“The world unites through music” concept VCR played as the awards officially began.
Hong Kong’s greatest star actor delivered the opening remarks.
As various segnts followed, English lines were heard.
“–Please welco the artists of the 2016 KMA!”
Every ti artists’ nas appeared, fans’ “Aaaah!” echoed through the arena.
Photo shoots flashed across the big screen.
“–...Street Boys, NewBlack, Teen Spirit!”
When it was our turn, the audience’s cheers exploded.
We smiled and waved at the cara coming closer, and the cheering doubled.
Ri Hyuk ford a heart with his hands, but it wasn’t captured, so he lowered his arms with a pout.
“Never mind.”
“Thank you.”
“No one cares about you anyway.”
“.......”
I glanced at him, chuckled, and turned my gaze back to the stage.
After the cute kids’ jumping dance performance in the opening, rookie groups continued.
“–Waaaah!”
The opening stage was perford by rookie boy group Trickster from TJ Entertainnt.
As graduates of the idol powerhouse TJ, they were sweeping rookie awards with solid results.
During the b-boying-style dance break, Biju covered his mouth and cheered.
“That guy in the center—isn’t he the one from I MOVE with you?”
“Seo Ung? Yes.”
Biju’s eyes were full of admiration as he watched Trickster’s main dancer.
My second favorite thing after eating apples is watching skilled dancers.
Junhyun clapped and said, “Everyone is really good.”
The first part perforrs’ stages were extraordinary.
Following Trickster, ENOTY and Hi Color captivated with intense synchronized choreography.
“Oooh.......”
Wonder Child’s stage that followed was spectacular.
Perhaps because the survival show aired overseas, the cheers in Hong Kong were thunderous.
Along with a VCR of a claw machine pulling out character plushies, Wonder Child danced to their refreshing debut song.
“Hyung, but the vibe feels a bit like Fireworks.”
“The atmosphere is similar.”
It was the refreshing deep-house vibe trending these days.
As expected from KM Entertainnt’s A&R team, the music was high quality, but it did resemble Fireworks.
I wondered if saying it was influenced by my song would be narcissistic......
“But the concept is a bit similar.”
“It really is.”
When I replied, Ri Hyuk whispered again, “Maybe it’s just , but there are many similar things. So parts felt like Nine.”
“I thought so too.”
Then the youngest whispered in my right ear, and Ri Hyuk in my left.
“Hey, right? I’m not the only one?”
“Yes, I thought the sa.”
My siblings blew on my ears like “Hooh... Hooh...” and I pushed them away. What is my ear, a paper-cup telephone?
anwhile I caught Hwanjo far away blowing on his gloves.
“.......”
He is... fine.
I don’t know if people around beco weird or weird people are drawn to .
Junhyun beside covered his mouth and whispered, “The planets of the solar system orbit around the sun.”
“.......”
I ignored him and applauded enthusiastically.
Wonder Child’s mbers were smiling brightly under the lights, sweaty but joyful and excited.
Recalling the feeling of performing a big stage for the first ti, I smiled warmly.
anwhile...
“Hmm......”
I understood my siblings’ words.
So acts carried a Korean-style falling-flower vibe, others electric beats like Nine.
I had suppressed the thought that it might be arrogant, but clearly many songs had a similar mood—enough to say they were influenced by ours.
“Hu hu hu hu hu hu......”
My siblings gathered around , beaming proudly.
I didn’t know why they liked it more, but I wasn’t displeased. It was a proud mont as a composer.
That many similar songs erged ant we had tried what resonates with the public first.
“Great performance.”
“Thank you...!”
I applauded Wonder Child as they returned to the artist seats and focused on the other acts.
I strained to hear while watching the waves of light.
At the sa ti I corrected and revised lines on the score of my special album’s title track Dokkaebi.
“What are you thinking, hyung?”
“Composing.”
“.....posing?”
I smiled and replied to Biju’s question. “I got so ideas watching the stage.”
Though so acts seed influenced by us, they’d improved certain aspects—like annotating my own solutions on a test.
At first I didn’t notice, but recognizing the influence revealed those points.
“But it’s okay to tweak it more when we get back?”
“The producers might try to kill you......”
“Junhyun will protect .”
Optimistically, I revised Dokkaebi in my mind. With other composers’ annotations, improvents flowed smoothly.
The result was quite satisfying.
As the ceremony proceeded, we received several awards.
“–Best Asian Star Award! Congratulations NewBlack!”
The Best Asian Star Award—one of the awards given to idols present to distribute honors like Next Musician Award and Worldwide Favorite Award. Still, it was aningful, determined solely by netizen votes. In short, we ranked first in the popularity vote.
“Truly an honor. Thank you.”
