Second Try Idol

Chapter 252: Again After Rainfall (28)

At the practice site, more people surrounded us and watched us practice than when we prepared for a previous awards ceremony. Some of them were our Chronos team staff, some were the production team of Again After Rainfall, but the majority were Callia Lawrence's staff.

This meant that a lot of people were seeing us repeating the end-of-year stage rehearsal for the first time. Naturally, the more people there were seeing it for the first time, the more pressure there was for us to practice harder. All the members were as serious as if they were actually on stage.

We did monitor some videos before coming, but it was still hard to remember the choreography.

It was common to take the first practice lightly to maintain our stamina. However, it looked like today's practice was going to end with us almost fainting from being pushed so hard.

I saw Callia's staff whispering to each other while looking our way. They were speaking in English and their voices were too quiet to understand, but they seemed curious about what we, who have been stretching and warming up among numerous dancers for a while, were up to.

I watched them for a moment before saying, “Alright, let's start the practice."

“Okay!" A loud response came from the dancers and members, drawing the staff's whispered conversations to a halt as their attention turned to us. We each went to our positions.

“Since this is the first try, it's okay if you don't remember everything. Let's fill in the gaps as we practice."

“Got it!"

“Music, please," Joo-Han said.

The familiar yet unfamiliar introduction of the "Parade" remix version filled the practice room.

***

The sound of the music was imposingly majestic. Callia felt overwhelmed by the grand, eerie, and somewhat frightening music right from the start.

“What is going on?" she casually asked the staff member beside her.

Suh Hyun-Woo, who had been standing idly with six dancers, suddenly bowed his head and knelt down.

“Are they just dancing today?" Callia asked.

“No, it's live,” Reina replied. “Shh. Just watch."

Reina's firm and immediate response redirected Callia's gaze back to Suh Hyun-Woo. She was impressed by the intro music. It wasn’t just her, but her entire staff members as well. Everyone was now fully concentrating on what stage Chronos was about to present. This was probably the first time Callia's staff had ever been so focused on the group’s performance.

In the grandeur of the song, the platinum-haired Chronos member was next to six dancers. Today, he seemed to resemble an emotionless doll given his appearance and aura.

The operatic grand intro suddenly changed. The dancers writhed around Suh Hyun-Woo and rose as if depicting the shadows of some unknown entity. Suh Hyun-Woo was still on his knees, and the dancers reached out to forcibly pull him up.

Suh Hyun-Woo, who had been leaning forward, was pulled upright. He bent backward then forward again in sync with the song, eventually standing straight and facing forward.

“This is actually a bit scary," murmured one of Callia's staff.

Despite the eerie atmosphere, it was impossible to look away as the mood itself was intriguing. Above all, there was something about Suh Hyun-Woo in the center that captured everyone's attention, whether it was his hair color, his expression, or the yet fully unseen dance moves.

He danced expressionlessly with the dancers, mouth closed, moving listlessly as if controlled by monsters. He was tossed around by the dancers' gestures. Onlookers occasionally gasped.

Callia found herself clasping her hands together without realizing. ‘I've never seen anything like this.'

It was just a rehearsal, and no one was dressed up. Although there were dancers with brightly dyed hair like Suh Hyun-Woo, he particularly stood out and proved the reasons he was called a star.

In fact, just the intro and Suh Hyun-Woo's choreography were enough to prove that they were completely to Callia's taste.

As the prelude ended, Suh Hyun-Woo was grabbed by the six dancers and pulled back. Then, other members standing behind slowly walked forward with a group of dancers.

? Let the sky fall

Let the sky fall

Let the sky fall

As Goh Yoo-Joon walked forward, the music continued with a breath-like voice whispering "skyfall." In the center, Yoon-Chan sang his part.

“...It’s live!" Callia exclaimed excitedly. She had mistaken it for a dance performance, but was this all part of the choreography for the song? And Chronos was capable enough to perform it live?

Even scouting all over the United States, Callia had never seen a singer who could digest such high-quality dance moves with live singing. She knew they had always been good dancers, but they were on a whole different level quality-wise. “Shit! I love this, Reina!"

“I know, I love it too! They really know how to grab people’s attention."

Had this song also been selected by Kang Joo-Han? Anyway, he was a very smart leader. With a performance of such high quality that it couldn’t be easily ignored, it would indeed leave a strong impression. Kang Joo-Han’s idea of attracting the audience to the venue provided by the record company tomorrow would likely go as planned.

