Second Try Idol

Street performances weren't just about singing and dancing. There were a variety of amateur artists showcasing their talents, some clumsily and others adeptly. The performances included playing violin, piano, trumpet, as well as mime and small-scale circus acts.

“Wow, there are so many people here."

“I heard it was crowded, but this is swarming. It feels a bit like stepping into a marketplace.”

“Think of all these people as our audience, Jin-Sung," I suggested.

Jin-Sung rolled his eyes and bounced around excitedly. “Isn't this amazing?"

Our youngest member always had a positive outlook. Anyway, the staff responsible for the behind-the-scenes camera was already filming us. I waved at the camera after glancing at it, and the staff member responded with a brief smile and a shake of the camera.

“What do we do? There are way more people than I thought."

Indeed, there were many onlookers, perhaps due to the camera accompanying us. Fortunately, perhaps because we were just foreigners in their eyes, I didn't feel as tense or stiff as when receiving stares on the streets back in Korea.

“How about over there, hyung?" Jin-Sung pointed toward a corner of the street that hadn't been claimed yet. It was a bit narrow but enough for two people to dance.

“Okay."

Jin-Sung and I started warming up with determination. We were in a place where nobody knew Chronos—perhaps not just Chronos but also the existence of K-pop. In my mind, the way to capture attention here was to momentarily shed the idol persona and dance like a professional dancer, without a trace of a smile.

We chose familiar pop songs for the local crowd and selected challenging pieces that we could dance to, at least through the first verse. Our plan was to display our professional, yet approachable, skills without a trace of humor.

“Su-Hwan hyung, can you pass me the speaker, please? We will turn on the music."

After we connected the Bluetooth speaker to my phone and settled in, the people around seemed to sense the start of a performance and started to make room for us. Since there were already a lot of onlookers from the moment we started setting up, we pretended not to notice them. Without any special greetings, we just played the music and kicked off our dance.

Our nights are full of each other.♪

The song was an emotional R&B filled with sexual lyrics that couldn't quite be translated into Korean. The first song was a track that had become a hot topic among the Rings for "Jin-sung is a Turtle." The choreography’s highlight was its control over tempo—leisurely at times but occasionally speeding up. It was a refined version of the original choreography I had created, made more visually appealing.

True to Chronos's reputation for sharp, synchronized dancing, our performance was polished and professional. Gradually, more and more passersby started to stop and watch us. We then heard occasional exclamations and brief assessments of our performance.

The response was good as expected. Actually, it was great, especially since this song had remained on the Billboard HOT 100 from the time we made our first video until now. It was perfect for attracting the spectators.

Throughout the dance, several people took videos of us on their phones. Some gave us thumbs up, and some even said we were amazing after one song ended. As we continued through our prepared list of songs and the audience grew, both Jin-Sung and I started to feel a genuine sense of accomplishment and enjoyment.

We performed from the slow and dynamic dances that I preferred to Jin-Sung's powerful and relentless moves. The crowd's reactions, whether they were mirroring our rhythms or dancing along, added to the atmosphere.

“Hey! Do you want to dance with us?"

As more and more spectators gathered, dancers from other areas of the street came over to join our performance momentarily. This was the fun of street performances. The initial embarrassment and awkwardness of an unknown street act were fleeting. To be honest, creating the content was secondary to the enjoyment of the performance itself.

After the performance, Su-Hwan quickly sent the footage to the editing team. “Many people were filming you guys, so it might appear on others' social media. So, we thought it'd be better to upload what we have as soon as possible."

The team seemed hesitant about uploading the performance due to location spoilers of Again After Rainfall. However, after we shared the edited footage and persuaded them, they agreed because they saw the potential for the video to generate buzz.

***

“Ugh! Oh, my legs, my feet..."

At 11 PM, Kim Go-Ri flopped onto her bed and turned on her phone after finishing her part-time shift at the convenience store. She was exhausted, but checking any news about Chronos was her daily routine.

“Why am I doing this to myself? For what riches and glory? Sigh..."

Today's shift was particularly tough, thanks to the elementary kids' ramen noodle terror[1].

