Chapter 8
As the accompaniment ended, Jaekyung lowered the microphone slightly. He felt uncomfortable because he had started the song by belting out the high notes that were supposed to come during the chorus after a gentle beginning. In the midst of this, he noticed someone holding a sketchbook, but without any signal to stop, he sang until the end.
After singing for nearly three minutes, his throat felt a bit looser. Thinking about it, he hadn’t sung at all since time had turned back, except during auditions. It was ridiculous that he’d belted out high notes without warming up his voice first, but he also thought it didn’t really matter.
It’s not like I’m going to be a singer anyway.
Jaekyung raised his gaze to look at the judges. Unlike before, he wasn’t hiding his face with a hat, so he could clearly see their reactions to him.
The trainees were either whispering among themselves or keeping quiet, while the staff began moving urgently after the song ended. Wondering what to do next, Jaekyung looked at the judges, but they too were just whispering among themselves like the trainees.
‘I guess I wasn’t that good.’
No one approached Jaekyung as they were busy preparing for the next trainee. Feeling awkward just standing there, Jaekyung gave a slight bow and went backstage.
‘What was I expecting?’
Despite being a trainee for so long, he couldn’t impress even one judge. Embarrassed that he had chosen to sing just because he could hit high notes, Jaekyung grabbed his bag and quickly walked toward where the trainees were sitting. With few seats remaining, he found an empty one near the aisle and sat down. For once, he wished he had a suitcase.
He wanted to hide behind a suitcase, but all he had was a bag that he could only hug like a cushion. Jaekyung felt self-contempt for sitting there shamelessly with skills that didn’t even earn a single evaluation from the judges.
‘I wish I had gone first.’
Feeling other trainees’ glances, he tried to ignore the flush rising to his face and just stared ahead, pretending not to notice. The last trainee who performed had a similar reaction to Jaekyung. After greeting the judges and receiving no response, he became flustered, then looked at the sketchbook, put down the microphone, and took a position. Perhaps his talent to show the judges was dance, as he soon began moving to the music that started playing.
‘He dances well.’
Having practiced dance himself, Jaekyung could see how hard the man in front had worked. When the song ended, sweat was streaming down the man’s face, but the judges just whispered among themselves without addressing him.
‘He danced so well…’
Jaekyung looked at the man with sympathy before realizing he was in the same situation and stopped pitying him. The judges stood up and brushed off their seats, seemingly done with all the trainees’ performances. As they left with staff guidance, Jaekyung exhaled a long breath.
‘I’m nervous.’
Though he had come prepared to be eliminated, the frequent bouts of tension were problematic.
“May I have your attention, please.”
As a man wearing a headset came up to the stage, Jaekyung swallowed his nervousness again.
“I’m Choi Wonhu. Please call me PD Choi.”
The man greeted the trainees casually as he hung his headset around his neck. The trainees cheered to welcome him.
“Men’s cheers aren’t bad either.”
PD Choi smoothly managed the situation, waving his arms enthusiastically to calm the commotion.
“First, you were surprised to be called to a hotel, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, prepare to be more surprised. You’ll be staying at this hotel for the next month.”
“Wow!”
“Hotel!”
“Nice.”
“Hotel vacation.”
Their excitement about staying at a hotel for a month seemed childishly pure.
“Of course, until the broadcast, nothing about us should leak outside, so there will be designated areas where you can move freely. Even the elevators—you can only use specific ones.”
“Wooow…”
Jaekyung smiled at the slightly diminished cheers. It was amusing how the trainees reacted without restraint to each of PD Choi’s words. Even just listening quietly, he wasn’t bored. Cameras were circling around the trainees’ area, so Jaekyung quickly composed his expression and looked at PD Choi.
‘Huh?’
He thought he had just made eye contact with PD Choi, but it happened so quickly he couldn’t be sure. Soon dismissing it as his imagination, he focused on what the man would say next.
“First, today’s evaluation results won’t be announced. Evaluating your skills and giving scores from the beginning would be discouraging, right? So the results will come through the broadcast.”
