"Hello, can you do a 10-minute interview with me?"

Marlo, the host of X-Star, asked Aiden after pulling him into a corner for an interview just half an hour before his second-round auditions.

"That's fine with me, but isn't it better to interview the whole group rather than only me?"

Marlo had just dragged him when he was sitting with the rest of his teammates. He still remembered the jealous eyes of Sam on his back.

"Interviewing the whole group would take more time. Moreover, as you know, not every member will go to the next round. So, I'm just interviewing the more interesting candidates."

"And you think I'm one of them?"

"Yeah."

Marlo said with a thin smile, and Aiden didn't ask any more questions and just gave the nod to start the interview. The experienced host didn't waste any time, and as the camera focused on both of them in one frame, the interview began.

"So, how are you feeling? A bit nervous?"

"Yeah, a bit. But I'm confident too as the group has practised a lot in the last week, and we are confident in performing well."

"Do you think it would be enough to impress the judges?"

"Yes, I think so."

Aiden said, trying not to show any emotions. In the past week, they have practised day and night. Rachel was really serious about it, and in her words, she didn't want anyone to drag her performance down.

So, she was rather hard in practice. At first, they were often missing the tempo or just forgetting their lines or ruining a note.

But slowly, they had learned to work together, and although it wasn't the best they could do, they still reached a great level in just a week.

"From what I heard, you tweaked the song a bit? Can you tell me about it?"

Aiden didn't know how Marlo got to know this, but he still answered.

"I changed some lyrics because I felt like it suited the song and the group more. It's just a way to make the song feel more like ours."

"Do you think the change will make the song better or worse?"

Marlo asked, and Aiden lightly shook his head.

"That's for the judges to decide. For now, I can just try to give my best."

Marlo liked that answer and moved on to some more questions. As they had less time, the questions and answers were kept short and simple, perfect for editing into a 30-second clip before the performance during the broadcast.

He asked one final question and the hardest one in the end.

"There's a high chance only one person in your group will qualify for the next round. Who do you think it will be?" As Aiden was going to take his name, Marlo added. "You can't choose yourself."

Aiden didn't answer right away. It was a hard question, and if he could, he didn't want to answer it. But, if he was being honest, there was only one person who would logically pass to the next round.

'Rachel'

She had the best skills in the group, and he knew it better than anyone else. He had heard her singing from a close level, and he could guarantee that she would reach the finals.

It was to the point that he felt a bit inferior to her.

"You are thinking too hard about it. Just take a name."

Marlo urged him, and finally, with a frown, Aiden opened his mouth.

**

"Hello, how are you all? I still remember some of your performances very well."

Andrew welcomed them as the group entered the stage. As decided beforehand, Sam answered him on behalf of the group.

"We are all good."

"How's being in a group for you all? Any fights or arguments?"

Alyssa asked because a lot of other groups had fights and arguments. One even got physical, and they needed to change the group members.

"No, thankfully, we didn't have any fights. And since we didn't have a lot of time before the performance, our sole focus was on practice."

"Okay, let's hear you."

Alyssa nodded and signalled the performance to start. Aiden took a deep breath and tried to focus. The others were looking nervous, too, especially Michelle, who he feared would mess up just because of nervousness.

"Just remember what we did during practice," Aiden said and patted Michelle's shoulder.

"T-thank you."

After that, they took their positions, and soft music started to play out from the speakers. The sound of bass increasing in tempo slowly made Sam and Michelle shake their legs lightly as they prepared themselves.

The first verse came 15 seconds into the song.

🎤🎶🎼

"I had a pretty bad week, work was taking over."

"Felt like my body was breaking over."

"Tried to keep out the things that make me stressed, but I was already depressed."

"I know I should not have given a damn but I was already messed."

🎤🎶🎼

Their voices mixed pretty well as they tried to keep up with the song's tempo. The first verse was simple and had low notes, with an incredible catchy tone.

The soft and shy voice of Michelle and the rather husky voice of Sam mixed surprisingly well together. After that, other instruments came into the song as Eric sang the pre-chorus.

When Aiden had listened to him, he had felt like his voice was rather ordinary, something you could find anywhere. But he liked music, and his special quality was that he could lose himself completely in it.

🎤🎶🎼

"It was then that I saw you in the bar."

"Thought you were with the guy with a fancy car."

"But I was already imagining your name written with mine in the stars."

"Oh, I had nothing to lose, so I went to the floor and just pulled you up."

🎤🎶🎼

It was then the pace of the song completely changed as the chorus started. The catchy music immediately became louder but still kept a softer touch.

Waiting for the right moment, all five of them came together and started singing with Michelle's voice in the middle, and it was also what stood out in harmony.

🎤🎶🎼

"We just danced all night, low and up."

"And I just asked, why can't you and me be close?"

"Letting nature run its course."

"When I'm with you, I just feel the time froze."

"Oh, we will surely go up and down in our time, that's how it flows."

"But for now, why can't you and me just be close?"

🎤🎶🎼

As he sang the song, Aiden felt an electrified feeling running down his body, and all the nervousness died down. It was the feeling of the music.

He could see a white light flowing out from Michelle and enveloping the other four around her. And then, the light travelled to every part of the room – to the judges, the audience and even Marlo, who was listening from backstage.

They were feeling and listening to a unique sound resulting from harmony.

Rachel took over after the chorus ended, and the note went way higher than Aiden had ever imagined. She was really good at maintaining notes and making them go high.

Even if the notes were going higher, there was no scratchy feeling and only an elegant voice. And, along with that, there was the catchiness in it.

🎤🎶🎼

"When I look into your eyes, my troubles die down."

"With you around, everything was fine."

"So, can we just dance all nightttt…"

🎤🎶🎼

The last part was stretched high as Rachel tried to show off her skills. It was so spectacular that even the judges looked at her like she was a monster. Steven was even smiling a bit which was a rare thing in itself.

The remnant of the white light left by Michelle never died down due to Rachel, who added another layer to it.

'It's my turn now.'

Aiden thought as Rachel's part came to an end. He automatically took a step forward and tried to slowly bring down the song while leaving a lasting impression through the emotions in his singing.

A white light gushed out of him, meeting with the already present ones in the room.

🎤🎶🎼

"In the end, the week ended up being great with you in my arms."

"Waking up to the sound of your alarm."

"It still felt like a dream but with you and me being so close."

"Everything just felt all right."

🎤🎶🎼

As he slowly finished the song, the white light emanating from him was everywhere. Aiden had never seen such strong light, and he knew that it was also because of Michelle and Rachel's special skills.

These three skills coming together had created a great impact, and if he tried to focus on the light, he could see the one that had come from Michelle was in the middle, holding his and Rachel's light together.

For the first time, he felt such beautiful music.