The Unannounced Guests

The circular electronic screen lowered onto the center stage. The cameras positioned themselves around the auxiliary stage where the artists were seated. And then, the performance unfolded.

The members of Aurora, who had been sitting innocently on the auxiliary stage, leaped out rhythmically the moment a slightly hip-hop-infused beat began to play.

You wanna stay with me or wanna make it

You wanna stay with me or wanna make it

You wanna stay with me or wanna make it

Living up to their reputation as a group known for their raw talent, their dance lines were clean, sharp, and effortless. While the distant cheers of the crowd echoed through the venue, the members of Aurora danced, relying on a single spotlight and the glowing screens of the audience's phones.

Aurora was allocated about twelve minutes. Considering that other top-tier girl groups received around ten minutes, this was an incredibly generous amount of time. However, within the first four minutes, Aurora blazed through their tracks, mixing and editing them at a rapid pace. They would sing only the first verse before transitioning to another song, or seamlessly blend tracks together to keep the performance flowing like water.

As the situation began to feel increasingly ominous, the sheer volume of comments from Aurora's fans—who had been typing furiously in the live chat—began to dwindle, replaced by fans of other groups. Under the onslaught of comments that pretended to offer sympathy while ruthlessly rubbing salt in the wound, Aurora's fans were just about to retaliate with messages like "Fuck you, Cream Entertainment, you pieces of shit," when the song ended and the stage went completely dark.

And then, on a stage where only two things cast any light—the venue's massive electronic screens and the glowing lightsticks of the audience...

A live, raw guitar sound, distinctly different from a studio recording, began to ring out.

A sound far more rhythmic and dynamic.

A bright voice echoed through the darkness.

"Three, two, one!"

Instantly, the stage flooded with light.

The members of Aurora were positioned right in the center of the main stage, and the circular electronic screen slowly began to rise.

"Stay, Tune!"

It had seemed as though the MMA organizers had intentionally penalized Aurora by keeping the circular screen firmly shut, leading everyone to believe ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that their entire performance today would be confined to the auxiliary stage...

But as that stubborn circular screen finally began to move, gradually revealing the silhouettes behind it...

The graduate student clenched his fists and stared intently at the stage.

Everyone around him—no, the entire audience—did the exact same.

A silence of a few seconds stretched out, feeling like an eternity.

What emerged from behind the screen was a group that seemed completely out of place for an idol performance...

A band.

The graduate student doubted his own eyes before immediately recognizing the tune.

The intro currently playing was August Night.

And the band that composed August Night was...

"It's Group Sound!!"

An unannounced guest appearance.

A thunderous roar of applause erupted.

Seven people stood at the center of the stage. Four were the members of Group Sound, and the remaining three were session musicians holding brass instruments.

A slightly subdued, adorable voice. A bright, popping sound.

And a cheerful, bouncy choreography that was entirely different from Aurora's usual dance style.

What they were singing was a song with slightly enigmatic lyrics, which made it all the more popular among teenagers...

A song dripping with Group Sound's signature color, August Night.

A heavy yet buoyant bassline rolled across the stage, filling the venue with a satisfying, rounded tone.

The members of Aurora danced with bright, beaming smiles, bouncing tirelessly on the balls of their feet, using the momentum to leap across the stage.

The graduate student almost clapped unconsciously before stopping himself to discreetly open his phone and check the YouTube live stream.

The chat was flooded with praise.

As the song transitioned into the highlight, the members of Aurora crowded around the members of Group Sound.

"Whoaaa!!"

An uncontrollable roar erupted from a section of the audience.

The guitarist, who had been swaying to the rhythm, began to bounce and dance alongside the Aurora members. While Aurora danced with actual choreography, the guitarist was simply hopping up and down, but it was more than enough.

As the first verse concluded, a brass solo—which didn't exist in the original track—burst in.

At that moment, the members of Aurora, Group Sound, and the brass session players began to dance with genuine, unbridled joy.

The Aurora girls executed a perfectly synchronized "silly dance," while the others simply moved to the infectious groove.

'They're so cute...!'

Watching them bounce around, dancing while interacting warmly with the crowd below, the graduate student nearly crushed his phone in his grip.

