"Personally?" Kang Ian cracked his knuckles. "I've got a score to settle with that fucker Seo-yul. So if you're cool with us taking center… I'm not declining."
There was no hesitation in his voice.
Ahn Jae nodded slowly. "I agree. It'd be nice to finally show what I can actually do."
Silas snorted. "If it means bringing down that shithead Seo-yul? Count me the fuck in."
Mika lifted both hands in surrender. "I don't really have beef like that. But if it helps these guys get vindication? I'm all for it."
Yone's gaze shifted. "Augie?"
August practically bounced in place. "I wanna do something I've never done before! I'm excited!"
The room softened instantly.
Yone chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."
He clapped once, grounding everyone.
"Alright. Salt x Bread takes center."
The energy shifted again—this time electric.
"But," Yone continued, "that doesn't mean they're carrying everything. We all pull our weight. We give the best performance this industry has ever seen."
"Amen!" Pink shouted like they were at Sunday service.
Yone scribbled in his notebook—leader mode activated.
"Grand banquet concept. 'Masterpiece' as the main track."
He looked up. "Ryu, you good reprising the violin intro?"
Ryu straightened immediately. "Of course."
"Good."
Yone turned back to Salt x Bread. "Production changes? Anything we want to tweak before meeting A&R?"
Mika shook his head first. "Honestly? It's already perfect."
Silas nodded. "Changing something Sir Foca personally made for us feels illegal. Like… firing squad illegal."
There were murmurs of aggressive agreement.
Tampering with Foca's work wasn't just disrespectful.
It was spiritually incorrect.
"Does everyone agree?" Yone asked.
Every hand went up without hesitation.
Yone smiled, satisfied. "Alright. We keep the track sacred."
He flipped the page.
"Now we figure out how the rest of us integrate into the performance."
A beat.
Then—
"ME!" Kitty yelled, shooting his hand up like he was about to answer a life-or-death trivia question. "I have an excellent idea."
Everyone braced themselves.
"If there's a banquet," Kitty began dramatically, "there must be entertainment."
Nikola narrowed his eyes. "Okayyyy…?"
"And what entertains better than a circus?"
Silence.
"Okaaay," Nikola repeated slowly. "Where are we going with this?"
Kitty threw his hands up. "Do I always have to connect the dots for you peasants?!"
Everyone stared at him.
"…Yes," they said in unison.
Kitty sighed like the burden of genius was simply too much.
"Fine. Since I am brilliant anyway." He spun in a circle for dramatic emphasis. "Circus equals Cirque du Soleil."
He paused.
"And who has actual Cirque du Soleil training?"
The room blinked.
Kitty extended both hands with full spirit fingers toward Javi.
"Our very own. The one. The only. La Bruja."
Javi blinked. "…You're being dramatic."
"Yes," Kitty said immediately. "And correct."
Pink gasped so loud it echoed. "OHHHHHH BITCH. Your coochie is COOKING. Okaaayyyyy!"
Nikola doubled over laughing.
"I'm kinda lost…" Jordan admitted, blinking slowly.
"Don't worry," Eli said, squinting at the mental image forming in his brain. "It's not just you."
"Okay, lemme explain real quick," Aqua stepped in. "Javi used to be part of Cirque du Soleil. He was in the ensemble, but mainly an aerialist."
"…Uh-huh," Corsair nodded cautiously. "But what the hell is Cirque du Soleil?"
Aqua gasped like someone had just confessed they'd never heard of Wi-Fi.
"You uncultured breadstick," Pink whispered.
"It'll be better to show you," Aqua decided. "Leo, sweetheart, can you search 'Cirque du Soleil: Dream Divers'?"
"Why does that sound like a limited-time RPG event?" Leo muttered while typing.
The projector flickered to life again.
The video started.
Ethereal music. Dreamlike lighting. Colors melting into each other like someone dropped glitter into an acid trip and said, "Make it whimsical."
"It's giving Alice in Wonderland on shrooms," Nikola murmured.
And then—
There he was.
Javi.
High. In. The. Air.
Balanced on a flying pole like gravity personally owed him money.
He twisted, dropped, caught himself mid-air, body slicing through space like silk in a hurricane.
The room went dead silent.
Nobody breathed.
Nobody blinked.
"HOLY shit," Nikola whispered, eyes glued to the screen.
Javi, current-day Javi, crossed his arms casually. "That was my swan performance before I left Cirque to join LEAVEN. Ahh. Good times."
The video shifted.
