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

47. REUNION

When the day of the second evaluations arrived, just two days before Christmas, the girls were even more nervous than the previous time because instead of doing it at the company, the production team of the program had rented a bigger concert hall for them to perform after seeing that the tickets for the first one had been sold out in seconds. The tickets were not that expensive, but it still turned out to be a great sum of money, so they saw changing venues as an investment while the girls saw it as them having to perform even better, if that were possible.

"It's just two songs and the mentor's performances, but I'm still so nervous!" Iku said while they were in waiting room. "I don't think I'm ready."

"Yes, you are! Don't be so nervous, Iku. We have been practicing hard, so now the only thing left is to show the results of our arduous work," Heejin assured her. "The skills are there already, so now we just need to deliver performances that the public can enjoy."

"How can you stay calm?"

"I actually am not, I just fake it 'till I make it," she confessed, making her chuckle. "This is what we have dreamt of for most of our lives, so we shouldn't let our nervousness get the best of us."

Even if she was faking it, even if she was scared to death, she knew that singing was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life so, uncertain about what the future would bring her, she wanted to seize every opportunity she had and give her absolute everything. If that were to be her last time of stage, she wanted to leave it with no regret.

"Girls, you have visitors," a staff member said before opening the door.

Right then, the members of Stray Kids went inside, and all the girls stood up to greet them politely. When they joined the company they were nervous every time they saw them, but they had seen them so many times that they had already gotten used to it.

"Oh, my eyes! I'm blinded by all of these stars!" Jang Jeongin joked while covering his eyes, making the girls chuckle.

"Hello, girls! Long time no see!" Seungmin greeted them. "Ready for today's performances?"

"Not really, but we'll have to endure it," Zia admitted.

"Thank you for coming, we really appreciate it," Heejin told them as she greeted Chan and Jisung more casually, since she was close to both thanks to Mika and Alix. 

"No need to mention it. We needed to cheer for you!" Chan told her. "Anyway, have you already had your rehearsals and everything?"

"Yes, everything was settled, now we are just waiting for the actual performances."

"Are you doing «Breakthrough» again this time?" Felix wondered. "I really want to see it live."

"We are, yes, but at the end. Just to give the public more time to decide their votes. Zia's team will be first, then my team and finally the Breakthrough performance. The mentors and Lou will perform between songs so we have time to get ready."

"Speaking about the mentors, where's Lou?" Hyunjin asked, looking around. "We thought he'd be here."

"He went to grab a coffee with the mentors," Nari answered. "They should be back soon."

They thought they had just said it so they could greet him, but little did they know that they were worried about it. C1K was going to visit them as well since Lou was performing that day, so they were worried about it being uncomfortable if Heejin was there but Lou was not.

"Heejin! Are you busy right now?" Jisung asked her and she shook her head. "Let's grab some coffees for the rest as well, then."

Since she truly had nothing to do as they were waiting and she could cover her clothes with a coat, she nodded and they both left the waiting room and the building, heading to a nearby café to order the drinks.