Chapter 145: Invincible Youth (4)
145. Invincible Youth (4)
"Yes. We've just witnessed the performance by Team Invincible Youth. It was truly a stage that touched everyone's hearts."
Choi Yeon-woo skillfully wrapped up the segment with closing remarks while managing the atmosphere. Gong Seok and Jung Si-woo, who had been crying for quite some time, were finally composing themselves.
"Personally, I went through similar struggles too... That's why the lyrics resonated so deeply with me. Even our Woong-ie down there is sobbing his heart out."
The camera naturally panned to Park Woong in the audience. With his hooded cap pulled low, his nose was bright red as he pressed a wad of tissues handed by a nearby fan directly against his eyes.
Yeon-woo continued the post-talk by asking about behind-the-scenes preparations and the burden Seok and Si-woo felt as the oldest members. Meanwhile, the stage crew quietly cleared equipment for the next performance.
Hajin silently watched the audience before him, unwilling to let this moment slip away. Countless pairs of eyes reflected various emotions as they gazed up at the stage.
"Lastly, let's hear a word from trainee Hajin."
While Hajin had been absorbing this beautiful scene, the others had apparently been sharing final thoughts. Hajin briefly locked eyes with Haru as the microphone was passed to him. Haru's slightly reddened eyes suggested he'd been choked up too, but he simply smiled as he handed over the mic.
"......"
Hajin took a moment to collect his thoughts.
Countless moments flashed before his eyes.
So many moments.
Finally, he slowly raised the microphone to speak.
"Being able to sing... before all of you like this makes me truly happy. For so long, I believed something like this would never happen in my lifetime."
There had been endless stretches of empty, meaningless time.
"Admitting that I might just be an ordinary stone when I thought I was a star... That process was so painful."
He had known such times too.
"But without those times, I don't think I could be standing here now, singing this song with these emotions."
Some things only become clear in hindsight.
Now, Hajin could see his life with slightly sharper focus.
"Before the final period, everything is just part of the process—that's what I learned through Miro Maze. I'll keep learning step by step so I can become someone who can share more stories with all of you DESTINY."
Hajin spoke calmly, stripped of his usual cheerfulness and playfulness.
There was one more thing he wanted to say, but he hesitated. He considered whether he should say it and what repercussions it might bring as thoughts raced through his mind.
Soon, he opened his mouth again.
"I'll become a Kang Hajin you can support without feeling embarrassed."
Cheers erupted among DESTINY members.
But Hajin wasn't finished.
"So I ask that you all become people I can be proud of too. Thank you."
After carefully filtering his final words, Hajin bowed to the audience. As he finished speaking, his gaze drifted toward the group that had earlier made nasty comments about Wonho.
Given that his core fandom was already considered weak, these remarks that seemed to target his own fans might deal a significant blow.
Yet Hajin had no regrets.
Even if this one statement caused his ranking to plummet.
"Yes, that was Team Invincible Youth's performance. Great work everyone."
Sensing the peculiar atmosphere, Yeon-woo quickly delivered the ending remarks. Team Invincible Youth bowed 90 degrees to the audience before slowly exiting the stage. Evening had fully descended by now.
As Hajin removed and returned his in-ear monitor, Seok asked him a question.
"Hajin."
"Yes, hyung."
"Do you really... believe it's all just part of the process?"
"Huh?"
"Ah, what you said earlier during your speech."
"Oh... Yes. That's how I see it."
And I hope you can see it that way too.
He swallowed the last words that rose to his throat. Hajin knew Seok needed to experience and understand his own unique journey.
Seok fell silent, lost in thought. Hajin simply walked quietly beside him.
And so, Team Invincible Youth's stage came to a close.
The final team in Miro Maze's guerrilla concert was 'Loving You Team' featuring Lee Do-ha and Lee Yu-geon.
At first glance, it seemed like a lazy mashup of "Loving you" and "Rap"... but surprisingly, the name had actual hanja characters behind it.
"來 (come) 憑 (lean) 留 (stay)."
"It means we invite you to come to us, lean on us, and stay with us."
...For a hip-hop team, this was an oddly sentimental name, but since DESTINY loved it, we'll let it slide.
