Chapter 6
“You dance well, don’t you?”
Seon Woojoo was dancing to the beat of the electronic music, twisting and bending his body in various ways.
His skill was extraordinary at first glance.
It wasn’t amazing.
But as the saying goes, one can tell ten from one. He had the potential to become a main dancer level if he invested a few months.
“His flexibility is a bit lacking though.”
Maybe it was because he had stopped practicing for two years.
Some of the movements that should have been smooth were rough.
But flexibility was something that could be solved with stretching, so CEO Park Kyu-ho gave him a passing score for his dance.
He had the skill worthy of a six-year trainee.
“Why did Director Yoon pick on him so much?”
He turned his head with a curious feeling and looked at Director Yoon Seok-hwan, who was sitting at the edge.
His face was wide-eyed.
He looked like he had seen a ghost.
“That’s impossible.”
Yoon Seok-hwan’s eyes shook uncontrollably.
Who was Seon Woojoo?
He was the one who was known as a log or a robot among the trainers of TJ Entertainment.
The unfortunate trainee who failed because of his dance skill despite being good at singing.
“Should I be moved by this, or angry?”
He felt happy to see the person he cared for like a younger brother dance well, but honestly, he was also flustered.
What happened in front of his eyes was something he never imagined, something he thought was impossible.
Seon Woojoo was the person who stayed up all night practicing but still got a failing grade for his dance at the end of the month evaluation and felt depressed.
How could a person change so much?
He felt proud and dizzy at the same time, and on the other hand, he felt a pang in his heart as if he was looking at a child who had grown up well.
“If you improved your dance so much in two years, you should have told me sooner.”
He felt bitter that he had worried for nothing for three weeks.
The freestyle ended soon.
Seon Woojoo, who was wiping his sweat and panting in the middle of the practice room, smiled when he met his eyes.
What a cheeky guy.
Yoon Seok-hwan clapped in his mind and looked around.
“He passed.”
He could tell from the eyes of the judges who looked at each other without saying anything.
He passed the audition.
People liked his dance, too.
There are really all kinds of things in the world, he thought and smiled.
***
After the audition, I signed a contract with Lemon Entertainment.
For now, three months.
It was a contract that said that either side could terminate it at any time if they wanted, and that it would automatically extend if there were no problems.
CEO Park Kyu-ho brought up the topic of debut.
“Next June?”
The debut date was June 2014.
It was almost December, so the remaining time was about six months.
“The investors are on fire. They say it’s been two years since the trainees were released, so they want to see the results.”
“I’m fine with that, but are you sure? The schedule seems a bit tight.”
“It’s okay. If it doesn’t work, I’ll beg the investors, or something.”
President Park smiled and reached out his hand.
“So don’t give up and just work hard. Got it?”
“Yes. I will.”
“It’s your first day, so let’s start the lesson tomorrow. Do you want to say hello to the kids?”
“Right now?”
“We’re going to see each other anyway, so isn’t it better to do it sooner?”
“Yes, sure.”
I gladly accepted the offer.
We were going to see each other and get along, so CEO Park Kyu-ho’s words were right that it was better to do it sooner.
The basement practice room.
President Park went in first, and I fixed my clothes for a moment. When he gestured for me to come in, curious eyes followed me.
I paused for a moment when I saw the four trainees.
They all had extraordinary visuals.
I didn’t know about their skills, but I felt something like an aura from them.
Two trainees with a handsome and a pretty boy vibe, both tall and with thick lines.
And a trainee who was still young but had a visual that made me think ‘he’s an actor’ as soon as I saw him.
I felt our eyes meet in the air.
“Say hello.”
Park, the CEO, said with a smile.
“This is the new member who will be practicing with you from today.”
We awkwardly nodded our heads and greeted each other.
As we exchanged words like “Nice to meet you”, the CEO introduced the trainees to me.
He was just telling me their names, but to be honest, I couldn’t tell who was who right now.
One of the trainees, who had a calm face, raised his hand.
“CEO, I have a question.”
“Sure, go ahead. Bi-ju.”
