Chapter 70
Even though I put a lot of pressure on him, I still felt a little uneasy.
Because I don't know what Baek Si-hwa's attitude will be.
No matter how crazy and stupid that guy is, he's currently in the same group as me.
The primary goal is to successfully complete the third round.
To do that, all team members must work together to create a good stage.
"We have a midterm exam tomorrow, so let's practice as much as possible."
"Yes!"
As the group practice session progressed, I carefully observed Baek Si-hwa's face.
Although he still had a blank expression, he still didn't do anything that stood out.
He didn't even bother to nitpick in unnecessary places.
'It seems that he has barely realized that if he continues like this, he will end up with neither food nor shelter.'
He may have realized that there is nothing he can do about his dissatisfaction with his part.
Chae Eun-gyu's efforts to give up the dance break center may have also played a part.
But it's already spilled milk.
All the selfish words Baek Si-hwa has said in the past few days must have ended up in the hands of the production team.
After confirming that there were no particular problems, I checked Yoo Minha's condition.
He must have been very shocked, having almost had an accident at dawn.
"Min-ha, is your condition okay? "
"Yes! I'm a little tired because I didn't get much sleep, but I'm fine! Hehe."
Yoo Minha quickly regained his original lively appearance.
Rather, he seemed more energetic when he performed the choreography at the center.
"Here comes clap, clap clap! That's it, kids! This is it! "
"Didn't our song just go so well together? "
"It was absolutely great! "
Perhaps because of that positive energy, the team members were able to practice in a brighter atmosphere.
Chae Eun-gyu's solid leadership also had a huge impact on the atmosphere.
If there was a trainee who was a little behind in one part, he would go to the back of the practice room and give them a one-on-one lesson.
Whenever a new idea related to a specific part came to mind, we talked about it right away and created various devices.
"Karis, have you ever thought about what you're going to do at the end of the bridge?"
"Yes, I thought about it while practicing alone the day before yesterday."
In particular, I personally checked my bridge right before the climax.
Chae Eun-gyu, who had been checking the overall choreography of the bridge section, tilted his head slightly.
"Overall, it seems like it didn't deviate too much from the existing choreography."
"After all, changing other parts isn't something I can decide on my own."
"Hmm, hmm, that's true."
Chae Eun-gyu instructed us to re-do the bridge part choreography.
After double-checking it a couple of times, he snapped his fingers and laughed.
"I have a good idea. Starting from the part where 'Breath of a Moment~' comes out, I think it would be good to stand in a circular formation instead of a straight formation."
"In a circle? "
"Yeah. And as the last lyric says, Karis...."
I nodded slowly after hearing Chae Eun-gyu's idea.
Certainly.... It feels more alive because we changed the overall picture itself, unlike when we only touched on individual choreography without changing the existing choreography that was given to us as much as possible.
"Great."
"Really? This is just my opinion. Since you're the owner of this part, you can do whatever you want to do-."
"I think the choreography Hyung-nim just revised expresses the mood of the song much better. I guess this is the expressiveness that comes from experience."
"It, it's embarrassing to say that so openly."
When Chae Eun-gyu blushed in response, everyone burst into laughter.
Only Baek Si-hwa continued to stare into space without any reaction.
"Okay, so let's practice again with one version now? "
"Yes!"
I clicked my tongue inwardly as I watched Baek Si-hwa, whose mind seemed to be elsewhere throughout the practice.
'Then why are you destroying yourself like that? '
* * *
"Kids, it's been a while! "
"Did you all practice hard? "
"We worked hard! "
"Okay, okay. Then, can I look forward to it a little? "
On the day of the midterm evaluation,.
We bowed to Baek Chae-hyun and Ha Sang-pil as we entered the practice room.
There was one man between the two judges whom I had never seen before.
"This is composer Park Seung-ju of PurpleLips, who composed
"Hello, everyone. I was so excited that I couldn't even sleep last night. I'm really excited to see what kind of wonderful
"We, we will work harder to live up to your expectations! "
Originally, the third round involved an interim evaluation by the composers who gave us the songs.
The mission song I did last life was '
The
Ha Sang-pil twirled his pen and flipped through the papers on his clipboard.
"The leader is Eun-gyu, and the center is Min-ha? "
"Yes!"
"Oh."
Ha Sang-pil's sharp gaze swept over us.
When our eyes met, I felt a strange sensation of eyebrows going up.
It was almost like he was asking the question, 'Why aren't you the center?'
I responded with a calm smile.
"Is this your first time being the center? "
"This is my first time! "
"We voted among ourselves, and Min-ha captured the mood of the song the best. He also did most of the choreography by himself, so I was very thankful."
"Min-ha had that kind of talent."
When Baek Chae-hyun looked surprised, Yoo Min-ha laughed and scratched his cheek.
"Hehe, no. Thanks to everyone working together and working hard, we were able to practice a lot!"
"Yeah, I complimented you on your dancing skills when I first saw you."
Praise continued to pour in for Yu Min-ha.
I glanced at Baek Si-hwa out of the corner of my eye.
As expected, the corners of his mouth were trembling slightly.
His hands are not visible because he is carrying his bags behind his back, but they are probably clenched into fists.
'It's such a shame that you can't control your emotions like this.'
Ha Sang-pil nodded after checking the items one by one.
