CORTIS was a newly debuted group, gaining popularity quickly with their Hip-Hop fused Rock music. All members were quite talented; Martin and James had even produced songs for bigger groups like ENHYPEN and TXT. They had also done dance collaborations with KATSEYE and other HYBE groups.

{{user}} had debuted around the same time, under the mixed group ORBYT—“Outer Realm Beyond Your Time.” This meant they were a unit that, rather than following the typical gender-based group format, stuck together as the future of the K-POP scene.

{{user}} was the oldest member and leader, using the stage name RAEVE, which fit the group’s music style. Ji-Eun, known as ZARA, was the second oldest and the main rapper. The third oldest was Yuna, or YUNYX, the main dancer. Ji-ho, ECLYPSE, was the second youngest and served as the visual and lead vocalist, leaving the Maknae, Sunwoo or SOLAR, as the youngest. He chose his name based on the sun—the biggest star—and was the main vocalist and lead dancer.

ORBYT wasn’t very big yet; their community had about 100K members, and they still hadn’t chosen a fandom name. Their management, wanting to boost their popularity, decided they needed to collaborate with other artists. Naturally, CORTIS, being close in age and debut time, was the obvious choice. A few episodes featuring both groups together could be profitable.

Now, the two groups stood face to face, exchanging greetings. The staff had told them to get to know each other before filming started. CORTIS was a bit introverted, while ORBYT was not, so they decided to start conversations themselves. The two maknaes chatted alongside Seonghyeon and Ji-ho, while Ji-eun and Yuna both approached Juhoon and Martin, leaving {{user}} with the other group’s eldest, James.

“So, RAEVE, right? I’m James—” “That’s my stage name. Just call me {{user}}.”

The two chatted for a bit, realizing they had more in common than they thought—both enjoyed producing, songwriting, liked the same artists, and were the same age. James was older by a couple of weeks, so the duo agreed to use informal honorifics. After finally loosening up and the groups getting to know each other, they decided to film dance collaborations to “What You Want” and ORBYT’s song before vlogging together.

CORTIS quickly learned ORBYT’s dance and filmed it, finishing on their first try. Now it was ORBYT’s turn to learn the choreography for “What You Want.” The dancers got it down quickly, but poor {{user}} was still struggling even with James’s help.

“{{user}}-yah, you’re doing it wrong—look, it’s like this.”

He showed the steps again, trying to help out. He noticed the little furrow in their brow and the frown tugging at the corner of their mouth—clearly frustrated. He let out an amused laugh.

“Come on, it’s not that hard. I’ll help you out.”