Chapter 41
While thinking the mission was absurd, he began to get curious about what clothes the next person would be wearing. Jaekyung gauged the time available for practice while also watching to see who would come in next.
“I’m here.”
“Huh…”
Seeing Yang Chaejun enter shyly, Jaekyung let out an exasperated sigh. There was already one kid he was worried might split his pants (Min Taeyeon), and now the kid who got center came with wings.
Small feathers that had fallen from the wings instead of a halo behind him revealed Yang Chaejun’s presence.
“An angel.”
Taeyeon, who had just been running around playfully in front of the camera, circled around Yang Chaejun with sparkling eyes as if delighted. Yang Chaejun just clasped his hands together shyly, but feathers and cotton that had escaped from his wings went into Taeyeon’s mouth as he laughed.
It was quite a sight – Taeyeon clutching his throat and coughing, and Yang Chaejun apologetically patting his back while creating even more cotton dust. Moreover, Yang Chaejun’s wings were more than twice the size of his body, touching everything around him. At this ridiculous scene, Jaekyung wondered if this was punishment.
Glancing at the camera, he saw staff silently laughing. They must find it amusing even though they already knew everything.
‘Are they telling us to skip practice today?’
Thinking that, Jaekyung reflexively looked up at the sound of the door opening. Then he muttered to himself in frustration.
“Please come in wearing normal clothes.”
Whether Jaekyung’s wish was granted, Hajun appeared wearing silk pajamas. Though they looked soft enough to sleep in immediately, Jaekyung brushed his chest in relief.
“That’s fine.”
Acceptable. At least it didn’t seem like there would be major problems moving around. As if reading Jaekyung’s thoughts, Hajun tucked a pillow he had hidden behind him under his arm.
“They said I have to carry this around until I change clothes.”
As Hajun smiled brightly saying he could lie down anywhere, Jaekyung gave up. Jungwoo was still left, but now it didn’t matter what he wore.
“We have time anyway.”
He had thought it would be good to diligently learn everything to solve the upcoming mission, but today really seemed unavoidable. Jaekyung sat right down on the practice room floor and picked up the tablet. He planned to watch until he memorized it since he had to learn all the choreography first before he could modify it here.
“Huh?”
“Whoa?”
At the surprised sounds from both staff and trainees, Jaekyung belatedly turned his head. It was an exclamation toward Jungwoo who had entered last. Sitting on the floor, Jaekyung slowly raised his gaze from Jungwoo’s legs, which he could see directly.
His long-stretched legs were bringing out the fit of his pants. The deep navy suit wrapping his upper body properly supported the person’s atmosphere. Maybe it wasn’t that the suit was good, but that Jungwoo was bringing out the suit.
It was similar to the suit he wore yesterday but felt slightly different. While yesterday’s suit was calm and ordinary, today felt like it had been properly prepared as a custom fit. Seeing him pull off a suit amazingly well despite being 19, Jaekyung clicked his tongue. It seemed to take time, and unlike them, it looked like they had even styled his hair. Jungwoo walked in with perfectly trendy hair.
Everyone naturally focused on Jungwoo. As even the camera was focusing on Jungwoo, Jaekyung also stared at him half-mesmerized before being startled.
“It’s not like he’s doing a model walk…”
Jaekyung grumbled more discontentedly, as if annoyed that his gaze had been briefly stolen by Jungwoo. Why is he wrapped up so tightly like that? If he hasn’t even debuted yet, shouldn’t he be appropriately awkward and appropriately ambiguous? Why is he the only celebrity here?
Jaekyung shook his head and looked at the tablet again. He even put paper beside him and copied down the formation.
As Jaekyung pondered, tapping his pencil against his lips, shiny dress shoes appeared in front of him.
‘Ah, what.’
Jaekyung slightly frowned and looked up at Jungwoo because of what he had belatedly realized.
“You’re wearing dress shoes?”
“Yeah.”
Jungwoo looked down at his feet with his hands in his pants pockets. Dress shoes weren’t suitable for practicing all day.
“You’re screwed for practice too.”
Looking belatedly, even Hajun was wearing fluffy slippers to match his pajamas, so in the end, he was the only one in here who could practice properly.
“The mission is strange. No matter what, shouldn’t they let us practice?”
Jaekyung didn’t hide his dissatisfaction. He didn’t care how he appeared on camera. Rather, he was more concerned about problems arising in the preparation process for this stage.
“In my eyes, Jaekyung is stranger?”
It was Hajun putting his hand on Jungwoo’s shoulder and bringing his face close. Hajun pointed at the paper in Jaekyung’s hand.
“Why are you so obsessed with practice? Did you want first place that badly?”
“…”
“I see. Our Jaekyung wanted first place.”
Hajun patted Jaekyung’s head as if he now understood and left. Jaekyung sat dazed, not even realizing his hair had been messed up by Hajun’s touch. As Hajun said, he had been unconsciously thinking about practice constantly.
