Krystal, Amber, Victoria, and Luna stood on stage in Yokohama and tried to catch their breath. They had just finished performing "Diamond" during the first of their two encore concerts in Japan.
It felt good to be back at Dimension 4. The last performance of their first solo concert was in late February earlier this year, over eight months ago. Krystal had forgotten some of the choreography during the long break between concerts, but a week of rehearsals brought the familiar dance steps back to the foreground of her memory--after a lot of mistakes.
"It's not quite like riding a bike after all, huh?" Amber laughed, watching Krystal falter on her hands movements during their final "Diamond" rehearsal the day before the first encore concert. Krystal cast her girlfriend a playful glare. She performed the motions correctly after a second attempt, and then elbowed Amber in the side triumphantly.
"It's just like riding a bike," Krystal said smugly. "Besides, aren't you the person who screwed up the opening dance four times this morning?" she asked the older girl pointedly.
Amber feigned ignorance and pointed at Luna, who also danced Dimension 4's opening along side her and who had also messed up the opening dance repeatedly that morning.
"I only messed up twice," Luna protested, seeing Amber attempt to shift the focus onto her.
"And how many times did you screw up?" Krystal asked teasingly, undeterred.
"Fine, four times" Amber conceded. "But why did Jaewon-oppa make that dance so confusing? Every time I think I've memorized it again, I still screw it up."
"Yeah," Luna agreed. "I don't know why, but it's so confusing for me too," she admitted. "I'm still worried that I'll forget it tomorrow."
Krystal smiled sympathetically. Even though she didn't participate in the opening dance, she had learned the choreography anyway and she agreed that it was confusing. The maknae reached up and patted Luna on the head. "Oh well, not everyone can expect to memorize choreography like Vic-unnie."
The trio of younger f(x) members gazed across the practice room to where choreographer Jang Juhee was teaching Victoria the choreography to "Cowboy" for the first time. "Cowboy" was their newest song and first ever original release in Japan. Krystal, Amber, and Luna had been practicing the choreography all week as well as relearning the steps for their other songs, but Victoria had only joined them last night due to her rigorous filming schedule in China. The eldest f(x) member was unspeakably tired and sickly from the stress of travel and from being overworked, and yet she worked tirelessly during this one day of rehearsals to catch up with her members.
Everyone knew that after being shown the steps and running through the song three or four times, Victoria would memorize Cowboy perfectly. This was more or less how long it normally took their leader to learn a new dance, a skill she displayed during every comeback preparation and during the Dimension 4 preparations. Despite knowing that she had this talent, the three younger members were in awe of Victoria, and at the same time they felt sad for her as well.
It was no secret that the Chinese entertainment industry was a lucrative market. SM was always looking for ways to make money in China, whether it was Super Junior-M, EXO-M, or sending their idols over to act in Chinese dramas. But with the political game as it was, Korean entertainers had been banned from performing in China, leaving only Victoria and Lay to bring in yuan for SM.
"How long do you think it'll be before we get to have a proper comeback?" Amber murmured softly as they watched their overworked Victoria wipe her sweaty brow and continue studying the new dance steps.
Krystal was startled that her girlfriend had been thinking along the same vein as her, but it shouldn't have been a surprise given that this was always on their minds when they thought of their beloved Vic-omma. Victoria's income in China outweighed the income f(x) made in Korea or Japan combined, so there just wasn't any incentive for SM to focus on f(x) in the near future. Even with Victoria leading the demands for an f(x) comeback, money spoke louder than words for SM.
"Next year. We'll have a proper comeback next year for sure," Luna said, not missing a beat. Her confidence in "next year" had always been unwavering, whether they were facing the gap between Red Light and 4 Walls or the gap between 4 Walls and whatever the next release would be. Krystal felt that perhaps a 2017 comeback might be a pipedream, but just like Luna she also believed that there was no question that f(x) would have another full comeback one day. The only question was when.
"Next year," Amber agreed wistfully, reaching over to pat Luna on the head just as Krystal had just done. "Right?" She turned and looked expectantly at Krystal.
To Amber and Luna's surprise, the youngest f(x) member smiled widely and gave them a feigned look of confusion. She picked up their new "Cowboy" album from the nearby table and gestured over to where Victoria was practicing the new choreography, which had yet to be seen by the world.
"Next year? What are you guys talking about?" Krystal asked with a smile. "Our next comeback is tomorrow night."
