Chapter 8
First of all, we succeeded in getting trainee number 55 out of the blanket.
We sat side by side on the bed and shared a brief moment of silence.
Then, perhaps because the awkward atmosphere was too much to bear, Kang Si-yoon clapped his hands and said.
"Okay, okay. It can't be helped that it was awkward because it was our first meeting. It's okay because we just need to break the ice from now on."
"I also agree with what my friend Si-yoon said."
"Karis, I clearly told you to speak comfortably in the level test waiting room."
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's become a habit, so I forgot about it for a moment. Can I just call you Siyoon? "
"I think that's the safest option."
As Kang Si-yoon and I continued our conversation, trainee number 55, who had been leaning against the wall, raised his head slightly.
His eyes move busily as if he were watching a tennis match.
"Then let me introduce myself. It's nice to meet you. My name is Karis von Walden. I'm twenty years old."
"Ah, uh, that, that."
Trainee number 55 looked at my hand as I offered a handshake and reacted as if an error had occurred.
I wondered if he still hadn't come out of his panic state.
Finally, a very faint voice came out.
"He, he, he, hello.... My name is Heo Yu-bin, 19 years old. I'm really sorry for showing you this unsightly side of me from the first time we met...."
"No, you didn't do anything wrong."
"No. I'm really sorry...."
I felt like I would hear at least ten more apologies before the production crew called us in.
I swallowed an internal sigh and quietly brought up Heo Yu-bin's status window.
Name: Heo Yu-bin
Age: 19
Singing ability: A-
Dance: C-
Stamina: C-
Appearance: B+
Talent: C
Trait: Room Corner Genius Producer
Abnormal condition: Hikikomori
An unexpected result appeared.
It boasted the highest vocal stats I've ever seen.
But even if I think back carefully, I can't remember the name Heo Yu-bin.
That means he didn't get any significant results in the
I think maybe this miserable dance and talent stat was the main reason.
'Furthermore, this trait and status abnormality....'
From 'room corner genius producer' to 'hikikomori'.
These are words that even an ordinary person can immediately understand about Heo Yu-bin's problems.
Due to his personality being beyond timid, his main stats are lower than mine.
First of all, the urgent task is to get out of this shock mode.
"Friend Yu-bin— Ah, he said it felt uncomfortable calling you friend. Yubin, I'll tell you again, you did nothing wrong."
"That, I didn't do anything wrong. But I couldn't even greet you properly, so I just went under the blanket and hid."
"I think it's a perfectly normal reaction to see a stranger for the first time. I hope you don't worry too much about it."
As I spoke as gently as possible, Heo Yu-bin raised his head slightly while crossing his legs.
As if his mind and body had calmed down a bit, a much softer voice came out of his mouth.
"... I'm sorry. I also hate my timid personality so much that I wanted to fix it somehow. But it's not as easy as I thought."
"I think I know why Yubin came here."
Kang Si-yoon, who was watching the breathtaking battle between me and Heo Yu-bin, casually said a word.
"You think that if you pursue your dream of becoming an idol, you would be able to overcome your shyness, so you decided to take on the challenge."
"Oh, that's right. In fact, I really like singing and composing! When I'm practicing and making beats by myself at home, I feel so comfortable... But whenever I try to sing in front of someone, I get so nervous that I have a hard time. If that's how it is when I'm singing confidently, how much harder must it be when I'm dancing."
A deep sigh came out of Heo Yu-bin's mouth.
In real time, his body began to deflate like a balloon, with helium gas escaping.
"The CEO of my agency asked me why I was struggling here when I was so good at singing, and told me to go out on
"Yubin, you have quite an outstanding will."
"I also made up my mind that I would definitely do well this time! Why, why did the production team set such harsh conditions from the beginning!"
The moment the production team was mentioned, Heo Yu-bin, who had been sinking like a withering flower, suddenly sat up.
Then he finally grabbed my arms with both hands and shook them like crazy.
It was a series of extremely embarrassing situations, but I decided to leave Heo Yu-bin alone for now.
"It's not even the final ranking evaluation; it's a level test. They won't let me use my name if I fall below Tier 2. My mentality, which was fine in the waiting room, completely collapsed the moment I heard that notice! If you take away my name for survival, how can I survive? This doesn't make sense."
"The conditions were extremely difficult."
"My mentality was shattered there! I was ruined on stage, and my name was taken away, and I saw the rest of the people."
Heo Yu-bin's emotional changes were almost like a roller coaster.
The changes in facial expressions were so drastic that it felt like watching a one-man show.
I barely managed to suppress my laughter as I looked at Heo Yu-bin, who suddenly opened his eyes wide and spoke in a dry tone.
"I'm really shy. Since I spend a lot of time alone, I don't have much time to interact with other people. When I look in the mirror in the practice room, I only see myself, so my immunity is relatively low."
"I'm not sure what kind of immunity it is, but anyway."
"Of course, everyone has different standards! When I see a really good-looking person, I freeze. It literally feels like I'm seeing someone from a different world than me, so I can't talk to them, and I feel ashamed of myself for being so sloppy. But even I, who am like that, have never felt scared when I see someone in my life."
The topic that had been fluttering here and there like a paper airplane encountering turbulence is now beginning to make sense.
