As the door swung open, the three mentors appeared. I felt my breath get caught in my throat as all my muscles tensed up. I didn't feel this nervous during the audition stage so I wondered why I was so tense.
The moment the mentors took a step in the room, the room grew silent. Then suddenly, JP spoke, "Hey trainees! What's up with this atmosphere? Don't feel too nervous, this session today is to help you guys improve not to criticize you."
As he smiled at us, I released the breathe I didn't realize I was holding. "He's right... They won't be mad at us if they recognize our hard work." I thought to myself.
Then, the mentors sat down at the desks that the staff had put in the room during lunch. As they sat down, they prompted us to sit in groups of five. I decided to group up with Haru, Riku, Eunho, as well as Minho as the synergy I felt with our impromptu dance group on our second day was still fresh in my mind.
Once the groups got settled down, Mentor Suri called out Jiho's group which also had Sunghoon. I took a breathe of relief as I wasn't first again. However, I realized that Jiho and Sunghoon would probably set pretty high expectations for the mentors.
As the music started to play I could instantly tell that they were going to rank up. Right from the start, they had fresh facial expressions in relation to the bright mood of the song. They stood out even more against the other trainees who were unfortunately really nervous.
The rest of us started to cheer for them to try to give them a confidence boost. It seemed like it worked as they started smiling, which naturally suited the song much better. From the side, their performance was mesmerizing, their movements were sharp and precise, yet bouncy and cheerful to match the mood of the song. Jiho, who was the vocal leader didn't look out of place amongst the group who were mostly more skilled in dance.
However, as the first real verse started to play, I crossed my fingers that they wouldn't mess up the timing, as the continuous beat gave no sign of entry. As I held my breathe, the sound of the group perfectly entering on beat entered my ears. I silently cheered as we had a lot of trouble just from that beginning part during our full group practice.
As the song continued, they flawlessly executed every part, their nervousness that they had at the start completely dissipated, exuding an aura of confidence. I looked at the mentors for a moment and saw Mentor Suri smiling during the high note, seemingly satisfied with their delivery.
I nodded happily as the song soon ended, the five of them grouping up and abruptly doing an ending pose. Cheers erupted from the rest of the groups, the mentors clapping as well. I was ecstatic with how well they'd performed.
As the cheering died down, Mentor Suri started speaking, "First of all, I'd like to say good job, I thought I was watching one of the 4-star groups performing! I could tell you were nervous at the start but I want to commend you all for bringing out such an excellent performance in the end."
Mentor Aki then took his turn, "I agree, I have nothing to say about your dancing either, it looks like you've all perfected it in such a short time. I was also impressed by your synchronization as a group."
"You guys killed it, seriously. I was also surprised with your facial expressions, it was so natural that I found myself smiling as well. Your ending poses at the end was a nice touch as well" Mentor JP added on.
Listening to their comments, I took mental notes on what we should do for our performance as well. I whispered to Eunho that we should remember to keep a smile, but he whispered back while giggling, "Don't worry hyung, just remember not to pull a constipated face again."
I glared at him but he just looked away and back at the Mentors, who were completing their review. Since we were waiting, I decided to take a look at my status window that I'd forgotten about until now.
[Name: Kwon Sunwoo (Kang Juwon)]
Age: 19
Potential: ???
Vocal: A+
Dance: B+
Rap: D-
Visual: A
Skill Points: 0
Attribute: Limitless, Become An Idol Or Die!
Skills: All Eyes On Me!
My eyes widened at my dance grade, it had suddenly risen by 2 ranks, I was overjoyed. My hard work for the past 2 days came out with stellar results. I then whispered to Eunho to check his status window as well.
He almost flew off the ground as he told me that his vocal skill had also risen to C rank, a massive improvement from his previous D rank. We high fived each other right as Jiho's group evaluation ended.
I threw a thumbs up at them to congratulate their successful performance as they walked back, causing them to throw a thumbs up in return. As they sat down, the next group was called up, luckily it wasn't us again.
It seemed like Jiho's group boosted their confidence as there wasn't an ounce of anxiousness in their faces. Their performance wasn't flawless like Jiho's but they were still extremely good, the mentors had nothing much to criticize as they approved of their performance.
This momentum continued as each group safely passed the evaluation with few mishaps. The mentors seemed pleased to be here as well, unlike during the signal song reveal day, they had nothing much to be critical about.
After a long wait, it was finally my group's turn to be reviewed. I soothed my nerves as we walked toward the center of the practice room, reminding myself to just show what I'd practiced.
We then got into our positions that we'd briefly discussed before, nodding to each other to show that we were ready.
As the music began to play, I could feel my thoughts slipping away, the problem of overthinking while dancing seemingly disappeared instantly. Maybe it was the comfort of performing with friends? I didn't know, but I felt like I could do anything now.
As the lyrics of the song left my mouth, I found myself naturally smiling as I sung. I've been having a lot of trouble consciously putting on facial expressions so I was surprised that I didn't even have to think about it.
While I sang, I could hear my teammates who were also performing excellently. I felt pure bliss performing with them, although we've only known each other for a few days, we somehow had perfect teamwork.
Our performance continued on with no mistakes, I was feeling confident as the song was nearing its end. However, the gears suddenly shifted when Minho tripped over himself and fell down beside me. I panicked and immediately helped him up, taking a moment to check if he was okay before going into my ending pose.
I had a bewildered look on my face as my body moved without even thinking, it probably looked really odd to see me immediately go into a pose after that incident.
After a moment, the music stopped and I held my head in my hands. That was really embarrassing, I didn't know if I could look at the mentors due to my shame. I can't believe I didn't just continue making sure that Minho was okay.
I didn't have a choice so I released my hands from my cheeks that I could feel were heating up. When I looked up, I saw Mentor Aki struggling to hold back a laugh. I could also hear stifled laughter from the other trainees.
I turned to Minho whose face was a bright red and I started to scream internally. How would I ever talk to him again?
After what felt like an eternity, the sound of Mentor Suri's voice entered my ears, "Ah... So, this group, I would like to commend you for your efforts, I could really see how much you've improved from your first day, especially you Junwoo. You could barely sing but now you're able to keep up with everyone else."
Eunho bowed at Mentor Suri, who had previously heavily criticized his singing. Following this, Mentor Suri turned to look at me, a smile creeping up her face, "O-Oh, and of course trainee Sunwoo, you've really outdone yourself as well, you were already pretty great but you seem to be more confident in your singing."
"I have to add on that you've improved your dancing tremendously, along with your facial expressions. There isn't a trace of constipation on your face anymore." Aki said with a smirk, causing laughter to erupt from the unexpected joke.
I once again hid my face in my hands. "Can this just end please..." I desperately prayed to myself. Unfortunately for me, I still had to stand there for another 10 minutes as we had to do our individual showcase.
Once we'd finished, I dragged my feet to the spot we'd been sitting before. Once we sat down, the mentors finally announced that they would be leaving. After we greeted the mentors as they left, the room grew silent.
Then suddenly, the room busted out into cheers, "Our mentor review was an overwhelming success!" Jiho yelled out, his powerful voice reverberating around the room.
Thus, our mentor check in had ended. As we celebrated I completely forgot about how I made a fool out of myself.