Chapter 51
On the day of going up on the second round stage, which was also the end of the second training camp, Jaekyung had a busy time. He woke up in the morning, had a long makeup session, and then did rehearsal. Especially during the parts he was concerned about, even while making eye contact with Jungwoo, he couldn’t focus on Yang Chaejun’s gaze as he was paired with Choi Wooju.
And while coming down to the waiting room to watch other teams’ stages, Jaekyung kept thinking and thinking.
“It’s our turn.”
When Jungwoo grabbed his arm and pulled him, he was half out of it and walked wherever he led.
“Wait here and go up when the signal comes.”
Jaekyung, who had let the staff’s words pass by, continued to be lost in thought even while waiting for the stage setup to finish.
‘Really telling me to smile…’
He had snapped back because Jungwoo’s constant pointing it out was annoying, but honestly Jaekyung wasn’t entirely comfortable either. There were many times he made mistakes on stage, but Jaekyung hadn’t intended them. But this time felt like he could do it but was choosing not to do more, which felt unpleasant.
He pondered using Jungwoo’s words as a hint. He thought he could recall similar situations even if it wasn’t exactly when someone he liked confessed. But contrary to such thoughts, nothing came to mind.
It was a continuous series of time rolling like a hamster wheel as a trainee, and when he became an idol, it was difficult and overwhelming days.
Jaekyung, who had been going back in the past to the point of wondering if he should recall when he lived with his grandmother, suddenly had one doubt.
‘But why do I need to smile?’
It seemed to be because Jungwoo smiled when he first demonstrated. It was to show favor to the other person in the sense of introducing oneself, but Jaekyung’s situation was different. He had no intention of looking good. Jaekyung looked at the tall man fidgeting in front. Jungwoo noticed Jaekyung’s gaze and asked.
“Did you think of something?”
“Yeah.”
“As expected, I’m confessing…”
“Shut up and go up.”
Jaekyung hit Jungwoo’s back with his fist and pushed him up the stairs. Since he hadn’t pushed roughly, Jungwoo went up leaning on Jaekyung. Though Jaekyung found him annoying for ending up supporting Jungwoo, as soon as they got on stage, he immediately went into expression management mode.
Before the stage began, as they stood in a line, the masters who had been judges looked at the members of the PR team and smiled meaningfully.
“There are many here.”
“Right. I saw it on the internet too. Very hot… trainees are gathered here a lot.”
“There are friends we’re expecting too.”
“This is big trouble here. Just doing the stage moderately won’t satisfy us, will it?”
At one master’s words, Jaekyung glanced at Jungwoo. I have to do well on stage because of him, he thought.
“Trainee Seo Jaekyung.”
Then suddenly when his name was called, Jaekyung raised his head.
“Where are you looking?”
“Uh… I was thinking I have to do better because of trainee Lee Jungwoo…”
“Yeah, no. It’s not just trainee Lee Jungwoo. There were many team leaders who coveted trainee Seo Jaekyung.”
The master threw words that seemed to include Jaekyung in that. Another master next to him added that trainee Yoon Hajun was also there. Words like “Three from JT is cheating” came out as the masters chattered among themselves. Then they looked at Jaekyung again and spoke as if something occurred to them.
“But watching the broadcast, trainee Seo Jaekyung was sleeping in the waiting room before going on the first stage?”
“I wondered why he looked so bewildered then.”
“I actually thought he did that on purpose too.”
So there was a reason for not saying anything during the mid-check. The broadcast had shown the reason why he sang from the middle. Jaekyung couldn’t make eye contact with the masters, looking embarrassed about that story.
He felt uncomfortable and didn’t know what to do when his story came up. Fortunately, after exchanging a few more words, the representative master picked up the microphone.
“Let’s see the stage.”
The original artist of “Will You Call My Name” was a seven-member boy group. It was medium tempo without intense choreography, but instead had many waves matching the groovy rhythm.
Taeyeon had completely changed all of that. He deleted the waves that could become boring and further reduced the originally small movements. It was choreography that perfectly fit the initial concept. Just bringing out small details would have been enough.
But now that wasn’t the case. The cherry blossom tree that came up as background and the video of cherry blossoms fluttering were like the beginning of spring. As it changed to an atmosphere where you could feel excitement along with a new beginning, a ray of smile spread across everyone’s faces decorating the stage.
The first start was Hajun. As the lighting gathered toward Hajun standing in the center, he moved his body with his characteristic soft eye smile.