Why was Heo Yu-bin hiding until I entered the cell?
Why did he react like that as soon as he saw me?
"But surprisingly enough, the moment Karis nim entered the stage, I got goosebumps all over my body. And then I realized, oh, the people I've been avoiding because they're handsome were just ordinary. It's literally possible to overwhelm people with just visuals."
"You are giving me unmerited compliments―."
"Watching Karis nim on stage, I was really scared! No, it's a problem if a person is too perfect. I could talk to other people if I could muster up the courage to do so next year, but with Karis nim, not next year, but the year after that! No! I felt like I would never be able to talk to you, even if I mustered up all my courage for five years. When I heard that the person who left such a first impression on me was going to share a room with me—!"
"It felt like the whole world was falling apart?"
"That's exactly the feeling! "
Heo Yu-bin was greatly shaken by Kang Si-yoon's words.
Looking at the way he was pounding the bed, he looked like a contestant who got the last answer right on a quiz show.
"Sharing a room with someone I thought I could never approach. This is impossible. It's not like it's a hidden camera; how can this happen? I think it's unbelievable! "
"Don't you think you're lucky? Thanks to a situation like the hidden camera, you're able to chat with Karis like this."
"Huh, heok!"
Heo Yu-bin covered his mouth and took a sharp breath.
It seemed as if he had no idea that he was talking to someone who had so overwhelmed and scared him.
'... Appearance SSS has a destructive power beyond imagination.'
The same was true in the judges' evaluations.
When I heard that I had visuals that transcended nationality and race, I could feel in my flesh that I could have an influence that could swallow up dance and song.
There, seeing Heo Yu-bin's energetic reaction right before my eyes, I could feel the advantages of the crown prince's body even more clearly.
If you just oil this hardware well....
I looked into those two eyes, which looked like they were about to cry.
'This might be secretly okay.'
When I looked at the level test stages, there was no trainee who immediately caught my eye in terms of vocals, just like in my old memories.
Heo Yu-bin has higher singing ability stats than Song Hyeong-bin, who debuted in first place.
Although I didn't connect with this friend last time, things are completely different now.
For Heo Yu-bin, this is a chance to make a comeback from the underground.
For me, it's like another card in the growth narrative that
After organizing the situation in my head, I smiled faintly and set out to clean up the current mess.
"As I said before, I think it's a perfectly normal reaction when you first meet someone. I didn't feel bad at all, so you can stop apologizing."
"Re, really?"
"I don't lie."
My calm tone of voice echoed softly throughout the room.
After pouring out his heart, Heo Yu-bin, who had returned to a state of confusion, sat up straight.
Seeing that his pupils, which had been spinning around, had calmed down, it seemed like he was finally returning to normal conversation.
"Come to think of it, Karis nim."
"Hmm?"
"It wasn't a concept; it was really the way you spoke. It's so amazing."
"It's because I taught myself Korean in a slightly weird way since I was little."
"I, I, I didn't say that because it was weird! It's like the nobleman's speech that I always saw in cartoons, so it's addictive, and I want to keep listening to it, so―!"
"Anyway, please take care of me. I think we'll be using the same cell until the first round, so I hope we can become friends where we can talk to each other without hesitation if we have any difficulties."
When I held out my right hand, Kang Si-yoon, who had been leaning against the bedside with a relaxed expression, leaned in with a grin.
"As expected, even though his speech is strange, he's a good guy. Yubin, please take good care of us too! To be honest, I'm not in a position to teach anyone, but if there's something you don't know about dancing, don't hesitate to ask. I'll help you as much as I can."
"How can someone like me, me, do such things...."
Heo Yu-bin, who still seemed to lack confidence, began to mutter to himself.
But when he saw us continuing to reach out without saying anything, he put both hands on his chest and took a deep breath.
"... Thank you. I will also try hard."
The first meeting of Cell 31 somehow ended well.
After a short break, the production crew called us to the auditorium.
Seeing the 96 trainees dressed in comfortable sportswear brought back vivid memories.
And along with the memories, I was reminded of how much of a bomb Choi Sia, now standing in front of the podium, would drop.
"This is the moment to announce
The song we have to digest during the final grade evaluation is
As soon as the demonstration choreography video appeared on the large screen, cheers erupted from all around.
At first glance, there were many complex, linked movements that struck with sharp timing.
Even the chorus's basic vocal range is high, so if you sang this alone, it would be easy for you to lose your voice.
But after a while, even worse news than the theme song arrived for the trainees.
"The final ranking evaluation will be conducted with the theme song,
"Yes-!"
"To do that, training sessions in which our judges directly participate will be important. Here is an important announcement."
The eyes of the boys gathered in the auditorium wavered.
Ignoring this, Choi Sia continued her comment silently.
"The training sessions will be conducted in groups of 11 cells. This means that 33 trainees will practice in the same session until the final grade evaluation."
"You're saying we should divide it into cells...?"
"Wait a minute. No, then what about the rank? "
As soon as Choi Sia finished speaking, the room became noisier than ever.
It was a natural progression.
Well, that means that training is conducted by grouping 33 people per cell.
"Yes. In
This means that instead of creating classes by dividing them by grade, they are all mixed together randomly.
It was the prelude to the mental exhaustion that
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