Chapter 395: Red Rouge (14)

Of course, I wasn't fazed by Stew Rion's demands. He just seemed to be thinking ‘Oh, I see. You've got quite a few embarrassing moments in your past. And you guys really ended up in an unfortunate situation, oof. Well, but you have no choice.’

Meanwhile, Jin-Sung and Goh Yoo-Joon had to carry out Stew Rion's forceful request, and they were in shambles. They jumped up from their seats and ran around in a frenzy.

"No way!!!" they shouted in unison, their voices filled with desperation.

For Chronos, or rather, for Goh Yoo-Joon, it was a rare extreme rejection. He rarely said no, but this time was different.

"Haha!! Why? You all did it in the past," Stew Rion teased, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.

"Why do we have to do it again! We don't want to!" Their faces flushed with a mix of embarrassment and frustration.

"You can't do it a second time after doing it once? Come on, just this once," Stew Rion persisted. He pointed to himself with a beaming smile. "For the Rings!"

It was clear he was teasing Goh Yoo-Joon and Jin-Sung. Next to me, there was another anxious member. Yoon-Chan was quietly worrying that he might also get a role in this mission. Although he had only one line in the script, he seemed to hate the idea of joining the cringe role play.

But Stew Rion didn't back down. "For all the Rings who loved the story and characters!"

"It seems like Stew Rion just wants to see it again," I commented, trying to lighten the mood.

At my comment, Stew Rion laughed heartily and nodded immediately. "That's right. I really want to."

Despite the members’ refusal and fuss, Stew Rion wasn't the type to give up easily. Finally, the endless request made the two nod and sit back down.

"Ugh, we need to avoid doing these kinds of things in the future," Jin-Sung muttered under his breath.

"Hey, don't say that! Why avoid it? It's so much fun!" Stew Rion’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Agh!" Jin-Sung sighed, resigned to his fate.

Stew Rion brought a script panel in front of them so they could read it easily. "Yoon-Chan, you might be very embarrassed. But please, read this line. You got this!"

Yoon-Chan looked sad but answered energetically, "Ah... Okay!"

In this public and embarrassing setting, Goh Yoo-Joon and Jin-Sung began acting.

"...Is this... Pfft!!!" Goh Yoo-Joon started, but couldn't hold back his laughter.

Usually, Goh Yoo-Joon was the best at keeping a straight face in such situations, but with all eyes on him, it was incredibly embarrassing. His face and ears turned bright red as he turned away from the camera, taking deep breaths to calm down before sitting back down.

"Okay, I’ll do it for real... Hoo." Even his sigh had laughter mixed in.

After a while, Goh Yoo-Joon finally steadied himself and started speaking. His voice was filled with exaggerated seriousness. "Is this Senior Class Two where Cold Blade Park Yoon-Chan, the top rank of Gori High, is?"

Jin-Sung, who still had his back turned, reluctantly glanced at the script. He struggled to get through his lines as his voice faltered. "What business... Ugh, I can’t believe I’m doing this... What business do you have with our top rank Cold Blade Yoon-Chan...? If you have something to say... tell me first."

"Well, you missed the sincere emotions, but it's okay! Next is Yoon-Chan’s line!"

"Oh, uh... yes?" Yoon-Chan stammered.

What was this, a public humiliation corner? All three of their faces were as red as could be. Joo-Han was next to Stew Rion, laughing and calling him Hyung as they enjoyed the situation together. It was honestly kind of funny...

I wore an empathetic expression and gently nudged Yoon-Chan's back. "You can do it, Yoon-Chan," I whispered encouragingly.

Yoon-Chan looked at me with tearful eyes as if I had betrayed him, then read the script with the same expression. "Jin-Sung, please stop. It's embarrassing..."

"I am the silver... Second rank of Classroom Two, Jin-Sung. Who are you?"

"What the heck did you do that day?" Goh Yoo-Joon demanded, his tone filled with mock anger.

"Me? Don't you know me? What? I'm Goh Yoo-Joon, the second rank at Joo-Han High!!!"

"Yeah!!" Stew Rion clapped his hands high in the air, looking very satisfied.

The members squirmed in embarrassment, and Jin-Sung hid behind me, saying it was too embarrassing.

"That was amazing! I’m so satisfied. I hope all the Rings were content with it too! And I look forward to the next story of Joo-Han High and Go-Ri High! Now, let’s move on!" Stew Rion flipped the panel and removed a sticker.

The next picture was a selfie taken by Goh Yoo-Joon and me with Su-Hwan's phone. Judging by the school uniforms, it was taken during the

Graduating

shoot.

"The next song in the Chronos universe after ‘Parade’ is ‘Joy,’" Stew Rion announced.

"Wow, what a throwback."

"It hasn't been that long since the picture was taken, but why do they look so young?"

"When you think of ‘Joy,’ you think of youth, and when you think of youth, you think of ‘Joy.’ The music video and your school uniforms from that time..." Stew Rion pointed at Goh Yoo-Joon and me. "You two also appeared in the variety show

Graduating,

right?"