*You pass by pretending not to see me even when you look at me*
*Your back view*
*But what should I do*
*I can see right through you*
It flowed softly with Hajun’s movements matching the lyrics. Thanks to him not being nervous and enjoying the stage, the somewhat stiff bodies of the others relaxed. Following the group choreography that came next, Jungwoo entered Hajun’s position and showed elegant dancing.
His living body lines were revealed within the softness, and his barely visible smile gradually made people focus on the song. Then Taeyeon, who suddenly appeared from behind Jungwoo, waved his hand playfully with a mischievous smile. His characteristic loveliness came through as he disappeared while even giving a wink.
*If you want me, call my name*
*I’m always ready to turn to you*
Jaekyung naturally made eye contact with the camera while lightly brushing his chin with the back of his hand matching the lyrics. Jaekyung, who had been staring at the camera with one eye narrowed, immediately turned around.
Jaekyung, who walked as if he had turned around because his name wasn’t called, immediately entered his position and matched the movements.
*Will you call my name*
Soon Yang Chaejun, who was the center and had the killing part, came out and showed flashy body movements. The timing of him bursting out in that short moment matched well, and the stage atmosphere heated up.
Then that section that Jungwoo and Jaekyung had kept arguing about approached. Before the second verse began, Jaekyung and Jungwoo faced each other. As expected, Jungwoo, who didn’t take his eyes off Jaekyung, showed a leisurely smile and was captured on camera just like that. Then Jaekyung, who was looking at such Jungwoo, briefly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again,
He looked at Jungwoo playfully yet primly with a sideways glance. And he scoffed at him. Jaekyung had thought of a different case than when Jungwoo confessed. When he succeeded in this audition and was active as an idol, Jaekyung had been relatively intimidated by Jungwoo. But coming back to the past, it wasn’t so. They had met during the preliminaries, and that day Jungwoo had asked Jaekyung for his name. He didn’t know how refreshing it had felt to tell him his name then. Now it wasn’t about who was above, but they could look at each other equally. So Jaekyung stared at Jungwoo with confident eyes. Call my name.
‘Damn, he got me.’
Jungwoo, who read the meaning in Jaekyung’s eyes, smiled as if incredulous.
Whether he had accepted his advice or knew it was awkward himself, Jaekyung revealed an expression that suited him. Not a pretty but emotionless smile, but just revealed himself. He definitely had feelings for Jaekyung. He liked his voice, liked his eyes, and found it interesting how he did everything well with an indifferent face.
Above all, he was someone who caught the eye even when staying still. But now a different emotion was sneaking in. He felt a subtle possessiveness toward Jaekyung. Even debuting together wasn’t enough; he wanted to have all the moments like this of sleeping together and eating together.
Forgetting he was on stage and being swept up by Jaekyung, Jungwoo showed his melted smile as it was. Since it was a smile that came naturally to him too, it approached more warmly than his previous expression.
‘Why are you smiling like that?’
At the pretty smile that seemed to demonstrate “you should have smiled like this,” Jaekyung grumbled internally with dissatisfaction. It was a smile he had seen countless times during practice, but just now it was a little different.
The moment they looked closely at each other’s faces was brief, as they immediately distanced themselves with the next choreography.
Until the song ended, Jaekyung and Jungwoo didn’t meet again, but they exchanged conscious glances at each other several times.
When the song ended and they gathered in a line like at the beginning, the masters all picked up microphones at once.
“Why do they all look like centers to my eyes and all feel like killing parts?”
“When trainee Yoon Hajun came out at the beginning, my attention was immediately drawn. Good start.”
“I heard you changed the concept because of a mission in the middle, but it wasn’t awkward at all.”
“I just want to take the team members here and film a drama. Put Yoon Hajun as the returning student, Min Taeyeon and Yang Chaejun as juniors, and Lee Jungwoo, Seo Jaekyung, and Choi Wooju as friends who hang out together. How’s my imagination?”
At the female master’s words, others responded saying it was good. Though it was just a playful remark, Jaekyung heard it positively as meaning the stage was decent.
If anyone had made a mistake, such a reaction couldn’t have come out. Knowing this better than anyone, Jaekyung looked at the masters’ seats with a relieved heart.
Then the representative master, who made eye contact with him casually, asked Jaekyung.
“Trainee Seo Jaekyung. What are you thinking right now?”
Jaekyung bought some time to answer by pretending to wipe the sweat flowing on his forehead. However, he couldn’t think of what to say. Jaekyung wondered what to do, then gave an answer that seemed to bypass his brain and came down from the stage.
– I’m so thirsty right now that I think I could drink americano even if you gave it to me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
