Chapter 10 |
That night, after all the evaluations were completed, we were able to open the re-evaluation report cards in our respective lockers.
As expected, Do Yuda, Woo Kangwon, and I maintained our S-Class status. I also heard that Lee Hwayoung kept his grade.
In fact, the S-Class trainees weren’t particularly happy about the results. For us, getting an S was a given, so the only thing we felt was relief.
Unlike the frequent grade changes in the A to D grades, there was only one dropout from the S-Class. The trainee, who had been staying in S-Class Room 2, was staring blankly as all his belongings were moved to the B-Class room.
Also, the number of people in S-Class was set at seven from the start, and only seven blue S-Class uniforms were made. As a result, the trainee had to hand over his clothes to the new S-Class trainee who immediately took his place.
The camera captured the entire moment of despair, and after taking all the footage, it left without any regrets.
We, who were in the next room, watched the whole thing from start to finish. Gone were the bright spirits of the first day, and in a somber atmosphere, preparations for the official theme song stage continued.
***
“Alright, everyone, have you been practicing well?”
“I’ve just finished classes with other grades as well, and as expected, there is a noticeable difference. Our S-Classes are already so far advanced that I’m not worried about the stage at all. If there’s something you guys have to do, what would it be?”
Here came what I was expecting.
“We have to decide the center for the official theme song.”
At Jay’s words, the trainees nodded with solemn looks in their eyes.
“But why is the atmosphere like this? Why is everyone so stiff? You’ve all prepared the stage the best, but the atmosphere here is a mess.” A slightly embarrassed Jay chuckled and made a joke.
“…….”
‘Why do you think.’
People revealed their true colors in dangerous and stressful situations. Even the parts of themselves they usually tried to hide came out when their brains were exhausted, as they could no longer maintain the act.
Contestants who act selfishly or have a bad attitude on TV programs are not doing it intentionally. They just can’t control themselves.
This harsh environment was set up for that.
‘The trainees are already on edge.’
As for me, I had been through all sorts of challenges, so I was fine, but the mental fatigue the trainees were feeling had already reached its limit. Now, the only ones still smiling here were the fool Do Yuda, who smiled out of habit, and the weirdo Lee Hwayoung.
“…….”
“Come on, fighting! Cheer up! We have to do what we need to do, right? The center will be chosen through an anonymous vote within the S-Class trainees. Of course, the cameras will capture who everyone votes for. From now on, vote for one person, excluding yourself. You have 5 minutes to discuss! Let’s start!”
Because Lee Hwayoung was not the kind of person who would come just because someone asked, as soon as Jay pressed the timer, the trainees quickly gathered around him. We had only been together for a few days, but he already seemed more like a foe than a friend.
“Oh.”
Seeing six people rushing towards him, Lee Hwayoung let out an exclamation. His snobbish attitude was infuriating.
“What’s the criteria for picking? I hates votes with the intention to block others1. After all, the one chosen will be the face of our program, and I want to show the best performance possible.”
“I agree.”
“You can’t purposely choose someone who lacks skill. I am counting on you all. Please, don’t disappoint me with an ugly performance.”
Lee Hwayoung smiled brightly and warned.
‘When we watch the video footage later, he probably won’t leave the person who made a spiteful vote alone.’
“If you mess up the performance while being in charge of the center position, you’re on your own, got it?”
Of course, I shared the same sentiment.
As I spoke with a bright smile to support Lee Hwayoung, the other trainees, whose faces had turned pale, quickly put their heads together and began to discuss.
“Who is the most desperate?”
“Everyone here worked hard. We all know that.”
“What about the ones who sing well?”
“But the public stage is not live, it’s lip-syncing.”
“Then maybe we should prioritize the dancing.”
On the day of the performance, we’re going to wear microphones for appearance, but the song would be done by AR track. It’s impossible to manage 77 people of varying singing abilities singing at the same time.
“Then someone with outstanding looks who can captivate the public?”
“Or someone who can become a hot topic.”
“Let’s consider all of these criteria together, and we’ll each vote for who we think is the best fit.”
“Okay!”
“I agree.”
The five minutes are up, and one by one, the trainees dropped their ballots into the ballot box.
After the last person finished voting, Jay picked up the ballot box, shook it, and then dumped the inside all at once onto the table. He opened it one by one.
“Okay, the first ballot is for … Trainee Han Seungbeom.”
“Oh, wow, hyung! You’re the best!” Do Yuda said playfully, nudging me.
“I’ll open the second one.”
Jay, who smiled at us, opened the second ballot. His eyes widened.
