Awards and Offers

AN: Please listen to the songs that are mentioned to have a better understanding of the story. Thank you.

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JAYB's POV

"I'm glad you were able to practice for this event, hyung." I patted his shoulders the moment we arrived at the venue.

It's been an eventful week. There was one night during our day off that I woke up from a call. The call was from a crying and worried Lisa. The moment I heard the first line from her, I immediately jumped off the bed and went out to wake the other members up. I handed my holophone to Dominic so he could help Lisa apply first aid on Matt-hyung using Seiji-hyung's serum. While doing so, Zee was booking us the earliest ticket to Jeju Island. Jeong Do was calling some of his connections in the island for them to head out and assist in arresting the surviving criminal and to send out the nearest medical care. The rest of the members were quickly packing their stuff. In short, it was an intense and chaotic night.

The worst is over and Matt-hyung was able to survive and recover fast because of Dominic and Seiji-hyung. Well, it was all thanks to Lisa who injected the serum first. With the help of Jeong Do, we were able to pull out information from the leader of those who attacked Matt-hyung. Because of that, they were able to track down the supplier and capture him. They were able to track the base of operations in the end but the crime lord was able to escape. But it was still a very fruitful raid and investigation.

A week after Matt-hyung was discharged, we went back to practicing for the Fact Music Awards. We took it easy since Matt-hyung was still recovering and Zhang and Jiwoo got an offer for being in a drama called Hi! School: Love On. It was another drama that they would be together. Though we celebrated the fact that they were filming together, it became difficult for us to practice more. But still, it was okay since we had more time to relax and do other things to promote our group.

Awards – every idol group wants one. It's why we strive hard to aim for the top. This is the reason why we spend 10 hours or even more number of hours to practice. We know that it is a competition but still it was a friendly one. Today, the Facts Music Awards will show the results of our efforts. This might be the reason why PD-nim asked us to release our B Side Tracks so we can compete in the same arena with people from last year. I just hope that we at least win some awards since we came in a little late with our songs.

"I am! Don't worry about it. Dominic already checked up on me many times. You don't have to do the same. Now let's get out of the car and smile for the camera." Matt-hyung enthusiastically said.

Jiwoo then scoffed. "Can the both of you stop being so cringe-worthy and just get out of the car?

Matt-hyung and I turned to him in disbelief. This brat is talking down to us. We both ruffled Jiwoo's hair before opening the door. He had to come out a bit later after fixing his hair and pretended like he wasn't angry about it.

Jiwoo placed his hand on my shoulders and "gently" squeezed it. "Ya… JayB-hyung… You know how I feel when you guys do that."

I gave him a wry smile while I gritted through my teeth because of the pain. "You started it. Now knock it off, we need to pose as a team for the red carpet official photos."

Jiwoo chuckled sarcastically. "Don't change the subject."

Matt-hyung then hugged him from the side while squeezing him hard. "Ya. Let it go, man. Don't make me hurt you."

Jiwoo sighed. "You guys are bullies."

I turned to him and slapped his back. "You like the attention anyway."

Jiwoo tried his best not to yell in front of the paparazzi as he forced a smile from the pain. "I do. But please, not like this."

Jeong Do came over to us as the rest of the members of Alpha arrived from the other cars. "I know that you guys are bullying our maknae again. Stop it."

Matt-hyung and I raised our hands in surrender as I chuckled. "Fine! Let's just get this over with. I still need to meet some people inside."

As we were moving towards the waiting platform where the floor interviewers were, April came over to us and asked us to sign copies of our albums. They said that they were trying their best to approach us in the previous award shows but were really shy about it. It was also hard to find us even though we were in the same company and the same building. They were our fans before they debuted a year after we did.

Lee Naeun walked towards me and asked me to sign her a copy of our latest Christmas Album. "JayB-sunbaenim… please sign this one for me."

"Oh? Is this our Christmas album? Wow! I'm surprised that you want me to autograph this one instead of our full length albums. And please, speak casually to me." I smiled at her as I gladly took the album from her hands to sign it.

She giggled as she played with her hair. "I prefer the songs here actually after hearing you during the songwriting challenge in our vacation in Hawaii. The emotions you put in when you sang the songs were just… sincere. It was as if the person that you wanted to sing this to was in front of you."

