Chapter 454 Collaboration
~ In the city light, under the starry skies~
Samuel opened the song with Yoona singing along with him. For their final performance, they were divided into five groups of two; it was set to compliment each other's voice with the rest of the members humming along the tune.
~Five hearts beating, synchronized.~ Soo-jin and Eunhyuk were following, but this time, Soo-jin's voice was dominant. It showed everyone's prowess in their singing; it was a slow but steady start to the song.
This song was composed by a country's leading composer and was achieved through the painstaking effort of the company to convince him. This shows how much effort they put into their first duet performance.
~We found a melody, a love so actual; ~ Bo-mi and Shindong were next; their voices were low pitch, making it hard to discern the prevalent one among them.
~This world's journey led us to you.~ Red and Leeteuk finished the verse with their soothing tone; there were no instrumentals up to this point, only an eight o eight quietly playing in the background.
But suddenly, the mood of the music changed, and a happy beat began playing, which was completely opposite of the previous calm one; it was the cue for the remaining duo to start.
~We're dancing in the rain, feeling no pain,~ Ningning and Yesung took the lead and delivered a powerful opening for the pre-chorus.
~Through all the ups and downs, we'll remain.~ Samuel and Yoona were following; they matched the previous enthusiasm, after which it was the same pattern, but the duo kept changing.
~Together we stand, hand in hand,~
~In this world, we've found our promised land.~
Next was the chorus, which changed the flow once more; the music died down, but their voices elevated to a higher level as everyone began to move their bodies. The choreography was not excessively difficult, but they had to be more mindful of their steps.
Even though the stage was huge, they had to match their attention to their fans, and only looking in one direction was not enough. Everyone interchanged and took centre stage as they practised hundreds of times before.
~Oh, girl, you're the rhythm in our hearts,~
~Every note, every beat, right from the start.~
~We'll sing it loud, we'll sing it proud,~
~This love is a symphony, forever unbound.~
Their bodies were moving to the beat, but no excessive touching was involved during dancing. It was done purposefully to avoid spreading rumours as both groups were touring together. Industry rumours were common, but sometimes they could ruin the whole band's career, especially in an environment like the Korean Entertainment industry.
It was notorious for online bullying; as an idol, their every move was monitored, and there were even paparazzi hired by rival Entertainment agencies specifically to find dirt on other groups.
The second verse started as fans kept cheering them on; it could be said that this was the first time this song saw the light of day. It was a closely guarded secret, and only the announcement was made that they would release it after the live event. It could be one of the reasons that the venue was jam-packed!
~~From the moment we met, we couldn't deny,
You're the reason we spread our wings to fly.
In the spotlight or in the pouring rain,
You're the sunshine that erases all the pain.~
Samuel moved his body to the beat. He followed along with the sequence that he learned from the surveillance video, but he felt something was missing.
~We're dancing in the rain, feeling no pain,
Through all the ups and downs, we'll remain.
Together, we stand, hand in hand,
In this world, we've found our promised land.~
It was the end of the second pre-chorus, and he started to understand the problem. It was already the song's second half, and now they were doing more poses together, showing their explosive dancing abilities.
~Oh, girl, you're the rhythm in our hearts,
Every note, every beat, right from the start.
We'll sing it loud, we'll sing it proud,
This love is a symphony, forever unbound.~
By the end of the second chorus, he began struggling, not because of his lack of talent but due to his overcompensation to adapt to Yoona's movement. No matter how good he was, he couldn't shrink himself.
Siwon was the shortest group member with an estimated height of five-eight, and Yoona was about the same height after wearing a shallow heel, but compared to Samuel, she was too short for them to perform moves together.
They choreographed the dance moves according to Siwon, but the result was evident now that he and Yoona were dancing toe to toe. A few activities were out of synch because of his large build, but the most problematic was the outro where they had to do a whole set together without separating.
~Through the highs and lows, the tears and cheers,
In your arms, we'll conquer our fears.
You're the missing piece, the final chord,
In this world's love, you are adored.~
The bridge went fine; no significant problems occurred as Samuel and Yoona were at the back of the group. But he began thinking hard, trying to come up with a plan. He used his exceptional mind while using a portion of his it to focus on the performance.
~Oh, girl, you're the rhythm in our hearts,
Every note, every beat, right from the start.
We'll sing it loud, we'll sing it proud,
This love is a symphony, forever unbound.~
Taking advantage of a few breaths between the Outro and Chorus, he whispered a few sentences to Yoona. Her expression visibly changed, but Samuel started moving his body before she could say anything.
If she protested now, the flow would be a mess, and everyone could hear their conversation as the microphones were still active.
~In this world, you are the key,
He held her hand as it was their time to dance. Placing his hand on her waist and with the other, he took control of her body. It was not hard for him to move her body as he pleased as he started performing completely different dance manoeuvres from what they had practised.
~Together forever, you and we.~
Pulling her close to him, he flung her to the side and like a puppet with strings attached to it, she moved fluidly. What should have been an awkward pose was magnificent under his command.
~With you, our love will always shine,~
Spinning her around, he imitated something like salsa and break dance fusion, which contained even the moves where Yoona almost fell.
In this world, you're our Valentine.~
To finish it off, he lowered her with her leg firmly placed between his arms and her waist was supported by his other hand. It was the classic pose they finished with a bang. She looked into his eyes, but the cheers awoke them as they focused on the crowd again.
Fans knew they had witnessed something special, especially the last part when the newbie and Yoona came out with an explosive number. They ultimately lost themselves, not even looking at other members; it was a mesmerizing performance!
...
...
...
" If you are sleepy, you shouldn't have come..." Mayra sighed, looking at Elise bobbing her head inside the car.
" Let her be, I am sure she will jump excitedly when she meet Sami. Honestly, I still can't believe they were saying that he was set to perform on the stage." Kayla, who was driving, almost reached the venue.
" I already told you he has unimaginable potential. It's not farfetch that he would help some with the problem that is easy for him to solve."
" Still, as far as I heard, it's a foreign band, and from what I can tell from that guy Darren's demeanour, he has a tendency to brag about others!" Kayla snorted. She didn't know the whole truth, but she did know how much Mayra suffered under him; he had one job, and he couldn't even do it even after years of her pleading!
" Don't be like that; back then, I was also naive. He must have felt quite a bit of resentment toward me. You promise you will not make a scene!" Mayra reminded her again. She knew Kayla tended to go berserk whenever her close people were implicated.
" I get it. I will not do anything, but that's only valid until he didn't disrespect me first alright?"
" Okay, but can we go in? Shouldn't we give him a call before our arrival?"
" That's stupid; how can I relish the look of surprise on his face if I did so? And about the entry, don't worry too much, I have already asked Chief to inform the security team about our arrival. He had already suffered enough so I don't think he would dare to be complacent!" Kayla chuckled, but she looked like someone drunk on her newfound power.
" * Sigh* If you say so."
But when they reached the place, they were met with another kind of shock. The cheers of people were so loud that they could even penetrate the inside of the car. It looked like the ground was shaking, but there was no panic on the street, so it was probably not an earthquake.
They parked the car, and people were there to receive them. The show seemed to have ended, but one voice repeatedly reverberated throughout the venue.
" Hyunsaeng! Hyunsaeng! Hyunsaeng! Hyunsaeng!"