Chapter 162

As Hajin and Yugeon finished the choreography and slipped to the back of the stage, at center Jaeyoung, Siwoo, and Haru were each holding photoshoot-worthy poses with a slightly comic twist.

- ah, so that's why it felt familiar — this is the sports-day Phoenix Team - when will we ever successfully character-analyze jung siwoo > if you look closely he's actually the most normal one out of them - park jaeyoung dan haru: job satisfaction 10000%

In time with a playful electronic-instrument sound, the three of them advanced toward the front of the stage with locking moves.

The choreography that followed leaned less on the kind of technical skill Hajin and Yugeon brought and more on tight breath and synchronization. After that, as the drum beat climbed again quickly, Hajin and Yugeon — who'd been seated in the back — rejoined the formation.

And then, in time with the densely woven accompaniment, all five of them started, in unison, cutting loose in freestyle!

- fuckㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ - guys be honest — you knocked one back before going on stage right?

From Park Jaeyoung doing a loose, floppy squid dance,

to Dan Haru bopping away happily by himself off in one corner.

Jung Siwoo and Lee Yugeon, gripping each other's shoulders and shaking their heads side to side in total blissed-out abandon,

and even Kang Hajin, showing the seasoned edge of a former variety-show PD who back in the day had known how to lift the vibe at company dinners.

- i'm gonna laugh so hard i throw up - ah but they're fucking cute though - since the skill is actually there, doing that just reads as pure hilarious - as expected — for B-tier stuff not to look sloppy the skill has to be S-tier or whatev > at this point you're just trailing off mid-sentence > hang on i'm busy voting rn

We, Find, out! (out!)

Found it, the Finish Line

Still way too early, Farewell

The tomorrow you'd been waiting for

It's already here (hey!)

As the short, intense freestyle break wrapped, confetti burst out and the song headed into its climax.

Hajin, who'd been putting out trendy rap moments before, had at some point come back into vocals and, in that clear, bright voice of his, moved smoothly between chest voice and falsetto.

The ad-libs Jung Siwoo and Dan Haru traded, combined with Jaeyoung's call-out interjections that landed almost like battle cries, filled the song out even richer. Together with Yugeon anchoring the performance's center with intensity, not one element was less than Team A — they were a fully unified team.

- no but they're all just so goodㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ - the fact that 3 of these have to be cut makes no sense, seriously - just do a 10-member group, sewon-ah, honestly you've made that much money by now

Finally shining, our Finale

With the last line, at last Team B's song reached its ending.

As if catching breath they'd been holding in, the trainees — shoulders heaving as they steadied their breathing — were caught on the electronic screen one by one.

When his own face came up on screen, Haru squeezed his eyes shut, opened them, and blew a kiss with his hand. Next, standing behind him and breathing hard, Hajin's face was caught.

"Hoo…. aigo."

Hajin, as if bothered by his sweat-soaked hair poking at his eyes, blew air out through his mouth to lift the bangs away. Then, belatedly noticing he was on the screen, he spread his right palm open and held it out. On the unusually large, pale palm, letters he'd hastily asked the PD to write on before going on stage sat slightly smudged with sweat.

Hyung did good, right?

Everyone here knew that was a message aimed at Hawon, from the VCR earlier.

The proud, satisfied expression showing off the palm, and the wide, easy smile — those were meant only for Hawon.

Across all the timelines Kang Hajin had passed through, it was also his thank-you to the little brother who had always been his most precious, most steadfast friend.

With that image, blackout came down over the stage.

---

Both of the prepared new-song stages had ended.

But since there was still vote-tallying time left, after a brief delay, MC Seo Taeil came back up on stage. Following the script he'd been given, Seo Taeil asked the judges for brief judging remarks and then informed the audience about the voting.

"So now, only the ranking announcement is left?"

"Isn't it? Ah, what do I do. I really can't do this twice."

