LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 56
Chapter 56
After understanding the reason, my mood, which had been plummeting without end, suddenly improved.
‘There’s no one to comfort me, so I have to get better on my own.’
It was close to a solo resolution, but it was true that my mood had indeed gotten better.
I couldn’t spend all day with a grim face over a problem I couldn’t solve immediately.
‘Instead of 설×, let’s eat this.’
I gently scraped off the whipped cream smeared all over Jing Xiao’s face with a fork. It was his birthday today.
Unfortunately, the rest of the cake was no longer edible after hitting Jing Xiao’s face and falling to the floor as soon as the candles were blown out.
It was Day’s doing, who had been waiting for the right moment.
Anyway, I felt better with some sugar running through my system.
When Jing Xiao, who had finally come to his senses, shook his head vigorously, a few large cake crumbs fell off his face. What a waste.
He looked at me savoring the whipped cream with an incredulous expression for a moment, then turned to Day, shouting.
“Do you want to die?!”
He was so angry that he had forgotten to use the term “hyung.”
“Ahaha! That’s so funny! Hahaha!”
Don’t they have a saying in Thailand that you get heavenly punishment for playing with food?
Jing Xiao, grabbing a handful of the fallen cake in each hand, lunged at Day, telling him to suffer the same fate.
Seeing how excited they were, I figured there was no real worry about it turning into serious discord.
“Oh, these kids…”
I shook my head, but in the midst of it all, I skewered a strawberry that had survived the fall from the cake onto my fork and popped it into my mouth.
It was delicious.
As I looked below for more edible parts,
Nagase Ritsu, his mouth agape as if he had seen something horrible, grabbed my arm firmly to stop me from eating more.
“[Why are you eating something that fell on the floor?!]”
“[It didn’t fall on the floor.]”
“[That’s fallen!]”
“[The part I’m eating didn’t fall!]”
While Nagase Ritsu and I were fiercely debating whether it had fallen or not,
Day, who had made a mess of the practice room just before lesson time, and Jing Xiao, who made it worse, got scolded by the production team.
However, since they managed to salvage some good scenes from the half-ruined surprise camera, they didn’t get severely reprimanded.
Jing Xiao and Day went to wash their cake-smeared faces while the remaining team members cleaned the floor.
The cake, which looked appetizing whether in good or bad condition, ended up mostly in the trash.
“What a waste.”
Nagase Ritsu, who must have heard my murmur, said.
“[I’ll buy you one later.]”
“[Thanks… Wait, how did you know I said it’s a waste in Korean?]”
“[Your voice and expression were too sad.]”
I guessed correctly. Nagase Ritsu laughed, feeling good about winning the argument.
‘Was my expression that sad?’
Because of that expression, I earned a whole cake, so it was a good thing.
Jing Xiao and Day returned with clean faces, still bickering.
We quickly warmed up our bodies and voices before the mentor arrived.
Just as we were almost ready to start practice, a staff member entered and brought in a folding chair and table for two people.
“Get ready, the lesson will start soon.”
“Yes!”
As said, Han Ji-hee and Joo Yeon-ho entered the practice room shortly after.
It was our first time receiving a lesson from these two. I had secretly hoped it would be Muk Hye-sung.
We, who had been waiting for the mentors to arrive, greeted them with a deep bow as soon as the practice room door opened.
“Hello!”
“Hello.”
Han Ji-hee and Joo Yeon-ho took their seats, and we lined up in front of them.
Even in a comfortable outfit, Han Ji-hee, with her hair tied up, gave off an elegant dancer vibe as she spoke first.
“This is the group that does vocals, performance, and rap, right?”
“Yes.”
“Triple the hard work, then. Let’s see…”
Han Ji-hee and Joo Yeon-ho scanned the documents on the table, which listed our team members, leader, song, and part distribution that we had submitted yesterday.
Joo Yeon-ho turned his gaze back to us with a peculiar tone.
“But, as the leader, center, and main rapper, hasn’t Moon-gyeol taken too much?”
Kyle, who had argued about this in the morning, flinched.
I marveled at the production team’s meticulous setup.
No wonder they staged the surprise camera today, right before the lesson.
Kyle, having fought over the same issue in the morning, couldn’t help but react to that statement, and Joo Yeon-ho must have been given a script by the production team.
With Seo Moon-gyeol’s ranking being high despite barely any screen time, it seemed they intended to tarnish his image by editing it negatively.
“Excuse me, teacher.”
I cautiously raised my hand.
“Why, Raon? If you have anything to say about the parts, now’s the time.”
The words, setting up a stage kindly, seemed to have a clear intention.
“It’s not that.”
“Then what?”
“When we wrote the names, we deliberately spaced out the surname and first name.”
Han Ji-hee and Joo Yeon-ho stared at me as if wondering what I was talking about.
“If you look, you’ll see On and Raon are separated, just like Seo Moon and Gyeol.”
The cheeks of the team members who had experienced a similar situation before twitched, seemingly realizing what I was getting at.
