pappabearbooks Chapter 204: Summer (7)
Chapter 204: Summer (7)
Just before the lift was raised onto the stage. Rojun, Si-hoo, Kang-min, and Do-kyung each took deep breaths or warmed up in their own ways. Rojun lightly shook his body and tilted his head left and right.Then he smirked.
‘Feels amazing.’
It was understandable. Just seconds before stepping out in front of tens of thousands of Japanese fans. The booming sound effects and the audience's screams made his blood boil.
Kang Rojun had imagined this moment from time to time until it finally arrived.
The feeling of a shiver shooting up to the brain, the thrill sweeping through the whole body along the veins. He had felt it during the debut show-con too, but this sensation seemed like something he would never get tired of.
‘I can do this a hundred times, even a thousand.’
It felt like he could hear his heartbeat in his ears.
Then a staff member next to him gave a signal.
“We’re going up.”
The lift moved slowly. Gradually, bit by bit, a universe embroidered with starlight began to unfold before Kang Rojun’s eyes. The dark concert hall, tens of thousands of fans, the light sticks waving frantically, the flashing lights everywhere, the sound pounding in his ears.
By the time the lift carrying ‘Vanguard’ had completed its task, Kang Rojun and the members had appeared before an audience of over thirty thousand.
“Kyaaaaa!!!”
“Aaaaahhhhh!!!!”
The immense or rather overwhelming heat and energy from the audience hit Kang Rojun’s eyes, nose, mouth, and skin all at once. Anyone standing in that spot would be frozen by the intensity of the fans. But not Kang Rojun. ‘Vanguard’ only heated up even more.
The perspective from the audience seats looking at the stage and the view from the stage looking at the audience seats are completely different.
When you look at tens of thousands of people from the stage, you feel truly engulfed by a vast, enormous energy. Even in front of 30 people, your throat can go dry, but now it's over thirty thousand fans. From this point on, the tension spikes to its peak, leaving no room for thought. On top of that, a surge of adrenaline slams into the heart.
It was the same for Kang Rojun right now.
What moves an artist in this kind of situation is the endless hours of practice. And the belief in oneself for having worked harder than anyone. Kang Rojun and the members stepped forward with that belief.
As they took their first step, the lights that had illuminated the concert hall went dark.
The sound boomed so powerfully it drowned out the pouring screams. It was the intro of ‘GreenBee’, signaling the start of the Japanese concert.
-♬♪
‘GreenBee’ had already dominated the Japanese charts, and the tens of thousands of fans gathered at the venue went wild, waving their light sticks. Spotlights focused on the stage, the enlarged images of ‘Vanguard’ projected on giant screens, the backup dancers running out and taking their positions, and the cameras capturing the first performance.
Today’s first stage outfit for ‘Vanguard’ was a black suit with detailed flower-shaped badges.
And so, ‘Vanguard’ kicked off their ‘GreenBee’ performance in earnest. Of course, it was a live performance, and they delivered explosive choreography from the intro. Today’s ‘GreenBee’ performance had increased in scale. More dancers had been added compared to the usual team, and the movements were expanded to suit the concert venue stage.
Just before ‘Vanguard’ entered the chorus.
-Swish.
Led by Kang Rojun, they moved onto the protruding stage. Behind him followed Si-hoo, Kang-min, and Do-kyung. The main stage remained filled with the dance team. In terms of ‘Vanguard’ alone, their movements were significantly freer compared to the debut show-con. On the protruding stage, Si-hoo's qualities as a lead vocalist and Rojun's presence as the main vocalist exploded.
Then came the instrumental.
Today’s version of ‘GreenBee’ included a slight rearrangement compared to the original track. A beat was added between the first and second verse to allow for an event-style dance break. ‘Vanguard’ performed choreography designed specifically for the concert, and the fans went beyond screaming, losing themselves in ecstasy.
Then came the second verse.
Just before returning from the protruding stage to the main stage, Kang Rojun received a phone from a fan who was frantically waving it at the front of the stage.
‘Roughly like this.’
He pointed the filming phone at himself and the members as if taking a selfie. It lasted only a few seconds, but the Japanese fan who received the phone back with a smile from Rojun...
“Aaaah!! Kyaaah!!”
