NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55
Day 3 of Practice.
The production staff called out the names of the participants who were deep into practicing the title song one by one.
“Hana Kwon, Kim Se-yeon, Do-hee Lee, Eun Se-ra, Jeon Ha-rang, trainees, please follow me for a moment.”
We arrived at the vocal room after following the staff.
They handed each of us our phones and said we could make calls to our families while inside the vocal room.
Of course, on speakerphone.
It seemed like a touching episode and a chance to fill up some airtime.
As I entered the vocal room and turned on the phone, there were missed calls and KakaoTalk messages piled up from Mom and Dad.
I hadn’t even mentioned I was taking my phone, so I guess they kept trying to reach me.
The messages on KakaoTalk were filled with my parents’ concerned hearts.
I wasn’t planning to cry, but after such a tiring day, seeing those messages made me feel all choked up.
Oh, and surprisingly, our Do-ah sent me five messages!
[Our baby: I love you, unnie♡] 5
As I opened Do-ah’s messages, I couldn’t help but smile.
[Our baby: I bragged to my Animal Crossing friends that you bought it for me]
[Our baby: And they all got jealous?]
[Our baby: (crying puppy emoticon) But I also want to play Pokémon! ㅠㅠ]
[Our baby: (kissing puppy emoticon) Can you buy me Pokémon too…? I promise I’ll be good to you later!]
[Our baby: I love you, unnie~♡]
Did I raise her wrong…?
…Here I am, struggling, and she’s asking for Nintendo games instead of cheering me on…
[Me: (heart-shooting puppy emoticon) Okay, I’ll get it when I come home~ I love you too~]
But there’s no helping it…
Do-ah is cute, so it’s okay…
After texting Do-ah, I called Mom.
Mom picked up right away.
She sounded excited, her voice loud enough to echo through the speaker.
– Do-hee! Are you doing well? –
I could feel Mom’s concern even through her big voice.
“Yeah… I’m doing well.”
My heart, which had chilled due to Do-ah, suddenly felt warm and teary.
– Is our daughter crying? –
“Me? Crying? No way.”
– Oh really, is our daughter having a tough time? –
“I’m not! I just got happy hearing your voice.”
Mom’s voice was one that made it difficult to control my emotions.
.
.
.
And just like that, after three days of non-stop practice, Day 5 of filming arrived.
It was the day for re-evaluation.
The evaluation was to be done through video assessment.
The trainees would perform their dance and song in front of the camera, while the judges gathered to review their videos.
Of course, there was only one chance to film.
If you messed up, that was it.
After finishing my individual interview with the production staff before the video assessment, I returned to the Tier 1 classroom.
It seemed like everyone was seated, waiting for filming to start soon.
While some trainees looked nervous and pale because they were still getting used to the camera, most appeared relaxed.
Some of the trainees looked tense and their faces were not great under the direct camera, but most seemed relaxed.
Well, I had my fair share of camera tests at the company, so everyone should be used to it.
“Okay, I’ll start filming from the person sitting in front~”
At the staff’s words, the trainee sitting in front, Sara Unni, stepped forward.
“Hello. This is Eun Se-ra from JS Entertainment…”
Sara Unni’s performance that followed was flawless.
While her dance wasn’t particularly impactful, she danced easily as if singing standing up effortlessly.
After watching Sara Unni’s stage, a few trainees let out a sigh.
One of them was Hana Unni, who sat next to me.
“What should I do, Do-hee…? Sara is just too good… Ah… What do I do…? I’m totally screwed…”
But honestly, Hana Unni was in the top tier, ranking in the top three.
It wasn’t intentional, but Hana Unni sure knew how to pull off some deception.
“Exactly… Since Sara Unni is so pretty, I feel like I’ll come out looking ugly…”
Weirdly, I’m getting used to this girl talk.
*
“Alright, let’s shoot. Cue!”
With the PD’s words, trainers came into the stark meeting room, which had just a table and a TV.
The trainers, sitting around the table, began a somewhat scripted conversation.
“Thanks for all your hard work, everyone.”
“Oh, what are you talking about? The kids are the ones working hard.”
“That’s right, the kids really are working hard.”
“Yeah, I hope their skills improve a lot.”
Having wrapped up the scripted dialogue set for the beginning of the broadcast, the trainers took a breather.
To keep things moving along, the MC among the judges, ten-year-debut idol Moon Jin-woo, spoke up.
“So, the reason we’re all gathered here today is for the grade reevaluation, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Especially this reevaluation is crucial since it’s the camera test.”
“Exactly, being an idol, nothing’s more important than how you appear on camera.”
“Ugh, but I’m worried because the kids always do well in practice, but in front of the camera, they freeze…”
“True, but that’s part of the skill.”
“Isn’t today’s evaluation about discerning an idol’s potential? Let’s all check that together.”
As the TV lights came on, the first trainee to appear on screen was Eun Se-ra.
“Oh, JS. Starting off with one of the big three agencies.”
“Forget the big three, I really like Se-ra.”
“Who wouldn’t? She’s pretty and talented.”
“Right? Aren’t we raising our expectations from the get-go?”
“In other words, if you’re not as good as Se-ra, you won’t make it into the final seven for debut.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, let’s watch and see.”
