Chapter 16 |
I scrambled to my feet and ran to Jay. Now was not the time to lie down sprawled out.
“Give it to me.”
“Ack.”
I snatched the laptop out of Jay’s hand and looked at the names written in the messenger, and something about them felt familiar. In an ominous way.
[Forest Girl Group B: Han Seungbeom, Lee Danbi, Kim Sangjoong, Park Jiwon, Kim Hojun, Nagi Zen, Yamada Hayato.]
“These guys, no way.”
“Yeah, there are a few of those chicks that hyung taught. You probably don’t know the Japanese trainees because they didn’t join the practice very often, hyung.”
“The S-Class is Lee Danbi.”
‘He’s the Chick No. 1.’
My temples throbbed with pain.
‘If the only skilled person is Lee Danbi, we’re in a bit of a tight spot.’
Even though Lee Danbi had been promoted to S-Class, it was more due to his rapid growth and dramatic narrative being highly praised. In terms of actual skills, he was only in the upper ranks of A-Class. From what I observed, Baek Kiryang, who was demoted from the S-Class, had better skills.
‘Baek Kiryang is too timid to be of any use on stage, though.’
Although it was truly admirable that he danced until his body was about to break and worked hard, Lee Danbi showed signs of being young and inexperienced in his physical abilities and singing skill.
“This a big problem!”
“You keep quiet.”
I firmly pushed down Jay, who had suddenly poked his head out to speak. Seeing the root cause of all this trouble acting so thoughtlessly gave me a headache.
“Have they decided on the song?”
“Forest Girl. It’s a song by a girl group famous for their dreamy concept.”
“…..Ha.”
It was obstacle after obstacle. I had no idea how to handle a dreamy concept with those inexperienced kids. Still, it was fortunate that I didn’t have to do a sexy concept with a bunch of babies.
I carefully folded the paper and slipped it into my pocket. Then, I quickly put on my coat. Every second was precious in this situation.
“What are you looking at?”
“Huh?”
“Go out and get a taxi quickly. I don’t want to ride in the car you’re driving right now. And give me your laptop.”
“For what?”
“I’m going to learn all the choreography and try to figure out any means until we get to the Lucky Center.”
“You said you were going to talk to me.”
Jay stood towering over me, glaring at me.
Honestly, I was just trying to coax him to calm down, but there was nothing I could say to him.
All this time, Kang Hyukwoo had been holding you as hostages and threatening me, so I couldn’t say anything. I’m sorry. If I told him this, he wouldn’t just stay quiet. I’d rather be stabbed to death than have Jay find out the truth and go after Kang Hyukwoo.
‘…Let’s just brush it off.’
“If you hadn’t caused this mess, we would have time to talk. Now that my group selection is ruined, I’m going to be too busy with practice, there’s no way we can have a long conversation.”
Jay glared at me with all his might. But what could he do? It was something he brought upon himself, so he had nothing to say. If anything, the person who should be glaring was me.
‘He’s going to cause a scene again.’
I held out both hands in front of me, as if dealing with a wild animal, and maintained a safe distance. Then, I began to gently comfort him.
“….The reason I didn’t say anything wasn’t because I was tired of you, but because there were some circumstances. And that hasn’t changed. I’ve never once thought of you as a burden. How could I think that way about you, hmm?”
“Are you saying that even now, you still can’t tell me because of those circumstances?”
“Yeah. If I do, it’ll make things harder for me.”
“…..You’re purposely saying it like that, because you know I can’t be tough if you talk to me in that way.”
“That’s right. Just let me control you.”
That guy, who had been thinking for a while at my words about how it would make things harder for me, frowned in displeasure. Then he muttered quietly.
“Now that I know it wasn’t because you hated us … I’ll wait until you can talk about it. I’m used to waiting.”
“Thank you. For understanding.”
‘Phew.’
Only after passing the crisis was I able to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Instead, stay by my side. As long as you’re alive, I can endure anything. But if you disappear again like last time, I’ll turn everything upside down and I’ll die too.”
Just as I was beginning to feel relieved, the guy with his eyes wide open spoke at a rapid pace.
‘What do you mean by turn everything upside down?’
A chill ran down my spine. I had no idea what this crazy guy meant by saying he would turn everything upside down.
“Okay, I promise.”
After I made a soulless promise, he grabbed his wallet and led the way. Because Han Seungbeom, being a trainee, didn’t even have a credit card.