How could anyone be that adorable? He couldn't comprehend it.

The song continued, ending on a slightly longer note than the studio version. It lasted about three minutes.

There were about six minutes remaining.

Since Group Sound had made their appearance, the next song was inevitably bound to be Meteor—the pre-release track from their Love Dance DIVE EP and their most popular song.

At that moment, both the audience and the viewers at home had a fleeting thought.

Meteor was a song with a brilliant performance, but it had a somewhat melancholic, grounded vibe.

With the atmosphere so incredibly hyped up, wouldn't performing that song feel like a bit of a letdown?

But those worries were instantly shattered.

The stage, which had briefly gone dark, was suddenly swept by a flurry of dazzling lights, as if fireworks were exploding, bathed in the brilliant glow of the electronic screens.

A single spotlight illuminated the guitarist standing at the center of the stage: Ha Suyun.

It was the complete opposite of her playful, bouncing demeanor from moments ago.

With her foot propped up on a small stool, Suyun began to play her guitar.

What followed was a guitar sound heavily laced with distortion, asserting its presence as if to remind everyone, I am here.

The melody was unmistakably Meteor, but the vibe was entirely different.

It wasn't melancholic; it felt like it was soaring upward.

A sound far more "rock" than the original version.

As the drum fill kicked in, the crowd realized what was happening.

It was one of Group Sound's famous specialties: a "live version arrangement."

The MMA live version of Meteor began to echo through the arena.

The audience tensed.

The atmosphere of the stage was completely different from August Night.

A slowly building tension held the crowd spellbound, and amidst it, the members of Aurora danced with a relaxed yet sharp precision.

With a powerful, decisive downstroke of the guitar, the audience fought back the overwhelming urge to leap to their feet.

And then, the sound exploded.

Unlike the original Meteor, this guitar sound pierced directly into the ears of the audience and viewers alike.

The chat, which had briefly paused, erupted in a flurry during the dance break.

The graduate student, keeping his screen brightness at the absolute minimum, nodded in agreement as he read the YouTube live chat.

It was a flawless, perfect stage with absolutely nothing lacking.

As he focused his attention on the live chat, a sudden sound snapped him back to reality.

"Na-na-na, na-na, na-na..."

A choral sing-along part that didn't exist in the original song. The members of Aurora clapped their hands, and the rest of the crowd joined in the chorus.

The audience clapped as if they were at a music festival, completely swept up in the moment. But what awaited them next was...

"Aaaaaaaargh!!"

What was originally a dance break in the studio version had been transformed.

A guitar solo.

As six beams of white spotlight rained down on Suyun, her guitar solo—ushered in by a thunderous drum fill—began to ruthlessly tear through the minds of the audience.

It was a guitar solo built on decades of experience, something the vast majority of people in this venue had likely never heard before.

Every single trembling note was entirely intentional, and even the audience's reactions felt like an extension of her guitar strings.

The thousands of spectators gathered here moved exactly as Suyun intended, as if under a collective hypnosis.

Yet, Suyun played without a single change in her expression. She delivered a performance that felt as though it could last for eternity.

And then, Aurora's vocals woke the audience from their trance.

As the solo concluded and transitioned back into the main melody, Harin raised her voice.

At that exact moment, the band and the brass session joined in unison.

'Whoa!!'

The graduate student clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. He couldn't contain himself otherwise.

Who was Harin?

She was the main vocalist of Aurora, and in his opinion, one of the most talented vocalists among active idols.

Yet, Harin had always held back, restraining herself from showing off her full potential. She did so because she believed she shouldn't stand out too much at the expense of her group.

Because of that, Aurora had often been dismissed by other fandoms, who claimed the group lacked any real vocal talent.

"Since when could she sing like that?!"

Amidst the continuous stream of vocal ad-libs, someone nearby muttered in disbelief.

The ad-libs Harin was delivering right now felt like a vocal performance designed to shatter every single one of those prejudices.

And the band's accompaniment, perfectly locked in with Harin's vocals, soared higher and higher, as if trying to pierce through the very roof of the arena...

Before ending in a sudden, lightning-fast strike.

What filled the empty air next was the thunderous, roaring applause of the audience.