LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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As we stood stiff with anxiety, Jung Ha-neul took a sip of his iced coffee, which was half-melted.
“Hey. I’m not trying to put pressure on you.”
I felt the pressure.
“It doesn’t matter if we don’t get first place, but let’s aim for it anyway.”
I felt intense pressure.
“Shall we listen to the song first?”
“Yes!”
The only thing I could do well was answer.
“The title is ‘Rewind.’ And, by the way, it’s Seo Moon-gyeol’s song.”
The trainees, excluding the person calmly sitting at the edge of the sofa, were all surprised.
Even Ban Yo-han, who was from the same agency, looked at Seo Moon-gyeol with wide eyes as if he was hearing this for the first time.
However, neither Seo Moon-gyeol nor Jung Ha-neul provided any further explanation.
“Then, let’s listen.”
With a few clicks of the mouse, the choreography video on the monitor in front of us started playing.
Dancers, wearing name tags such as Sub Vocal 1 and Main Rapper, lined up and began moving.
At the same time, a lyrical intro started playing. It felt completely different from the lively stage of the second competition.
‘There’s even a guide recording.’
It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t be sure whose voice it was.
The song could best be described as beautiful. If expressed in jewels, it would be a teardrop-shaped sapphire. If expressed in seasons, it would be a blue summer, full of romance and never returning.
I didn’t know how much the original composer, Seo Moon-gyeol, had contributed to this final version, but even if he had only sketched the melody, it was impressive.
I decided to admire Seo Moon-gyeol’s abilities later and focused on the choreography video.
‘The choreography doesn’t look too strenuous.’
Overall, it didn’t seem like a performance that would drain our energy. Unlike the last competition, it wasn’t a type where we needed to unleash all our energy.
Instead, the vocal difficulty was quite high.
First of all, the general pitch was high, so if the tone didn’t match, it seemed we would have a hard time.
Unlike the calm intro, the chorus was so high-pitched that it seemed the main vocal would have to work hard.
‘Huh?’
I widened my eyes. There was a part in the middle where the dancers just stood still without any movement.
What was that? There’s no way they would just stand still on stage like that. Was it meant for us to fill in the choreography ourselves, as it was self-produced?
Seeing our confusion, Jung Ha-neul explained in a timely manner.
“You guys have to create the choreography for the empty parts.”
The trainees nodded in understanding and turned their attention back to the dancers who started moving again.
Then came the rap part.
Unlike the somewhat ambiguous vocal part, I could instantly recognize who was rapping.
I had heard Seo Moon-gyeol’s heavy bass rapping many times, so there was no way I couldn’t recognize it.
Ban Yo-han, from the same agency, and Ok Do-yoon, who was in the same group as Seo Moon-gyeol in the first competition, also glanced at Seo Moon-gyeol, recognizing his voice.
Rap aside, could it be that…
‘Did Seo Moon-gyeol also record all the vocals?’
Sure enough, it was him.
After the song ended, Jung Ha-neul spoke up with an announcement about whether we had understood the song and choreography. For the record, we failed to understand fully.
“Let’s give a round of applause for Seo Moon-gyeol, who took the time to complete the final guide alone.”
Jung Ha-neul, guiding us to clap like he was dealing with children, smiled, satisfied with our response.
In other words, the singing voice was also Seo Moon-gyeol’s.
Seo Moon-gyeol, who usually used a heavy tone when rapping, could freely switch between sharp true voice and clear falsetto when singing.
No wonder he had passed the highly competitive 200:1 ratio for the music department in one go.
But this person kept revealing new talents the more I got to know him.
He sang well, danced well, rapped well, looked good, composed, arranged, choreographed, and made raps.
In some ways, he seemed even more inhuman than Ban Yo-han. I might have boarded a plane instead of a bus.
The system should be praising him for his talent, not me.
What was more shocking was that Seo Moon-gyeol had never shown off his vocal abilities during filming.
It wasn’t like ‘Seo Moon-gyeol hides his strength’ or ‘Seo Moon-gyeol learned cooking as a hobby and excels at it.’
I was starting to feel a bit jealous… but when I thought about Seo Moon-gyeol’s sage-like or magnanimous personality, that feeling disappeared.
At that moment, a staff member sitting in a corner of the studio announced,
“Due to fairness issues, this fact won’t be broadcasted. Instead, it will be reflected in the expert evaluations.”
Because of that damned fairness, the main part of the Heart Attack recording hadn’t been revealed either, causing complaints from the representatives.
Still, shouldn’t this be revealed? Representatives have the right to know that the trainee they support is talented.
“The composer’s name will be revealed when the song is released after the broadcast.”
They stated the obvious as if they were doing us a favor.
“How did you feel? Let’s go around and share briefly, starting from this side.”
Kashima Sora, who met Jung Ha-neul’s eyes, spoke first.
