Stranger | Jikook/Kookmin

16 | Muse

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The stage is such a place that grants you another life, another dream, another body. It's the only place where you can look and feel different than the you you have grown to know. Jungkook had heard it meant adrenaline rush to some and home to the others. He tries defining the sound of his heart beating into his chest, his heavy breaths forming clouds on the air, and the silence  swallowing his mind into an alternate dimension, what all of these things mean to him. 

The blue light above him creates a hollow loom over his silhouette, overgrowing the size of his eyelashes to shadows so big Jungkook can feel them covering his cheeks. His figure greets him diagonally on the ground, the darkest shade of black Jungkook has ever seen of a shadow. It's fascinating and scary at the time to be the source of attention of so many people yet feel so out of it, as if he is floating in another universe. 

His heart drops when he hears the sound of violin screech through the stadium. It's muscle memory of so many practice hours by now – his legs start moving at the direction of the sound, the YAGJA member skating in his direction while playing the instrument. They make eye contact through the costume but Jungkook doesn't feel like he is wearing it. He is light as a bird as he swirls around her, guiding her to her spot on the court. One by one come the other members wearing their own skating equipments, their powerful black and blue costumes sparkling under the lights that accent on them from different corners of the stadium.

After the violin intro, the song finally starts. 

The girls do the rapping and singing, the coolest versions of themselves Jungkook has seen to that day – indeed so professional-looking and passionate that the crowd starts showing incredible reactions at each beat drop. Jungkook's role in the piece is interacting with Adora as she sings and putting on little skating figures with the background dancers that come in at the chorus of the song. The highlight of the performance is the song break at mid-choreo where YAGJA forms a circle around Jungkook, in which the special effect wings they put on him earlier burst out to the sides like a peacock's splendor, drawing an ensemble of gasps from the crowd. As the bass comes back in and the members start singing again whistles are going off in the crowd, chants and claps following the song structure.

That point on, all the anxiety Jungkook had been sporting dissolves into a memory of tenderfoot, and all he feels now is the thrill of frenzy rushing through his veins. His steps get harsher to the end, his movements big and daring. He is no professional when it comes to skating, but the gorgeous wings and the special choreography make him look like a swan king and Jungkook resembles no short of an alpha male with his puffed chest when they make it to the end of the eloquent but influential Black Swan performance.

He is on his knees with YAGJA posed behind him coolly, the crowd of spectators on their feet, screaming and clapping endlessly at their dope showdown.

It's only beginning though.

After exchanging quick hugs with Adora and the team, the LED lights in the stadium burst into blinding leaks of yellows and browns, a split line of marching band walking in from opposite directions of the court. The cheerleaders are in place in an eye blink and Jungkook finds himself popping to the bustling beat of the anthem alongside them. He feels more in tact in this round of the performance because unlike during Black Swan, the room is now bright and golden, cheering faces of all the fans and families crystal clear. He laughs behind the mask as him and Yong-sun do a part of the choreography facing each other, a little funny dance that makes everyone burst into laughters. Jungkook is twisting his arms like a chicken and Yong-sun is doing the crab walk. They make a wonderful pair, be it seriously going full on with their moves or switching moods to a lighter atmosphere – Jungkook will admit to her being the best dance teacher ever.