Chapter 19

"Four and nine, right?"

"Yes!"

"Well, what are you all standing around for? Sit down, sit down."

Huddled in the large practice room, the Group 4 and Group 9 trainees settled into their seats at Binary's stern words.

On one side of the wall, Group 4, led by Sun-woo Kang, and on the other side, Group 9, led by me, stared at each other in silence, a bit nervously.

Sun-woo Kang even winked at me to see what was so good about it, and said something with his mouth.

'Our group... What's going to happen to our group, asshole.'

Even if I had mastered the art of reading people's facial expressions, I would still be in the NIS if I had mastered this kind of ventriloquism.

Still, I analyzed what was on the back.

"We're fucked!"

I got this cheery message.

I laughed out loud in disbelief.

'What's so great about this guy that he's talking about his group being screwed?'

"How did you guys do practicing for Upbeat's 'Volt'? Even for a debut song, that's still a bit of a challenge."

In response to Min Si-hyun's question, Kang Sun-woo and I, the leaders of each group, gave conflicting opinions.

"It was a little harder than we'd thought!"

"I think it was okay because we worked together as a group."

"Well, we'll see how long it takes."

Jing-hak Lee and Sih-yun Min set up their clipboards and prepared for the real test.

Come to think of it, normally, there would be one vocalist, one rapper, and one dancer for a midterm evaluation session like this.

Lee Jin-hak and Min Si-hyun knew all the judges for the vocal part.

As if she understood my curiosity, Min Si-hyun flicked her pen and said.

"Oh, and you're the vocalist today. I'm in charge of dance, because all the songs in this round are idol songs, so I can do the choreography part."

And so it was.

Min Si-hyun, who had made favorable comments during my level test and rating, was a member of a girl group that represented South Korea in the world. She was said to be a tremendous talent with experience in the domestic scene and even be in the Billboard in the US.

I felt a little sorry for her as I watched her calmly organize the participants profile sheets.

'I'm sorry, but just this once, I'm going to use the Judge's Chance.'

Group 4 was the first to receive their interim check.

Looking at the members lined up in a row, I could see why Kang Sun-woo said they were doomed.

Kang Sun-woo, the only A-rated member of group 4, is the main rapper, not a vocal major.

He said that he has been studying rap production and songwriting since he was young, so he is confident in those areas, but his singing is a bit poor.

Naturally, this highlight bridge part would not be performed by Kang Sunwoo.

However, none of the other members stood out as vocalists. It's because they picked the one with the lowest rating average as their opponent in the first place.

"In this electrified air, yeah yeah!"

"I'm calling out to you, come back to me!"

The quartet's unsteady pitch, even when singing a group chorus like this, immediately earned them a lot of criticism from Lee Jin-hak.

"Guys, yeah, you did a good job with the lyrics, but do you think it's okay to end it there?"

"No...."

"I don't have a clue what message I want to send, what emotion I want to sing, and my breathing is all unsteady, so let's start over here."

Group 4 hadn't even gotten to their individual bursts.

The contestant's part of the bridge.... went so badly that it's almost too bad to mention.

And in the dance evaluation that followed.

"Did anyone choreograph this?"

"I, I did it!"

"Oh, right. You did it."

Hearing Min Si-hyun's soulless voice, the Grade C contestant continued to fidget around with his hands.

"I'm sure you tried, but that's it."

"Ah..."

"To be honest, I felt like you were just focusing on getting the choreography right. As you'll see later, your overall formation and movement isn't pretty at all. Especially for a song like 'Volt', the group balance is supposed to be better than each individual's solo choreography, but how does it look when the formation is out of balance and one person is out of line every time the movement changes?"

As if on cue, the packfalls came flying in like arrows.

The group in 4 looked like they were about to lose their minds under the barrage of the criticism.

Then their leader, Kang Sun-woo, raised his hand and said in a loud voice,

"I'm sorry."

"I'll be in charge until the final rehearsal, and we'll put it back together!"

"Sun-woo."

"Yes!"

"You know how heavy that leader and center are, right?"

Everyone fell silent at Min Si-hyun's calm voice.

Even I, who had been watching, naturally shifted my gaze to Min Si-hyun.

"As a leader, you should always only say things you can really take responsibility for, because if you don't, you'll have to bear the brunt of all the blame. It's a heavy and dangerous position."

"I know!"

"Does that mean you can take responsibility for what you just said?"

"Yes."

It felt like advice from experience, not an assessment.

Min Si-hyun stared into Kang's eyes for a long moment, then let out a short breath.

"Okay, that's it for the midterm evaluation of Group 4. You guys did a great job."

"Thank you!"

And now it's our turn.

The members of Group 9 took their turns standing in front of Lee Jin-hak and Min Si-hyun, and the questions started rolling in.

"Huh? This is the center for...?"

"It's not Si-hwan, is it?"

I guess everyone else thought I was going to be the center.

And Haru's face, with his bangs secured with the hairband I'd given him, looked completely unfamiliar.

"The leader is Si-hwan, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"And the center is.... Chae?"

"Yes."

Chae-haru raised his hand, and Jin-hak blinked a couple of times, looking at the hisprofile.

"Haru has done your hair differently."

"Yeah, I used to wear my bangs down, but-."