“I felt sad. It was like listening to the sound of a Japanese wind chime on a rainy day, alone.”
Other people’s impressions were similar. Sad, poignant, delicate, and so on.
“Me too. But it wasn’t a sadness that felt depressing and dragging, maybe because the chorus was powerful. It felt like it left a strong impression. I want to hear it again.”
I also briefly shared my thoughts.
Listening to our impressions, Jung Ha-neul explained with a satisfied expression.
“That’s right. Sadness is the main emotion of this song. In Seasons 1 and 2, sexy concept songs were strong, but I think this song can be number one too. The choreography we saw is cool, and although it’s a bit self-praising, the song is sophisticated and well-made.”
We agreed with less stiffness than before. Everyone seemed to like the song.
Seo Moon-gyeol singing so well and making the song look cool also played a part.
“Now, we need to divide the parts. As you know, you’re not the only trainees I selected. The B-1 group will come later, and tomorrow the A-2 and B-2 groups will join. You all have other places to go in the afternoon too.”
After parting with Jung Ha-neul, we were scheduled to meet with the Produce Team BB.
The reason for such a complicated schedule was that we had to start preparing for the competition now to meet the schedule, and there was a ranking determination ceremony in between.
Therefore, they selected twice the number of trainees for each song, and even trained them for two songs. In case some groups had vacancies due to midterm eliminations, they could flexibly adjust the personnel from the A-1, 2 groups and the B-1, 2 groups pool.
If we were unlucky, we might have to practice a completely new song from scratch after rehearsing two songs, but that would be a stroke of bad luck.
### Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer
—
In Seasons 1 and 2, they usually chose one of the songs they had already practiced for the final competition.
“So, even if we assign parts now, they can change later. Okay?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then, here are the lyrics.”
Jung Ha-neul handed out the lyric sheets.
The parts were divided into Main Vocal, Sub Vocal 1, 2, 3, Main Rapper, and Sub Rapper.
‘Among us, only Seo Moon-gyeol and Ok Do-yoon are in the rap position, so they’ll split the rap parts. Will Kim Jun-woo take the main vocal? Sora sings well, so he might want to compete for it. Ban Yo-han probably doesn’t care about parts. As for me… Can I go for the main vocal?’
I would prefer to be the main vocal, but if my unstable high notes ruin the performance, it might be better to aim for the significant Sub Vocal 1.
But honestly, Sub Vocal 1 wasn’t easy either.
It was so demanding that calling it Main Vocal 2 wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Maybe I should safely go for Sub Vocal 2…
“Personally, I want Jun-woo as the main vocal, Raon as Sub Vocal 1, Sora as Sub Vocal 2, and Yo-han as Sub Vocal 3.”
Then, I must go for Sub Vocal 1. Even if I can’t, I have to try.
“Um… do we have to stick to that?”
It was Kashima Sora, speaking in a voice that clearly showed he didn’t want to follow Jung Ha-neul’s suggestion.
It was a valid objection since the higher the number after Sub Vocal, the fewer parts there were.
“Not necessarily. It’s just my personal opinion, so you can take it as a reference.”
Jung Ha-neul’s gentle response made Kim Jun-woo’s previously bright expression dim slightly, while Kashima Sora’s expression brightened in contrast.
“Yes. Thank you!”
“Then, I’ll leave you to discuss.”
Jung Ha-neul left the studio.
Feeling awkward, we glanced at the cameras.
Ok Do-yoon spoke first.
“Shall we decide on a leader first? It’s temporary since this team isn’t final yet.”
I responded.
“Good idea. Who wants to do it?”
“Me!”
Kim Jun-woo raised his hand alone, seemingly wanting to continue his image as a leader from the last competition.
“Great. Then Jun-woo hyung will be the leader of A-1 group.”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
The camera director took out a leader sticker from his pocket and handed it to us.
Kim Jun-woo carefully stuck the sticker on his chest, marking the end of selecting the A-1 group leader.
“Leader, please proceed.”
“Oh, suddenly I feel a lot of pressure.”
Kim Jun-woo laughed awkwardly and cleared his throat.
“Then, let’s each say what position we want.”
“Okay.”
I chose Sub Vocal 1, Seo Moon-gyeol chose Sub Rapper, Ban Yo-han chose Sub Vocal 3, Ok Do-yoon chose Main Rapper, and both Kashima Sora and Kim Jun-woo wanted the Main Vocal.
Normally, there would be competition for not only Main Vocal but also Sub Vocal 1 or Main Rapper, but Ban Yo-han and Seo Moon-gyeol were so considerate and unselfish that conflicts never even began.
It wasn’t just that they had no desire for parts; they also seemed to avoid giving Jo In-soo PD any chance for negative editing by not showing any ambition, so there was nothing to criticize them for.