Well, you have no idea. But I didn't show it to her that I was surprised. "Thank you for your support. So what's your favorite song in this EP?"

"Miracle…" She shyly bowed her head as she played were her thumbs.

Her answer made me look at her in a different light now. In the previous world, I met Lee Naeun when I was still producing songs for small time companies for web dramas. She was in a web drama called A-Teen. I didn't really paid attention to her because she looked so clueless and dense sometimes. I thought that it was the personality that her company assigned to her, it turned out that it was just how she was. Seeing her now, she really is different. It's even amazing that we work under the same company. I barely notice them since I'm working closely with Twice who debuted the same year as they did.

After handing the album back to her, I gave her a smile. "So you're a fan of the concept 'love at first sight'?"

She blushed slightly as she snapped her head towards me. "H-Huh? O-Oh… Y-Yes… Do you perhaps... think it's childish?"

It made me chuckle. "If people consider the concept 'love at first sight' to be childish, then I guess we both ARE."

She smiled at me. "So… you still communicate with the person that you fell in love with the first time you saw her? Is that what the song is for?"

I hummed while I pondered on her question. "Hmm… You could say that. How about you?"

She averted her gaze away from me. "Umm… I'm talking to him right-"

"JayB-ya! We need you here!" Seiji-hyung called out as they were about to be interviewed by some reporters.

"Alright! I'm coming!" after answering Seiji-hyung, I gave a smile to Naeun and shook her hand which made her turn red as a tomato. "I need to go now, but it's really nice to meet you! I'll see you around the company!"

She looked a bit disappointed but I was in a rush that I didn't bother asking her. The interviewer was already rushing us. It took us a while to answer some of his questions. There were a lot of people that came here today since this was a national event. Most of the idol groups already came back from their tour so going on stage for the official interview really took time.

We were done answering questions as a group on the official interview stage so we were asked by Ming Do-hyung to go our separate ways for us to promote our individual gigs like our CFs, dramas, and future projects and prospects.

There was a particular reporter that got my attention when he asked to interview me. I was hesitant at first since this reporter was from a news platform that was known to be notorious in the previous world. But I remembered that they were not that bad in this world. They were more… toned down, for the lack of better term.

The reporter from dispatch then started asking some questions. "So we just heard that you guys just came back from filming a TV show about your dream vacation, can you tell us about it?"

"Right. The show is called 'One Fine Day', and it's a show that will showcase how Alpha looks like when we are on vacation. There's a lot of fun moments and definitely a lot of emotional moments so you have to look forward to it." I answered confidently.

He gave me a smile as he asked the next question. "I heard from one of your members that it was something 'unexpected'. Can you tell us more as to why that is?"

I laughed when I heard that question. "Well, when we were being interviewed for the show, we were asked about what our preferred type of vacation is. And… because of our answers, it was something that was really definitely unexpected. As to what that is, you have to wait and see for yourselves."

He chuckled with how vague my answer was. "Alright. Fair enough. So can we at least know what your favorite part of the filming was?"

I pondered for a while before answering. "I can't say much, but I guess you could say that it was when we shared what we were grateful for. Because it made our group develop a stronger bond because of it."

After nodding and confirming with me, he gave me a grin which made me shiver a bit. "You're quite the mysterious guy now, aren't you? Speaking of mysterious, we've heard from a trusted source that a certain mystery girl has caught the leader of Alpha's heart, and that she is the reason why you write such amazing and heartfelt songs. Can you comment on that?"

His question took me a back a little but I quickly composed myself. "As you know, we've recently released a song called 'Thanks'. It was our way of expressing our gratitude to our fans. The lyrics of our songs are highly dedicated to our fans and even to those who just listen to our songs."

The reporter shook his head as he chuckled. "You're very good at dodging the question. So here's my final question. What's next for JayB-ssi? Can you talk about your future projects that are in store for you like the show WGM?"

I smiled at him before I confidently answered. "Sure. So it has already been announced that I'll be on the show called 'We Got Married'. As for my future wife, I don't know who she is, but I'm looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I don't really know when it'll start. But I hope that as I begin my virtual marriage, you guys will support us. Thank you."

The reporter then asked the cameraman who was with him to stop rolling. We shook hands as he thanked me for giving him some of my time. He then asked for an interview in the future once we release our album this year. After giving me his business card, I started heading my way inside the venue since most of my members were nowhere to be found. So I assume that they were already inside, chatting with some of the other groups.