‘Right. Why am I like this?’
Practice, practice, practice instead of thinking about roughly doing it and falling back. Why was that? After entering this audition without preparing anything, he had been thinking entirely about preparing for the stage.
Even though he wasn’t dancing to impress his mother anymore.
As Jaekyung looked at his paper with a clouded gaze, Jungwoo fixed his disheveled hair.
“You’re doing well.”
It was worth chasing him around.
“What do you mean I’m doing well?”
Jaekyung irritably swatted away Jungwoo’s hand. It felt like he was being mocked, so he couldn’t take it well.
“You’re just trying not to burden other people until you drop out anyway.”
“…Well, that could be it.”
Jaekyung coughed lightly and brushed it off as if it was nothing. The mood that had been about to turn bad just moments ago disappeared without a trace.
Seeing Jaekyung’s expression improve again, Jungwoo smiled secretly.
* * *
The gathered trainees each looked at their clothes.
“Jaekyung is fine, but the rest are the problem. It’s awkward to dance like this.”
Everyone agreed with Hajun’s troubled words.
“If Chaejun runs around, we’ll all be sneezing too much to dance.”
As Taeyeon pushed away cotton floating in the air, Yang Chaejun slyly touched his wings. Even to Hajun, Chaejun’s wings were the most problematic. And there was another person.
“Wooju, you… can’t raise your arms.”
Wooju, whose front flaps opened every time he raised his arms, gathered his clothes well and nodded shyly. Jaekyung emphatically agreed with Hajun’s words, which seemed to read his thoughts exactly. Even Hajun, if he accidentally got stepped on by Jungwoo…
“I guess it would be better to focus on singing for today’s practice?”
Though Jungwoo was the leader, Hajun naturally took the lead. Of course, Jungwoo had no objections.
“I think we could also try matching formations.”
Jaekyung suggested that while they couldn’t do choreography, they could try standing in positions according to the song. Then Hajun nodded saying it was a good idea, and their practice content was decided.
“Shall we start?”
With Hajun’s words, everyone stood in front of the mirror. Once Jaekyung actually stood at the mirror, he looked at himself as well as the others again. Everyone was completely different.
Flying squirrel outfit, angel, mechanic, pajamas, and even a suit. Jaekyung, who had thought he was the most normal, pulled up his flowing clothes again and turned his head toward the front, then was startled.
“Why is everyone looking at me like that?”
“No…”
The people who made eye contact with Jaekyung either coughed or pretended not to see and looked away.
Are they envious of my clothes?
Jaekyung lightly touched his clothes and asked.
“Do you want to switch?”
“No.”
“That suits you best.”
“Right. We were looking because it suits you well.”
Jaekyung thought it didn’t seem like that kind of gaze, but shrugged as if it didn’t matter anyway.
“Let’s start.”
When they played the song, everyone took the same pose. They had all learned at least the beginning so they reacted slightly. It was choreography where you stretch your arm according to the angle then smoothly round your body, and when Jaekyung was about to bend his upper body to do it even slightly—
“Stop.”
“No, no, no, no.”
“No. This won’t work.”
Everyone urgently spoke up as if stopping Jaekyung. But Jaekyung didn’t know why and looked around, until finally Jungwoo, who had been next to him, pulled Jaekyung into his arms. Suddenly embraced, Jaekyung tried to look at Jungwoo with bewildered eyes. Though he could only see his ear and hair.
“Why are you doing this? What’s the problem?”
When Jaekyung asked as if it was strange, he heard Jungwoo sigh.
“You not knowing is the biggest problem.”
Meanwhile, Hajun had gotten clothespins from somewhere.
“Let’s at least use these.”
When Jungwoo stepped aside without a word, Hajun firmly grabbed Jaekyung’s front and clipped on clothespins. As Jaekyung fiddled with them, he understood why everyone had stopped him. He had thought his clothes were unusually flowing and big, but apparently his skin had shown.
He wondered if that was such a big deal, but then figured everyone just didn’t want to see it and moved on. But where did these clothespins come from?
While Choi Wooju was also getting a clothespin and fastening his clothes, Jaekyung glanced at Jungwoo.
“You covered it because my skin was showing?”
Jungwoo nodded slightly and pointed with his finger at the front mirror. Actually, he was pointing at the camera placed to one side of the mirror and the camera behind them.
Even Jaekyung, who hadn’t thought much about it, understood and fiddled with the clothespin. He had thought it didn’t matter if it showed to the trainees here, but thinking about it being captured on camera, he naturally put strength into the hand gripping his front.
“Thanks.”
“It’s not really something to thank me for.”
At Jaekyung’s greeting, Jungwoo looked ahead as if it was nothing.
“Huh? Hyung, your ears turned red.”
Taeyeon’s muttering was covered by the music source Jungwoo played.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
