Chapter Text
Mobei Jun had only one thought cross his mind as he stood, waiting to go on stage for the first time in a year.
I don’t want to be here.
Yet here he stood, all dolled up with his signature dark eyeshadow, signature blue contacts, and outfit that had so many random chain details it got caught on itself if he didn’t move right. A staff member was hurriedly fiddling with his soundbox, trying to make sure it was perfectly secure on the waistband of his pants. With trembling hands, the staff member handed him his earpiece, not daring to look Mobei in the eyes. Mobei only exhaled sharply and took the earpiece from the staff member, turning around to face the stage entrance. He fucking hated this, being put on display for the amusement of delusional netizens. His art felt degraded as he was forced to put on a show to go along with every carefully crafted song, having to dance sensually and flash his muscles on occasion. It felt dirty. It was dirty. If he could, he would have just never come back from break. His company could just screw off instead of breathing down his neck.
Only 5 minutes until his performance, the first performance he had since his long break. Closing his eyes, he tried to will the slight fluttering in the deepest part of his gut. He thought of all the other idols he had seen perform on this very stage. They never failed to blind the crowd with their stunning smiles. The idea almost had Mobei spiraling back into another one of his god I hate idols and I hate being an idol fits until he thought of one particular smile…
Shang Qinghua was the least popular member of the popular boy group, Cang Qiong. He wasn’t the best singer in the group, nor was he the best dancer, and his rapping skills? Let’s not get into his disastrous attempts to spit bars. Mobei remembered seeing the debut of Cang Qiong, remembered scoffing at how it was just another boyband of pretty boys, what a shocker. He remembers waiting backstage at the music awards stage, watching the performances of the other groups that went before him, snorting when Cang Qiong came on. Suddenly, the camera panned to a member with warm brown hair and the most charming smile Mobei has ever seen, so charming Mobei felt his heart pause for just a breath as he stared at the performance. The part was small and over before he knew it, but that smile was permanently etched into Mobei’s heart. That right there, was a true purehearted smile, the was the most genuine smile Mobei has seen in years. Ever since that day, he hunted for every fancam of Qinghua, every solo photo shoot, every photocard, waiting for the day that they might someday meet and Mobei would be able to finally see him up close. Looking at the smile every day inspired him, it gave him a small flicker of hope that in this world of idols there were some genuine stars in a night sky filled with airplanes.. So to speak.
Feeling motivated again, Mobei unclenched his jaw and squared his shoulders. He headed to the stage with his famous cold glare, hoping to maybe at least inspire with his performance the way Qinghua inspired him.
—
A soft ding rang from the phone sitting on a wooden table, the lock screen lighting up with another one of the thousand notifications that were left unchecked.
“NEW NOTIF from SYSTEM, your favorite SNS platform - MBJ has just posted.” Hands quickly scrambled to click into the app, hurriedly swiping to his home feed. At the very top, posted 5 minutes ago, sat a comeback stage performance announcement for MBJ, an artist who hasn’t posted in a year.
MBJ, otherwise known as Mobei Jun, has been in the idol industry since he was a teenager. The once cold but endearing ice prince grew to be who the fans collectively agree is an ice king. He always had an air of royalty around him, with sharp cheekbones and dark hair that he never once completely dyed, piercing eyes that just screamed YOU ARE BENEATH ME . Altogether, it was an image that the rabid fangirls ate up, wild comments screeching at the bottom of the post.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WE MISSED YOU SO MUCH MBJ
The concept for this comeback ate so hard cant wait to see the stage performance
THE LIP RING IM GOING FERAL
mbj never fails to show everyone how a sexy concept should be done
“QINGHUA GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE WE’RE UP SOON” Shen Qingqiu, his groupmate, yelled at him from the door of the waiting room. Sighing, Shang Qinghua set his phone down on the dressing table, MBJ’s post still open on his screen.
“Yeah yeah, you don't need to yell at me you know” Shang Qinghua pouted, elbowing Qingqiu on the way out. Qingqiu only rolled his eyes and lightly smacked him in the head, Qinghua chasing after him in protest as he walked further ahead. The screen on the phone started to flicker as new comments emerged under MBJ’s post.
OMG IS MY PHONE BROKEN OR DOES IT SAY QINGHUA FROM CANGQIONG LIKED THIS POST
QINGHUA YOU’RE ONE OF US????
Omggg crossover
Lol i wonder how MBJ would react to a member of a cangqiong liking his post, he always talks about how he hates pop music like the songs cangqiong puts out