Chapter 144. Invincible Youth (3)
“……”
“Wonho, here’s some water.”
“…Ah. Thanks.”
Inside the waiting room tent.
Wonho reacted a beat late to Taehyun’s words as he handed him a bottle of water.
Taehyun quickly checked Wonho’s complexion, thinking his delayed reaction might be due to what had happened on stage earlier.
However, contrary to his worries, Wonho didn’t seem pale or sweaty like before. But even as he accepted the water bottle, his gaze remained fixed on something.
“……?”
Following Wonho’s gaze, Taehyun saw a monitor broadcasting the stage in real time.
Standing in place, Taehyun also turned his attention to the monitor.
On the LED screen behind the stage, photos from the Youth Unbeaten team’s childhood to the present were slowly sliding by.
The camera, which had been showing all four members in a full shot, switched to a solo shot of Haru.
Haru, dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt, blue shorts, white socks, and beige Converse sneakers, made eye contact with each of his hyungs on stage.
*Ah, little butterfly, fly far and wide,
Stay where you wish,
Or go where your heart desires,
For wherever you are,
A flower will bloom in its own way.*
“……Ah.”
Was it the pure encouragement in Haru’s heart that touched him?
Taehyun felt his eyes welling up without realizing it as he listened to the lyrics.
He had thought the lyrics were warm when he heard them through Hajin, but hearing them in this setting made each line feel as if it were soothing him.
The camera then panned to Seok on the left. Overlaid with his image, Siwoo’s face appeared on the right.
As Hajin’s piano, Siwoo’s guitar, and the percussion from the MR gradually built up, the two began to sing simultaneously.
*Where am I?*
*(Even in rough waves, a sprout emerges)*
*Surely I’ve been running out of breath,*
*(Even in the bitter cold, the sun shines through)*
*Without knowing where I’m heading,*
*(So, little one, it’s okay if you stumble sometimes)*
*I’m left all alone, stuck here,*
*(You already know how to stand back up.)*
Their voices intertwined and blended together.
Though the lyrics, belonging to separate songs, didn’t align perfectly, the message and emotions conveyed were clearer than in any other song.
Siwoo and Seok looked at each other, finally able to smile comfortably.
*Where are we, now?*
*(Ah, little butterfly, fly far and wide)*
*Is it too late to go back?*
*(Your wings are beautiful just as they are)*
*Even in a dream, stars do not rise,*
*(But, little one, it’s okay to simply drift)*
*Will I disappear like this?*
*(Sometimes, life is just about enduring.)*
This time, Haru and Hajin’s voices harmonized.
The stark contrast between their vocal tones felt like a conversation between a boy and a young man.
After the intense singing, a musical interlude followed.
Accompanied by the rich sound of Siwoo and Hajin’s guitar and piano, Seok played a sorrowful violin solo. Haru swayed gently to the rhythm, occasionally playing the top line of *Where am I* on the xylophone when it was his turn.
“…Impressive.”
“Yeah. They prepared well. Feels like I could cry, right?”
“…Yeah.”
Taehyun, feeling relieved by Wonho’s soft response, smiled slightly and sat down beside him.
The performance of the four members was reaching its climax.
Seok’s violin, as if depicting the instability and wandering of their inner selves, climbed to higher and higher notes.
Then, suddenly, all the instruments fell silent.
*In the days when I couldn’t love myself,
The beautiful flower that finally bloomed,
In the times when it hurt because I couldn’t love myself,
The small breath that finally embroidered happiness.*
Only the voices of the four members of Youth Unbeaten filled the space.
Their a cappella harmonies were more beautiful and powerful than any instrument.
And then, as all the instruments swelled back together, the song rushed towards its climax.
*Ah, little butterfly, fly far and wide,
Stay where you wish,
Or go where your heart desires,
For wherever you are,
A flower will bloom in its own way.*
Kim Wonho savored those lyrics for a long time.
He tried to keep the harmony of the four members in his memory for as long as possible.
Wave after wave crashed, breaking the sandcastle in his heart.
Only after everything was broken did Wonho realize.
He hadn’t even tried to protect that sandcastle.
*…How can I ask others to love me,
when I can’t even love myself?*
*I feel so overwhelmed and burdened by where I stand.*
*How can I ask people to love and support me,
when I myself doubt my abilities and talent every day?*
*…I don’t even believe that I can bloom.*
When he realized that the biggest wave was himself, a new question arose in Wonho’s sea.
*Have I really done my best?*
*Did I sweat as much as those I envied?*
*Did I desire it as much as those who passed me?*
*Even if everything ends, will I be able to say that I have no regrets because I tried my best?*
*Was I really doing my best?*
“Kim Wonho.”
“…Huh?”
Lost in thought, trying to find answers to the new questions, Wonho looked up at the voice calling him.
Standing before him, with his blue-black hair swept back, wearing a black turtleneck, a gray hoodie, and a blue Sukajan embroidered with ornate patterns, was Yugeon. He seemed ready to move out for his stage.
“Here.”
“……?”
