Falling for the Omega Idol

Chapter 242: THE DAY OF THE DANCE PERFORMANCE

SONG JIA waited with the other audience members outside The Argo, all of them lined up under large canopy tents that were put together to accommodate the long line. She was grateful for the shade it provided, though the humidity still made the heat feel heavy. She kept a small handheld fan pointed at her face to cool down. The Boys Odyssey staff had also been handing out ice cold water and cold compresses to help everyone beat the heat.

You might wonder why she was back again. Apparently, her luck was just that good. When she applied to be part of the live audience, she hadn’t expected much. She’d already been chosen for the vocal performance, after all. But somehow, she got picked again. Thankfully, she worked remotely, so she’d been able to catch a flight out to Jeju. She’d also planned to stay a few extra days to make a vacation out of it.

"Are you a Haneul fan?" the girl in front of her asked.

The girl’s eyes lit up when she spotted the picket fan Jia was holding. It was a custom fan she’d made herself, with Haneul’s name printed on it. She added some stars to make it look cuter. Seeing that, anyone would assume she was a Haneul fan.

"Me too!" the girl added excitedly while waving her own picket fan with a name of Haneul on it and a cute chibi of him on the side.

Jia smiled back, a bright, excited grin spreading across her face. "Yeah, he’s my one pick."

"I can’t really say he’s my one pick," the girl admitted, holding up another picket fan. This one had Taeyang’s name on it, along with the same chibi drawing. "I have two favorites, actually." She leaned in a little closer, lowering her voice like she was sharing a secret. "I’m a big Noeul fan."

Jia had heard of Noeul before. It was what people who shipped Jung Taeyang and Haneul called their pairing. She wasn’t really into shipping culture herself. When she liked an idol, she preferred to focus on that one person rather than their relationships with others. But she understood the appeal of it. So who was she to judge?

"Those chibis are so cute!" she said instead. "Did you draw them yourself?"

The girl nodded proudly. "I did."

They talked more, and the girl introduced herself as Shim Sooah. The two of them hit it off quickly, chatting about their favorite moments from the show and which performances they were most excited to see. They kept talking the whole time, right until the staff finally started letting the audience board the ship.

***

Haneul opened and closed his fists, trying to shake off the nerves. He and his team, along with all the other teams, were seated in the waiting area connected to the backstage of the performance hall. They were all already in their costumes, and their makeup had been finished a while ago. Now all that was left was to wait for their turn to go on stage.

There was a screen in front of them that showed what was happening on stage, just like during the last live performance. Right now, it was turned off. It would only turn on once the performances began.

The order of performances had already been decided. Just like during the live vocal mission, it was determined randomly. The first groups to perform would be the ones dancing to [Heart Skip!]. Next would be the [Crown the March] teams. Then came their turn, the groups performing [Over the Edge]. After that, the [Starlight Fever] teams would go. And finally, the ones who picked [Right on Time] would close the show.

Honestly, when Haneul heard that order, he felt worried. Performing right after Taeyang’s group felt like their group would be nuked. Since he watched their performance, he knew how good they were. It felt like no matter how well his team performed, they would be overshadowed, which would affect the live votes they received.

But he soon calmed himself down. If he continued to worry about that, it would only affect his performance, which would only make his worry come true. So, while having his make-up done, he meditated hard. Thankfully, it worked, and he stopped thinking about it. He just hoped that once Taeyang’s group performed, this worry wouldn’t come back ten times worse.

"You seem very nervous."

The whisper on his left nearly made Haneul jump. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from cursing. Damn Jeon Hyunsik. They had an important performance today, and yet this guy was still trying to flirt with him. Or at least, his version of flirting. Because as far as Haneul was concerned, what he’s doing was just a nuisance.

Haneul shifted a bit to the right, trying to make the move look natural, so it wasn’t obvious he was doing his best to keep them from touching.

"Just a bit," he said with a tight smile.

Haneul had already tried his best earlier not to sit next to Jeon Hyunsik, and he thought he’d actually succeeded when he managed to get a spot between Eunwoo and Suho. But then Jeon Hyunsik asked to swap seats with Suho. Haneul could tell that Eunwoo was planning to interfere, probably because he knew how uncomfortable Haneul felt around the guy. But before Eunwoo could say anything, Suho had already agreed in his usual good-natured way, standing up and changing places with Jeon Hyunsik. So now Haneul was stuck sitting between Jeon Hyunsik and Eunwoo, while Suho ended up on the other side of Eunwoo.

"Don’t worry, you look so... good dancing our song that anyone with eyes would definitely be... tempted," Jeon Hyunsik said while letting his eyes wander from Haneul’s face down to his body.

The way he looked at him and the way he chose his words made it sound like he wanted to say something else instead of ’good.’ Something that definitely wasn’t wholesome at all. Even the way he dragged out the word ’tempted’ felt offensive and made Haneul’s skin crawl.

Shit. He really couldn’t wait for this dance mission to finally be over so he wouldn’t have to spend any more time with this jerk.