Chapter 170: Chapter 170

Waaaaah!

The cheers gradually faded away, and before I could adjust to the light, the spotlight that shone on me dimmed.

Swoooosh….

At that moment, the sound of waves crashing roughly could be heard.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Splash, splash….

At the same time, the VCR started to play.

– “How did I come so far?”[1]

Following this, Kang Ichae’s husky, low voice began the narration.

It borrowed a famous line from a well-known sci-fi movie based on a book.

– “Everyone asked us, wondering if we had something.”

Swoooosh….

The VCR showed close-ups of the members wearing outfits identical to the ones on stage.

Though slightly different in detail, they wore black, tight-fitting spandex shirts with webbing harnesses featuring buckles crossing their shoulders and chests.

– “Then we told them, we never saved anything for the swim back.”[2]

I glanced down at the floor and brushed my lips once.

The tight black turtleneck was a bit uncomfortable.

To complement the song and avoid hindering the intense dance, this time we decided to go with techwear that minimized decorations.

I purposely requested short sleeves for my outfit.

So that the faint scars would show.

– “Some laughed, some worried, telling us there is definitely a limit.”

The short and abrupt sound of a viola echoed.

The low-register alternative rock music gradually escalated.

I recalled the memorized movements in my head.

The moment I heard the plucking of viola strings—the prearranged signal—I moved.

Walking straight ahead, then five steps to the right—

– “But they do not know one thing.”

—then two steps forward again.

In the VCR video, the waves grew more violent until they filled the screen.

Splash!

Lightning struck, and in the dark night, a lone star appeared above the sea.

I walked slowly in the darkness.

Standing behind the backup dancers who had arrived earlier, I briefly brushed my eyes.

And finally, I recited along with Kang Ichae’s words.

– “There’s no gene for fate.”

There’s no gene for fate.

Boom, boom boom!

Wasn’t this the perfect phrase for now?

Lightning struck the sea, and the sound of thunder roared.

Every time the sound of the wild waves swept the stage, the back dancers’ bodies swayed as if they were waves themselves.

Just in time, the title of the song appeared on the screen.

[Stardust]

This song, composed with the motif of a movie that suggested humans might have once been part of the stars, had a fitting title.

Boom!

As the piercing spotlight hit me, the backup dancers split to the sides, and the camera quickly zoomed in from the center.

“Black waves crash in, my heart pounds wildly,

Am I suffocating?”

Waaaaah!

Strangely, the surrounding sounds buzzed, and even my own voice was hard to hear.

As if I were underwater.

“Breathless, water fills in, I feel like I’m going crazy with fear,

Are we on the end?”

Suddenly, I remembered how Kang Ichae was reluctant to give me these lyrics.

Even though I didn’t think much of it at the time.

Thinking back to those days brought a slight smile to my lips.

“What are you talking about?”

Along with that, a strange sensation engulfed me.

Perhaps from overexerting myself over the past few days, heat spread through my body, making me a bit dizzy, and the end of my voice was slightly rough from countless rehearsals.

Even so, I knew.

“Hear this Thunder!”

That this would be the best performance I’ve ever done.

Boom!

As I swung my arm widely, white lightning struck from the VCR behind, and thunder rumbled again.

At that moment, my ears cleared, and the sounds rushed in.

“A spark ignites in my heart, I will risk it all,

I bet everything from the start,

The point of no return.”

A shiver ran up my spine at the sharp edge of Kim Seonghyeon’s voice, which I hadn’t heard before.

In the very front, Jeong Dajun was fiercely rampaging without fear.

“Hear the thunder in my heart,

We’re not drifting, we’re raging,

We never saved anything to go back,

We can never return, not for the first time.”

Feeling the sticky sweat flow as I turned my body back—

“Whatever you call this moment,

Riot, Fate, Stardust,

I don’t care what you call it,

The outcome is already decided.”

—Kang Ichae, with a calm expression, stepped forward with the light at his back.

