Chapter 24
“Dance to the song. The point choreography must be included.”
Hearing the PD’s words, Jaekyung clenched his fist.
‘I should just stay still.’
If they moved autonomously, naturally Jaekyung would stay completely still. Jungwoo watched Jaekyung’s reaction with narrowed eyes. Along with Hajun and Sowoon too. They made eye contact with each other and had a silent conversation. While meaningful dialogue passed through the eyes of the three people who had noticed how Jaekyung had been acting so far, the PD’s explanation continued.
“Ah…”
“Only one person per team can come out. Even if all 99 people know the dance, only 9 people will come out, you see? Only the person standing in this circle that allows one person at a time can dance. Furthermore, this mission requires all 9 people belonging to that group to pass in order to be given seating priority.”
The three people saw Jaekyung’s shoulders droop and swallowed their laughter. Not knowing what others were thinking, Jaekyung let out a regretful sigh. So that’s why they said it was both a group battle and individual battle. It meant that if Jaekyung didn’t step forward until the end, the group wouldn’t succeed.
‘What, why is it so varied.’
They stick balls to walls and whatnot. Today it’s relay. At this rate, they might play hide-and-seek next.
‘What dance should I do to get through appropriately?’
With that kind of song, the team members probably wouldn’t come out either, but the problem was whether such a song would even come up. Jaekyung let out a sigh of resignation and raised his head, making eye contact with Jungwoo who was looking at him.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Are you worried?”
“…Yeah.”
It was only briefly that he considered whether to hide his troubled feelings completely. Thinking it would be okay to tell Jungwoo this much, Jaekyung immediately showed his feelings on his face.
“Pfft.”
Jungwoo was surprised by his tearful expression, then quickly covered his mouth. As his eyes curved, clearly holding back laughter, Jaekyung thumped his shoulder with his fist as if telling him not to laugh.
It was an action he did because he found it annoying, but he belatedly wondered what he had done. Did I hit Lee Jungwoo? Jaekyung looked at his fist that had moved so naturally with curiosity. Then he looked up at Jungwoo blankly and said.
“I’m really serious.”
“You dance well though.”
“Still. Dancing in front of others… I don’t like it.”
It wasn’t whether he liked or disliked dancing, but being in front of others seemed to be important.
“Because it’s in front of cameras?”
“That too…”
Jaekyung slightly turned his body toward Jungwoo, who had somehow come to his side as if to have a cozy chat. When he put his elbow on his knee and rested his chin, his cheek was pushed up. In that state, Jaekyung was about to open his mouth when he seemed to think for a moment, then closed it again.
Jaekyung was about to say he just didn’t want to step forward, but held back his words because there were other people nearby. He was embarrassed to say that no matter how hard he danced, he had never been praised.
He had only heard that dancing that much was natural since he’d been doing it for a long time, and since he heard a lot of comments about having no color of his own and being wishy-washy, his movements gradually became smaller, and eventually he even heard people ask if that was all he could do. Just as Jaekyung was about to turn his body forward, thinking the conversation might end like this, Jungwoo grabbed his arm.
“You don’t dislike dancing, right?”
A surprised expression appeared on Jaekyung’s face. As he raised his head, the hand that had been supporting his chin floated in the air.
“What’s wrong?”
“No…”
Jaekyung belatedly turned his head to the other side, pretending to clear his throat.
– You don’t dislike dancing, right?
Those were the words Jungwoo had said to Jaekyung when he came down after spectacularly ruining his first stage. Even though the current Jungwoo was in a different situation from then, he had said the same words. What had he replied back then?
– That’s not it.
“That’s not it.”
“Then that’s fine.”
Jaekyung turned his head and made eye contact with Jungwoo. Jaekyung couldn’t avoid the trusting gaze he was showing him.
– Then that’s fine.
Back then, Jungwoo had said the same thing and left. But why did he think Jungwoo was being sarcastic back then?
“Think of it as getting a shot. Or like being a kid who has to eat a side dish they don’t like.”
“What’s that supposed to mean.”
Though it was a grumbling response, Jungwoo’s words resonated deeply. It would be best to finish quickly and get out.
“Run out as soon as the song comes on. I’ll push you.”
“What if it’s a song I don’t know?”
“Just say I pushed you and come back.”
He doubted that would work, but having someone make plans to suit him looked pretty good. Jaekyung pretended to give in and acted tough, saying “I probably know more than you, right?”
‘Right, how long have I been wandering around as a trainee.’
Jungwoo said he would go out next, and when they passed, they could sit and rest comfortably.
“Now, let’s begin.”
