Chapter 449: What Should We Do From Now On (13)

The beat of an exaggerated EDM track pulsed through the air. The lights that swirled around lavishly weren't exactly sophisticated lighting. It was rather like an overdone version of good karaoke lighting effects.

On the dimly lit stage, Suh Hyun-Woo, now in the guise of his alter ego Eden, positioned himself with his head lowered.

"Pfft." Laughter erupted from the audience upon seeing that his posture was overly solemn. It was over-the-top amusement. After all, this song had been chosen specifically to amuse the audience.

For the dramatic shift from ballads to dance, the first song had been intentionally overdone with heavy beats. It was like a dance track a ballad singer might prepare for his fans.

As Eden stood with his fists clenched and his head lowered, ready for the performance, chuckles tinged with affectionate teasing floated up from the crowd. Suh Hyun-Woo fought to keep his laughter at bay, as if he was embarrassed. The thought of himself standing like a robot amidst dazzling lights and EDM beats on the dark stage was just too ridiculous.

Yet he never allowed himself to laugh. He gritted his teeth to suppress it. Reina always said,

"It’s less funny if you laugh."

He was determined to enjoy the event as much as the fans did. But the large screens behind him let the audience in on his desperate struggle to keep a straight face, making it all the funnier. Especially when...

"HAHAHAHA!!! What is he even doing?!"

"This is hilarious! Was the rehearsal even funnier? Ah, seriously, I’m crying."

Goh Yoo-Joon and Reina were laughing heartily in the back stage. Goh Yoo-Joon even recorded videos since he planned to tease Suh Hyun-Woo relentlessly.

As the garishly dramatic lighting effects concentrated clumsily above Suh Hyun-Woo’s head, the audience couldn’t help but burst into laughter. The intro music kicked off, signaling the start of Eden’s dance.

"Oooooh!"

"...Uh?"

As he began to dance, some people cheered while others murmured, puzzled.

"Hyun-Woo?"

"Huh?"

The Rings knew Suh Hyun-Woo’s dance skills well. In Chronos, he was second only to Lee Jin-Sung in terms of dancing ability. But he appeared to be different today. The dance moves now were not the Suh Hyun-Woo they knew. They were... indescribable.

"...Is this Eden?"

"Pfft!"

Yes, the dancing perfectly fit Eden’s concept. Suh Hyun-Woo was fully immersed in the persona of the ballad singer Eden, and presented dance moves with no finesse. His moves were stiff and overly forceful, his expression rigid as if this were his first dance performance.

Now, he was completely Eden.

More and more people started laughing. "Ahahaha. I knew it would be like this!"

When the dance track was announced in Eden's concert setlist, some had wondered if Suh Hyun-Woo would drop his alter ego act. However, he hadn't.

‘Right, it doesn’t make sense if Eden dances as well as Suh Hyun-Woo!’

Kim Go-Ri, who was attending Eden's concert, laughed heartily at the overly enthusiastic dancing Eden. She appreciated this unusual side of him. Even if it was a bit cringy, his performance was definitely entertaining. It might even be worth making a video comparing his usual dance style to Eden’s when the concert DVD came out.

That first dance performance was intentionally comedic without even singing. When Suh Hyun-Woo was done with the performance, a softer and more melodious dance track began to play. The atmosphere in the auditorium relaxed and the crowd got carried away with the vibe.

"Whew... huh..."

Suh Hyun-Woo smiled at the shift in mood and hurried to prepare for the next song, which was to be performed live.

"Huff... ah... wow..." Suh Hyun-Woo was breathless from the intense choreography that lacked any moderation. He realized he had exerted too much effort trying to be funny.

Did he really need to go all out just for laughs? Pushing aside his sudden flush of embarrassment, he straightened up, rested one hand on his waist, and grabbed the microphone with the other.

He needed to catch his breath if he was going to sing. The audience expressed their sympathy with sighs of concern. The background music had already started, and though Suh Hyun-Woo held the microphone, he appeared too winded to sing.

However, sensing the crowd’s worry, he flashed a reassuring grin and waved dismissively.

Then, he fully straightened up and launched into the song without delay.

♪ May your laughter always stay by my side,

With a door between us,

We play pranks and adore each other

"Wow..."

Despite initially struggling for breath, Suh Hyun-Woo swiftly regained his composure and sang flawlessly. The audience was left in awe, especially Kim Go-Ri's friend, who was amazed.

"Do idols regulate their breathing at will?"

She had no prior interest in Suh Hyun-Woo, but attended the concert at Kim Go-Ri's insistence. She was astonished at how quickly he managed his breathing.