After wrapping up her greetings on the video, Eun Se-ra started her performance.
“See? There’s no way she can’t do this well!”
“Exactly. Moreover, Se-ra seems to know exactly how to look pretty while performing.”
“Sara seems to know how to look pretty.”
“Right? There’s nothing more to assess.”
Next up, videos of other trainees.
The trainers repeated large and small reactions while evaluating.
“Wow~ Park Ye-eun! She’s definitely going to shoot up.”
“Yeah, it’s just because Ye-eun doesn’t have much trainee experience; she learns quickly.”
“Isn’t she a 5-tier gem?”
“Ah… Hee-hyun has a really good tone.”
“Exactly. But her dancing is a complete mess.”
“Why did we give Hee-hyun a 1-tier?”
“She had good song selection during her first evaluation.”
“Why did Yeon-hee stop halfway?”
“At least try to finish with a smile… sigh.”
“Exactly. Just trying until the end while smiling is worth seeing. It’s frustrating.”
Thus, the evaluation of the trainees’ videos continued, and Do-hee Lee appeared on screen.
– Hello. This is Do-hee Lee from Topist Entertainment. –
“Oh, a pianist~ Really?”
“First off, Do-hee sure knows how to work the camera.”
“Oh, totally. She’s so pretty.”
“I’m really looking forward to Do-hee too.”
“Right? She’s 1-tier. But whether she’ll perform as expected… we’ll see.”
Do-hee’s voice flowed from the video.
– Your gaze on me is thrilling (thrilling) –
Moon Jin-woo chuckled.
“Ha! Why is she so cute?”
In the video, Do-hee was performing a cute dance and song while continuously staring intensely at the camera.
“I think Do-hee loves the camera more than anyone else who’s come out so far.”
“Exactly. Ah~ so cute~”
“I think she knows how to look good on camera, regardless of her skills.”
“Yeah, definitely a friend where the strengths are noticeable before the weaknesses.”
“That doesn’t mean she has no weaknesses, though.”
“True.”
“But you should know she’s probably the youngest in the 1-tier class.”
“Oh, really?”
After Do-hee’s video ended, the judges wrote down their ratings before moving on to evaluate the other participants.
*
During the half-day when the judges were evaluating separately, the trainees were given a long-awaited break.
I was exhausted from practicing while cutting down on sleep, so I passed out as soon as I lay down in bed.
“Do-hee, wake up.”
As I opened my eyes to the voice calling me, Hana Unni was peeking in from the top bunk.
“We need to get ready and shoot now.”
“Ah… what time is it?”
“It’s 7 PM now.”
I had napped for about 5 hours, but I still felt tired.
I yawned and asked Hana Unni.
“Aren’t you tired…?”
“Me? I’m fine, though!”
Hana Unni really looked lively, just like that.
I’ve been consistently working out since I was a kid, so it’s not like I lack stamina.
“Unni, were you a sports athlete?”
“Huh? How did you know? I used to be a short track athlete until middle school.”
Ah.
Dragging my tired body out of bed, I found that Seo-yoon Unni must have already gone to wash up since she wasn’t in the room.
And there, still lying like a dead mouse, was Eun Se-ra.
Eun Se-ra, a 17-year-old high school student, was tightly hugging her doll while sleeping.
“Didn’t you wake up Se-ra Unni?”
“Se-ra won’t wake up even if I shake her… She must be really tired.”
“Alright, Unni, go wash up and get ready. I’ll wake her up.”
“Got it~”
As Hana Unni went to wash up.
I shook Se-ra Unni to wake her, but she simply wouldn’t budge.
So, with no other choice, I pried Eun Se-ra’s arms off the doll and took it out.
Just then, Eun Se-ra opened her eyes and grabbed my hand tightly.
Oh snap, scared me!
“Do-hee.”
“Yes…?”
“I’m hungry…”
I still had no idea what Se-ra Unni was up to.
“Why don’t you wipe your eyes? We’re having a meal and then there’s a tier announcement.”
“Oh… right.”
…
Time for the tier re-evaluation announcement.
Trainer Moon Jin-woo walked into the 1st tier classroom with a sheet showing the new tiers of the trainees.
All the trainees stood up and greeted him at a 90-degree angle.
“Hello~”
“Nice to meet you~”
Moon Jin-woo, seated in a chair at the center of the classroom, spoke.
“First, everyone sit comfortably on the floor.”
As all the trainees sat down, Moon Jin-woo spoke in a warm tone.
“Did everyone rest well?”
“Yes!”
In an instant, Jin-woo’s expression froze.
“Is that so? Looks like the 1st-tier trainees are feeling pretty relaxed?”
“As you all know, today, the trainees called in here from the 1st tier will be the ones whose tiers are going down.”
“In other words, the trainees called can’t receive the spotlight on the title stage, right?”
“And the more trainees that come up to that spotlight, the more of you there will be who will be going down.”
“Now, before announcing the trainees to be excluded from this 1st tier class…”
“I’m looking forward to announcing the new 1st-tier trainees.”
…Hmm
It feels like he’s saying this to get us anxious.
Honestly, I don’t think that’s the case for me?
Looking at me, Seo-yoon Unni whispered in my ear.
– You should be a bit nervous, you know? –
What’s she saying?