"Excuse me? JayB-ssi?" Someone called me from behind. I turned towards them as I gave them a warm smile.

It was a woman who was much older than me and with him was another guy who was probably the same age as her. The woman who called my attention bowed and smiled at me in return. "Hello, JayB-ssi. I am Lee Mirim and with me is Director Yoo Hoojin. Is it okay to ask for some of your time right now?"

I chuckled before leading them into a quieter place. "Of course! Let's go this way, it's easier to chat here than near the entrance. So how can I help you?"

This time, it was the director who spoke to me as he handed me his business card. "JayB-ssi. I know that you are a busy man, so I'll get to the point. We will be filming a drama soon and we were curious to see if you were interested in playing the second lead role?"

My eyes widened in surprise. This was the first drama offer that I got ever since I came back. "Wow! Really? Thank you for considering me. Are you sure that you want me for the role?"

The director nodded with a smile. "Of course! Mirim-ssi is the writer of this drama and she actually wanted you personally to play this role. All you have to do is show up in the auditions for formality, but the role is yours."

I chuckled slightly because I suddenly remembered something. "Mirim-junmoonim, Hoojin-junmoonim, I am honored that you personally approached me to be part of your creation. But it might be difficult for me to be on it since we'll be releasing our album this April. Our promotions might delay the filming and production."

Hoojin, the director chuckled heartily. "We've already spoken to your company about it and have heard of the situation. That's why the secondary leading role fits perfectly since we won't be filming you that much. The company agreed but they said that they will leave the final decision to you. So how about it, JayB-ssi?"

Hearing this now, I was quite surprised that the company agreed. We were going to be busy this year. Plus, I would be on 'We Got Married'. "Well, if we can wrap up my parts before our promotions become hectic, then I'll take the job."

Mirim sighed deeply. "I thought you would decline because we're giving you a lesser role. Come to think of it, this must be your first time to take on a project as a secondary lead, isn't it? You always got the main lead in your dramas.'

I waved it off and chuckled. "Any role offered, as long as it does not interfere with our promotions, is worth the shot."

"Thank you, JayB-ssi! We'll contact your company as soon as filming starts." And with that, another drama has been secured under my belt.

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"Hyung!" A familiar voice called out to me as soon as I sat on my spot inside the venue.

I turned around to see the person and I immediately stood up to greet him with a hug. "Waa! Jungkook-ie! You look well! How's everything?"

"Great, hyung! How about you? Are you recovering well?" He asked in a worried tone.

I chuckled at him. "Don't worry about it. I'm doing well. So how are things with IU-noona?"

He scratched the back of his head as he smiled wryly. "It's been a rollercoaster."

I patted his back. "You'll get used to it. Where are the rest of the guys?"

"Behind you." Jimin surprised me as he suddenly placed his arm over my shoulder.

I was startled as I almost elbowed him in the stomach. "Ya! I almost hit you!"

The rest of the members of BTS laughed. RM-hyung then shook my hand as he smiled. "I heard that you've been sick. I hope you're well now."

"Much better, hyung. Thanks for asking. So? Is there anything I can help you with?" I asked them directly.

Jin-hyung smiled at me wryly. "Why do you assume that? Can't we just approach you and talk to you like normal friends would?"

I shrugged it off. I knew these guys pretty well. "Gut feeling. When you talk to me casually, you don't come to me as a group. When you do come to me as a group, you always ask for a favor."

"Man, you're sharp." Suga-hyung muttered.

RM-hyung sighed. "Okay so we do need something from you. But this will probably be the last one."

"Alright. Shoot." I said as I crossed my arms with a smirk on my face.

RM-hyung took a deep breath in before he spoke. "Help us with another song. Please."

I rolled my eyes as I sighed. "You guys are doing better than Alpha. You even won more awards in last year's award shows. And now you want a song from me? Come one, I need to take care of my own too."

J-hope-hyung placed his hand on my shoulder. "That was because Alpha didn't release a bunch of songs last year. Remember when you suddenly released a Christmas EP at the end of the year? These songs topped the charts a few minutes after it was released. That's how powerful the songs you write are."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. "You guys won't give up even if I say you no, will you?"

