Chapter 9 |
“Heuk, heuk, cough!”
After receiving the absurd instruction from the production team to finish all the practices in one day, we returned to the practice room and had individual practice time. Since we had returned from the auditorium at 7AM, we had 31 hours left until the midterm check at 2 PM the following day.
“Haaa, ha … huu, huffh.”
I was worried about memorizing the lyrics, but they had a lot of repetitive sections that made it easy to stuck in my head, so I was able to memorize them easier than I expected. With lines like “I’m sexy, I’m cute“, how could I possibly not memorize them?
There was another problem.
“Stop following me! I already taught you!”
At this moment, I was being relentlessly chased by little brats who were far younger than me.
“Hyung, can you teach me the dance too?”
“Me too! Please do the dance break part one more time!”
Singing wasn’t even my main position, so why would they come to me for singing too? They’re driving me crazy.
“Go to someone who sings well!”
“The hyungs who sing well are busy learning the choreography right now! The choreography is so difficult that everyone got stuck!”
I showed my refusal to the kid who asked me to teach them the song, but it didn’t have any effect. These puppies were really tireless and persistent in following me. It seemed like they were planning to chase me until I taught them.
While the other trainees were struggling, I finished all my practices. The reason I was being chased was because I got caught red-handed while teaching my roommates, Do Yuda and Woo Kangwon.
“Why are you only teaching Kangwon-hyung and Yuda-hyung! The S-Class Room 1 is having favoritism clique!”
‘I can’t help it!’
Do Yuda was the best singer among the trainees here, and Woo Kangwon had the best physique. These two, who had practically become the top two in my mind for debut members, were ones I was determined to get into the debut lineup no matter what.
“This is driving me crazy!”
***
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Oh, that’s not right. I never told you to raise your shoulders, so why are you doing that?”
‘Why did this happen?’
When I came to my sense, I found myself in front of a mirror.
After being chased and pursued by the chicks, I ended up giving them a group choreography lesson in front of the mirror. I could have just said I didn’t want to, but seeing the pitiful faces of these newly hatched chicks made my ancient conscience sting with guilt.
“Hyung, how about this?”
“If you’re going to swing your arm, you should also pull it back properly until the end. Because you’re only focused on hitting hard, it looks like you’re flapping.”
“Hey, Hyung, don’t interrupt while we’re making progress. You’re slowing down the lesson. Ask Seungbeom-hyung later if you have questions.” One of the A-Class trainees spoke coldly to the trainee who asked the question, like a military disciplinary leader.
What do you mean ask me later, I’m not even the trainer.
“Don’t fight, guys…….”
“Yes, hyung!”
The A-Class trainee, with his eyes sparkling brightly, answered right away. I couldn’t figure out where things had gone wrong at all.
“Haah….” I put my hands on my waist and let out a long sigh.
‘Our little chicks are saying they’ll work hard, so what can I do?’
Since I had already started teaching, I had no intention of doing it half-heartedly. I couldn’t stand the thought of someone who learned from me being told they sucked at dancing.
“Yeah, let’s do it until we die. Sleep is a luxury, right?”
Do Yuda’s complexion turned pale when he recognized the madness in my eyes. The chicks, who still hadn’t caught on to the situation yet, answered cheerfully.
“Yees!”
“I’ll go again. Five, six, seven, eight. Born, to be, idol. That’s me. No, you’re wrong. Again.”
The kids who relentlessly asked to be taught were often already in the right mindset to learn, and those kids usually had good skills. When I demonstrated, they were quick to follow.
But if I was going to be satisfied with that level, I wouldn’t have even started.
“Again. I didn’t teach you that.”
“Aah.”
“Again.”
“Aah.”
“Again.”
“Aah.”
“From the beginning.”
“Hyung, can we take a break?”
“Huh? Who’s whining? Come over here. You’ll practice next to me.”
.
.
.
“This is refreshing.”
After all the other chicks collapsed from exhaustion, I was the only one left standing, looking fresh and energetic. I dragged Do Yuda, who was lying sprawled out on the floor, and shoved him into the vocal practice room. Unlike the other trainees, we had to perfect our singing if we wanted to maintain our S-Class status.
“There’s no time to lie around. You need to practice. If your throat hurts, practice dancing. If your muscles are tired, practice singing.”
“Hyung, please save me!”
I closed the door to the vocal practice room. I could hear his screams through the soundproof walls. Nice voice. Your throat seemed to be in good shape, so let’s practice.
Finally gaining some freedom, I sat next to Woo Kangwon, who was leaning against the practice room wall, and drank some water. Woo Kangwon, who covered his mouth with his fist to stifle his laughter, straightened up his posture.
“You’ve worked hard. And thank you for teaching me too.”
“Hyung, I already taught you separately, so why did you join in with the kids?”
“Well, it doesn’t hurt to learn one more time.”
“Hmmm…..”
“It was so overwhelming, but I think everyone will be able to do well thanks to your clear explanation.”
“Well.”
No matter how much I taught them, one day was far too short. These weren’t already debuted idols, and the time was nowhere near enough for the trainees to be fully prepared. Most of them would probably be swallowing their tears during tomorrow’s evaluation.
“…….”
While taking a sip of water, I glanced at Woo Kangwon and noticed he had a troubled expression. It looked like he had something he wanted to say but was keeping to himself.
‘Is he anxious about the grade re-evaluation?’
“Why does your expression look so bad?”
If you’re so worried, then I guess I’ll just have to make you practice until you collapse. I asked the question, expecting that kind of response. Woo Kangwon hesitated before finally speaking up.
“Remember they said that the final members who will debut will be decided based on the results of the text vote on the last live broadcast?”
“Yeah.”
“There won’t be any ranking manipulation or anything like that, right?”
