Chapter 37
It was when Jaekyung couldn’t bring himself to lift his bowed head.
“Seo Jaekyung.”
Jungwoo called Jaekyung with a quiet voice.
“You don’t think you’re going to debut just because you passed now, do you?”
“…What?”
Jaekyung slowly raised his head to look at Jungwoo. Then he pondered over what he had said.
“There are 54 people left now. That means 45 more people will be eliminated. But do you feel like you made it into the debut group just because you passed now?”
“Uh…”
Jungwoo’s words weren’t wrong. This was only the first announcement ceremony.
“It’s not over yet.”
Though Jungwoo spoke as if he shouldn’t let his guard down yet, Jaekyung was taking it differently. As he said, it wasn’t over yet. Anyway, only 9 people would remain at the end, and he just needed to make sure he absolutely wasn’t among them. There would be several more announcement ceremonies ahead, so there was no need to be disappointed already. However… Jaekyung thought about the very next mission.
Until now, with 99 people, they couldn’t include everyone, so they earned broadcast time through missions, but now those conditions would disappear. Moreover, Jaekyung wasn’t alone.
Jaekyung looked around at the trainees surrounding him one by one. There would be nothing good about sticking with any one of them here. But it wasn’t like he could avoid them either, so he wondered what to do going forward. Jaekyung’s worries only deepened.
“It’s regrettable, but it’s time to part ways. These trainees we’ve been filming were gems that many citizens hadn’t discovered. Though you’ll be somewhere we can’t see for now, you’ll come back soon and shine brightly, so please don’t forget and wait for them.”
Hearing PD Choi’s words, Jaekyung slowly raised his head.
Gems. Jaekyung looked at the trainees sitting in the stage seats. Their expressions, which had been disappointed and regretful, changed. As if this wasn’t the end, their faces showed determination for the future. Jaekyung couldn’t take his eyes off those expressions. He too had times when he tried not to be disappointed when he was kicked out of his agency, promising himself for next time.
That time when he held hope that he would definitely stand on stage, receiving his mother’s expectations…
“Jaekyung hyung.”
“Huh?”
Sowoon grabbing his arm from the side brought Jaekyung out of his reverie.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing, just.”
“They’re telling the passers to gather in the conference room.”
Only then did he see the trainees getting up from their seats one by one. Jaekyung followed Sowoon and stood up.
“Hyung, did you bring a bag this time too?”
Ah… a bag.
* * *
Time was given for the passed trainees to inform their parents that they would need to do a 2-week training camp. Each held their phones with excited hearts and pressed the call button, and Jungwoo also immediately called his father.
After a few rings, as soon as he confirmed the other party answered, Jungwoo spoke.
“It’s me.”
*- How did it go?*
“I passed.”
Jungwoo answered matter-of-factly, and the person on the other end of the line also responded calmly with “I see.” The father and son, who expressed emotions extremely minimally, had no greetings like “good job” besides the results.
*- What about your ranking?*
“Rankings don’t come out in the first announcement ceremony.”
*- Your buzz was quite something, I’ll monitor it.*
“…Yes.”
At his father’s words, Jungwoo bowed his head as if embarrassed. Even so, he covered the smile he couldn’t quite hide with his fingers as if brushing it away. It was only the first announcement ceremony, but he felt like he had gained just a tiny bit of recognition from his father.
*- I’ll be watching.*
“Yes, father.”
When the brief call ended, Jungwoo put his phone back in storage and turned around. Then he spotted Jaekyung on a call not far away.
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
Jaekyung seemed to think for a moment then answered, “I can start right away in two weeks.” It wasn’t certain, but it didn’t seem like a call with his parents. They would be staying at the training camp for two weeks starting today, but he wondered if it was okay not to mention it, but quickly erased the thought. Instead of listening more to Jaekyung’s call, Jungwoo left the area.
* * *
Jaekyung waited quietly until all the trainees gathered. It seemed like time would be needed for each to call their families and celebrate. The staff were also doing final checks, so he thought he could just stay still. As he sat with one leg up on the chair, leaning on his arm and resting his chin, Jungwoo lightly tapped Jaekyung’s arm.
“What?”
“How do you feel?”
It was a question about how he felt right now. Jaekyung thought again about his situation of having to stay at the training camp. He had called about his part-time job as soon as the announcement ceremony ended and explained the situation, and he had left his bag at the dorm.
“Just okay.”
While other trainees couldn’t hide their flushed faces from passing, Jaekyung had a calm expression. Honestly speaking, it wasn’t good. He didn’t have the relief others felt or hope that he could continue to the next stage.
“What about you?”
Instead of talking more about his own feelings, Jaekyung asked Jungwoo back. He knew his own circumstances well so there was nothing to be curious about, but Jungwoo didn’t particularly look happy either.