Receiving an award once held by TNT until last year felt both good and strange.
“.......”
Among the seats of Teen Spirit, Street Boys, and ours, there was a strange emptiness. I’d told soone to call afterward, so I would later.
I handed the trophy to the waiting staff and watched the continuing awards.
“–This year’s Best OST Award.”
Among the nominees was Walk Again sung by Ri Hyuk for Si daegeul teoreotgyeosseumnida, but the award went to senior Jang Sa Won.
“–Best Dance Performance! Street Boys, congratulations!”
“–Best Indie Artist! Congratulations Hong Saet Byeol!”
“–Best Dance Male Solo, Han Taehyun!”
They give awards even if you’re absent.
While thinking TJ really is that way, cheers rose. A pre-recorded VCR played solo performance award recipient Taehyun’s remarks for Survivor.
“–...And to our composer Woosun who wrote Survivor! You must be applauding now.”
My image clapping appeared on the big screen. Taehyun smiled in the video.
“–Thank you so much for the great song.”
My bowing form was shown as fans cheered.
Thus, as Part One ended and Part Two’s stages and awards continued—
“–Next is the Best Male Group Award of the Year.”
Before announcing it, a commotion broke out. ‘Street Boys’, ‘NewBlack’, ‘Teen Spirit’ flashed with videos and nas as presenters prepared to speak.
“–And the winner is......”
After a second of silence, screams burst out.
“–Street Boysssssss!”
“–Aaaahhhh!”
“–Teen Spiriit!”
Fans chanted their group nas, and artists and presenters flinched. I made eye contact with the startled Teen Spirit mbers.
“‘Our fans are damn powerful.’
‘Our fans are strong too.’”
Street Boys, seated between us, shyly piped up: “We are strong too....”
For ten seconds of cheering, presenters froze before speaking again.
“–The Best Male Group Award of the 2016 KMA goes to......”
“–Kwaaaak!”
“–Teen Spirit! Congratulations!”
I had expected Teen Spirit to win. KMA was splitting awards like a spoonful of Street Boys, spoonful of Teen Spirit, spoonful of NewBlack. And as predicted...
“–Best Music Video of the Year!”
“–Congratulations! NewBlack’s Falling Flower!”
The Best Music Video Award went to us.
“Thank you so much. And our director......”
I made a heart to the director who fild the Falling Flower video after Nine.
“I hope we can work together continuously.”
“Waaaaah!”
I clapped with my siblings, smiling proudly.
‘Once Dobby always Dobby.’ I could never let go of the director in my grasp.
As trophies—including Best Asian Star Award and Best Music Video Award—stacked up, awards moved to other categories.
“–Next are the technical categories.”
Engineers, lyricists, and choreographers active in each field received short awards. I tried to rember each na as if scrolling through a catalog.
Then—
“–Next is the Best Producer category.”
“–Yes, composer Woosun. Congratulations!”
When my na was suddenly called, presenters and everyone around rose and applauded.
“Congratulations Woosun composer!”
“Congratulations~!”
I laughed at the giggles chanting my na. Walking to the center stage, fans roared.
“–Woosun! Woosun!”
“–Rocket! Rocket!”
Who is Rocket? Unable to find the culprit, I received the Best Producer Award trophy, then smiled toward the audience.
“–Hello everyone. I’m Woosun.”
The audience laughed, perhaps because I accepted it so naturally.
At the sa ti, fans watching the K-Net Music Awards on TV burst into laughter.
“ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
“Congrats composer Woosun double crown”
“K-Net guys must have been jealous watching Mango”
“Joo-sun Woo in the narration, are you crazy lol”
“Composer Woosun did so wellㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ”
“Only Woosun could win”
“But winning a technical category is so empoweringㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
Technical categories include industry-recognized engineers, lyricists, and choreographers. Woosun’s win was natural. Popularity was great, but exploding with pride in his producing skills. Moreover other idol fans accepted it without question.
‘Well done, Woosun.’
He closed his remarks hoping his fellow producers would stand with him next ti.
Part Two ended and Part Three’s stages approached. With the Hong Kong audience’s fervent cheers, Street Boys closed Part Two, and viewers marveled.
“‘They’re good.’
‘Our fans aren’t the only strong ones.’”
They traversed the stage with dazzling choreography, true to their overseas popularity.
“–This is what happens when a group has more introverts than extroverts on MBTI...”
“–Carrying a bag of money and crashing a police car (introversion)”
“–Then they go volunteer afterwards lol”
“–Guysㅠㅠㅠㅠ today is legendary”
“–WHY does K-Net have money but their caras are always so bad”
“–Make paid premium fancams at least geez”
With viewers lanting the shaky caras, Part Two’s ending stage concluded. As Part Three began, fans grew more excited. The highlight grand prize was near, and the strongest artists’ stages awaited.
