jaemin had rested well, ate better, and finally found the time to breathe. the first leg of the mgas have been extremely stressful. no matter how much he denied it, haech always saw through his reassurances and the calm demeanor that he always had on. and truthfully, after finding out he made it through the previous round, he was relieved and grateful that there was someone calling him out for being too... closed off. he knew better than to bottle everything up, he was stressing himself out more than he should. his boyfriend had always reassured him that things will be fine and that he'll make it. and make it he truly did. he started his day right, with a smile and left the apartment feeling better than he did the first two times.

he finds himself next to song yuqi again. this time though, instead of looking like a deer caught in the headlight, he actually interacts with her and tries to make conversation. it wasn't anything in depth just yet, and there were still some idle moments but it was a start. and he hoped that he's not scaring her by suddenly being social. he starts looking around the room too, trying to recognize faces, smiling at xuxi and minkyung. it was unfortunate that jeno didn't make it. jaemin knew things would have been more comfortable with him around. he wouldn't look as awkward as he does now because at least with his friend, they'd be able to distract themselves with other dumb details they can talk about.

and then the pressure builds up again.

he twists his hands on the microphone, heart pounding against his ribcage as he was on standby. jaemin takes a deep breath, wipes his hands on his pants and puts on a smile as he steps on stage. he was smiling more than the first two performances, and he could feel the strain on his cheeks. like his interactions with the others, he didn't want to force it too much so he introduces himself and talks about the piece he will be performing briefly. it was an original song that he had put together a few months back, something different from the usual ones he does, but he wants those who will listen to enjoy it just the same.

the music plays and jaemin starts to move along to it, nodding his head and just trying to... relax. it was unlike his usual performances, there was less layer to it, but the sound is distinct. at the five second mark, he starts with a quick "uh," and at the ten second mark, he goes for an enthusiastic "let's go" and proceeds to whistle before starting his first verse at the twent second mark. although the feel of the song was different from the dark, heavy, and multi-layered versions that he had done before, his verses remained lyrical and occasional wordplays inserted here and there. this is the style that he feels that leaves the most impression, at least to the people who's heard his original songs so far.

his first verse starts almost as if he was dissing himself, saying that he's only ever performed the girl group songs, songs about heartbreak, face always serious, and not having a talent for variety. but he proceeds to rap about only getting warmed up and that he does know about love that doesn't hurt too. he continues with talking about not knowing how to smile but also knowing how to make girls' hearts flutter -- all while he does the unthinkable -- na jaemin does the finger heart at baek jiyoung and winks at katie lee. he cracks a small smile, looking a bit embarrassed but continues on with his performance. at that point, the beat starts picks up and he gets more into his performance. he starts moving his body to the beat, delivery growing faster in tune with the song.

the chorus drops and it sounds more like a slowy dancey beat but not too far off from the bridge and first verse. his delivery for the chorus was somewhat like he was singing, talking about how there's more that he could show, that there are more layers to him like the layers of his re-arranged songs, and that he actually knows how to smile. jaemin always thought that his humor was different from most, but it was worth a shot at this point. he shouldn't have to take himself too seriously, he already sent finger hearts to baek jiyoung and winked at katie lee. there's nothing else to fear. as the song continues to the next verse, it slows down again, back to the simple beat that he started with. his last bar talks about being more open and trying to smile more, but to keep making music that people would enjoy.