Chapter 55
The sound of the slate signaling that 54 people had gathered and filming was starting could be heard. Jaekyung felt that PD Choi had become more familiar to him than the boss of the place where he worked part-time. This wasn’t a good thing. His feelings were complicated in various ways.
“Teams will be decided according to songs. From the heart that hopes you all navigate well through this rough entertainment industry!”
At PD Choi’s somewhat exaggerated voice, Jaekyung naturally focused on him.
“A variety show corner that you can taste in advance will be this mission.”
“Wooooow!”
As it felt like it would be fun, the trainees’ cheers grew louder.
“Through the mission, people will choose songs in the order they pass. When people who choose the same song gather, they become one team and prepare the stage.”
Now it wasn’t about choosing team members and deciding on a song, but the opposite. A situation where you don’t know who will become team members.
Jaekyung decided to accept it this time if he ended up on the same team as Jungwoo again. Honestly, if they stick together this much, it’s not coincidence but inevitability.
“Before that, looking at what songs there are should make your determination surge, right?”
PD Choi reached out toward the white wall and pulled down what he caught. Then the songs hidden by the white cloth, not a wall, were revealed.
The songs were varied. Even among male idol songs, they were well distributed with different characteristics like powerful songs or cheerful songs. And Jaekyung, who casually skimmed the title of the last song, froze completely. Wondering if he had seen wrong, he looked again and then turned his eyes away pretending not to know. There was one female idol song stuck there, and he was absolutely determined not to choose it.
So this was why they showed the songs in advance.
His determination really surged.
He had thought he could just pick a decent song and take about a sub-vocal 2 part, but now he absolutely had to get priority song selection rights.
“As expected, there’s an immediate reaction. Of course, all the songs are excellent. But do you remember what concept that female idol song had back then?”
If that dance was cheerful, he could just dance it somehow, but since it wasn’t that direction, Jaekyung pressed his forehead and sighed.
“Still, it’s better than innocent.”
At someone’s infinitely positive reaction, Jaekyung glared sharply in that direction and made eye contact with Hajun. Did he know Jaekyung would look?
Jaekyung turned his head from Hajun and stared piercingly at PD Choi’s mouth.
He had to work hard on this mission even if he didn’t like it.
* * *
“Huh?”
Jaekyung looked at the long stick snack in his hand strangely. What he had just done was stick snack collision with a trainee. It was a game where the person with the longest remaining stick wins and advances. In what could be seen as an easy but also luck-dependent game, Jaekyung had competed thinking even about his center of gravity. As a result, everything flew away leaving only the part he was holding. Jaekyung checked the short stick snack two or three times as if he couldn’t believe it.
Though checking wouldn’t make the snack longer.
“Trainee Seo Jaekyung, eliminated.”
Hearing the firm shout, Jaekyung entered his seat with powerless steps. Even the people who had been comforting Jaekyung several times were now busy laughing.
“No way, Jaekyung hyung. You really don’t know games.”
“It was just bad luck.”
At least kind Sowoon comforted Jaekyung, but he showed leisure having won the game early on.
“You lost again.”
“You can’t win everything. If someone wins, someone loses.”
Sowoon was right. Since Jaekyung lost and gave someone else a chance, it wasn’t bad. But still, how could he keep losing like this?
This wasn’t the first time he lost a game. He thought “this isn’t right?” but he couldn’t get the hang of games at all. The strawberry game matching beats was eliminated early on. The person guessing game ended without him even opening his mouth, and he was getting further from selection rights.
Before he knew it, most trainees’ order was decided and only the last game remained.
“You know, right? You put on headsets and guess the explanation of the person in front.”
Only 8 people including Jaekyung remained. Jaekyung was confused whether it was fortunate that Jungwoo was among them, or whether they were both equally hopeless.
“Pair up in twos for team battles. Starting from the first place team, we’ll decide order by rock-paper-scissors. Then please decide teams.”
At the staff’s shout, Jaekyung turned his head to the opposite side from Jungwoo. He wanted to team up with a different trainee.
“Hey, with me…”
“Seungkwon! With me! Let’s do it together.”
The trainee next to him either didn’t hear Jaekyung’s words or clung to someone else. As they immediately became a team, Jaekyung looked at other trainees with regret. But the trainee who made eye contact with Jaekyung flinched and then subtly avoided his gaze.
Another person was the same. Whenever Jaekyung tried to speak to them, they asked other people to be partners. Eventually Jungwoo approached next to Jaekyung who was left alone.
“Everyone dislikes you.”
“Am I that bad?”
“When you lose everything, how could they like you?”
Jaekyung had a lot to say about that too. The remaining teams were all losers who couldn’t win to the end, yet they were discriminating here.
Though Jaekyung looked wronged, Jungwoo answered mercilessly.
“You get eliminated early.”
“Wow…”
Really too much.
Jaekyung was just pouting his lips when he suddenly stared piercingly at Jungwoo’s face.
“Are you bad at games too?”
“I’m not interested.”
