Chapter 20
Yoo Minhyuk, encouraged by Jaekyung’s gesture of agreeing with his opinion, freely expressed his thoughts.
“He’s someone who looks good in suits, but it’s like putting him in a school uniform. It would be good if he raised his tone a bit more and was more active from there, but it’s a bit disappointing. Something about it doesn’t feel forceful… Still, his voice is good though.”
While subtly implying that he lacked sincerity relying on his looks, he was indirectly expressing that it didn’t suit him. There probably weren’t no other trainees who thought like Yoo Minhyuk.
So what if he’s handsome. He should try harder – that kind of thinking.
Jaekyung let out a small sigh and said.
“I think that’s better for now. He might be different when he actually gets on stage, but right now it’s time to show his voice to the trainer. Rather than looking overly excited, he needs to be able to receive help tailored to future lessons.”
Yoo Minhyuk was slightly flustered, then immediately turned the conversation in his favor.
“Ah, so you mean sing quietly for now and then explode on stage?”
“Practice is what you show on stage, so you can’t make it that different. That trainee will probably be similar. However…”
Jaekyung wondered why he was saying such things. Lee Jungwoo had a close group from the same agency after all.
But…
‘If I just let it slide, I’m no different.’
He didn’t want to become the same as those people who only looked at one side of him and gossiped.
“He’s probably producing the voice he thinks suits that song best. It’s not upbeat, but the lyrics are being delivered well.”
“Ah…”
Yoo Minhyuk dragged out his words. Whether it was because Jaekyung didn’t go along with him, the conversation soon ended, so Jaekyung turned his head away without lingering. Why whisper anyway. Since they were wearing mics, whispering was useless. Jaekyung turned his head in a direction where neither Lee Jungwoo nor Yoo Minhyuk were.
Naturally, he turned his head away from where the cameras were gathered, so he didn’t see the camera move toward him. Lee Jungwoo, who had finished singing, lowered his sheet music and looked at the trainer. The trainer pressed the piano keys a few times while thinking, then chuckled.
“You sing well. Your voice is good.”
The trainer praised him, saying that starting with his voice, there was nothing lacking in his vocalization or rhythm. Despite her friendly reaction, Lee Jungwoo didn’t smile even out of courtesy, just bowed his head saying thank you and returned to his seat.
“Then the next trainee is…”
After Lee Jungwoo sat down, the trainer’s eyes narrowed as she checked who was next to him.
“This is definitely going to be broadcast somehow, isn’t it?”
The trainer, who was also a judge, muttered in a low voice. Several people who heard her soliloquy looked at Jaekyung meaningfully.
“Trainee Seo Jaekyung.”
Jaekyung got up from his seat and went to where Lee Jungwoo had stood earlier. He bowed and was about to start singing, raising the sheet music to eye level, but actually he had memorized all the lyrics.
“Do you like singing?”
Jaekyung, who had expected to be told to start, looked up from the sheet music at the unexpected question. The trainer smiled and said.
“You seem to like singing.”
I don’t like it. How could I like something that completely ruined my life. As Jaekyung silently fiddled with the paper, the trainer nodded.
“Let’s start.”
As the trainer began the accompaniment, Jaekyung’s husky voice mixed with a rough tone resonated gently. Just as Yoo Minhyuk had disparaged Lee Jungwoo’s song, not all the trainees listening to his song would think positively. Someone might have no interest in him at all, and someone might find fault with his voice.
Still, since applying for this audition, singing was the one thing that wasn’t scary. Whether he did well or poorly, emptying his mind and starting made it at least not difficult to produce his voice.
Was this the third time he had sung like this?
Why did the question the trainer had asked keep circling in his head?
After the song ended, Jaekyung couldn’t organize the single thought circling in his head and slowly opened his eyes. His eyes met Lee Jungwoo’s, who was staring straight at him, but Jaekyung remained motionless looking back at him as if under a spell.
* * *
With the vocal lesson ending, all official classes for the day were finished. Now they could rest a bit, then eat dinner and do individual practice afterward. As the trainer left, the trainees moved around in groups, gathering with people they were close to.
Jaekyung stayed still without going anywhere among them. He couldn’t easily leave his seat due to the confusion arising within himself. The emotion he had felt when singing earlier – that it was good. He couldn’t shake off that thought of wanting to sing more.
‘It’s probably because this is the last time, right?’
Later he would only sing at karaoke, so couldn’t he enjoy it a bit more comfortably? Jaekyung seemed somewhat relieved as he brushed his chest.
The trainer had also said he just needed to keep practicing like this and didn’t need to come for additional lesson time, so his free time had increased. Should he wash up and then eat? Or eat and then wash up?
While he was seriously thinking about which would be better, there were people casually approaching beside Jaekyung.
