Chapter 365: New Year's EVE
"All artists are now on stage. Prepare for the countdown in two minutes," the head of the crew said over his mic.
Only four minutes left until the end of 2023, and the crew members were all busy arranging the artists on the stage. Since there were 20 acts that performed tonight, the stage was jam-packed with good-looking and talented people. There was barely any space left since the 42-member girl group that debuted early this year was with them.
The veteran singers stood at the very front in respect for the everything they've done for the entertainment industry. Other artists were then arranged by seniority and popularity.
CHAOS was at the very front, along with FRESHIES. BOYMYSTIC, LUNIX, Mimi, and other popular and older groups were in the second row. Meanwhile, senior groups that have debuted for more than five years were in the third row, feeling quite bitter about their position.
In the very middle was EVE, their faces barely visible from the view of the audience.
Jia went on her tiptoes to get a better glimpse of her favorite idols but only saw the top of June's pink hair instead.
However, despite their lack of exposure, Jaeyong felt quite grateful. His puffy eyes still hadn't subsided from crying during the 'Father' performance, so being in the middle meant his reputation of being a cool leader wouldn't be too ruined.
Seven, who was next to them, however, quickly pointed out Jaeyong's appearance.
"Why do you look like that?" he asked, laughing while slapping his knees.
Jaeyong clicked his tongue while Tres slapped the back of his teammates' heads.
"You look the same, idiot."
Seven pouted and pointed toward June.
"It's because June did so well a while ago," he said.
"Bro!" Seven excitedly waved his hand at June, catching the latter's attention. "I've become your fan again!"
June smiled gratefully, still feeling the aftermath of their performance.
Meanwhile, Jisung glared at Seven, causing the youngest member of OCTA to cower in fear.
Just then, a loud sound startled the artists on stage, causing them to look back to the source of the sound.
There, they saw the 60-second countdown on the large LED screen, every second passing defined by a loud ticking sound.
60...
59...
58...
57...
June looked around and saw the happy faces of the artists. Groups excitedly spoke with their members while individual artists waved at their fans in the sea of audience.
Excitement filled the air as they waited for the new year to commence.
The audience members started talking excitedly, filling the venue with joyous chatter.
40...
39...
As June continued looking around, everything that happened in the past year suddenly dawned on him.
Come to think of it, six months had passed since he transmigrated to Choi Joon-ho's body.
A lot has happened since then, so June doubted the duration of his life here.
From his transmigration...to Rising Stars...to multiple disproved scandals... to an undeserving manager...and now becoming an official member of EVE, all of it felt too overwhelming.
Sometimes, he wondered how he got this far.
There were still a lot of questions left inside his mind.
Why did he transmigrate to Choi Joon-ho's body?
How was his sister doing?
Did Laohu and Lin Zhi finally give up?
Where was his real body?
What would his fate be in the future?
Does he truly deserve any of this?
These thoughts hit him like a truck, and before he knew it, he found himself overthinking about his situation.
19...
18...
However, his thoughts were quickly cut off when Jaeyong and Akira wrapped their arms around his shoulder. June looked around him and saw his teammates in a circle, all looking at each other with wide smiles.
"June's back to Earth," Akira said.
"Glad to have you back, bro," Ren chuckled.
"Yeah, I thought we lost you for a moment," Zeth joked.
"If you're worried about your performance, then don't be," Casper assured. "You did the best out of everyone tonight."
"Yeah!" Akira exclaimed. "You're the best, June! Don't look so worried on New Year's Eve."
A small smile emerged from June's lips, and he felt all the worry inside his heart quickly melting away.
"I wasn't worried," June said, convincing his teammates as well as himself.
"It's a new year," he continued.
"With new beginnings."
"Exactly," Jaeyong said, his eyes still looking swollen. "We still have a lot ahead of us."
"Ten!"
As the ten-second timer kicked off, the audience started chanting the numbers loudly. The members of EVE also chanted along with the audience.
"Nine!"
The fireworks and sparklers were on standby, the crew members waiting until the end of the countdown to set them off.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Zero!"
"Happy New Year!"
The greeting resounded in the wide stadium, radiating to the streets outside.
A loud exploding sound was heard, causing the people to look up at the sky to watch the beautiful display of colors and lights. Different hues of red, gold, and blue danced in the sky, falling beautifully on the dark canvas.
June watched it silently, his smile widening.
"Pretty," he muttered under his breath.
It may be hard to believe, but this was the first time June had witnessed fireworks in real life.
He had heard them from a distance in his past home, but he never bothered watching it through his window.
Actually, June rarely celebrated the holidays. He would be out of the house by late evening because of the demands of his work, so waiting until midnight to celebrate holidays wasn't too familiar to him.
For him, the status quo was the explosion of guns, the shattering of glass, and the sound of fists hitting flesh.
He rarely got to see these kinds of moments—the 'corny' moments, as he called them.
However, despite it being 'corny' in his book, he couldn't stop smiling.
The fans who supported him.
The friends he called his teammates.
The fireworks that illuminated the darkness.
The feeling of euphoria after performing.
All of them pointed to one thing—happiness.
"So, this is how life really is."