Chapter 7
“I’m sorry, but I’m not very smart. I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
“Well…”
Seo Ri-hyuk hesitated, as if he was looking for the right words.
“What I mean is…”
“Don’t give up.”
“Oh, really?”
“If you’re going to quit halfway or suddenly leave, then just go now. For everyone’s sake.”
At this point, I was curious.
What happened two years ago, when two trainees left and the debut was canceled? Why did one of them become so nervous, and the other one so wary?
Or was it because I said something weird yesterday, when I gave up on dancing?
He’s so defensive.
He said it was for everyone’s sake, so it seemed like the trainees had a good bond with each other.
Seo Ri-hyuk pointed at Kim Bi-ju outside the practice room window with his chin.
“You might not know yet, but Bi-ju hyung spends more than 13 hours a day in the practice room. The other members are similar.”
I listened quietly.
“They’ve been living for nothing but their debut, and if it fails again, I don’t know what will happen.”
“So you’re saying, if I’m going to quit, I should quit now?”
“Yes.”
I nodded cheerfully.
“Okay.”
“What?”
“I’ll quit now.”
A dumbfounded expression flashed across Seo Ri-hyuk’s face.
“What did you say?”
“You said, if I’m going to quit, I should quit.”
I calmly replied, muttering to myself, ‘Should I pack my stuff now?’.
Seeing me act like a madman, Seo Ri-hyuk’s expression became urgent.
“No. I mean-”
“You mean, you want me to stay, right? Isn’t that it?”
Seo Ri-hyuk was speechless, and then nodded.
I smiled.
Do you know how much I’ve fought in my life?
I survived among more than 100 trainees, so this situation was nothing to me.
Of course, he might have said that out of concern for his hyungs or dongsaengs.
“So you’re saying, you want me to work hard and not give up, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Okay, I’ll work hard. Let’s get along well.”
I reached out my hand with a smile, and Seo Ri-hyuk reluctantly shook it.
“Then I’ll go in first.”
Seo Ri-hyuk blinked and tilted his head. He looked like he wanted to stop me, but he didn’t know how.
By the way.
They have a strong friendship.
They both said the same thing, so it seemed like they cared for each other a lot.
Well. I guess I still feel like an outsider to them.
But it was a bit depressing to hear them say, ‘Don’t cause trouble for us’ outright.
But what can I do?
We haven’t known each other long enough to build trust, so it can’t be helped.
I just have to focus on the debut and not be impatient.
I smiled at Seo Ri-hyuk and went back to the practice room.
“What did you talk about with Ri-hyuk?”
“Huh?”
“You looked a bit serious, so I was wondering.”
“It was nothing.”
Maybe my expression betrayed me, but Kim Bi-ju smiled as if he knew something.
“Ri-hyuk is a bit clumsy with people. Sometimes he says things that can be misunderstood. Please understand him.”
“No, he was nice and kind, what are you talking about?”
Kim Bi-ju laughed at my words.
Seo Ri-hyuk, who came back in, passed by me like a breeze and sat next to Kim Bi-ju.
His eyes were still full of caution.
He made me feel like I brought a stray cat home.
While I was thinking that, the time was getting closer to 9 o’clock, when the lesson started.
Ten minutes before the start.
The door opened wide and someone came in.
“Hyungs! I’m here!”
The one who shouted like a newborn baby was the youngest among the trainees.
I watched him shake his head as he saw me.
“What a mess. You’re in trouble, Kim Jung-hyun.”
“I’m sorry!”
“What’s your excuse for being late today, overslept again?”
“Aaah…!”
Kim Jung-hyun twisted his body in pain as the dance trainer pinched his side.
The other members laughed as if it was a common sight.
“I’m sorry. I was feeding my hamster and lost track of time.”
“Yeah. Your hamster is more important.”
“Yes, he was not eating well today so I had to wait until… Aaah!”
His face was handsome and sturdy, but his image was shattered by his words.
Kim Bi-ju, who was sitting next to me, smiled at my expression.
Kim Jung-hyun, who got scolded for being late, threw his backpack in the corner of the practice room and sat behind me.
I could hear his heavy breathing in my ear.
“Hello.”