When PD Choi spun his index finger in the air, the prepared song burst out toward the speakers. As soon as he heard the first note of the song, Jaekyung jumped up.
‘This one.’
It was the first song Jaekyung had practiced as a trainee. With Jungwoo even pushing his back, he ran like he was flying. He quickly ran and entered the white circle drawn with a 1-meter radius, feeling the rhythm for a moment. Though it was old and hazy, several movements came to mind.
It was a girl group song with prominent body flexibility and lots of waves, but it was the first song Jaekyung learned because it was good for building fundamentals. Perhaps because of the specialness of being first, his body remembered more than his head recalled.
Jaekyung immediately extended one foot and drew a smooth pelvic wave. It was a movement meant to give a swaying feeling since it was a girl group song, but when he relaxed and made it appropriately round, it came out quite similar.
‘I need to reduce the movements but extract only the points…’
Back then, dances with big waves were trendy, but not now. So it would look tacky now, but what Jaekyung was doing wasn’t like that. He swayed his arms to sweep down his waist, and at the hips where the wave ended, just very slightly.
“What should we do about him.”
Hajun spoke in a regretful tone. He wasn’t feeling sorry because Jaekyung’s dance was wrong or poorly done.
“Right. Jaekyung hyung… what should we do?”
Even Sowoon couldn’t continue his words properly while looking at Jaekyung. And Jungwoo, who had pushed Jaekyung out, watched with serious eyes. They had just gotten one step closer, but now they were about to become two steps further apart. Hajun just crossed his arms and appreciated Jaekyung’s dance.
“A kid who wants to strike moderately and slip away does everything well when you actually make him do it.”
“Sigh, Jaekyung hyung. What should we do if you dance so prettily like that.”
“At that level, shouldn’t the production team be worrying? Jaekyung doesn’t have service time.”
“That’s probably true.”
“That guy only has 1 minute of PR time, but why does he get caught on camera so much?”
Hajun clicked his tongue. Meanwhile, Sowoon raised his hand to try following Jaekyung’s dance, then gave up. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the same feeling as Jaekyung.
“I thought Jaekyung hyung was only good at singing, but he really dances well. Is that 10 years of experience?”
“He dances with some kind of flavor.”
“Right. But Jaekyung hyung also eats food really deliciously.”
While Sowoon was nodding his head, the song ended. PD Choi’s voice echoed, shouting “Trainee Seo Jaekyung, success.” Happy to have passed in one go, Jaekyung looked back at Jungwoo without being able to catch his breath.
‘I didn’t want to get a shot, so I finished it in one go…’
The smile that had appeared on Jaekyung’s face gradually faded. The surrounding situation belatedly came into view. Among the 11 circles drawn on the floor, only he and one person at the far end were standing. PD Choi said Jaekyung succeeded but didn’t call other trainees, so there was only one person who passed this round.
Jaekyung felt the gazes focused on him and couldn’t hide his puzzled look.
‘Why didn’t other people come out?’
Should he be glad that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t come out, or should he be sad that there were only 2 people? Jaekyung struggled to compose his confused expression. Seeing this, Hajun sighed and muttered words Jaekyung couldn’t hear.
“Only you and I who’ve been trainees for a long time would know that, others don’t really know.”
Even Hajun, who had been a trainee for quite a while, only remembered the song but didn’t know the entire choreography. It was a song from over 10 years ago, and although Jaekyung knew it because of his trilobite era, most others didn’t know it. Moreover, since it was also a girl group song, even more so. Even more so.
Anyway, Jaekyung realized he had danced while receiving everyone’s attention and slowly looked back at Jungwoo. He wanted to ask if he knew, but Jungwoo’s face was already full of apology.
‘I’m screwed.’
How many cameras had filmed him, and how many staff and trainees had looked back? Jaekyung hid his sigh and suppressed his irritation.
‘I said I don’t like dancing in front of others.’
Far from being a child who wanted to eat the disliked side dish first, he had put on a talent show. If he hadn’t listened to Lee Jungwoo’s words, he wouldn’t have gone out first. Even while walking to where the successful candidates were told to gather separately, Jaekyung glanced and glared at Jungwoo. Jungwoo, who had looked apologetic earlier, just moved his mouth and said something.
‘You did well.’
Jaekyung pouted his lips, then quickly turned his head away. Meanwhile, one person from each group ran out to match the song that had started. Jungwoo couldn’t go out because he was worried about Jaekyung. Jaekyung, sitting in the successful candidate’s seat, sighed deeply seeing that unlike his time, all 9 people had come out. It was from then that things started to get strangely twisted.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
