Chapter 7
Jaekyung accepted the name tag. Unlike before, it felt like it was made with slightly thicker sticker paper. Number 30. That was the number written below Jaekyung’s name.
“We’ll assign numbers for easy identification, but you’ll be called by your names.”
Being evaluated right away before even unpacking his things. Everything was so unpredictable. If he had known it would be like this, he should have watched the program beforehand.
“What did you prepare?”
“A song.”
“I see. But Jaekyung-ssi is different from the other trainees.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Not knowing what she meant, Jaekyung remained silent, and the woman smiled and said:
“Don’t you know?”
“No. Did I do something wrong?”
“No, it’s not that. Umm… Ah, would you like to look behind you?”
The woman pointed behind Jaekyung.
When Jaekyung obediently turned his head, he heard murmuring voices as a group entered.
“Wow.”
“This is really nice.”
“A hotel… wow, this is my first time in a hotel.”
A group of young men came in, busily looking around. When they spotted something interesting, they would nudge the person next to them in amazement, and when they saw something else, they would go closer to check it out, almost forgetting what they were originally there for.
Jaekyung immediately recognized them as trainees like himself. They appeared to be in their late teens to early twenties. From head to toe, they were styled like idols and moving around together—anyone could tell they were trainees participating in CHOOSE NINE.
“Ah…”
Looking around at them, Jaekyung finally understood.
“You get it now, right?”
“Yes.”
“I thought it was interesting when I first saw you, wearing a cap all by yourself…”
“I really don’t have much luggage. I don’t even have a suitcase.”
“Pardon?”
The woman asked with a strange expression. Jaekyung thought she wanted him to continue what had been left unsaid earlier.
“So I just brought a backpack.”
“I see.”
The woman smiled as if she finally understood Jaekyung. Why couldn’t she understand what I was saying? But she’s so cute.
Not realizing what kind of look she was giving him, Jaekyung lowered his head in embarrassment. Compared to him with just a light backpack, everyone else had brought large suitcases.
Jaekyung used to travel with a suitcase during his idol days, but he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t thought of it this time—it felt like he had left his mind somewhere. Well, it didn’t matter since he didn’t have a suitcase at home anyway, so he quickly lost interest.
“Seo Jaekyung trainee.”
Hearing the woman call him in a murmuring tone, Jaekyung straightened up.
“Please make it to the finals.”
“What? Oh, yes. Thank you for your support.”
“I really mean it.”
The woman’s words, “Because trainee Seo Jaekyung is so cute,” were only captured by the camera.
“Go ahead.”
Following the woman’s direction, which seemed like she had been about to say something else but changed her mind, Jaekyung looked toward where he needed to go. As another group appeared to be coming in, adding to the noise, he decided to move quickly.
“See you again.”
Jaekyung gave a slight bow to the woman who greeted him from behind.
* * *
When he entered the waiting room as directed, many trainees were already there. With snacks laid out on a long table on one side, full-length mirrors scattered around, and cameras everywhere, it wasn’t exactly a place where one could relax.
Jaekyung quickly scanned the area and found a spot in the corner where he wouldn’t be caught on camera. He put his bag down next to him and sat down, causing the men who were already there to turn and look at him.
Even at a glance, everyone else was fully prepared with makeup and stage outfits, while Jaekyung alone wore a white T-shirt and jeans. His sneakers, though clean from washing, clearly showed signs of wear… to put it directly, they looked old.
‘Maybe I dressed too casually.’
He fidgeted with his T-shirt before dropping his hands. It wasn’t that he dressed casually—this was one of the few clothes he owned. Without an agency, he had nowhere to get clothes from.
Jaekyung decided to watch the people coming in, looking only toward the entrance. It seemed like they had really prepared for today—the already handsome men had all notably styled themselves.
Not excessively like they were attending an awards ceremony, but in a way that highlighted their strengths with natural points of interest. That’s why they naturally caught the eye.
The more Jaekyung observed the incoming trainees, the less confident he became. Among such trainees, his humble appearance wouldn’t stand out. In an audition, standing out is better, and you need to be captured by the camera at least once, so in Jaekyung’s current situation…
‘Good.’
It was advantageous.
He hadn’t deliberately avoided dressing up, but he naturally became someone else’s shadow, making it a perfect environment to hide. Jaekyung unconsciously smoothed out his wrinkled T-shirt, running his palms over it several times. Though it didn’t actually remove the wrinkles, Jaekyung felt much more at ease.
Leaning against the wall and closing his eyes, the argument with his mother played like a film in his mind.
