Chapter 66
Returning to the practice room, Jaekyung pretended not to notice the gazes directed at him and went to one side to put down his things. As he was untying his sneaker laces to retie them, Junghang approached him.
“Are you okay?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well… that thing.”
When Junghang hesitated to speak directly, Jaekyung stood up and rotated his ankle. Everyone must have heard about it. So they were worried, but Jaekyung didn’t have the luxury to discuss what to say about it right now.
He just wanted to act like nothing had happened, as usual.
“We need to practice. There’s not much time left.”
“Oh, right.”
Since it was Jaekyung’s personal matter, Junghang, who had been struggling to bring it up, nodded and stepped aside. As Jaekyung passed by, he followed behind him and made eye contact with other trainees. Jaekyung saw those exchanged glances through the mirror but pretended not to notice and took his position.
Everyone found their places with Jaekyung at the center.
‘Only 3 days left now.’
Only the final check remained, and by then it was important for everyone to master their choreography perfectly. Jaekyung wanted to quickly finish this round, which had felt particularly eventful. Coming in with complicated feelings after meeting his mother, then the announcement ceremony, and his rumors spreading.
Unlike before, this time he chose not to clarify the rumors according to his own will, but his heart wasn’t comfortable. Of course he felt wronged. Even knowing that it was Jeon Sanguk who posted his story, rather than asking him why he did it, he found himself pathetic for telling him to push through to the end.
When denying it wouldn’t be enough, he was using it instead. Anyway, he didn’t know how big those rumors would get. He could drop in ranking immediately, or even be eliminated entirely. Maybe it would have no effect at all. Whatever happened, it was beyond Jaekyung’s ability to know until that time came.
‘I really don’t know how things will flow now.’
Jaekyung’s eyes sank deeply as he moved his body to the music.
* * *
The masters watching the rehearsal had their own conversations about each team.
“That team had the highest difficulty in choreography, right?”
At one master’s question, Master Minyu nodded.
“It’s the most difficult song in this round. It would be hard just to handle it. But if they perform on stage like this rehearsal, it’ll be problematic.”
“Why? They were all doing well.”
“There aren’t any kids who made mistakes or couldn’t dance, but one person particularly stands out.”
As the song progressed to the latter half and the skill differences began to show more clearly, Master Minyu looked at Jungwoo with sharp eyes.
“I heard Jungwoo practiced until late, but he stands out too much.”
“That’s true.”
“The other kids aren’t bad either, but the one who was already good practiced a lot more, so the gap widened.”
Understanding what Minyu’s concern was about, all the masters turned their heads toward the stage. The trainees who had just finished the song and lined up were breathing heavily. Jungwoo only wiped the sweat from his temples and didn’t show signs of being particularly tired.
“It would have been better if Jungwoo had been the center from the start. But since we’ve come this far, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Right. The balance is unfortunate.”
Jungwoo’s team went down and the next team came up. Then Vocal Master Jeina noticeably brightened.
“It’s Jaekyung.”
Her feelings toward Jaekyung were so openly displayed that the masters laughed as if they couldn’t stop her.
“You shouldn’t show such favoritism, should you?”
“Of course I’ll judge fairly when it’s time to evaluate. It’s just unavoidable that there’s one friend I cheer for a little bit more.”
Jeina said she would absolutely not let her personal feelings interfere. Understanding her feelings, Dance Master Minyu said,
“But if it’s Jaekyung, he’s worth favoring.”
“Right?”
When Jeina asked back with a brightened expression, Minyu nodded and continued,
“He’s one of the few trainees who’s good at both dancing and singing, and he’s calm and not greedy. He must have worked hard to carry that team, but he didn’t show it at all, did he?”
“Was it the same with dancing? He did even more with singing. Jaekyung was pulling everything along.”
Then one master added with a worried tone.
“Then I wonder if this team might also have only Jaekyung standing out.”
Just like how only Jungwoo stood out in the previous team. However, Jeina shook her head and pointed to the stage.
“We’ll know when we see.”
Based on the Jaekyung she’d seen so far, he was absolutely not the type to do that, but it would be best to see with her own eyes.
“Let’s think of this as a real stage, not a rehearsal.”
While gathered in a circle with their hands stacked together, Junghang looked at everyone’s faces and said,
“Don’t think of it as being judged, but as us showing what we’ve got. Got it?”
