Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 27

 

‘Good.’

 

“Whew….”

 

‘Perfect.’

 

There wasn’t a single mistake. At my every gesture, the four members, including Joo Wooyoung, moved in perfect unison. At least from where I stood behind them, the execution looked flawless. It was amazing how the movements clicked into place so precisely.

 

They were pulling off something that normally took months of practice after only a few days of rehearsing. I probably couldn’t do it again if I tried. If someone demanded I recreate this exact level of quality, there was no way I could pull it off.

 

When I saw the four of them syncing up, I thought that with some luck, we might get a decent result… but it seemed their potential finally exploded. Even putting aside Joo Wooyoung, who was basically a superhuman, the performance of the Hopeless Trio left me speechless.

 

Especially No. 98, who looked like he was tearing up the stage just as he had promised.

 

‘No. 98… did he take some kind of performance enhancer today?’

 

He looked a little nervous at the start of the performance, but once the real show began, it was obvious he had completely locked in. He wasn’t just matching the angles; he seemed to be pouring his soul into every single movement. I wondered if he possessed a bit of that aura Joo Wooyoung had mentioned. He was performing with such intensity that he was sweating the most out of the four.

 

Beads of sweat rolled off his hair as he extended his arm. Before I knew it, my gaze had settled on Number 98. I didn’t know whether he was aware of it or not, but he just kept drawing my eyes to him.

 

‘What’s gotten into him?’

 

Was it the lighting? Or was it because the stage costume fit him particularly well? Or was his makeup just perfect today? There was something about the way he vented his energy that made it impossible not to look at him.

 

‘Is he seriously on something?’

 

He looked like he was putting in a little too much force, but he was still stable. If he’d been assigned a part other than the Drop section, I couldn’t help thinking he would have been even better. Yes, if my Master were here, he would have described No. 98 as looking like a flickering, burning Spirit of Flame.

 

Strangely, that flame was contagious. It spread to the other teammates, to Joo Wooyoung, and to me. It carried through the chorus that followed No. 98’s part… and even through the dance break in the bridge. The fire No. 98 had planted remained unextinguished.

 

I had been worried that the synchronization might break once I started dancing in earnest, but my fears were groundless. Surprisingly, the other four were matching me.

 

Moving arms, moving legs, moving necks, moving legs again….

 

As promised—no, better than promised—the movements were hitting every beat perfectly. I realized that, in the midst of it, I was feeling a subtle sense of catharsis. Maybe it was because the choreography wasn’t especially intense or complicated. Even so, achieving this level of synchronization was anything but easy.

 

‘This is fun.’

 

Yes. It was fun.

 

I likely wasn’t the only one thinking that. I was consciously trying to mimic the mad dark mage, but a smile was steadily creeping onto my lips. I even realized I had missed the timing to use the Succubus Eyes during the dance, but I didn’t care. I knew that this performance was flawless even without a cheat code like that.

 

While everyone was becoming drenched in sweat, we hit the final chorus. After performing the dance break together, we took the steps to return to our original positions for the ending pose.

 

The ending.

 

I moved my fingers, twisted my arms, and everyone except me went limp like puppets with their strings cut.

 

Thump!

 

They collapsed to the floor.

 

“Hah… whew… ha….”

 

“Huff… huff… huff….”

 

“Gasp….”

 

“Whew….”

 

As the music died down, the sound of the members’ heavy breathing naturally filled the room.

 

“Haaah… whew….”

 

“Whew….”

 

‘What’s going on? Why aren’t they calling it?’

 

“Hah… hah….”

 

Only after waiting noticeably longer than usual did the signal finally come, and only then did I get back to my feet. Immediately after, a burst of applause erupted. Startled by the unexpected reaction, I looked toward the sound and saw PD Ahn clapping with a dazed expression.

 

Perhaps because she started it, the rest of the staff joined in the applause. The judges’ expressions were a little difficult to read, but at least it didn’t look like we’d failed. The staff had felt the same thing I had.

 

For a moment, I let myself indulge in the happy thought that the reason everything had stalled was because the staff had been so deeply moved by our performance that they needed time to recover…

 

‘Yeah, as if.’

 

I didn’t think we were good enough to literally snatch the souls of those professionals. It was perfectly normal for filming to be stopped and restarted over and over. This was probably just another one of those cases.

 

Since it was an awkward time to just stand there waiting for the next step, I spoke to Joo Wooyoung and the team.

 

“Great job, Wooyoung hyung.”

 

“Yeah. You worked hard too, Unha.”

 

“You guys did great too, hyungs. Today was insane.”

 

“Really? Did we… did we tear up the stage?”

 

“Yes. I think you did.”

 

I shared brief conversations and hugs with the teammates. Once the atmosphere of the stage settled down, a staff member’s voice announced that we would move on to the evaluation. I put back on my modest posture and looked at the judges. Benok and Kim Minhyuk were taking sips of water, while Paige, sitting in the middle, was scanning the members one by one with a peculiar look.

 

Was it just my imagination, or did she look unusually cold? Despite showing a polished performance that didn’t require a re-shoot, her face looked dissatisfied.

 

‘Was there a flaw?’

