Page 39 of Damian & Jun, Episodes 13-16
Damian swallowed, his shoulders squaring and his back straightening. This was his boy, his wolfing, his bright and shining star.
He slid the post through Jun’s ear and secured the back. Jun stepped away. In the boots, Jun was the same height as he was.
“You’re bloody gorgeous.”
Jun’s lips split apart in a smile. “I’d kiss you, but then you’d be covered in black marks.”
“Get a room . . . after!” Jaewoong hollered.
Jun laughed and blew Jaewoong a kiss. Damian wrapped his arm around Jun’s waist. He pressed his lips to a safe portion of Jun’s cheek. “You’re ready.”
Jun breathed in deep, leaning for just a moment against Damian’s chest. Then he nodded, squeezing Damian’s hand.
“We’re ready.” To the other four he raised his chin. “Let’s do this.”
The first half of the event was open for the attendees to wander around. Émeric was taking select individuals through the complex on tours aimed at encouraging investment and goodwill. Richard held court on the front steps, chatting genially with a mixed crowd of people who couldn’t believe they were meeting him, and business friends and city officials who knew exactly why he was there.
“I hear you have plans for parts of the private areas,” a woman came up to Damian. She wore a fascinator with a scrap of a veil over the upper part of her face, and a smart coat. She could have stepped out of the ranks of a European royal family.
“Natalie,” Damian leaned over hand. “I didn’t think you would come this far.”
Natalie laughed, delighted in a genteel way. “I was already in Toronto. How could I not? There’s rumors that someone may finally set up a successor to Franklin’s Refuge.”
“I’m hardly worthy of the honor, but yes, there are plans.”
“Include me.”
“It would be an honor, my lady.”
Natalie smiled. “I won’t keep you. I can see you have plenty vying for your attention. Richard is rarely wrong. He certainly wasn’t with you.” She nodded towards Jun on the opposite side of the tent, in lively conversation with half a dozen musicians and fans. “Your boy?”
Damian inclined his head, not speaking but smiling. She gave him a knowing lift of her lip in return and sailed away, making space for someone else to claim Damian’s attention.
A short time later, Mi Hi called everyone to order. People took seats inside the main tent. Damian stood up in the back, near where the cameras were set up to broadcast the event. There were more attendees than could make it inside, though not everyone present was interested in the main event. Regardless, those who couldn’t be inside would be able to see everything on the screen outside.
5N took the low stage at the front of the room. Introductions were made, and Jun took the mic. He greeted the room first in Korean, then English. Yohei gave a shout out to their Japanese fans and Jaewoong jumped in to give a welcome in Spanish and Thai. Su-jin joined in, shyly greeted everyone in French. Geun spoke two more languages Damian couldn’t quickly place, then stepped back, giving Jun back the floor.
Jun’s eyes met Damian’s across the room. Damian nodded. Jun flushed under his makeup and smiled, dropping his eyes for just a moment.
Then he looked up, smiling. “DaJia Hao, welcome to our first North American based comeback!”
Jun
General cheers roared back at Jun. He gripped the microphone tighter, focusing on the cameras. His bandmates had his back. The music video was already made. He could do this. Had done this—dozens of times.
Except he hadn’t. They hadn’t. They’d never done this without BBB3. There were a hundred little pieces they’d cobbled together with internet searches and long nights, hunting down solutions to problems they’d never known would even be an issue.
“All of us, Yohei, Geun, Jaewoong, Su-jin, myself, we want to say thank you. Thank you to our fans, to everyone who’s been supporting us over the years and the past several months. You’ve kept the passion alive, given us a reason to fight, to be here, to keep writing, dancing, and singing. I think you’ll find this new comeback is a little different. We hope it speaks to you. It speaks for us. This is a new era for 5N, for all of us. As we rebuild, as we sort out the truth from the lies—we’re right there with you, trying to understand how we got here, I don’t think we could have come to a better city, a better place than here, right here, to be inspired.”
Jun extended his hand towards Damian. “We’re honored to be working with the St. Elmo’s Fire project to be part of revitalizing and renewing this beautiful historic building. As you may have guessed from the teaser images and where we are right now, our new album will have a lot to do with this location. We’ve been honored to be invited to shoot footage here as the project started, and we look forward to showcasing the different stages of what this place becomes over this year. From my heart, I can tell you, we were in shambles this past winter. There’s a lot we can’t talk about, and we’ve been as honest with all of you as the police are allowing, but when we came here, we felt like this place. Things were a mess. But the foundations were strong, just like building. We’re still 5N, we’re still K-pop, and we’re still here to entertain you, and hopefully give voice to the human inside all of us.
“I hope you’ve been enjoying the talented local musicians outside. I want to thank everyone who has come together to celebrate this place, this city, our music, and K-pop.” Jun inclined his head towards several reporters. He recognized at least three of their faces. It was more than he’d hoped for but no less than Mi Hi had sworn would happen. There was more thanks to give and he called out several people by name before signaling for the lights to be dropped low.
“With that, may we present our first comeback. We wanted to perform this live inside the Church but the fire marshal says we have to wait until more repairs are finished, so please accept our regrets.”
He nodded to Jaewoong, who hit play. They all stepped off the stage. The large screen lit up. the hair on Jun’s arms rose with the strains of the keyboards setting the tone. On the screen, the black and white footage of the shattered floor and wood pews hammered to shards filled the screen, the camera angle only inches above the surface.
No one outside of the Residency knew, not even the other men of 5N, who had broken those pews, but it felt fitting. Sometimes you had to break something to bring it back life.