***
I hurried into the practice room after getting into the taxi that Jay called, and it was no joke. The situation was truly a mess.
‘It’s quite a sight.’
The other teams were smoothly progressing with their practice, centered around the S-Class trainees, while only my team was sitting on the floor with a stagnant atmosphere.
When they saw me entered the practice room, they got up with joy.
“Seungbeom-hyung! I heard you were sick. Are you feeling better?”
“We were worried.”
“I’m feeling better now. I’m sorry I’m late.”
After observing the members’ mood, I roughly got the sense of what was going on.
“Hello.”
The Japanese trainee B, Nagi Zen, suddenly stood up and approached me. He then smiled with his eyes over his black mask and greeted me.
“…….”
I paused for a moment when I saw his face. My honest impression was this.
‘Hey, you look kinda shady.’
I took back everything I said about Lee Hwayoung having a snake-like smile. In reality, Lee Hwayoung was closer to a surreal being, like an elf or a dragon.
The real snake was this guy.
‘If I’m sleeping in the practice room, it feels like he’s going to hit me in the head with a stone while my back is turned.’
His hair was strange too. It wasn’t the typical lemon yellow that idols often have, nor was it the natural blonde like Lee Hwayoung’s. It was more like a gangster’s yellow.
‘Why the hell is he dying his hair in such a color.’
His pitch-black eyes were lifeless, lacking any shine. I nodded roughly and turned my gaze away from the guy who was staring at me without moving. It felt like I shouldn’t maintain eye contact for too long.
“Our only hope is you, hyung.”
“We haven’t made any progress yet……”
The Korean chicks, who surrounded me, chirped nonstop at the right time.
“What did they say about the setup?”
“The arrangement is up to us. If we have any preferences for costumes or stage props, they asked us to organize them in advance and pass them on to the production team later.”
“What if we don’t submit anything?”
“They said the production team will prepare the stage as closely as possible to the original singers’ stage. Also, the team that wins the on-site voting will receive benefit votes. For now, they told us to decide on our positions and submit them, so we’ve roughly written them down among ourselves.”
After hearing Lee Danbi’s neat summary, I nodded and held out my hand.
“Show me.”
“Yes.”
[Leader: Han Seungbeom
Center: Han Seungbeom
Main Vocal 1: Han Seungbeom
Main Vocal 2: Park Jiwon
Sub Vocal 1: Lee Danbi
Sub Vocal 2: Nagi Zen
Sub Vocal 3: Yamada Hayato
Rapper 1: Kim Sangjoong]
‘What. This is just Han Seungbeom and friends.’
When I received the position paper, it turned out I was the leader, the main vocalist, and the center. There was nothing written about the dance position, but I would probably be the main dancer as well.
“I … got a lot. Quite a lot.”
“I recommended it! I did well, right!” Lee Danbi answered with shining eyes.
‘You didn’t.’
If I did it all by myself like this, the viewers would criticize me for being greedy. Since I wasn’t there to watch the position selection process, I had no idea how it would be edited.
“Did the other members agree?”
“Yes! And since you’re the oldest, being the leader was really unavoidable, hyung.”
“Are the Japanese trainees okay with their positions?”
I made an O shape with my finger and asked, and the two Japanese trainees roughly understood and nodded. I clapped my hands once and said solemnly.
“Okay. Let’s start with singing.”
The positions were ridiculous, but I knew it was the best option in this current situation, so what we had to do was start practicing as quickly as possible.
.
.
.
“Flowers are running to the skee.”
“Again. It’s not ske. Notice that your mouth is not made into a round circle, but slightly parted sideways, showing your lower teeth, making it look horizontally elongated.”
“Skii.”
“Yes. It sounds much better.”
After gathering together and practicing for a while, I began to see the general issues began.
First of all, the two Japanese trainees had so many things to fix, starting with their vocal technique. I couldn’t even tell what they had been listening to and learning from. Their singing made me questioning the authenticity of all the J-POP songs I had heard.
Among other problems, the most serious one was the Japanese A’s pronunciation.
“Maybe.”
“Maibi.”
“No. Don’t move your tongue. Maybe.”
“Mebi.”
“Okay.”
‘The trainer’s mid-evaluation is in four days….’
I, in reality, had to correct every single pronunciation, down to the shape of his mouth.
I wasn’t sure if it was due to a lack of pronunciation training from his agency or his own lack of effort, but his pronunciation of vowels and consonants, especially those that didn’t exist in Japanese language, was quite inaccurate. This wasn’t a problem in everyday conversation, but it became a significant issue when singing.
