Chapter 15: The Stage of Departure (2,3)
I was supposed to post yesterday's second update this morning, but the editing took a bit longer than expected. I'm only posting now, and for that, I also can't open a single chapter explanation, so sorry about the delay!
These two chapters are combined into one and not released separately. The main content is to delete some unnecessary descriptions, although I want to speed up the progress, but it's hard to change everything at once, so just make do with these two chapters!
After passing through the debut stage, the plot will speed up without breaking the rhythm.
Thanks for the rewards from Beifeng Qianqi, Yaoling Henhui Fei, yiyideyiyi and Ling Hongyanweilaojunxiansi four classmates!
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Today is brother's debut stage...
At night, outside the window where spring chill has not yet dissipated, the wind blows through the corners and holes of buildings, making a sound like sobbing. Occasionally looking far away, the vast darkness spreads boundlessly, heavily covering the earth, pressing down on the lights of countless homes near and far, shining dimly or brightly, flickering uncertainly. The few streetlights in the small district downstairs are faintly blurred into clusters of cold-colored splendor, while on the outer road, only an occasional car whizzes by, with no pedestrians under the pre-dawn sky, making everything seem very desolate. Corresponding to this desolation is the warm and cozy yellow glow of the table lamp indoors.
This is the early-rising, lying in bed with surging emotions Zhixiu, who occasionally turned her head to look out the window and took in the scenes outside, the thoughts that floated up in her mind.
It's not the warmth of the light, but some kind of meaning that fills your heart to the brim, squeezing out even the cold.
In the living room outside her bedroom, some faint sounds had been coming for half an hour. She listened quietly to distinguish which ones were her brother brushing his teeth and washing his face, which ones were her brother cooking breakfast, and which ones were sweeping the house.
The nanny who came before recently resigned, and my brother's reputation has been getting bigger and bigger. Those two nannies who were casually found are no longer comfortable to use, and maybe one day they will expose the news to the media for a little reward. So, it's better to give each of them a quite generous red envelope to resign, which is also a good ending.
Although I fired the nanny, there is still someone who does the household chores.
She pricked up her ears and listened to the faint sound of conversation coming from outside.
"Isn't Zhīxiù up yet?"
"No. What are you doing here so early today? It's still so dark outside, and you're a girl..."
"Hehe, today is your debut stage, I know you must get up early, if it's late, we won't be able to see each other."
A living room separated by a door, Lin Xiu Jing in an all-white high-necked sweater, her small face buried in the rolled-up collar, wiping the table while smiling towards the kitchen door, An Jun He with a hint of helplessness on his face.
She has been coming over frequently, especially after the two maids left and he himself was busy practicing every day, getting up early and staying up late, neglecting his family duties, which gave her an excuse to come over more often. She no longer mentions those things, as if the confession and tears in Tokyo that night had never happened, and each time she comes, it's just to help him with some household chores or push Chihiro downstairs for a walk, making it seem like their relationship has really returned to a friendly one.
Actually? Even good friends wouldn't be so attentive.
An Junhe knew what she was getting at, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words of refusal. She, a woman, had already humbled herself to such an extent; who could bear to push her away again?
At least An Junhe felt he couldn't do it.
She was so obvious that Jishu also vaguely sensed something, occasionally using a strange gaze to sweep back and forth between him and Lin Xiujing. The night before last, he hugged Jishu's leg and helped massage it, while in the kitchen, Lin Xiujing was washing dishes, looking at her back, Jishu lightly said: "Having such a sister-in-law isn't bad either!"
An Junhe was stunned.
This was probably her goal, letting him and the people around him gradually get used to her presence, and then letting intimacy naturally develop.
A very childish and weak method, so silly that it makes people want to cry and laugh at the same time.
At that moment, she smiled at him, but when he looked at her, she was a little flustered and shifted her gaze away, busily lowering her head to wipe the table, as if she had a grudge against it.