When Wonho looked at him, puzzled, Yugeon nodded his chin and extended his fist forward. Unsure of what it meant, Wonho stared blankly, but Yugeon just shrugged and extended his fist towards Wonho again.
“…What, what should I do?”
“Cheer me on.”
“Huh?”
“I’m rapping because of you. I’m so nervous I could die, so hurry up and cheer me on.”
“Why is that because of me… No, you chose it.”
“You said after Blue Flare that I was better at rapping than singing. That’s why I’m doing this. Do you even know how much special training I’ve gotten from Doha-hyung because of you?”
“What a ridiculous…”
Wonho looked at Yugeon with a bewildered expression at his shameless blame-shifting.
But Yugeon didn’t care, and just waved his big fist in front of Wonho, insisting he hurry up since they had to go.
In the end, Wonho lightly bumped his fist against Yugeon’s, and Yugeon stepped back, satisfied.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“I’ll crush it out there.”
“……”
“And I’ll say it was all thanks to you in the interview.”
“…You’re seriously ridiculous.”
Wonho couldn’t help but burst out laughing at Yugeon’s continued shamelessness.
Because he knew that this was Yugeon’s way of comforting him.
“Don’t mess up the lyrics.”
“I won’t. I could do it in my sleep now.”
“Alright, I’ll be watching.”
Reassured by Wonho’s slightly more typical tone, Yugeon put his hands in his pockets and turned to head towards his team.
And just as he was about to take a step, he noticed Taehyun watching him proudly.
Taehyun’s expression looked oddly like he was admiring a 7-year-old who had successfully run an errand, which somehow annoyed Yugeon. So he took one hand out of his pocket and flicked Taehyun on the forehead while he was off guard.
“Ouch! Hey!”
“Cheer hard for me, hyung~”
“…What are you guys doing, seriously?”
As soon as Taehyun reacted, Yugeon quickly walked away, escaping.
Wonho burst out laughing again as he watched the two.
And in the background of all these scenes, the Youth Unbeaten team’s song was reaching its final moments.
Wonho glanced at the now slightly flustered Taehyun, trying not to show it on camera,
Then at Yugeon’s team, who was heading to the stage,
And finally at the Youth Unbeaten team’s performance, now reaching its end as the red sunset transitioned to the blue night sky.
“……”
…I’m envious. Of how confident they are.
Kim Wonho still envied them.
But it was not the same as before.
*I want to… be like that too.*
At that moment, the cornerstone for a new castle was laid in Wonho’s heart.
* * *
Only the sound of Jung Siwoo’s acoustic guitar remained on stage.
When that sound faded away, Siwoo finally sang the last line.
His breath was as delicate and precise as ever.
*Where am I?
After all this wandering, what comes next?
A night without stars, with no answers in sight.*
Siwoo slowly raised his head to look at the night sky.
Just like the lyrics, the black, starless sky seemed closer than usual today.
*Still,
Shall we try to fly one more time?*
It was Hajin who suggested changing the last lyrics to quote Siwoo’s father’s song.
In Maze of Miro, the phrase “to fly” already carried
some symbolic weight,
And Siwoo found the idea of flowers blooming where he stood a much more satisfying conclusion than walking on a trackless sandy beach in *Where am I*.
“……”
The song was completely over.
It didn’t take long for the countless Destis, who had been captivated by the music as if in a midsummer night’s dream, to snap out of it and start applauding.
““Encore! Encore! Encore!””
Weather, song, lyrics.
Everything fit together perfectly to create a beautiful stage, and the audience responded with the highest praise they could offer.
Destis wiping away tears began to appear everywhere. And of course, the situation wasn’t much different for the Youth Unbeaten team who performed the song.
“Ah~ Seok, don’t cry! You did great! You did great!!”
“Siwoo, your father’s song is amazing!”
The camera caught Gongseok, who had already started crying during the final chorus,
And Jung Siwoo, who couldn’t hold back his tears as soon as the song ended, overwhelmed by emotion.
Hajin and Haru, comforting and soothing their hyungs, stepped forward to greet the audience at the front of the stage.
“Hey, aren’t you going?”
“…Ah.”
And someone else, standing in a corner of the plaza, was lost in thought as he watched the scene.
“What the heck, you said you’d just watch for a bit and go.”
“…Hey, sorry. You guys go first. I’ll skip tonight.”
“What? Suddenly? You’re not coming?”
“Just go ahead. I want to watch this a bit longer.”
Though his friends asked why, the boy in the black baseball cap just waved them off, signaling them to go without him.
“Hey, hey. Let’s just go. Taehee wants to watch this some more.”
“Yeah, but still. We’ve been waiting because of him…”
“Yoon Taehee, it’s been a while since he’s seen his hyungs, so he might want to watch a bit longer. Hey, Taehee. We’re going, okay? See you next time.”
“Yeah. Take care.”
One quick-witted friend seemed to understand the boy’s feelings, brushing off the other friends’ questions as they bid farewell.
The boy in the black baseball cap, Yoon Taehee, quickly waved goodbye and turned his gaze back to the stage.
“…They’re all so cool.”
And in someone else’s heart,
Another wave began to rise.