Chapter 91
The format of the final round was brutal.
The trainees had to engage in a fierce battle of wits, and as a result, they inevitably ended up being pushed out of the songs and positions they wanted.
It's inevitable that their feelings will be hurt, but they shouldn't show it openly.
The only good thing was that we entered the practice room with the positions already assigned in detail from the beginning, so it felt like the awkward stage was over in advance.
"We can just put a name on it here."
"I feel a bit strange that we don't have to divide the parts."
After selecting the song, we always discussed it with our team members and divided up the parts.
Here too, there were frequent instances of several trainees competing with each other in overlapping parts.
Today, at least, I could name myself in peace.
However, the leader had to make a decision right here and now.
"Eun-gyu hyung-nim, you must be the leader until the end! "
"I also think that what Eun-gyu Hyung is doing is right."
"But there might be someone who wants to be the leader. Let's raise our hands first―"
"There's no one! "
"Really?"
Chae Eun-gyu raised both hands in response to the barrage of attacks pouring down on him.
Judging from the way he glanced in my direction, it seemed like he was asking a similar question as last time.
'Aren't you going to be the leader? '
And I nodded my head obediently, throwing out the same answer.
'The center position alone is enough.'
It is, by no means, an easy song.
And even though my stats had grown a lot from the beginning through skill points and proficiency, my dance stats still hadn't reached A level.
That means I have to make up for the parts I lack with practice.
If I take on the heavy responsibility of being a leader, I will find myself with very little time.
I feel sorry for Chae Eun-gyu, but handing over the leadership role to him is the right choice.
So, the leader sticker was unanimously returned to Cha Eun-gyu.
"Please take care of me until the end, Hyung! "
"Once a leader, always a leader! Field commander on the court! "
"Haha, thank you all. I'll try hard."
While everyone was applauding Chae Eun-gyu, Ji Yoon-chul was staring blankly into space and moving his hands weakly.
I glanced at him like that.
'... Although it's not shown on the outside, it seems like he is also mentally shaken.'
Chae Eun-gyu's worries turned out to be reality.
Ji Yoon-chul must be feeling psychological pressure right now.
No matter how much he grew while taking on key positions in survival, today's situation feels completely different.
The final round is where debuts are at stake. The final stage is where we have to pour everything we have into it, but he can't do it with the song he wants. The situation itself is cruel for someone as young as 17 to handle.
Baek Si-hwa, sitting across from Ji Yoon-chul, also didn't look too happy.
It seems like he was completely hit by the brutality of the four consecutive pushes.
'I have a bad feeling about this.'
At first, an inexplicable feeling of anxiety passed through me, but I was in a situation where I didn't even have the luxury of time to think about it.
First, we started memorizing the choreography and movements under the leadership of Chae Eun-gyu.
"Min-ha, can you help me out this time too? "
"Yes, of course! I am ready to help you anytime, Hyung-Nim!"
"Thank you."
Chae Eun-gyu borrowed Yoo Min-ha's learning ability again, which he had learned while preparing for the group last time.
Yoo Min-ha, who is quick to learn choreography, first learned the movements, and then Chae Eun-gyu went over the details and explained them in detail.
But here we hit our first snag.
"Wow, the waves here are so difficult."
"Hey, is this the right move? "
Kang Dong-hwi and Heo Yu-bin were amazed by the chorus choreography, which included both waves and steps.
A movement that almost feels like the upper and lower bodies are playing separately.
In particular, it requires tremendous skill because we have to step in place while our feet are sliding.
"Let's just repeat the chorus five times first. Let's do it at 0.5x speed first, and then at the original speed."
"Yes!"
Chae Eun-gyu smiled as if he had expected this level of difficulty.
Since the members are relatively weak at dancing, they must have thought that repetitive practice was essential.
But after about an hour of repetitive practice, a second problem arose from an unexpected source.
"Uh, um... Doesn't it feel like it's really unbalanced right now? "
Yoo Min-ha, who was watching our group practice from the front, spoke in a worried tone.
"When I look at it from the front, what should I say.... The left side feels a bit slower in tempo, but the right side feels like the movements are very powerful and fast."
"Min-ha, why don't you go back to your position and dance? This time, I'll watch from the front."
Chae Eun-gyu wiped the sweat and went in Yoo Min-ha's position.
As a result of dancing the chorus over and over again.
"... Just like Min-ha said, the left and right sides feel a bit different. Yoon-chul? "
"Yes?"
"Could you possibly relax your body a little bit? Compared to the other kids right now, I feel like Yoon-chul's movements are particularly fast and use too much strength."
"...All right."
Ji Yoon-cheol silently nodded and accepted Chae Eun-gyu's opinion.
But his eyes still had a gloomy look to them.
The shoulders that were straightened up were slightly tilted forward.
Standing in the middle, I wiped my forehead and quietly acknowledged the problems of the current situation.
'There's one member who's particularly good at dancing, so it makes the group look unbalanced.'
Not all team members in a group can have equal skills.
However, if one person has skills that stand out compared to the other members, the overall balance may be disrupted.
Especially if that person's dancing is not only technically outstanding, but also outstanding in expressing feelings.
If you are technically excellent, you may be able to blend in with the overall group to some extent.