“Foolish woman…” An Junhe thought helplessly, but at this time, the kitchen floated out with a faint scent of porridge. He didn't think much and turned around to slowly simmer the pot on a small fire, then took out some pickled vegetables as a side dish. After everything was ready, when he carried it out, Lin Xiujing had already set the table in the living room.
Perhaps it was the short time that had settled her emotions, and seeing him bring out the porridge, she hurriedly put a mat on the table to place the pot, while also serving him a bowl, asking: "Shall I call Zhi Xiu?"
"No need, let her sleep a bit longer, we'll eat first!" He replied as he took the bowl of porridge, and then paused for a moment. The questions and answers between them, their movements, all proceeded naturally and smoothly, just like an old couple who had lived together for many years.
Has it really been internalized?
He was a bit puzzled and absurd, dazedly drank a few mouthfuls of porridge, and before he could figure out what was going on, the phone rang.
It was Guan Baogen who called, saying that Che Yuancheng had already come to pick him up and asked him to hurry up with his packing, as there were still many trivial matters to attend to in the preparation stage.
Although the debut stage was in the afternoon, the preparation time was very long. The selection of performance outfits and makeup had been decided early on, but it took a lot of time to put everything together temporarily. This was because he debuted solo; if he were part of a group, the delayed time would be even longer. For example, TVXQ from his company reportedly spent half the night preparing before each stage appearance, doing hair, skin care, makeup and other tasks that took around 8-9 hours to complete.
As the sky outside the window was about to brighten, the darkness before dawn was slowly fading away. An Junhe hastily finished his porridge after hanging up the phone. Not long after, when a faint white light began to appear on the eastern horizon, his mobile phone rang again.
Yuan Cheng has arrived downstairs already.
After slightly tidying up his clothes, An Junhe opened the door to Zhixiu's room and looked at his sister who was still seemingly immersed in her dreams under the dim yellow light of the desk lamp by the window. He then quietly closed the door again.
Of course, he didn't know that his sleeping sister's face, with her back to the door and her wide eyes open, seemed to be thinking about something, looking a bit bewildered and complex.
It was Lin Xiujing who seemed to have taken on the role of Zhixiu at this moment, escorting him all the way to the door, like a little wife, helping him adjust his collar while softly nagging: "I heard that the relationships between seniors and juniors in the song world are very strict. If someone intentionally makes things difficult for you, don't be impulsive. Every waiting room has surveillance cameras, and if you're not careful, it will damage your image..." As she spoke, she couldn't help but feel a little regretful: "Unfortunately, I don't know anyone in the song world, otherwise..."
That tense look, if you didn't know any better, you'd think today was her debut.
"Alright!" An Junhe laughed: "When have you ever seen me act impulsively?"
Lin Xiujing blinked, and immediately smiled awkwardly, her bright eyes gazing at him, gazing at the calm and composed expression that hid a sharp and steady light. That was the glow of maturity and confidence.
Yes, she was indeed overthinking it. He had always been so mature, and rather than saying he wouldn't be impulsive, it's better to say that he had absolute confidence in himself, and wasn't afraid of others' provocations at all. That was a unique kind of pride, like the warm yet still radiant sun on a spring day.
This is Ahn Jun Heo she likes.
Her emotions suddenly surged, a certain feeling that had been hidden recently seemed to be unable to be restrained anymore. She abruptly hugged him, her trembling lips printed on his mouth corner. Then, as if scalded, she lightly retreated, her eyes shining with a shy and rippling light.
"Go for it!"
Clutching her small fist, she called out in a low voice and then hastily closed the door amidst An Junhe's stunned expression, lest he react and say complicated things like "Sorry, I don't love you".
Over time, she gradually figured out his temperament. He belongs to the type who yields to softness but not to hardness. On major issues, he has his own persistence and point of view, and is even cold and ruthless when dealing with some things. However, on minor matters, he is very casual. As long as you don't cross his bottom line, occasionally being a bit rebellious and out of line, as long as you pretend to be stupid and pitiful afterwards, he can't do anything about it.
