NOVEL WEB Chapter 286
Chapter 286. A Maze is a Maze (2).
Until Kairos’ main stage performance, the group that garnered the most attention online was, of course, Lanion.
– Is this the taste of corporate capital?
– Rene sure is a haven for great vocals.
– Cha Minseok really is the talent Miro missed out on, and Rene snatched up.
– For a rookie who’s only been active for two months, that’s pretty damn good, right? LOL
└ ? No one said anything, so why are you shadowboxing alone…?
└ Someone did make a comment earlier, but it seems they deleted it.
Lanion’s performance started with an intro that clearly had a hefty budget behind it. They then presented their main title track and a sub-track, both arranged to give off a wintery vibe.
The dance breaks interspersed throughout were particularly striking. Instead of trying to showcase something extraordinary, the performance seemed more focused on establishing the members’ visuals and image in the minds of the public.
– Once Lanion gains more experience and does a few more variety shows, they’ll really improve, LOL.
Although they were still young and had only debuted recently, showing the inevitable stiffness of new recruits, it was clear that Rene had invested a lot of time in developing the group.
While their live performance was somewhat overshadowed by the AR, it was still evident that it was indeed live. Though the main vocalist seemed a bit shaky, they were far more polished than other rookie idols.
So much so that they were even considered more stable than Believer, despite their re-debut technically making them rookies, with twice the years of experience.
Kairos’ turn came right after Lanion’s stage.
– So Kairos gave up the option to choose their cover song, Utopia dropped their overseas schedules, and they even secured the ending spot. But do we have to give up the stage order too…? We’d be a bit disappointed, Director. The Spear kids aren’t even close to being discharged yet, right? I’m pretty sure our kids made a splash with *Touch High* this time….
Ji Suho had insisted on securing this slot, refusing to back down.
– Are they coming? Are they coming???? Are they coming???????
– I still can’t get the image of the pink door out of my head, guys.
└ Spit it out. That’s disgusting.
└ My mom didn’t say that disgust could taste so good…
– I hope they do a carol or something. Give us all the winter vibes~
└ 22 Since they’re already dressed in pink, let’s go for a white carol~
└ 333 Let’s go with the fresh and lively band vibe for Kairos~~
However, what awaited the Destis, who had been softened by the pink door attack, was something entirely different from what they had anticipated.
– It’s happening, it’s happening, it’s happening.
The stage darkened.
An ominous instrumental started playing.
The ticking of a clock mixed with the sacred organ sounds from the music video began to play.
In time with the music, the screen showed Yugeon, wearing a perfectly fitting shirt and blazer, just like when he first walked the red carpet, rising onto the stage via a lift.
– ? What happened to the pink princess?
└ Maybe she got stained. Whisper whisper.
└ What kind of nonsensical joke is this, seriously.
As Yugeon slowly lifted his head, a female dancer in a black velvet dress with gold embellishments and a mask appeared beside him.
The short organ prelude faded away, and an intense tango rhythm began. Yugeon and the dancer moved in sync, performing a paired dance.
– Yugeon, have you ever done ballroom dancing?
– I did for a bit when I helped a friend as an assistant instructor at a cultural center.
– Oh, really?
– …What’s with that unsettling smile?
– Didn’t you say we should trust you? It’s a smile of trust.
This was Kang Hajin’s creation, designed to wring every last drop out of the members and create an ultra-hybrid, state-of-the-art foreign bus.
– Yugeon oppa… Why… Why aren’t you oppa?
– Koreans are known for their “fast, fast” mentality, so let’s turn back time about three weeks. The fact that this guy isn’t twenty is a national disgrace.
The brief and intense tango ended with Yugeon supporting the dancer as she collapsed with her eyes closed. At the same time, the dancer tore off the outer skirt of her black velvet dress, revealing a red underskirt, as if symbolizing her death.
The camera then panned to the opposite side of the stage.
Eunchan, holding a red handkerchief that seemed to be connected to the dancer’s red skirt, performed a solo to the sound of a beautiful harp. As his dance, which conveyed the sorrow of longing for someone departed, grew more intense―
The camera angle shifted again, and Taehyun and Haru began their paired choreography.
Facing each other like a mirror, they moved in sync until Taehyun deliberately fell out of step, creating an illusion of disorientation and wandering.
As the violin crescendoed, the two clasped hands, and then Jung Siwoo, with a red handkerchief tucked into his three-piece suit like a pocket square, gracefully entered the frame.
– Oh, that scared me.
– The handsomeness is overwhelming.
Before the audience could even fully admire the cold expression on his sculpted face, Jung Siwoo climbed effortlessly over a mound formed by dancers in black masks, resembling a small hill….
– No way, don’t do it.
And then he fell straight down.
As Jung Siwoo and the dancers who caught him seamlessly exited the frame, the dancers who had formed the hill dispersed like mist and moved to the next formation.
Like obstacles blocking the path, the dancers formed a new formation, and Lee Doha walked through them. As he passed, the dancers fell one by one, creating a wave that rippled through the formation.
– What on earth did the kids prepare?
– What is this? What is this? What is this?ㅠㅠㅜㅜ
– Everyone, be quiet so I can focus.
– So, this is basically about Kairos searching for a deceased heroine, right?
└ Seems like it.
The figure passing through the black wave had suddenly changed from Doha to Hajin.
Hajin, his black long coat billowing, moved swiftly toward the main stage. In the distance, a female dancer reached out longingly toward Hajin.
The instrumental, now transformed into a grand orchestra, built to a climax. The hands of the dancers forming the black wave closing in on Hajin created an almost terrifying atmosphere.