"Yes, that's right. It brings back memories," Goh Yoo-Joon with a nod.

"Do you still keep in touch with your friends from back then?"

Goh Yoo-Joon nodded again. "Yes, though they are quite busy these days, we still check in on each other now and then."

"They even came to our last concert."

Our friends had been very busy with jobs and college lately. The group chat was mostly quiet, but it quickly livened up whenever someone had good news.

"When you think of ‘Joy,’ you remember the intense choreography that felt like it would take your breath away! The perfect live performances, and you know what else?" Stew Rion stood up, putting his hands in his pockets. He mimicked the signature footwork from the "Joy" dance. "This!" He exclaimed and showed off the dance move.

"Ah, yes, yes."

"This iconic dance move became so popular and was loved by many."

"That's right. ‘Joy’ is such an upbeat and lively song. But there's a little-known secret about it..." I trailed off to build up the suspense.

"Wooh, what is it?" Stew Rion reacted with wide eyes and a piqued interest.

Goh Yoo-Joon quickly waved his hands in dismissal. "Oh, it’s nothing really. This choreography is just really hard to perform live. Plus, it has all sorts of tricks, including backflips."

"That’s right. After performing live, we’d all end up collapsing on the spot," I added.

"Even the dancers had a hard time with it."

The members nodded in agreement as they recalled the past. Nowadays, Chronos was well-known for its excellent stage performances, but back during ‘Joy,’ we were still solidifying our group's image.

Because of this, we pushed ourselves with more difficult choreography, live singing, and showmanship than we were perhaps ready for at the time. After each performance, we’d often find ourselves completely exhausted and lying down wherever we could.

"It was so tough that during live performances, everyone would be talking to each other through their in-ears..." Goh Yoo-Joon trailed off.

"Yes!" Jin-Sung and Yoon-Chan started laughing wildly, knowing exactly what he was about to reveal.

"What? What is it? Come on, tell me! I want to know too!" Stew Rion demanded eagerly.

"We often heard things like, ‘Oh, I’m dying,’ and ‘Wow, this is so hard,’ whispered through our in-ear headphones."

"Or requests for water and heavy breathing like they were about to pass out," I added with a chuckle.

As we reminisced, I couldn’t help but laugh at the memories. The voices of my exhausted group members grumbling and gasping in my ears were vivid. This made the laughter hard to suppress. Although we found it hilarious, Stew Rion didn’t seem as amused. After all, it was the kind of humor you had to be there to fully appreciate.

"Wow, it sounds like the choreography was really intense. Who said those things, ‘I’m dying,’ the most?"

"Not

usually.

It was always the same person. Haha," Goh Yoo-Joon clarified as he pointed at Joo-Han. "It was always Joo-Han hyung," he revealed, making Jin-Sung and Yoon-Chan laugh even harder.

That was right. The voice complaining through our in-ears was always Joo-Han’s. The image of him back then, being pale and struggling, came to mind. The members started laughing all over again.

Finally, Stew Rion joined in. "Joo-Han? Hahaha! I’d love to hear that. Somehow, I can totally imagine it. It makes sense that it was Joo-Han."

"Why?" Joo-Han asked with a genuinely puzzled look.

Stew Rion just shrugged and moved on. "Alright, so, ‘Joy’ activities came to an end, and right after that was—"

"Phantom Spirit?" Jin-Sung guessed.

Stew Rion snapped his fingers in agreement but shook his head. "You’re right. But before that, there was a program that brought you all a lot of experience."

"Oh! I know!" Goh Yoo-Joon exclaimed excitedly. "

Again After Rainfall!

’"

Stew Rion snapped his fingers again. "Correct!" He then peeled off a sticker from the panel.

"...When did we take these?" We all looked at the two photos that had been revealed. Both were from our time on

Again After Rainfall.

One showed Jin-Sung swinging a bat at the dorm, with Joo-Han and Yoon-Chan clapping in the background, while Goh Yoo-Joon and I wrestled on the couch. The other was a picture of Joo-Han and Callia in the studio. I was pretty certain this had been taken when Jin-Sung was acting cute in front of Su-Hwan.

"

Again After Rainfall...

This show was a turning point for Chronos as you gained significant interest overseas," Stew Rion noted.

I nodded. "We already had some international response, especially with ‘Parade,’ which had its own viral challenge."

"Exactly. The ‘Parade’ challenge spread like wildfire back then," Stew Rion agreed.

"Yes, but even so, we were still relatively unknown overseas. The clips, fancams, and festival performances from

Again After Rainfall

started drawing more attention, and we began climbing international charts steadily."

The live performance clips, which were primarily pop songs, garnered high viewership. On top of that, our fancams and festival performances attracted even those who weren’t typically into K-Pop. This exposure opened up possibilities for international activities and tours for Chronos. We also gained a lot musically.

Stew Rion continued his questions. "

Again After Rainfall

is also known for the bonding moments between Joo-Han and Callia Lawrence."