Chapter 57
“I told you that you have no choice but to do it, didn’t I?”
As practice began in earnest, Jaekyung understood what Junghang’s words meant. It didn’t even take long for him to figure it out. He knew as soon as they moved into group practice after having time to learn the choreography individually. Even though the music was playing, Jaekyung couldn’t even think about dancing and just stared blankly at the other trainees reflected in the mirror.
*Without you, I walked that street alone*
Watching the choreography the trainees were doing during the chorus made him feel hopeless. Where did it all go wrong?
The lyrics of the girl group song they had to dance to were about sadly having to do alone the things one used to share with a lover, but the song’s atmosphere itself was an intense pop dance track.
It was a song that had to express resentment toward the other person, longing, and lingering attachment.
‘But what is that? Why is everyone… so energetic?’
They had roughly memorized the choreography and were dancing to the song, but it felt awkward and strange somewhere. Even though it was men dancing to a girl group song, even accounting for that, it didn’t fit at all.
It just felt like a completely different song, and since he didn’t know where to start fixing it, he felt like he was standing in the middle of a vast ocean. If he touched this, things seemed like they would get complicated, but if he pretended not to notice…
Junghang, who had caught onto Jaekyung’s inner thoughts, grinned when he struck the final ending pose.
“How was it?”
“…It feels like soldiers dancing in formation to a girl group song.”
Feeling like his inner thoughts had been exposed to Junghang, Jaekyung went with honesty.
“Wow. That’s a compliment, right? It’d be good if we pushed forward with our interpretation of the song.”
“Not at all.”
As if trying to slip by subtly.
Jaekyung picked them out one by one.
“It’s incredibly stiff. It’s like you’re going to find the boyfriend who broke up with you and punch him. Harang hyung, you really can’t dance…”
“Shh, you can stop there.”
Even at Jaekyung’s merciless assessment, the trainees’ expressions weren’t heavy at all. Rather, the way they were smiling was sinister. Jaekyung shook his head firmly.
“Anyway, this won’t work. The dancing is too stiff and there are limits to pushing through with song interpretation.”
“Then you show us, Jaekyung.”
Junghang stepped back and made space for Jaekyung. When all the other trainees stepped back to match, a spot in the center naturally opened up. Looking at that spot, Jaekyung hesitated about what to do. He didn’t want to be filmed dancing alone, but it was also awkward to leave things as they were.
“If you don’t show us quickly, we’ll keep going like this.”
At Junghang’s needling words, Jaekyung glared at him. Grinning while getting under other people’s skin – he was someone with a personality similar to Hajun in some ways.
“I’m fine with it. Since I can’t dance well anyway, I can appeal with my charm. What about you, Seungkwon?”
“Yeah, me too.”
‘These people, really.’
At the playful conversation between Junghang and Seungkwon, Jaekyung impulsively walked over and took position. At this rate, they’d obviously receive all kinds of criticism starting from the midterm evaluation, so he had no choice but to show them.
“Playing the music.”
When the music started playing, Jaekyung’s expression changed. Jaekyung danced the choreography with precise beats. When his long arms and legs stretched out, it felt refreshing, then changed to smooth movements during the wave parts – the control of strength and softness was clear yet flowed like water. And during the part where they tapped their hips, he twisted it slightly to create a modified choreography where he tapped his own arm instead.
“I knew it. He definitely did a lot of research.”
Junghang nodded his head while crossing his arms as if evaluating Jaekyung’s dance. It wasn’t just that he had modified the choreography. With Jaekyung’s eyes changing like putting on a mask throughout the song, even though he was dancing alone, it wasn’t boring at all.
It wasn’t just that he had memorized the choreography – it was like he was wearing clothes that fit him perfectly, so they couldn’t help but acknowledge it.
“As expected, our center.”
At Junghang’s admiration, Seungkwon nodded in agreement.
“It suits him well.”
“I’ve always wanted to dance with him at least once. I felt like it would look cool if we danced together.”
Hyun Siwoo, who had been quietly watching Jaekyung until now, added his comment.
Since they were gathered trainees, they couldn’t help but be sensitive about each other’s skills. The same was true for Hyun Siwoo. No matter how much charm one appealed with, hoping to advance in the audition without basic skills as a foundation was like a vague expectation.
In that regard, trainee Seo Jaekyung was a trainee who stood out even while staying quiet. He was lacking in nothing – singing, dancing, and looks. That’s why many trainees were wary of Seo Jaekyung, but on the other hand, there were quite a few people who wanted to be on the same team as him.
Hyun Siwoo was, strictly speaking, part of the group that wanted to create a good stage together with Jaekyung.
“The more I looked at him, the more I thought I wanted to work together with him rather than feeling jealous.”
Everyone nodded at Hyun Siwoo’s words.
