⋆｡°✩ mga season four. ep iii. classics. ‹ #4010 › ⇢ performance: the boys –– chichi // line distribuition MILKSHAKE ( #4004 #4012 #4039 #4052 )
he’s made it through to the next round but the competition is still far from over. haknyeon can’t find time to actually sit down and take it all in, not when there’s the buzz of mgas running through his body and the need to want and show the world that there’s more that he’s capable of (that he isn’t just his sister’s little brother).
they’re put into groups and haknyeon’s eyes widen when he hears the names of each of his members. most were decent dancers –– just like him, along with another vocalist. it doesn’t go unnoticed by him though, that he’s the only male in a group full of girls. and while he’s probably the envy of certain viewers, or perhaps even, other contestants, again he can’t exactly find time to take it all in.
with a smile, he walks towards his teammates; not only is he the only boy, but he’s the youngest too. at the very least though, they aren’t all complete strangers to him and he thinks that despite this sudden grouping, they could actually make a pretty good team. “i’m joo haknyeon,” he introduces himself, “this team’s only boy and maknae! let’s do well noonas!” he balls his hands into a fist and smiles. “i hope we can get along well!”
sphere.
truth be told, haknyeon’s never actually thought much about sphere. other than the fact that he knows of a few trainees there; he’s never actually considered sphere a company he’d be drawn to. not that he’d have much of a choice anyway. still, the building itself is a sight to behold.
he stands in front of the building for a good few seconds, before letting out a deep breath. “here we go,” he breathes to himself, before he’s led to a practice room.
the whole idea of teams –– or well, working in them –– wasn’t something completely foreign to haknyeon. he was after all, in a dance crew and most of the time that involved a lot of exchange of ideas. that with the added fact that his highschool life literally revolved around group projects and haknyeon’s own social personality, makes this challenge something he’s actually looking forward to.
“noona,” he smiles when he sees sana. “i’m glad you’re on our team! it’s nice to see a familiar face,” haknyeon’s known sana for a while now, and despite being a few years younger than her, he stands a whole 12cm taller than the older girl. he laughs and gives her a high five. “i can’t wait for us to work together.”
they decide on rose as the leader, and haknyeon finds her the best choice, really. she’s got a background as a dance instructor and could perhaps lead the team best.
“a 2011 song,” one of them says and it takes some thinking and a lot of talking before they finally decide on a classic. the boys. haknyeon, is more than happy with the song choice. he doesn’t mind that it’s a girl group song, if anything he’s happier with the fact that it’s a girl group song. there are a lot of sides of him that he’d like to showcase; and a song like the boys, he thought, would be able to show off how much more versatile he could be.
the choreography isn’t too tough –– at least, not completely to haknyeon. the formation though, is something that he finds himself looking over a few times. being in a dance crew had it’s benefits. aside from a way to let off stress and meet new people, it came with haknyeon’s added ability to catch onto movements fast. he watches the video a few times, over and over as he works on the dance of the boys.
the line distribution too has haknyeon front and center at the very start of the song and he wants to look fierce wants to grab the attention of everyone, to make them hyped for his team. and while it doesn’t take too long for him to learn the choreography of the song, there’s still the issue of the team coming together to perform it. one person alone doing well wouldn’t look good for the team’s overall image; which was quite honestly what worried him.
it was a team performance, and he wanted the team to do well; the last thing he’d want was to bring them down. while he was confident with his dancing in some aspects, there came the rapping parts as well. though, before he’d even ventured into dancing, haknyeon used to be more fond of rapping –– had even attempted to rap during his last few auditions before the mgas. this time, this time he’ll show them how much he’s improved.
the practice rooms are made available 24/7, which is great because haknyeon makes sure to utilize it. and he’s not the only. there in the practice room is yongsun as well, working as hard as ever on the choreography. it’s more of an open secret that yongsun isn’t the best at dancing, especially so in a group full of people that mostly specialized in dance. so to see her practicing over and over again is heart warming. “you’re doing great noona,” he gives her a thumbs up before his attention is diverted to his lines and his bottle.
“ppyeosokbuteo,” he mouths the words, trying to enunciate them as clearly as possible when he feels a hand on his shoulder. he turns around to see none other than yongsun, looking at him.
“uhm –– could you maybe help me with this?” she asks, “i don’t fully –– understand, how this dance works –– i am not a very good dancer, so if you weren’t too busy, maybe you could help me?”
“of course,” he smiles. and he’s actually glad that she’s approached him for help. “i’ll help you out noona, don’t worry about it,” he puts his bottle aside before he focuses all his attention to the girl. “could you show me a little bit of what you know so far? i’ll help you dance like a pro by the end of this!”
haknyeon stares at yongsun intensely as she dances, trying his best to pick up on her movement; her strong parts and the parts that weren’t as strong, parts that he’d like to help her improve on. he bites on his lower lip as she dances and while he’s trying to be as serious as he can, there’s a little smile that escapes his lips as he watches her –– she’s adorable, really, even if she’s older than him. her hardworking attitude is adorable.
