I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed Chapter 55

Chapter 55

 

On the day of the interim evaluation, the trainees didn’t stop practicing even while the cameras were being set up.

Everyone knew how important this mission was.

“Did everyone practice a lot?”

“Yes!”

“Today, we’ll conduct the interim evaluation in a random order. First up is the dance position team.”

“Yes!”

Despite being first, they were overflowing with composure. Both the trainees and the judges believed this team would obviously perform well.

“Isn’t this combination too stacked?”

“There are three members of the debut lineup.”

After Go Jae-seong became Code 1, the judges’ gazes had clearly changed as well.

“Looks like Jae-seong has decided to focus on dance this time…”

“He must have participated in a lot of the choreography, too, right?”

Now, they spoke as if they were addressing trainees whose debut was already guaranteed, like Han Sang-yoon and Joo-han.

“Then, shall we begin?”

“Yes!”

An intense beat began to play, and the six members moved as if they were one body.

Joo-han was Joo-han, as expected. The moment he stood in the center, he seized everyone’s attention. No one could match this presence of his.

 

♪  A heart pounding as if it’s about to burst

♪  Is Boom!

♪  Like a Dynamite~

 

Their steps moved with razor-sharp precision to the fast beat. Even the trainees watched the stage, mesmerized.

But…

‘Hwang Geon-hee’s part is…… more substantial than I expected?’

He frequently stood in the center and had even been given the killing part.

‘When exactly is it going to explode?’

Before my regression, I only binge-watched this program after becoming an Impactor fan. Because of that, I didn’t know exactly when the exposé began or when he left the show.

After he left alongside an apology statement, there was barely any trace of him left in the broadcast.

Even during the preparations for Round 5, Hwang Geon-hee had hardly appeared, so I naturally assumed he had left early on.

‘I thought he was gone because he’d already withdrawn, but they just poured their souls into editing him out.’

Even on variety shows, when a controversy breaks out over an unsavory incident, it’s common to edit someone as if they had never appeared in the footage in the first place.

‘I only know this because of Go Jae-seong, too.’

Hwang Geon-hee danced with complete absorption, unaware of the future that awaited him.

‘Don’t tell me…’

A possibility suddenly crossed my mind.

‘Did he prevent the exposé from happening?’

What if Hwang Geon-hee’s exposé itself had disappeared because the future had changed? What if Go Jae-seong’s intention was to eliminate two members of the original Impactor lineup and bring himself and Hwang Geon-hee in?

Hwang Geon-hee was currently Code 7. He was in a position where, if something happened just once, he could shoot straight up into the debut lineup.

What if Go Jae-seong had made a move to create that “one time” for Hwang Geon-hee?

‘Damn it…’

Since I didn’t know the exact timing of Hwang Geon-hee’s departure, all kinds of speculation muddled my mind.

I was inevitably at a disadvantage in the information battle against Go Jae-seong.

‘No. How would Go Jae-seong even know who the exposer was?’

The idea of stopping the exposer in advance didn’t make sense in the first place.

My speculation had gone too far ahead.

“Wow… How did they even come up with choreography like that?”

The trainees’ murmurs grew louder. I put my thoughts aside and turned my attention back to the stage.

The choreography involved pairs of two. Exclamations erupted from various places.

Hwang Geon-hee was paired with Go Jae-seong in this choreography as well. With Go Jae-seong having relatively few parts, the interim evaluation came to an end.

The judges applauded with pleased smiles.

“Just as expected.”

“The choreography changed quite a lot, but you’ve already gotten your synchronization down so well…”

Katin, who had been handed the microphone, particularly praised Hwang Geon-hee.

“This was the first time Geon-hee really caught my eye.”

“Thank you!”

“Did you come up with the choreography yourselves?”

Hwang Geon-hee immediately pointed at Go Jae-seong.

“Jae-seong helped us a lot. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Jae-seong came up with most of it.”

Go Jae-seong waved his hands as if embarrassed.

“Ah, no, not at all.”

“No wonder the two of you had such great chemistry.”

Katin nodded as if he understood.

“You’ve really hit your stride, Jae-seong. The choreography is great.”

“It was good enough to put straight onstage.”

“Thank you!”

And then, the question I had expected came.

