I could see the PD looking slightly flustered by Kim Chowol’s answer.
“Uh… may I ask what part of Trainee Yoo Sung looked… desperate?”
“When I first saw Trainee Yoo Sung, not only was he handsome, but he also danced and sang well… I thought, ‘As expected, LMH trainees are on another level.'”
Kim Chowol poured out praises for Yoo Sung with a thoroughly excited face.
Watching the interview from behind, Yoo Sung’s expression grew increasingly strange.
‘What’s wrong with that b*stard? Is he crazy?’
However, neither the PD nor Kim Chowol noticed Yoo Sung’s wavering eyes.
“Even when Trainee Yoo Sung fell in the middle, if it were me, I would have had a complete mental breakdown there and wouldn’t even have been able to stand properly. But Trainee Yoo Sung got up immediately and sang the song, bam! Watching that, wow, I thought that’s the kind of desperate person who becomes an idol.”
Kim Chowol continued to ramble on, not giving the PD a chance to interject.
“I felt that if I teamed up with someone that desperate, we could make a good stage. That is why I recruited Trainee Yoo Sung.”
The producer, who had been listening to Kim Chowol’s words while nodding, brought the interview to a close.
“Thank you for your time, Trainee Kim Chowol. We will end the interview here. You can head to the practice room now.”
“I’ll take my leave then.”
Kim Chowol, who finished his interview, approached the direction where Yoo Sung was to head outside.
Yoo Sung didn’t even spare Kim Chowol a glance.
Just when Yoo Sung thought Kim Chowol would pass right by, Kim Chowol suddenly approached and whispered quietly into Yoo Sung’s ear.
“Smile.”
“What?”
Yoo Sung furrowed his brow at Kim Chowol’s incomprehensible words.
Kim Chowol, who had been smiling gently during the interview, now only wore a perfunctory smile on his lips.
Seeing Kim Chowol’s cold gaze, Yoo Sung flinched.
“If they ask a difficult question, smile.”
“What do you mean…”
“You’re handsome.”
Kim Chowol said, tapping his own raised corners of his mouth.
At the sudden compliment, Yoo Sung froze, unable to say a word.
‘What?’
Kim Chowol lightly patted Yoo Sung’s shoulder as if encouraging him and then walked away.
Yoo Sung glared at Kim Chowol’s retreating back before sitting in the chair.
“Nice to meet you, Trainee Yoo Sung. We will start the interview now, but just answer comfortably without getting nervous, like Trainee Kim Chowol just did. Got it?”
“Yes.”
Yoo Sung nodded his head.
What was important right now wasn’t Kim Chowol, but the interview.
Yoo Sung knew well how trainee interviews were utilized in an idol survival audition program where Jang Hyuksoo was the main PD.
“Trainee Yoo Sung prepared the stage for Titan’s ‘Burn up’ with other trainees from LMH. ‘Burn up’ is a song that even active idols are reluctant to cover due to its high difficulty, right? Is there a special reason you chose ‘Burn up’?”
“Everyone wanted to do it, and I also chose it because I thought it was a suitable song to show our skills.”
He almost stuttered a bit, but because it was a question asked in Kim Chowol’s interview, he was able to answer calmly.
Yoo Sung, letting out a sigh of relief, retraced Kim Chowol’s interview and prepared for the next question.
‘I just need to do as well as Kim Chowol did. No need to overthink it.’
However, Yoo Sung’s resolve was completely shattered by the PD’s next question.
“Hmm… but I think it might have been an unsuitable song choice? There were a lot of mistakes… What does Trainee Yoo Sung think about his own stat evaluation stage?”
“That’s…”
This wasn’t a question, it was a criticism.
Flustered, Yoo Sung moved his lips a few times before answering.
“I think there were mistakes due to the pressure. We should have practiced harder… I will practice hard so this doesn’t happen next time.”
“Judge Kim Junwoo gave you the ‘Worst Teamwork’ trait, right? Weren’t you very upset?”
“I was… upset. But it was because we lacked practice…”
“Do you mean you made mistakes because you lacked practice, not because of the pressure?”
“That is…”
It became increasingly difficult to answer the PD’s questions.
Kim Chowol definitely answered smoothly without any difficulty no matter what the PD asked.
‘Why can’t I do that?’
Barely holding onto his sanity, Yoo Sung answered.
“I think there was pressure, and we also lacked practice. I will practice harder and… show you a perfect stage.”
“Yes, great. The viewers will like it too. Then I’ll ask the next question. I understand that Trainee Yoo Sung has been a trainee for quite a long period at LMH, which is one of the big three agencies. Is there a reason why you made up your mind to appear on EX-Class K-POP Idol?”
“Ah…”
It wasn’t an unexpected question.
He had roughly thought about how to answer it too.
However, as the facts of failing the debut lineup up until what happened today flashed through Yoo Sung’s head, strangely, his mouth wouldn’t open.
He just needed to do exactly as much as Kim Chowol did.
Just as well as Kim Chowol… what Kim Chowol did…
‘How did Kim Chowol do the interview again?’
At that moment, Kim Chowol filled Yoo Sung’s mind, and the words Kim Chowol said as he left the set came to mind.
‘If they ask a difficult question, smile.’
‘What do you mean…’
‘You’re handsome.’
