Chapter 111. Things Will Explode (11)
The final stage, where everyone held their breath in anticipation.
Like the previous performances, the Blue Flare team’s stage began in darkness.
*<Grab, Pull>*
As soon as the last team’s keyword was revealed, a thunderous cheer erupted from the audience.
Once the eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness, and they could barely make out the presence of the trainees standing on stage.
Biiiiiiii―
With a sound resembling a warning siren, the stage filled with bright red laser effects.
Like a prison,
or rather, like chains.
Between the falling red lines, the trainees stood, forming a formation as if they were binding each other.
*Dililing―*
Accompanied by a mesmerizing piano melody, the person who had been bowing his head at the center slowly lifted it.
It was Lee Yugeon, who was wrapped in a silver chain connected to a thick leather choker around his neck. The silver chains shimmered under the lights, draped over his tightly fitting black leather outfit.
“…This is insane.”
With a thud, a rapidly falling beat, and Lee Yugeon sprang forward as if being propelled. The other trainees, who had been forming the formation in sync with Yugeon’s hand gestures, moved with perfect coordination.
In an instant, the formation changed.
Jung Siwoo, who had cut his long hair and bleached it silver, began singing with a slightly edgy expression as he removed one of his in-ears.
*Easy to play*
*Everything about you is easy*
Everyone screamed once more at the first line.
The original title was *Set Me Free,* a sexy Latin-style song that was a B-side track of the boy group *Spear* from Renes Entertainment.
The Blue Flare team retained the piano, the song’s primary instrument, but added pop elements to the overall rhythm and atmosphere, slightly reducing the original’s raw sensuality.
Jung Siwoo, wearing a band similar to Yugeon’s choker, covered Yugeon’s eyes with his wrist. Siwoo’s white shirt was slightly loose, but the black cummerbund and leather pants accentuated the natural lines of his slender body.
Yugeon, who had been moving in sync with Siwoo while blindfolded, naturally grabbed Siwoo’s wrist and pushed it away. At the same time, Wonho, who had been standing behind them, quickly joined in.
*Locked away Moonlight*
*Blurred senses,*
*Faint, perhaps already forgotten*
Wonho’s deep and heavy voice clashed with the high-octave piano melody, creating a dissonance. Wonho’s clean and precise dance lines stood out as he moved forcefully, then smoothly relaxed into a light wave, his black turtleneck accentuated by a thin harness.
After his part ended, the three of them moved to the side to change positions. Then, two trainees kneeling on one knee, their arms intertwined, revealed Doha and Hajin, with Eunchan sitting between them, using their legs as a chair.
‘Is this the rap part?’
As if to mock such thoughts, the only member with his shirt buttoned all the way to the top, Eunchan, began to sing.
*Easy, Easy on me*
*Please be easy on me*
*You say it again*
*Come and Easy, My one*
With a unique tone that was husky yet retained the sensibility of a boy, Destinies murmured in surprise. Fans holding Eunchan’s placards barely managed to suppress their screams at hearing Eunchan’s singing for the first time.
Eunchan smoothly moved out from between Hajin and Doha’s arms to the side. All six members formed a formation for the first time and executed their choreography with precision.
*In the love deeper than breath,*
*Look at me suffocating*
As the beat quickened and the sound erupted in a rush, the atmosphere heightened.
At the peak of this urgency, a sharp high note pierced through all the sound, embedding itself powerfully into the audience’s ears.
*Set, me, free―!*
Kang Hajin, who burst forward with the choreography, flawlessly executed the high note while pushing Wonho out of the center. He clasped his hands together like handcuffs, lowered his head slowly, and turned it. The red lights and lasers filled the stage in sync with his movements.
*Endless thirst is filled by you*
*I swallow you, and now I can’t escape*
Through the open collar of Hajin’s leather shirt, a body chain in the form of a necklace was visible, resting against his exposed collarbone. The belt wrapped around one thigh and the dangling earring on one ear were provocative enough. But the reason Destinies screamed in shock was something else entirely.
*Eternal thirst*
*Only you can save me*
As the trainees turned around for the choreography, the back of Hajin’s leather shirt revealed a see-through material, with multiple leather straps tied together. And as if anticipating the intense reaction, Hajin even turned his head slightly to smile at the Destinies while hitting the high note!
The gestures were clearly calculated, but they didn’t feel blatant, thanks to the new choreography created by Yugeon and Wonho.
The two had removed most of the original choreography focused on the hips and waist, centering the new one on keywords like ‘knots,’ ‘shackles,’ and ‘restraint.’
-*Yugeon, Wonho, and Eunchan are minors too. Like Doha hyung, if we try to use our hips, it’ll just look ridiculous.*
It had been Yugeon’s idea. Hajin agreed and suggested that if they toned down the choreography, they should make the costumes bolder.
The more subdued the choreography, the more the outfits would emphasize the sexiness.
*Praying and hoping*
*Set me free*
And the gamble by the two was paying off perfectly.
*Easy Come, Easy Go*
Yugeon, his third eye visible, took center stage once again with a dramatic body twist. But what he sang this time wasn’t just the usual ‘filling in the part.’
