5.
The second day of the training camp proceeded with vocal lessons and dance evaluations.
Since the trainees weren’t yet familiar with the songs and choreography, harsh criticism poured down from the masters.
It was a basic device for the Korean public who went crazy seeing trainees grow after showing their worst during the first evaluation, gritting their teeth in determination.
The cameras focused particularly on filming the trainees’ desperation.
After the tear-inducing team evaluations ended, practice began again. Songs and dances mixed together, creating mental chaos.
While humming along with his teammates and matching movements, Juha recalled his recent consultation with a master.
His assigned master was Lee Cheong.
Lee Cheong had started as a trainee at a major agency at age 12, went through 6 years of trainee life, and debuted in a girl group. The girl group she belonged to hit #1 on domestic music shows immediately after debut. For the next 10 years they were at the top, and now in her late twenties, Lee Cheong occasionally worked on solo albums or produced for junior artists.
‘Why do you want to become an idol?’
Lee Cheong’s face was serious as she asked.
Juha was the longest-serving trainee among the program’s participants. There were participants who had been trainees for over 6 years, but they had all debuted once before, making them different from Juha.
‘Because I want to perform on stage.’
Juha answered after pondering.
‘Why on stage?’
‘Just… I like those moments when I’m not myself when I’m on stage. It also makes me feel free.’
Despite his careful tone, Juha answered clearly with his thoughts.
Lee Cheong let out a low sigh.
‘You have no star quality.’
‘…’
‘Your skills aren’t bad at all. But in this industry, even without skills, if you have star quality, you can make it. But even with skills, if you have no star quality, you absolutely can’t make it.’
Juha silently nodded. Lee Cheong was someone qualified to give this kind of advice.
‘You’ve only been a trainee for 6 years, so you don’t know how the outside world works, right? If you get eliminated here, you’ll enter university, go to the military, build your specs, struggle with job hunting, get rejected from countless places, barely manage to get accepted somewhere, and then you’ll have to wake up at 7 AM for work and come home at 10 PM until you get fired. Does that look easier than this? Absolutely not. If you really want to perform on stage, you can’t be afraid to put on a mask.’
Don’t be afraid to put on a mask.
Can’t I just perform well on stage?
The more random thoughts entered his mind, the harder Juha danced the choreography.
That’s when it happened.
-Waaaaang
A siren cut through the space humid with trainees’ sweat. It was noise loud enough to snap anyone to attention.
Juha stopped his movements and looked up.
“What?”
“Is there a fire?”
“What’s that sound?”
The kids who had been absorbed in practice also began making a commotion. Among the confused people, 15-year-old Seo Eunwon trembled and tightly gripped Lee Juha’s sleeve.
“Hyung, do we need to evacuate?”
“Let’s wait and see.”
At Juha’s words, Eunwon nodded with a frightened expression. Even though there were many hyungs who took good care of him, he particularly followed Juha.
“Everyone move to the main hall!”
Staff members went around each room shouting.
The team members moved to the main hall following the staff’s guidance.
The kids saw the main hall scene and started murmuring again.
“Huh? What’s this?”
“What the hell?”
“Is it a flea market?”
In the center of the hall, a fence was set up in a wide circle with about a hundred items messily scattered inside.
“Don’t be surprised! This is your first mission.”
MC Park Jusung’s voice echoed from somewhere.
The kids flinched and looked around. As soon as he finished speaking, text appeared on the large screen in the center of the hall.
[Profile Photo Shoot.]
The kids’ eyes instantly widened. Along with that, Park Jusung appeared holding a microphone.
“There are two types of profile photos. First is the school uniform, second is the concept photo. Now, this concept photo. We can’t just take it normally.”
Everyone listened tensely to Park Jusung’s words.
“As you can see, there are various props in the center of the hall. Participants will each take their desired position, then spin like an elephant’s trunk 10 times while blindfolded. Whatever prop you first touch in that state becomes the prop for your concept photo. By the way, participants who grab PPL products will receive a small advertising reward.”
“Waaaah!”
Hearing the explanation, the kids got excited and screamed at the words ‘PPL’ and ‘advertising reward.’
Juha also roughly shouted “Wa!” among that crowd while scanning the items inside the fence.
Some PPL products were obvious, while there were quite a few mysterious items too.
Beverages, luxury bags, luxury watches, car keys, potato chips, Kim*saeng grandmother’s seaweed, books, and various other products along with random boxes arranged by size.
Some items were made of plastic replicas so no one would get hurt if they stepped on them or tripped.
“There’s kimchi…”
At someone’s words, everyone’s gaze shifted here and there.
“What the hell…”
There really was packaged kimchi. Fortunately it was wrapped in plastic so it wouldn’t spill if stepped on.
‘Is a single rose a horticulture association PPL?’
Various absurd products caught the eye.
Only then did the trainees realize this mission wasn’t normal, their gazes becoming much sharper.
Profile photos were an important means of showing each trainee’s individuality, but most of the props here were close to penalties. If you picked wrong, your image would be completely ruined.
Juha’s gaze suddenly stopped on Choi Taeri standing on the opposite side. His expression was also slightly frozen.
“…”
No matter how freely Taeri could turn as a dance major, spinning like an elephant’s trunk blindfolded would be bewildering.
Next to Taeri stood 2nd place Yoo Youngin like a soulmate. When he whispered something, Taeri chuckled and nodded.
‘I want to… do it with you.’
Suddenly the words Juha heard when waking up this morning echoed in his ears.
The image of Taeri saying “Because I want to debut with you” to Juha last night came back to mind. Unlike his half-smiling lips, his serious gaze, and the cool yet sweet scent that flowed out with his deep voice.
Probably any trainee here would have been excited if Choi Taeri said those words to them. Taeri’s choice would naturally evoke thoughts of a bright future.