“But you created so much choreography. Why are your own parts so limited?”

Go Jae-seong answered while gauging the reactions of his teammates.

“I’d be lying if I said I had no ambitions, but…”

He smiled briefly.

“I thought about the overall picture first.”

‘As expected.’

It seemed he was aiming for a particular image in this round.

A self-sacrificing leader. A devoted player.

“Rather than thinking about my own parts, I focused on how to make my teammates stand out more…”

If I had been a viewer watching the broadcast in real time, even I would have been fooled. That was how meticulous and detestable his acting was.

The judges had fallen for it completely, too.

“Really? I understand wanting to think about your team, but you should be ambitious about the things you can be ambitious about.”

“Still, even though your screen time was limited, you definitely had a presence.”

“Now I’m even more curious about the main stage. You worked hard.”

“Thank you!!”

I didn’t even have time to sort through my increasingly complicated thoughts.

“Next.”

Kang Se-jun raised his hand.

“Vocal position team, please come forward.”

“……Yes!”

Since the team right before them had received tremendous praise, the tension on everyone’s faces was unmistakable. Even so, none of them showed any sign of being intimidated.

Song In-hyuk’s gaze stopped on Kang I-yul.

“I-yul, how does it feel trying vocals instead of dance?”

I-yul answered without hesitation.

“I think I made the right choice.”

Song In-hyuk smiled with interest.

“Really? Then, shall we hear it right away?”

“Yes!”

They briefly gathered the team members close.

“Just do what you practiced.”

He made eye contact with each person one by one.

“Yes.”

“Even if you get nervous, don’t stop!”

He said it once more, particularly while looking at Kwon Gi-hyeon.

The guy grinned.

“Of course!”

I slowly nodded. Then, the accompaniment began to play.

 

***

 

When Song In-hyuk first heard that Kang I-yul had chosen the vocal position, he tilted his head in puzzlement.

On the other hand, he was also disappointed.

‘Is he trying to avoid Joo-han?’

Since he had been outperformed in Round 4, perhaps he had chosen the more advantageous path.

It was a reasonable suspicion.

This wasn’t the time to avoid his limitations. It was the time to collide with them and break through them. In that regard, he was privately disappointed that I-yul had chosen to run away.

But that thought didn’t last long.

Kang I-yul’s first line… That alone was enough.

“Whoo…”

Along with the sound of him steadying his breath, Kang I-yul’s voice filled the practice room.

 

♪ Anyone is fine

♪ Just tell me

♪ That I can shine

 

Rather than a song, it felt like he had accidentally overheard Kang I-yul talking to himself.

The bewilderment of peeking into a secret, and yet the curiosity that made him want to keep listening until the very end.

He was swept up in conflicting emotions.

‘Was Kang I-yul’s singing always like this?’

It was completely different from the vocal style he had shown until now.

 

♪ In the sweet illusion

♪ That if you dream

♪ Everything will come true

 

He had merely uttered the words calmly, yet the lyrics struck him with an almost strange clarity.

 

♪ Face the version of myself

♪ That has grown

♪ Far too much before I knew it

 

Song In-hyuk recalled the day he first met Kang I-yul.

It had been immediately after his second debut had fallen through and he had left his third company as well.

Perhaps because of that, Kang I-yul had rejected casting offers several times.

“It’s time for me to stop now.”

Even when he said those words, he had held back his tears until the very end.

Kang I-yul wasn’t a trainee who had failed to debut because he lacked skill.

He had simply been horrifically unlucky.

His first agency had fallen apart when its CEO became involved in a gambling scandal. His second agency excluded Kang I-yul from the debut lineup because he was too young. His third company had promised to create a wild-concept boy group, only to suddenly replace the debut lineup with a cute, refreshing concept.

Although he had tried to convince the CEO that he could handle it, he had no choice but to leave the agency after being told that anyone over sixteen was too old for the concept.

At one point, he had been too young. Then, as time passed, he had become too old.

At the time, Kang I-yul had been only seventeen.

 

♪ They say

♪ Giving up makes things easier

♪ But to me

♪ Those words were the most uncomfortable

 

The Kang I-yul from that day was singing now.

It felt as though the Kang I-yul who had spoken more curtly than necessary while holding back tears was standing right before him.