When the game was all over and everyone was gathered waiting for the last person, they all knew that person would be Seo Jaekyung. So they had casually started talking about Seo Jaekyung, and surprisingly, everyone had favorable feelings toward him.
Before jealousy, most of the talk was about wanting to try working together at least once, that even though he was naturally a competitor, they wanted to get along with him at least once.
“Me too. Why are the stages he stands on so cool? I wondered if I’d become cool too if I stood there with him.”
“That’s why we’re doing it together this time. I think we can create a pretty good stage.”
Seungkwon muttered while watching Jaekyung dance. Junghang seemed to think the same and nodded, then writhed as if in agony.
“But why is he so good at dancing?”
“Then why are you so bad at it?”
At Seungkwon’s sharp retort, Junghang grabbed his neck and put him in a headlock. The slender Junghang was hanging onto Seungkwon, who had relatively broad shoulders and a bigger build, but no one stopped them.
Meanwhile, the song ended and Jaekyung let out a slightly excited breath. Even for himself, he couldn’t express every dance perfectly. The silver lining in this misfortune was that every time he lost in the game, he had worried about how to dance this choreography.
He couldn’t dance feminine moves as they were, and fortunately the dance track’s beat was intense, so he thought he could make it work by twisting it just a little. When he looked in the mirror, it wasn’t bad, but other people’s opinions were important.
“That was good. Really well done. You must have thought about it a lot.”
At Junghang’s praise, Jaekyung wiped his sweat while hiding his embarrassed feelings.
Even while pretending not to care, his desire to master the song and all his worrying had shown through.
“I’m still lacking too. I think I need to work on it a bit more.”
“Well, we have time for that. Our center, and main vocal. Let’s go to the next practice.”
At Junghang’s playful shout while pumping his fist, Jaekyung staggered.
After dance practice came vocal practice.
* * *
“I was really curious about this place. The members are really diverse.”
Jeina, who was both the master and vocal trainer, kept looking around at the members as if she found it interesting.
“I heard the last person to join was trainee Seo Jaekyung?”
“…Yes.”
“Oh my. The answer shows on your face. Still, since it’s come to this, show them what you’re made of. To the people who dared to beat trainee Seo Jaekyung in the game.”
She must have heard that Jaekyung came in last in the game.
“Pfft.”
Someone’s laughter could be heard from behind. It was probably Seungkwon’s voice. Jaekyung naturally covered his scowling expression with his sheet music. Though the trainer probably saw it all anyway.
The vocal trainer looked at the sheet music and asked Junghang.
“It’s a girl group song, but you’re planning to do it in the original key?”
“Well, we tried lowering it by two keys, but somehow the feeling wasn’t coming through…”
They had tried practicing by lowering the key. It was much easier to sing and wasn’t particularly strange, but it didn’t have the same rhythmic feeling as the original song.
“Are you determined to do it properly?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Not changing the key is fine, but you know that’s only if you can actually handle it, right?”
“We’ll work hard.”
At Junghang’s resolute answer, the vocal trainer smiled and said let’s hear it. As the music started playing, Seungkwon, whose tone came out first, sang the first line. The start was stable, hitting the pitch accurately and making it easy for the next person to continue.
However, Park Juhyung, who took the very next part, sang with unstable pitch, and while Hyun Siwoo and Park Minho barely managed their parts precariously, the song was gradually becoming a mess. Though it wasn’t time yet for Junghang, who was in charge of rap, Jaekyung felt troubled. It was something he had noticed during vocal practice too.
They had somehow matched the pitch and practiced, but there were time limitations. Meanwhile, it was time for Jaekyung, the main vocal.
*This is how I think of you*
*Unable to forget our memories, I wander those streets*
Jaekyung sang while raising the high notes in the original key without showing any signs of difficulty. Since he had also memorized the lyrics, instead of looking at the sheet music, he closed his eyes and sang while regaining his wavering emotions.
Thanks to Jaekyung’s singing getting through, Hyun Siwoo, who followed right after, took over his part more stably than before.
When the song ended, Jaekyung picked up his sheet music with his heart pounding, wondering what harsh words he would hear. And as he raised his head, his eyes met with the vocal trainer who was looking at him.
“This team really can’t do without trainee Seo Jaekyung. He stabilizes wavering emotions, fixes the pitch, and handles high notes well. He’s carrying everything by himself. So reliable, isn’t he?”
“That’s right!”
“I’m saying the other people were a mess. Oh, trainee Seungkwon’s voice also suited the song well.”
At Junghang’s shameless answer, the vocal trainer seemed to lose the desire to point things out and let out a laugh of disbelief. Since they already knew they were lacking, she might not have felt the need to say more.
And Jaekyung, who had received praise-like evaluation, quietly bowed his head. For some reason, he only felt relieved that after all this time, not once had he gone off-pitch.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