“Who said you could go to an audition? You already signed an album contract and were about to debut as a singer, so why are you going to such a place?”
“I’ve already applied. I can’t turn back now.”
“Seo Jaekyung. This contract came first.”
“That was your doing, not mine. You didn’t consider my thoughts at all.”
“Don’t be stubborn. This contract came first.”
“No. I’m going there. I’m going to debut there.”
“What is this about! Listen to your mother. The contract clearly came first.”
“I’m going to do what I want. I won’t do that, so cancel the contract.”
“Seo Jaekyung!! What’s so special about that audition!”
“It’s not just some audition. The singer you mentioned… I’m going to debut there for everyone to see. So cancel that contract. I’ll be staying at the dorms for a month, so don’t come looking for me.”
After days of arguing, he made his final stand before leaving today. He hadn’t expected his mother to stay home continuously. Jaekyung remained vigilant, sleeping lightly to keep an eye on her, worried she might do something behind his back.
And this morning, perhaps accepting his determination to become a singer, his mother didn’t try to stop him anymore.
‘Just one month.’
Jaekyung set one month as his escape time through this audition. He believed that staying at the dorms for this first month would be enough to achieve what he wanted.
He told his mother he would become a singer through the audition, but if he got eliminated, there would be nothing she could do about it. So Jaekyung aimed to be eliminated in the first ranking announcement.
Since he didn’t want to become a singer, he had no intention of lasting until the end of this audition. Having essentially achieved his first goal of avoiding that man, now he just needed to stay quiet and get eliminated.
Jaekyung relaxed completely and exhaled deeply. Having been tense and on edge for so long, his body felt heavy, and his eyelids wouldn’t stay open. As he waited to be called, the noise gradually faded away.
‘Huh?’
How long had he been asleep?
As the noise subsided and time seemed to have passed, Jaekyung straightened up from the wall. Opening his eyes and looking around, he saw only one other person besides himself. Judging by how they were practicing separately, they seemed to be an individual trainee like Jaekyung.
‘Individual trainees go last, I guess.’
He figured his turn would come soon, but his mind was still foggy from sleep.
“Trainee Seo Jaekyung.”
Hearing his name, Jaekyung stood up. Looking around, he didn’t see any suitcases, so he assumed he should bring his bag, and put it on his back.
After raising his hand to let the staff know he was Seo Jaekyung, the staff member mumbled something into a walkie-talkie and signaled him to follow.
“When you go out, you’ll immediately see the stage and judges. Put your bag down there and take it with you after your performance. Here’s your microphone.”
The staff spoke rapidly, like someone who had repeated these instructions dozens of times, and Jaekyung couldn’t even ask where to go after his performance.
He just put down his bag, took the microphone, attached the transmitter to his waist, and was told to go out immediately. Pushed onto the stage as if by invisible hands, Jaekyung was surprised to see so many people in what he had expected to be a quiet space, and his eyes widened.
Now he understood why the staff had only told him to take his bag and nothing else. Behind the seven judges, trainees were seated on tiered platforms.
This meant that after his song, Jaekyung would need to take his bag and go where they were sitting, and also…
It wasn’t just the judges who would be listening to his song.
‘What have I done?’
He should have researched this audition before coming. He should have at least called to find out what the process was like after passing the preliminaries.
He hadn’t expected to sing in front of over a hundred people. Jaekyung hesitated briefly, then decided he should at least greet everyone first and bowed at the waist.
“I’m Seo Jaekyung.”
“…”
No one responded to Jaekyung’s introduction. He turned his head toward the judges, but caught sight of someone waving his arms in his peripheral vision. A man wearing a headset was pointing to the side, where a staff member was holding up a sketchbook.
[Start now.]
“Ah…”
Jaekyung, who had thought he should start singing when the judges told him to, nodded and lifted the microphone. Assuming he should sing now, he was about to start the first verse when he paused. Instead, he looked at the man with the headset.
“But aren’t you going to play the MR? Ah…”
Unlike before, they had asked which song he would sing in advance, but the music wasn’t playing, so he asked. But just then, the music started.
I should have waited a bit longer.
‘This song has no accompaniment for the first verse.’
He had chosen it himself but still made a mistake. Jaekyung bit his lip in embarrassment but then calmed himself.
‘It doesn’t matter if I get eliminated here, I won’t be going home right away anyway.’
The song was already heading toward the chorus, and there was no way they would restart it, so Jaekyung decided to just start singing from the middle.
Right at the high note.
“Even if the world abandons me
I will endure.”
The microphone quality was good, and it felt nice to have his voice perfectly captured. Jaekyung continued singing until the MR faded out.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