“Hyung really sings well.”
There was someone who reacted to Lee Sowoon’s compliment before Jaekyung did.
“Hyung?”
“Yes. Starting today, I’ve started calling him hyung.”
Lee Jungwoo’s gaze moved from Lee Sowoon to Jaekyung. The meaning ‘didn’t you tell me not to speak informally?’ was blatantly felt. Jaekyung found it too bothersome to react to Lee Jungwoo and just turned his head away.
“Hyung? So Sowoon must be quite young.”
Yoon Hajun naturally joined the conversation.
“I’m 17 years old.”
“I’m 20 and Jungwoo is 19.”
“Oh? Then Jaekyung hyung and Jungwoo hyung are the same age.”
Jaekyung was just sitting quietly, but their ages got revealed automatically. Didn’t they bring up ages at some point? But Jaekyung realized that Yoon Hajun had deliberately brought up ages to mention ‘hyung.’ Moreover, Yoon Hajun even brought up Jaekyung’s singing, praising him saying he really sang well.
‘Why is he really acting like this.’
Jaekyung looked at Yoon Hajun with a strange gaze. Since he was acting unlike the person he knew, he wondered if he should think of him as a different person now.
“Compared to that, my singing was too sensual.”
When Yoon Hajun scratched his cheek regretfully, Lee Sowoon was startled and waved both hands.
“It wasn’t sensual. Rather, it stood out more than singing plainly.”
“That’s a compliment, right?”
“Of, of course.”
“Really? Sowoon has a pretty voice too. Especially in the high notes, it was really stable.”
“Really? I didn’t know my voice was good because it’s thin…”
Lee Sowoon scratched his head and acted embarrassed.
“It’s not like I give compliments I don’t mean, right?”
Yoon Hajun looked at others as if asking them to add to his words, but there were only Jungwoo and Jaekyung anyway. He thought Jaekyung would be better than Jungwoo. Even receiving that gaze, Jaekyung kept his mouth shut.
“How did it sound to hyung?”
When Lee Sowoon asked directly, Jaekyung had no choice but to answer.
‘What would I know.’
His feet planted on the floor were facing toward the door, which must be an unconscious expression of wanting to escape from this situation. Jaekyung slowly opened his mouth, thinking to wrap it up roughly.
“You suited this song the best.”
“Really? But hyung did better than me… Jungwoo hyung did well too…”
“If we’re comparing simple techniques, naturally trainee Lee Jungwoo did better. Since he’s been learning for more than 1-2 years, technique comes out first rather than the song’s feeling. So we just sang as we learned, but you enjoy the act of singing itself. Maybe because that heart was put into it, I felt excitement in the song, so I said it suited you well.”
Jaekyung spoke rapidly as if trying to finish it in one go. Roughly gauging the situation, it didn’t seem like Lee Sowoon would say more, so he left his seat. The three people left after Jaekyung departed were each lost in their own thoughts. They didn’t even notice the camera sweeping by, wondering if something was happening. What broke the strange silence was Sowoon, whose face had turned bright red.
“He said there was excitement in my song.”
Jaekyung, who had seemed so blunt and uninterested in others, seemed to understand his heart better than anyone, so Sowoon pressed his chest firmly.
“I’m so nervous. I feel like I was just confessed to.”
It was just light praise, but his heart wouldn’t calm down. Jungwoo next to him was pondering what Jaekyung had said in a different sense. As if knowing his thoughts, Hajun smiled and said.
“It’s nice that he grouped us together, but wasn’t it strange?”
Jungwoo stared at the door Jaekyung had left through without reacting, but Hajun continued his words regardless.
“I wonder who he heard from about how long you and I have been trainees?”
Though it didn’t seem like he had anyone close here except Sowoon.
“More than 1-2 years of learning… It’s true, but it feels like he knows us better than that. Right?”
Hajun laughed as if finding it interesting, saying this was why he kept wanting to be nearby. Jaekyung, who seemed uninterested in others, spoke as if he knew them well.
While Hajun was grinning, Jungwoo looked at Sowoon. He seemed to be having similar thoughts to Hajun.
“Trainee Lee Sowoon.”
“Please call me Sowoon, hyung.”
“How did you do it?”
“What?”
“You called trainee Seo Jaekyung hyung. How did you do it?”
“Ah…”
Jungwoo was asking an unexpected question. Hajun also realized his words had been brushed aside and let out a hollow laugh.
What’s with this guy.
Wasn’t he suspicious that Jaekyung might know them? But what about hyung?
Lee Sowoon started rambling in confusion.
“I just called him hyung because he’s older, but if you’re asking how I came to call hyung ‘hyung’…”
He was gradually becoming like Hong Gildong.*
—
*Reference to a Korean folktale character who couldn’t call his father “father” due to his social status
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