Listening to the sound of the door closing behind her, recalling his shocked and unresponsive expression just now, Lin Xiujing's heart was both flustered and sweet.
Gently touched her lips, there, as if still lingering just now the touch, the touch clearly made her heart thump wildly.
……
An Junhe lightly touched the corner of his mouth, looking somewhat stunned at the small woman's back as she hastily retreated behind the door. The door slammed shut with a bang, and he stood there for a moment, before letting out a bitter laugh.
Standing outside the door, for a moment he really didn't know how to react. It was Guan Baogen who called again to urge him to hurry up and meet with Yuan Cheng, let Yuan Cheng take him to contact the beauty salon that had been arranged, get his hair done, and then rush to the KBS main building on Jumi Island for the stage rehearsal in the afternoon.
An Junhe hesitated for a moment, didn't knock on the door, and went downstairs with a lot on his mind.
When I got on the car, I saw him looking nervous through the rearview mirror. I thought he was worried about the upcoming performance, so I started the car and comforted him: "Brother, don't worry, Wen Sheng and others will support you!"
An Junhe heard this and lost his smile: "How can you support them?"
"Buy your album and source, I heard Quan Buchang (Quan Baogen was recently promoted to minister, of course, it's a virtual job) say that the scoring standard for Music Bank is mainly based on album sales and source. Wensheng told everyone in our group to buy your album yesterday, and even booked an internet cafe with hundreds of computers continuously playing your 1 minute and 1 second song on repeat. Don't worry, bro, we'll support you all the way to the top."
An Junhe burst out laughing, Music Bank is not MCD, although album sales and sound source account for a larger proportion in the scores, it's not something that can be brushed up to first place just by spending money, even if it could be brushed up, with those people under Wen Sheng's hands, it would still be a drop in the bucket.
However, this incident interrupted him and temporarily put down some of the troubles in his heart. As they chatted, the car headed towards a beauty salon near the company.
Although the company provided him with a makeup artist, due to the lack of a dedicated makeup room within the company, styling and makeup still had to be outsourced to a cooperating beauty salon. This is not unique to S·M, but rather a common practice throughout the entertainment industry. Even for top celebrities, daily activities are handled in this manner (the author was previously unaware of this, assuming that like in China, dedicated makeup artists were assigned; it wasn't until watching a program recently that they learned Korean and Taiwanese artists often rely on external beauty salons for even stage makeup).
Kwon Bo-geun's beauty salon was just a short distance from the company, and when he arrived, Kwon Bo-geun was already waiting with stylists, makeup artists, and beauty teachers.
It was already past 6 o'clock, and the spring sky didn't brighten up quickly. The eastern horizon had just turned from a pale white to a reddish hue of dawn, but the brilliant sunlight hadn't yet burst out from the horizon. The entire sky still looked somewhat dim. As soon as Yuan Cheng parked the car, Quan Baogen welcomed An Junhe into the room with the faint glow of the dawn, scolding him for being so late while urging the beauty teacher to hurry up and prepare.
After that, it's a busy time, washing face and hair, applying facial masks for skin care. In the minds of ordinary people, this kind of behavior is probably exclusive to women. However, as a star, sometimes you can't help but pay attention to these things, especially men. Pores are generally larger, if not using skincare methods to cover up, when standing on stage, one close-up shot will magnify all the flaws.
After a pause, it took more than 2 hours to get everything ready. In comparison, the hair was much easier to handle because this time we were performing a ballad, which didn't require much dance performance effects, so it was relatively simple to style.
It was almost 10 o'clock when the styling was finished, and Kwon Baek-ho hurriedly took Ahn Jun-hee back to the company, selecting a few stage costumes. Earlier in the beauty parlor, he had discussed with the stylist, and now letting Ahn try it on again quickly confirmed it. By the time they were about to set off for Jumi Island, the time had already passed 11 o'clock.