“‘Our performance...!’”
Subtitles like [Stay tuned! NewBlack’s stage starts soon] had been on since the opening. Hearts pounding, fans at Hong Kong AsiaWorld Arena were on the verge of exploding.
After senior Jang Sa Won’s solo stage ended, it was ti for NewBlack.
drum roll
With the arena lights dimd, sothing squird onto the stage in darkness.
“Waaaaah!”
A silhouette of NewBlack appeared on the runway stage while dancers scattered across the stage like Conan’s criminals moving together. Fans were puzzled by the four in costu on the runway.
‘Where is Jiho?’
As the youngest looked for him, lights brightened and revealed Jiho surrounded by dancers on the central stage.
“Waaaaah!”
His sculpted face was close-up on the big screen. His eyes under thick brows stared at the cara, then he began to move. A chessboard pattern lit up on the stage floor.
‘Oh.....’
With [Intro Perf.] caption on the TV, Jiho moved to grand and powerful music. He spun gently, the hem of his black top fluttering. His gestures captivated for a mont.
‘Is he moving on the chessboard?’
Jiho moved square by square across the chessboard, expressing the pawn’s movent. Dancers representing knights and bishops moved threateningly.
‘Oh, wow.....’
The pawn dodged pieces targeting him and advanced like a march toward the fourso on the runway, heads bowed. When Jiho reached the edge and flicked his body, dancers donned uniforms resembling royal attire—a performance reflecting the rule of pawn promotion.
“Waaaaah!”
Music eased, and the sub-vocal circled the four on the runway, then joined the line as the music began—the intro to Empire.
Ring the bell
So it spreads far
The lead vocalist reached out as he sang softly, fans scread. Unlike the Korean-style Empire at Mango Chart Awards, this was the original Empire version—perhaps slightly rearranged for a faster tempo. Thus NewBlack’s expansive performance shone even more.
“Great.”
“When they clap when we perform it feels like mockery.”
“They’re good, really good......”
Street Boys watched NewBlack’s intense gaze on the big screen and marveled. The main vocal’s high notes poured out.
‘I can see heat waves rising from NewBlack’s mbers dancing like their bodies will break.’
They who were carefree in the hallway transford on stage. Others had similar reactions.
“Waaaah......”
Wonder Child, who almost lost confidence after seeing NewBlack bouncing in the hallway, opened their mouths.
‘As expected of our seniors NewBlack.’
‘They really didn’t hold back when ntoring us.’
‘Should I eat more at too?’
Seeing NewBlack perform live for the first ti expanded horizons. Even at KM Entertainnt’s top, so many people danced and sang well.
“Waaaah......”
As Scarlet mbers behind told Serenity mbers “that is why you must eat a lot of at,” all artists flinched at the fans’ screams.
‘Now I see why K-Net gave them awards.......’
No matter how successful, small-agency groups usually get scraps of awards. I was surprised by K-Net’s actions today, but at this volu of cheers I understood. Each scream felt like a punch to the ears, even ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) for artists used to loud noise.
“Kwaaaah!”
As fans scread, Empire ended and fans were in ecstasy.
‘Sothing else is coming...!’
After Empire ended, a chessboard reappeared—patterned lighting that tilted and shook. mbers danced as if staggering.
Finally with a rumbling effect the chessboard collapsed and dancers fell. Against a VCR of dust swirling among ashes, a different intro began.
‘It’s Falling Flower!’
As a sequel to the crown-vying Empire, the concept expressed the fall of chess pieces instead of flowers. The awards version of Falling Flower stage followed, and fans’ screams soared.
“.......”
Artists watching shook their heads slightly.
‘I see what it’s like... to be hit by sound....’
‘I want to go to Korea....’
While Teen Spirit trembled backstage, in Falling Flower’s final dance break dancers crowded the main dancer for a falling-flower performance. Then—
When flowers bloom I will return.
The leader stepped onto the runway, danced a solo, and sang the final line as Falling Flower concluded. Under purple lights, he knelt and stared into the air as lights went out. Fans’ screams covered online and offline.
–This is crap cara!!!!!
–(Harsh insults)
–Next year I’ll sneak into the awards crew and swap the zoom-in and zoom-out stickers
–Broadcast flaw: in group shots they focus on foreheads or aerial views
–Is this omniscient god perspective?
–Bow to the caraman
–I recorded a legendㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
–In Arica caras were so stable... why is our cara dancing?
Online, praises for the legendary stage mixed with complaints about the shaky caras. Soon Teen Spirit fans joined in, insulting caras on behalf of their artist. With all stages finished—
[Coming up next the grand prize award begins!]
The long-awaited grand prize award was approaching.
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