Chapter 74

The atmosphere at the event venue suddenly came alive.

What might seem like a small gesture, the audience burst into laughter at the cuteness shown by the youngest member of NewBlack.

While whispers of "He's funny" and "He's cute" were exchanged.

Amidst the revived atmosphere, NewBlack began to passionately sing a trot song.

Of course, the live quality wasn't as high as that of Night Sea or Something.

The people at the venue were aware of this.

However, the reason the audience could genuinely enjoy the performance was due to the effort shown by the idol members.

Even though the trot genre might not be familiar to them, and there was a risk of creating an awkward situation if they sang incorrectly, their determination to make people happy was evident.

This was strongly felt during the performance.

Their reason for being on stage was not to show off their cool looks but to make the audience happy.

Less than 30 seconds after coming down from the stage, the singers were drenched, and the audience's gaze softened.

The leader, Jinchang, who was singing while pulling his hair away from his forehead, the dancer moving gracefully on the muddy ground, and the vocalist, who, despite turning pale and shivering, was still adjusting his voice.

The rapper and the youngest member, who were working hard to lead the audience's response as a duo.

Though the song was short, their best efforts resonated with the audience.

And.

There was someone who smiled at the audience's reaction.

"You're doing well, keep it up."

Mayor Kim had been beaming since the beginning.

It was a complete contrast to the initial reaction when NewBlack first took the stage.

His eyes were now filled with honey as he looked at the five singers.

I thought the festival was completely ruined today.

No, it actually was.

But an unexpected rookie boy group appeared and lifted the sinking event.

Except for the trot singer, I don't think any of the teams that performed today could have elicited such a response.

If another team had come on, the atmosphere might have gotten even worse.

NewBlack's appearance was a stroke of genius.

Just as I was thinking about finding them after the event to shake their hands and show my gratitude,

"What's wrong?"

Mayor Kim noticed something strange.

Due to the backlight from the spotlight, it was hard to see, but chaos was breaking out behind the stage.

What could have happened?

Narrowing his eyes, he instructed one of his staff to find out what was going on.

When the staff member reported back, the high spirits that had soared to the sky came crashing back to earth.

"What?"

"The water pump has broken down."

Frowning, the staff member quickly added,

"They said it will be fixed soon, so there's no need to worry. It should be fixed before NewBlack's performance ends. The overflow is temporary."

Though I couldn't just take his word for it, one of the staff members was sent with an umbrella to monitor the situation.

When I turned my attention back to the stage,

The first verse of "Will You Be With Me" had already ended, and Kim Joonhyeon was rapping with the microphone.

Though not as intense as the trot, the rapper's enthusiastic performance, complete with hand and body movements, was met with applause from the audience.

At that moment, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"Could it be...?"

At first, I wondered why NewBlack had come down from the stage. Then I thought it was to lead the audience's response.

But now, it seemed there was more to it.

"Could they be trying to divert the audience's attention?"

At first, I thought it was unlikely, but gradually, I became convinced.

It was clear.

If NewBlack had continued performing on stage, they would have inevitably noticed the water flowing in from the side due to the spotlight.

Of course, this wouldn't have ruined the event, but it would have disrupted the atmosphere.

My gaze, which had been fixed on the youngest member of NewBlack, reminiscent of my youngest son studying abroad, shifted to Seonwoo Joo, who was smiling and moving to the beat next to Joonhyeon.

"Indeed..."

Thinking about the significant debt I owed them today and how I should properly repay them, I decided to send them some rice.

While I was thinking this,

The tone of the song began to change.

"Are they going to perform something other than trot?"

Joonhyeon's rap was getting faster, building up to a climax, and the atmosphere was heating up.

And finally, when the rap ended,

Click.

The lights that had been shining on them suddenly went out.

For a second, people were blinking and looking confused.

Then, the lights came back on.

Click.

But they were not shining on the NewBlack members.

They were shining on the back row of the audience, where a singer was standing with a cheerful smile.

The audience erupted in cheers as the upbeat intro of the second verse began.

