The chat room became the most intense when HALO arrived at the airport for their departure.
The fans already knew that HALO had suffered at the hands of reporters and sasaengs on that day, but they hadn’t known exactly what had happened…….
—Hyung, shall we try breathing slowly?
Even though the beginning and end were edited out, this single scene was enough to break the hearts of the fans watching.
In the video, Seunghyun was curled up in his airplane seat, trembling while being comforted by Yooju.
Beside them, the sound of Chiyoon getting angry was buried under a “beep” censor.
His face was twisted enough that anyone could tell he was using harsh profanity.
Even then, Seunghyun smiled.
Perhaps feeling a bit more clear-headed, he looked toward Yooju, who was taking care of him, and smiled while telling him he was okay.
The roughly edited video immediately showed HALO waiting backstage.
—HALO, stand by, please~
HALO, who had been shivering in their thin stage outfits, transformed into different people the moment they stepped onto the stage.
In other words,
—We will be new GENE
HALO was truly writing a new era.
[HALO ‘New GENE’ Official MV]
Even if it was just a digital single, HALO was, by everyone’s admission, the legitimate heir of DW Entertainment.
‘The biggest contributor to making the schedule in Korea so tight.’
On January 3rd, a few hours after the music video was released at midnight following the digital release, the noise in various media outlets—about how they had spectacularly decorated the return of a king—was loud, but Seunghyun hadn’t even been able to watch the music video properly because he was busy handling the US schedule and adapting to idol life.
Since the other members were in the same boat, no one had seen the final edited version yet.
From the sets to the special effects, the scale was massive, so it was easy to predict that the quality would be considerable despite being shot in a hurry, but this…….
“Wow, this is crazy, right?”
Yooju exclaimed as soon as he saw the thumbnail on WeTube.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the music video was released as soon as they returned home, so they were able to watch it together.
It was a bit uncomfortable and frustrating to huddle around a small screen, but it was also heartwarming, and it was nice to see that everyone was still this passionate about their work.
“Hyung, it turned out really well.”
The thumbnail was a shot of Seunghyun in a white shirt, backlit by the rising sun.
Not only was his transparent skin visible, but even his hazy breath, tinged with orange, looked quite divine.
Perhaps fans around the world agreed, as the view count was exploding every time the refresh button was pressed.
“Let’s watch it quickly, too!”
Eunwoo excitedly clicked on the music video.
—…….
So that’s why they used so much dry ice.
As soon as the video started, a close-up showed Seunghyun’s bare feet slowly walking through the smoke.
The camera slowly scanned his body from the bottom up.
And the moment it revealed his cool face, Seunghyun’s eyes met the camera’s gaze, and the song began.
Rusted memories, faded history
I have an old dream
Above a broken world,
I walk with a bloody heart
The scene shifted with an effect of the screen shattering.
In a ruined city, Eunwoo lay looking up at the sky, singing peacefully in an unexpectedly sweet voice.
His eyes, looking up, twinkled and shone.
Start, a hand reaching out looking at the sky
A dance dreaming while lying neatly
The melody that will start from the tip of my tongue
Hold my hand, wake me up
because,
And with an explosive beat, the chorus began.
The five members’ group dance was perfectly synchronized without a single flaw.
The blonde hair of Yooju, who stood in the center, was dyed orange by the sun.
We will be new GENE
More newly
Open this world
The lyrics were direct to the point of being cheesy, and the intense beat combined with their forceful vocals felt solemn to the point of being overwhelming.
It was a song that didn’t consider short-form challenges, easy listening, or even chart performance.
It was a song that contained only HALO’s ambition to open a new era and start over.
Perhaps that’s why his heart raced while listening to the song.
another Eternity
Born again to transcend
Living every GENE
As the chorus ended, Yijeong popped out and delivered a heavy rap.
afterglow, the pitch-black night after that
Run and shout, hoping you find us early
glisten sing the fragments, recite lyrical lyrics
like,
near and dear I stay up all night
Running toward new GENE like HALO!