“Ah, but it's all for my boys. Seeing Chronos makes it all worth it… Hehehe..."

As soon as she turned on her phone, Chronos's group photo washed away the day's fatigue. Yes, all this hard work was for Chronos's next comeback and their first concert in the future. It was all for the joy of fandom, though… she couldn’t forgive those ramen pranksters.

It had been a while since Chronos ended their previous song promotion, and even longer since they went abroad with no updates. There was that candid photo of Suh Hyun-Woo the day after they left, but there had been no official news since.

Kim Go-Ri refreshed her BlueBird feed and let out a sigh. ‘I hope the boys are doing okay. What are they up to these days? I wish they'd go live on Q-App.'

Rings often found solace in seeing Chronos after a long day. As Kim Go-Ri worryingly searched for Hyun-Woo out of habit, she couldn't help but wonder if Chronos was struggling in the far-off land.

[Hey guys! ;D what are ya doin?

Look at this if you have time!

bussin♥

And look forward to it.]

“...What the heck is this?” Kim Go-Ri frowned at the notification. She then remembered she had followed Callia Lawrence, hoping to get some news about Chronos from her. However, there was no news on Chronos despite multiple annoying notifications, leading her to eventually lose interest.

She thought this time wouldn’t be different. As she was about to lose interest, Kim Go-Ri clicked on the notification somehow. She hoped that Callia’s feed would reveal something new after so long.

And there it was, a post by Callia Lawrence. The linked video seemed to be a street performance filmed by her manager. The clip showed two very familiar faces dancing incredibly well on the street.

“That's Hyun-Woo and Jin-Sung! What's up with those two?" Kim Go-Ri sat bolt upright on her bed.

Tiredness did not matter anymore, and her head filled up with the question ‘Were these two actually busking moves on the street right now?’

The performance seemed impromptu and drew quite a bit of attention in a very relaxed atmosphere.

Kim Go-Ri's mind raced.‘Was this a scene from Again After Rainfall? Or did they film it separately?’

Either way, the video was intriguing, and she wanted to dig deeper. She switched from Stagram to BlueBird and started fervently searching for “Hyun-Woo, Jin-Sung street performance” and “Hyun-Woo and Jin-Sung.”

Amidst her search, not only Callia Lawrence's post but also several posts by ordinary people started popping up. However, the reactions from the fans and the content of the posts were all too similar. This left her yearning for more information.

Ding!

This time, it wasn't just any notification—the Chronos official UTube channel had uploaded a new video!

[Hyun-Woo and Jin-Sung’s New York Downtown Impromptu Street Dance Time :D]

#OurNights #Chronos

A scream almost escaped Kim Go-Ri's lips. If her parents weren’t asleep, she'd have definitely shouted out loud.

“Gosh, what the fuck! What is going on with YMM?"

YMM was suddenly dropping such a bombshell when she was about to doze off! The title was meticulously written in English for all to see, and they tagged a Billboard hot track they had covered before. Kim Go-Ri had never expected them to upload anything until Again After Rainfall aired. However, here they were, diligently sharing their experiences in New York. Also, it was a full video, no less but lasting a whole thirty minutes.

Kim Go-Ri clicked on the video with a mix of excitement and bewilderment. Their dance skills were as sharp as ever, with perfect synchronization. They showcased cover songs they hadn't performed before and enjoyed dancing with other dancers.

As she watched the members enjoy themselves for the entire thirty minutes, Kim Go-Ri clutched her pillow tightly and squealed in delight.

After thirty blissful minutes that blew away her fatigue, she minimized the full-screen video and gasped, “Wow, this is fucking insane! Look at those views!"

The view count was climbing at an incredible rate just thirty to forty minutes after upload. The comment section was filled more with English than Korean. The ripple effect of world-renowned singer Callia Lawrence's street cam post had incredibly reached the official Chronos video.

1. In Korea, you'll find some convenience stores with spots to sit and eat, both inside and out. But, it looks like a bunch of kids went wild and left noodles all over the place without bothering to clean up before they took off. ☜

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