Chapter 56:
Chapter 56:
Chapter 56
Dream big.
Ian had no time to indulge in his thoughts as Awi was busy touring local events.
A month had passed by quickly due to their hectic schedule.
Awi finished their local tour with the ‘Water Bomber Music Festival’ in Busan.
And then they immediately started working on their first full album.
“You have to spray the water towards the sky, not the audience’s faces.”
“Yes, yes. Of course, hyung.”
“Wow, I’m nervous.”
Despite the extreme schedule, the members’ expressions were unusually bright.
“This is the Water Bomber that only famous singers can perform at, right?”
“Does that mean we’re famous singers too?”
“It’s all thanks to Jinhyuk hyung’s connections. He did a great job.”
Jotaewoong, Kim Juyeong, and Ian said in turn.
Park Jinhyuk scratched his head at his younger brothers’ fuss.
Awi had been excited since they heard the news that they were invited to the ‘Water Bomber Music Festival’.
It was a stage that could only be done in summer, where the audience brought water guns and shot them, and the singers on stage sprayed water and enjoyed themselves.
“Wow, our name is here.”
“Where?”
The poster had the names of the singers in order of popularity, with the font size getting bigger as they went up.
Awi was written in small letters at the very bottom.
It was a poster that showed the stark gap between them and the top singers.
“It would be nice if we were up here next time.”
Lee Juhyuk pointed to the middle of the lineup. Ian said.
“Dream big, I’m here.”
“Lee Yeol~”
Ian pointed to the top row, where the font was the largest.
Kim Juyeong whistled.
“Good. That’s how our members should be.”
“We’ll go up there next year.”
Lee Juhyuk laughed out loud.
The members checked their earpieces and microphones.
“I wish our stage outfits were like this too.”
The stage had water sprayers installed, so the singers inevitably got wet.
Awi was only wearing white t-shirts and jeans.
“There might be sudden bursts of water, and sometimes the audience shoots water guns at the singers, so be careful with your eyes.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“There’s a water gun on stage, but don’t spray it too much at the audience. Just enough, you know?”
Park Dongsoo prepared towels in advance and said.
“I hope the floor isn’t slippery.”
“It would be embarrassing if we fell.”
“Guys, there are a lot of people here.”
The members jumped nervously on the spot.
Their faces showed anxiety about what would happen if there was no response from the audience on their anticipated stage.
[Why are you so anxious? If there’s no response, just strip.]
‘What?’
[This kind of festival is all about exposure. No response? Strip and you’ll get a fancam.]
Jin said seriously as if he was reciting a wise saying.
What nonsense.
Ian grabbed his microphone.
***
Awi was only going to sing three songs: their debut song, their recent song, and a cover song.
They were allotted 15 minutes of time.
If they were popular singers, they would have 30 minutes of performance time, but they didn’t have that kind of hit song or recognition yet.
“Hello everyone!”
“Hello! We are Awi!”
These events had a festive atmosphere, so if the singers showed their rookie nerves, it would dampen the audience’s mood.
“Do you all know us? Wow, you’re really responsive!”
Awi ran around the wide stage and greeted the audience.
‘I see a lot of fancammers.’
Ian scanned the signs that Jin flashed.
There were people who followed these events even if they weren’t fans.
They were people who uploaded high-quality fancam videos of various singers, and some of them started their viral fame from these videos.
“Are you having fun?”
Park Seodam communicated with the front audience.
The staff raised their hand to signal the start of the music.
The members found their dance positions.
The first song was Awi’s debut song.
‘Wow, what is this? They’re singing along to our debut song…’
As he danced and sang, Ian heard the audience’s chorus in his ears.
Ian made eye contact with Jotaewoong who was dancing behind him.
‘Did you hear that?’
Jotaewoong nodded his head.
The cheers weren’t loud, but they were definitely singing along to their lyrics.
The members sang enthusiastically as they ran around on stage.
“Wow… do you know our debut song?”
The members asked nervously after finishing their first song.
They didn’t have internet access so they couldn’t check their popularity.
“Yes!”
“You’re handsome!”
The audience’s cheers were especially loud, because they had been sprayed with water guns by the audience and the water sprayers on stage.
“You know us, so we have to work harder. Right?”
Awi had an unusually good average height and physique.
They had taken care of themselves because of their activities, and they also started working out together because of Ian’s daily exercise routine.
Their silhouettes were revealing, and Jin’s signs flashed on and off.
“Should we try spraying this too?”
Lee Juhyuk grabbed a water gun and sprayed it at the audience.
The other members also grabbed water guns and sprayed water.
“Our second song is our recent song.”
“Can you follow along if we teach you the fan chant?”
The members skillfully induced the audience’s response.
The audience who came to enjoy the stage cheered.
The chorus was louder than before, maybe because it was their recent song.
‘This is fun.’
He had never been near such an event in his Kim Yongmin days, but the water jets, the audience’s cheers, and the festive atmosphere were palpable.
“Ahhhh!”
Ian went to the edge of the wide stage and took care of the corner audience.
The audience waved their hands.
Ian approached them and high-fived them randomly.
Some of them held his hand and didn’t let go.
“Everyone, make some noise!”
The audience followed the fan chant that they had taught them beforehand.
Park Jinhyuk was so excited that he took off his top and threw it.
The audience’s cheers got louder.
“Thank you for having fun with us!”
