Jimin's confident smile relaxed me as he took a few steps backward, making room for the girls to get on stage first. Behind me Hoseok was messing with his jacket, trying to position it loosely on his shoulder. Lyra was trying to help him, perhaps just making it worse, and Isabella whispered at them to get ready, trying to pull Lyra towards the front to be the first one on stage. Sana's hands were shaking a bit and I wanted to comfort her, but she stood out of arms reach. Grace was stretching a bit while Chanyeol seemed extremely relaxed, imitating Grace's flexible arm movements with a hint of humor when he couldn't replicate it.
As the announcer started reading out the greeting to welcome us on stage, I felt a strong pat on my back, making me jump a bit in surprise. I turned around, Suho giving me a nervous smile. He was probably trying to seem confident, though it was obvious he was worried of messing up. I made a little fist, mouthing the words "Fighting" before turning back towards the eruption of clapping coming from the audience.
"So without further ado, from the school right down the street, our first performance of the morning!"
"Taeyeon's 'Why'!"
I heard a little "Good Luck" from behind me, of which I turned away to reply with a thumbs up. The four boys were lined up in the back since they didn't arrive on stage until after the opening, all of them whispering forms of good luck and sending smiles to the point I could've considered them my parents.
The seconds that it took for us to walk to center stage and stand in our starting positions suddenly passed to the point I had no recollection of even leaving backstage.
Lyra gave a little wave to someone in the audience, and suddenly the music started.
As if she was never distracted, I watched as Lyra began lip syncing the words right as they begun. The beginning was simply the motion of hands, which had been carefully practiced for about a week now. (Grace was careful not to accidentally punch Lyra in the face this time, which on the first day was quite interesting.) I didn't want to smudge any of her makeup with my clammy hands, but luckily it seemed pretty heavily layered, especially on her cheek. You could barely see the redness from a foot away, so I'm sure it looked perfectly fine from the audience.
The rest of the movements came naturally, although I was still internally horrified about the possibility of messing up and causing the well balanced choreography from being uneven.
And just as the chorus ended, all of us but Lyra exited stage left.
I watched the guys' routine the entire time, catching my breath and judging my own terrible stamina. When you're not focused on not messing up, it's a lot easier to appreciate other's dancing. Lyra drew attention to the center, the smile on her face showing genuine enjoyment. She loved the song and was probably singing to herself underneath the loud music.
Right before the high peak, as the chorus was just about to come back, Lyra suddenly looked nervous. I heard a whisper behind me, turning around.
"I think her top is ripping," Sana whispered, suddenly making my heart stop for a second. I looked back towards the dancers. Lyra was indeed now making smaller and less exaggerated movements to prevent any further damage on the shirt. It looked awkward though, for the guys continued and looked abnormally intense in the background.
"The shirt!" Isabella whispered loudly, mouthing the words in hope that Chanyeol, who was now looking towards our side of the stage behind the curtain with a concerned glance, would get the message.
He gave a little nod, continuing the dance and kneeling in his position in front of Lyra. It seemed like he whispered something to her, Lyra acknowledging it and the dance continuing, her energy seeming to come back to her moves.
I couldn't tell whether Chanyeol had told her it was fine or not, but now I was even more nervous with her being less careful of making harsh movements.
The guys ended their segment and ran across the the opposite side of the stage we were on, now all of us trying to communicate behind the scenes as Lyra and Hoseok had their dance together in the chorus.
"Hoseok's jacket!" Isabella whisper-yelled, pointing at the blue jacket Hoseok had been wearing the entire time. Jimin seemed to catch on, making a movement to hint Hoseok to take off his jacket for Lyra. However, the male dancer never looked behind either of the curtains to his left and right, only focusing on Lyra during the dance. I couldn't tell whether Lyra had said anything, but as she turned her back towards Hoseok as had been practiced before, Hoseok slipped off his jacket and positioned it so her arm would slip through the sleeve.
[a/n: professionally using two different videos to get gifs from sorry haha]
We all let out a sigh of relief, then realization hitting us that we were to run up stage in just a few more seconds.
Hoseok adjusted the collar quickly, impressively latching the zipper and pulling it up a bit as the song continued and he walked away. Lyra was about to zip it up some more, but the chorus had already begun and we were already in place. I saw Jimin run by in front of us, giving Hoseok a pat on the back before speeding to his position on the opposite side of the formation.
As the chorus ended, Lyra finally had a moment to zip up the jacket. There seemed to be a sense of security throughout all of us as the music blasted in the background. The different colored lights started flashing, making them seem like shadows in the midst of the cold colors that merged in and out. Lyra was relaxed, able to dance with less of a restriction and seeming a lot more energetic. I smiled a bit, the girls around me seeming happy with the outcome as well. Isabella still clutched her heart, watching carefully.
The guys had their "impractical running section" that we always laughed at, this time being serious and silently hoping they wouldn't slip as they ran around on stage. Luckily none of them did, the stage being less slippery than our practice room hardwood.