The ethereal vibe snapped.
The lighting darkened.
The music warped.
And Javi descended to the ground.
What followed?
Nightmare fuel.
He crawled on all fours like something summoned from a forbidden ritual. Then—without warning—his spine bent backward into an inhuman arch.
Someone audibly whimpered.
He rolled across the stage on his chest. Split mid-transition. Switched legs like they were detachable accessories.
"It's giving exorcist… but slay," Kitty commented thoughtfully.
"Oh my God, Javi," Bobby breathed. "That's bloody impressive and terrifying."
"Thank yew. I try," Javi beamed proudly.
"I wanna do that!" August exclaimed instantly, eyes sparkling like he'd just discovered a new Pokémon evolution.
Everyone collectively imagined August attempting a backbend and immediately scheduling a hospital visit.
Nox shook his head in disbelief. "You move more like a snake than those E:Den punks."
Javi smirked. "I was going for Sadako, but I'll take it."
The video transitioned again.
Now Javi mounted a grounded pole.
He spun.
And spun.
And spun.
Effortless.
Controlled.
Defying physics and modesty simultaneously.
"What better way to show versatility than spinning on a pole like a stripper with overdue rent?" Kitty encouraged loudly.
Javi slowly turned his head.
The glare could have cracked marble.
"Bitch! What was that for?!" Kitty gasped dramatically.
"Pole dancing and acrobatics are art forms!" Javi snapped. "Society just defiled it by associating it with stripping!"
Kitty rolled his eyes. "Don't get your thong in a twist. Whether it's you or a stripper, it's art. And both of y'all are making ridiculous money, so relax."
Javi looked one millisecond away from committing violence.
But then—
"Javi," August said softly, eyes shining like a Disney protagonist. "Please teach me."
Javi melted instantly. "When we have free time, okie?"
"OKIE!" August nodded aggressively.
The video moved to its final segment.
Aerial silks.
Javi climbed the fabric like he was ascending to another realm.
He dropped.
Caught himself.
Wrapped, spun, descended in a controlled fall that made everyone instinctively grab their own nonexistent silks.
"This is giving Fifty Shades of Gay," Kitty whispered reverently.
The video ended.
Silence.
Then—
Yone slowly closed his notebook, clearly recalculating the entire performance in his brain.
"We can absolutely incorporate this," he said, already writing again.
He looked at Javi. "You good with that?"
Javi smirked. "Oh, I'mma bout to slay."
"YASSSS!" Aqua, Pink, and Kitty screamed in unison like a coven successfully summoned talent.
"Acrobatics…" Leo muttered, thinking aloud. "Elevated staging. Aerial silks?"
Javi tilted his head, gears turning. "We could structure it like acts. Salt x Bread leads the 'royal court.' The rest of us are performers summoned to entertain the banquet."
Corsair snapped his fingers. "Which means we're not background."
"We're spectacle," Lili finished.
Silas smirked. "So while we're front and center dragging Seo-yul spiritually?"
"You guys are flying above him metaphorically," Kang Ian grinned.
Isaac clapped excitedly. "OH! What if at the climax the 'performers' stop entertaining and join the court?"
Yone's eyes sharpened.
"A shift in power," he murmured. "The entertainers become equals. No hierarchy."
Leo leaned forward. "That's actually genius. Banquet starts controlled and regal. Ends unified and explosive."
Kitty placed a hand over his heart. "Look at us. Using art to make a point without dry-humping a crucifix."
Monarch choked.
Yone exhaled, but he was smiling now.
"Okay. So we have: Grand banquet. 'Masterpiece.' Violin intro. Circus-style performance integration. Power shift ending."
He looked around at his team.
"This isn't just retaliation."
His voice lowered.
"This is a statement."
Silas cracked his neck. "And it's gonna hurt."
Kitty grinned wickedly. "Respectfully."
Pink leaned back in his chair. "E:Den wanted shock value?"
Aqua smirked.
"We'll give them elegance."
And somehow?
That felt far more dangerous.
Yone leaned back, scanning the group.
Banquet.
Royal court.
Violin intro.
Salt x Bread front and center.
Circus spectacle.
Aerial dominance.
This was no longer just a performance.
This was an experience.
And for a brief moment, even Yone had to admit—
This was getting way more elaborate than he initially expected.
But the thing was?
He wasn't worried.
Because if there was one thing this chaotic, dramatic, slightly unhinged group excelled at—
It was pulling off the impossible.
And doing it fabulously.