I replied with a smile to his greeting in a deep voice.
The dance trainer, who was shaking his head at Kim Jung-hyun, seemed to remember something and looked at me.
“Ah, perfect timing. Come out and show us some dance moves, new face.”
“Me?”
“You can dance, right? Let’s see what you’ve got. It’ll be a good motivation for the others.”
The trainees looked puzzled at the trainer’s words.
They had heard that I quit dancing because I was bad at it, but the dance trainer said ‘he can dance well’.
There was a misunderstanding between them.
As I stood up, all eyes were on me.
‘This is awkward.’
The dance trainer gestured with his chin and said.
“Pay attention, everyone. Look at his lines, his transitions. He’s from a big agency, so he’s still good even after taking a two-year break.”
I felt pressured as if I had become the representative of a big agency.
I could feel their focused gazes, not missing a single movement.
I connected my smartphone to the speaker.
The song I chose was See You by Cold Brown, which I practiced this morning.
***
Kim Bi-ju was curious.
‘He can dance well?’
Last night, at the barbecue restaurant, Seon Woojoo briefly told him his story as a trainee.
“I gave up because I couldn’t dance well.”
He was worried when he heard that.
Vocals could be covered by AR to some extent, so it was okay to be lacking, but dance was something that was clearly visible to the eye.
He was startled at first, but then decided to trust Jo Kyuhwan’s judgment.
‘Jo director must have a reason for choosing him.’
To the people of Lemon Entertainment, Jo Kyuhwan was like a guarantee of success in Chungmuro.
The Midas touch that made everything he touched a hit.
The trainees trusted the genius composer’s eye.
But that didn’t mean they weren’t anxious.
It was a problem that he quit dancing after six years of training, but it was also a challenge to bring a trainee who had taken a two-year break to debut level in six months.
The road ahead seemed bleak.
Then, an unexpected sight unfolded before the trainees.
“Huh?”
Wang Jiho.
He was a friend who stood out in my memory because of his peculiar way of speaking.
He was a typical handsome guy who was going to enter high school next year.
I thought he would have the perfect face for a role of a chaebol third-generation heir on TV when he grew up a bit more.
But anyway…
He was about the same height as Seo Ri-hyuk and Kim Bi-ju, but he had a good bone structure that made me feel he would catch up with me when his growth spurt was over.
“Good morning, Woojoo hyung.”
“Hi.”
“By the way, I brought something for you, hyung.”
The youngest one, who was rummaging through his expensive Canada Goose padding, carefully took out something.
“Do you like chocolate?”
“Thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”
“You can’t run out of sugar when you’re practicing, right?”
I didn’t know what brand it was, but it looked expensive at a glance. It was a foreign chocolate.
“Hey, Wang Jiho.”
Seo Ri-hyuk’s eyebrows sharpened.
“Why don’t you give any to Bi-ju hyung and me?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
The youngest one smiled innocently.
“I was in a hurry to leave today and I forgot about yours.”
Then he took out a chocolate from his pocket and ate it deliciously.
So he had his own but not ours.
I thought he had a unique character as I accepted the chocolate. Then I asked Seo Ri-hyuk, who was looking at my chocolate with envy.
“Do you want some?”
“No!”
Kim Bi-ju smiled at his hasty answer.
“Ri Hyuk, why are you so quick to refuse?”
“I’m always like that, hyung.”
“Hey, when did you become like that, hyung?”
Wang Jiho and Kim Bi-ju started teasing him as they saw him biting his lip.
Seo Ri-hyuk’s ears turned red.
I thought he was a tough guy who warned me harshly, but it turned out he was like a neighborhood bully.
As I observed the team’s atmosphere with various situations, I asked the members.
“Wasn’t there one more person?”
“Who? Oh, Jung-hyun?”
Kim Bi-ju, who was looking at the clock, frowned and muttered to himself.
“Is he late again?”
“Well, it’s not a big deal for a day or two.”
“Jung-hyun hyung will be here soon, Woojoo hyung.”
Junghyun must be the tall and handsome trainee I saw yesterday.
He was going to graduate with Biju next year.
From what I heard, he seemed to be late often.
9 a.m.
