Chapter 10
While returning to the place he had been earlier, Jaekyung moved to a more inconspicuous corner. Though it seemed to be fully exposed to the cameras, if you looked carefully, there was a blind spot. The edge of the middle tier.
It was a position where he could be hidden by people in front of him, or completely out of view from the cameras on either side, or a position that would be partially cut off even by the camera in the center. Of course, he couldn’t avoid people directly carrying cameras and filming. Still, Jaekyung felt at ease thinking they wouldn’t bother to climb up just to film him.
After Jaekyung sat down, Chanhyung, who had been following behind, stopped midway. He was about to sit together but was surprised by the spot, then exchanged awkward glances with others. Jaekyung ignored Chanhyung and looked ahead.
Just because they shared a room didn’t mean they had to stick together, so he’d prefer if they stayed apart. Chanhyung went to sit elsewhere with his roommates. Satisfied with their decision since it was better to appear on camera even once, Jaekyung leaned his back against the wall comfortably.
‘Jeon Sanguk, of all people…’
Lee Jungwoo wasn’t even worth mentioning. Jeon Sanguk was a trainee he’d met at White Entertainment. And he was also the reason Jaekyung had left that agency. A trainee who had spread all sorts of rumors about him. Even if it stemmed from jealousy, he had been a malicious bully. Jaekyung had expected to see familiar faces when participating in the audition. But the fact that it was Jeon Sanguk was particularly unpleasant. Not wanting to waste time thinking about him, Jaekyung shook his head.
‘I just need to avoid him.’
There was no benefit in acknowledging each other here anyway. Sanguk had only smiled when he saw Jaekyung but didn’t approach. Jaekyung bent forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. He propped his chin on the back of his hand, then looked up at the presence approaching beside him. Someone tall enough that he had to look up quite a bit came over and sat next to Jaekyung. Only then could he clearly see the face, and Jaekyung frowned.
‘Why is he sitting here?’
Jaekyung glared at him briefly before quickly turning his head away. To Jungwoo, it might just be sitting in an empty spot, so there was no need to show emotion and form a connection.
‘This is uncomfortable.’
Still, he disliked it. Jaekyung straightened his body and pushed his hips closer to the wall. Though he wanted to distance himself as much as possible, he had barely moved before hitting the wall.
With nowhere to escape, hating Jungwoo’s presence, Jaekyung added new wrinkles to his already crumpled shirt as he tried to calm his agitated feelings.
‘Just don’t get caught on camera. Just not on camera.’
Thinking of somehow avoiding the cameras that would focus on Jungwoo, Jaekyung turned his head in the opposite direction.
“Um…”
Just as Jungwoo was about to say something, the murmuring grew louder, and soon cheers erupted for one person.
“Seems like you’ve rested well. The accommodations are quite nice, aren’t they?”
PD Choi’s words were met with another round of cheers. Recognizing that most seemed satisfied, he smiled with satisfaction.
“I’m very pleased that a five-star hotel is our first dormitory. This is an external secret, but our production team held a celebration party the day the location was secured.”
Laughter spread at PD Choi’s smooth and skilled presentation.
“Jokes aside, let’s get to the main point. There are two reasons why I called you here.”
Jaekyung was bothered by Jungwoo sitting next to him, but he tried to focus only on PD Choi, doing his best not to turn his head toward Jungwoo.
“First is the most important… very important…”
Jaekyung could guess what the man was about to say as he dragged out his words.
“Song.”
“It’s the song.”
Jaekyung felt no satisfaction in getting it right as he waited for PD Choi’s next words.
“Talking about it in detail can’t beat hearing it once, right? Please play the song.”
On PD Choi’s signal, the lights went out and the screen turned white. After a brief silence, a video with vibrant colors appeared on the screen along with the title.
“choose a boy”
I’ve been waiting for the time to meet you every day.
Save me from this prison surrounded by mirrors.
Only you can save me.
Take my hand.
Will you give me your heart?
I am your only boy.
Call my name.
It hooked right from the beginning.
‘Oh? I recognize this.’
It was a song that often played on the streets, so he recognized it immediately without having to look it up. Jaekyung hummed along since it was a song he’d heard frequently on the streets.
‘This is easy.’
The explicit lyrics asking to be chosen, the mainstream melody, and the addictive hook were flawlessly arranged.
It was simple enough to understand after just one listen, with easy-to-chant sections and appropriate segments to showcase vocal skills.