Taking that window, Gwajam swapped out the memory card and battery in her camera, then talked with Squishy Bear about what was coming next. Since they weren't going to suddenly throw in another random cover song here, they figured there'd probably be some talk to stretch the time, then one commercial break, then the ranking announcement drawn out over an hour.

"Miro Maze — we'll be back in one minute!"

"See? Ad break, right?"

"Yeah. Guess now it really is just the ranking tally left."

Sure enough, right after Seo Taeil dropped the commercial-break line, one minute passed.

But contrary to what the two of them had expected, what greeted them after the commercial was a new VCR.

The content of the VCR was nothing particularly special. It was faithful to the survival-finals staple you could call standard convention — 'the feelings segment.'

The venue's atmosphere melted soft over the letter-like interviews — about how much love the trainees had received through Miro Maze, and what changes had come into their own lives.

> Dan Haru: So…. this time — I think I might never forget it. Maybe forever. > Kang Hajin: I have to protect it. So I can stay by your side, on and on.

Of the many people watching this interview, no one knew the hidden difference between the "on and on" Haru was picturing and the "on and on" Hajin was promising.

Only, at every single word painting the future, their eyes just quietly went misty for reasons they couldn't quite name.

Lalalala—,

A lyrical accompaniment — like countless stars falling from the sky — came pouring out.

The VCR ended, and onto a single spot on the still-dark stage, with a soft pop, lighting dropped.

The moment we first met

Do you remember?

Seo Taehyun, in the school uniform that had been Boys of the World's uniform, opened his mouth beneath that light in a trembling voice. Maybe he'd already been crying from watching the VCR — the rims of his eyes were brimming with tears.

A fervent dream reaching the sky —

The night it became the sun

The day you became light and reached me

Eunchan, back from the mafia's deranged youngest son to his usual self, was in the jumpsuit he'd worn for his first profile photo. Even the face-paint on his face was still there.

When Jayden appeared beside Eunchan, recreating the black-and-red casual look he'd worn as his Team B outfit at the time, people finally clicked to what the concept was.

title: [these are the MRMZ kids' outfits from that time] the ones that got the best fan reactions so farㅇㅇ... - hey but seo taehyun's boys of the world uniform is cheating right?ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ? - please siwoo cinderella cinderella cinderellaaaaaa - at this point is miro the pervert, or is the production team the pervert.... > two perverts meeting to make paradise, just enjoy it

After that, Jaeyoung in the I'm Gonna Tell You! outfit and Haru — like Eunchan, in the marine look he'd worn for his profile photo — walked out slowly onto the stage. The scene of the two youngest facing each other and blending their harmonies was so heartwarming that if Kang Hajin had seen it, he'd have clapped a hand over his mouth going the maknae are all grown up.

Be my daylight

Even if I wake from this warm dream

Jung Siwoo appeared in the 80s youthful college-student outfit he'd worn at the round-4 guerrilla concert, properly kitted out down to gold-framed glasses hung on a glasses chain. When, in that outfit, he sang the fan song achingly, veins standing out on his neck, exclamations near cries burst out from every side.

Lighting swept over the entire stage, and the remaining four trainees revealed themselves too.

Hajin, where's Hajin?

Gwajam hurried to find Hajin.

Past Wonho in the round-1 Team A outfit, Yugeon in the round-3 Blue Flare choker outfit worn as-is, and Doha in the skintight black leather getup from round 2's Paran….

Under a red — deep red — light that echoed the color of his hair, her top pick was standing.

Be your daylight

A black leather shirt with his collarbone laid wide open, and a silver body chain visible through the gaps in the shirt.

Hajin, sure enough, was wearing the round-3 Blue Flare outfit that had gotten the strongest reactions.

The leather belt strapped around one thigh, and that aggressive outfit — probably slashed open see-through across the back — clashed with the beautiful, warm melody he was singing….

Because the brilliantly shining tenderness will last forever

…but the smile he was wearing — turned not on the camera but on the audience — seemed warmer, more tender than any spring. Gwajam suddenly felt she was about to cry.

