EPISODE 6

Baek-Ya spent his week no differently from the previous one. An infinite repetition of school, practice room, and home.

And today was the day of the long-awaited monthly evaluation.

[Shin Jae-Hyun: It hasn't been long since you joined, but an evaluation already…]

[Shin Jae-Hyun: Trainees must have it hard]

[Kim Yu-Gyeong: YOU CAN DO IT!!!!]

[Kim Yu-Gyeong: Rip it up, Han Baek-Ya (Thumbs up emoji)]

"Rip it up? What can I even rip? I'll be lucky if I don't get ripped apart."

Baek-Ya looked at his cell phone and muttered. It was the weekend, so the area in front of the company was packed with people, and judging by the banners within the crowd, they seemed to be fans of a singer.

Baek-Ya pushed through the crowd and finally made it through the door. The lobby was more chaotic than usual.

'Is it because another company is coming?'

Looking at the staff running around busily, Baek-Ya headed to the practice room. However, it was chaos there too.

Perhaps anxious, there were female trainees already crying in one corner.

'This atmosphere sure is brutal…'

Even the kids, who didn't seem to be nervous at all, were gathered together with tense faces.

"You're all early."

Baek-Ya approached the group, whom he had now become quite close with. One of them, who had been listening to a story with a serious face, quickly tugged at him.

"Hyung, something totally major happened."

"What is it?"

Perhaps a celebrity was coming in as a judge? Baek-Ya asked with a calm face.

"One member from the debut team will be kicked out."

"H-huh?"

There was one face that quickly flashed through his mind.

"…Wh-why all of a sudden?"

His voice slightly trembled, but no one seemed to think anything of it. They must have thought that Baek-Ya was shocked too.

'Did he get caught dating?'

Of course, there was a clause for the prohibition of dating, but it was strange as it wasn't a mistake big enough to overturn the already prepared debut group.

'Because honestly, it wouldn't work out. If I ask around a bit, I'd find at least three more couples who are in a secret relationship here.'

Just as he thought that the punishment was too much compared to the fault, Baek-Ya had to doubt his ears.

"He got into an accident after drinking alcohol and riding the motorcycle at night, and the female trainee riding with him is now in the intensive care unit."

"What a crazy bastard. Wow."

Baek-Ya, who unconsciously spat out curses, covered his mouth in surprise. But everyone there seemed to understand. Their complexions didn't look good since they were also shocked to hear it.

"But I heard that hyung is the main vocalist. Is his debut completely overturned then?"

"Wouldn't they remove him? It's already been written in articles that it was a rookie."

"Does it matter now? Because of that hyung, someone's life got ruined."

"But why were the two together?"

Even after that, all sorts of speculation about the debut group were rampant among the trainees.

'So that's why I haven't seen him.'

The guy named Park Ha-Rang that he saw at the emergency exit. He had gotten into an accident just before his debut and was kicked out.

* * *

Apart from the noisy internal situation, the monthly evaluation was carried out as scheduled.

The evaluation method was as followed:

One of the randomly called trainees would point out a trainee from the other company that they would like to compete against.

The person who was pointed out had to compete with the trainee who called them in a one-on-one battle format. If this was the usual monthly evaluation, they would have looked at all individuals' vocals and dances. However, today they were with a different company.

Furthermore, since there were internal circumstances that could not be discussed, the ID employees seemed to want to finish the evaluation as soon as possible.

"The evaluation will be started with the category chosen by the trainee who is called first."

And the first name was called.

"US, trainee number 7."

A brown-haired boy stood up on the other side.

A numbered sticker on top of an oversized hoodie that looked two sizes bigger than his physique. The number 7 of US looked like he could dance.

Baek-Ya, finishing the scan at the same time as the name was called, averted his gaze to avoid eye contact. Subtly, moving only his pupils.

'Please, someone other than me.'

While Baek-Ya was praying in his mind, trainee number 7 pointed to another trainee.

"I'd like to nominate a trainee with the same number 7 from ID."

Who is our number 7! Number 7!

The relieved Baek-Ya looked around and found the trainee who was pointed out. Fortunately, a guy who was good at dancing got up from his seat.

Two people stood side by side in the middle of the practice room. When the presenter asked what the evaluation category would be, number 7 of US chose dance as expected.

The evaluation songs submitted in advance were prepared, and the music of US number 7 was played first.

"Let's begin."

A fast-paced hip-hop beat. Slowly moving his feet to the beat, number 7 gradually built up his movement and decorated the end with a showy windmill dance move.

Quickly spinning his legs in the air while supporting his body using his upper body and arms. It was the kind of movement that Baek-Ya wouldn't be able to do even if he died and came back to life.

'Isn't that person the real Dance Magician of the Stage?'

While Baek-Ya was having idle thoughts, the song of ID's number 7 began to play. It was the guy who had desperately tried to hold back his laughter at Baek-Ya's courting dance on his first day at the company.

However, since today was a significant day, Baek-Ya decided to put his hatred aside for a while.

'They're neck to neck.'

It was a song with a contrasting atmosphere from the previous evaluation song.

Our number 7's song selection was a dance-pop with a stronger R&B vibe. Rather than large and intense movements, the choreography was mainly soft and showed off the strength of his dance line.

When the two trainees finished, they gathered back in the center of the room to a round of applause. It wasn't because their performance was spectacular but as a gesture of appreciating their hard work.

"I can feel that you both did a lot of preparation."

Starting with the greetings of the CEO of US, who attended as a judge, ID also presented an assessment with praise and criticism.

While they didn't express outright which company's trainees did better or worse, it was easy to tell which one showed better performance by listening to the judges' assessments.

'I feel like throwing up. I can't believe I have to do this every month until I debut.'