Since I had already braced myself for providing pronunciation guidance when I heard there would be a Japanese member, I was more than happy to correct him whenever necessary.
However, aside from his skills, there was a crucial problem.
“Ah, can’t we take a break? I’m tired.”
“We don’t have the time?”
Unlike Japanese trainee B, who followed the practice more willingly than expected, Japanese trainee A unexpectedly showed an insincere attitude.
“I’m so tired. He keeps finding fault with everything … do we really have to work this hard? I just want to finish this program and go back to Japan. Don’t you feel the same way?”
“Well.”
Perhaps thinking that I wouldn’t understand if he spoke in Japanese, Japanese trainee A blatantly revealed his true intentions. What was unfortunate was that Japanese trainee B didn’t respond at all, and that I could understand Japanese because I had worked in Japan.
“Let’s concentrate. We’re busy right now. Stop chatting.”
“That’s right, this is not the time for us to do this.”
After I firmly gave a warning, the members, who had been anxiously watching the other group start preparing their choreography, joined in. Then, Japanese trainee A, as if trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere, grinned and said.
“We’re not bad. This is good enough. If we don’t enjoy it, the fans won’t enjoy it either, so let’s take it easy.”
“…….”
“The important thing is the smile! It’s all about showing charm. That’s how it is in our country.”
The person who caused the delay tried to miraculously rationalize the situation, but he only made things worse.
‘He’s pretentious.’
Despair washed over the faces of the team members as they realized that this guy was a lost cause. At this point, the team’s morale would be negatively affected.
As someone who joined the practice late, I didn’t want to criticize him, but I realized that staying silent would only hinder our practice progress.
“Hey, if you’re not going to dance or sing properly, why are you even on stage?”
But before I could even open my mouth, a young voice blasted out from next to me.
“…….”
“…….”
There was something stuck to my side.
“Oh, hyung. Don’t mind me.”
A boy with curly hair, long eyelashes, soft cheeks that hadn’t lost their baby fat, and a cute appearance that perfectly matched his pink t-shirt. He was the youngest among my team members, Lee Danbi.
‘You’re sticking to my body right now, so it’s hard not to mind.’
“There are many hardworking and talented people in J-POP too. Don’t blame the culture just because Yamato-hyung has no skills and is bringing shame to your country.”
Hearing the phrase “bringing shame to your country“, Japanese trainee A briefly thought about its meaning, then startled and shook his head noisily.
“No. I just think charm appeal is important…..”
“You’re saying it’s all about appeal, but let’s be real, you’re just making excuses because you can’t dance or sing. But what can we do? From what I see, I don’t think you can even do that appeal either.”
‘Whoa. It’s the mouth of terror.’
If this was a game, it would have been a critical mental attack.
“Aren’t you being too harsh?”
Japanese A jumped to his feet in anger, and Lee Danbi followed suit.
“I’m just stating the facts, but if you feel it’s too harsh, perhaps you should reflect on your own actions.”
‘You look like a rabbit biting a giraffe.’
His face looked as harmless as a rabbit, but his temper was like a tiger.
The unexpected side of Lee Danbi made me regain my composure. Seeing that it seemed like a fight might break out between the two of us, I wrapped my arm around the relatively smaller Lee Danbi’s shoulder, and stepped back a little.
“Can you see? The kids, whose elimination or survival is based on just the benefit, are practicing until they bleed their noses. If you want to keep up that lazy attitude, don’t ruin the lives of those who are desperate and just leave. Go to a place where you can succeed just by being charming. Go and flash your happy smile as much as you want. But does such a place even exist?”
“He-heey!”
“If you have something to say, say it. If you can refute what I’m saying, even in Japanese, go ahead. I’m willing to listen. But I’m pretty sure you can’t, hyung.”
Lee Danbi glared with wide eyes, veins bulging on his neck, and kept snapping until the end. Then, Japanese A, seemingly at a loss for words, mumbled incoherently and stormed out of the room.
Lee Danbi, who had been watching Yamada’s back with an indifferent expression, looked up at me with a bashful smile.
“I don’t think I said anything wrong. Right, hyung?”
‘Wow.’
It was a well-known fact that pretty flowers often hide thorns.
But this adorable boy had those thorns hidden in his tongue.
But why is he sticking close to my side while swinging his thorn?
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Translator’s Corner:
Boy … if this was mnet, you’re going to get that evil edit next episode…..