BE MYSELF(C1K) - MUSIQ SERIES PART 1

18. REHEARSALS

SONG RECOMMENDATION: TOMORROW BY CHANYEOL

As Duyi's song was a total success, more people started researching about the group and the company and therefore the excitement grew for the rest of the boy's solos. Duyi's magazine interview even ended up on the cover of the KJC Beauty magazine along with Shin Dara, who was about to make a comeback. That resulted in Jax's solo, Fiancé, even surpassing Duyi in views in twenty-four hours. There was also even more demand for his showcase, but that only increased the tension for the rest of them, who were afraid of not living up to the fan's expectations.

The morning of the showcase, Axel was rehearsing alone in the dance studio he had booked for himself for the whole morning. He was not going to dance for his song, but he would for the two group performances they had all prepared. He was a total perfectionist, which came in handy as he truly tried his best with everything but also meant that he pushed himself right to his limit, which was not healthy at all.

"Knock-knock!" Alix said in English as she opened the door. "May I come in or do you need some alone time?"

"No, it is okay. Come in," he told her and stopped the music while panting. "What brings you here?"

"I wanted to cheer for you a little. I couldn't do so with the others because I was busy, but today it's the other way around. I already have everything ready for your showcase, so there's nothing left for me to do," she told him. "You are sweating a lot. How long have you been here? The mirrors are all fogged up."

"What time is it?" he wondered aloud and checked the clock on the wall. "One in the afternoon? About six hours, then."

"Oh, hell, no!" Alix said, forcing him to sit down on the couch in the room. "What are you doing?! You will run out of energy before it's even time for the showcase."

"I am okay!" he assured her.

"Sure, and I am Keanu Reeves," she said rolling her eyes. "I get that you are nervous and want to do your best, but you seriously need to rest. To be able to do your best you have to be in your best condition, and tired isn't it."

"Alix, I appreciate that you worry about me, but all of you told me once that the style of rap I am releasing today is not easy to sell at all and it either can turn out very well or awfully bad. I am worried about it being the latter," he explained. "I am not dancing, so I cannot get people more interested using that, and I barely have any singing parts in the song, so who knows what people will think about it?"

"Axel, you don't need intricate dancing and outstanding vocals to be able to shine on stage. You are an artist and a performer; as long as you feel the song and are able to express your feelings through your rapping and your performance, people will be moved and like it too," she told him. "This song isn't as mainstream and as easy to sell as the ones from your groupmates, but that doesn't mean it is a bad song whatsoever. That's like saying that Basquiat wasn't a good painter just because he didn't do what was popular at that moment. He did what he wanted to do and painted what he wanted to paint and that moved people. Your music can do just that."

It was that type of conversations which made Axel feel closer to Alix than to any of the other mentors. She knew exactly what to say and how to express it for Axel to understand it and to motivate him. To other people Basquiat and Axel made no sense in the same sentence, but what he heard was music and painting; it was art.

"Thank you, Alix," he told her genuinely. "It is just... I do not want to disappoint everyone and drag down the rest of the group with me. I am technically the one who has trained the longest among us, although it was not that long, and I do not want to make you, the CEOs, regret choosing me for the group, nor I want to make the boys hate me for not doing my best. What do I bring to the group? Joontae is the unofficial visual and dancer, Duyi the charismatic leader and all-rounder, Jax is one of the best rappers I've ever heard and his charisma both on and off stage is unmatched, and Lou and Kiwoo are the main vocalists of the generation."