? It was you who came into my world

As soon as Park Yoon-Chan's part ended, Suh Hyun-Woo, who had been hiding behind the members and dancers to gasp for breath, suddenly changed his expression and sprang forward.

? Even if the sky falls and the ground crumbles

You will be by my side

Skyfall, Skyfall

Still, the live performance of the intense choreography left the viewers breathless, but the dance had changed a bit. Instead of the intro part, which only looked impactful when filmed properly by the camera, they changed to something more subdued to keep in mind possible injuries since the dancers' choreography became more vigorous.

Following this, Suh Hyun-Woo danced and then fell to the ground as if collapsing. He was quickly dragged backward by the dancers.

Then came Lee Jin-Sung. It was time for the pair dance between Lee Jin-Sung and Suh Hyun-Woo where they used canes. Then came Suh Hyun-Woo’s solo part. During the latter part, dancers gathered and waved flags. The staff and production team didn't even realize how intently they were watching this practice.

The parts where they did nothing but stand still to pass the time or the additional things in the performance that spoiled the universe's storyline had all been deleted from the performance. The stage became somewhat simpler and lighter than originally planned from the perspective of Chronos and its staff, but it didn't seem that way to those seeing it for the first time.

After their rehearsal ended, people started talking about the performance positively. Chronos, who couldn't hear this well, quickly prepared for their next live show.

“Fuck, we have to overhaul all the songs we made."

Reina was startled by Callia suddenly swearing. She looked at her friend. Despite speaking in a very annoyed tone, Callia was smiling very pleasantly.

***

Fortunately, today's practice didn't end with anyone fainting because we had to head for an interview with Callia before any of the members could pass out.

After showering the sweat off from the practice and getting our hair and outfits set up with the help of the stylists, we just waited at the accommodation. It seemed that someone like Callia Lawrence didn't have to go to the interview location. They were told that the interviewers would come to where she was, and Callia had told us to wait at the accommodation as if it was nothing.

“I would prefer if Joo-Han and Yoon-Chan mainly answer the questions. I've already told this to the broadcasting team handling the interview."

“Okay."

“Questions will be directed at the other three members as well, so be ready to answer at any time. And please react well."

“Yes!"

“Um..." Su-Hwan hesitated for a moment before coming a bit closer and speaking in a volume only the members could hear. “The interview will probably be focused on Callia Lawrence. Don't be too disappointed and just answer calmly when the occasional questions are directed at you."

“We will do that, Su-Hwan hyung. Don't worry too much."

Su-Hwan smiled apologetically. “Most of the questions coming your way will likely be about Callia Lawrence..."

In other words, it was an international interview related to Again After Rainfall and we couldn’t refuse it. It was as if we were being told to be prepared to be treated as nobodies.

The foreign press probably wouldn't ask us many questions. At most, they might ask us to simply introduce our group and how it feels to collaborate with Callia after a significant portion of her interview has progressed. Being treated this way in the United States, something we hadn't experienced in Korea except maybe at the very beginning of a debut competition show, was something all the members were aware we just had to accept. The people who knew us would be sad to see us like this, but it was true that we were unknown here.

Joo-Han shrugged and looked at his watch. “When are they coming? Why aren't Callia and the foreign press here yet?"

“...Hyung, you just casually call her Callia? Not Ms. Lawrence?” I asked.

Joo-Han nodded as if it was nothing special. “We are the same age. She used informal language first, so I decided to do the same. And she didn't mind at all. Why does English not have a formal way of addressing others?”

How would I know that...

We were just passing the time with some light conversation when...

“I said I can't do the interview with these ridiculous questions!"

“Callia! Callia, you are already here! Let's just do it, okay?"

“I said no. Try persuading me one more time and I will fire you, manager. It's like you are trying to embarrass me on purpose."

Callia was clearly angry about something since she stormed into our room and threw the interview papers she was holding onto the floor.

I could understand a bit at the beginning when she was raising her voice with the manager, but afterward, it was all slang and swear words, spoken too fast for me to catch anything. However, it was clear she was displeased with the contents of the interview, so we discreetly froze and alternately looked at Callia's staff and the Again After Rainfall team, who were preparing for the shoot.