Amber and Luna's confused expressions slowly melted into faint smiles as they realized that Krystal had a point. A comeback was about releasing new music, showing a new side of themselves to the world, and sharing it all with their fans. f(x) wouldn't be performing "Cowboy" on music shows for this comeback, but wasn't performing their newest song on a solo stage in front of MeU even better than a music show audience full of strangers?
Before Luna or Amber could agree, Victoria called to them from across the practice room.
"Guys, I think I've got it. Let's start the full run throughs for 'Cowboy!'" Victoria announced with a weary but triumphant smile, waving her members over. She grabbed Luna and Krystal's hands cheerfully and began to dance an in-place skipping step that was part of the "Cowboy" choreography. "Make sure you put your hearts into the 'Cowboy' practice. Our comeback tomorrow night needs to be perfect!"
A look of surprise passed between Krystal, Amber, and Luna as they realized that Victoria had been thinking similarly to Krystal about "Cowboy" being a comeback.
"What?" Victoria wondered curiously, glancing between her members.
"Oh, nothing," Krystal responded with a smile. "We were just talking about the same thing just now."
As the day before the first encore performance wore on, the rehearsals as four members were just as fun as any pre-comeback rehearsal had ever been. Krystal missed them being together as four. It was such a rare opportunity these days that she tried to cherish this time together. She missed spending long days in the practice room with everyone. She missed the feeling of accomplishment for working hard and showing off something new. "4 Walls" was over a year ago and fans were craving something new, and she was eager to show "Cowboy" to the world.
And now they were finally on stage again for the first of two encore performance of Dimension 4. With "Diamond" complete, they paused for a much needed break and a new ment section to introduce "Cowboy" and give their MeU the comeback they had been waiting for.
After experimental comebacks like "Rum Pum Pum Pum", "Red Light", and "4 Walls", it was like f(x) had returned to their electropop sound for "Cowboy". The song was loud and bouncy and fun, everything a comeback should be. Krystal was filled with pride throughout the entire performance. There would be no music show trophies waiting for them after the song ended, but the screaming crowd was trophy enough.
The "new" didn't end with "Cowboy". When the intro for "All Mine" began to play instead of "So Into U" during the encore, much to the audience's surprise, Krystal heard the loudest cheers all night. She and Luna walked hand in hand around the arena during the performance, happily waving to their MeU.
Krystal loved making memories with the fans, walking close enough to MeU that they touched hands as she passed out candy during "Airplane". She loved laughing on stage with her members as they goofed around during "Ice Cream", and seeing Luna stumble to her knees during "Deja Vu" on day 2 and dancing in that position amid giggles, and dancing "Shake That Brass" with Amber, playfully shimmying up to the older girl during the performances.
She loved hearing the crowd cheering for Victoria on day 2. Victoria had been so sickly on day 1, barely surviving "Club f(x)" in the final section of the concert. Their leader was much better today, but hearing the audience chant Victoria's name during her "Rude Love" solo to give her strength was very touching. And when she took Victoria's hand as she normally did while they walked down the steps, she could see that Victoria was touched as well.
But by far the memory that made Krystal smile most was during "All Mine" on day 2. It was an unscripted moment between them when Amber picked her up during "All Mine". Krystal was startled when her feet left the ground, but she had no doubt that the two strong arms that hugged her tightly from behind and supported her belonged to Amber.
When Krystal's feet landed on the ground again, she caught Amber's hand and spun around to look at her. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second and the young lovers smiled at each other, sharing a million words of love and adoration and a semi serious threat of death after the concert from Krystal to Amber. And then they let go of each others' fingertips and spun away from their private world and back into their idol lives to perform the rest of their concert, finishing up a two day comeback that was filled with enough memories to keep her and f(x) going until their next comeback.
Their "Cowboy" comeback was unorthodox to say the least, but hearing their fans cheering for them in such a large venue made Krystal feel certain that the support of their MeU was all f(x) would ever need to keep going.
Author's Notes: Happy 8th anniversary to f(x) and MeU! I've been with f(x) for about 3 years now, arguably the most difficult 3 years that f(x) has ever faced, but I don't regret falling in love with f(x) for a second. I'll be here for the next 8 years and a lifetime after that!
4 chapters to go. I really want to finish C&C before the end of the month (the final 3 chapters are drafted!!) but I don't know if my work schedule will allow it... I'll do my best. The biggest hurdle right now is finding time to draft the next chapter. Once that's done and written, the final 3 chapters should be a breeze. :) Aiming to release chapter 70 by 9/12, but don't get your hopes up. It's probably bad for your health to believe my estimations. XD See you next time!!
Connections To Reality:
[Coming "Soon"!]