“You said he will be practicing with us, so does that mean he is the one? The member that Director Jo Kyu-hwan said he would bring in…”
“That’s right.”
“Really? He was brought in by Director Jo?”
The CEO nodded, and a strange atmosphere spread among the trainees.
The way they looked at me, how should I put it?
They looked like people who had been waiting for a long-awaited delivery and finally received it.
A tall trainee asked.
“So, are we debuting?”
“We have a rough schedule. The A&R and management teams are still in a meeting, but you can expect it to be around June next year.”
“Wow!”
The youngest-looking member exclaimed without realizing it.
Then he said, “Hyungs! We’re debuting!” and hugged and cheered with his peers.
The CEO smiled at the sight.
I felt like a broomstick that had been thrown in, but I laughed along with the trainees.
I knew how they felt.
Debuting was more than just appearing on TV for trainees.
It was a ray of light that appeared in an endless tunnel.
They couldn’t help but be excited.
Even if the outside world warned them not to get their hopes up too high, they felt elated.
They wanted to hug everyone they met.
That’s what debuting meant to the people running in the tunnel.
The moment they saw the end of the tunnel, their hearts raced and they couldn’t help but smile.
I empathized with them.
“Guys, calm down.”
The CEO said with a smile and pulled out a card.
“Since we have a new trainee today, let’s have a welcome party and grill some meat at the place nearby.”
A loud cheer followed.
I smiled quietly as I heard the noise.
All in all, it was a good first impression.
***
We finished the first day by breaking the ice over dinner.
The real lesson started from the second day, which was today.
I arrived at the practice room and turned on the light.
It was 7 a.m.
The lesson started at 9 a.m., but I arrived two hours early on purpose.
To make up for the lack of practice time.
I was far behind.
I had stopped practicing for two years.
I warmed up my body by doing some leg splits and other exercises, then connected my smartphone to the speaker with an AUX cable.
-Cold Brown: See You
It was a hit song on the Billboard chart recently.
An R&B song with a prominent dance performance.
I saw a video of this performance on YouTube this morning on the subway.
Soon, the moves that I would have never been able to do before flowed out of my body.
Wave.
A series of movements that combine to form a single ripple, and that ripple transfers from one arm to another.
Now I could understand the whole process.
I could not only imitate the movements, but also intuitively grasp how they worked.
Amazingly, this ability also applied to singing.
The ability to understand and mimic the movement of muscles.
Maybe it was because the vocal cords were also muscles.
In fact, I had recovered 60 percent of my original skills before the audition, thanks to this. At this rate, it wouldn’t be impossible to reach the minimum level of debut in a month.
Thud-
After sweating enough from dancing, I was groaning while doing the leg-splitting three-set, when the first trainee entered the room with the door open.
He had fair skin and neat features.
He gave me the impression of a gentle deer for some reason.
His name was Kim Bi-ju, I think.
Kim Bi-ju, who was yawning constantly as if fighting off fatigue, smiled brightly when he saw me.
“You came early, hyung.”
“Hi.”
“Did you come early because it’s the first day?”
“Yeah, it would be bad to be late on the first day.”
I heard a clear laugh.
From observing him yesterday while having dinner together, I found out that this trainee with a soft appearance had a very calm personality.
Kim Bi-ju sat down next to me and started stretching.
I admired how his legs stretched like rubber.
He’s very flexible.
Was his position the main dancer?
As the best dancer in the group, his movements were somehow smooth and graceful.
He smiled when our eyes met while I was admiring him inwardly.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You seem very flexible.”
“I guess it’s because I’ve been dancing since elementary school. That’s why my dance skills improved, but I don’t think I’m growing taller.”
He made a sad face, saying ‘It’s sad, right? ㅠㅠ’.
I smiled at him.
“Don’t worry. You’ll grow more.”
“I’m turning twenty in two months, hyung.”
“What? Didn’t you say you were all high school students?”
“Me and Junghyun, I mean the tall guy, we’re graduating next year. The youngest is going to high school now.”
