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

38. FIRST PERFORMANCES

After long and torturous waiting, it was finally time for the live show to begin and, with that, the recording of the performance parts for the second program. The only thing they had filmed after arriving at MusiQ was part of the rehearsals for the paid content, but other than that they had been able to relax from the scrutiny of the cameras for a few hours, although their nervousness barely let them take advantage of it.

Once all the viewers were inside the venue, it was time for the girls to finally get ready for their introductory performance: «Breakthrough». They would be performing that as a welcoming stage before starting with their actual task so they would have enough time to change into their other clothes before it was time for them to perform their songs. Axel would be explaining everything while the girls changed, so they would have time although they still could not slack off.

"Girls, today is the day of our first performance with public and I want to say that, regardless of the outcome of the task, let's all give our best and enjoy the stage," Heejin told the girls as they put on their microphones. "Let's have fun out there and show them what we've got. Hands to the middle!"

"Breakthrough, fighting!" they all exclaimed at the same time before moving to the side of the stage where they would walk in and where Axel was waiting.

"Good luck today, girls," he told them. "Show them everything you've got. You can do it."

"Thank you," they all said with a smile.

"There are no cameras around, right?" Axel asked and they all nodded. "Then sorry about this. You can all look elsewhere."

Confused about it, they did not turn around in time for when Axel pulled Heejin's arm and kissed her, making some of the girls gasp.

"What was that for?" Heejin said hitting his arm and trying to hide her blush.

"I just had to. Good luck!"

Heejin did not have time to tell him anything as they were all told to go on stage, where the light were all turned off so no one could see them. That, however, did not mean that the girls would not tease her on the way there.

"Axel seriously keeps surprising me," Zia said as she walked past her.

"Is this really the Axel we all know?" Iku wondered aloud.

Soon later, they were given the cue to get into position through their in-ear monitors, so they all stopped making comments as their microphones would turn on seconds later and instead got ready to start the performance.

"Artists on stage. Breakthrough. Intro two, three, four," they heard the unfamiliar robotic voice say through their in-ears right before the song began and the lights turned on.

Instead of starting the dance all together like planned, they were going to use up all the space and instead divide into subgroups for some parts to switch it up for the live event and make it more impactful. That seemed to work as the people on the site cheered loudly for all of them, even chanting their names in some parts.

It was at this moment that Heejin finally understood why she wanted to be on stage. The public cheering and singing along to her song; the thrill of the stage. That was the first time she had felt that, and she was becoming increasingly addicted to it, in turn making her perform even better as she was fully in the mood. The stage had just become her drug.