"Alright, I'll arrange a dorm for you during future activities!" On the one hand, Quan Baogen hastily went downstairs and got on the car with An Junhe, while on the other hand, he looked at the time on his watch and said worriedly: "Otherwise, you'll have to participate in variety shows in the future, it's too inconvenient to go home."
An Junhe nodded, even if Quan Baogen didn't say anything, after a while he would take the initiative to ask. It's not just about time being inconvenient to go home, but also about protecting his family address from being leaked out. He doesn't want to see Zhishu afraid to leave the house in the future, or ANTI can't find him and vent their anger on Zhishu instead. There is a precedent for this, a few years ago GOD member Yoon Jisang's mother drank a drink containing detergent sent by ANTI, fortunately, she was washed in time and didn't cause more regret.
Let's not mention those things for now. Seeing Quan Baogen, Jin Xun and Cui Chengyu all got on the car, An Junhe looked outside and asked: "Where is Bao'er?" He didn't see her van, today Bao'er was going to perform with him on the same stage, although it was a friendly event, they had cooperated before, but still needed to rehearse in advance.
"Ha ha, she went ahead to help you out," said Quan Baogen with a smile. Talking about this made him feel comfortable all over, because Bao'er was not an artist who could be ordered around casually. Due to her personal achievements in Japan and her contract with Ai Hui, the company had to consider her opinions when making decisions about many of her schedules. Just like this time, normally even if the company forced her to attend An Junhe's debut stage, if she was not satisfied, she could drag her feet a bit and no one would dare say anything.
But unexpectedly, she was more dedicated to her craft than he was. Before Ahn Jun-hee even left the house in the morning, she would already have her team get her makeup done and rush to Jumi Island by 9 am to wait for him, taking care of things ahead of time so that seniors wouldn't bully or give him a hard time on purpose.
For the first time, Quan Baogen felt that An Junhe's ability to provoke women might also have a good side.
……
Starting from Xiaoyao Pavilion, 11 o'clock was just the time for getting off work and school, and it happened to be rush hour, which was also one of Quan Baogen's complaints that An Junhe delayed his time. The traffic jam made them stop and go all the way, and they finally arrived at Ryeo Island, but it was already past noon, and the rehearsal on the other side was about to begin.
From the car window, I saw the KBS logo in the distance. The building style of this museum is solemn and majestic, while the new building next to it has a completely different style, full of modern atmosphere. Half a year later, Ahn Jun-hee came here for the second time and found that his heart was slightly rippling.
Time flies, everything has changed. The last time I came here, under this sky, there was only one building of KBS main hall standing alone, and the new building next to it had only planned the land, not even a foundation was laid. I was still an unknown newcomer, walking up the stairs with Gwang Bora, working hard for OST and a small supporting role. At that time, who in this TV station would have taken a serious look at me?
Nowadays...
As he looked, with the stroller gradually approaching, the entrance of the parking lot on that side, a sea of people's outline slowly appeared before his eyes.
Some people held up banners with his name on them, while others held up posters using the cover or inner pages of his album. His van's license plate number was familiar to fans, and when it appeared in view, a crowd of about 700 people suddenly became noisy, with about half of them cheering and screaming even though the windows were closed and they were still far away, Ahn Jun-hee could hear the sudden burst of cheers and screams from over there.
As they approached, the excited shouts became even more unstoppable, belonging to his fans, who all rushed over in excitement, only to be firmly held back by the security personnel arranged by the TV station to avoid accidents. On one side, some supporters of other singers were completely squeezed out by Ahn Jun-hee's fans, and there were even about a hundred men holding up cheering signs, shouting loudly as they ran alongside the minivan.
Because he was in a hurry to go to the dress rehearsal, An Junhe didn't get out of the car either, but just opened the window and waved at the fans outside, then, among those who were excitedly jumping and running because they saw him appear, he saw two familiar faces.
……
At the entrance of the parking lot, Taeyeon, who had been waiting for nearly an hour with her legs numb and her face almost frozen in the cold spring wind, suddenly felt invigorated as she saw that familiar minivan with its every scratch and dent.
