"Rachel, you are doing the steps wrong again."
Rachel stopped in her tracks when her choreography teacher, Karen, called out once again. Seeing the frown on the latter's face, she knew she would get another scolding.
"I told you multiple times to focus. If you mess it up on stage, you will be a laughing stock for people on social media. It's a simple step at that, so focus on it!"
"I understand."
It's been two weeks since Rachel was crowned the winner of X-Star Season 3, but rather than celebrating the success and taking a break, she had decided to focus on her debut album and use the momentum she had due to her newfound popularity. Steven, who had given her the contract for Cyco media, was happy to see her dedication.
Moreover, it was the ideal time to make a debut when she had the hype of X-Star.
The debut song was already completed, and Rachel was busy recording it. Aside from that, she was learning some dance steps for her performances.
But it wasn't really going well.
'I'm not really good at dancing.'
She thought. If it was singing, she was very confident in it, but her dancing was the opposite as she had never learned it. Now that she was told to learn some steps in a week or two, she was finding it very hard. Another reason for it was how she was brought up. People of her background mostly have to act very refinedly and composed and pay great attention to body language. But, on the other hand, a dancer needs a free reign over his body to let the movement flow and awe the viewers.
"Let's start again, and this time, focus."
Karen said, and as Rachel was about to start, a middle-aged woman barged into the dance practice room. She stared at Rachel and opened her mouth.
Her name was Linda, and she was the manager assigned to her by Cyco media, and since Rachel had met her, they had gotten a good working partnership and were getting along very well.
"Rachel, come with me."
"What happened, Linda?" Rachel asked as she stared at Linda. Even Karen squinted her eyes, disgruntled that her lesson was getting interrupted.
"I'm sorry, but this is important." She tried to explain to Karen before turning to Rachel. "Just come with me."
She dragged Rachel to the PR team room. As soon as Rachel entered, she found the atmosphere a bit heavy. Linda sat her down before a computer, and on the screen, the Skygram webpage was open.
"See the post!"
Rachel stared at the post and saw that it was by Grey. She obviously knew Grey but what attracted her attention was the man beside him. It was a very familiar face.
"Aiden." Linda nodded when she murmured his name.
"Yeah, apparently, he and Grey are releasing a song on the same day as us. It's Grey's comeback single, and he's collaborating with Aiden, who is the song's composer. And yes, it's official because Neu entertainment just released an article about it."
A PR team employee chipped in as Linda finished her explanation.
"Many people are already noticing that you and Aiden are again going to clash, and some are even saying it's going to be a rematch, and the public will be the judge this time. After he was eliminated from X-Star, this guy has gained a lot of fan following due to his viral songs, so it could turn out to be a fan war.
Although it's good for publicity, it could also harm you in the early phases of your career. This time is very risky for you."
Linda frowned. Cyco media was pretty exhilarated about Rachel's potential, especially Steven, and had planned for her to become a top singer in the coming years.
But this was just ruining it.
It was important for her debut single to get positive feedback for the studio to start thinking about an all-out album. Or at least an EP (Extended play).
"What are we going to do then?"
Rachel asked, sighing. It's been weeks since she had seen Aiden, and they have not talked after she won the battle against him.
She never imagined him to become an obstacle in her path.
"We can't do a lot here. Grey is an established artist, so he has fans, but many consider him to be past his prime, mainly because he hasn't given a song for a long time. We could just hope our song becomes more popular than his, in case people start comparing you and Aiden on Sparrow. We are going to go hard with the marketing from the start," Linda said, then asked Rachel. "Are you and Aiden friends?"
"No, we are not."
A short and simple answer came from Rachel.
"Mm."
Linda nodded, finding the answer satisfying.
***
On Sparrow, Grey's post got a lot of attention. Even Aiden posted some snippets from the recording session as Wade had instructed him to try to better his social media game.
Without a big agency, it would be hard to promote his accounts, so he needed to get better at promoting himself.
As soon as he confirmed his collaboration with Grey, most of his followers were elated, particularly a group of people who were a part of a group named 'Aiden Silvereye fan club'.
It was not a big group, only consisting of around 690 members, but those were his core fans who had been following him since his first-round audition in X-Star.
The group was created by Skyneves, who also acted as the head of the unofficial fan club.
[Skyneves: Did you all see Aiden's post? He confirmed that he would be singing with Grey! That's so big!]
On that message, several other people started replying.
[Greynon: Yeah, he's suddenly in the big leagues. Did he get roped in by Neu entertainment? I didn't hear anything about that.]
[Hollywood Insider: No, he's not interested in agencies or labels. Trying to find his path alone. Pretty brave and stupid. #Aiden supporter]
[Aiden's wife: Does anyone know when the song will come out?]
[April on the roof: I searched articles, and it said it would release on 3 September. Coincidentally, Rachel's debut single is released at the same time.]
[Horn x y: So, it's finally revenge time!]
Many group members joined the discussion when a member talked about revenge. However, everyone in the group still berated Aiden's loss against Rachel and felt like it was his chance to take revenge.
He wasn't able to defeat her in X-Star, but his songs have gotten a lot of views, so he could actually defeat her in the music charts.
***
In the recording studio, both Aiden and Grey were singing together. Toby wanted some recordings of their voices together for different versions of the song, so they were doing that part.
And while singing, Aiden felt like he would go blind with all the bright silver light.
?????
"I don't want to go down like this."
"I can't find the passion, and the only thing I could do is to wish."
"No, I don't want to be picked up."
"Even if I'm lonely, I know I could be something more."
"Maybe that is lost in my heart, but I'm trying to find it and soarrrr."
"I just want to scream out loud, only one thing that sits in the back of my mind."
?????
A melodic and catchy tune with guitar and keyboard sounds played in his ears as he and Grey sang that verse together.
It had taken a bit of time, but they succeeded in getting their voices together in harmony, and their lights were mixing well with each other.
Though, it was clear that Aiden's silver light was way weaker than Grey's. But as he was trying his best, they could keep it together.
'Just the final verse is left now.'
Aiden thought and took a deep breath before the final verse.
?????
"Ooh, I just feel lonely."
"Looking for a way out of this, but everything is fading slowly."
"Ooh, I just feel lonely."
"My days are eating me up, nights feel empty, and no one knows me closely."
"Ooh, I just feel lone...ly..."
?????
As the last line finished, the silver light started to die down. Aiden felt a bit parched and tired as he had poured every bit of his emotion and energy into his voice that he could gather.
And looking at the smile on Toby's face, it seemed like things had turned out good for him, and the recording had gone well.
"Okay, guys. This is it!"
"You sure?"
Grey asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He was soaked in sweat as he had sung continuously for a long time. It was especially taking a toll on him because he was doing such a long session after more than a year.
"Yeah, good job. I think we have enough. Let's wrap the recording."
When Aiden heard those words, he couldn't help but smile. After working for so many hours, they finally finished the recording.
It was his first official recording, and he has truly learned a lot of new things. It was truly a much-needed experience for him.
'Now, I only need to wait for the viewer's feedback. Let's hope this song gains some traction so I can firm my foothold in this industry..'
He thought, thinking of the release date for Lonely, and prayed in his heart that it would do well.
…
//DreamNote//
If I complete one more chapter tonight, I will upload the second bonus chapter tomorrow morning.
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