"Okay, shall we take a look at what you've prepared?"
So the accompaniment started, and we showed off our clean dance moves just as we had practiced.
Everyone sang their parts without any mistakes and showed off their dance moves without any unnecessary embellishments.
...except for one person.
"Who wants to speak first? Chae-hyun?"
Baek Chae-hyun scribbled something for the last time and then opened her mouth.
"Well, overall, there didn't seem to be any particular issues with the vocals. I think the lyrics were well-received, so it was okay. First of all, I was surprised at how faithful they were to the concept. Especially Karis."
I raised my head stiffly at the mention of me.
Baek Chae-hyun smiled brightly at me.
"I always saw songs with a dark feel, so I was a little worried if you could pull off this kind of refreshing feeling. But maybe because the tone is a bit light, it suits you really well. The bridge was also good."
"Thank you."
"Dae-hyun, the main vocalist, is pretty good at this level. It would be better if he just paid a little more attention to the ending note.... If there's one thing I regret, it's Sihwa."
"Yes?"
Baek Si-hwa opened his eyes wide.
"The pitch and all that stuff were fine. But I was disappointed that you were the only one who sounded dark. While the other members sang in a refreshing and bright tone, you seemed to be far away."
"Ah...."
"Turn up your tone a bit. You also have to keep paying attention to your facial expressions. Otherwise, it'll feel like you're the only one singing a different song on stage."
"Oh, I also wanted to mention something about the atmosphere."
Composer Park Seung-ju raised his hand.
"As Chae-hyun ssi pointed out, this song has a simple yet solid theme. It's a song full of youth and freshness about making beautiful memories while watching fireworks in front of a beach with a loved one. So what I really want to emphasize is that you should always have a bright expression, even if you make mistakes. The trainee at the very end is Baek Si-hwa, right?"
"Yes."
"I thought it would be good if trainee Si-hwa paid a little more attention to this part."
"Yes, Sihwa."
Now, Ha Sang-pil has finally opened his mouth.
Looking at the way he was twirling the pen, it seemed like he wasn't happy with something.
"Did I overestimate you? You've been a trainee for a long time and have a lot of experience. Why did you make such an amateurish mistake? "
"Sorry...."
"I heard from Eun-gyu that everyone revised the bridge choreography of the second verse on their own. The rest of the kids are all doing the revised version, so why are you doing the old one? It's a matter of concentration, okay? "
I had been off his radar for a while and had forgotten about him, but he was a judge who was even more critical than Bae Kang-woo.
"Just like Chae-Hyun said, your expression too. It wasn't refreshing at all. If you're the only one with a sullen expression, who will watch the stage with empathy? If your concentration drops and your mind drops, you'll be in big trouble. I'm not joking."
"... I will keep that in mind."
"Everything was fine except for Si-hwa. The parts that were revised were original and good. Min-ha, the center, also seems to have worn clothes that fit him well this time. Let's practice harder until the competition day and get good results, guys. Got it?"
"Yes!"
"I'm sorry, I should have been more careful as a leader."
Chae Eun-gyu apologized at an appropriate time.
Then Ha Sang-pil smiled and responded, "It'll be hard, but do your best," concluding the midterm evaluation.
"I was nervous, but I'm glad everyone viewed it favorably."
"That's right! "
While everyone was feeling relieved, Chae Eun-gyu continued to comfort Baek Si-hwa.
"Anyone can make mistakes, so don't blame yourself and just practice harder for the remaining period. All you have to do is do well on the main stage. I'll continue to help you."
"...Thank you."
Baek Si-hwa's voice was powerless.
It was a stark contrast to the time when he had brought up his past and yelled at Yoo Min-ha.
* * *
"PD, what are we going to do about this?"
"Hmm...."
General producer Shin Chul-woo carefully watched the screen the writer had provided.
Then he picked up his phone for a moment and checked for some information.
"Are you saying it was like this the third time? "
"Yes. There is also a report that he rushed to hurt the same trainee."
The writer crossed her arms and sighed deeply.
"Honestly, I thought he was a normal kid. But is he crazy? He tried to hit a kid in the practice room?"
"He's definitely not a normal guy."
Shin Chul-woo took off his glasses while looking at his cell phone.
"It seems like Baek Si-hwa's ranking is continuing to drop, and he's losing a lot of fans. If he goes to the third round, he'll probably drop even more than he is now. Judging from the recording you showed me just now, his personality seems to be a problem, too."
"Are you thinking of editing it?"
"No, on the contrary. Let's just let him go and make a fuss during practice. He's going to run out of steam soon anyway, so let's use him as a last resort."
There was silence in the conference room for a moment.
In the video the writer directed, Karis von Walden was talking to Chae Eun-gyu.
"... That's okay too."
"Yes?"
"No, I just thought of a good trailer."
"What kind of trailer is it?"
The writer was slightly impressed after hearing Shin Chul-woo's brief explanation.
"I'm sure we'll attract aggro, but will it really be okay?"
"In what way?"
"If people's attention is paid to all at once, other problems arise."
Shin Chul-woo responded to the writer's worried words.
"These days, viewers aren't stupid, and they probably know the basics. We just need to collect the benefits that come from the buzz."
"Yes...."
The writer reluctantly nodded to Shin Cheol-woo's words, but a seed of worry was still sprouting in her heart.
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