Reacted with near hysteria, jumping up and down. And who could blame her? Among these tens of thousands of fans, her phone alone held ultra-close footage of Kang Rojun and the members. Of course, a few more fans like her might appear throughout the concert, but to each one, it would feel like a miracle.
Soon, Kang Rojun, Si-hoo, Kang-min, and Do-kyung finished the fan service and returned to the main stage.
-♬♪
They blended with the dance team and delivered the second verse of ‘GreenBee’.
Around this time, an indescribable catharsis was spreading through Rojun and the members, while the tens of thousands of fans were enjoying joy dozens of times greater than that of ‘Vanguard’.
The corners of Kang Rojun’s lips curved slightly.
‘Yeah, this is the feeling.’
By now, the tension and fear that once dominated his body had long vanished. Rojun and the members were purely enjoying the stage. The overwhelming energy of ‘Vanguard’ completely filled the massive stage. Journalists immersed in the performance found themselves unconsciously exclaiming in awe.
“......They’re good.”
“They’re really good??”
“There are way more people here than during the show-con... but don’t they seem even wilder now?”
“Did they practice like crazy?”
“They’re just... ‘Vanguard’ was made for the stage.”
Manager Kim Ki-baek and everyone from GN Entertainment also looked at Kang Rojun and the members with satisfaction. In fact, as a management company, they had a few concerns. The intense schedule, the Japanese concert squeezed in between. It was great that all seats were sold out, but for ‘Vanguard’, the schedule was grueling, and any burden could have made it hard to pull off perfectly.
However, Vanguard was writing a legend like a fish that had found water.
Just then, the ‘GreenBee’ performance ended.
Screams and applause roared through the concert hall as if it might collapse, pouring onto ‘Vanguard’. Gasping for breath, Rojun looked over the members and stood in front of the tens of thousands of fans.
On the giant monitors, Kang Rojun’s and the members’ faces were displayed in close-up.
Soon, the leader Kang Rojun opened his mouth.
“One, two, three!”
‘Vanguard’ shouted in Japanese. It was their first greeting to the 35,000 Japanese fans.
“Hello! We are ‘Vanguard’!!”
A few hours later.
Vanguard’s first Japanese concert finally ended past 9 PM. But the tens of thousands of Japanese fans, still caught in the lingering excitement, wandered around the area near the Saitama Arena. Having completed even the encore stage, Kang Rojun and the members popped party poppers in the waiting room.
“Great job, everyone!! Wow- that was seriously insane!!”
“Everyone, well done!”
“This is crazy, I’m still thrilled.”
‘Vanguard’ shared the joy with GN Entertainment staff and the dance team. Watching them from a few steps away, Manager Kim Ki-baek murmured to himself.
‘We can definitely shed the rookie label now, if they can pull it off like that in front of 30,000+, they’ll have no problem with 50,000 or more.’
Kang Rojun, who had taken off his jacket costume, called out to the members and the many dancers.
“Proof shots! Proof shots!”
It seemed even he hadn’t shaken off the thrill coursing through his veins. In any case, the photo time went on for over 10 minutes. Just ‘Vanguard’, then with the dancers, then with the staff who helped. These proof shots were going to be uploaded on Vanguard’s official Instagram, and Rojun and the members were soon caught by the YouTube team.
“Please each share a quick comment.”
They needed footage to upload to the official ‘Vanguard’ YouTube channel. Of course, today’s concert would also be edited and uploaded.
While Rojun, Si-hoo, Kang-min, and Do-kyung were interacting with the YouTube team.
《Vanguard Successfully Wraps First Japan Concert...‘35,000 Fans Gathered’》
In both Korea and Japan, news of Vanguard’s completed Japan concert was spreading like wildfire.
《Even After Concert Ends, Countless Japanese Fans Remain / Photo》
《‘Over 30,000 Fans Mobilized’, ‘Vanguard’ Wraps Up Japan Concert》
《[Star Pick] ‘Vanguard’ Wraps Up First Japan Concert, Hot Attention from Local Japanese Media》
《First Japan Concert Concludes... On Stage, ‘Vanguard’ Were No Rookies / Photo》
And that wasn’t all.
Japanese fans who had attended today’s concert were busy posting real-time updates on social media, and Korean fans who had flown over quickly wrote reviews on community forums.
