Chapter 29
The next day, while practicing their stage choreography, Taeri momentarily doubted his eyes. They had practiced together until just before watching the broadcast yesterday, but Juha’s dancing had completely changed.
Juha’s body, which had been tense and rigid with strength yesterday, was now relaxed and soft as if he had shaken off all tension.
There was no way this wouldn’t catch Taeri’s eye, who was sensitive to dancing if nothing else.
“Lee Juha, what’s up? What did you dream about yesterday?”
“Haah, haah. Why?”
Juha asked while catching his breath. Seeing Juha’s mouth corners rise even in this difficult situation, it seemed he had resolved something on his own.
“Your dance lines… they’re completely different?”
“Does it show?”
When Taeri acknowledged it, Juha’s expression brightened.
“Yeah, very…”
“Haah, want to change our concept a bit?”
Juha straightened up and approached Taeri.
“How?”
Juha laid out the concept he had thought about all night to Taeri.
A tense confrontation between a beast and its trainer.
As soon as he heard the content, Taeri’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“Then let’s completely change the middle solo part. You don’t need to move much. You go more minimal and I’ll make it more flashy.”
“There are only two days left, will it be okay?”
Though he was grateful for Taeri’s active involvement, Juha was anxious on one hand.
The control-freak trainer that Juha devised needed minimal choreography as Taeri said. While the beast rampages ferociously, the trainer must confront and tame it with just a few meaningful movements.
But if this wasn’t executed properly, he might just look like someone lacking in skill.
Still, he had to pull it off no matter what. For Juha, this wasn’t simply about the mission’s success or failure.
If he couldn’t properly express a concept he created himself, he’d have to admit he truly had “no charisma.”
“Even if there’s no time, if that concept is better, we should change it. I like it. I think I’ll get to see Lee Juha angry to my heart’s content.”
Not knowing his heart, Taeri smiled brightly and even joked around.
“I’m not… going to get angry.”
“You know I have no intention of losing, right?”
Taeri’s eyes gleamed as he spoke.
Choi Taeri preparing for the stage was already a perfect predator. The advantage of survival auditions is that skills improve with each successful mission. Though he’d met the final boss in the first ranking battle, Juha decided to take this as an advantage.
If he could get past this hurdle, Lee Juha would prove he had skills that could match, or (possibly) beat Choi Taeri.
Quickly organizing his thoughts, Juha opened his mouth.
“Of course.”
“You know the stage you mentioned would be really pathetic if either of us half-assed it, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s check the concept and stage composition first. We’ll think about results after that.”
“Speaking of which.”
“Is there more you want to say?”
Juha’s lips twitched as he hesitated for a moment.
“Please… teach me to dance.”
“Dance? You dance well too.”
Taeri looked at Juha with eyes that said he didn’t understand at all.
When it came to dancing, Juha was also in the upper ranks. His choreography learning ability was fast and his dance lines were clean, so he always received praise that there was nothing to criticize.
It might seem unappealing for Juha, a 6-year trainee, to learn dancing from Taeri, who hadn’t even been a trainee for a year. However, the stage they conceived this time required more artistic expression rather than K-pop choreography. Choi Taeri had won many awards in contemporary dance and was even recommended for gifted admission to an arts school, so he had sufficient skills to be a dance teacher.
Though it bothered him that even if they were on the same team, they were still competitors, the only lifeline Juha could grab right now was Taeri.
“I’d like the character I want to express to have sharper dance lines, and you can do that.”
“Hmm… Lee Juha asking me for a favor makes me so happy, but there should be some compensation, right?”
As expected, Choi Taeri didn’t miss the opportunity and slowly approached Juha with his arms crossed. Juha tried hard to avoid his gaze.
When he was burning up like these days, what Choi Taeri wanted was obvious.
“Wh, what, do you want something?”
Juha stammered anxiously.
“It’s such a precious opportunity, I’ll think about it carefully. Dance lines come from habits, so it might look simple, but it won’t be easy to fix.”
“…Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Let’s modify the choreography concept first. I’ll teach you the dance lines after that.”
Taeri chuckled and patted Juha’s arm. It was a genuine touch as a friend or colleague, without any of the seduction he usually showed in their room.
It was Juha who had said to be careful in front of cameras. But being so distant made him feel oddly disappointed. Juha clenched his fist once and released it while looking at Taeri. Whether he knew his heart or not, Taeri’s gaze was directed at the mirror. This moment of being just colleagues in front of cameras felt newly poignant to Juha.
* * *
After modifying choreography and practicing intensively, it became lunchtime. When Juha and Taeri went to the cafeteria, trainees were already busy eating.
Juha and Taeri squeezed in among them. With 80 people eating simultaneously, the cafeteria was filled with the sound of chopsticks and spoons clinking.
“But isn’t it strange?”
“What is?”
At Juha’s words, Taeri swallowed the sweet pumpkin salad he’d been eating like rice and asked.
“The stage time is at least 5 minutes, and with 40 teams that would take 3-4 hours total. How are they planning to do it?”
“Won’t they edit it somehow? I think they’ll divide it into 2 episodes.”
“It’s too quiet… The stage is the day after tomorrow, but there’s still no mission announcement.”
Juha stabbed at his rice with chopsticks, lost in thought. If they filmed 40 teams’ stages straight without any intermediate missions, it would obviously become boring. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.
Just then, staff happened to be going around the trainees’ tables giving some guidance.
“After lunch, gather in the main hall.”
The staff delivered the message to Juha’s table and disappeared.
Sensing the atmosphere before a storm, trainees stopped eating and started murmuring.
They were definitely being called to deliver an intermediate mission. As expected, something extremely harsh would probably happen to match the death match.