The other team members’ lyrics were the same.

 

♪ I didn’t want

♪ To disappoint my parents’ expectations

♪ So there were days

♪ When I wandered the streets at night

♪ Without anyone knowing

 

Song In-hyuk shifted his gaze toward the trainees.

Some had closed their eyes, while others quietly bit their lips.

 

♪ It feels like I could reach it

♪ If I stretched out my hand

♪ But every time

♪ My mirage disappears

♪ Like smoke

 

It was a story every trainee had probably held in their heart at least once.

It was rough. And that was why it reached the ears more deeply. These weren’t sentences imitating someone else. They were sentences pulled directly from their own lives. 

And what completed that sincerity was the arrangement. Without destroying the emotions of the original song, it gradually, ever so gradually, built up the emotions.

Without even realizing that anything had changed, they found themselves at the climax before they knew it.

The emotions slowly deepened, as if layers of paint were being applied one at a time.

 

♪ Even if it’s only for a moment

♪ Even if it’s only once

♪ I hope I can shine~

 

Yoo Seong-woo’s high note gathered all those emotions into one.

The harmonies were so well-balanced that they seemed like a team that had been practicing together for a long time.

“……It’s good.”

Vocal trainer Park Jae-hoon let out a quiet breath.

“What are they?”

“They’re exceeding expectations, aren’t they?”

 

♪ If I meet you again

♪ The you from back then

♪ I’ll embrace you

♪ Without saying a word

 

The harmony created by the five members couldn’t be called perfect. But there was something that resonated more deeply than perfection.

As soon as the stage ended, Song In-hyuk was the first to pick up the microphone.

“Most of your team members weren’t originally in the vocal position, right?”

The trainees’ expressions stiffened for a moment.

“So, honestly, I didn’t have particularly high expectations.”

The sound of nervous swallowing seemed unusually loud.

“The only thing I could confidently rely on was trainee Yoo Seong-woo’s producing ability.”

Song In-hyuk paused briefly before smiling.

“But I was even more surprised because of that.”

The frozen expressions gradually began to relax.

“Who wrote the lyrics?”

Everyone’s gaze naturally turned toward Yoo Seong-woo.

‘Of course.’

“All five of us wrote the lyrics together.”

Song In-hyuk’s pen stopped. The other judges had similar expressions.

“You wrote them together?”

“Yes.”

Song In-hyuk asked again.

“Well, did they each contribute a line or two?”

He was asking because even writing a single line of lyrics was enough to earn a credit. But Yoo Seong-woo shook his head.

“No. Each person wrote their own parts.”

Song In-hyuk’s gaze changed.

‘So that’s why.’

The reason the performance had drawn him in so deeply. The reason every lyric had felt so alive.

Only then did he understand everything.

“Had any of you written lyrics before?”

The four people other than Yoo Seong-woo waved their hands almost simultaneously.

“It was our first time.”

“S-Seong-woo hyung helped us a lot.”

“Hyung told us to just honestly write down our stories…”

“He connected what we wrote into one song.”

Song In-hyuk was once again impressed by Yoo Seong-woo’s potential.

‘He even has the talent to draw things out of people.’

There were many trainees who were good on their own. But trainees who could make other people perform better, too, were rare.

The place Yoo Seong-woo occupied in the debut lineup in his mind was becoming increasingly clear.

No, in truth, he was getting closer to becoming a trainee who absolutely had to debut.

“There was a lot in the lyrics that I could relate to, and the arrangement was a performance that brought out the original song’s charm even more.”

“Thank you!”

“However……”

Song In-hyuk wasn’t the type to offer nothing but praise.

Perhaps that was why the trainees instead waited for his next evaluation with the attitude of ‘Here it comes.’

“Isn’t this the time for trainee Seong-woo to be a little more ambitious?”

“…….”

“Trainee Seong-woo led the arrangement, and you also drew out all the potential of the other trainees.”

Song In-hyuk met Yoo Seong-woo’s gaze.

“If you played that kind of role.”

After pausing briefly, he spoke clearly.

“Wouldn’t it be okay for you to be a little more ambitious yourself?”

At those words, the smile disappeared from Go Jae-seong’s lips as he watched them from beyond the mirror.