The more complicated parts of the song, which we had worked on the most to avoid error, didn't have any noticeable problems either. Grace and Isabella had their hand-stand flip that I was too distracted to notice, my eyes sticking on Lyra. I was still afraid of something happening with the top, yet nothing was noticeable from the way she acted. I let out a breath to stay at peace, though internally it didn't change anything.
Suho approached me from the other side of the stage, the smile on his face pulling me away from the stress lingering in my mind.
baram bureoomyeon [If the wind blows] Good, good, good, yeah
He probably noticed it though, widening his eyes a bit to encourage me to smile as well.
pyeolchyeojineun modeun geon [Everything that unfolds] Great, great, yeah
I wrapped my arm around his neck and he pulled me up, his grasp seeming more delicate than usual. My kicks were a bit wobbly and I felt his arm tense up as he put me back down.
dallajineun mami [My changing heart] Work, work, baby
Yet when I glanced over and saw his face he didn't show any facial expressions of struggle.
imi imi nun ape areunareundaeneunde [It already glimmers in front of my eyes]
I gave a little smile, of which he replied with a smile of his own that he continued as the chorus repeated itself.
jigeum tteonandamyeon [If I leave now] Good, good, good, yeah
mannage doel modeun geon [Everything I'll meet] Great, great, yeahgabyeowojin mami [My lightened heart] Work, work, babyimi imi nun ape areunareundaeneunde [It already glimmers in front of my eyes]mangseoryeo [But I hesitate] Why
The song ended, the music fading out and the applause fading in. We lined up to bow, and I'm sure all of us noticed Mrs. Minji standing right near the front shouting out to us. We waved, Lyra saying a few thank-yous as we exited the stage with a satisfied and achieved sigh.
When we finally got off stage we passed the group waiting to go directly after us. They looked about our age, but I didn't recognize any of them. Their group was a bit larger than ours, and I remembered Lyra mentioning the other nearby school's dance program always performed at the festival as well. They were dressed in various colorful clothes, one of the girls in a red top stopping Lyra as she lead our group through the curtains and towards the steps.
"Lyra, great job," the girl smiled, then pointing towards the jacket. "Was the jacket thing planned? It was really cool, honestly."
Lyra shook her head, not having any words at first. Hoseok jumped in to help her.
"Thanks, and good luck to you guys. Super excited to see you perform "Lalala" from the audience's seat. That's a super coordinated choreo." he said, making a little fist and adding a "Fighting!" to the end of his statement.
"Yeah, good luck, you guys'll do great!" Lyra said quickly, relaxing from her previously speechless state and giving the girl a hug. Another girl in blue nudged the two in their hug, whispering that they had to stand near the front to enter the stage first. Lyra nodded and let her go, watching them get ready.
Chanyeol was already making his way down the stairs, Suho waiting by the railing and making a gesture for us to come over.
I walked a few feet to the edge of the stairs, Suho holding up his hand for a high-five. I returned it with an achieved smile.
"That was amazing, we did it!" he cheered, seeming adorably proud of himself as well.
I gave a nod, rolling my shoulders in attempt to loosen my stiffness caused by tense muscles. "It went surprisingly well in terms of the choreography, though I guess we could improve our costume game,"
"Yeah, but Hoseok saved it. He's a true MVP." Suho pointed out as we walked down the steps together. I glanced back at where Hoseok, Lyra, Isabella, and Jimin were, the four of them beginning to head towards the direction of the exit like us.
At the bottom of the stairs, right as the exit lead out towards the sunlight again, Mrs. Minji stood waiting for us. Sana gave her a hug, followed by Chanyeol and Grace. I couldn't help but laugh at Chanyeol nearly tower over the teacher, though the hug was sweet, for Mrs. Minji seemed more proud of than Suho was.
When the three of them got their hugs, Mrs. Minji immediately opened her arms towards the two of us. I looked up at Suho, gesturing him forward to go first, while he simultaneously nodded to me to go get a hug. When it took too long of a time that it became awkward, which in fact only took a few seconds, Mrs. Minji simply gave up and pulled us into a three-person hug.
"You two did amazing! I'm so happy about our finished product and I hope you are too!" she beamed, being her most cheerful and positive self as she gave us each a pat on the back.
Right behind us arrived the two main dancers, Lyra calling out the teacher's name which drew her attention as well.
"Lyra, my goodness, you danced amazingly just then! Your best performance yet, sweetie." she complimented, elaborating and sharing a hug with the girl. She also thanked Hoseok and the others, at that point my brain trying to de-stress and relax to its usual state.
The most "dreaded" event of the day was completed, and without too many things going wrong - and now there was so much to look forward to.
~~~
sidenote: Watch me highkey promote some songs, the other school's dance class is performing Babylon's "라라라 [Lalala]" (ft. Chungha) which is below! Check out this amazing song's Choreography Ver. MV :]