Chapter 58
“Wow… I really think I’m going to die.”
Junghang lay sprawled on the floor in a spread-eagle position, letting out groaning sounds. His soaked hair was sticking out messily, but he seemed to lack the strength to fix it, just twitching around. Though the sight might have looked pitiful, Jaekyung simply handed Junghang a water bottle and that was it.
“Jaekyung, I really can’t do this anymore.”
“Then practice singing. I’ll go prepare things.”
At Jaekyung’s announcement of the next practice, Junghang reached out pitifully toward him. However, Jaekyung was already too far away for him to reach. Junghang dropped his hand to the floor with a thud and spoke to Lee Seungkwon, who was wiping away sweat.
“…Seungkwon, save me.”
Junghang sent an SOS to Lee Seungkwon, but Lee Seungkwon, whose situation wasn’t particularly different, turned his head away in avoidance.
“Lee Seungkwon… that’s petty. You got to pass on singing, right?”
“You should have done well from the start.”
“Wow, look at him hitting where it hurts.”
Rather than comforting him, Lee Seungkwon actually took away the water that Jaekyung had given him. He demonstratively drank the water in front of Junghang, who had been holding it without even the strength to open it.
“That’s really too much.”
“Who’s being too much?”
“…Seo Jaekyung.”
Seo Jaekyung was more vicious than Seungkwon, who had stolen his water.
The practice currently led by Jaekyung knew no moderation. They would dance until they were out of breath, then when they had no strength left to stand, they’d practice singing, and when they recovered somewhat, they’d move back to dancing again.
In that breathless schedule, the reason Lee Seungkwon was relatively comfortable was because he could rest during singing practice.
Junghang, who was a rapper, went without saying, and Park Minho, Hyun Siwoo, and Park Juhyung continuously practiced interpreting songs, adding emotion, and matching pitch. That’s why Junghang was calling Lee Seungkwon petty.
“At least now we know why Jaekyung looked so cool on stage.”
“Why do you make it so people have nothing to say?”
“You want to look cool too, don’t you? Then you have to do it.”
“That’s true.”
Junghang groaned and forced himself to sit up. Just that seemed to drain his strength, so he let out a deep sigh and took the half-empty water bottle from Lee Seungkwon.
“This guy must have practiced like this. Right?”
“Yeah.”
“…Honestly, I thought Jaekyung was just naturally talented and did well regardless of practice amount. But after practicing with him, I saw that he moves more than I do but doesn’t get tired.”
“He must have been doing it for that long.”
They all practiced the same, and Jaekyung moved busier than them, yet in the end, Jaekyung was the one who looked the most fine.
“I admit it. That bastard Jaekyung, every time he acts really harsh, I think it’s too much… but I have other thoughts too.”
Interrupting Junghang, who was about to say what those other thoughts were, was Hyun Siwoo.
“That he’s really someone who should debut. No, that he’s someone who must live on stage.”
“Right.”
Though reader votes would determine the debut group, even within this audition, people naturally found someone to support. Through this round, they had begun supporting one person.
“But I want to stand on stage with him too.”
Everyone nodded at Lee Seungkwon’s quiet words.
Meanwhile, Jaekyung, who had come out to gather materials needed for singing practice, spotted Jungwoo through a small window as he passed by. It was late at night when all the cameras had withdrawn. He’s still practicing. What’s that guy who could do well even with moderate effort doing, continuously moving around like that?
“Stubborn bastard.”
Jaekyung shook his head and passed by.
* * *
“Thank you for your hard work.”
As Jaekyung touched his phone, the loudly playing music cut off abruptly. It was the signal that practice was over, but no one seemed particularly happy about it.
“I was happy when you said we’d end early today… but you worked people mercilessly.”
Even at Junghang’s fed-up expression, Jaekyung calmly organized his space. Junghang had given up on glaring disapprovingly at the youngest who didn’t act like a youngest at all.
“Still, thanks for leaving us with enough energy to watch the broadcast. Let’s go wash up quickly.”
“Go ahead first. I’ll stay just a little longer.”
“Alright. But don’t be too late.”
Junghang was the first to get up, and as the others left the practice room one by one, only Jaekyung remained.
Only then did Jaekyung’s busily moving hands come to an abrupt stop.
“Why do they insist on watching together?”
It was better when he was focused on practice. He could concentrate only on practice without caring about other things, so he didn’t have stray thoughts. But when there were missions or when he had to watch broadcasts like today, Jaekyung’s situation hit him anew.
Not wanting to go, Jaekyung lingered in the practice room before finally getting up slowly as broadcast time approached.
* * *
The faces of the trainees gathered before the broadcast showed unmistakable tension. Even during this moment of watching the broadcast, cameras were positioned everywhere to gauge their reactions. Among them, who had finished practice early and come after washing up, Jaekyung appeared with a sour smell of sweat.