‘Halo’ echoed and gradually faded out, and then the screen went completely dark.
Clap, clap, clap—
The sound of Yijeong’s lonely applause rang out in the spacious accommodation.
“Despite the tight schedule, I think it turned out really well.”
A subtly proud smile hung on his face.
That was cute in its own way, so Seunghyun smiled back faintly.
The start of the year was good.
Various casting offers poured in for HALO.
Thanks to that, they should have been living a life so busy they couldn’t even catch their breath, but for some reason, HALO’s accommodation was…….
“It’s so peaceful.”
“Are we really allowed to be this idle?”
It seemed they had judged that since Seunghyun’s return had been early, he needed sufficient rest.
He did need the rest.
Seunghyun was currently suffering from a cold.
The aftereffects of the US trip were lasting longer than expected.
It was just a simple body ache, but since everyone was making such a fuss over it, he decided to just openly let them serve him.
If he said he was thirsty, they brought him water; if he asked them to turn off the lights, they came running immediately.
It couldn’t be more comfortable than this.
Seunghyun’s body was comfortable, and the members’ minds were at ease.
It was killing two birds with one stone.
‘When you need help, receiving it is also a method.’
There is a limit to overcoming things with willpower.
Regardless, his schedule was packed starting from next week anyway.
Following the opinion that they should start their activities all together, they hadn’t even released the individual commercials they had filmed in advance yet.
And their first official activity in Korea was a fan signing event.
He still clearly remembered the meeting where they decided to make the fan signing event their first schedule.
Seunghyun chuckled to himself as he recalled that moment.
It felt like he could still hear Eunwoo’s excited voice.
‘No!’
When Koreans get excited, they start with “No.”
‘Listen, everyone. Which country are we from? Even if we did our comeback stage in the US, our first event has to be in Korea, right?’
Everyone agreed with Eunwoo, and that was the reason for the suddenly decided schedule.
A fan signing event for the digital single release!
Since it was realistically impossible to prepare a signing event in just a few days, they decided to complete other schedules that took longer to prepare while the signing event was being set up.
And before the fan signing event, Seunghyun’s first individual schedule was a special appearance in an OTT original drama series, which he had swapped for the pre-release of the behind-the-scenes video.
It was the day of the schedule. It should have been a morning like any other… but.
Because it was his first time going out on a schedule alone, he must have been nervous without realizing it.
His dreams had been very unsettling.
‘Han Kangwoo…….’
It was all because of that guy. He would show up just as he was about to be forgotten and torment Seunghyun.
He had already let go of his past life, which he had no lingering attachments to, but only Han Kangwoo continued to remain with Seunghyun.
Maybe it was because he had seen with his own eyes that he existed.
‘Damn it, and on top of that…….’
His underwear was wet.
‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’
This was a story from when Seunghyun was a Beta, at least five years ago.
Memories of the days when he was forcibly grabbed by Han Kangwoo’s hands while drenched in pheromones he couldn’t even smell, and went through it multiple times.
The content of the dream was the same as back then.
Kangwoo was still rough, but his touch had been soft, and although he hated him, his body had already been reacting to the stimulation.
However, if there was one difference, why was it that in the dream, he could feel all of his pheromones intact?
He could vividly smell his pheromones, which he hadn’t been able to smell before.
Han Kangwoo had a low body temperature.
With the pressure from his hard, cool body combined with the thick pheromones of an Alpha, even if it was just a dream, as an Omega, he had no choice but to crave it.
The room was already filled with pheromones that made his head ache as if he were in heat.
If the members were to find out about this…….
“Damn it, I’m thirty years old…….”
Fortunately, the bedding wasn’t soaked too much.
Although the pheromones were stained deeply into the slight remnants, they would probably fade away in a day or two.
He planned to endure the discomfort for a few days and wash it when he got the chance.
As soon as Seunghyun got up, he opened the window and headed to the bathroom.
Cold air pushed into the room, starting to drive out Seunghyun’s pheromones.