Juha took a spoonful of soup and put down his spoon.
“Why? Not eating more?”
“I’m done eating.”
Even at Taeri’s question, Juha quietly shook his head. His appetite had completely disappeared.
“Eat a little more. You need to eat well to practice again this afternoon.”
While speaking, Taeri picked up a piece of pork cutlet and put it in Juha’s mouth. When he accepted it unexpectedly, Taeri immediately pushed rice in too.
“You eat well.”
Taeri smiled contentedly watching Juha accept the food.
“Stop it. The kids are here.”
“If I don’t feed you, you won’t eat.”
Taeri’s smile didn’t disappear even at Juha’s reproach.
“…I’ll eat it myself.”
Really, he couldn’t tell if this was tormenting or loving someone.
Juha had no choice but to scrape up the remaining rice. As Taeri said, if they were going to intensively modify choreography, he’d need a lot of energy in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Choi Taeri ate his rice well like a baby pig.
* * *
After finishing lunch, trainees gathered in the main hall. Though noisy laughter could be heard here and there, the tension flowing between couldn’t be erased.
Cutting through the noise, the large screen on stage suddenly turned on.
‘Everyone, are you doing well?’
Park Jusung’s face filled the screen.
“What is it?”
“Is it a mission?”
Trainees focused on the screen with anxious eyes.
[Find My Fan: Gather live viewers!]
Along with the text, the logo of internet broadcasting site ‘Paprika’ appeared.
‘What is this now?’
Juha bit his lip slightly in tension.
‘You must do a live broadcast tonight at 7 PM. Stage time will be given according to the number of live viewers.’
“What?”
“What does that mean?”
“What…”
Trainees doubted their ears. Before they could have bigger questions, guidance continued.
The maximum number of viewers is 10,000. Teams that reach 10,000 get a full song performance including the ending.
After that, stage time is divided differentially according to viewer count. Second chorus, interlude before second verse, first verse only.
In other words, if you couldn’t gather viewers – fans – your stage would end after just the first verse.
‘Teams that fill the full room will be given a lucky key. Generous gifts are prepared, so everyone wish for good luck~ Goodbye!’
Park Jusung’s annoying face disappeared and the screen went black.
Silence flowed through the main hall for a moment. Though they said 10,000 people, there were plenty of trainees who couldn’t even get 10,000 hearts in the photo mission.
‘Do they not even want to edit this?’
Juha realized why his senior hyungs called broadcast officials “broadcast bastards” or “broadcast assholes.”
The intention of this mission was obvious. They had secured public interest with the stimulating death match first. But if they edited 40 teams’ stages to the production team’s taste, each fanbase would cause share backlash. So they were leaving the screen time itself to the fans.
Teams with few live viewers would have fewer fans to cause backlash even if they got less screen time.
Though it might look like a rational management method on the surface, it was a cruel method that took away even the chance to properly show their stage to unknown trainees who came here grasping at straws.
Bluntly speaking, they figured if both team members had few fans, their screen time would be cut anyway.
No matter how much Juha had won first place in the previous mission, he hadn’t yet secured a loyal fanbase.
Would there be fans who would bother to come to a live broadcast to see him on a weekday at 7 PM? As he worried, Taeri nudged him from beside.
“Don’t worry. That much is nothing.”
Taeri’s voice was full of confidence.
“Ah… ahh…”
Juha reminded himself once again who his teammate was.
Thanks to showing the ultimate level of clinginess, they became the worst death match team, but he was a partner who could create the most wonderful stage and a man positioned to handle any sub-mission without difficulty.
‘Should I laugh or cry about this?’
In terms of charm, he was the ultimate among his age group, but the fact that he was in competition with this man both in bed and on stage was really something.
“Trainees, come get your phones.”
As soon as the guidance ended, the kids started running frantically.
It was important to secure items, promotion, and locations first. Juha carefully looked at Taeri and opened his mouth.
“We should…”
“We can do it in our room, right?”
“But how do we gather people?”
“I’ll post it on my YouTube announcements. Let’s go.”
With only 6 hours given, other teams were in chaos, but Taeri was relaxed.
“What should we use as an item?”
At Juha’s question, Taeri answered nonchalantly this time too.
“You asked me to teach you dancing. There’s no time, so I’ll teach you directly on the broadcast. Any other opinions? No, let’s just go with this.”
“Why…”
Juha frowned slightly. He hadn’t heard this kind of tone from Taeri except in the beginning.
“Remember what I said? In this broadcast, you can go with the character of being dominated by me. Then the stage we’ll present will be more perfect, right?”
“Ah…”
As soon as he heard Taeri’s explanation, Juha grasped his intention.
Choi Taeri had already planned the entire strategy as soon as he heard Juha’s stage plan.
He would emphasize Juha’s clumsy, stiff, or still innocent appearance by teaching him dance in front of fans. Then completely shatter those expectations on stage.
Just thinking about it made his whole body tingle.
As soon as he got his phone back, Taeri announced the live broadcast on his YouTube bulletin board. The reaction was explosively positive as expected.
“Now we’re set. Let’s just practice more.”
“Don’t… we need to prepare anything?”
Unlike the confident Taeri, Juha was still anxious.
Imagining preparing a 5-minute stage only to come down after 1 minute 30 seconds because they couldn’t gather viewers was dizzying.
“Just prepare your body. We have a lot to practice for our stage.”
“…I can trust you, right?”
“I’m Choi Taeri. If I can’t fill it, who here could?”
Taeri grinned shamelessly and patted Juha’s shoulder.
“…Right.”
Sigh, I don’t know.
I have no choice but to trust Choi Taeri.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