Joo Yeon-ho, who had called Seo Moon-gyeol “Moon-gyeol,” slowly opened his mouth and looked back and forth between me and Seo Moon-gyeol, asking,
“Are you saying his name is Gyeol, not Moon-gyeol? And his surname is Seo Moon?”
Just as I had anticipated.
Seo Moon-gyeol answered.
“Yes.”
After seeing the same mistake for the third time, saying the same thing three times, and receiving the same response three times, I felt like I could somewhat understand how Seo Moon-gyeol felt living as “Seo Moon-gyeol.”
Having experienced it only three times was already tiresome for me, so if I were him, I’d probably just live being called Moon-gyeol too.
At first, Seo Moon-gyeol’s name seemed quite impressive, but now I realized that a cool name isn’t everything.
Hadn’t PD Jo In-soo mentioned last time that he would correct the script errors?
Do your job right. Or is this on purpose?
Anyway, I thought it would be good if this scene aired on TV.
Then I wouldn’t have to correct Seo Moon-gyeol’s name anymore.
Sure, I could just not do it, but in situations like this, even knowing what kind of person Seo Moon-gyeol is, it’s hard to stay quiet.
Maybe that incident in the past made me someone who doesn’t hold back what I really want to say.
While Joo Yeon-ho, who had been Seo Moon-gyeol’s mentor when we first practiced “Heart Attack,” was now apologizing for having called him Moon-gyeol all this time, Jing Xiao whispered to me in a voice only I could hear.
“Amazing. How can you say that in this situation?”
“I did it to PD last time too.”
Jing Xiao seemed to compare the PD and Joo Yeon-ho in his head, then nodded to himself a little while later, agreeing it made sense.
Fortunately, by randomly bringing up the name issue, the attempt to defame the kind-hearted Seo Moon-gyeol seemed to fizzle out.
“Now, let’s see how much you’ve done.”
With a faint smile on his lips, but an icy look in his eyes as if he was displeased with something, Han Ji-hee meticulously read the documents and then spoke to the staff.
“Play the music when these kids are ready.”
The team members, tense for a different reason than before, stood in formation in the center of the practice room.
After a few seconds, the music started playing.
“Oh.”
Han Ji-hee raised an eyebrow slightly in interest as she listened to the prelude.
Three minutes later.
When the song ended with the perfect sound of footsteps, Han Ji-hee, now with a noticeably brighter expression, commented.
“You all prepared hard.”
The faces of the team members, still panting in the ending pose, brightened. So did mine.
Still catching our breaths, we returned to our places.
“Who came up with the choreography and formations?”
“I did.”
Han Ji-hee’s gaze settled on Seo Moon-gyeol, who was calmly catching his breath.
“You were too considerate of the others. Overall, the choreography difficulty and the parts where you could have stood out more were also quite balanced.”
“As a leader, you scored a hundred points, but you need to judge if it’s the right choice for you as an individual too.”
After all, it’s about individual survival, right? Joo Yeon-ho added with a somewhat melancholic tone.
“Still, thanks to Gyeol’s consideration, the overall picture came together well. It could’ve felt excessive if anyone else had been too greedy. Everyone seems to have practiced diligently. Among the teams I’ve seen, your preparation is the best. Gyeol, you’re fit to be the leader, center, and main rapper.”
At Han Ji-hee’s final remark, which had a subtle undertone, Joo Yeon-ho awkwardly chuckled.
“When Gyeol hyung is at the center, it makes us feel more at ease.”
Jing Xiao, who had secretly desired the center position during the distribution, said firmly.
It seemed Joo Yeon-ho’s earlier words had somehow positively influenced our teamwork.
“If you all have no complaints, then that’s fine.”
In reality, Joo Yeon-ho probably didn’t want to say those things either.
He’s also an entertainer whose image matters, and who knows what could be said later.
But for both debut-hopeful trainees and already-debuted idols, the PD’s words were absolute.
In the now harmonious atmosphere, individual lessons continued.
“Gyeol, everything is good, but your facial expressions are lacking compared to other aspects. You’re great at being charismatic and cool, but you need to practice looking more relaxed for stages like this. Make sure viewers can feel excited when they watch you. Got it?”
“Xiao, you started well and made an effort with pronunciation. You know you need to keep practicing, right? Still, you did so well that I felt proud watching you.”
“[Ritsu, let’s try to get rid of the nasal sound a bit more. You’ve improved a lot since the first mentor evaluation, so keep up the confidence. I could see that you enjoyed it, which made me happy.]”
“Raon, personally, you’re the most interesting and catch my attention, but when I think back, your presence is quite subtle.”
The team members’ expressions turned oddly, as if saying, “Him?”
I didn’t understand why they reacted that way, given that it’s rare to find someone as naturally quiet and introverted, living without presence, like me.
“However, compared to the first Heart Attack evaluation, you’ve improved a lot. Now, you’ll probably leave an impression. It’s not enough to say you’ve completely improved, so I can’t pinpoint exactly what’s better….”
Han Ji-hee, frowning regretfully, continued talking about how I looked weaker than others when performing moves.
[Level Up!]
[Reaching Level 10 unlocks the Burning System!]