*Trapped in the illusion of you*
*Maybe this is a dream*
Yugeon’s blue hair swayed without a break. Despite the intense movements, he confidently rapped with steady breath control. His voice, which once seemed thin and lacking in distinction, now resonated with a unique tone that captivated the listeners.
*See what you do*
*A wave deeper than darkness*
*It rushes within me*
*Kill me slowly,*
With the last lyrics, Hajin roughly grabbed the chain connected to Yugeon’s choker and pulled it. Yugeon’s body jerked back as if truly dying, and he knelt, closing his eyes.
Then, Doha’s deep and heavy voice from the side changed the mood once again, like a drum bass.
“Lee Doha, thank you for being so cunning!!!!!!”
Doha had the most revealing outfit among all the trainees, wearing ripped black jeans and a black sleeveless top made of fabric. The hanbok-like collar and slightly open sides revealed his toned abs.
*Take it easy,*
*Take it easy, Bae*
*You always say*
*Don’t be serious, Bae*
As Doha slowly moved to the center, the remaining trainees executed complex choreography that could easily be considered a dance break. Excluding Siwoo, all of them were among the top dancers in Miro Maze, making this possible.
‘Lee Doha is a god.’
For the first time in a while, Lee Doha rapped without worrying about the choreography, pouring all his rap skills into it. Sometimes slowly, sometimes with speed, he played with the beat, delivering his unique verse. Jung Siwoo added ad-libs and interjections while keeping up with the choreography.
The beat rushed rapidly, then suddenly relaxed, as the beautiful piano melody filled the void.
*Easy, Easy on me*
*Please be easy on me*
*You say it again*
*Come and Easy, My one*
Wonho and Yugeon harmonized. Then they performed a pair choreography, holding onto each other as if whispering. Joo Eunchan’s deep and decadent gaze and Kim Wonho’s powerful, spirited moves created another layer of chemistry. Kang Hajin, who had lightly swept his hair back, turned to the side. The earring cuff on one ear, the scratch at the end of his right eyebrow, the burgundy shadow that subtly highlighted his sharp eyes, and the teardrop mole beneath them were all perfectly captured by the camera angle.
*Your love deeper than darkness*
*Do you see me getting tired now?*
It wasn’t just about being sexy; his singing skills were on another level.
With the final lyrics, *“Do you see me?”* Hajin held the high note for a long time.
The highlight surged once again.
*Set, me, free!*
Siwoo raised the octave and took over Hajin’s ad-lib. He slightly altered the melody of the chorus with more stable breath control and skill than Hajin.
*Praying and hoping*
*Set me free!*
The song quickly approached its end. After leaving a strong impression with Wonho and Eunchan’s bridge part, a short dance break followed.
“What’s up with Yugeon? Why is he like that today?”
“Did he pick today to blow our minds?”
Just as Yugeon had promised, his presence on stage was overwhelming. Although he was always known for his dancing, today was something different.
“Stop smiling, you crazy bastard!”
As if he was truly experiencing the stage with his whole body,
as if there was no calculation in anything happening on this stage.
He drew the audience in strongly and took complete control of the stage’s atmosphere.
With the performance’s center
firmly in place, the other members naturally became more relaxed.
No one even noticed Doha’s slightly awkward dance moves. Amid a solid and precise performance, free and instinctive gestures erupted. As if they didn’t want to be outdone by Yugeon’s carefree style, the other members also became more engrossed in the stage.
For a brief moment, Hajin caught Yugeon’s gaze as he effortlessly completed a breakdancing move that was almost acrobatic and got back up. When Hajin, fully immersed in the stage, smiled slightly, a similar expression returned. The two brushed past each other, preparing for the next move.
Hajin and Siwoo moved to the sides, while the remaining four formed a formation in the center, lightly jumping as the final highlight burst forth.
*Set, me, free!*
Hajin and Siwoo’s ad-libs surged. The final highlight was supported by Wonho and Eunchan as a backing chorus.
*Endless thirst is filled by you*
*I swallow you, and now I can’t escape*
*(Easy Come, Easy Go)*
*(In your suffocating obsession)*
*(I finally feel my freedom)*
Wonho took center stage for the final chorus. His powerful dance moves, utilizing his long arms and legs, drove the song to its thrilling conclusion. As the intense choreography and ad-libs continued, Yugeon and Doha’s rap blended in to create a harmonious sound.
It was a gamble that could have easily turned into nothing but noisy pollution if the teamwork had been even slightly off.
“Wow…”
But everything was perfect.
If any one of them had been missing,
if any one of their parts had been swapped,
if any part of the composition had been different,
everything was so complete that such thoughts didn’t even cross their minds.
The stormy moment passed.
As if everything had ended, only the slow echo of the piano melody remained.
*Praying and hoping*
*At the end of your gaze, the only one.*
*Let me be.*
Eunchan sang the last verse in a whisper as he slowly stepped backward.
*Oh, baby*
*Set me free*
Just like the initial formation, Eunchan enclosed himself among the members, who had bound themselves together. As Eunchan moved into their embrace, the members’ arms wrapped around each other like a snake.
A contradictory ending where they imprisoned themselves to be free.
The six trainees slowly closed their eyes and bowed their heads.
“…….”
The song ended.
Destinies were now in turmoil.
‘Who the hell should I vote for!?’
It was obvious the mentors couldn’t decide either, so they must have pushed the choice onto us…!