October 19th, 2017;
At the past HQ of Genesis, currently serving as a training facility, sixty male candidates gathered on Day 3 of the final auditions.
In the midst of them, Jun sat alone in the corner at the entrance hall, as Jaemin was hospitalized because his long-standing herniated disc is acting up again.
Despite hearing music to calm his nerves, Jun wasn't able to clear his nervousness, worrying whether his chosen song will impress the judges.
Unlike before, there will be three main producers of the Big 4 Entertainment agencies, who will judge him, taking everything into consideration before letting him into the program.
One hour before lunchtime, one of the staff arrived with a sheet of paper and announced, "Choi Hansol, Kim Yeon-gue, Chi Gyeong-Su, Han Sung-Jun, and Kang Daniel. Please, come with me."
As soon as his name was announced, Jun stood up from his seat along with the remaining four of them.
Five of them got into the elevator, following the employee, who took them to the second floor, where the audition is taking place.
Reaching the changing room, the employee spoke, "you can fresh up and change your clothes here, and wait. After the previous batch's performance is over, you will be led to the audition room."
Jun looked around to see it's just a plain room with a couple of benches to sit, and a few mirrors on the walls.
There's another door at the end, which possibly leads to a bathroom or a toilet.
As soon as he went away, the atmosphere became tense and no one dares to speak until a brown-haired young man broke the silence. "Hello, I'm Kang Daniel. I came from Busan, and I'm 17, by the way."
Upon hearing him, a short boy who looks like an elementary or a middle schooler, spoke, "I'm Kim Yeon-gue, 13 years old, and I'm from Incheon."
Looking at his round glasses, Jun thought, 'he looks like a Korean version of Harry Potter'
After the others also introduced themselves, at last, Jun removed his mask and replied, "I'm Han Sung-Jun, and I'm from Seoul." After hearing their ages, Jun purposely left out his age and before they ask, he spoke, "can I go, first?"
Everyone nodded in response as they missed the timing, meanwhile, Jun, who don't have trust in the remaining contestants, took out his bag with him, needlessly worrying whether he might get sabotaged by them to decrease the competition.
On the other hand, seeing his actions made the others think he might be shy to get changed in front of them. As they were still strangers, no one dared to comment it out and silently waited.
Five minutes later;
"Eh?" 19-year-old Hansol got taken aback in a surprise when Jun was looking at the mirror, wearing contact lenses. "Hazel eyes?"
*Sigh* Letting out a sigh, Jun shook his head, "no, they are green. That's why these are necessary…"
Hansol nodded in response, as he remembered how he was bullied during childhood because of different looks, "I know."
And the atmosphere between them became silent again. Not willing to talk further, Jun proceeded to wear the second contact lenses and saw himself in the mirror.
'Ok, now, as long they don't get close enough, the judges will believe my eyes are brown like everyone else… I already have a huge disadvantage because of my age. I shouldn't give them any more reasons to reject me.' Taking a long breath, Jun took a seat on the bench and started listening to music while waiting.
Forty minutes later;
In the audition room, Jun and the other three were standing in the side, watching Daniel's awesome performance who was singing stably despite his powerful moves.
As Jun watched the judges, criticizing the faults, nervousness crept up to his neck, once again. 'Damn. This isn't even a reality show program. If their evaluation is strict in this round, I wonder what happens during the training… The K-pop in this world seems even crueler than my past world…'
"Congratulations, you are passed. Welcome to Treasure Campus," spoke Gang Dong-chul a.k.a. Brave Brothers, bringing a smile to Daniel's face, which was filled with panic after hearing the evaluations.
It only then did Jun's nervousness disappeared, 'so, they were just pointing out the faults in performance, huh! I shouldn't worry about the fault and just need to be calm and give a clean performance.'
"Next, contestant, please," called out YG.
Taking a long breath once again, Jun stepped forward and walked towards the platform before the judges, and greeted them with a bow.
"Annyeonghaseyo (Hello), I'm Han Sung-Jun."
"Nice to meet you." JYP greeted back in response as usual.
"Oh! Han Sung-Jun?" As YG sounded out his name as if they knew each other, JYP and Dong-Chul turned their heads towards him.
Meanwhile, YG takes a look at the information on a sheet of paper, and spoke "you have an impressive profile and newsworthy story."
Then, looking at him, he asked, "So, you trained at ZC for 3 years and the original member of Resonance?"
"Resonance?" As soon as they heard the name, everyone including the judges takes a look at him in interest.
Instead of answering them and confirm the doubts, Jun spoke with hesitation, "Uhh… if you don't mind, can I perform first?"
"Yes. Sure, please go on," replied JYP before gesturing him to proceed.
Giving a USB stick to an employee, who connected to the port and ready to play it, Jun then, handed out the three printouts with lyrics to the three of them, "this is an original song, written and composed by myself.
The name of the title is What 2 Do."
"Ohh! An original song? Your song from the audition is indeed brilliant. I expect this to be the same." As YG showered Jun with praises, JYP commented in a whisper, "You seem to take a liking to this kid."
"Then, I hope, you will give him to me, later," replied YG in a whisper.
JYP then looked at Jun and wondered, 'if it's just the looks, he's good but not that great. Genesis has far better-looking ones. Let's see…'
Taking a look at the lyrics, JYP nodded, 'Hmm, this kid is talented. As expected of a former ZC trainee. I wonder whether he's learning how to write songs for the past four years or something…'
Right then, the piano music started to play, and slowly the drums followed.
Listening to a slow tempo, YG started nodding, "it is simple and pleasant…"
Jun then started singing.
"A day passes but my phone doesn't ring,
Now I've gotten more used to waiting
Like the sand in an hourglass,
My signs build up
On the other hand, my expectations for you are slowly decreasing.
I believed in you, saying you are busy
When you gave awkward excuses
I saw you but I didn't know
Maybe I knew on the inside
I just didn't wanna believe
That you changed.
Tell me what to do
I don't know what to do
Your love is just a memory.
.
.
.
Baby, it's your last time
To give me your best try
And to give your heart to me."
"Gamsahabnida (Thank you)" Jun bowed, finishing the performance.
The judges didn't say anything about it and asked whether he prepared anything else.
Expecting this question, Jun replied, "Yes," and then looked aside to gesture to play to the song from the USB.
Tilting his head lightly and keeping his hand in one of the pockets while staring at the judges, Jun started singing another song with a confidence that developed because of the expressions on the judges.