“Another schedule is up for you, Ki Kwang. And at 2pm, you will need to go to ‘Running Man’ for filming. Tomorrow you will have to go to Music Bank to have your goodbye stage, following after that…”

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Ki Kwang waved his hands around and sighed. He rubbed his temple and closed his eyes, “Can you please let me breathe? I have been running around since morning. I need a break.”

Yo Seob closed his schedule book and looked down, “I’m sorry. I should let you rest.”

“Argh, I never thought being an artiste would be this hard,” Ki Kwang lamented as he threw his bag across the room and plopped down on the sofa.

Yo Seob sat down beside him, “You have to have strength. Remember what made you so driven to be a singer, okay?”

Ki Kwang nodded and asked, “What am I going for again tomorrow?”

-

“Hello viewers, here we are again at ‘Sketchbook’ where you can meet all of the artistes you love and talk to them personally. Today, we have a very special guest who has sky-rocketed to fame since revealing his true self. He is no other than… Y.S, Lee Ki Kwang!”

The MC introduced him warmly and everyone applauded with excitement. Despite exhaustion, Ki Kwang gave a big smile and bowed to the audience. He carried his guitar up to the stage along with him and gave the MC a handshake before sitting down.

The applauds never stopped until the MC signalled the crowd to. The MC shook his head and said, “Your popularity is daebak!”

“Thank you very much,” Ki Kwang acknowledged.

“Have you ever thought you would receive much popularity even after revealing yourself? Many thought you would receive loads of hate, but in turn, the opposite effect happened.” The MC started.

“I never thought the response would be that good too. Many have asked me to reveal myself in front of the public. I was sceptical but I didn’t want to disappoint my fans who want to interact with me face-to-face,” Ki Kwang explained.

Nodding to his words, the MC continued, “What made you decide to be a face-less singer at the start? Was it a ploy to make yourself mysterious or…?”

Ki Kwang pondered for a moment. It was a question not meant for him. What should he say?

“Well… honestly, the main reason was because of my looks.” He replied using Yo Seob’s words instead.

“Your looks? But you’re good-looking!” The MC laughed and continued, “Ah… You must have worried the audience will like you for your looks instead of your music right?”

The audience nodded but Ki Kwang denied, “No, no, that’s not what I meant!”

“Ah, moving on,” The MC said and there was nothing Ki Kwang could explain.

“Being such a perfect person, do you have any hidden talents other than composing and singing?” 

Ki Kwang hesitated for a moment.

“Well?”

“Well, I can dance pretty well.”

“Really? A ballad singer who dances well? Who shouldn’t let you off without witnessing it, should we?” The MC asked the audience and they all agreed.

The music was on and it was Chris Brown’s ‘Take You Down’. Ki Kwang smiled when he finally got to start dancing after his hectic schedule. He started moving to the beats and remembered what he learnt before debuting. After debuting as Y.S, he had never got the chance to dance again.

The feeling of dancing again was exhilarating. He was motivated on why he wanted to debut so much from the beginning. He loved dancing and performing on stage like that. He realised it was his true passion – dancing.

He wished the music would never stop as the ‘wows’ by the audience never stopped as well. After the last verse, the music stopped and he felt a slight disappointment that it was so short. He could have danced all day along.

“Wow, give him another round of applause!” The MC said. Ki Kwang returned to his seat and the MC asked, “It seems like you really love dancing.”

“Yes, I do.” Ki Kwang beamed.

“Which one do you like better? Singing or dancing?”

Ki Kwang was going to answer ‘dancing’ but he remembered his identity in front of the camera. He smiled slightly and answered, “Singing. Of course, I like singing better.”

“Well, since you have said that,” The MC probed again, “Everyone knows you are a big fan of English ballads. How about singing a part of your favourite English song live right here? Just a short snippet of it.”

“You mean sing live, right here? Right now?” Ki Kwang asked in shock.

“Yeah, is anything the matter?”

Yes, of course it was. Ki Kwang had been avoiding to sing live since he debuted. He could not. People would know he was not the real Y.S. Having this condition was not in the script.

Ki Kwang looked over to Yo Seob and his staff who were panicking as well. Yo Seob mouthed to him, “Just sing one briefly!”

“I can’t!” Ki Kwang mouthed back.

“Ki Kwang?” The MC prompted him when Ki Kwang was distracted.

Ki Kwang gripped on the guitar nervously and said, “Actually…”

“Yes?”

“I can’t.” Ki Kwang admitted but he gritted his teeth.

“What?”

“I…”

Suddenly, the lights of the studio turned off and the place was in pitch dark. The audience panicked and started whispering to each other. Ki Kwang was bewildered with the whole situation and started looking around for clues. The MC said, “Don’t worry, everyone. It must have been a blackout.”

“Ki Kwang, why don’t you go backstage and have a rest first?” One of the staffs of the program asked him politely, apologetic for the situation.

Ki Kwang walked backstage with their help and noticed Yo Seob was there. Yo Seob took his hand and whispered to him, “Don’t worry. I had it covered. The lights will go on again in five minutes.”

“It’s your doing?” Ki Kwang shouted.

“Shh! Not so loud,” Yo Seob covered his mouth, “I was trying to help you right there.”

“You… helped me?”

“Did you really expect me to leave you in the lurch and ruin your career? I can’t do that.” Yo Seob removed his hand away from Ki Kwang and sighed, “Let’s hope he forgets about that random singing live thing and move on with the show.”

The lights went on after a while and the staff heaved a sigh of relief.

“Wouldn’t you get in trouble?”

“Maybe.” Yo Seob shrugged.

Ki Kwang stared at him worriedly.

“Nah, I won’t. Alright, if he asks you to sing again, say this, ‘Why don’t I sing my latest song instead?’ and sing it so you can just lip-sync to my voice, okay?” Yo Seob taught him step by step.

“Okay.” Ki Kwang nodded.

“Alright, you need to get back on stage.”

Before he went off, he turned to Yo Seob, “Thank you.”

Yo Seob smiled back and nodded.

Standing on the stage again, he felt a sense of guilt and emptiness. He was not supposed to feel this way. He was supposed to feel happy for being on stage but after debuting, he had never felt truly happy.

Why?