…what is it about this k-pop thing.

He doesn't even know my name, doesn't know my age….

No — he doesn't even know that I like him, that I'm cheering him on.

Even though it wasn't a serenade being sung with his eyes locked on hers, all the unfairness and hardship she'd been through liking Hajin all this time felt like it was being swept clean away.

We could be the light (light)

I am a star that shines because of you

A star that shines only because of you

An eternal sun that will shine only on you

In time with the part the trainees all sang together, with another pop, confetti scattered beautifully across the entire venue. Standing quietly in place, Hajin lifted his head and looked up at the sight.

The moment she spotted Hajin lifting a hand as if to catch a falling confetti piece, Gwajam instinctively raised her camera.

Click,

As she pressed the shutter, the aperture snapped tight and released, catching the moment.

Gwajam thought that if Hajin debuted today, and if — even after his debut — she was still liking him….

She wanted, without fail, to send this photo to Hajin as a gift.

"……."

She wanted, without fail, to let him know how beautiful and how radiant a being he was up on that stage.

---

And then, the moment of decision arrived.

"Now, we're closing final voting."

Voting closed.

All that was left now was the final-result announcement — reflecting real-time votes, cumulative votes, and the judging panel's scores.

After the special stage wrapped, the ten trainees, changed into neat formal wear, went up on the platform. Seo Taeil, wearing the same suit he'd worn during Miro Maze episode 1, carried the lines forward from the MC seat on the AD's cue signal.

"Ahead of the ranking announcement, we'll first announce the group name that will be given to the seven boys who make the final passing cut."

At the word that they'd be announcing the group name, the mood in the venue stirred.

Hajin, standing bolt upright in his spot, felt that atmosphere and quietly cast his mind back to his previous life.

What was Miro's next group called again?

Come to think of it, he could clearly remember Rene's Lanion, which had debuted around the same time, but somehow he had no memory of Miro's next group.

Huh? But why is Lanion so quiet? They should be debuting this month. No — that's not what matters right now.

Hajin, who'd almost drifted off into a side thought, gave his head a short shake and came back to the original question.

Now — what would the group name turn out to be?

Miro had a rule-that-wasn't-quite-a-rule of building group names and fandom names around a single alphabet letter at the front.

Upia (U.pia) and its I.dea, Enderway (N.the way) and its N.with you — they were all done that way….

While Hajin was running through his head what a fitting alphabet letter might be —

on the electronic screen, one deeply familiar, deeply welcome word slammed into place with a bang.

"Icarus. In this Miro Maze, an extremely important keyword — and an identity itself. In Greek and Roman mythology, Icarus was the figure who attached wax wings and tried to draw close to the sun, but in the end, the wax melted from the sun's heat, and he fell."

As Seo Taeil's line ended, the letters that had formed Icarus soon melted, flowing, and formed a new arrangement, new letters.

"But if you rearrange the letters making up Icarus just slightly, a new meaning appears."

"Kairos. A name from Greek mythology, called both the 'god of time' and the 'god of opportunity.' Originating from the Greek word meaning 'to carve,' it also carries meanings of 'the right time,' 'opportunity,' and 'a fleeting moment.'"

The letters of ICARUS and KAIROS wove this way and that.

Then, along with a majestic sound effect, new letters spelling KAIROS formed on the electronic screen.

"The new group of Miro that will be born today, under this name Kairos, will present to the Destis music that carves an unforgettable special moment into the music industry."

At the group name at last announced, Hajin quietly turned the word Kairos over inside his mouth.

Kairos.

Even for him — who'd been a lifelong churchgoer through inherited faith and knew a decent amount — it was a word he was familiar with.

In Greek, kairos meant 'the creative time in which extraordinary things come into being.'

A special group that began from something as ridiculous as regression…. yeah, that tracks.

At a group name meaningful in its own right, Hajin let out a small breath of a laugh.

"Then now — we'll announce the final rankings that will bear this name."

At last — the finale.