‘Did he say that to Yoo Youngin too?’
How many people were on Taeri’s candidate list? When his thoughts reached this point, he felt strangely upset.
With team classes and evaluations keeping him busy, he hadn’t run into Taeri even once today. The magic where even sharing a blanket at night meant not meeting face to face outside. Watching 1st place Choi Taeri from this distance was 24th place Lee Juha’s current position.
‘Let me just focus on the game.’
Juha soon withdrew his gaze.
At the same time, Taeri’s gaze moved toward him, but Juha’s attention had long since returned to the props.
***
“Hyung, what do you want to pick?”
Seo Eunwon, who had been sticking close to Juha’s side the whole time, asked.
“Hmm… a gun?”
“Hyung is tall and handsome, so a spy concept would look cool. Hehe.”
Eunwon looked up at him with a height at least 10 centimeters shorter than Juha’s. It was an innocent and bright gaze that still thought the world was beautiful.
Eunwon, who followed Juha well without being bothersome, was like a well-educated youngest son from a rich family.
Juha sometimes thought this kind of younger brother might be better than his sister who bickered with him whenever they made eye contact at home.
“What about you?”
“Me? Hmm… a skateboard. I really love skateboarding. Ah, I want to hurry up and get out to skateboard.”
Eunwon smiled brightly as if he was already on skates.
“It suits you well.”
Imagining the young kid zooming around on a skateboard was somehow cute.
After all the instructions were finished, the game soon began.
“Is Team 8 ready? Team 8, we’ll begin. First, take your desired positions.”
With the start signal, Team 8 trainees wearing eye masks with sparkling doll eyes spun like elephant trunks.
After spinning 10 times, everyone staggered without exception. The ten people were far apart so there was no chance of collision, but it looked precarious to the other trainees watching with open eyes.
“Agh.”
“What the hell.”
Only two people from Team 8 grabbed something decent.
The game proceeded with ten people per team, but every round was a mess.
Finally, a trainee from Team 6 came out who had picked kimchi. Seeing him force a smile, Juha didn’t feel it was someone else’s problem.
Evil props were still scattered everywhere.
Amid chaos, destruction, and reality he wanted to forget, Juha’s turn came around.
“Team 3, take your positions. Are you ready? Then, let’s begin!”
After spinning like an elephant’s trunk 10 times while blindfolded, no matter how hard he tried, his body moved on its own.
‘About five steps in the 2 o’clock direction.’
Juha barely supported his body to avoid falling while recalling the direction where the toy gun was.
‘I need to make a strong impression!’
What he thought of was an intense photo like a protagonist in a noir film. That much seemed necessary to clear away this characterless and bland image.
But his damn vestibular system wouldn’t listen. Juha wobbled and fell with a thud somewhere. It felt like on top of a large box.
When he removed the eye mask, he saw a [?] symbol on white paper stuck to the box.
Park Jusung had already made his way through the items to approach Juha.
“Trainee Lee Juha has chosen a random box! What prop do you expect?”
Unaware of his nervous feelings, Park Jusung held out the microphone with a beaming smile.
Juha shook the box. It was larger than other random boxes but made no sound. The weight was also heavy.
“Clothes… I think?”
“He said clothes. Trainee Lee Juha’s random box, please reveal it!”
At Park Jusung’s signal, Juha opened the random box.
He hoped if it was clothes, it would be a cool uniform, but seeing the opened box, Juha was at a loss for words.
“…”
“Ahahaha, what is this? Trainee Lee Juha! You were destined to become king!”
Park Jusung burst into silly laughter and shouted.
The item in the box was a red gonryongpo worn by Joseon Dynasty kings. Even the ikseon-gwan hat was neatly included.
“Ugh…”
A scream naturally burst from his mouth. It felt like his mind was going dark. Compared to kimchi, it wasn’t a bad prop, but he had no idea how to pull this off. With his rather neat impression, even if Juha wore the gonryongpo, it would probably just look like a king’s portrait.
“Leaving behind trainee Lee Juha who will become His Majesty, let’s go to Team 2. Team 2, please prepare.”
Park Jusung moved along happily as if he’d caught something good.
‘Could this be the price for starting an energetic day?’
He had hoped good things would happen, only to get clothes worn by a king. It was absurd. He wasn’t even curious what the other kids picked.
While Juha was in confusion, Team 2’s game proceeded and it became the last Team 1’s turn.
With about 70 items already gone, the space was much quieter.
The luxury watch and luxury car keys were still left. Since they were such small items, pointing them out after spinning blindfolded was high difficulty.
“Last team, Jo Munseok, Kim Namhong, Choi Yuseong… Na Junho, Yoo Youngin, Choi Taeri. Please prepare!”
At the name ‘Choi Taeri,’ Juha’s head snapped up.
Even wearing the sparkling doll-eye eye mask, Taeri’s high nose bridge and red, plump lips stood out.
As if knowing Juha was watching, Taeri turned his head toward where he was. They only met sparkling doll eyes, but Juha’s body suddenly stiffened as if their real eyes had met.
“I can’t see anything.”
Yoo Youngin looked up at him from Taeri’s side. As if trying to shake off tension, Taeri smiled broadly.
‘…He’s relaxed.’
It was ridiculous that he’d been startled by meeting those absurd doll-eye masks.
With the ‘start’ signal, Taeri quickly spun like an elephant’s trunk. It was somehow funny to see him giving his all to such a trivial thing.
“Last team, ten spins. All done! Trainee Choi Taeri, your body is wobbling. What will he grab, oh?”
Park Jusung suddenly made a confused sound.
What Taeri grabbed first was.
“?”
“What’s that?”
“?”
“Is that also a prop?”
Everyone looked shocked as if they’d seen the most absurd sight.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
