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it was finally time for arguably one of the most awaited acts of the night, the collab between every male artist under both of sr and astral. there was no one as excited as the ceo, the creator of the whole idea - surprising to some, but not to the residents of sr, who were already familiar with sukchul’s very supportive behaviour. after checking with a few staff members and getting told that everything was going to be fine, he turned and attempted to head out to take his seat in the audience - note, attempted. before he could actually exit, he felt something tug noticeably on his sleeve.
“hm?” he quizzed, turning to look at the mysterious cause, who was revealed to be minmin, one of the byb boys that had come just to watch, not having officially debuted yet. the young boy, tugged again, attempting to signal for sukchul to follow.
“cmon, quick! we don’t have much time for your costume change!” the boy squealed excitedly, pulling the older back towards the changing rooms. wait a minute, did he say… costume change?
“minmin? what are you talking about? what costume change?” sukchul asked, confusion evident by his furrowed eyebrows and on his scrunched up face. instead of responding, the younger grabbed a striped blue and white shirt before handing it to him and pushing him into the changing room.
although thoroughly confused, he did as he was told and changed into the shirt; of course he noticed that it was the same shirt that all of the other male artists under sr and astral were wearing, but being sukchul, he just assumed that they wanted him to come out and say something after the performance - but oh boy, was he wrong. immediately after stepping out, seeing the spare mic in soo’s hands and that knowing grin on his face; he just knew that something was up.
“sukchul, we are a family. we can’t have every member of the family performing with you just sat on the side lines - now i know you’re going to protest but i promise it’s only two little lines - and you know the dance already anyways. please sukchul,” he explained and the elder just sighed in return, he really always gives into his kids. he nods hesitantly, gently taking the mic from soo’s hands and places it around his head before securing the back piece into his black jeans.
“fine fine fine, just tell me the lines...” sukchul smiles lightly, completely giving in.
nerves filled sukchul’s body as the lights faded on and the music began - he really wanted to get the choreography correct - he was so thankful that it wasn’t difficult. watching his artists perform was one thing, but performing alongside them felt unreal, it gave him a mellow sort of feeling inside; a warm, giddy feeling. only now did he truly realise how much they all loved to perform, hearing their voices at each of their parts and their bright smiles - knowing that he helped to give them these smiles - made him feel immeasurable joy. he watched gleefully as the chorus hit in, seeing how perfect the synchronisation was, as if they were moving as one - moving as one big family.
every spin, turn and movement felt like it could be his last, so he poured his all into the dance, engaging with crowd too, sending little smiles and winks to fans in the audience. at the realisation of the point in the song, his smile wavered, faulting in pure panic. the lines were coming up - his lines. turning into the front, he struck his hand to the audience singing out the line “would you be my baby”, knowing exactly who the one person he was truly singing too. he slid to side, giving chanwoo the spotlight for his line before stepping back into the middle to sing his second line. a giggly smile on his face, hands making a heart, his second line came in, sung in his happy, warm, honey voice, ‘왠지 느낌이 좋아’.
by the end of the performance, he felt a wave of happiness fill him up, making him giggle lightly at the giddy feeling in his chest - after all, it was his first performance. now, he really couldn’t wait to tell tyler about this one.