Chapter 92
Early in the morning on the day the midterm evaluation was scheduled to take place,.
This time, I shared the same cell with Chae Eun-gyu and had a brief chat with him before going to bed.
"Do you think our practice progress is okay?"
"The time itself has increased a lot because a lot of investment has been made. But...."
Chae Eun-gyu trailed off.
Water dripped from his damp bangs.
"What's most disturbing is that the overall sum isn't quite right yet."
"It's not a problem that can be solved in three days."
"That's true, but I think the midterm evaluation is a bit different. We have to show our performance in front of the judges. Also, we're not doing the first or second round; we're already in the final round. So I think the standard for us will be incredibly high."
"Aha."
I understand what Chae Eun-gyu is worried about.
The stage we will be going up on this time is the stage that will decorate the final chapter of
As this is a stage that will determine the fate of the trainees right before their debut, it is certain that the judges will be picky in their evaluations.
If a team is criticized for its poor coordination, the blame will naturally fall on the leader.
Chae Eun-gyu will feel that he has not proven his abilities as a leader.
"Ha. I don't know why this time feels different."
"Is it because it's a completely different format from the choreography we've done so far? "
"That does have some influence, but... I think the burden is greater than that."
Chae Eun-gyu sighed as he shook his hair vigorously with a towel.
"The team members all know this. This is truly the last of the last, and this stage marks the end of the long journey called
"In a word, it's the butterfly effect."
"I know the kids' feelings better than anyone else.... I can't nag them any more because I know how hard they're working. There must be kids who haven't entered the cell yet and are still in the practice room. It's funny to even ask them to work harder here."
We want to do better, but time is running out.
Time is running out, and the midterm exam is coming up soon.
Because of this impatience, it seems that there is a tendency for team members to slightly fall out of sync.
"... If I could have done better as a leader, I wouldn't have had these worries."
"No. I don't think there's anything more you can do in this situation."
"All I can do is tell them what kind of choreography this is, how the movement should be done, and how to sing here. I need to encourage them more than that."
Chae Eun-gyu lowered his head and clenched his fists slightly.
At that very moment, a status window with flashing red letters popped up in my field of vision.
'Cha Eun-gyu's status window says an abnormal status is activated?'
I quickly scanned the status screen.
Name: Chae Eun-gyu
Age: 26
Singing ability: B-
Dance: A
Stamina: B+
Appearance: A
Talent: A+
Trait: Unbreakable Faith
Status: Impatience
The status abnormality, 'Impatience', blinked with a red light.
I was wondering if there would be any additional explanation, such as Kang Si-yoon's abnormal condition.
[Status Abnormality, 'Impatience': When you are faced with a mentally stressful situation, trauma will trigger and you will feel impatient. Your rational thinking and mental power will be greatly shaken.]
Fortunately, a detailed explanation appeared.
I closed my eyes tightly when I saw the word trauma and then opened them again.
'Cha Eun-gyu's trauma is obvious. It must be the memory of his debut falling through right before his debut.'
The situation now is similar.
Chae Eun-gyu's current ranking is 4th.
If he can just finish the final round well, the chances of achieving his dream of debuting are very high.
However, the song caused an unintended setback.
He must have become anxious because his desire to debut and his desire to somehow overcome this current situation overlapped.
"...It will work out fine."
"...."
"You know very well, Hyung-nim. Practice never betrays you."
"That's true, but...."
"It's okay. Even if we get a bad review in the midterm evaluation, there's still time until the live broadcast. We can use that time to focus on the final practice."
Chae Eun-gyu listened to what I said silently, but his eyes were still looking at the floor of the cell.
* * *
"Has everyone prepared hard? "
"Oh my, you must have stayed up all night. Everyone's eyes are all sore."
11 am.
We gathered in the practice room and bowed our heads to the judges as they came in, greeting them.
"Hee, heeeek. Wasn't it supposed to be just two people coming in? "
To my left, Heo Yu-bin screamed very quietly.
Then, Yoo Min-ha whispered brightly next to him.
"I think everyone came here because they were curious about the mid-term evaluation for the final round! "
"Ahhhh."
Normally, one vocal judge and one dance judge would conduct the midterm evaluation.
However, since it was the final round with a significantly reduced number of participants, all the judges of
'... This is a little different from last time.'
I swallowed hard.
In the last round, a total of three people conducted the midterm evaluation.
Seeing Bae Kang-woo, Baek Chae-hyun, Ha Sang-pil, and Choi Sia all gathered together made me feel like the tension from the level test was coming back.
"Where should we look, where should we look... Center Karis, leader Eun-gyu? "
"Yes."
"How was it practicing the song? The choreography is a bit different from the songs you've done so far."
"There were some parts that were a bit unfamiliar, so we spent a lot of time getting familiar with the choreography."
"Sure, the groove itself is a bit of a difficult move."
Baek Kang-woo nodded after hearing Chae Eun-gyu's words.
"But since Eun-gyu is here, I think you must have practiced well to some extent?"
"Ah, haha.... I did my best."
"Well then, let's take a look."
We stood in formation for the intro.
When I looked around, everyone was either taking deep breaths or closing their eyes.
'... Everyone was nervous.'
There are many eyes watching us.
And it wasn't just any other person; it was the judges who had been with us from the beginning of the survival show.