Kim Juyeong and Jotaewoong also took off their tops and threw them.
‘Whatever.’
All the remaining members, including Ian, took off their tops.
They swept up their hair that stuck to their faces.
“This is the last song, and it’s the one you’ve been waiting for.”
“It’s the glorious song that made us half of the number one singers, right?”
“We’re going to sing it together.”
There were many events that required ‘Ju-jak’ to be played.
So Lee Ju-hyuk and Park Jin-hyuk arranged a special group version of ‘Ju-jak’ for Awi.
It was a thoughtful gesture to have fun without leaving anyone out.
“It’s that song, right? Even though we couldn’t go to ‘that place’, we still got paid for the event.”
Jo Tae-woong’s blunt remark made Kim Hyun hit his back.
Park Dong-soo, who was listening backstage, facepalmed, and the audience laughed.
“I didn’t participate in that song, but thanks to our talented Jin-hyuk hyung, I got to be on Water Bomber. That’s why it’s good to have many members, right?”
“Someone has to carry you, right? But Tae-woong, you should rap. Your rhymes are killer.”
The peers of Jo Tae-woong didn’t let his snarky comment slide. Kim Ju-young and Ian picked up his words.
“Before we play the last song, we have an album coming out this fall. We hope you listen to it a lot.”
“…We have to finish quickly now.”
Lee Ju-hyuk also did some quick promotion in the meantime.
A staff member came up fast andsignaled the end of the stage.
“Alright! Then! Shall we sing ‘that song’?”
“Let’s tear up the stage!”
The music started, and as the intro of ‘Ju-jak’ began, the audience jumped up and down.
Awi spread out on the stage and held their microphones.
“I play with the beat
I’m different from fakes like you”
“Everyone!”
The audience waved their hands above their heads and sang along. Ian pointed his microphone towards the audience.
“Ju-jak flies~”
“Louder!”
“Ju ju-jak flies~”
“Good job!”
The members ran around the stage with smiles even as they were hit by water jets.
“Thank you everyone!”
The last song ended.
Awi quickly exited backstage because another singer’s turn was right after them.
“Wow, but it’s cold when you keep getting hit by water.”
“I got hit in the eye earlier.”
Kim Ju-young’s eyes were red from irritation. Park Dong-soo hurriedly handed him a towel.
“But it was fun.”
“Do you think we can come again next time?”
The members smiled brightly.
-Guys I just saw you on Water Bomber and you were legendary todayㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-The fancammers were there, when will they uploadㅠㅠ? I want to see again
-Your live was amazing and I died at Ju-jak stageㅜㅜㅜㅜ!
└Died…?
└You died?
└Hey crazy preview came out
The community posts related to Awi exploded with previews posted by fansites.
And in the evening, they flipped out again when high-quality fancams uploaded by fancammers came out.
Not only the community related to Awi, but also various SNS posts made people who weren’t interested in Awi watch their fancams at least once.
The idol group that turned Water Bomber into a hellish inferno
-So handsomeㄷㄷ
-ㅁㅊso hot
-Who are they? Their bodies are insaneㄷㄷ
-Who’s the one who said ‘that place’?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋSo funnyㅋㅋㅋ
-Ian’s slip came outㅋㅋㅋㅋ
But the slip was Choi Ian crazy ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└He’s too honest ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└But he really was crazy ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Unaware that their names were trending, Awi knelt down in awe at their long-unseen dorm.
“Home…! It’s home!”
“We made it back alive…!”
Awi had been invited to many events, so there was a change in their situation.
Now, an auntie would come and clean and do laundry for them when they had no schedule.
It used to be their job to take turns doing those chores.
“Is this really our dorm that used to be a pigsty?”
“It’s so clean.”
“People need to make money after all.”
“Dong-soo hyung! Are you going home?”
Manager Park Dong-soo could finally go home. He spoke listlessly with dark circles under his eyes.
The auntie might have cleaned Awi’s dorm, but his own home was probably a pile of dust by now.
“You guys rest tomorrow, and start working on the next album the day after. I’ll leave some vodka for you. Order something delicious.”
“Hyung, you worked hard.”
“Hyung, what if you fall asleep while driving? Just sleep here and go.”
Ian grabbed Park Dong-soo. Park Dong-soo shook his head.
“I want to rest comfortably at my own home. You guys did well too.”
“Go home safely, hyung.”
As Park Dong-soo left the dorm, the members collapsed on the living room.
“Who wants to shower first?”
“Can’t we just sleep without showering?”
“Ew, you dirty bastard.”
Kim Ju-young kicked Jo Tae-woong with his foot.
Jo Tae-woong groaned and rolled around.
He wasn’t kicked that hard, but his acting skills were Hollywood-worthy.
“I don’t have the energy to go to my room.”
Kim Hyun moaned.
“But it was fun.”
Everyone smiled at Park Seo-dam’s words. The audience who watched them and their cheers.
The sound that kept ringing in their ears even in the van on their way to the dorm. It made them happy, but also somehow empty.
“I wish it could always be like this…”
Ian murmured as he drifted off to sleep.
Diamond also had many people who looked for them when they debuted.
First of all, they were cheap as rookies, and they had a decent debut song. But those people who looked for them were only temporary.
In the end, singers had to do well for people to invite them more often.
Awi hoped that people would keep looking for them for a long time.
They thought so as Ian closed his eyes.