Loving You Team consisted of leader Lee Do-ha along with Lee Yu-geon, Shin Kyoungho, and Jayden.
Except for Yu-geon who had tried rapping for the first time during Blue Flare Team, all members were trainees hoping for rap positions. So when the team formed, everyone expected they'd prepare a proper rap performance.
"We'll stake the DJ desk and stage LEDs on our team mission."
Without choreography, Loving You Team had brought in a DJ acquaintance of Jayden's to fill the empty stage space, planning to emphasize their rap performance with live beats.
But then an unexpected disaster struck.
"Uh... what just happened?"
"Loving You Team has failed your team mission! You cannot use the DJ desk or stage LEDs."
They'd failed a mission with two items at stake.
However, it wasn't due to poor performance.
"Honestly, I thought that would pass. DESTINY's standards seem pretty high."
Their mission was 'Random Play Dance'—likely chosen because the team combined Yu-geon who could dance with Do-ha who couldn't. The songs were all either from Miro Maze or their senior groups Uphia and Endway.
They had three chances.
First attempt failed when Shin Kyoungho forgot the choreography for Miro Maze's title track 'Daylight'.
When Yeon-woo asked for judgment, DESTINY shouted "Fail!" in near unison.
That was the beginning of the end.
—Second attempt! DESTINY, what's your verdict?
—FAIL!!!
—Ah, why? This is straight-up unfair, seriously.
DESTINY mercilessly called failure again, even though Jayden had only been slightly late finding his position—a mistake minor enough to overlook.
Yu-geon protested by dramatically lowering his sagging pants, but DESTINY just laughed among themselves, as if determined not to let them succeed.
This atmosphere had several causes.
First, coincidentally, few personal fans of Loving You Team members were present.
Most of Do-ha and Yu-geon's stronger adult fanbase couldn't make it to this weekday afternoon guerrilla concert near Seoul.
Jayden had primarily risen through international fan picks, while Kyoungho was losing fans rapidly after recent dating rumors spread.
Moreover, most present fans weren't particularly fond of Loving You Team.
Kyoungho was already disliked as a trainee embroiled in dating scandals.
Jayden had poor reputation among some fans due to international fans constantly accusing others of discriminating against him—despite Jayden himself doing nothing wrong.
Do-ha, who rapped well but couldn't dance, gave off "not my pick but will probably debut" vibes.
Even Yu-geon, who had the most stan-attractive qualities, received polarized reactions.
Thus, when the first "team mission failure" result appeared, most DESTINY members found it entertaining.
I mean, for my bias' team, I'd want them to win all items, but for this team... not so much.
From an entertainment perspective, seeing a team fail so hard they lose two items is hilarious. Plus, watching the trainees' frustrated, pleading expressions as they desperately begged DESTINY to pass them was pretty cute too.
Finally, some long-time survival show veterans thought, "They wouldn't actually withhold the items, right?"
Convinced survival shows are all scripted anyway, they believed production would intervene regardless of their votes.
All these factors combined to...
—Fail!
—No way. They barely even danced yet, how is this a fail?
—Faiiill~~~
...result in their third and final attempt failing too.
Since it was the last chance, Yeon-woo asked for judgment multiple times, and some DESTINY members tentatively shouted "Pass!"
But once vocal minorities started steering the atmosphere, the crowd easily followed along.
Thus, Loving You Team instantly lost both stage LEDs and the DJ desk.
When Yeon-woo announced the final decision, DESTINY seemed shocked it actually happened—though this realization came far too late.
"Still, DESTINY's standards were quite high this time. As MC, I'll allow this—if you pass all individual missions, you can still earn the remaining two items. DESTINY, is that okay?"
"YES!!"
"NO!"
"Are you kidding? Just make them perform without!"
Though Yeon-woo tried mediating with MC privileges, some audience members, intoxicated by their power, kept loudly protesting.
Production eventually had to pause filming to warn the audience about proper conduct.
But as evening fell...
With hundreds more people than at the start...
Controlling crowd psychology in an open space...
"Who cares about that stuff anyway? Your stage was boring~"
...was, despairingly, not that simple.