Chapter 50
“It’s not really seduction, but rather letting out charm so they can recognize you.”
Taeyeon added, glancing at Jungwoo’s reaction. It seemed he had been thoroughly scolded by Jungwoo after just saying “seduction” earlier.
“But that’s the same thi… never mind.”
Taeyeon, who was about to say there was no difference, quickly changed his words after checking Jungwoo’s expression.
“No, I just tried to create an opportunity for them to call my name using the title as a hint. How is it?”
“It seems easy but also difficult.”
It was easy because there was nothing to memorize, but it was difficult to fill the short section with enough charm appeal. Hajun scratched his chin and looked at Jungwoo.
“If you look like him, they’d probably call your name just for smiling, but don’t we have to do like talent shows?”
“Unless Hajun hyung does a complete face-off, ahhhhh.”
“You’re 16 and you know about Face/Off?”
Hajun put Taeyeon in a headlock with a smiling face. While Taeyeon suffered and asked to be let go, Jaekyung looked at Jungwoo.
So that’s why he smiled at me, he thought, and it was a decent idea.
“Um…”
Yang Chaejun cautiously started and asked Jungwoo.
“Will we pair up in twos?”
“That would probably be best.”
At Jungwoo’s somewhat stiff answer, Yang Chaejun just nodded slightly. As if the distance between him and Jungwoo couldn’t be narrowed from the start, Yang Chaejun unnecessarily pressed close to Jaekyung.
“Then can I pair with hyung?”
Yang Chaejun looked at him as if he wanted to pair with Jaekyung. At that gaze, Jaekyung thought for a moment then answered.
“Let’s draw lots.”
“Yes.”
Yang Chaejun lowered his head as if disappointed. He probably thought Jaekyung would accept. But Jaekyung pretended not to notice Yang Chaejun’s mood and stayed still. Yang Chaejun, who thought they’d become closer after sleeping in the same room yesterday, watched Jaekyung’s reaction. Since he couldn’t figure anything out, he soon gave up and spoke to Hajun beside him.
Only then did Jaekyung notice how Yang Chaejun had been behaving. Thinking about it, Yang Chaejun had never approached Choi Wooju or Taeyeon first. You could think he was talking to people he was comfortable with, but Jaekyung boldly dismissed that assumption. Because he remembered where he had met Yang Chaejun.
“You barely got in and you’re bragging…”
“Getting in is what matters.”
“Yeah, you’re so great. But how did you get up there? You were really bad back when you’d just become a trainee.”
“I just stuck to hyungs who had buzz. So I naturally got captured well on camera and they pulled me up saying I was cute?”
“So not because of skill.”
“Fuck, skill my ass. So those hyungs who’ve been around for years are fucking outstanding in skill, but why are they still just trainees?”
“Why… because you took their spot.”
“Ah… right. Anyway, I’m fucking amazing, that’s the problem. Right?”
“Your self-esteem is insane.”
Jaekyung, who was inside a stall, accidentally overheard the conversation coming from the bathroom. Since bathroom gossip wasn’t uncommon, Jaekyung didn’t pay much attention to it. More importantly, there wasn’t much time left before rehearsal, so he couldn’t wait for them and leave. When Jaekyung came out, there were two men who were startled, not knowing someone else was there.
From their outfits, he could tell they were recently debuted idols. He had seen them when they came to greet everyone in the waiting room earlier. Those who had been very polite then, whether because it was the bathroom or for another reason, openly looked Jaekyung up and down. While Jaekyung was washing his hands, one of them, recognizing who he was, poked the other’s ribs and whispered. Then the cute-looking guy sneered and spoke to him.
“You’re the hyung who squeezed into V.O.B. Those hyungs are prickly, right? Ah… I really hated all those hyungs. They act so pretentious. Right?”
This was Jaekyung’s memory of meeting Yang Chaejun during his idol activities.
Finding out he knew one more person who came up through this program was momentarily bitter. It would have been better if he hadn’t remembered – it wasn’t a particularly good memory.
Moreover, this morning when Jaekyung was returning to his room, he encountered Taeyeon who was just coming out.
“I heard hyung slept in my room.”
“Yeah.”
“Yang Chaejun must have been happy.”
Taeyeon said with a smirk.
“He said to hyung… ah no. I’m leaving.”
Taeyeon was about to say something, then ruffled his own hair and left. Taeyeon, who left while kicking the hallway, still couldn’t get close to Yang Chaejun afterward. Of course, Jaekyung didn’t even think about which of the two was better.
While briefly thinking of other things, Jungwoo approached Jaekyung.
“Pick one.”
Since others had picked first, Jaekyung looked at the remaining two and picked one. When he unfolded the paper, it had ‘A’ written on it, and when he looked up to find someone with the same letter…
A paper with ‘A’ written on it thrust before his eyes. And the person holding it.
“How tiresome.”