“Ah…”
Now Jaekyung understood why he hadn’t heard anything. If only he hadn’t fallen asleep earlier, he would have known this in advance. Frustrated with himself, he rubbed his dry face.
Just as the trainees’ cheers were about to grow louder again, PD Choi raised his hand.
“We won’t use you as sacrificial lambs for the program. Of course, there will be eliminations—we can’t create an idol army of 99 people, so please understand the basic format.”
Voices saying “That’s okay!” could be heard from various directions in response to his words.
“Good, you’re all spirited. Still, each person will appear on the broadcast for at least three weeks, so don’t get discouraged during this month—show us your talents. What we film here will air in the first broadcast the week you leave the dormitory, and before that, you’ll perform on a music show. It’s a group song with 99 people, so remember—you never know who the camera will focus on.”
As PD Choi’s speech grew longer, the atmosphere became increasingly tense. Even Jaekyung, who had come thinking he’d just endure for a month, was being drawn in by PD Choi’s tone.
“During this month, you’ll only learn one group song. Instead, we’ll flesh things out with missions. Any questions up to this point?”
As PD Choi looked around as if asking if everyone understood, someone raised their hand. Jaekyung, hearing a voice from so far away, stayed still with no desire to see who it was.
“Do we really need a whole month to practice one song?”
“Well… since this is the first time, we’ve scheduled generously. Even though you’re all trainees, your circumstances and training periods differ. It’s just one group song, but there will be vocal and choreography lessons. These will be professional classes, so how you use this opportunity is up to each of you.”
Jaekyung nodded as if he immediately understood PD Choi’s intentions. At smaller agencies, proper vocal lessons often didn’t happen. Jaekyung himself had been neglected for months at a small agency without even basic care.
“So, that’s the basic information, and now I’ll tell you something really important.”
As PD Choi set the mood, none of the trainees spoke, all eyes on him.
“You’re all staring so intensely, it’s embarrassing. Ahem. Anyway, the evaluation results will be revealed through the broadcast.”
Even Jaekyung was drawn into PD Choi’s words.
“The broadcast is scheduled for 120 minutes. Episodes 1 and 2 will include time to introduce you all and the evaluation content. So what’s important to you is the time allocated for the rest? Beyond the basic one-minute PR time given to all 99 trainees and the evaluation stage, you’ll need to earn the remaining time through missions. Think of it as making your face known.”
The remaining time. It was a mission utilizing a competition where more broadcast time meant an advantage.
“We’ll accept national votes through the website from when the broadcast starts, and we’ll strictly calculate the time given to each trainee through missions. So please do your best with the missions.”
To Jaekyung, PD Choi’s words sounded different.
‘Don’t do your best.’
* * *
Balls were piled high in a transparent container. Following instructions to pick one randomly to determine their rooms, Jaekyung moved slowly and stood at the very end of the line. With a camera fixed in front of the container, they had to line up to draw.
‘If everything involves waiting for all 99 people, this will take time.’
Wouldn’t it be boring to wait every time? Contrary to his thoughts, Jaekyung moved quietly, trying not to stand out. When his turn came, unlike other trainees who rolled the ball around or deliberated, he quickly took one out. He immediately split the ball in half and showed the paper inside to the staff.
The staff member, slightly taken aback by Jaekyung’s quick response, nodded.
“Room 707 on the 13th floor.”
Jaekyung repeated the words in his mind a few times to remember as he walked forward. They were told to rest in their rooms until called again, so he left without hesitation. Wanting to quickly escape from the cameras surrounding him, he quickened his pace, causing a camera that had approached to film him to shake slightly before moving faster to get ahead of him.
Jaekyung flinched at the camera thrust directly in his face but soon turned his head as if checking the elevator’s location.
I don’t want to be filmed.
I don’t want to be filmed.
I absolutely don’t want to be filmed.
His goal was to stay in the dormitory for a month and quietly be eliminated, so he didn’t want to be caught on camera. Jaekyung wrapped the strap of his bag around his left hand and pressed the button for the upper floor. At that moment, the man holding the camera spoke to him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