They nodded at me as they looked at me with pleading eyes and with their pouty lips. These guys are seriously asking for it. I wanted to smack them one by one in the heads. They have an amazing composer in the group, how would he feel if I suddenly write a song for them? Then again, he's also here and is asking for my help.

"Fine. ONE SONG. Got it?" I breathed out.

They immediately tackled me in a group hug which made the other groups laugh at how funny we looked. I tried to get them off of me. "Ya! All of you are heavy! Get off!"

These guys were pranksters. Even in this world. It took them a while before they got off me. If it wasn't for our manager calling us to the dressing room to prepare our equipment then they probably wouldn't have gotten off.

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"JayB-ssi? How's your IEM? Is it working?" Ming Do-hyung asked as he handed me my mic.

It was the first time that we showed the fans our performance clothes. The program was done in a fast pace so we couldn't take the time to change to our performance clothes. It was different since we had to miss out the first few minutes of the event since we needed to change and set up our equipment. We had to do it at this time since there will be times that the camera will pan out towards the idol groups so the fans might question why we weren't there in our seats.

Secondly, we had to miss some parts of the latter half of the awarding since we were the opening to the last set of awards. After doing some final checks, we then went to our positions from behind the curtains. Since we were in different levitating platforms some were standing and the rest were sitting down. Two sets of songs but we were trying to do things differently this time to not tire ourselves out. Our managers were going around doing some final checks on our equipment. It was normal to check this much even to the point that it might be annoying since this was a big event.

I gave him a thumbs up as I wore my IEM. "All good. Relax, hyung. Will you? You're making me nervous."

He chuckled. "Hey, I'm just as nervous as you are."

Seiji-hyung then called out to our Ming Do-hyung. "I'll treat you to dinner later, hyung. Don't worry too much."

Thanks to our casual conversation with our mangers, we were able to rid of some of the jitters but not completely. Soon, the announcements were done and the MCs just announced that we would be performing next. I took heavy breathes as the large curtains opened revealing Zhang who was on the piano on one of the elevated platforms.

As soon as our manager gave the go signal through our IEM, Zhang started playing the piano as the spotlight focused on him. He played a very long but beautiful instrumental to "Thanks". We decided not to dance to the first part of the song so that the fans could have a better understanding of our vocals. Not only that, it was also one way of conserving our stamina.

As soon as Zhang played the proper intro to the song, Jiwoo prepared himself to sing his part. The spotlight then revealed him as he was sitting down on one of the platform while crossing his legs.

[Wherever you were

If I could hear you, I would run to you without second thoughts

Back then, Back then]

The spotlight then turned off as another spotlight revealed Dominic who also was sitting down at one of the levitating platforms.

[My young heart was only so playful back then

When I see you smile, I felt something

Cause I never learned any of this]

Zee, who was standing up on his platform, was the next person to be shown.

[I couldn't express my feelings because I was too young

I wanted to be your tomorrow so I lived today

Ever since the first day I saw you until now]

Zhang then sang the last part of the second verse.

[In my heart, it's only you]

Finally, it was my turn to sing my part as the spotlight revealed me in a navy blue tuxedo.

[These typical words

I'm only saying them now]

Zhang then took it from there as he sang…

[But I hope these typical words will reach you]

Jeong Do then revealed himself as he stood up from a crouching position once the spotlight changed to him. Zhang then harmonized with him on the last line of the pre chorus.

[Thank you, thank you, that's all I can say

Even all the waiting, the longing

And all of our memories]

There was a small pause as the platforms landed at the same time and was absorbed by the ground as if they didn't exist in the first place. Now, only the dance floor was revealed. We slowly went into position as Matt-hyung started singing to the chorus and the rest of us dancing to the original track this time.

[Thank you]

The crowd erupted into cheers at the sudden change of pace with the music. I even saw some of the members of certain idol groups forming 'wow' with their mouths. Some had their jaws dropped. It only invigorated us more to perform better from this half onwards.

[Thank you]

Soon the song finished as we stood at the second stage which was nearer to the rest of the crowd. The stage was divided into 2. There was the mainstage and the second stage which was in front of the main stage and was connected by a long and wide runway.

Suddenly, a loud electric guitar solo was heard. On the spot light was Yo Chul-hyung with the EG. The sound of applause, squeals and cheers echoed throughout the venue as he did his solo. The girls couldn't resist Yo Chul-hyung's charms especially since he was wearing a tuxedo with the color black on one side and the navy blue on the other. His hair was also damp from the previous performance making him have that wet look effect.