Even though trainees also did their work, he suddenly had a lot of respect for the idols who made it through the process, survived, and made their debut.

In the meantime, a second name was called.

"ID, trainee number 10."

Why was no one getting up?

Baek-Ya looked around. But why did it seem like all his peers were looking at him?

"Why? Who is it?"

"You're number 10."

A trainee of the same age next to him poked him in the side. Only then did Baek-Ya check the number attached to his clothes and hurriedly stood up from his seat.

"Y-yes! I am number 10!"

When asked to pick an opponent, Baek-Ya picked the most normal-looking guy he could find.

And the category.

"I would like to sing."

It was the only area he was confident in.

In the middle of the practice room. Baek-Ya stood facing the judges. Looking at them from the front, the staff of ID did not have good complexions, unlike the people from the side of US.

Well, they must be more concerned about the debut group that was about to collapse than a monthly evaluation.

However, that debut group will make its debut without any change anyway. If what he knew of the future was correct.

'So, I just need to look good for US.'

The staff member in charge of sound flipped through the setlist the trainees had submitted in advance. But when he saw the empty section, the staff member looked up with a puzzled face.

However, Baek-Ya's voice already began to flow through the microphone.

- ON A SLEEPLESS NIGHT

I SUDDENLY THOUGHT OF YOU AND OPENED THE WINDOW

STARS BLOOMED IN THE MOONLIGHT

Live without instrumentals.

Everyone in the room was surprised. The calming yet unique tone of voice captivated the ears of the listeners. There was no need for any instrumentals.

- SHOULD I TELL YOU I LIKE YOU

I FEEL SHY

I LIKE YOU

And what about those softly rising high notes? Baek-Ya never missed the beat or accelerated the speed until the end of the song. It was the perfect three Ggang.

"Thank you."

Baek-Ya finished the song and bowed. Seeing him like that, ID's vocal trainer shook their head in disbelief.

Judging by the satisfied smiles, Baek-Ya must have done it right.

Baek-Ya stepped back for the next trainee to take the stage. The eyes of the US staff members were shining at him.

'I did it!'

Unlike his company's CEO who didn't even show their nose, look at the CEO of US who even traveled to other people's companies!

It seemed that the fact that they were forming a debut group was not just a rumor. If it weren't for that, there was no way such a big shot would take action directly.

Baek-Ya turned his head to hide the corners of his mouth that were unintentionally going up. Then he met Ji-Ho's eyes who were looking at him.

Ji-Ho blankly looked at Baek-Ya with his mouth open. That sight was very cute.

'I was worried that I overdid it in the desire to stand out but… I'm glad to see a good response.'

For the first time ever, Baek-Ya felt like things would work out.

* * *

'Was I just deluded?'

As soon as the evaluation was over, a man terrifyingly appeared out of nowhere and kidnapped Baek-Ya.

"Baek-Ya-gun! Please, come with me for a second!"

"N-no, but I…!"

Dong-Man, who suddenly appeared, grabbed Baek-Ya's wrist. The staff member of US, who was approaching, also stopped in bewilderment.

The representative of US and the staff of ID had looked at Baek-Ya several times during their conversation, and that employee was just approaching him. With high probability, it must have been a trade offer.

'I could definitely feel it!'

However, he was unable to say anything. Baek-Ya could only hope that the representative of US would stay and wait for his return.

'But why is he suddenly looking for me?'

He had come running at Baek-Ya, scooped him up, and before he knew it, he was trapped in a large conference room.

'Did I maybe act too obvious?'

Baek-Ya, hunched over the desk, reflected on his actions. He truly was a perfect sunfish.

'I did glance at the US side a lot, but would that reveal it…'

All trainees say that they would die to make their debut, but Baek-Ya didn't have much of a choice as his life truly was on the line. So, it was fine to call him a disloyal bastard.

'But even if ID didn't confirm the debut group so quickly, I was still going to give it my best shot here.'

At that moment, the door opened, and a familiar face appeared. It was Dong-Man, who was about to be promoted and the team leader of the rookie development team.

"I didn't expect to see you again this soon, Baek-Ya-gun. Have you been doing well?"

"Ah, yes. Hello."

Baek-Ya stood up from his seat and bowed in greeting. Dong-Man had been staring at Baek-Ya from the moment he appeared, his face eager to announce the news he had brought.

However, Baek-Ya's impression of him was a little different.

'Royally burdensome. So damn burdensome.'

As expected, the first impression of a person does go a long way. Baek-Ya's face visibly hardened.

"Please, be comfortable."

"Yes…"

At the team leader's words, Baek-Ya sat back down.

"There isn't much else, but I think we need to rewrite the contract."

A trainee termination contract was shoved in front of him. Baek-Ya's eyes looking at Dong-Man were dyed with betrayal.

'You chased after me like that and now you're coming and…!'

Dong-Man winked, oblivious to Baek-Ya's feelings.

'This person wants to get on my nerves!'

The corner of Baek-Ya's mouth slightly twitched at the sudden rise in blood pressure.

"A cancellation of contract… Did I possibly do something wrong?"

Was the Courting Dance the problem? Perhaps they found him unattractive as his skills were still at D-class…

In an instant, Baek-Ya's face turned pale. Then the team leader who saw this quickly handed out another piece of paper. He didn't intend to make this a surprise, but he must have unintentionally scared Baek-Ya as he looked quite bewildered.

"And this is the new contract we will be drafting today. Would you like to take a read?"

It was an exclusive contract for an artist of ID Entertainment. Baek-Ya's eyes widened.

"You're about to make your debut, Baek-Ya-gun. Congratulations."

"Waah~! Baek-Ya-gun, congratulations!"

The team leader and Dong-Man applauded in matching.