“When there is darkness, there is light,

Lord, Please give us faith.”

It was amazing to see someone who seemed to believe in nothing but Cheongbeom and himself rapping such lyrics with that expression.

Seong Jiwon, who was waiting for his part beside me, glanced at me once before striding forward.

“Stardust, the night sea is adorned with stars.”

As Seong Jiwon’s clear voice rang high, the stage effects burst brilliantly.

“We have come through the darkness for this moment.”

And then…

Boom!

Crash!

Boom!

The stage alternated between a blinding white light, as if it could burn everything, and complete darkness to create the effect of lightning striking the waves.

“We are becoming Stardust.”

Lights scattered so brightly that my vision turned white, decorating the space around me.

Even though I didn’t stop dancing, my eyelashes trembled.

When I thought about the audience, our fans, and probably my dongsaeng watching this performance right now—

“We risked everything, fearlessly moving forward,

We never saved anything to go back.”

—I snapped back to reality.

So even as I bit the inside of my cheek, I wore a confident smile on the outside.

“We’re not lost, we’re moving forward,

We never saved anything to go back,

We can never go back to the beginning.”

As the members slowly gathered in the center, the sound of screams hit my ears.

Swoosh….

We made eye contact and slowly headed toward the stairs set up behind us.

Swoosh….

White flower petals fluttered down from the sky.

“Towards the light.”

The song was racing towards its end.

“All the way to the end,

Regardless of what lies ahead.”

I tilted my head back, roughly pushing my sweat-soaked hair away from my face.

One by one, the members sat on the stairs in their designated spots.

After climbing to the top alone, I turned around and wagged my finger at the camera.

The roar of the crowd, incomparable to any other stage, twisted my lips into a grin.

Yeah, didn’t I say it?

“We are becoming stardust.”

This was going to be my best performance.

Boom!

.

.

.

“Gasp, gasp….”

As the stage ended, I was out of breath.

My hands trembled uncontrollably, and I felt like I couldn’t keep myself in check.

The lights went out, and the cheers of the audience pierced through my in-ear monitor.

My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would leap out of my chest.

As I stepped backstage to calm down, all the staff threw in their comments.

“Awesome! That stage was insane just now!”

“I got goosebumps. It would’ve been even better if I had seen it from the front!”

“Seo Hoyun, you were flying on that stage!”

Ignoring the members who were stealing glances at me while holding towels, I grabbed a staff member’s arm and asked,

“Is the voting over now?”

“Yes?”

“The voting.”

The staff seemed slightly flustered but quickly updated me on the situation.

Despite the noisy atmosphere, I could infer enough from a few overheard words.

Voting would close in thirty minutes, with the interim results showing a close race with High Five.

“Thank you.”

I bowed my head in gratitude and approached the members.

“―Hyung.”

Jeong Dajun, who had been lively on stage, paused while wiping his sweat and looked at me.

“Take a break, Jeong Dajun.”

My mind was clear, but my emotions were so heightened that I felt like I was floating.

Securing second place is certain.

But what I needed was first place.

The key was how well my plan had worked and how much public interest and votes had influenced the outcome.

“Seo Hoyun, drink some water.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

– “We are closing the voting now!”

Back in the waiting room, we waited for the results.

Silence circulated among the members.

A bit of time passed after the voting closed, and then we heard a staff member’s voice.

“The Dawn, please come up!”

“Yes.”

As we slowly walked back on stage, the fans of each group waved their light sticks and cheered.

Knowing I wouldn’t care too much, Kim Seonghyeon and Seong Jiwon stood in front of me, slightly obscuring my view.

“Now, we will announce the results!”

I wasn’t as nervous as I expected.

“5th place, Bercy!”

The group’s name appeared on the screen behind the stage, followed by the MC Ha Seoyeon’s voice.

“—3rd place, TEW!!”

Applause and acceptance speeches followed, leaving only two groups remaining: High Five and The Dawn.