As he was playing, we slowly made our way to the next song's first formation. Then as soon as Yo Chul-hyung ended, the intro to "Clap" started. Just when I thought that the cheers and shouts from the crowd couldn't get any louder, it actually did. Some of our friends and other idol groups were even startled by them.

We started performing the song and halfway through, I could hear some of my member's heavy breathing through my IEM. I smiled at them to remind them not make it too obvious. Soon the dance break came as we changed it up a little.

There was even a surprise waiting for the fans when instead of Zhang hitting the high notes after the dance break, the members voted me to do it instead for a different twist. So I prepared for it as I went to the center and sang…

[Have some courage today

Get under the blanket and scream!]

The fans were definitely surprised as they forgot to do the fan chant and were just screaming until the song ended. Our heavy breathing echoed throughout the venue as soon as we finished our performance. We immediately turned our microphones off so that the crowd wouldn't notice. We made our way backstage towards our portable oxygen masks and tried our best recover as our make-up artist wiped off our sweat and did some retouch.

The last set of awards were the important ones, and we got nominated for it. If ever we win one of the awards, we definitely didn't want to look like we just died after our performance.

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"And the winner for this year's Daesang award is…" Lee Minho said as he opened the card and read the contents in it.

It was definitely a night to remember. My friends as expected won a lot of awards. BTS won the best album with their album called 'Fly'. It was close enough to the previous world's album name which was Wings. Twice won the best song with "Cheer Up". Next Leader award went to Blackpink, Momoland and Day6 who were the rising stars from last year.

If you think that we didn't win any awards, we actually won Artist of the year together with some other artists like. Twice, Monsta X, BTS, IOI, Red Velvet, MAMAMOO, GFRIEND, and SEVENTEEN. We also won in the categories for Fan N Star Choice Awards (Group) and Fan N Star Most Votes Award (Group). While I was able to win some individual awards like Fan N Star Most Votes Award (Individual), Fan N Star Choice Award (Individual). Not only that, I even won Fan N Star Hall of Fame award.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot, we also won Worldwide Icon award together with Twice. Although we won so many awards in different categories, we were still surprised considering how inactive we were last year compared to the year before that.

"Alpha! Congratulations on winning the Daesang award this year!" Minho-sunbaenim announced as we made our way to the stage.

After giving our speech, the last set of groups assigned to perform did their number. The award show was soon over and we headed towards the parking lot. On our way there, we held several conversation with other groups and their members. We were happily chatting until we reached the parking lot. The members were going to practice back in the studio for our comeback. Twice will do the same. I was the only one who needed to get to another studio for the MIXNINE schedule.

"Congratulations sunbaenim!" IOI said as they bowed as we passed by.

Chungha then went over and jumped behind on my back so I ended up carrying her in a piggy back position. "Ya! Chungha-ya! Get off!"

But she was being stubborn as she giggled. "What's the matter? Just because you got so many awards that doesn't mean you're a big shot now! You're still my oppa no matter what!"

The rest of her members were staring at her in disbelief. Only a handful of people knew that we were siblings. Her members probably don't. So far the media found out that Yoohyeon and Key-hyung were my siblings. Since Chungha came into the scene late, they didn't know about her yet.

"Get off before other people see you!" I groaned.

She chuckled. "It's okay if they see! It's actually a gre- ah!"

Suddenly, she got off of me and was silenced. I turn around to see Kei covering her mouth and dragging her away. "Don't mind us, oppa. I'm just going have a… 'talk' with our sister."

I smiled wryly while watching her drag Chungha away. It took me a while to snap out of it when I suddenly remembered that I needed to go ASAP. I checked the time and immediately ran towards my personal car which was driven here by one of our managers.

"JayB-oppa!" As I was about to get in, someone tried calling my attention.

"Ahh? Momo-ya. Shouldn't you be with rest of the members? I heard that they were going to have dinner first before practicing?" I asked her closing back the car's door.

She then shyly walked over. "Aren't you coming with us?"

I shook my head. "We have filming for MIXNINE tonight so I have to go now. Is there something you need?"

She shyly lifted her hands to form a ring like she usually weirdly does. "I just wanted to ask if… you were about to start your virtual married life too."

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