Chapter 31
After finishing an hour of broadcasting, the trainees gathered in the main hall again. Park Jusung was already on stage checking the venue.
Juha kept anxiously examining Taeri’s body throughout. No matter how many times he asked “Is your ankle okay?”, Taeri’s answer was always the same.
“Choi Tae…”
“Student, that’s enough now. You can’t keep asking the teacher the same question.”
Though he had every right to be annoyed by the repeated question, Taeri playfully soothed Juha.
“Still…”
“Hyung!”
Just then, Eunwon came running over calling for Juha. Next to him stood his teammate Jae Byeongho. Byeongho, being ranked so low, tended to be very conscious of others around him, but his expression had brightened considerably being with the charming Seo Eunwon.
Seeing Eunwon’s sparkling eyes, it seemed today’s broadcast had gone well.
“Did you do well?”
“We got a full room!”
Eunwon answered proudly to Juha’s question.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Byeongho hyung likes dressing up, so we gathered my clothes and hyung’s clothes together and coordinated outfits.”
Eunwon speaking excitedly was so cute that even Taeri nearby burst into laughter. The granny brigade of “One Coin” seemed to have properly displayed their power today. With such a strong image of an innocent rich family’s youngest son, fans were busy just doting on Eunwon. Though he could be clueless sometimes, he didn’t do anything rude, so it was cute enough to overlook. Even though he was young, there were many participants who acted shallow, but Eunwon had pure corners that were sometimes foolishly innocent, earning him more affection.
While Juha was talking with Eunwon, Youngin cut through and approached Taeri.
“Taeri, did you do well?”
Seeing Youngin’s good expression, it seemed his broadcast performance was quite good too. He had abandoned his partner Choi Musin somewhere and came alone to flirt around.
That sight was so unpleasant that Juha sourly turned away.
“Yeah. Did you do well too, hyung?”
Perhaps conscious of Juha beside him, Taeri treated Youngin as businesslike as possible.
“Me? Well…”
Just then Park Jusung picked up the microphone, so Youngin stopped talking.
That was quite annoying. Whenever Youngin approached Taeri, Juha couldn’t help but have evil thoughts. At least it was fortunate that Taeri seemed to have no interest in Youngin at all.
“I’ll announce today’s broadcast results. Full room teams will be S Group, and after that we’ll divide into A, B, C groups in order. First, S Group has a total of…”
Park Jusung paused briefly to build suspense before opening his mouth again.
“5 teams. Choi Taeri-Lee Juha, Yoo Youngin-Choi Musin, Seo Eunwon-Jae Byeongho, Na Junho-Jang Ijeong, Kim Namhong-Park Suyong. These teams will receive S Group qualification to present full stages at the day after tomorrow’s competition, as well as lucky keys with various gifts and benefits.”
As expected, Youngin’s expression had been good because he was in S Group.
When the S Group trainees looked around and bowed, other trainees reluctantly applauded. Though they couldn’t openly compete with cameras rolling, they couldn’t hide the disappointment on their faces.
‘All the viable people made it into S Group.’
Though many from the top 10 didn’t make it into S Group, most were cases where individual firepower was ambiguous and partner firepower was terrible. The surprising one on the list was Seo Eunwon. Indeed, cuteness saves the world. Juha let out a quiet chuckle.
Following that, participants corresponding to A, B, C groups had their viewer numbers and corresponding stage qualifications called. The results were disastrous.
Group C, performing only up to the first verse, had a whopping 12 teams.
It was an impossible mission to gather live viewers for a first competition where fandoms hadn’t even formed yet.
There were those forcing smiles to hide their expressions, and those who eventually burst into tears. Watching them, Juha’s heart wasn’t comfortable either. He had already experienced the frustration they must have felt.
“That’s all. The lucky key benefits that S Group will receive will be announced through a drawing after all stages are finished. Then I wish you all good luck!”
Park Jusung shouted energetically and left the stage.
It was a skill, if it could be called that, to announce such cruel results with such a bright voice.
When all announcements ended, the hall sank into silence. Cameras kept rolling obliviously in this situation.
Many trainees here had struggled by checking real-time viewer counts that wouldn’t rise, piling up food they couldn’t swallow and forcing eating broadcasts. The feelings of accepting these devastating results right after showed clearly on their faces.
Not content with dying twice today, they would die once more during the day after tomorrow’s performance, and once again during the broadcast. To the broadcasting bastards, blue-eyed boys chasing only dreams were nothing more than numbers representing viewer ratings.
Though frustrating, this was reality.
“Let’s go up.”
Before falling into darker thoughts, Taeri pulled Juha’s hand. They couldn’t bear to stay longer in that despairing atmosphere. If it weren’t for Choi Taeri holding this hand, Juha might also be mixed in with that crowd making tearful faces.
The fact that what brought Juha out of this hell was none other than a terribly attractive man – though he didn’t want to admit it, it was true.
* * *
With one day left before the performance, Juha’s nerves became sharper. Having changed all the choreography just two days before the stage, plus the character itself being difficult, the more he practiced, the more his inadequacies accumulated.
He somewhat regretted taking on a character beyond his capabilities.
Taeri didn’t seem worried about tomorrow’s stage at all, watching Juha’s dancing throughout practice.
Even when matching stage choreography, Taeri didn’t make his usual intense movements. He mainly focused on matching positions and atmosphere, noticeably holding back his body.
Though he had been constantly worried, at some point Juha became so focused on his own practice that he couldn’t properly observe Taeri’s movements. Even without dancing as powerfully as usual, he seemed fine when walking or doing simple choreography, so Juha even forgot that Taeri had sprained his ankle.