When everyone nodded and strengthened their resolve, Junghang looked at Jaekyung. Jaekyung, still without much change in expression, was there without any tension.
“Jaekyung.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“I’m counting on you.”
“Yes.”
Though Junghang didn’t specify what he meant by “counting on you,” Jaekyung calmly nodded. Then everyone dispersed and took their positions on stage. Jaekyung walked in last and stood in the center position.
Center and main vocal.
This was the first time Jaekyung had been given such important roles on a stage. In that sense, being center was a first, but Jaekyung was the same as always. He didn’t have thoughts like “I must do well because I’m the center” or resolutions like “I’ll perform this stage perfectly.”
When Jaekyung was an idol, there was one thing he wanted most. Every time moments of not fitting in and feeling lonely accumulated, Jaekyung’s depression only deepened.
Though he ended up applying for the audition by chance, with each round Jaekyung was eliminating the regrets he’d experienced as an idol one by one.
Things like smoothly hitting high notes without making pitch mistakes, or dancing smoothly from beginning to end. And this time…
The quiet moment just before the song began. Jaekyung lifted his lowered eyes to look at the camera. The moment Jaekyung’s gaze was captured by the camera, the song started.
“Wow.”
The masters watching the stage let out admiration. They looked at Jaekyung, then at other trainees, busily shifting their gazes, but were never disappointed. Instead, they became absorbed in the enjoyment of watching and focused intently.
“They really divided the parts well here.”
“Right. I thought Jaekyung would stand out, but it’s a complete reversal.”
When the song first started, the moment Jaekyung looked at the camera gave a clear sense that he was the center. However, his actual dancing didn’t stand out more than anyone else’s, and all five members blended together as one team.
Each had clear moments where they shone as solos, but Jaekyung harmonized with everyone as one unless it was a part where he needed to come forward as main vocal.
“It’s even more amazing that you can clearly feel Jaekyung is the center even when he dances like that.”
“That’s what charisma is.”
“He seems like a kid who knows how to utilize the stage.”
The masters each made comments. They couldn’t help it – even though Jaekyung’s dancing wasn’t flashy, his expressions and gaze kept drawing their eyes to him. He maintained the group’s balance appropriately while not missing his own role.
So unlike Jungwoo, Jaekyung’s team gave a strong sense of being one unit. Moreover, you could feel that everyone was thinking of each other and enjoying the stage, so the masters found themselves appreciating the performance like an audience.
“This team is done.”
“I don’t know what will happen to the other kids.”
While that team was so much of a unit that no one except the center stood out, this team had all five members catching attention from beginning to end.
While the masters were clicking their tongues in amazement, Minyu looked at Jaekyung with serious eyes. Seeing this, Jeina tapped Minyu’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well, if he gets eliminated, I’m thinking of taking him with me.”
“Don’t even dream about it. There must be tons of agencies eyeing him.”
Jeina laughed and mercilessly crushed Minyu’s hopes.
* * *
After finishing the rehearsal and coming down, Jaekyung discovered Jungwoo standing off to one side while heading to fix his ruined makeup.
Rather than being with someone else, he was alone, which made Jaekyung look at him curiously. When he lifted his head and their eyes met, Jaekyung trailed off, “Ah…” Jungwoo’s expression wasn’t very good.
Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, Jungwoo’s expression changed and he gave a faint smile.
“Seo Jaekyung, you really did well as expected.”
“You did well too.”
“Me…”
At Jaekyung’s words, Jungwoo erased the smile he’d been forcing. Instead, he raised one hand to cover his face as if trying to hide his complicated feelings. What had happened? Jaekyung had thought Jungwoo was doing well just from practicing hard all this time.
“Of course I did well.”
After briefly starting to speak, Jungwoo’s words made Jaekyung shake his head as if finding it bland.
“I know you’re good, so stop saying that.”
“Right. You should go, shouldn’t you?”
At the sound of Jungwoo calling him, he took a step back. At the signal to go, Jaekyung took a step forward then looked back at Jungwoo. Come to think of it, Jungwoo was still practicing alone. Of course, he thought there was no one else because it was late, but had something he didn’t know about happened?
But his curiosity about Jungwoo was immediately erased from his mind by the sound of someone calling for Jaekyung again from far away.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