Kim Go-Ri proudly responded, "Did you think he could do that? He is just holding his breath in. But isn’t his voice so beautiful? Normally, he doesn't dance like that. He's actually a fantastic dancer, but he is playing into the concept. It’s hilarious. I'll show you how well he really dances in Chronos."

"Oh, so he can actually dance well? But he is pretending not to?"

Normally, she would have flatly refused to know more because she was well aware of how exhausting it was to react to a video of someone she wasn't interested in.

However, she didn’t refuse this time. Though she had no particular interest in Suh Hyun-Woo, the idea that this seemingly clumsy dancer was actually excellent piqued her curiosity. Kim Go-Ri was subtly prompting her friend to become a Ring.

"Hmm?"

Just as the two dance songs ended, the stage suddenly went dark. Kim Go-Ri had been enthusiastically cheering and casually promoting Suh Hyun-Woo to her friend, but she paused and looked around. Other than the buzzing of murmurs in the venue, she couldn’t hear anything.

‘What’s going on? Was there an accident?’

The abrupt halt in lighting and music made it seem like something had gone wrong with the show.

In a brief moment of confusion and silence on stage, a spotlight suddenly fell to the right side of the stage. Then, she heard a familiar prelude.

‘What’s this...?’

Kim Go-Ri got startled and gasped before raising her hands above her head. "Aaagh!"

"Ah, you scared me! Why’d you do that?" Her friend covered her ears and frowned at Kim Go-Ri for screaming, but Kim Go-Ri wasn’t bothered.

The spotlight fell not on Suh Hyun-Woo, but elsewhere, and the song that started playing was Tenten's ‘You in the Azure Sea.’ In Kim Go-Ri's mind, one person immediately popped up when she thought of the song.

"Goh, Goh Yoo-Joon! Yoo-Joon!"

Sure enough, Goh Yoo-Joon waved his hands and walked up as the spotlight fell on the side stage.

"Hello!"

The stage brightened significantly. Visible from the center of the stage, Suh Hyun-Woo smiled fondly at Goh Yoo-Joon. The two exchanged glances and moved to their respective positions before starting their performance.

"Woaaaah!"

The audience erupted in cheers at the well-known old hit song. The atmosphere reached its peak. Goh Yoo-Joon and Suh Hyun-Woo stretched out their limbs in time with the cool summer city pop song.

♪ The blue waves subside,

A cool breeze and you by my side,

There’s no day more enjoyable than today.

♪ Blue waves with their frothy lace receding

A gentle breeze and your presence, my guiding light,

We will never have such splendid day again

The Rings reacted strongly, and those who were not Rings realized from everyone else’s reaction that the guest who had just appeared was a member of Chronos. The two members were thrilled by the audience's response, and they were dancing and singing with passion.

Meanwhile, Kim Go-Ri's friend was unable to react. She just watched Kim Go-Ri with worry.

"Hyun-Woo is...! Hyun-Woo has..." Taken on Yeong-Yee's part! Kim Go-Ri was so excited she could hardly finish speaking, and her friend only wondered why her behavior was so erratic.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

After "You in the Azure Sea" ended, the two boys on stage caught their breath and chuckled as they looked into each other's eyes. Suh Hyun-Woo had pretended to be a bad dancer, then suddenly performed proper choreography only because Goh Yoo-Joon appeared. Goh Yoo-Joon responded with an impromptu live performance in casual clothes on stage as well.

They seemed to have thought the sight of each other was too funny. Their silent chuckles sent ripples of laughter through the now calmer audience.

Suh Hyun-Woo quickly avoided Goh Yoo-Joon's gaze and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, Chronos’ Goh Yoo-Joon has come to visit us. Yay!"

"Hello, I’m Goh Yoo-Joon from Chronos."

"Ah, thank you so much for coming. I know you’re busy."

"Not at all. I had to come. This is my friend’s first concert."

Pleased to have Goh Yoo-Joon as a guest, Kim Go-Ri again bit her lip to suppress her laughter.

While "You in the Azure Sea" was playing, Eden was no longer Eden, but Chronos' Suh Hyun-Woo, who was singing alongside Goh Yoo-Joon. However, as soon as the song ended, Hyun-Woo went back to being Eden, resuming his roleplay.

Suh Hyun-Woo bowed and thanked Goh Yoo-Joon by saying, "Actually, Yoo-Joon wasn’t supposed to be a formal guest today, but I asked him to come up to the stage."

"That's right. I was just going to watch with our members from the audience and leave. But since Eden sings so well, I really wanted to hear him live."

Kim Go-Ri found the ongoing awkward role-play hilariously absurd.