The two who practiced past 10 PM were eventually kicked out of the practice room. Juha and Taeri had no choice but to go up to the penthouse.
“You shower first. I didn’t sweat much today so I’m fine.”
“You’ve been strange all day. Do you usually play around like this the night before a performance?”
Juha looked at Taeri with suspicious eyes.
“Only kids who can’t study cram the night before exams.”
Taeri smiled gently and pushed Juha’s back.
With no choice, Juha entered the shower first. Taeri always yielded these small things to Juha first. Though he was grateful, it felt ominous now before the stage.
No matter how much Choi Taeri was praised as a genius dancer, he couldn’t possibly rest this much the night before a performance. But Taeri just kept saying he had a stage constitution and too much practice the night before would disrupt his condition.
* * *
‘Bang’ – the shower room door Juha entered closed.
Taeri watched where Juha had disappeared until he heard water sounds.
‘Has he gone in?’
Only after confirming the sound of water pouring did Taeri collapse onto the sofa.
“Ah, ugh…”
Taeri groaned lowly and rolled up his pants. Left alone, Taeri’s face contorted with pain.
“Ha, hoo…”
Ragged breaths burst from Taeri’s mouth. Looking down, his right ankle was tightly wrapped in bandages. What he thought was a light injury had gradually swollen more as time passed. Without compression bandages, it was hard to even step on his foot.
He couldn’t let either Juha or the production team discover the injury. They would obviously make him give up this stage, but forfeiting in a death match meant automatic audition elimination, and he couldn’t leave Juha alone on stage. Taeri knew better than anyone how hard Juha had prepared. Even if he collapsed on stage, Taeri wanted to complete this stage with Juha.
“Ah, hup…”
Taeri winced and unwrapped the bandage. He had kept his ankle tightly bound and fixed with bandages all along, and barely practiced today. Though it was an excuse of watching Juha’s dancing, he was afraid that using his body wrong might prevent him from taking the stage at all tomorrow.
But judging by his body’s condition, just one day of rest wasn’t enough.
‘You don’t really feel pain on stage.’
Taeri forced himself to gather his resolve.
Even when dancing, he had taken the stage with bandaged ankles before. Since using his body daily was his job, minor injuries were routine. Having endured his family’s contempt to get this far, he couldn’t give up the stage over such an injury.
He gripped the old bandage tightly, got up, hid it deep in his suitcase, and brought new bandages. If this situation was discovered, there was no telling what kind of fuss Lee Juha would make. And showing this to Juha was something Taeri himself couldn’t tolerate.
‘If I’m careful until rehearsal, I should be fine during the performance.’
Taeri massaged his reddened ankle. At least the swelling had gone down compared to yesterday, which was fortunate.
It was a place he frequently injured when dancing, so he had to be careful. But he had overdone it while immersed in preparing for the first stage.
Anxiety struck every time he compressed his throbbing ankle, but all Taeri could do was believe it would work out.
When he heard the shower door open with a click, Taeri hurriedly pulled down his pant leg and hid the bandage.
Gone was his tired face from practice – a clean, smooth Lee Juha emerged from the shower.
Seeing his face, Taeri’s mouth corners reflexively curved up. Watching Taeri grinning, Juha playfully threw a wet towel. Behind the towel that hit his face and fell, Taeri’s giggling face was revealed.
“What are you smiling about?”
Juha asked with a small laugh.
“Lee Juha, you look clean.”
At Taeri’s joke, Juha’s face immediately turned bright red. Making normal words sound suggestive was also Choi Taeri’s talent.
“You, you go shower quickly too.”
“Got it.”
While Juha couldn’t make eye contact from embarrassment, Taeri rolled the bandage in his pajamas to hide it and entered the shower.
* * *
Throughout Taeri washing up and drying his hair, Juha watched him.
“You complained when I stared at you, so why are you staring?”
Taeri asked while stopping his hair drying.
“Just because.”
Juha’s gaze contained all sorts of overwhelming yet anxious emotions. As much as Taeri was troubled, Juha probably felt the same way.
Worried the ankle topic might come up, Taeri diverted Juha’s attention.
“Should we sleep?”
“Yeah.”
At the word “sleep,” Juha’s eyes sparkled.
Taeri lay down and habitually extended his arm over Juha’s pillow. Juha lay down using his arm as a pillow and tightly hugged Taeri’s waist. The cozy scent penetrated deep into his nostrils, naturally calming his heart.
“Today Lee Juha is clinging without being told. Is something wrong?”
Taeri said with a low laugh. Every day when difficult practice ended, lying in bed with Juha as an arm pillow and having quiet conversations like this relieved all his fatigue.
But seeing Juha today pitifully snuggling first made Taeri’s laughter leak out uncontrollably.
“I just feel strange.”
Juha answered while burrowing deeper into Taeri’s embrace. Taeri gently brushed up Juha’s hair that had fallen over his forehead. His white forehead sparkled like freshly polished glassware even in the dim lighting.
“Why?”
“When tomorrow’s results come out, we might grow apart.”
Juha anxiously rubbed Taeri’s collar with his fingertips.
“What kind of worry is that?”
“It’s a death match anyway…”
“Sleep. You need to sleep early to do well on tomorrow’s stage.”
Taeri patted Juha’s back. Unable to sleep, Juha blinked and got lost in other thoughts even in his embrace.
‘Why is my competitor so pretty too?’
Taeri looked at Juha with a content face.
His tightly bound ankle throbbed. Though anxiety increased, he wanted to perfectly succeed in the stage alone with Lee Juha.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