“Don’t tell me even this…”
“Yeah, no.”
Jungwoo cut him off mercilessly as if he wouldn’t even listen to Jaekyung’s words.
Meanwhile, simple setup was finished. Since they just had to sit in chairs facing each other, there wasn’t much to prepare.
“You’ve seen this game a lot on TV, right? You just need to guess words by looking at the other person’s mouth shape.”
Jaekyung put on his hood completely and tied the strings under his chin. Thinking he should do it fairly, when he put the headset over it, even though no song was audible, it already felt like part of the sound was blocked.
Jungwoo, sitting in a chair at a certain distance from Jaekyung, just wore the headset. As they stared blankly at each other, soon loud music flowed out deafeningly.
*Because you’re not here, I walked that street alone*
It was the female idol song that had been among the song choices earlier. He tried hard to ignore the ominous feeling that they would end up doing this.
Jungwoo’s expression wasn’t good either, as if the same song was flowing for him. Meanwhile, the start signal dropped and Jungwoo began explaining something to Jaekyung.
Watching his lips move, Jaekyung narrowed his eyes and pondered. Jungwoo seemed to be repeating one word too, but he couldn’t concentrate well because of the ear-splitting song.
“Kim? Appearance? Handsome?”
When Jaekyung shouted, Jungwoo shook his head and explained again.
“You’re handsome?”
“Again.”
“Dash?”
“No.”
“Child?”
When Jungwoo briefly closed his mouth, Jaekyung also didn’t answer and focused on his mouth shape.
Then he tried to copy exactly what Jungwoo had said. As if forgetting it was a problem of listening to Jungwoo’s explanation and guessing.
“Time’s up.”
Along with the song stopping, PD Choi’s excited voice was heard. Jaekyung took off his headset. He seemed to have given some answers, but he didn’t know if any of them were correct.
“Without getting a single one right, you two became last place. No wait. Rock-paper-scissors is left, right?”
Unable to suppress his sigh, Jaekyung briefly lowered his head then extended his hand. And he silently played rock-paper-scissors with Jungwoo…
Jaekyung deeply lowered his head and covered his face with his hands.
He was really screwed.
“Trainee Seo Jaekyung is showing us many new sides today. Last place.”
Jaekyung was perfectly last.
* * *
The preceding trainees left the hall one by one. They said the decision of which song to choose was made by going to the side. Unable to see who was deciding from his seated position, Jaekyung waited half-giving up.
Without even thinking to take down his hood, as he sat blankly, someone untied the string tied under Jaekyung’s chin. And as they were carefully putting down even his hood, Jaekyung slowly looked in that direction.
“Jaekyung, I’ll call you sometimes when I’m bored. Let’s play games with hyung.”
At Hajun’s teasing words, Jaekyung roughly pulled out the string caught by him.
He was so upset he could die.
“Trainee Yoon Hajun, please depart.”
“I’ll go first and wait.”
When Hajun waved his hand, Jaekyung looked at him annoyingly then turned his gaze away. There was no point resenting Hajun. It was his own fault for being bad at games.
He was spending somewhat boring time watching the backs of trainees leaving one by one.
“Can’t do dodgeball, can’t jump rope, can’t do games.”
At Jungwoo’s muttering next to him, Jaekyung felt choked up. He hadn’t been good at the games when he first came either.
“So you gave me all that advice from next to me.”
“I was helping.”
Catching balls for him and teaching him when to enter jump rope. Jungwoo had been helpful.
Having shown his skills thoroughly from then until now, Jaekyung gave a hollow laugh.
“Should I do special training starting today?”
“Give up. The concept of being bad at games for life is fine too.”
“…You’re really shameless in front of me?”
“Anyway, I’m better than you.”
Jaekyung made a completely defeated expression, losing even the argument.
“We’ll be together again this time, right?”
“We’ll have to see about that.”
“Trainee Lee Jungwoo, please depart.”
Leaving Jaekyung as the last one, Jungwoo strode out of the hall. Now only Jaekyung was left alone, completely surrounded by cameras.
“Is there a song you really want to do?”
The writer’s words could be heard, speaking to him so Jaekyung wouldn’t be bored. Jaekyung shook his head slightly and answered.
“There’s no song I really want to do, but there is a song I really don’t want to do.”
Since it seemed like she would know what it was without him saying, the writer burst into laughter and said.
“Trainee Lee Jungwoo’s choice is finished. Trainee Seo Jaekyung, please depart.”
Jaekyung took a deep breath and walked. Thinking anywhere would be good as long as it wasn’t the female idol song.
“Ahh…”
Of course that wouldn’t happen.
Seeing one song title posted in the corridor, Jaekyung let out a regretful sigh. When all the spots were filled, they would remove the paper with the song title, so only one remaining was right, but he really hated it.
Jaekyung buried his face in both hands then grabbed the door handle as if resigned. And just before entering inside, Jaekyung asked the cameraman.
“Did trainee Lee Jungwoo enter here too?”
Why was he even curious about this in this situation?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