The tall guy must be the one with a slightly rough vibe.
Anyway, I mistook him for seventeen because of his boyish looks, but he’s more baby-faced than I thought.
We chatted while stretching, but it was inevitable that it was awkward since we only met once.
It was like a conversation of ‘Wow, you’re handsome, ㅎㅎ.’, ‘No, you’re more handsome, ㅎㅎ.’.
When the conversation stopped for a moment.
Kim Bi-ju, who saw me struggling with the leg-splitting, opened his lips quietly.
“Woojoo hyung.”
“…Yeah?”
“When you were at TJ Entertainment, you said you were selected for the debut team but failed because of your dance, yesterday.”
“That’s right.”
What is he trying to say?
“It’s a bit out of the blue, but I hope you debut with us this time.”
“Huh?”
I was bewildered.
“What do you mean?”
“The CEO said we’re going to debut in June next year. We only have half a year left, and it’s going to be really tough to prepare in that time. You might get a lot of stress because of your dance skills.”
“That might happen.”
“But you can’t give up in the middle, okay?”
“Okay.”
“People’s feelings are unpredictable. If you feel like giving up, please tell me.”
Kim Bi-ju said with a serious face.
“I can buy you food if you’re having a hard time. And… I can also give you some advice or something. Don’t worry and just tell me anytime. If you’re having trouble with the dance, I can help you even if I have to stay up all night.”
“Thanks. I’ll remember that.”
He was so serious that I wondered what he was talking about, but as I listened to him, I gradually smiled.
He’s scared right now.
He had experienced two times before, when his debut was canceled because the members left right before the debut, and that was stuck in his head like a trauma.
He was afraid that I would leave like the previous situations.
And he heard me say yesterday that I gave up because of the dance, so he must be anxious from his perspective.
He wanted to debut, but it would be troublesome if I, the last one to join, left.
Did I say something wrong yesterday?
I briefly summarized my trainee history and told him, but I guess I said it in a way that could be misunderstood.
What should I say to him?
I can’t tell him that dance is no longer a problem because I have superpowers.
“…”
He seemed embarrassed after saying something, and he was stretching with a sheepish face.
I smiled involuntarily at the sight.
Thump-
While I was stretching silently with Biju, another trainee appeared.
A coat with tteokbokki and a beanie.
He had a handsome face like Kim Bi-ju, but a different vibe.
If Kim Bi-ju was a warm spring, he was a chilly winter, with a calm and neat impression unlike Kim Bi-ju’s arrogant prince-like one.
A very cold feeling.
Was his name Seo Ri-hyuk?
I remember him clearly.
He had such a strong impression that I remembered his face even when we had dinner yesterday.
He said he would turn eighteen next year.
I greeted the kid who came in with earphones, but he only nodded his head in reply.
When I blinked, Kim Bi-ju whispered to me.
“He’s always like that.”
“He’s chic.”
He was about the same height as Kim Bi-ju, in the early 170s, but he had good proportions.
A slender body and an intelligent face.
He leaned against the wall and quietly listened to music, then briefly turned his head to my gaze and ignored me.
He’s prickly.
I had a conversation with Seo Ri-hyuk when I went to the hallway where the water purifier was to clear my throat.
“Excuse me.”
He turned his head and I saw his sharp eyes.
I smiled and replied.
“My name is not there, it’s Seon Woojoo.”
“Oh.”
“If it’s awkward to call me by name, you can call me there.”
With a gentle smile and a sweet voice.
From experience, I needed to speak softly but firmly to these people who seemed to have a personality.
Otherwise, they would eat me alive.
“You said your name was Seon Woojoo hyung, right?”
He looked like he didn’t like calling me hyung.
“I have something to say, do you have time?”
“What is it?”
“I couldn’t say it yesterday because I didn’t have time.”
I unfolded the paper cup and blew on it, then poured water and nodded my head as if to tell him to speak.
His black eyes stared at me.
“Yesterday, you, no, hyung said you gave up being a trainee because of dancing.”
“…”
Are you guys some kind of close brothers?