A gentle smile, like the one Kim Chowol had shown during the interview, appeared on Yoo Sung’s lips.
The PD’s eyes widened upon seeing Yoo Sung’s smile.
How long had it been since he smiled like this?
Come to think of it, since entering LMH up until now, it felt like he had been running busily without any room to breathe.
“It’s true that I was a trainee for quite a long time at LMH. But I realized when I was dropped from the LMH debut lineup that debuting isn’t something you can achieve just by practicing hard.”
As he smiled softly, the tension eased and words came out like flowing water.
The initiative of the interview shifted to Yoo Sung.
“The reason I decided to appear on EX-Class K-POP Idol is… because I couldn’t give up on my dream of becoming an idol.”
Yoo Sung had always made the choices with the ‘highest probability’ of becoming an idol.
Deciding to join LMH, and trying desperately to debut at LMH.
Because in Yoo Sung’s opinion, they were choices with the highest probability of becoming an idol.
But an idol survival audition program, EX-Class K-POP Idol, was different.
Out of the hundred trainees gathered here, the number of trainees who could debut was a mere six.
It wasn’t as if one could unconditionally debut just because their skills were outstanding either.
If it were the Yoo Sung of the past, he would have never thought of appearing on EX-Class K-POP Idol.
‘Debut. Luck. Failure. Probability…’
All sorts of thoughts cluttered Yoo Sung’s mind.
However, right now, only one single thought remained in Yoo Sung’s head.
“I just wanted to debut so badly, no matter what it took.”
I want to be an idol.
More desperately than anyone else.
‘Out of the 100 trainees, he looked the most desperate.’
Recalling Kim Chowol’s words, Yoo Sung smirked without realizing it.
‘Yeah, you’re right.’
He’s a bit obnoxious, but he decided to acknowledge what needed to be acknowledged.
* * *
After finishing the interview, he headed to the practice room where the dance lesson was being held.
When he arrived at the practice room, trainees were gathered in small groups, chatting.
The trainees glanced at me arriving late and then started chatting among themselves again as if nothing happened.
I immediately noticed what the trainees’ attitude meant.
The trainees were keeping me in check.
‘Is there anything to keep in check about me? Everyone probably has similar skills anyway.’
This is the intermediate dance practice room.
It was a place where trainees who received dance stats C and D gathered.
I came to the intermediate dance class often during the early regressions, but this was my first time receiving this kind of scrutiny.
Wondering why on earth they were keeping me in check, I pondered it carefully.
‘Could it be that I have the highest rank here?’
The stats might be similar, but the rankings are different.
Thanks to my appearance and charm stats being higher than anticipated, I had received 20th place, and looking at the atmosphere now, it would be the highest rank in intermediate dance.
‘This is a bit…’
Refreshing.
Honestly, I didn’t really care whether they kept me in check or not.
I just felt it was a little pathetic.
‘Behaving like that when they don’t even know how PD Jang Hyuksoo will edit it.’
They’re probably acting like that because they don’t know the terror of broadcasting yet.
“This is the intermediate dance class, right?”
Just then, the practice room door opened, and the dance trainer entered.
“Oh, you were all practicing? So diligent?”
The dance trainer, with a height of over 170cm and long limbs like a model, was a professional dancer leading a representative female dance crew in Korea.
She was a bright and energetic person who didn’t fit in with the gloomy, venomous atmosphere of EX-Class K-POP Idol.
“Why are you all so down? Hmm? This is just the beginning! Come on, cheer up. We have to work hard and do our best.”
As the dance trainer laughed refreshingly and encouraged the trainees, the dark atmosphere of the practice room brightened.
However, I didn’t let my guard down.
Because I knew what was going to happen from now on.
“Since some of you haven’t memorized the choreography yet, I’ll look at you one by one first. During that time, those who haven’t memorized the choreography, memorize it!”
“Yes!”
“Then who should we start with… who has the highest ranking here?”
The gazes of all the trainees in the practice room turned toward me.
This kind of attention wasn’t exactly welcome, but it wasn’t something I could avoid just because I wanted to, so I obediently raised my hand.
“It’s me.”
“Ah, Chowol! Right, was Chowol 20th place? Good. Then let’s start with Chowol. Do you want to come to the front?”
“Yes.”
As I stepped forward, the dance trainer operated her tablet and asked.
“You need the choreography video, right? I’ll leave this playing, so watch it while…”
“Ah, it’s okay.”
“Huh?”
“I can do without it.”
The dance trainer’s eyes flashed.
Looking into the trainer’s eyes, I thought to myself.
‘That’s the look Jang Hyuksoo likes.’
How this current situation would later be edited and broadcasted flashed through my mind.
“Really? Then I’ll just play the song. Don’t be too nervous, and do as well as your skills allow. You did well on the stat evaluation stage, right?”
“Yes.”
The trainer encouraged me with a face full of expectation.
I nodded my head and then stood in front of the practice room mirror, finishing my preparations.
To be honest, I was confident.
“Then I’ll play the song.”
As the trainer finished speaking, the intro to EX-Class K-POP Idol’s theme song, HUNT THE STAGE, flowed from the speakers in the practice room.
[Boom, boom, boom…]
To the sound of the massive drum, I moved my body.
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