“mmm, okay noona,” he begins and he stands beside her as he guides her to face the mirror. “you’ve got the choreography down, which is great! but you don’t have enough control on your body. when you’re dancing, try to act as though you’re hitting something with your arms,” he gives her a demonstration before he moves to slowly lift her arms at an angle. “the angle of your arms and legs changes everything,” he adds. “hands like this, and legs like this.”
they spend the next few hours like so, with the both of them running through the choreography again. “oh and noona,” haknyeon says, “be confident. you’re a great singer and you’ll shine on the stage. believe in your dance, the team and i have got you.”
getting along with the team, he finds, isn’t hard at all. he gets closer to the older girls easily, they share laughter and moments together and he even finds himself joking around with doyeon often –– the both of them similar in age. they’ve all worked hard, he’s watched them work hard, and he wants to see them win.
to say he’s nervous would be an understatement. he’s performing in front of a live audience of 1000 people. that’s a lot more people than he’s used to. haknyeon probably doesn’t even know 1000 people.
rose comes up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder, assuring him that everything’ll be okay. and he smiles at her gesture, she’s right. they’ve worked hard for this. “you all look great,” he finds himself saying to his teammates and they truly do, their outfits stand out and haknyeon’s amazed at his teams ability to coordinate this.
they’re called on stage as the second to perform and haknyeon does a little jump backstage before he walks out. “b-bring the boys out!” they all say together, and haknyeon makes sure to put on his brightest smile. “hello! we are milkshake!” he touches at the crown on his head, each of them have their own crowns but haknyeon feels a little more confident in his. it feels like a form of group solidarity.
he looks at the crowd and literally beams when he finds a signboard with his name on it, he’ll do well. he has to.
the moment they get into position, haknyeon changes the glint in his eyes. he’s made to stand at the center during the start of the performance, through the first few lines. he focuses on the performance, and tunes out the nervousness he’d felt before.
geobi naseo shijakjocha an hae bwattamyeon geudaen tudeoldaeji mara jom ( if you haven’t even started because you’re scared then stop complaining )
“chichi,” his hands go to his waist, eyes sharp as he says out the word. next are his legs as they synchronise with his teammates to the choreography of the song.
jujeohamyeon gihweneun modu neoreul bikyeo ga gaseum pyeogo nawa bwara jom ( if you hesitate, opportunities will pass by you so open your heart and come out )
“t.r.x. bring the boys out,” he lifts his brows, looking confident as his body moves along to the memorised choreography. “we bring the boys out, we bring the boys out, yeah,” he walks outwards, towards the front of the stage during these lines, confident as he does so. b-bring the boys out, he puts a hand on his chin and winks with a slight smirk on his face.
the line, he thought, felt fitting. after all, haknyeon was the only boy on the team and they were quite literally bringing a boy out.
he moves on to the next formation and the first verse begins. he moves like he’s practiced nights for, immerses himself in the choreography and the feel of the song. there’s a lot of posing during this part, and haknyeon does so as he says his lines –– albeit, in this portion, short. “get up,” he says, lifting his brows once more, “that’s funny.”
the song continues and he can tell his teammates are trying their best as well. the chorus hits and haknyeon lifts his hands up as they walk to the front of the stage, in sync. fierce, he needs to look fierce and confident.
“ wipungdo dangdanghaji ppyeossokbuteo neon weollae meotjeosseo you know the girls ( you are majestic and strong you were always cool you know the girls ) ”
it’s his part, a short rap segment, and he walks forward once more. eyes are on him and he delivers his lines, with his lips curved upwards slightly for an added effect. he puts his hand on his chest at the lines ‘ you are majestic and strong ’. and at the words ‘ you know the girls ’ he lifts his thumbs to point at his teammates, before he winks. “b-bring the boys out.”
the song continues on and haknyeon moves to his formation, dances as he’s practiced, confident and fully enjoying the song and performing with his team. he feels himself on the stage, feels the eyes of the audience looking at him, cheering their team on, and he feeds off of that energy.
he has a line in the chorus where he’s front and center again and he makes sure to deliver it strongly. “jeon segega neoreul jumokae (the entire world is focusing on you),” and yeah, it felt like that.
and then, the beat drop.
they all fall onto the floor, leg stretched out. haknyeon does so smoothly, as he waits for rose to say her lines before he stands up, walks confidently to the front of the stage as he raps out his part.
“ sesang namjadeuriyeo nan No. 1 jihyereul juneun Athena, check this out ( i will lead you, come out the boys of the world, i’m No. 1 ) ”
before he delved deeper into the world of dance, haknyeon had always been fond of rap. he’d been a rapper before he’d truly fell for dance and he still loved rapping. perhaps with a more rap heavy song, he could’ve showcased a little more, but he takes these lines that he has to show them what he can do. that he’s more than just a dancer with a pretty face and a big name sister.
the stage is his to control at that moment and he does so, lifts a finger to show that he’s number one. “check this out!”
it’s rose’s lines again before it goes to him.
“ geudaero jjuk ganeun geoya Keep up Milkshake Generation, we don’t stop ( just keep going like that, keep up Milkshake Generation, we don’t stop ) ”
he wags his finger to the crowd as he steps up and he feels like he’s having the time of his life right about now. haknyeon changes the word “girls generation” to milkshake generation because now the stage was theirs to own and he felt like he was doing so.
they continue dancing, formations constantly changing, movement constantly sharp. before the last chorus, he gets on his knees before he stands up at the lines, ‘girls bring the boys out’.
the last chorus comes and he lifts his arms, eyes sharp and confident. and just like how he’d had some of the opening lines, he has some of the ending lines as well.
he steps up towards the front of the stage, completely in his zone, completely ready and confident.
“ sesangeul ikkeul namja meotjin yeojadeul yeogi moyeora you know the girls ( all the boys who will lead the world all the awesome girls, gather here you know the girls ) ”
like he’s calling for them he lifts his hand, turns to the camera and with his finger, as though beckoning for them to come over and join him and milkshake.
b-bring the boys out.
they all pose at the end of the song, and haknyeon feels high on performance, if that’s even a way to describe a feeling. they stay in their pose and haknyeon, finally takes in everything. he takes in the cheers, the audience and the fact that he’d just performed with his team in front of a thousand people. ha, he’d did it.
minutes pass after performance and they’re all gathered backstage. haknyeon touches his crown before he turns to look at his teammates, people he’d bonded with. “i think we really let them feel the heat,” he smiles, an attempt at a joke.
