Chapter 18: The Stage of Departure (End)

  Thanks to Youyou Baobao and Wu Yuede Men Shao classmates for the reward! Also thanks to Xifeng Ren classmates for the update, although I couldn't get it...

  Tomorrow will resume normal two updates, and there are three days off, I have time to stock up some more drafts again, exciting~

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  Boom!

  The sound waves surged, the air was violently shaken, it was a cacophony of applause, cheers, screams and shouts that came crashing over like a tidal wave.

  In the pure white light, An Junhe slightly narrowed his eyes. On the edge of the stage in front of him, several lanterns lit up one after another, red, blue, white and green, flashing out tiny but vibrant colors. However, the remaining area was still oppressed by darkness, only they were like flowers, struggling to break through the shackles of darkness, quietly blooming.

  In this psychedelic color, the dark audience in front also gradually lit up with the flashing trajectory of glow sticks waving from sparse to dense. In the wave after wave of sound waves coming from that side, he clearly heard them shouting from disorder to order:

  "An Junhe! An Junhe!"

  He looked in the direction of the sound, and the contrast between light and darkness made only darkness and twinkling lights fall into his eyes, but it didn't hinder him from feeling their passion. An Junhe smiled and waved at them, and a fierce scream suddenly rose up.

  The entire broadcasting hall was almost packed with them.

  This is the charm of live performance. If you want to measure a singer, only at this time can you intuitively feel the shock brought by popularity.

  Then, the light and serene piano accompaniment sounded, a melody that many people were already familiar with. The recent promotional activities had made some of the people present, even if they didn't particularly like it, not feel unfamiliar with it. Next, a gentle female voice rose up:

  I.`t.let.go

  No matter where I look, it seems like I see you everywhere

  ……

  The screams that had paused for a moment erupted again, An Junhe smiled and turned his head to look over, the audience below followed his gaze, they saw another beam of light sweeping across the sky, driving away the darkness on a small piece of stage behind him. In the brightness, Bao'er stood under a tree with autumn leaves, leaning against the branches, singing in a throaty voice.

  They excitedly shouted Bao Er's name, a portion of Bao Er's fans who came to support him specially, stood up from their seats excitedly, shaking the glow sticks or posters or banners in their hands, although they knew that it was possible that the stage couldn't be seen, but that couldn't stop their enthusiasm.

  In that crimson-colored stage, An Junhe quietly retreated into the darkness, as if he had only made a simple appearance.

  The fans under the stage all knew it was a stage effect, and many people thought of the "surprise" mentioned by the program team when the dress rehearsal stopped being publicized a few hours ago, and couldn't help but look forward to it even more. Soon, the female vocals were sung, and the entire space fell silent in an instant, all the singing voices, melodies, completely silenced, and the original noisy shouts were also infected, involuntarily stopping, holding their breath.

  A few seconds later, the gentle melody sounded again.

  Several beams of light cut through the space, moving to the other end of that crimson sky, presenting the other half of the silver-wrapped world in front of everyone's eyes - the same trees, leaning against the branches, but different is that the leaves are flying on that side, while snowflakes are flying on this side.

  In stark contrast to the scene, Ahn Jun-hee's gentle humming and singing, with snowflakes falling on his body, conveyed a melancholic atmosphere reminiscent of memories. His gaze was fixed on Bo-ah in the crimson world across from him. This sorrowful yet deeply emotional and romantic scene caused fans in the audience to scream in unison, while some who disapproved of him secretly curled their lips in disdain.

  "This is the surprise? It's so ordinary..."

  At this moment, I don't know how many people are thinking like this with a cold smile. Although the stage effect looks pretty good, if you take it as a surprise, it's a bit too much ado about nothing.

  "Hmph, inexperienced newcomer!" they thought disdainfully.

  But their conclusion was too early, a song lyric passed, and in Ahn Jun-hee's singing voice, a discordant note suddenly inserted. It was a completely different thick male voice from Ahn Jun-hee's clear tone, but probably not used to rapping, a bit off-key. The fans below the stage frowned, unclear what was going on, while those who didn't like Ahn Jun-hee were spiritually refreshed, maliciously speculating that maybe the program team made a mistake? Or... Ahn Jun-hee was lip-syncing?

  But no matter which possibility it is, as long as An Junhe gets into trouble, they are very happy.

  Unfortunately, just as they were getting excited, they saw that the beam of light focusing on An Junhe had moved backwards.

  The snow-covered ground stretches out, and a park bench covered in frost and snow appears before people's eyes. On the bench, a middle-aged man sits with his head bowed, and when the light shines over, he lifts his head.

  The sound under the stage suddenly froze, such a familiar face, this is...

  "Seoul is Seoul!"

  There were loud shouts from the audience, and in an instant, the bewildered crowd reacted, buzzing with a sudden explosion of discussions that almost gave people the illusion that the roof was about to be blown off. In the control room of the broadcast hall, the program team was adjusting the controls, when one staff member took off his headphones and reported to the PD: "PD, the background noise is too loud, if it continues like this, the live music will almost be inaudible."

  The PD who was directing the camera switch didn't even turn his head, "Don't mind it, continue with the rehearsal as scheduled!"