"You look much better, dude. I like your center visual."

"I didn't know these masks were in Section 9, but it's been a day. Who told you to do this?"

At Min Si-hyun's question, Chae-haru held out her hands politely toward me.

"I was practicing and Si-hwan told me that...."

"Oh."

I felt Min Si-hyun's sharp eyes flying right over towards me.

I smiled weakly, pretending to be as nonchalant as possible.

"...We'll have to see, but I can already see why you were chosen as the center. Haru, can't you wear your hair down from now on?"

"Oh, no. I won't do that from now on."

"Why don't we listen to the song first?"

At last, the long-awaited vocal part check finally begun.

"Stop everything, stop my heart."

"The problem is that every time I look at you, I get thrilled~."

Still, the rigorous training was worth it.

Maybe it was because we listened to the other four groups' songs first. Our group members' vocals were much more stable and clean.

The parts I was most worried about, Chae-haru and Yoo Ha-woon, went smoothly.

"In this atmosphere, everything pops!"

"I don't want to miss you."

"Oh, the hounds are good too!"

I even got a compliment from Binary in real time.

My part in the fight went unnoticed.

Everyone was cruising along comfortably, looking into each other's eyes, having done the sums day and night.

Except for one person.

'Volt's MR skipped past verse 2 and into the bridge section.

I could see the judges' eyes instinctively turn to me.

But when I lowered the sheet and looked toward Park Chang-joong, Min Si-hyun's pupils instantly dilated.

"I'll definitely protect you...!"

Park Chang-joong, who had practiced this bridge part on his own for many hours, suddenly felt a great deal of pressure and his voice trembled.

Instead of holding the high note for six seconds, his pitch rose and fell again.

It was like watching a car start up, only to stall.

Lee Jin-hak, who had been nodding along to the beat, stopped singing after hearing Park Chang-jung's part.

I read the expressions on the two judges' faces and instinctively knew.

"Now just out of curiosity, did the creator of this bridge part say if you wanted to do it?"

Min's question hit me like a ton of bricks.

Park Chang-joong, whose mind was already shaking, threw his hands up in the air, unable to answer.

I immediately answered for him.

"We had a discussion and decided that Chang-joonf should be in charge of this part."

"Really?"

"Yes. He did a good job in practice, but..."

As I trailed off, Min Si-hyun clenched her jaw and seemed to think for a moment.

Probably very confused.

I'm definitely the most fit for the vocal part in this group, whether you'd look at it on the surface or if you'd take it apart piece by piece.

I don't think you'll ever understand why Park Chang-joong was given this part.

"Chang-joong."

"...Yes."

"This part, do you want to try again?"

The MR played again, starting just before the bridge.

Chang-joong swallowed hard, then opened his mouth.

"I'll protect you!"

His voice rose to a high-pitched whisper, only to be cut off mid-sentence.

"..."

Min Si-hyun tapped her pen against the clipboard with an unreadable expression.

The other members then glanced at each other, not knowing what to do.

Park Chang-joong kept rubbing his hands on his pants, which were damp with sweat.

"Chang-joong, are you sure this is the part you really wanted to do?"

"..."

"I hope you'd answer when I ask."

The temperature in the practice room suddenly seemed to drop down to a few degrees.

Because even when the other judges spoke in sharp tones, Min always treated the contestants calmly.

It was a very hard sight to see.

"Did you really want to do this?"

"...Yes, I said I wanted to do it."

"Whoa..."

Park Chang-joong's focus grew increasingly blurry as he'd heard Min Si-hyun sigh.

His eyes were now completely spinning.

Min Si-hyun exchanged glances with Lee Jin-hak.

It was as if she was asking a question to them.

'Who's going to speak?'

"Chang-joong, I'm really sorry to say this."

Determined to finish the job herself, Min slowly began to drive nails into the coffin.

"It's true that this is an important part that I'd love to have, but no matter how much I think about it, I don't think you'll be able to maintain the high notes with your current abilities."

"...Yes."

Park Chang-joong's voice was barely audible.

"No matter how much your teammates tell you it's okay, I, as a professional, don't think it is. You're a team, and you've been practicing all this time to beat your rival, so you have to find a way to win. You can't do it just because you want to, it's disrespectful to the whole team."

Next to him, Lee Jin-hak listened to Min Si-hyun's words.

"Si-hwan, as Si-hyun said earlier, the role of a leader is very important. No matter how much you care about your teammates, you have to make a firm decision. If we use the analogy of a ship, you are the captain, and the lives of the rest of the crew depend on your decision. That's the kind of thing that a leader has to take hold of, you know what I mean?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I guess it's all because I didn't talk to my team a bit more."

I expected this kind of criticism.

After all, it's the leader's responsibility to put people in clothes that don't fit them.

"You guys can talk about this bridge part again later. Okay?"

"Yes!"

"Then let's dance."

As we moved into the choreographed formation, our eyes met briefly.

He quickly looked away, so he must have gotten his mind right.

He looked pitiful, but it was inevitable.

People are naturally greedy. It's just a matter of when and where. Knowing it or not knowing it makes a big difference in situations like this.

Unless it's pointed out to you by someone that's much better in skill than you.

It's hard to wake up once and for all.

'You'd know when you've been around for 50 years.'