Thinking about it, he had wondered how the program succeeded when it started with nothing. Even though Jungwoo was popular, people needed to watch the program to confirm his existence. However, the more he looked, the more meticulously planned details were revealed.
They picked a mainstream, decent song and had a flawless plan. Additionally, elements that motivated the trainees were strategically placed throughout. The dormitory selection was a no-brainer. With these thoughts, the previously scruffy-looking PD Choi suddenly seemed impressive.
As the hook returned, Jaekyung naturally mouthed along, then quickly closed his mouth when the song ended.
He felt someone watching him while he was singing along, but he rationalized that it couldn’t be Jungwoo. Jaekyung tried to return to his previous posture, putting his hands in his pockets and rounding his back, which removed Jungwoo from his line of sight.
‘That works.’
Hoping to avoid the cameras as well, he looked at PD Choi.
“How’s the song?”
“It’s good!”
“It’s amazing!”
Excited voices came from everywhere. PD Choi shrugged as if he had expected this reaction.
“The second thing is even more important. It could be more important than the song. Yes…”
As the atmosphere tightened again, creating tension, Jaekyung watched with interest.
“A song is finished after one performance, but not the second thing. That’s why it could be more important. It’s the uniform. There are many images that come to mind with uniforms, right? School uniforms, suits are nice too… Since you’re all so exceptional, I think you could pull off any outfit.”
Jaekyung felt a small anxiety creeping in at PD Choi’s drawn-out speech pattern.
“So we’re going to decide on the uniform at this meeting.”
‘What?’
They haven’t prepared clothes for 99 people in advance and are deciding now?
“That said, there would be supply issues if we prepared outfits completely outside our expectations, so we’ve narrowed down a few candidates.”
As soon as PD Choi finished speaking, seven photos appeared on the projected screen.
“We’ll select one from these options.”
The trainees’ eyes were all fixated on the screen, to the point where one might doubt if they were listening to him. Unlike them, Jaekyung looked with seemingly little interest. But he was still looking.
‘School uniform, suit, cardigan… what’s that?’
A panda costume, a blue mechanic jumpsuit (why is there no inner shirt?), pajamas, and…
‘A fairy?’
Jaekyung covered his gaping mouth in shock.
“Ugh! What’s with the fairy outfit?”
Someone’s scream-like comment resonated with everyone. Imagining 99 people in panda costumes as a group, it seemed terrible, like some sort of zoo concept. Moreover, the photo showed a man in a panda costume with meticulous white paint and black eyes as makeup. But even the panda costume seemed acceptable compared to the fairy outfit with wings, which was extremely horrendous. Having dragonfly wings on the back was one thing, but the pink sheer-like clothing with sparkly shorts escalated Jaekyung’s anxiety to the extreme.
‘The pajamas seem kind of okay.’
Though the fabric looked thin, he had the shallow thought that it might be convenient since he wouldn’t have to change before sleeping.
“Do you want to wear pajamas?”
Startled by the sudden question from beside him, Jaekyung forcibly turned his stiff neck toward the person who addressed him. Why is he talking to me?
“You kept looking at the pajamas.”
“Um…”
“Why?”
“We’re not close enough to speak informally to each other.”
Jaekyung distanced himself from Jungwoo, who seemed to have been watching him. He didn’t even need to be conscious of the fact that Jungwoo knew he found the pajamas acceptable. More than that, the informal speech bothered him. He disliked the approach from someone he hadn’t been close to at 19, was distant with at 22, and still wasn’t friendly with at 25.
“I’m sorry, but I’m very reserved with strangers. Let’s speak informally when we get more comfortable.”
He saw Jungwoo’s neat eyebrows slightly raise, but Jaekyung turned his gaze back to the screen.
‘Don’t get close, don’t speak informally.’
Feeling like he had somewhat avenged the cold treatment he received while they were active together, Jaekyung’s mood improved.
“The person who succeeds in the mission will get an additional minute and the authority to select the uniform.”
“Ah…”
So one person will decide. Jaekyung’s interest ended there. He wasn’t interested anymore since he was certain that person wouldn’t be him.
“Oh, and this is both an individual and team competition.”
PD Choi smiled slyly.
“If everyone fails because they’re too busy competing against each other, one option will be removed from the selection. So if no one ranks first by the end, the uniform you’ll wear will probably be…”
Jaekyung swallowed hard and raised his head toward the screen.
“The panda costume?”
“Ah…”
Jaekyung stroked his arm with a disgusted expression. I really hate that.
“Shall we begin then?”
PD Choi’s smile deepened.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