“It’s Trainee Han Seungbeom. The third one is……”
After opening the third ballot, Jay hesitated for a moment, then opened all the ballots by himself without saying a word. Then, with a look of disbelief on his face, he showed us the ballots.
“….Except for one vote, it’s all for Trainee Han Seungbeom. The center has been decided to be Trainee Han Seungbeom.”
Of course, obviously.
Han Seungbeom was incredibly handsome, and I was the best dancer. I was already pretty famous as well. I wasn’t surprised by the outcome, as it was pretty much expected.
“Hyung, please make the payment by tomorrow.”
“I want drinks.”
“What do you mean.”
The trainees who voted for me made a joke. It was an unreasonable comment, but I was relieved to hear it, as it seemed to lighten the depressed atmosphere.
“Then who’s the other one?”
After chirping with another trainees for a while, Do Yuda asked playfully. It felt ominous. Jay grinned and picked up the microphone.
“N-no!”
“Trainee Han Seungbeom chose Trainee Nicholas.”
Before I could even say “no”, that bastard Jay spilled it. I stiffened like a stone, my hands outstretched in vain.
“Really?” Lee Hwayoung, with a feigned shocked expression, smiled and looked at me.
‘XX…….’
I simply thought, with a rational judgment, that it would be helpful for the program. However, it was pointless to say that to Lee Hwayoung.
“And there’s something else I need to tell you.”
Jay, who had drawn everyone’s attention by clapping his hands, spoke; perhaps deciding it was time to leave me, who had been completely drained, alone.
“The S-Class trainees, who relatively have more free time, will be paired up one by one with the trainers to perform a collaboration stage. After finishing the scheduled lessons, tonight, each trainer will select one trainee. The selected trainee will then prepare the stage with their trainer.”
This was something that didn’t exist last year.
‘They’re seriously not hiding the fact that they increased the number of idol trainers just to boost the program’s ratings.’
“Of course, we plan to use hit songs, so don’t stress too much about learning the choreography or song. After all, majority part of the performance will be filled by the trainer. Just think of it as a special appearance. Who will the stylish Trainer Jay collaborate with on stage? Please look forward to it, everyone! Ahh!”
Jay crossed his arms and gave himself a self-hug, acting cute. Seriously, he did all sort of random things.
“…….”
“…….”
“That’s interesting.”
As the silence continued, only Lee Hwayoung’s voice, as if he had seen something fascinating, echoed.
***
When Jay left for another schedule, all the cameras and equipment were gone. Perhaps they were going to film how the other grades struggled to master the choreography.
Even without the camera, we couldn’t cancel the scheduled class, so the S-Class dance lesson began. Today’s trainer was Frick.
“He’s not coming?”
“Did today’s class get canceled?”
After waiting for about 20 minutes, the S-Class trainees started to murmur when Frick didn’t arrive. But then, Frick strode in with a sullen look on his face.
“Hello!”
The guy who nodded at the trainees’ greetings stood in front of the mirror.
“Come on, let’s get started.”
“Yes!”
“First of all, Trainer Jay asked me to teach you the choreography again. I’ll show you once.”
“Yes!”
“One, two, three, four. Kick with your right foot.”
The choreography replay followed, and I frowned as I watched Frick’s dance. It was completely wrong.
‘Geez, so you were criticizing the trainees’ mistake so much, but you didn’t even copy the choreography correctly?’
Do Yuda, who had also spotted the error in the dance move, hesitated, his lips moving. The other trainees looked equally confused.
“Be quiet. Who’s talking during class?”
“Oh, I……”
“Shut up. I told you to be quiet.”
Do Yuda, who was dispirited by Frick’s threatening tone, bit his lip and then closed his mouth. Seeing him angry without even realizing he was wrong, it seemed this lesson was hopeless. I held back my anger and opened my mouth.
“Trainer-nim, you did the moves wrong. You skipped the arm movement.”
“…….”
I was ignored.
“Five, six, seven, eight. Anyone who couldn’t memorize up to here?”
“The movement just now was with the right foot, not the left foot.”
But once I bite, I never let go. I pointed it out again without backing down.
“…….”
“Now, you should hit your elbow first and then lift your left foot.”
“….Haa.”
When I pointed it out for the third time, the guy openly sighed, cracked his neck, and walked over to me with a clipboard. He flipped through a few pages before opening my profile. Then, he started tapping me with the edge of the clipboard.
“Ah, you. The two-month-old. What’s your name again? Han Seungbeom? Hey, if you’re so dissatisfied, you teach. Don’t just flap your mouth over there. Do you think this is easy?”
“…….”
‘Ah, this b*stard. He’s getting nastier and nastier.’
