85 Rule the World

"Let's try that harmonization again one more time."

Cindy and Rinah nodded at the recording staff beyond the glass. Turning back toward their microphones, they waited for the musical cue for them to start harmonizing. As soon as the correct beat count was reached, they immediately began to meld their singing.

The two girls' low and high-pitched voices contrasted. Both timbres had an elegant quality about them which allowed them to blend perfectly together.

"Wuh," murmured Ahreum with a little shiver. "I never realized until today how well their voices suit one another. They both sound like princesses except one is more rich and the other is more lonely…if that makes any sense." She scratched her head, looking over at Iris and Jiyeon.

"Yeah, it's something about hearing them in the studio which brings out the quality of their voices more than when we sing in the practice rooms." Jiyeon added in agreement.

"Okay, that's good." The lead music producer and audio engineer both signaled. "Nice, let's move onto Jiyeon's rap, and that'll be it for today."

Iris and Ahreum waved at Jiyeon as she stood up from the couch to head into the recording room. As Cindy and Rinah left, they all gave one another subtle high fives.

"Whew! I know the rest of the album has already been recorded, but squeezing in this last song makes me feel like we're cutting it close." Cindy remarked while flopping down next to Iris.

"Haha, my bad!" Laughed Iris with a sheepish grin.

"Nah, nah. It was the producer's design anyway." Cindy smiled with a wave of her hand.

Iris had come up with some new songs during her time in IZ*ONE. So when the Big Hit staff reviewed some of the more finished works she shared, they and Bang PD decided to include one in particular that they liked, feeling it was most suitable for this album.

Thus, not only did the whole girl group have to finish arranging and recording this song for their full length album, but Iris also had to individually record for her parts and any harmonizations with other members.

While Iris did practice her parts on her own—she had participated in the creation and selection of all the songs previously—she still took two weeks after her return to Big Hit in order to refine her singing and a few rapping portions.

This was a short time nevertheless, but thankfully, Iris's professionalism and staff support greatly expedited the process. After today's last recording session, the LUXIA girls would be free to practice the choreographies and continue engraining their performance into muscle memory for music shows.

Iris had one month to learn the dances, and the the rest of the team quickly adjusted for five members as they had left a space open for her when they previously practiced as four.

Due to Iris's ability to pick up choreography quickly ever since her k-pop dance cover days back in America, this length of time was adequately enough for her to fine-tune her performance with the group.

Although she had experience with choreographing, Iris hadn't been able to input as much of her own touch compared to the other members who greatly contributed to the creative process.

However, this was fine because she contributed enough on the composition side while her fellow members could fashion more of the performance aspect.

So for these next few weeks up to their debut, it was a flurry of activity from dancing to finalizing conceptual aesthetic choices to audio mixing and final arrangement. The Big Hit team ran a tight shift to finish everything and capture the most advantageous window of opportunity for LUXIA.

They couldn't make the fans wait too long after the last duo MV, 'Fearless', and the summertime meant that people had more time. Everyone would be able to catch when the MV dropped, stream the album, and get to know the full group through stages, behind the scenes, old vlog releases, and hopefully variety shows if LUXIA was given the offer.

The days passed by swiftly and smoothly, and the fated date was now upon them.

In the dimly lit backstage directly behind the stage's curtain screen, five girls huddled together and gazed at one another with a serene jumble of emotions.

"Ahreum, Cindy, Rinah, Iris." Jiyeon grasped each of their hands and gripped them together in a right ball in the center of their huddle as if hugging them in this small way.

"Leader Jiyeon." They all solely said with a bright grin that gave away their true, ecstatic mood.

"From this day forth, you shall be known as Ariel." Jiyeon peered at Ahreum who wore a short knight's dress which was dignified yet fierce and contrasted perfectly with her sweet and unassuming, youthful face. Her costume was a perfect blend of fantasy-antique charm with modern cuts and embellishes. Her hair was a rich caramel brown with cherry red highlights that made her hair glow rufous whenever in the spotlight.

Ahreum would represent overcoming weakness to become brave and rise above all belief and expectations. It matched her true personality as well as the role she played in their musical storyline.

Jiyeon turned her gaze to Cindy next. She was was garbed in similar fashion as Ahreum to maintain costume cohesiveness. But her dress was longer, reaching to her ankles. And instead of looking like a knight or soldier, Cindy was decked up as a queen with sparkles and jewels. But it wasn't flashy and remained simple yet elegant, classy and low-key luxurious. Along with the full waves of her light golden brown hair, she looked like true modern day royalty.

"And you shall be known as Ella." Jiyeon stated dramatically with a low tone, continuing with her noble acting.

Cindy's story role was stepping down from riches and comfort into a life of struggle and trials that eventually led her to a more glorious and fulfilling life. This also mirrored Cindy's true plight in reality. And the fact that she shared her fictitious plight with Jiyeon in their LUXIA universe also referred back to her time during the Big Hit auditions and survival competition. Jiyeon had been the first friend she made in South Korea and a pillar of support for Cindy.

Jiyeon herself was dressed up dark silver, long pants that almost looked like metallic, black leather. With her combat boots that reached half of her calf, and her fitted, regal jacket over a ruffled white blouse with a silver collar and accents on the edges of the fabric, Jiyeon looked very much like a commanding king while still appearing feminine and very chic. The asymmetric shoulder tassels on her left arm paired with the elegant chains replacing the missing sleeve of the on her jacket would later help to amplify her presence whiling rapping and holding a mike.

Her stage name was still Jiyeon. Not only did she feel more comfortable with her name, but it also allowed them to appeal to the Korean cultural sentiment while still being a fitting stage name for her. As the example of tireless effort, confidence, and drive, Jiyeon and her life matched her storyline role to a T. She was a steady rock that never gave up a dream that she knew was the core of her very being from the first breath she took in this world.

Jiyeon turned to Rinah. "And you, now are Reina."

The girl smiled brilliantly, her delicate princess-like looks contrasting with her fierce and edgy outfit. She wore long, tight pants that seemingly melded into her shoes that appeared to a cross of low-cut booties and formal high-heels. An asymmetrical side skirt looped around her waist while fluffy, luxurious fur donned her shoulders and sleeve-less, midriff cut top.

Overall, Rinah's attire was mysterious, dark, alluring, and eye-catching. This matched well with her personality and duality of first impressions versus knowing her. At first, she seems standoffish and cold, maybe even cunning. But in actuality, she was lonely and insecure. Yet she was an unpolished diamond that held true strength and sparkle. This was her role in LUXIA's story. The supposed villain whose was actually an antihero.

The obvious hero figure in their story, though, was Iris. She was the hardworking underdog that learned to believe in herself and rose to great heights from her dedication and overflowing resolve to climb higher and become better. After Cindy and Jiyeon united the two warring lands, Iris was sent to overthrow the wickedness of the northern kingdoms who were unearthed to be the culprits who maliciously triggered the war for their own benefit.

Ahreum was one of the remaining knights who had survived the first war and journeyed with Iris and fought against Rinah, the princess turned queen of the north before realizing the full truth of the situation.

Jiyeon turned at last to Iris, the girl who had begun their shared story. "And you…." A smirk caught the corner of her lips. "Well, you're still just Iris, moving on!" Everyone burst out laughing and grasped their stomachs. It was a good tension bursting moment to shake off their remaining nerves.

A twinkle flashed in Jiyeon's eyes as she leaned forward and swung her arms around her group's shoulders.

"Let's go rule the world, now shall we?"