UNENDING

1: Between Jogja & Jakarta

APRIL 2016
Jogja

Nuansa Entertainment Announces Boy Group DIGDAYA's Debut

JAKARTA (28/4) - Nuansa Entertainment has finally released the debut poster of its upcoming boy group DIGDAYA. Announced on its official Tweaker account this morning, DIGDAYA will have its long-awaited debut next month.

DIGDAYA consists of eight winners from "Laga Digdaya," an idol survival show created in collaboration between Nusantara's Nuansa Entertainment and Tenbucks Media with South Korea's entertainment behemoth CT E&M. Appeared on the poster from left to right: Edo Watimena (leader), Gawang Syah (main rapper), Yahya Simanjuntak (main dancer), Sean Sofyan (main vocalist), ...

Sean Sofyan held onto his phone like his life depended on it.

The car had jerked a few times, followed by Dad's string of muttered curses. Something about the governor doing a bang-up job at maintaining the provincial road, then the old car needing a new shockbreaker. Mom's unyielding voice followed suit, berating Dad to calm the hell down.

Sometimes, Grandma's high-pitched cackle superimposed them all. The cashmere scarf around her neck did nothing to muffle the crisp sound. Vaguely in the background, Prasetiyo Wongso sang another classic rock song of a broken-hearted man.

Usually, Sean would have joined the fiasco. Forever opting to be in Grandma's camp, Sean would have watched his parents bickering like the old married couple that they were, all in utter amusement. Once or twice, he would throw some good-natured but inappropriate comments, just to spice things up. Only when Mom or Dad or both started accusing Sean for choosing sides, that would be his cue to shut up.

This was not the usual time though.

The moment the news notification popped up, Sean's sole attention had been glued to his phone ever since. Everything seemed to blur into the background as Sean's chocolate eyes caught his own figure among seven other faces, posing regally on the digital poster.

There. His face was on the bottom frame, second from the left.

Sean had his long-ish hair pulled back in a messy, half ponytail. Silver sumping or traditional ear accessories adorned his unpierced ears. On his half-displayed bare chest, an ornate silver necklace dangled elegantly. Its emerald green pendant gave out an eerie glow against the black background.

Among the eight, Sean was the only one who looked neither cool nor mysterious. His toothy smile had been the ultimate giveaway.

Sean swallowed hard. He found himself still having difficulty believing that it was him making that pose. He had been quite adamant to keep the smile too, somewhat outright ignoring the agency's not-so-subtle direction for their general poses. Reflecting on that day, Sean did not exactly remember why he did what he did. It just did.

Sean continued staring at DIGDAYA's debut poster on his phone screen so intensely his eyes began to burn. He could not look away even if he tried. Not when a myriad of indescribable emotions tangled up in his chest, fighting for dominance, but finding no release whatsoever.

It almost felt like the day Sean was accepted in his desired Art School almost six years ago, only ten times over.

Sean was somewhat proud.

The photoshoot theme took inspiration from old wayang epics, featuring each individual member as warriors from ancient kingdoms of the long past. Sean personally designed the whole concept. He had pulled an all-nighter for research alone, then pulled another two to illustrate each of his fellow members in personas from the epic tales like Ramayana, Baratayudha, Arjuna Wiwaha...