Singer Song Bo-hyung walked up to NewBlack, who were in the front row, and greeted the audience enthusiastically.

-Hello! I'm back!

The unexpected collaboration between the idol group and the trot singer was met with cheers from the audience, regardless of age.

A stage that everyone, regardless of generation, could enjoy with laughter had begun.

* * *

My heart swelled with the enthusiastic cheers.

The idea of switching with the trot singer before the performance ended was mine.

-You know, the MR we have is the one we used for the year-end evaluation. The first and second verses are different songs. The second verse is Senior Chang Won's "Thank You." If we follow the original plan, the reaction won't be great.

Because the audience already knew that the first and second verses were different songs.

So, they wouldn't find it strange if we collaborated with different songs.

But today's audience wasn't our cute parents watching us practice; they were regular people.

If we lifted the mood with trot and then changed the second verse to a different song, the audience might be confused.

-So, we'll do trot for the second verse too.

-What? How?

-We won't be singing it. We'll pass the baton to Song Bo-hyung. There's a part where Joonhyeon's rap cuts off. We'll stop the song there and start it again. Since the song doesn't have a bridge, there won't be a big problem if we play the first verse intro again.

-Isn't that a bit strange?

-If the lighting team helps, we can make it look natural.

Fortunately, the lighting director agreed readily, and after checking the time until Song Bo-hyung's arrival, we put the plan into action.

The reaction, as you can see, was fantastic.

Every time Song Bo-hyung made a gesture and sang playfully, the elderly and middle-aged audience members clapped and cheered enthusiastically.

Everyone had the same expression.

Even Mayor Kim, who had been smiling at Jiho, was now nodding his head in excitement.

Indeed, professionals are different.

In terms of singing techniques and capturing the essence of the genre, even the same song made my skin tingle.

I realized that it could be sung in such a way.

We supported the performance with choreography to avoid looking empty behind Song Bo-hyung, who seemed grateful for our efforts.

He occasionally smiled at us, and the audience's enthusiastic cheers might have been even louder than when we were singing.

In any case, it was a good memory for both us and him.

-Thank you, NewBlack! You did a great job!

After the song ended, Song Bo-hyung, waving in place of the MC, and the warm audience, we all bowed together.

And.

As we felt a sense of accomplishment, the heavy rain that had been pouring down gradually subsided.

* * *

After waving and smiling at the audience, we immediately collapsed as soon as we went backstage.

"Ah, I thought I was going to die. Really."

Lee Hyuk, leaning on a frame, gagged.

He must have been under a lot of pressure.

I immediately passed the water bottle Min-ki gave me to Lee Hyuk.

"Hey, drink first."

"…You didn't drink from it, right?"

"Is that important in this situation? Anyway."

"Be quiet. I might throw up."

A white hand snatched the water bottle.

Lee Hyuk, who had been rinsing his mouth, gagged for a while and then wiped his mouth.

"Should I pat your back?"

"I'm fine, really."

He then sat down next to me, who was squatting on the ground.

Soon, Beju also leaned his head on my shoulder.

The three of us were leaning against the backstage wall like zombies.

The two managers, who were holding umbrellas over us, only smiled instead of telling us to get up.

Seokhwan patted my shoulder and laughed.

"You did a great job, really."

"Really, I don't think I can do it again."

"What can we do? It looks like we'll get a lot of event offers based on the atmosphere."

Though I glared at him, it was a friendly atmosphere.

I was just tired.

Trying to perform three songs in a row, which we hadn't fully prepared, was nerve-wracking.

Fortunately, it seemed the audience liked us.

"Hyung, I'm so cold…"

"Me too."

The kids, shivering from the rain, huddled against my shoulder.

Just a moment ago, they were professional idols smiling and jumping on stage, but now they were just our kids.

I wanted to get up and go to the car to rest, but my legs were so weak that I couldn't even stand.

Except for one.

"Jiho."

"Yep."

"Why are you riding on Joonhyeon's back?"

"My legs are weak. I