Looking at the trainees’ fresh, clean faces, Jaekyung became conscious of his own disheveled appearance. I should have gotten up when Harang hyung said to get up. Since it was too late, he roughly ran his fingers through his hair and went inside.
Someone who spotted Jaekyung waved their arm quickly.
“Hyung.”
Sowoon called Jaekyung happily and patted the seat next to him. Jaekyung walked toward Sowoon without much thought, but when he turned his head at the gaze watching him, Junghang was there. Junghang made a crying gesture with his fist against his face as if feeling hurt.
Jaekyung pretended not to see Junghang and hurriedly went to Sowoon’s side, plopping down in one of two empty seats.
“Hyung, why has it been so long since I’ve seen you?”
Sowoon clung to Jaekyung and whined that he’d missed him so much during this time. As he said, if they weren’t performing together, these occasional meetings were all they had.
“Still, it’s nice that we can watch the broadcast together. Right, Jungwoo hyung?”
Jaekyung made eye contact with Jungwoo, who had naturally taken the other empty seat. It was the first time since seeing him practice late into the night yesterday. Feeling Jaekyung’s gaze, Jungwoo lightly tousled his sweat-dampened hair.
“Working hard.”
“You’re the one who’s always in the practice room.”
“You’re quite interested in me.”
When Jungwoo acted as if asking how he knew, Jaekyung sent him an indifferent look that said, what kind of interest is that?
“I only said that because you smell like sweat, Lee Jungwoo.”
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to smell mine because of your smell, Jaekyung.”
It was saying that not washing up before coming was the same for both of them.
To be precise, Jaekyung had dawdled because he didn’t want to come, so it was different from Jungwoo. But there was no reason to argue about it.
Instead, Jaekyung looked at the sweat flowing down Jungwoo’s temple. Compared to himself, whose sweat had cooled and felt chilly, Jungwoo was full of sweat.
Somehow feeling like he could even sense the heat, Jaekyung asked:
“Is the choreography that difficult?”
“It’s not easy. There’s not much time either.”
“Seems like you’ll do well though?”
“Of course I’ll do well. I’m not practicing to do moderately well, but to do completely well.”
“That thing you just said was really awful. Cheesy.”
While Jungwoo laughed quietly, Jaekyung looked at his back. His sweat-soaked clothes clung stickily. Yesterday too, he stayed late to practice, and this time he was devoted to practice right until coming here. Whenever Jaekyung saw him practicing enough not to fall behind anyone, his heart felt a little strange.
Because he’s handsome, because he was good on broadcasts at first, because his voice is good, but also because he has some skill.
He seemed to have had such light thoughts. Since Lee Jungwoo had so much, he thought he’d gotten it without much effort.
‘This stubborn bastard.’
It wasn’t something he’d risen to easily.
He’d been fiercely stamping his feet in places where cameras couldn’t reach. Those traces that could only be known by watching from the side shook Jaekyung’s heart from time to time.
By intruding like a foreign object into a career built up fiercely and interfering… that’s probably why he hated him. His slow mind, which had often felt hurt by the 25-year-old Lee Jungwoo, was gradually finding the truth he’d turned away from. It wasn’t about not hating him because he was the 19-year-old Lee Jungwoo instead of 25, but thinking about why Lee Jungwoo had acted that way.
‘Let’s focus on the present for now.’
Jaekyung turned his head to control his complicated feelings.
“Isn’t it too cruel that we’re watching the broadcast looking so friendly like this and then have the announcement ceremony right tomorrow?”
Sowoon complained to Hajun, who had become like a close friend.
“That’s right. But let’s be satisfied with us being together like this for now.”
Hajun patted Sowoon’s head.
Then the lights dimmed and at the projector’s whirring sound, the trainees turned their heads one by one.
“I guess it’s starting.”
This episode was about the content of those who went on stage for the second round.
Even though they’d already confirmed their own appearances through fancams, many devices were prepared to help them focus. After showing the practice process of teams going on stage or some of their stories, the stages appeared.
If someone had difficulty keeping up, that was shown, and sometimes the especially harmonious atmosphere was emphasized. The incidents that occurred during round preparation and individual trainee interviews blended together, giving it a different flavor from music broadcasts that only showed consecutive stages.
Especially as the second round began, the screen time of trainees appearing on the broadcast fell thoroughly into the production team’s domain. They compared videos from dozens of cameras to choose what stories would go in, and this was the result of editing that.
Since the announcement ceremony after the first round ended, Jaekyung had also been frequently caught on screen. When he was alone, he didn’t bother watching the broadcast, but he knew because Sowoon and Hajun told him. Well, he’d been recognized at his part-time job too, so he couldn’t avoid it forever. Since it was different from when there were 99 trainees like in the first round, this was something he’d let go of to some degree now.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