However, if you express the groove in your own unique way and take the dance line differently, it creates an atmosphere that is different from group dance.
It is a song composed of sophisticated choreography, waves, and steps rather than sharp dance moves.
It means that the choreography can become unbalanced if a certain level of expressiveness different from others is added.
Because Ji Yoon-chul's talent was so much greater than others, the overall balance was unintentionally disrupted.
On the one hand, it is an unfair situation.
Ji Yoon-chul must have worked even harder to perfectly carry out his role.
It's no wonder he feels so down, since the overall balance of the group has been disrupted.
"Let's go again. Five, six, seven, eight."
I danced the chorus choreography again according to Chae Eun-gyu's command.
It would be a lie to say that Ji Yoon-chul's mentality was not shaken at all.
Because his eyes still had a slightly dark atmosphere.
However, as requested by Cha Eun-gyu, he tried to relax his body considerably and match the tempo of Heo Yu-bin and Kang Dong-hwi as much as possible, but it still felt like the balance was off.
"Sorry! We'll practice harder! "
"I, I'm so sorry for causing unnecessary trouble."
"No, no. We just started practicing today, right? There's still plenty of time, so it's okay."
"Let's practice hard all night long! "
As the announcement came out that the trainees with relatively poor dancing skills would grit their teeth and practice, the problems shown in the performances seemed to be somewhat covered up.
But when we started vocal practice after lunch, the opposite happened.
"Wasn't Yoon-chul the second sub vocalist? "
"Yes."
"Should we try the pre-chorus part first? "
Ji Yoon-chul was in charge of the part just before the chorus.
But the pitch went up unsteadily.
"The moment I realized it, it strangled my neck."
"The sound doesn't go up very well."
"... Yes. It feels a little difficult."
Ji Yoon-chul probably didn't originally plan on being a sub-vocalist 2. No, it's highly likely that he never considered it from the beginning.
He must have decided that it was a better fit for him and went with it.
The result of being forced to perform a part that was difficult for him to perform with his vocal skills was this unstable live performance.
Moreover, there must have been a depressed atmosphere during the dance session earlier.
The best performance could not be achieved.
The smile began to fade from Chae Eun-gyu's face.
"Um.... I think you should get used to it by continuing to sing your part first. Yubin, when you're done with Si-hwa, can you help Yoon-chul too?"
"Yes!"
The situation was reversed in an instant.
Heo Yu-bin, who was struggling with dancing, is walking around and helping with singing practice.
Ji Yoon-chyl, who had been lowering his dancing skills to keep up with his teammates, is now in a situation where he has to take vocal lessons instead.
I hate to say this, but....
A difficult situation has been created.
'We don't feel stable in either vocals or dancing right now.'
Just looking at the members' names, it seemed like it would be a great stage.
As the practice progressed, considerable dissonance occurred.
There is no way that leader Chae Eun-gyu would not be aware of this situation.
His face grew serious in real time.
'I can't help him right now either. I have no choice but to do my part in the center position during practice.'
Today is the first day of practice, so there's no need to be so serious.
But human intuition is scary.
If this situation continues, it could be really difficult during the final stage.
And Chae Eun-gyu will also continue to think about this in his head.
'Cha Eun-gyu has been carrying the heavy responsibility of being the leader throughout this survival show. And he will want to prove his abilities until the very end through this final stage.'
With that kind of will, Cha Eun-gyu will want to create an even more perfect stage.
But if you pursue perfection, pressure and stress will inevitably follow.
'... Let's just watch the situation for now.'
* * *
It's been two days since we started practicing.
The trainees, who realized that the level of difficulty was clearly higher than the stages they had performed so far, boldly gave up sleep and devoted themselves to practice.
"You can do it! "
"You've definitely gotten a lot better than yesterday, Yubin! There's a hand gesture here. It's easier if you bend your wrist inward a little more."
Yoo Minha, who volunteered to be a dance assistant, radiated positive energy and supported team members who were having trouble with the choreography.
Following his guidance, Kang Dong-hwi and Heo Yu-bin, who were weak in dancing, tried their best to follow along, but the details of their movements were still lacking.
'Dancing is dancing, but what's more serious is the vocals.'
When it was first released, everyone was obsessed with the choreography of the two songs.
In addition, since we chose the song and position without listening to the entire song, it seemed like everyone felt that it was more difficult than they thought after listening to the song all the way through.
The main vocalist, Heo Yu-bin, showed off stable vocals, but the sub vocalists were having a hard time.
'Baek Si-hwa and Ji Yoon-chul are having the hardest time.'
Baek Si-hwa had already given up halfway.
He kept getting pushed out of the position he wanted, and his already bad mental state was completely ruined.
Moreover, since stable vocals were not his strong point to begin with, he was having a harder time.
If he had a bad attitude here, he would have fallen into an endless abyss, so he barely managed to keep his wits and diligently participated in practice.
Ji Yoon-chul was also having a hard time because he was forced to do a part that didn't suit him.
Chae Eun-gyu, who was looking forward to the practice session, still applauded and encouraged his teammates.
I'm sure he's having a hard time too.
But during the midterm evaluation conducted by the judges, something happened.
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