When the clock struck, the door opened with a click, but the person who came in was not another trainee, but a dance trainer.
“Hello!”
We got up and bowed to the teacher, who greeted us briefly.
He had a very tired and grumpy face, as if he was saying, “My life is so exhausting, don’t bother me.”
The dance trainer yawned and said.
“Sit down. I don’t want to look up.”
He looked around and said.
“I thought you would be depressed because of the year-end evaluation. How come you look so happy?”
“We debuted, sir.”
“Oh, come on. You guys are debuting. It’s the end of the world. The world is doomed.”
“Why are you saying that, sir? You used to say we were the best.”
The trainer shook his head at Kim Bi-ju’s words.
“That was then. If you go out there with this skill, I’ll be in big trouble if you say you’re my students. Got it?”
“If anyone asks, I’ll be sure to say I’m Juye hyung’s student, sir.”
The laughter that only the people who had been together for a long time shared filled the room.
I was just dumbfounded.
“By the way, one, two, three… Wait a minute, where’s Kim Jung-hyun?”
Then, I heard a thumping sound from afar, as if a herd was approaching.
Where did I hear that?
Was it when Simba’s father died in The Lion King?
Bang-
The trainee who opened the door almost breaking it came in quickly, breathing heavily.
The youngest, Wang Jiho, made an ‘O’ shape with his mouth.
It was a neat dance line.
There were no flashy techniques, but the dance was clean and crisp.
‘How is this possible?’
Kim Bi-ju raised his hand to his mouth.
‘That’s not a move that someone who took a break for two years can do.’
It was like watching a famous dancer perform in front of him.
As Seon Woojoo’s body moved dynamically to the R&B beat, everyone uttered the same exclamation.
The youngest whispered to Seo Ri-hyuk.
“Wow, doesn’t he dance better than you, bro?”
“Shut up, Wang Jiho.”
“Just stating the facts-”
He slapped his neck with his palm.
The youngest coughed.
Seo Ri-hyuk, who had been pouting his mouth, realized something was wrong as he watched quietly.
The two silent older brothers.
He glared at them, who had nothing to say.
“What’s wrong? Why don’t you deny it?”
The two older brothers smiled awkwardly.
Rain poured down in the main vocal’s heart.
When the dance was over, Seon Woojoo, who had been moving like a possessed person, stopped and smiled.
On the other hand, the trainees who clapped had awkward smiles.
‘I was tricked.’
Kim Bi-ju twisted his body in embarrassment, recalling what he had said earlier.
It was like giving a wrinkled thousand-won bill to an old man who picked up trash, only to find out he was the chairman of a conglomerate.
A feeling of emptiness.
On the other hand, he also felt relieved.
He had one less thing to worry about.
“Alright, let’s end the show and start the lesson.”
Ju Ye-hyung, who clapped his hands, started the lesson.
It was the same lesson as usual.
But the trainees’ eyes were elsewhere.
‘What the hell.’
Seon Woojoo absorbed everything the trainer showed him.
And that was in one go.
The trainees who watched him copy the choreography like a human copier were amazed at first, but later they were horrified as if they were seeing a monster.
When the lesson was over, Seo Ri-hyuk felt his position was shaky and asked.
“Hey, can you sing well too?”
“No.”
He heard him mutter ‘maybe?’ with a smile.
‘There’s no way he can sing well too.’
But the main vocal’s hunch became reality.
***
5 p.m. Vocal lesson time.
The trainees who sat around the vocal trainer looked at one place.
Seon Woojoo, who was calmly singing a ballad song.
“His facial expression is amazing. Doesn’t he look like Yoon Chan-hyuk sunbae?”
“He sings better than Junghyun.”
“Hey, Kim Bi-ju. I’m a rapper, you know. Do you think they have udon at the kimbap place?”
“They do.”
“Really? Let’s go buy some later.”
What kind of conversation was this?
Kim Bi-ju laughed incredulously and smiled at Seon Woojoo, who was singing in the middle of the lesson room.
He was dumbfounded at first, but now he could only admire him.
‘He took a break for two years, but how good was he originally?’
It was the first day that the misunderstanding deepened unintentionally.