It was a comment Jaekyung unconsciously threw out upon seeing Jungwoo’s face.
* * *
From then on, practice proceeded smoothly. As if asking when they had worried, group practice was mainly conducted under Jungwoo’s leadership.
Expression practice to match the background was also done intermittently, and Hajun even brought props for his charm appeal and practiced with them.
But there was just one thing – progress was difficult only when Jaekyung and Jungwoo had to face each other.
“Your smile is too fake.”
It was Jungwoo’s merciless criticism after seeing Jaekyung’s smile. At this, veins popped on Jaekyung’s forehead while he maintained his smile.
“Whether I smile fake or not, just do your own job.”
“But it’s so obvious, how can I not say anything?”
Jaekyung was on the verge of losing it from Jungwoo constantly nitpicking his smile. How much idol experience did he have, and he couldn’t manage one smile like this?
But Jungwoo picked on Jaekyung at every turn.
“Are you really crazy?”
Unable to watch anymore, Jaekyung said to Jungwoo without even thinking of continuing to the next choreography. Jungwoo calmly shot back.
“I know your smile is fake because you look at me so tediously.”
“…You were holding onto that? You’re insane.”
Who would have thought he’d bring up what Jaekyung said when they became partners like this? Jaekyung was amazed but couldn’t say more since he had said those words himself.
“Let’s stop talking.”
“The cameras will catch everything, so do it properly.”
“…You do well yourself.”
Jaekyung moved away from Jungwoo and returned to his starting position. Having to deal with Jungwoo’s provocations while practicing frantically was driving him crazy. Jaekyung thought about making a comment about Jungwoo’s smile too, but his generous self decided to endure it.
“Hajun hyung. The music.”
“Huh? Oh.”
Hajun, who had been watching happily, obediently answered while tilting his head.
“I feel like this has happened before.”
Anyway, practice was going reasonably well.
* * *
After finishing rehearsal and coming down, Jaekyung was grabbed by the wrist by Jungwoo on his way to the waiting room.
“What?”
“Come here.”
Without even asking for Jaekyung’s permission, Jungwoo dragged him toward the emergency stairwell. Because of this, Jaekyung was forced to change direction midway and was half-dragged by Jungwoo.
The empty emergency stairwell echoed with the sound of the door closing as Jaekyung entered. When Jaekyung looked at Jungwoo wondering why he’d brought him here, he was looking at Jaekyung with crossed arms and serious eyes.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Even though he hadn’t done heavy eye makeup this time, when Jungwoo hardened his expression, his eyes became sharp.
“Are you going on stage like this?”
“Am I lacking?”
Jaekyung thought he had prepared adequately since he participated faithfully in practice. But Jungwoo pointed at Jaekyung’s face as if that wasn’t the case at all.
“The way you smiled at me earlier was fake.”
“Why do you keep going on about this until the end?”
“Don’t smile halfheartedly, smile properly.”
“…Why should I smile at you?”
“Because you’ll be filmed by the camera smiling at me the same way.”
“I just won’t smile then.”
Jaekyung said he’d give up, making all their practice meaningless. There was nothing good about looking good anyway, so why not just glare intensely?
“As if.”
Jungwoo scoffed. Not satisfied with that, Jungwoo grabbed Jaekyung’s chin to make him look at him.
“Look me in the eyes and smile.”
Jaekyung raised the corners of his mouth as Jungwoo told him to.
“Not like that, again.”
This time Jaekyung smiled more clearly, even adding an eye smile.
“It’s obvious you have no emotion in it.”
“Then how much emotion should I put in for you?”
Jaekyung swatted away the hand holding his chin.
“Stop it now. I think you’re misunderstanding something, but we’re competitors right now. If I do badly, isn’t that good for you?”
If Jungwoo stood out properly in this stage, his vote count would go up, which would be good. And if Jaekyung did so poorly that they could be compared, that would be even better.
But Jungwoo threw Jaekyung’s words right back at him.
“So is that why you coordinated so well with the other kids who also consider everyone competitors?”
“…What?”
“You’re the one who moved like a team.”
“That’s…”
Jaekyung was new to this kind of audition, and since they called it a stage, he tried to coordinate together. He couldn’t find an answer to Jungwoo’s words that seemed to see right through him.
“Jaekyung.”
It was the same call as always. The moment Jaekyung turned toward Jungwoo who called his name, he was startled.
Jungwoo, who he expected to be blunt or sharp, was looking at him with a warm smile. Particularly flustered by the gentle gaze directed at him, Jaekyung stepped back.
“Think of it as receiving a confession from someone you liked. Smile with those emotions.”
Jungwoo persuaded Jaekyung with a kind and gentle voice, as if he himself were the one confessing. Or you can imagine I’m confessing. How about it, you can do it, right? At such gazes, Jaekyung answered honestly.
“Ah, I really hate this.”
Jungwoo’s gentle gaze instantly turned fierce.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