And finally, just as Hajin’s hand was about to touch the dancer’s hand―
– Gasp, they didn’t meetㅠㅠㅠ
– They didn’t meetㅠㅠㅜㅜㅜ?
– Ah, noㅠㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ
The black wave that had approached rapidly engulfed Hajin first, and the focus blurred.
The pre-recorded opening video had ended.
Soon, as the camera returned to the main stage….
– Wow.
– WTF.
– What is that?
As if to suggest there had been a fierce battle, the stage was strewn with torn red cloth and tattered curtains,
The stage was covered with dancers in black masks who had fallen or frozen in place,
And among them, a single dazzling chair stood upright,
With a man slumped diagonally on the chair, as if collapsed, captured in a wide long shot.
With the intro of the minor key song dripping with dark emotions, the camera zoomed in on the man seated at the center of the stage.
Gone was the neat appearance from earlier, replaced by a half-loosened tie, disheveled hair, and red, smudged eye shadow as if he had been crying.
Hajin, with red makeup around his eyes and mouth to resemble wounds, completed the scene, with his eyes closed, like a painting.
Open your eyes
As the first lyrics played, Hajin slowly opened his eyes, his gray irises staring into the distance. The dancers who had been lying down began to move in unison, as if awakening from death, in time with the solemn lyrics.
‘If there were a king of the underworld, he’d probably look like that.’
The image was so powerful that it evoked such thoughts.
Next, Hajin’s gaze, neither fully sorrowful nor entirely cold, slowly shifted toward the camera.
His deep, lowered voice, an octave below the original, resonated vividly through the microphone.
Finally, our night has come.
Although Hajin’s voice was generally considered to be on the lower end of the register, he usually handled the mid-to-high parts when singing.
In the intro, where Hajin relaxed and let out a low tone, Destis, who had been holding their breath and watching Kairos’ stage from various locations, immediately began to wail at the sense of a grand production.
– Why are they doing a stage worthy of a global award show on some lame QBS year-end event…?
Who on earth puts so much soul into a public broadcast year-end stage where they don’t even give out awards? You guys….
Of course, this meant they were overjoyed.
* * *
We running,
Running Over the Moonlight―
With the recent efforts and psychological counseling gradually restoring his sleep patterns, Jung Siwoo, in the best vocal condition he’d been in for a long time, easily belted out the high notes.
The members of Kairos skillfully alternated between formations where they clashed with the dancers and formations where they performed harmoniously together, all while keeping their live vocals steady. The practice they’d
put in for the ten-minute guest stage at the Utopia concert had paid off considerably.
The song, arranged more roughly and intensely than usual, was, in essence, the ultimate love song. Above all, the visual and auditory stimulation from the sight of them impeccably dressed yet passionately pouring their hearts into the performance was overwhelming.
[Miro, those perverts are at it again.]
So, what I’m getting is, they’re portraying a madman who overturned the underworld to bring back his dead heroine…. They really are delivering on that Mad Love concept….
– Truly, Miro is just doing Miro things.
– Kairos in suits, all messed up, is an absolute must-buy.
[No, the lyrics are way over the top right now (Warning: Over-immersion).]
Even if it gets dark for a moment, don’t be scared
It Doesn’t Matter
We will definitely make it through this night
Wait for me, I’m on my way to you right now
No matter what obstacles stand in our way, it doesn’t matter
We will make it through this night, no matter what
I swear these lyrics sound like a guy’s desperate love confession to meㅠㅠㅠㅜㅜㅜ
[HOT! ║ Holy crap, check out this analysis of Kairos’ stage (198).]
Rossy Day @rossy_1017
Don’t you think the concept of their stage kind of feels like the story of Orpheus?
In the intro, Doha doesn’t look back at all,
And as soon as Hajin does, the dancers suddenly pounce on him…
But the ending seems a little different…
(QBS Music Festival Kairos Stage Capture.jpg)
(QBS Music Festival Kairos Stage Capture.jpg)
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If you look at the thread, in the original Orpheus story, it ends with him looking back in the underworld, but it seems like Kairos wasn’t satisfied with that, so Hajin just became the king of the underworld himself, which is freaking awesome LOL.
– Insane.
– Whoa, I love the Orpheus myth.
– Oh, wait, now that you mention it, Eunchan’s solo earlier with the harp………
└ Huh?
└ Huh?????
└ Whoa, chills.
└ Why, why? What about the harp? Am I the only one who doesn’t get it?
└ Orpheus was originally a lyre player, like a harpist.
└ Holy crap.
– And it seems like there were a lot of metaphors tied to the members too. Whatever the case, it’s clear this stage is a dream come true for fans who love deep dives.
[Utopia conquered the Earth with a coup,]
Enderway conquered another world with a romance fantasy concept,
And now, the youngest, Kairos, has gone straight to conquering the underworld LOL
The Miro family’s ruined world-building is real.
– LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
– What is this ruined world-building LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
– So the next group has to go for space conquest, right?
– I’m seriously just waiting for a Miro joint concert. Seriously, I’m saving up, putting money in a savings account.
Viewers, including Destis, went wild over the stage’s storytelling potential, which seemed like it would continue to unravel layers upon layers.
The shock of the previous stages had yet to fully dissipate, making the contrast even more pronounced, and those who vividly remembered the earlier performances felt an even deeper sense of awe at this stage.
[Miro is truly Miro.]
Seeing how perfectly they nailed this concept LOL
Miro’s signature trademark LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
The original goal had already been more than achieved.
– ??????
However…
– Is this live?
– Wow, this is insane.
– Kairos really went all out, LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
…However, Kang Hajin’s plan was still not over.