-[Vanguard Japan Concert Review]
[No, seriously ha....... The Vanguard boys were insane..... Total badass, I swearㅋㅋㅋㅋSuper cool!! I got over missing the debut show-conㅠㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠ The live vocals were insane and the visuals were insanely good..... Especially Rojun.... I can’t even put it into wordsㅜㅜ In the middle, Rojun even took a fan’s phone and filmed a video while smiling, and his charm was just off the charts...]
The public reactions posted on communities, SNS, and various other places were also worth seeing.
– I saw a few articles, looks like Vanguard absolutely crushed the Japan concertㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– All those people saying they’d flop are quiet now, huh??
– Vanguard’s seriously insane… 20,000 during the show-con was crazy enough, but 35,000......
– Someone write a proper fan review please!!!
– I went to the Japan concertㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋI’m at my hotel in Japan right now
– So jealous… how was it??
– This Japan concert had tons of fan interaction, it was soooo goodㅠㅠㅠ They were amazing live too, totally worth the money!!
– Haㅜㅜ GN!! Hurry and upload the Japan concert footage of Vanguard!!!
It was a noisy and lively atmosphere for a while.
Later.
After successfully finishing the Japan concert, the ‘Vanguard’ members were given a few days off. Although they were currently promoting ‘FlyingBell’, CEO Ha Seo-hwan had issued a strict order not to schedule anything during that time. Thanks to that, Si-hoo, Kang-min, and Do-kyung were able to enjoy a proper rest at the dorm for the first time in a while.
Kang Rojun also took a day off to just relax.
He spent it with the members, reading articles and fan comments about ‘Vanguard’.
“Look at this article! It’s just non-stop praise!”
“This journalist seems genuinely moved. Were they at the concert?”
“Kk- That sense of accomplishment is unreal!”
“Don’t your bodies feel kind of itchy now that the concert’s over, hyungs?”
"I agree. I think I could go do another concert tomorrow.”
Or watching TV.
“I feel this all the time, but don’t we look really awkward on music shows?”
"That's true. We look like complete bums right now though."
“Why is Rojun hyung handsome no matter if he looks like a bum or not?”
“Because I’m me.”
He ate when he wanted to eat and slept when he wanted to sleep. The ‘Vitality Booster’ was a passive that made him full of energy even without sleep, it didn’t stop him from sleeping.
‘Yeah, playing after doing your job properly is always the best.’
Around that time, ‘Vanguard’ was heating up YouTube. In both Korea and Japan. A stream of concert-related videos was being uploaded. Just like that, the first day of break flew by, and starting from the second day, Kang Rojun began commuting to the company in his Lamborghini. Unlike the other members, he still had a lot to do.
‘I rested properly for one day, fully recharged.’
And so, on the third day of the break, Kang Rojun arrived again at GN.
Before starting the daily missions and his work, Rojun fell into deep thought.
'English version composition, lyrics writing.'
English lyrics for ‘Vanguard’ tracks, and also the solo songs he had been working on personally, from Song No. 1 to Song No. 5. Thinking about it, the timing was just right to start that.
“Should I just finish Song No. 5 and make Song No. 6 an English version?”
Though his workload was increasing, Rojun was genuinely enjoying jotting down the new tasks. He hadn’t officially started yet, but already, lyrics in English for various songs were swirling in his head.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve worked in English like this, probably not since 'Produce That 100!' days.’
Just then, a knocking sound came from the studio door.
-Knock knock.
Peeking in was Manager Kim Ki-baek.
“Rojun.”
Kang Rojun had actually been organizing his work based on something Kim Ki-baek had said. It seemed he had just come from the morning meeting, his smile now more relaxed, as he asked Rojun:
“Um- do you have time to step out for a bit?”
Rojun blinked and closed his laptop.
"Is there somewhere to go? I have time."
"Then shall we go? Give me a ride in the Lamborghini once too."
10 minutes later, Manager Kim Ki-baek sitting in the Lamborghini let out a a faint exclamation. Unsure whether he was surprised or not, Rojun asked with a questioning look.
“By the way, where are we going?”
“Ah, I’ll put the address in.”
With traffic included, it took about 40 minutes for Kang Rojun and Kim Ki-baek to arrive at a high-end apartment complex. As Rojun gave a puzzled expression, wondering what this was about, Manager Kim Ki-baek casually shrugged his shoulders.
“Remember I told you about a place with a great view of the Han River? This is it.”
*****
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