‘Huh.’
“Ranking manipulation?”
All of a sudden, he mentioned something about ranking manipulation.
When I looked up with a puzzled gaze, not fully grasping the meaning of his question, Woo Kangwon shook his head.
“Nothing. I was just talking nonsense.”
Just as the atmosphere between Woo Kangwon and me became awkward, someone ran over and started talking to me.
“Hyung! Let’s practice together.”
It was Chick No. 1, who had led the chick trainees earlier.
‘He was lying down with the other kids earlier, but has he already recovered?’
Were kids around that age always this energetic? It’s been so long that I couldn’t even remember.
“Why? Is there something you don’t understand?”
“No. I just want to get better, so I want to practice with you, hyung. I’ll do my best.”
“…Ha.”
Such a wonderful child. I’ll make you practice until you die.
I got up and headed towards the mirror with the baby Chick No. 1, but stopped halfway to glance back at Woo Kangwon.
“Why are you just watching, hyung? Follow me.”
“Huh?”
“If you have useless thoughts, you should practice. That way, your worries will disappear.”
“…….”
If you have many worries? Just practice.
If you don’t have any worries? Just practice.
***
“Haaah…..”
I was tired as hell.
I practiced until dawn with Chick No. 1 and Woo Kangwon, then caught up on some sleep. After that, I got up early in the morning and practiced individually. This was because I still hadn’t fully figured out how to handle this body.
‘I thought this mission would be a breeze, but it’s even harder than the grade evaluation stage.’
After moving for the midterm check and grade re-evaluation, I rested my eyes until it was my turn, but I was still tired.
Teaching others consumed more energy than I expected. As the teacher, I couldn’t afford to make mistakes so that the learners wouldn’t get confused. On top of that, I repeated the lyrics until they came naturally, so I was completely exhausted.
‘Chick No. 1 was more impressive than I expected.’
Chick No. 1’s exhaustion was clearly visible, but he gritted his teeth and tried to tried to keep practicing. His arms and legs were trembling, so I forced him to stop, fearing it might affect his grade evaluation.
And then there was something else that made me even more tired.
“Ugh, he’s staring at me again. Hide me.”
“He is staring at you again? I’m starting to get scared of that hyung.”
It was Lee Hwayoung, who was staring at me intently. It really felt like my face was about to be pierced by his gaze. This guy ignored the other trainees as if they were bugs, but kept staring at me in such a bothersome way.
He had been acting strange ever since we did the grade evaluation stage, but when I was teaching the chicks to dance, he would just lean against the practice room wall and watch me openly.
He kept staring like that, and whenever our eyes met, he would flash a sly smile, like a snake eyeing its prey. Everyone else seemed fine with it, but his smile made me uncomfortable.
“Ugh……”
He should have been busy socializing with the other trainees, so I didn’t know why he kept staring at me.
Does he have no friends?
‘Oh, he doesn’t.’
Poor kid. I peeked out from behind Do Yuda and then chuckled sympathetically, which caused a strange look to cross Lee Hwayoung’s face.
‘I won.’
“Why are you laughing again, hyung? This hyung is out of his mind too.”
And it wasn’t just his gaze that bothered me. I had felt it during the grade evaluation, but there was something familiar about him.
‘I feel like I’ve seen him before.’
Lee Hwayoung would join the debut lineup. He had the skills, the character, and the charm. Since we would be working together in the group anyway, it would be best to get along, but I never imagined our relationship would end up so ambiguous.
‘It’s just my luck.’
The door to the evaluation room opened wide and a member of the production staff walked out.
“The next trainee, Han Seungbeom, please come in.”
“Yes.”
Finally, it was my turn.
When I responded to the staff’s call and entered the evaluation room, what I saw was quite a sight
The stage was set up like a scene from a musical monologue, with all the background covered in black and the lights focused solely on the trainee being evaluated. In front of the stage, trainers holding clipboards were seated in a row.
The floor creaked with each step, resonating throughout the room.
‘If they set it up like this, even the kids who are good won’t be able to perform well.’
It was an environment that blatantly created pressure.
“Hello. I’m Trainee Han Seungbeom from SU Entertainment.”
“Welcome, Seungbeom.”
As I stood in the center of the stage and greeted the trainers, Seezy, who was holding the microphone, smiled and greeted me back. Her tone was soft, as if she was trying to ease the trainees’ nerves. I wasn’t nervous, though.
“We actually thought the trainees wouldn’t be prepared at all, but surprisingly, many of them came ready. Especially with their dancing. I was really surprised. I’m looking forward to seeing how far our S-Class, Trainee Han Seungbeom, has gotten.”
“Please tell us what percentage you’ve completed first.”
‘What do you mean how far. I completed everything.’
Something felt ominous.
“.…One hundred percent.”
“…….”
“…….”
There was silence.
“Hey, don’t lie.”
One of the trainers laughed in disbelief. Did I sound like I was lying? This situation was the one that felt like a lie.
“I’m not lying.”
“….Huh.”
The trainers let out a bewildered laugh.
“Did you really complete all of that? We intentionally gave an impossible mission to see how determined and skilled the trainees were.”
“Then was it Seungbeom who taught the rest of the trainees the dance?”
“Yes.”
“It seems that geniuses really do exist.”
“Even I wouldn’t be able to do that in one day. How can a trainee do this? Can you do it?”
“No, I can’t.”
The trainers, hunched over, talked in hushed tones. No matter how much they tried to lower their voices, the evaluation room was so quiet that I could hear everything.
“This is ridiculous, seriously.”
“…….”
The one who you called ridiculous is me, you adorable hubaenim.
It’s a completely unexpected and ridiculous ending.
Translator’s Corner:
Don’t worry Kangwon, this is not Produce 101