Chapter 361: again meeting world
The concert continued, and in the blink of an eye, it reached its final moments.
The lights gradually dimmed, and the last song of the concert appeared before the more than 60,000 people present.
In the center of the stage, a single beam of light pierced through the ethereal blue dry ice mist, illuminating twelve slender silhouettes.
Cool-toned silver-white and deep-sea blue light spots scattered like starlight.
The giant screens of the four-sided stage floated with the MV footage of “again meeting world.” Paper airplanes circled beside ballet shoes, and video footage from the “Produce48” era intertwined with handwritten fan letters, flashing across the screens. At this moment, everyone’s memories from three years ago were awakened, and the scene of the entire nation following “Produce48” appeared before their eyes.
The stage floor was made of translucent glass, with warm golden soft light emanating from below. The members stood upon it, as if treading on the mirror of time, taking everyone present back to that dreamy 2019.
As soon as the music for “again meeting world” began, all the fans in the venue erupted in excitement.
Even without the various political implications that prevented “Reunited World” from becoming the national anthem of South Korean K-pop, this debut song remains the best debut song in the hearts of IZONE fans and all K-pop enthusiasts.
However, many people keenly noticed that the melody of this song seemed... to have changed quite a bit?
Kwon Eunbi was the first to sing, her clear voice suppressing the fans' cheers in the venue.
As soon as the leader opened her mouth, the audience noticed something was off.
This seemed to be... a ballad version?
The moment Kwon Eunbi sang “I want to convey the sad moment,” the trembling cry in her throat intertwined contradictorily with the slight smile on her lips, and the sudden glimmer in the corner of her eye sparkled under the spotlight.
As the lyrics progressed to “Please protect me with unchanging love,” Cao Rouli gently held the microphone with both hands, her firm, upright posture blending with her hoarse voice, as if she were bidding farewell to everyone.
The members sang one line each, dispersing to various corners of the four-sided stage. Soon, the twelve encircled each other, each standing at the edge of the stage, layering “I love you” in a stair-step harmony.
Cao Rouli’s husky nasal tone, Hitomi Honda’s sweet vocal line, Kwon Eunbi’s mellow alto, and so on...
The members’ voices intertwined at this moment. Each upward modulation was a remembrance of the past and a final farewell to the fans. The voices of the twelve ultimately converged into a tidal wave of sound that engulfed the venue.
This version of the song abandoned the sharp precision of the original synchronized dance, replaced by restrained vocals.
The members slowly unfolded their hands, crossed over their chests, like a metamorphosis from cocoon to butterfly.
As they turned, their fingertips lightly touched their teammates’ shoulders, conveying the tenderness of “each other is the only support.”
During the chorus, the twelve extended their palms and joined hands in a circle. As the lyrics “No matter when, we are together” sounded, they raised their arms high. In the camera’s close-up, Sakura’s suppressed tears fell onto Li Caiyan’s tightly clasped hand.
Ahn Yujin’s knuckles, whitened from effort, spoke to the fans of the unspeakable pain behind this farewell concert.
Below the stage, the light sticks had long since converged into a pink sea of stars. When Kwon Eunbi sang “Reunited in a shining new world,” a college student-like boy in the front row of the inner section suddenly raised a somewhat worn but still clearly recognizable “Produce48” era fan banner.
The boy roared along, the bulging veins in his neck and his tear-streaked face betraying the reluctance in his heart.
The boy was just one representative. Fans had known before coming that this was IZONE's last concert. Even though they knew that all good things must come to an end, when they were truly there, hearing this ballad version of their debut song, created for farewell, the fans who had been holding back their tears could no longer contain themselves. Tears streamed down their cheeks, and subtle sobs were hidden by the music, yet quietly converged into an ocean of sadness.
Even though Jiang Shu had anticipated this scene, he couldn't help but feel a touch of emotion when he truly experienced it.
Looking at the girls on stage, a sense of regret inevitably arose in his heart.
Such a good group could clearly continue...
But some things cannot be achieved by effort alone. Regret is always inevitable.
At the end of the song, IZONE’s members gradually walked away from the audience into the depths of the backlight, their figures slowly merging into the darkness.
The background screen suddenly flashed with a series of images: the naive dance steps of their early stages in 2019, the dual-queen rivalry with ITZY in 2020, the spirited ascent to the top in 2021...
The moment the lights completely extinguished, a spotlight suddenly illuminated the center of the stage—where a metal paper airplane hovered, its wings engraved with each member’s name, reflecting an eternal glimmer in the silence.
After IZONE’s members exited, countless confetti and fireworks shot into the sky, and the lights came back on, signaling the official end of the concert.
But the more than 60,000 spectators at the venue lingered, quietly sitting in their seats.
After more than ten seconds, a voice came from somewhere.
“I want to convey it to you, though you can only hear it after all the sad moments have passed.”
“Close your eyes and feel it, the touched heart.”
The fans’ spontaneous singing gradually rose from all directions, converging into the sound of a grand chorus.
On stage, the band teachers, who had been packing up their instruments to leave, hesitated in their actions upon hearing the fans’ spontaneous chorus, looking towards the band conductor.
The conductor looked at the fans singing in unison below the stage, then at his band members looking at him with expectant eyes, and smiled softly.
He suddenly waved his right hand.
The band teachers’ eyes immediately lit up, and they quickly sat back down in their positions.
As the first verse was about to end and transition into the chorus, the sound of the drum kit suddenly erupted. The next second, the music echoed throughout the entire Olympic Sports Center, like a long musical dragon wandering through the stadium, providing accompaniment to the fans’ spontaneous chorus.
One by one, fans spontaneously stood up, shouting with all their might, pouring their energy into this final, magnificent swan song.
The artists, and even Jiang Shu, couldn’t help but stand up, gazing at the scene of tens of thousands of people singing in unison, feeling deeply moved.
This performance had long transcended the simple scope of a song; it was a manifestation of fan power, a reluctance to part with their idols, and even more, an epitaph for their own memories of the past three years.
When the members exited the stage, the fans were reluctant to leave, spontaneously singing “again meeting world” in unison. At this moment, the charm of K-pop and the bond between idols and fans truly formed.
Jiang Shu’s vision suddenly blurred.
twelve stars. fantasy fairy tale.
This exclusive bond of IZONE suddenly shattered in Jiang Shu’s eyes, then transformed into specks of starlight that drifted towards the sky.
When Jiang Shu looked up, the massive gray bond in the sky finally revealed a corner of its iceberg.
