OPEN YOUR EYES (BLIND I) - MUSIQ SERIES PART 2

36. STAGE PRESENCE

The girls continued practicing hard with their respective mentors as the day of the program arrived but on Friday, the day before they had to perform and the day when the first episode would be released, they were all told to gather on the assembly hall yet again. They were all excited for the following day, but their faces showed that they were exhausted from working non-stop.

"I swear I can fit groceries in your eyebags," Axel said as he went inside the assembly hall and headed to the stage.

"Good afternoon," the girls said in unison.

"I can see you are all incredibly nervous. Have you been working hard on this first task?" Axel asked them and they all nodded. "Then tomorrow let's do our best. It will be your first time performing in front of a public, but don't worry about that."

"Do you have any tips for that? How did you deal with your nervousness the first time?" Eunae asked him.

"To be honest, it's hard. I remember my whole body trembled. You have nothing to worry about, however. Just remember all the times you have performed on the company's venue. In order for you to feel less nervous, you will be performing there, so you are all already familiar with how it is."

Since they had done some of their evaluations there, it was true that they were more familiar with it and therefore would not have to worry about going to the wrong place, messing up where the centre was or things like that. However, on previous occasions they had only performed in front of the other trainees, the teachers, and the CEOs, so it was their first time in front of a public. Other than that, some of them had been dancers for other groups and artists, but the experience was vastly different and incomparable. The only one with some experience was Heejin as she had performed with Axel during his debut, but the public's opinion of her had since changed, so she was not as confident.

"Girls, do you remember your first evaluations? I bet you were very nervous back then too, but after getting used to it you stopped feeling as nervous. This time will be just the same, only you will get to perform all together before doing your group performances so that you can get rid of all the initial nervousness," Axel told them. "You have worked hard to prepare the performances, so you should not worry about something like this. Believe me, I know it from experience."

"How can we make sure the public enjoys the performance?" Zia asked him.

"Be yourselves and make sure to let them know you notice them. A simple glance, a quick action or just a thankful bow after the performance means a lot to them. It closes the gap between you and them," Axel explained. "For example, whenever I know the cameras are not recording me during stages, I tend to look at the fans instead. That makes a stark difference. It creates a bond between you and them. Holding a fan's glace will make them remember you no matter what."

Although it had not been that long since he had debuted and even though he had only released his solo song and the mini album with C1K, it was evident that he already was their senior. From his knowledge to simply the way he viewed the stage, the girls understood that they should stop seeing him as a fellow trainee and instead learn from him.

"Now, if you don't have more questions at the moment, I also wanted to announce that we are finally releasing «Libido»'s MV the day this episode airs next week," Axel told them, taking them aback. "You probably didn't know it since there haven't been any teasers to further impact the viewers and listeners, but know that it's going to be released in a week, right before your program airs."

"Tawi, Jaemin and Namgyu are releasing something before us in the end, then," Xia said and they laughed.

"You will have live performances, though. I think that's bigger," Axel pointed out. "Shall we watch it together, then? I know you've already seen the dance, but we've actually filmed a music video too, so that should be fun."