If you were wrong, you should just apologize and teach again, but instead of doing that, he got angry at me for correcting him.
“Why aren’t you coming out quickly? What, you can’t do it? If you think you can do it better, come out and show me.”
Frick snickered while provoking me. I quickly walked forward and stood right beside him.
“Shall I? Thank you for the opportunity. You mean I should learn while teaching others, right? I will do my best.”
“What?”
I’ve tried it once, so why wouldn’t I be able to do it twice? I raised both hands politely towards the corner of the practice room.
“I have to stand in the center to teach.”
Get out of the way.
Among the other trainees who were anxiously watching the situation, Lee Hwayoung, who had been crossing his arms, raised one arm to cover his mouth as he laughed.
“Kh, hahaha … ah, I’m going crazy.”
“Are you laughing? Which b*stard…..”
Frick, who had been glaring at me, turned around at the sound of laughter coming from behind. Then, Lee Hwayoung, who made eye contact with Frick, made a serious face and tilted his head to one side.
“Who would rudely look at someone else during a conversation?”
Frick shifted his gaze back to me. He probably didn’t expect that the person who had laughed was Lee Hwayoung. Fortunately, it seemed he still had the rational judgment to realize that if he treated Lee Hwayoung carelessly, his livelihood would be cut off.
Seeing that, Lee Hwayoung held his stomach and laughed so hard that tears were forming in the corners of his eyes.
“Aha, ahahahahaha!”
This was the first time I’d ever seen him laugh like that.
The Sanghwa Group was a company that completely out of Frick’s league. Even putting the Sanghwa Group aside, Lee Hwayoung’s maternal family was an even bigger issue.
Frick, reddened with anger, bit his lip and left the room.
“….He left?”
“Then the teacher who kicked him out should take responsibility and teach the class.” Lee Hwayoung spoke up, wiping away his tears.
“But don’t you all know how to do it? I’ve already taught you everything.”
“Please teach us one more time, teacher-nim. We don’t have anything else to do.”
“Okay.”
At Lee Hwayoung’s forced joke, I casually began conducting the class. Perhaps, we’re more compatible than I expected.
***
After dinner, the S-Class trainees, including myself, followed the production crew to a large room. When we opened the door, the cameras and lights were already set up, and the trainers were standing in a row.
“Hello.”
We greeted the trainers and walked in, each of us standing in front of a cardboard sign with our name printed on it.
“From now on, the trainers will pick the trainees. We’ll start at the same time and the first one to reach them will get them, so hurry and grab them. Fighting!”
Jay, holding the microphone, read from the script and quickly joined the line. Next to him, Frick was glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me. To be fair, if he was going to get angry, he should be directing it at Lee Hwayoung first, but it seemed like he was blaming only me.
‘He’s going to pick me.’
A boring guy. He’s just playing it safe.
“…….”
A trainer teaching an arrogant trainee a lesson. I had already known that kind of scene was what he hoped for.
‘Sea of hope.’
I didn’t care which trainee the other trainers chose. I was only going after one. Let’s show the public the rare sight of a trainer losing to a trainee in terms of skill.
I waited quietly for Frick.
“Three, two, one! Please catch a trainee!”
“Aaaaaah!”
“Trainee Do Yuda!”
“Our Danbi!”
“Kangwon-aaah!”
In response to the main PD’s shout, the trainers screamed and ran to the trainees they wanted.
And in front of me was…….
“Trainee Han Seungbeom! Yoohoo!”
There was Jay with his arms open and a huge smile on his face.
“…….”
It was the development I wanted least. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded anyone else coming, I just wanted to avoid this guy.
‘I’m screwed.’
“Trainer Jay’s choice is trainee Han Seungbeom!”
Seeing Jay cheerfully running toward me, Frick turned away. He had no choice. After all, Jay was much more senior.
Frick, who had his first choice taken by Jay and was too late, ended up going to Lee Hwayoung, who all the trainers were afraid of until the end. With his arms crossed, Lee Hwayoung looked down at Frick and smiled coldly.
“Being on time is a must.”
“…….”
Frick’s face hardened.
‘The bully is getting bullied.’
“Waa!”
Jay, who hugged me tightly, smiled brightly despite the atmosphere around us,
He says it’s great. Meanwhile, I’m dying with this headache.
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Translator’s Corner:
- It means vote that is given not because someone is deserving it, but because the person voted trying to keep someone else in check. For example, A is the best but he’s so popular. So the other will vote the less popular trainee (than them) to block A’s popularity, ↩︎
They don’t pay MC enough for all of this sakljsdhjfjkd Nicholas I support your abuse of power