Chapter 45: The Second Performance Has Arrived!
"Joshua, look over here," Luther called out loudly.
Joshua instinctively turned his head. Right now, he was wearing a bunny hat with droopy ears—one of those hats where you could squeeze the hanging strings to make the ears pop up and twitch. The hat was a little big, pressing down his soft black hair and making his face look smaller.
Click! The sound of a camera shutter echoed clearly. Joshua frowned and stepped forward. "What are you taking pictures of?"
Luther raised an eyebrow. "What? Everyone else gets their picture taken, but I can’t?"
He reached out and lightly pinched Joshua’s cheek as he spoke, grinning. "Joshua... so cute. Are you sure you’re going with the sexy concept? Have you even finished growing all your adult teeth yet?"
Joshua immediately slapped Luther’s hand away. "I’m an adult already."
But Luther was still imagining how Joshua would look on stage performing that song, his eyes narrowing with amusement.
Joshua gave him a shove, frowning. "Wanna fight?"
Luther looked confused for a moment, but still struck a mock fighting stance, curling a finger toward him. "Come on then, just don’t cry later. But seriously though—don’t hit for real—"
Before he could even finish, Joshua lunged forward. He ducked his head slightly, and the bunny ears on his hat bounced up and down in turn.
Luther froze in place as the soft bunny ears brushed against his neck and chin, and for some reason, his heart gave a strange, fluttering jolt.
God, he really wanted to skin that bunny.
Luther grabbed Joshua’s bunny ears in one hand; the hanging strings in his grasp twitched and tugged, making the ears move again.
Joshua looked up at him, his smile bright and genuine—his dimples showing, his eyes shining like starlight.
Luther paused briefly, then asked, "What’s got you so happy?"
Joshua shook his head. "Nothing. I feel happy today."
Yeah—no particular reason at all.
Just like Luther himself right now. His heart was beating strangely fast, his mood weirdly light—it was all so bizarre, yet there was no explanation.
It felt like a mischievous little bunny had hopped right into his heart, stirred everything into chaos, and then had the nerve to look innocent about it. Infuriating.
Luther stared at Joshua, suddenly reaching out to pinch his cheeks again. Soft, small, warm—and adorable. Beautiful, even.
Why couldn’t Joshua have been a girl?
"What did you just say?" Joshua suddenly asked.
At that moment, Luther realized he had just voiced the thoughts in his head.
Before he could react, Joshua grabbed his hand and said thoughtfully, "If I were a girl, I definitely wouldn’t like you."
Luther frowned, and Joshua continued, "I wouldn’t play with you at all."
Luther immediately exploded. "Why not? What’s wrong with me?"
Joshua chuckled, waving him off. "Come back here."
Suddenly, he felt a heavy weight on his shoulder. Luther had one arm around his neck and the other rubbing his head. "Joshua, I’ll teach you a lesson for daring to provoke me. Just wait until you’re bald!"
Joshua struggled and shouted, "Let me go if you don’t want your eggs crushed!"
"Shouting that loud—don’t you feel any shame?! Is that manly?!"
The two of them continued noisily down the hall. Lucian whispered, "They seem really close..."
"Leader, we’re heading out first," someone said.
In the end, only Henry remained in the practice room, absorbed in whatever he was looking at on his phone.
No matter what, the time for the second performance was approaching. This time, Joshua’s group had drawn the last performance slot. Not ideal, but that didn’t affect Henry at all.
He looked at everyone and said slowly, "Do your best."
The trainees under his guidance, like a squad of young recruits, all straightened and shouted in unison, "Understood!"
The strange thing was that none of them thought anything unusual about it.
Nine admired him so much that he thought: This guy should be president, not just an idol.
Pausing for a moment, he added: [Come on, Joshua. The mission is almost complete. This stage is the key. Castle is coming to us!]
As the performance drew near, the online world was in chaos.
Andy opened his new account, and almost immediately, people were tagging him nonstop, sending messages in a frenzy.
[@Andy, seriously, great shots like this, and you’re not photographing Joshua? Such a waste! Please come to film this time too, thank you, thank you!]
[I’ll be waiting, but Andy seems really busy... a bit sad.]
Ever since he posted a photo on this account last time, he hadn’t expected much attention. But now, so many people were praising him, admiring his photography.
That feeling almost vanished long ago—two years ago when his photography submission had been rejected for the tenth time. After a string of consecutive wins, that failure felt like the final blow. He then chose to study business administration, though he never let a speck of dust touch his camera again.
Andy stared at the photo on his phone.
In the image, a young man stood on stage, his hair flying from movement. His body’s fluidity and grace could be felt even in a still photo. His bright blue eyes shone as if illuminating the entire galaxy, and his confident smile was both radiant and proud—the smile of someone who trusted his own abilities completely. The streak of red and blue makeup smeared across his cheek seemed to testify to a rebellious, passionate youth.
No one knew when that passion would be dampened, but for now, he was a vibrant bloom—a star.
Andy picked up his camera, leaving only one comment online:
[Andy]: 👌
[The Wolf Doesn’t Eat Meat]: Is everyone ready? Joshua is waiting for us on stage—don’t forget to show him our love!
[The Wolf Doesn’t Eat Meat]: The banners are ready. Pick yours up at the usual spot, and please don’t push. Much love!
[Simply Love Joshua]: The Wolf is seriously so thoughtful!
[Joshua 1st Support]: On-site! Pics! Check-in check-in
[Love is X]: This time, no makeup for Joshua and Leonard’s group... sad
In previous broadcasts, fans had already picked up a few details about the performances and glimpsed some angles, though the program naturally didn’t reveal everything.
The live broadcast waiting room was now packed, buzzing with discussion.
[Heard there’s a group going with a sexy concept this time? Is that okay? They’re all still minors, right?]
[Got Sexy Lady by GirlP... guess which godly hand drew it, hahaha]
[If they’re allowed to perform, it definitely won’t be excessive]
[Anyway, they definitely have...]
[The girls up there are using pretty bold words]
[I’m male]
[...]
[Ha ha ha, ha ha ha]
[Leonard, my kid is gonna become a male god, mlem mlem, come over here!]
[Checked the songs—only Sexy Lady seems a bit interesting]
[Don’t do comedy on stage, that’s all]
[It’s definitely going to be comedic. How is a boy group gonna pull off Sexy Lady? I think the show is doing it on purpose!]
[Hold on, don’t trash my kid like that—worry about your own pick]
The comments hadn’t even harmonized before differing opinions started popping up, until the screen lit up and the MC appeared on the main stage. Only then did the murmurs die down.
Fans, hearts full of love, eagerly awaited the appearance of the idols they had chosen!