 

Maybe there had been awkward parts that only real professionals could notice. We’d tried to incorporate difficult choreography, but compared to the original routine, parts of it were undeniably simpler, and objectively speaking, our vocals had been weaker as well. Joo Wooyoung and No. 98 had shown decent vocals… but No. 98 had too much tension. No. 78, who focused on the dance, hadn’t been able to show off his specialty in singing… and as for me, there was no need to even mention it.

 

But it was an undeniable fact that the performance itself was complete. You could see that just from the staff’s reaction. Sure enough, Kim Minhyuk immediately picked up the mic.

 

“That was a truly amazing stage. The composition was so good and novel that it felt like watching a short play. I don’t know how the other two judges feel, but I was a bit shocked. I literally couldn’t look away. t felt like the time just flew by… and I was surprised by your interpretation of MIRO… I want to explain my thoughts to each of you individually….”

 

It seemed he had a lot he wanted to say, because he just kept going. This was a good sign. The fact that Kim Minhyuk—who was always cautious and followed the lead of the two senior judges—stepped up as the first speaker and expressed his opinion so strongly meant the stage was objectively excellent. He likely assumed that Benok and Paige would have nothing but praise for it as well.

 

“More than that, I want to talk about this team’s teamwork. Since the individual evaluations will be handled by the other judges anyway….”

 

“……”

 

“How on earth did you manage to sync up like this? The group dance where the members moved as one was incredible. I remember you having very little time to practice… but you looked like a team that had been practicing the same dance for at least six months.”

 

“……”

 

“I don’t know what kind of stages we’ll see in the future, but at least in terms of teamwork, I don’t think we’ll see anything that surpasses what you just did.”

 

‘Good.’

 

“Judge Benok, what did you think?”

 

“The vocals were a little disappointing in some areas, but for the most part I agree with what Judge Kim Minhyuk said. Considering how short your practice period was, the fact that you managed to synchronize to this degree is genuinely astonishing. To exaggerate a little, I don’t think there are many active idol groups out there right now that could produce this level of quality in such a short amount of time. And… especially Trainee Lee Unha.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Do you have a history of attending acting school?”

 

“No! I’ve never been!”

 

“I honestly thought you were a different person for a moment. It’s one thing for your expression to change suddenly, but the gap between who you were in the last mission and this one was so large it felt jarring…. I don’t know what the secret is, but even your voice changed. Or should I say the atmosphere changed rather than the tone? Anyway, Trainee Lee Unha, you really seem to know how to bewitch people.”

 

“Ha… hahaha… th-thank you!”

 

“Director, please get a shot of this. Look at my arm. You see the goosebumps, right? I’m not just saying this; I bet most of the staff here felt the same way. I mean, when I heard it was about a dark mage controlling soldiers, I almost laughed. But from the moment the intro started, I had goosebumps the whole time. Isn’t that right, noona?”

 

“Yeah. That’s exactly how it felt.”

 

“You handled it perfectly from start to finish. I don’t know if I should call it great expression, great acting, or great focus… but you certainly showed a special aura in this stage as well. I still can’t even make eye contact with Trainee Lee Unha….”

 

I widened my eyes and looked at Benok.

 

“Please look at me!”

 

“Hahahaha.”

 

“Hahaha.”

 

“Where did that scary dark mage go? No, seriously, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous it is. Have you ever seen something like this, noona? A dark mage. A dark mage! I’ve done and seen just about every concept imaginable while performing on stage, but this is my first time seeing a dark mage. And it’s also the first time I’ve seen a concept like that actually work so well. As for the performance itself, there’s nothing more that needs to be said. The other team members were all excellent too. Every one of you moved as though you’d become a single body, without anyone sticking out in a bad way. If I were to talk about each of you individually…”

 

What followed was the standard procedure. A time to praise those who performed well, like a distribution of rewards after a battle. Without saying anyone had done poorly or that anyone had fallen short, Benok continued showering everyone with compliments.

 

Naturally, Benok’s gaze eventually landed on Joo Wooyoung.

 

“Trainee Joo Wooyoung was also amazing. When you stepped forward, my eyes were naturally drawn to you. Your dance and vocals were flawless. You showed what you could when it was your turn, then blended back into the team immediately. Personally, though, it was a bit of a shame that I didn’t see the usual ‘Joo Wooyoung’ in this stage… I’ll stop here. It looks like noona has a lot to say.”

 

‘Wait. That’s it?’

 

The critique was shorter than I expected. Plus, the atmosphere wasn’t great. The tiger-like judge seated in the center was looking down at Joo Wooyoung with clear dissatisfaction. A bad feeling crept over me.

 

Paige looked at Joo Wooyoung and opened her mouth.

 

“Whose idea was this dark mage concept?”

 

‘Wait, why is she bringing that up?’

 

“It was Trainee Lee Unha’s, right?”

 

‘Noona, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?’

 

“Who did the choreography? Yes, that was Trainee Lee Unha, too. Who assigned everyone’s parts? That was Trainee Lee Unha as well.”

 

‘No. Don’t do this. That’s not it.’

 

“Was this team ‘Team Lee Unha’?”

 

‘No.’

 

“Wasn’t Trainee Joo Wooyoung the leader of this team?”

 

The air turned cold. It felt frigid. I couldn’t help but feel anxious. Even though it wasn’t intended, for some reason, I felt like the guilty party…. I couldn’t help but steal a glance at Joo Wooyoung.

 

“I honestly don’t know what Trainee Joo Wooyoung contributed to this team as its leader.”