"You're off tune," Ren sharply remarked and that made all of them stop on their tracks. "How could you ruin such a great song with that kind of vocalization?"
Miso felt all eyes staring at her back, most especially Ren's. She could just imagine him glaring at him with such spiteful eyes.
"I'm sorry," she immediately turned around and bowed her head as an apology. "This might seem like an excuse for you but there were twenty songs that I had to memorize and it was kind of hard for me to nail all notes at once."
"Did you even practice? Do you think we'll let you off because the CEO likes you?" asked Ren as he raised his right brow. "And I hear you straining your voice a lot as if you're assuming a voice that you don't have." He continued to pinpoint Miso's weaknesses, "Why are your skills not up to par with our expectations?"
"I'm sorry,"
These two words were the only words that went out of her mouth. She didn't have any more excuses to say and the only thing that was left in her was an embarrassment.
Han stood up from his seat and accidentally bumped his knees on the drums, making everyone glance at him with a laugh.
"Do I have to get hurt just to make the situation a bit lighter than usual?" Han pursed his lips and approached Ren. He tapped his right shoulder with his left hand and said, "Don't you think you're being too hard on the newbie, bro?"
Ren turned his head and glanced at Han, "You know that I'm not. I haven't even turned into a fire-breathing dragon just yet."
Han glanced at everyone, then at Jay, and spoke, "Look at Jay. He's having a hard time since you're expecting him to be perfect at it."
"Han is right, bro," Lix chimed in as he grasped the sling of his bass guitar. "He already did well in this first song and is trying his best for the past two hours."
"Did you guys forget that we only have twenty-nine days left before our official debut?" asked Ren in a stern voice. "He already came in late so he had more to catch up on. There are no excuses for this."
The only thing that Miso heard was the sound of the air conditioner filling the sound of the room. It seemed that everyone was being more careful with their words.
Their debut was the most important thing for them and Miso knew the reason why Ren was being hard on her.
Chris decided to speak up, "Why don't we have a ten-minute break first?" He said, slightly lightening up the mood. "We can clear our minds and do things more productively when we come back."
"Yes, that's the best."
Ren took off the sling of his lead guitar, put it on the desk at the side, and walked towards the exit of the room.
"Bro, wait for me!" yelled Han as he ran after Ren.
Bin turned to Miso and said, "Don't worry too much, Jay. You're doing really great. Ren is just being his usual grumpy self because you were exceeding his expectations."
"Yes?" blurted out Miso with a small squeak. Chris, who stood behind, giggled at her. "Did you just say I was exceeding his expectations?"
Lix nodded as a reply. "That's right. And that's the reason why he raised the standards and was extremely hard on you."
"Really?" Miso asked in amusement. "That's impossible."
"Lix is right," Bin responded as he leaned his elbow on Felix's shoulder. "He only gave you one night to listen to the songs. Normally, we would receive at least three days to memorize the lyrics."
Miso nodded, her facial expression brightened up. "You're not saying this because you were forced to do so, right?"
"Not at all," Chris approached Miso with a smile on his face. He patted her head and continued, "We can see your efforts, Jay. Don't worry too much."
Miso smiled back and did a sigh of relief when she heard his words. "Thank you, everyone."
"You look even better when you smile," Chris commented. "I hope that you won't lose your passion. I'm sure that Ren will open up to you in no time."
"Yes, I won't!" Miso grinned and continued, "I will not give up and do my best!"
The two of them exchanged a hearty smile. But when Miso turned her head and glanced at the four she received great energy from them. She already knew that it would be hard for her but with the other members' help, she would definitely succeed.
"The two of you seem like you're hitting each other," Bin commented. "Let me join too."