  If it's an ordinary situation, the on-site noise is too loud and interferes with the live broadcast effect. The program team will of course take measures to eliminate the interference and ensure a smooth live broadcast. But occasionally there are special situations, sometimes the on-site interference is actually a means to boost ratings.

  He then sent away the staff member, PD adjusted his hat and looked at the images on several cameras aimed at the audience seats, where those fans who were initially stunned and whispering to each other gradually showed shocked and excited expressions. He chuckled and said, "Don't rush, don't rush, there's more... We're moving on to the next stage soon! Lighting team, pay attention to the follow spotlights, no mistakes are allowed!"

  In the neat answer of the light group, on the stage of the broadcasting hall, the main song part was finished, and then turned to the female voice melody, the live broadcast screen also switched to that crimson world. Like just now, Bao Er's singing voice also suddenly inserted a delicate male voice, compared with Cheng Shi Jing, that unique "mosquito sound" can be more clearly distinguished.

  A beam of light that had separated from the others tore through the last vestiges of darkness on the stage, illuminating a long chair that was identical to those in the icy world on the other side, and upon which red leaves were scattered. A resplendent man stood up from it, smiling brightly.

  Wow——!

  At this moment, whether on the scene or in front of the TV, countless people stared with wide eyes at the man, and involuntarily called out a name:

  "Kim Jong Kook!"

  After a brief shock, the crowd erupted, especially Ahn Jun-hee's fans. They stood up from their seats, singing along to the melody in various tones and pitches. Perhaps they didn't know how to sing or sang off-key, but that didn't stop them from expressing their excitement. Gradually, more people joined in, and the fiery atmosphere infected almost everyone. It was unclear who started it, but at the end of every two lines, they would all shout out loud -

  "An Junhe!"

  A thunderous roar generally made by hundreds of people, shouting in the broadcasting hall and also impacting further through live broadcast.

  Those who had secretly ridiculed and satirized before, stared blankly at this scene, their impoverished brains reacting a bit slowly, but they were already irrelevant.

  On March 4, in the second half of Music Bank, '1 Minute 1 Second', this emotional HIPHOP song, exploded KBS TV with a fiery passion that was completely opposite to its soft melody, exploding Seoul as night fell, and exploding all of Korea!

  ……

  The live show has not yet ended, but media have already reported on the climax of the second half of Music Bank at an unusually fast speed.

  "Music Bank's unexpected consecutive surprises, Ahn Jun-hee's debut stage explosion in the second half, two ballad kings on the same stage to support each other!" As if to prove it, this portal site directly captured live photos and posted pictures of Sung Si-kyung and Kim Jong-kook appearing together on stage side by side on their webpage.

  "Seong Si-kyung, Kim Jong-kook suddenly appear in Music Bank, willing to be a supporting actor to help Ahn Jun-hee debut!" Yahoo Entertainment, which has been paying close attention to Ahn Jun-hee recently, naturally wouldn't slow down this time either. They also took screenshots and enlarged Ahn Jun-hee's solo shot against the artificial snow backdrop, while Seong Si-kyung and Kim Jong-kook's solo shots were placed on either side to support him.

  "The second half of Music Bank was star-studded, and newcomer An Jun-hee, who had previously sold out his album, shocked the entertainment industry once again."

  "Music Bank..."

  Many portal websites' entertainment versions quickly brushed away the original headlines, and similar titles quickly topped the list, like a whirlwind, raging extremely fast on the internet.

  As predicted in their reports, Ahn Jun-hee's explosive debut stage drove the audience crazy while ruthlessly overshadowing all the singers who performed that day, whether it was Tei who came on after him or Cho Sung-mo who closed the show. The shock he delivered to both the live and TV audiences was unparalleled. Even though the cheering squads of the two singers enthusiastically cheered them on from below the stage, the audience still reeling from the previous hot performance didn't quite buy it.

  The final candidate scoring result was also unexpected, and "1 Minute 1 Second" directly entered the list of candidates. The competition for first place was no longer suspenseful after witnessing the previously heated scene - An Jun-he's album and music source sales had an advantage from the start, so it couldn't be confirmed that he would take first place because part of the scoring rules depended on online voting from the live stage.

  When major portals reported the news, live broadcasting was still ongoing. When the big screen showed that "1 Minute 1 Second" had been chosen as a champion with scores far surpassing those of Tei and Cao Chengmo, the thunderous applause and screams at the scene also announced the temporary end to the online verbal clashes between fans of An and Cao, with the Cao camp retreating.

  At this moment, on the scene and in front of the TV, countless Cao Chengmo supporters watched their idol's name disappear from the big screen, while An Junhe's name filled all the space on the screen. This was originally their honor that they were sure to win with a probability of 90%, but unexpectedly, it was taken away by that newcomer.

  However, their gloom seems to have come a bit too early, and today's Music Bank also seems destined to become a topic. At the end of the show, there was an encore stage, which was a treatment for one person that day, and all the people who were paying attention were surprised to see that after announcing one person, Cao Chengmo did not retreat with other singers, but instead, he, along with Chen Shijing, Jin Zhongguo, and Bao Er, surrounded An Junhe, and under the audience's chants of "Encore", began the final performance of this live broadcast.

  This unexpected scene, following the news of Seungri and Kim Jong-kook enthusiastically recommending Ahn Jun-hee, has once again left everyone stunned!