Jeong Dajun clung closely to my side.

“Now, only 1st and 2nd places remain. Before the announcement, let’s reveal the total scores for the two groups.”

With MC Ha Seoyeon’s smooth smile, the tension-building BGM filled the live hall.

“The total score for 2nd place is 29,200 points. And with 12,590 votes from the live performance, the group with a total score of 30,430 points, ranking 1st place, is—!!”

The scattered lights suddenly focused on me.

“—congratulations—!!”

Boom!

“—The Dawn!!”

Colorful confetti exploded, and petals fluttered down.

The cheers were so loud they made my ears numb.

A shiver ran through my spine, reaching the top of my head.

A thrilling sense of pleasure accompanied by overwhelming relief.

“…Ah.”

Until the end, I couldn’t overcome the point gap.

Only after selling my family affairs did I barely manage to take first place.

Done.

Anyway, it meant that I had achieved what I wanted by sticking through it.

“…Ahaha.”

My face was facing forward, but my hands repeatedly clenched and unclenched to feel the reality.

Pushing away the runaway conscience that tried to creep back into my chest, I laughed brightly.

Then…

Ding!

[Quest □□!]

[You have completed □□ in Shining Star Season 2!]

[…]

[…]

[…]

[…]

[—….]

[E R R O R]

[—Some confidential information of the player has been leaked unrelated to the game.]

[The settlement of rewards will be delayed.]

[Processing—….]

As if something went wrong, the system window popped up wildly, and then the phrase “processing” appeared with an ellipsis slowly moving, showing no further response.

Is it because I spilled my family affairs first?

Originally, a significant increase in vocal stats should have been given as a reward.

That’s fine.

I wanted to experiment with the penalty anyway, and it seemed things worked out not too badly.

I decided to think about the details later and brushed off the paper flowers stuck to my hair.

Then, I took a step toward the members.

“Kim Seonghyeon, you—”

But I couldn’t finish my sentence.

Suddenly, Jeong Dajun, who was beside me, hugged me tightly and started crying his heart out.

“Hyung, huh, Hoyun-hyung….”

“…”

Tears rolled down as if in a comic book.

“Hyung, we… huhuh….”

I roughly guessed the reason, so I just hugged him back and ruffled his hair.

“You said you’re an adult, Jeong Dajun.”

“But… huh….”

I didn’t know why, but seeing Jeong Dajun cry made me feel a bit better, so I mentioned what I had said after the first competition of Shining Star Season 2 with a smile.

“How is it? Didn’t I say I’d take you on a roller coaster ride to first place?”

Then the maknae cried even more, like a faucet turned on.

I was a bit flustered, but I had no one else to pass him on to calm him down.

Seong Jiwon was also crying with his head down beside him.

And behind him was Kim Seonghyeon.

Is everyone crying?

Just in case, I checked Kang Ichae, but he was just staring ahead with an expressionless face.

“Stop crying, stop.”

Once Jeong Dajun calmed down a bit and pulled away, the High Five members approached and offered handshakes.

It was a customary procedure to show respect between the winner and the losers in front of the camera.

Kang Yeonhu, who had a natural smile, made a slightly odd expression when he stood in front of me and then extended his hand.

“Hoyun, you did well.”

I shook his hand.

“Thank you.”

Kang Yeonhu frowned at my light response but soon burst into laughter.

As the chaotic atmosphere settled, it was time for the winner’s remarks.

Seeing Kim Seonghyeon, who shed as many tears as Jeong Dajun, I thought he wouldn’t be able to speak properly, so I took the mic first.

“—Hello.”

Today, the lights felt even brighter.

“I am Seo Hoyun from The Dawn.”

Everyone’s eyes gathered, and I deliberately smiled more shamelessly.

A position I reached purely with my narrative.

It was time to deliver the remarks everyone wanted and expected.

[1] Anything bolded were originally in English.

[2] The actual line from the movie was “I never saved anything for the swim back.”