“I’m…”
Jungwoo looked ahead instead of at Jaekyung. There were cameras everywhere and staff busily moving around under the PD’s direction.
“Good.”
“…That’s your ‘good’ expression?”
Jaekyung looked at Jungwoo with strange eyes. If you’re happy, you should show it. Why so sullen?
The two most sullen people in this place stared blankly at each other. Then, as if some thought occurred to him, Jaekyung placed his hand on Jungwoo’s shoulder.
At Jaekyung’s initiative to approach first, Jungwoo narrowed his eyes wondering what he was doing.
“I’ll tell you in advance. Let’s break up.”
“What are you suddenly talking nonsense about?”
“We won’t do group songs like at the beginning, right? They’ll divide us by appropriate numbers, so let’s break up.”
At Jaekyung’s annoyingly calm tone, Jungwoo’s lips twisted. Doesn’t he know that openly saying he dislikes it makes you want to stick together more?
“I think we’ll have to see about that?”
“I warned you in advance. There’s nothing good about us sticking together.”
“Why not? We were caught well on the broadcast too.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Since Jungwoo knew Jaekyung hadn’t watched the live broadcast, he didn’t explain further. Jaekyung wondered what Jungwoo had meant but let it go.
Before they knew it, the trainees had taken their seats and cameras were filming here and there. Jaekyung just turned his head away so their argument wouldn’t be filmed.
“You’ve made it to the second round together. Congratulations.”
At PD Choi’s words, the trainees cheered and the atmosphere quickly became cheerful. PD Choi, who had lifted the mood with one word, exchanged glances with the staff then continued speaking.
“You must be curious about the second stage. Here it is.”
At PD Choi’s signal, a picture that looked like some kind of organizational chart appeared on screen. As the trainees who couldn’t figure out what it was whispered quietly among themselves, text soon appeared over the picture.
HR Team, General Affairs Team, Marketing Team, Planning Team, Sales Team, Management Support Team, PR Team, Development Team, Legal Team.
As Jaekyung looked at that, he heard whispering conversation between Sowoon and Hajun sitting next to him.
“But why are they showing that? HR Team? General Affairs Team?”
Hajun thought quietly then just shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know. I can’t think of anything besides wearing suits.”
And Jungwoo also whispered in Jaekyung’s ear.
“What about you?”
Since Jaekyung hadn’t been thinking about anything in particular, he only thought of an answer when Jungwoo asked. Then he raised his finger to count the departments.
“There are 9 departments, so I think they’ll gather 6 people each.”
“These are department names you’d see when going to a company. You can guess, right? It will be a group evaluation.”
As soon as Jaekyung finished speaking, PD Choi’s explanation followed.
“When you form 9 teams of 6 people each through missions, you’ll prepare the next stage just like that.”
As expected, it was a method to decide teams.
“First, we’ll need a focal point to form each team. We’ll decide team leaders through a lottery.”
As soon as PD Choi finished speaking, staff brought a container with lottery balls. They arranged it so trainees didn’t have to get up – when the container came to them, they would draw a ball from inside. Jaekyung also drew a ball from the container that came to him and opened it, but there was nothing inside.
He was briefly happy that he wasn’t a team leader, but then he heard Jungwoo’s voice from beside him.
“PR Team.”
“Trainee Lee Jungwoo has become the PR Team leader.”
Jaekyung quickly turned his head to check what was in Jungwoo’s hand.
“You… you’re a team leader?”
“…Yeah.”
They exchanged slow conversation, each a beat behind. These were reactions slowed by being stunned and trying to understand the situation. When Jungwoo gripped the paper and suddenly raised his head, Jaekyung reflexively avoided his gaze. Without time to calm his pounding, racing heart, PD Choi’s explanation flowed out.
“The team leaders will walk around and find hidden talents. If you meet someone and think they don’t suit, you can pretend not to see them. It’s scouting after all. Just gather members with colors that match your team.”
Jaekyung had only one thought.
Lee Jungwoo, just avoid Lee Jungwoo.
* * *
Jaekyung hid his body in the corner of the supply room. He could avoid the cameras that were busily moving around filming trainees.
He didn’t care that the dress shirt he had changed into was getting wrinkled. Jaekyung, who had been fiddling with the strap hanging on his arm, raised his head to check the time.
Remembering the rule that he couldn’t stay in one place for more than 5 minutes, Jaekyung got up from his spot. Now he had to find another secret space. Jaekyung roughly looked around and picked up a conspicuous file folder. Covering the area under his eyes with the file folder, Jaekyung stealthily looked for his next hiding place with cat-like steps.
Somehow he had wondered if they’d have to change clothes and even ride a bus, but the mission location was apparently a company. Whether they really borrowed a company as a filming location, the place just felt awkward.
That’s when it happened. Footsteps could be heard nearby along with someone’s voice.
“Found you.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
