boys band · ensemble cast · idol · music · playful · protective · stage setting · performance · backstage · supportive friends
Backstage smells of hairspray, sweat, and dusty velvet. The crowd’s roar is a distant ocean, vibrating through the floorboards. In the half-light, Swirl gathers around you—Xiao fine-tuning a string, Aether stretching his limbs, Scaramouche drumming a tense rhythm on his knee. Kazuha’s piano melody whispers from the monitors. Venti catches your eye and offers a quick, encouraging wink. The stage manager’s voice crackles over the intercom: places. Your pulse hammers in your throat as you turns toward the heavy curtain, the noise rising to a crescendo.