She hastily pulled Yun'er, who had been feeling unwell for the past two days and looked a bit listless: "Yun'er, Jun-he's car is here!"
This sentence was like a magic spell, originally hanging her head, not even half awake, and Yun'er, who had previously come over to casually respond to Bao'er, suddenly lifted her head, her bright eyes shining brightly, making Taiyan almost think there was light coming out of them.
"Where? Where?" The girl excitedly tiptoed and looked in that direction, but Taye didn't need to answer her. The crowd of people beside them suddenly erupted into cheers, pointing out the direction for Yun'er.
"Uncle——"
"Brother Junhe——"
Various screams suddenly broke the silence, like a stormy wind hitting this space, making people almost think that the whistling wind was all caused by these sound waves. The crowd pushed and shoved, swarming towards an approaching nanny car, only to be firmly blocked by security personnel as if they were enemies, like a wave crashing against the shore and being repelled back.
Taeyeon's body moved involuntarily with the surge of the crowd, advancing and retreating, the pressure from all directions was so overwhelming that she almost couldn't breathe.
Especially when the window of the van was open, Ahn Jun-hee poked his head out from inside and waved back in response, the excitement and screams that shook again, as well as the sudden increase in thrust behind him, made Tae-yeon feel like her bones were screaming.
"Hmph, if I don't grow any taller, it's definitely because I've been squeezed. I'll have to settle the score with Junhe!"
For the first time, she deeply felt the specific meaning of the phrase "united we stand, divided we fall". She thought to herself with a vicious tone, but for the girl, the impression left by this moment was more shocking. All around were ear-piercing screams, some people cried, some shouted "Uncle, I love you", some impulsively stretched out their hands towards the slowly passing car, and behind them, even more people crowded over, making similar movements. At that moment, she felt as if she was in a raging ocean of noise. She looked around frantically, her face flushed with excitement, at the emotional and excited girls, feeling it was unbelievable, how could they suddenly become so terrifying when previously they were all delicate and weak?
Yeah, Yun Er is one of them too...
Watching Yoon-ah also follow others' excited shouts, waving her arms excitedly, not at all like the weak and uncomfortable look she had this morning when she was holding her stomach in pain, looking more energetic than anyone else.
Taeyeon was a bit speechless. It's understandable that others are excited, but YoonA can see JunHee hyung every day, so she really doesn't understand what she's getting excited about?
And she also knew that Yoon-ah not only built a community called "Anjia Xiaozhu" but also created a chat room called "Most Love Ahn Jun-hee". Every day, she would talk to her fans about her "uncle" in a daze. Recently, when she visited her home, she found that her small bedroom was filled with posters of Jun-hee, completely like a crazy fan.
Taeyeon said she couldn't understand this, and although she also likes Junhyeok hyung, it's not like she idolizes him as a star, and Yeonah also acts normally when she's with Junhyeok hyung.
"Alas, are girls' hearts always this hard to understand?" Taeyeon's round face was filled with worry, concerned about her good friend's mental state.
The nanny car slowly passed by, and the excited crowd gradually calmed down. Most of the people gathered here had obtained the qualification to enter the audience seat after passing the screening of the music bank program group. Now that they had waited for their idol, they were not prepared to stay here anymore, preparing to go to the broadcasting hall, where the dress rehearsal would start soon and they could directly enter the venue.
Two girls were also, Yun'er was happily chatting with several girls who were also Ahn Jun-hee fans on one side, while holding onto Tae-yeon, who had furrowed her brow and was playing with her phone, heading towards the stairs of the main gate. Of course, she couldn't see that Tae-yeon was sending a text message with a huff:
"Give me back the original Yuan Er!"
On the other hand, An Junhe, who was surrounded by Quan Bao and others, entered the backstage of the broadcasting hall, found the waiting room with the words "An Junhe" on the door plate, and just as he was about to enter, he received this message, feeling a bit inexplicable.
