over onto the ground, “Oops..” He laughed a bit and walked up with everyone else.

As soon as he got on stage, every doubt and worry ran away from him, he felt like he was in his element, and that there was nothing that no one can do to stop him, the debut stage, felt surreal. He was excited and he put on an amazing stage face with smiles, but it was even putting on a face for the character, he really felt this way, he couldn’t stop smiling the whole time, and laughing he was having fun, with the members that he worked so hard to debut with, and it all came together, like one happy ending to the first season of an anime. “Wow..” As their music ended he breathed and looked around and saw the camera was on him. “Uh oh.. ending fairy..” He thought to himself, he decided to to a simple finger heart and he ate the finger heart and rubbed his belly. That would signify his love from his fans that he will always cherish and eat up anytime and anywhere! Getting off stage he was jumping up and down with s he was really happy that they successfully performed in front of everyone. “GUYS GUYS GUYS!!! We did it!!” He was so happy that he almost slipped on the water that was for some reason not cleaned up yet from before. Laughing to himself he started to get his equipment off and back into his street clothes to walk back outside to greet their fans for a quick brief minute. “Yah did you all eat yet? Go get some rest and study!”

It felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest and his lungs were going to fly away. Levi was thankful that the outfit his stylist chose for him was fairly comfortable and on brand for him. There was a clear smile plastered onto his face that felt permanent. Could your face get stuck like that? Levi’s thoughts raced with horror as he tried to ease his mouth muscles to no avail.

Turning to look at s, he could tell that his enthusiasm was infectious as some of the negative emotion in their faces was soothed by his smile; at least he could help them even the smallest amount that way.

As the in-ear piece counted him in, all of his worries dissipated and he moved to the beat in tandem with the other members. He nearly missed the timing of his lines and there was a brief moment of fear in his voice, but it was quickly replaced with the appropriate tone and delivery. That was almost a disaster, but he managed to recover.

"I'm here. I'm here." Taeyang was being rushed to the stage by the staff memebers after he was finished with his stylist. The clothes they fited on him were a little uncomfortable but he had to wear it for their stage comcept. He adjusted the headset and mic around the back of his head that rested on his ears. This would take time to get used to. The ear mould was fitted perfectly in his canal however. That was good.

There wasn't time for Taeyang to get into his head about what ifs and what would happen. Any negitive thoughts about not being ready for something like this was all pushed out when he took position on stage. Lights flashed on and the breath Taeyong held slipped out and he began the preformance. Each movement was just like what he practiced. There wasn't second guessing. Only doing.

The lines he sang were clear and on key. He was actually having fun. It was more like an out of body feeling for Taeyang. He couldn't see the audience, only himself along with his group members from above his body. Is this what stage high is? And when it ended, Taeyang posed the way they practiced and breathed heavily now trying to catch his breath but he was smiling. Beaming rather in the spotlight glow. Suddenly he remembered this is what exactly he is here for.

.
. This was really happening. He was really doing it. What if he ed up again just like how he kept ing up in the recording studio? What if all he was good for was his looks and mediocre dancing? Maybe his dad was right. Maybe he should have went to college instead of doing whatever he was doing right now. He looked down, noticing his hand shaking anxiously, his other hand shooting out to grab its wrist. Nervous eyes flickered to his other members as the girls’ performance neared its end. If they were nervous, they sure did a good job hiding it.

Just as he was about to tell the guys he couldn’t do it, he felt someone’s hand grab his, his eyes rounding at the squeeze. Yeonjun. He looked just as nervous as he did. Wonbin’s lips parted to say some words of encouragement, for himself more than anything, but stopped when he saw Yeonjun’s eyes change— those eyes were the last thing he remembered before he was standing under the bright, hot lights, so blinding that he tripped, stumbling into the first position.

“Sorry,” he mouthed to the rest of s, praying that the rest of the performance would go on without any more mishaps.

wonwoo took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. he stole a glance at each of s next to him, silently noting they too, were engrossed in the same emotions of anticipation and nerves. his fingers tightened around his late mother's bracelet, squeezing it for comfort before quickly tucking it away into his pocket.

would his mother be proud of him if she could see him now, standing on the stage? the thought of her filled him with longing, a deep ache in his chest. he missed her presence more than words can express, especially in the moment like this, he needs her the most.

wonwoo swallowed hard, unable to find words to describe his feelings. before he could dwell any longer, the signal came — it was time. his heart pounded in his chest, as the light dimmed and the crowd's anticipation grew louder.

he knew this performance would be on of the most challenging, but he needs to do well. this stage was theirs to conquer and he was determined to give it all, for his mother, for s and for himself.

Yeonjun fiddled with his earpiece, staring hard at the stage but not really seeing it. Another nugu girl group was performing, neon lights and reflections of their colourful reflections bouncing off the polished floor, almost hypnotically. He couldn’t hear the music though, just his heart pounding in his ears, and the nervous growling of his stomach.

He felt sick.

He felt nervous.

Were his parents here?

No, they wouldn’t be.

Were his siblings watching?

Also a stupid question.

He felt excited.

Yeonjun swallowed, but there was nothing to swallow, it was like all the moisture from his body had been out the second he and the members lined up backstage. Blindly, he reached for someone’s hand- whose? He didn’t know- and gripped it tight as the girl group finished their set, running past them. On instinct, he bowed, and then-

He was on the stage, in position, mic at the ready.

Yeonjun’s eyes closed and he took in a deep breath; in through his nose, out through his mouth.

They could do this.

He was definitely pacing. If he stood still he was absolutely sure his nerves would take over and potentially win. He was trying to hide just how nervous he was but the pacing was a dead giveaway he was sure of it. His hand would reach back to check his mic pack every few moments - despite it definitely still being there and working every single time.

But finally it was time. It was time to show what he'd been working so damn hard for. Time to show that it was all going to be worth it. He moved into his position with ease, taking in a slow deep breath to help himself focus; his nerves all seeming to dissipate within moments as soon as the music began and his body began to move immediately in time - as it had done so many times before this.

his hands were shaking, and his eyes were constantly darting around everywhere. he couldn't sit still, every time he had to get on stage his nerves would start acting up. he looks around the place and trying his best to stay out of everyone's way as well as he mindlessly walked around.

"mics guys, mics!"

those words instantly making his hand turn and focused on retrieving his mic now as long as with his earpiece. he shoved the earpiece in and then adjusted his mic pack as well as he looked around still as well. he liked to watch his other members, and all the staff work as well, it made him feel better and not shock his nerves.

he bounces on his feet as he shakes his body loss of nerves, his jewelry and accessories making a jingle sound as he does so. he lets out one more deep breath before they got the cue to get on stage. quickly he made his way on stage and got in place.

the music counting down in his earpiece along with the instrumental of their song, the performance starting.

(starter)
At the backstage, while everyone seemed to be busy running around preparing for the showcase, the manager was occupied with checking the microphones. tapping on each mic, he watches the sound engineer for an "ok" sign that all the mics are working before hopping away towards the group's waiting area to make sure that all members are well styled, hydrated and ready. Keeping an eye on the stage manager to give cue for the group to head up to stage, he silently give a prayer to the rabbit god that the first stage the group take on will be a successful one.