Perhaps because they were aware of that fact, I could feel the team members becoming tense.
"Let's get started."
The stage that was prepared like that was presented.
I stood in the center and performed the choreography without making any major mistakes.
No matter how nervous I was because of the judges' presence, I was able to maintain my composure thanks to my passive skill.
But the other guys couldn't overcome the pressure and tension.
"Huuk, huuk."
"... That's it."
"Thank you for watching! "
"Thank you!"
We bent down, breathing heavily.
Everyone had their heads down, so I couldn't see their eyes properly.
"...Ha."
"This isn't it."
I could faintly hear a team member quietly muttering to himself.
After the music ended, there was a bit of silence.
And soon, Bae Kang-woo opened his mouth and broke the silence.
"First of all, everyone worked hard. It seems like you practiced a lot."
"Thank you!"
"But, um. Guys, we only have the finale left, right? The live finale. Now, instead of going out as a recording, your stage will be broadcast live to the entire world."
"...."
"In short, if you make a mistake, it will be broadcast in its entirety."
Heo Yu-bin flinched next to me.
Even Yoo Minha, who always has a smiling face, had a hardened expression.
Ji Yoon-chul, who always maintained a blank expression, seemed to have lost the soul in his eyes.
"There seem to be a lot of parts that need to be fixed... First of all, first of all. When you look at the overall picture, it doesn't look pretty. Do you know what I mean? "
"... It feels like the overall balance is off."
"It's just like Eun-gyu said. The choreography is mostly well-rehearsed. But it doesn't feel alive at all, and the formations that are set up somehow don't look cool. The reason for this is because all the movements are messed up. Especially Yu-bin and Dong-hwi."
A direct confirmation kill is coming in.
Heo Yu-bin's body began to tremble like an aspen tree.
"They make waves, but their steps are twisted. In the parts where you have to use your arms and turn them, the angles don't live up. It's a very detailed dance, so it may not seem like it's very visible, but if you look at it from far away, it's really visible. If this isn't possible, no matter how well you memorize the choreography, you won't be able to produce a pretty dance."
"Yes...."
"Sorry."
"On the other hand, Yoon-chul and Karis have a good sense of feeling. The fact that they are grooving seems to have a lot of atmosphere. That's why it's even more unbalanced. If one side doesn't have good details and the other side has a lot of atmosphere, it's really unbalanced. But that doesn't mean you can tell the one who's good at it to 'restrain your feelings.'"
When Bae Kang-woo clicked his tongue as if he felt sorry, Chae Eun-gyu immediately answered in a low voice.
"I'm sorry, I should have taken responsibility and made sure the details were perfect."
"Anyway, this is a problem that absolutely must be solved. Eun-gyu's abilities alone may not be enough. If it's really difficult, you absolutely must tell me. I'll know how to figure out the details. Okay? "
"Thank you."
Even if the criticism ends here, there are still so many tasks that need to be done.
However, this was before Baek Chae-hyun's comments came out.
"The dance is great, but the vocals are also too unstable. This is a song that you can't rely on just one main vocalist for. Each person has a clear role to play. Especially right before the chorus starts. The pre-chorus is too unstable. Do you know what I mean, Yoon-chul? "
"...Yes."
"I know that maintaining a consistent pitch while dancing is incredibly difficult. But how could you make the sound so low just because you don't want to get caught getting the pitch wrong? If you go on a live broadcast later, your voice will be buried even more by the stage sound and the audience noise, so you absolutely can't sing like that."
Ji Yoon-chul, who received favorable reviews for his dancing, was criticized for having many problems with his vocals.
He still kept a poker face, but it was clear that the inside was different.
"The same goes for Si-hwa. I can't understand what you're saying. It's okay if you can't sing along, but at least sing loudly. That way, I can tell you what to do and how to fix it."
"Sorry."
And finally, Ha Sang-pil drove the nail in.
"... Why are you acting like this right before the finals when you usually do well? Eun-gyu, do you think you can handle this? "
"I will do my best."
"There are only a few days left. If you guys want to do this stage right, you have to work a hundred times harder than you are now. Everyone here knows that you practiced hard while saving up sleep. But if you want to do the live broadcast without making any mistakes, you have to work even harder than this. Do you understand what I mean? "
"Yes!"
"Like Kang-woo said, if you have trouble finding the choreography, I'll help you out. First, discuss and tell me where you guys need to start fixing."
The judges gave some heartfelt advice.
It is natural to hear such comments, as our performance was disappointing ahead of the grand finale live broadcast.
"... I'm sorry. We will definitely work hard to fix it and make a good stage."
But to leader Cha Eun-gyu, these pieces of advice would have struck him like a cannonball rather than a nail.
I kept looking at his slumped shoulders as I left the practice room.
'He is feeling too much responsibility.'
The other team members also all looked worried.
At that moment, Yoo Minha must have realized that he had to somehow break this stagnant atmosphere as he tried to speak in a lively voice.
"It's okay! There's still time left until the main broadcast, so just practice more and save time, like the judges said. Cheer up, Eun-gyu Hyung! Don't worry too much; you'll do better next time―"
"... Next time? "
Chae Eun-gyu slowly looked back.
His eyes were cold.
"When is the next time? "
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