It's Way Too Late To Stay Locked Up Inside Ourselves

Ten Minutes Later

Jeong-hyeok began walking off the stage. His heart was pounding. The thunderous applause of the crowd rang in his ears; the floor felt like it was moving under his feet. All the nervousness that Jeong-hyeok should have felt before was hitting him in a wave now. I forgot what it feels like. He balled his hands into fists to stop them from shaking.

The sharp turn from reverent silence to an euphoric eruption of praise at the end of "Crows & Magpies" had floored him. Jeong-hyeok had frozen for a moment before standing to acknowledge it all. Now, each step took him further away from the fever pitch calls for an encore that live television could not allow.

God we really did it. And I really said that on television.

The look on Se-ri's face just before he had begun to play filled his mind; she looked happy, brave, proud. After a year of publicly denying all that she meant to him, Jeong-hyeok felt the urge to shout with joy at finally declaring it out loud. As soon as he was hidden by the curtain, he spun around. Geum Eun-dong reached him first — wide eyed and grinning. He threw his arms around him. Kim Ju-meok jumped on both of them with a wild yelp.

"Holy shit! We killed it, you guys! We killed it."

Park Kwang-beom walked up to them, dazed. His hand raked through his hair in bemused shock. Then he yelled over the persistent din of the crowd.

"I mean, I knew the new stuff was good but oh my god ...listen to that!"

Jeong-hyeok shook his head incredulously as they absorbed all that Company Five had wrought. Pyo Chi-su was the last to join them. He ushered them back to where it was a bit quieter. Then he stepped up to Jeong-hyeok and wrapped his hand around the back of his neck. Pyo Chi-su bent his head, demanding Jeong-hyeok's attention.

"I have never been prouder to share a stage with someone. What you did out there was brave as hell, man. In every way."

A lump formed in Jeong-Hyeok's throat. He grasped Pyo Chi-su's shoulder as he struggled to contain his emotions. Then he looked around at all of them. They have always been there for me.

"Thank you for not giving up on our dream — even when I did."

They all stared at one another, eyes wide with the realization that they would never forget this moment.

But then Jeong-hyeok felt a rush of panic about Se-ri; he had not anticipated this kind of frenzy when they had planned to meet in the green room after the show. I need to make sure she got there right now.

"Gentlemen!"

Cheon Su-bok suddenly appeared before them. Jeong-hyeok froze. Dammit.

"Well that was quite the performance— in more ways the one." He quirked an eyebrow meaningfully as he smiled. Jeong-hyeok cleared his throat.

"Mr. Cheon, I hope —-"

Cheon Su-bok raised his hand to interrupt. Then he tilted his phone back and forth with a smirk.

"Company Five, The Late Show, Ri Jeong-hyeok, Yoon Se-ri, and 'Crows and Magpies' are the top five trending topics on Twitter. The show ended ten minutes ago and already the upload of your final song has three million views. Do you think I'm going to complain about that?"

Jeong-hyeok staggered backwards.

"Three million views in ten minutes?"

"That's right. So congratulations and thank you. The album drops tomorrow right?"

Jeong-hyeok nodded.

"Well, I've never seen these kinds of numbers right after a show except for the top pop groups. If I were a betting man, I'd say it will debut at number one tomorrow."