With the parts divided, practice began in earnest.
“Ah, here, it should feel a little more angular? You need to make it like this.”
Since I’d become the leader, I took charge of practice.
Maybe this would erase my image as the youngest.
I absolutely had to erase it...
“Like this?”
“Yes, and from there, I think you just need to focus on the steps and go tap, tap.”
Everyone on the team started matching the movements.
“Should we move on to the next move now?”
“Yeah, let’s leave the details for later and keep learning it for now.”
“Okay~”
Once we finished learning one move, we watched the choreography video on the tablet the production crew had provided and learned the next one.
- You know~ I might like you~ -
“Here, you cross arms with the person next to you, hold hands, and lift...”
We progressed quickly.
Since “It G” was a hit song from last year, most of them were already familiar with the choreography, so everyone learned fast.
And Chaerin unnie really was on another level when it came to dancing.
They said she was the main dancer among the Zy trainees.
Thanks to that, she was a big help in learning the choreography.
Like that, in less than a few hours, we finished learning all the choreography.
“I think we need to organize the formations now.”
The original artist of “It G,” 3M, was a four-member girl group.
In the process of changing the four-person formation into a six-person formation, we had to fix overlaps in movement paths and the dance formations.
“Can you do it by yourself?”
The unnies asked worriedly, looking anxious.
“Yes, I’ve done it a lot.”
Organizing formations was difficult for beginners, but for me, well, during my three and a half years as a trainee, whenever there was a group evaluation, I’d always been the one organizing formations.
While the unnies practiced the choreography while focusing on details, I got paper and a pen from the production crew.
Then, while watching the choreography video, I repeatedly drew out six-person formations and movement paths on the paper.
I completed a draft.
***
“Dohee.”
“Yes?”
Go Yunjeong, the dance trainer teacher with the strictest image.
All our team members seemed tense, overwhelmed by Teacher Yunjeong’s aura.
Teacher Yunjeong looked at us and said with a hearty laugh,
“Dohee is the leader? This is the first time I’ve seen the youngest be the leader.”
“Ah, I volunteered because I wanted to help the team.”
Especially my image.
Please, I really wish they’d stop with that crappy nickname.
“Right, well, age isn’t what matters. Then Dohee led the practice and part distribution?”
“Yes, we all worked hard together!”
“Got it. Let’s see it once first.”
The accompaniment began playing, and we finished the choreography without any particular issues.
Teacher Yunjeong crossed her legs and tapped her foot.
“Mm... You did well. From what I can see, I don’t think anyone here is bad at dancing.”
At Teacher Yunjeong’s praise, the members smiled faintly.
But somehow, I felt like there was more she wanted to say after that.
Teacher Yunjeong lowered her head and looked at her documents.
Then she twirled her hair for a long while before clicking her tongue.
“Eunseo.”
“Yes?”
The teacher swept her finger across us as she spoke.
“You said you wanted to be center, and everyone agreed to it, right?”
“Yes...”
“Okay, got it. Try it again for now.”
The accompaniment started, and while we were dancing, the teacher cut off the music at the part where the center became the main focus.
“Do this part again.”
.
.
.
This was already the fifth time doing the same part.
Teacher Yunjeong gripped the pen she’d been spinning and said,
“Eunseo, I’m sorry, but you don’t stand out. I can’t see you.”
“I don’t see much stage presence, and honestly, I’m not sure how much that’ll improve just because you’re given time.”
“If you want to show a better stage, I think either Eunseo has to become the ace, or you need to change the center.”
“Of course, the decision is yours. But what matters is the team battle, isn’t it? Think carefully.”
“““Yes...”””
Haa...
We hadn’t even had our vocal check yet, but a problem had already blown up in the choreography.
I still had to take care of the main vocal too...
And now the center was an emergency as well.
***
After leaving the dance training room, Eunseo unnie seemed mentally shattered.
She was only eighteen, after all.
She was still a young student.
There was no way her heart and mind could be okay after being compared to the kids around her and receiving harsh criticism.
“I’m sorry... I should’ve done better...”
Eunseo unnie kept repeating that she was sorry, then eventually burst into tears.
She seemed to feel guilty toward the team.
She didn’t need to.
I patted Eunseo unnie on the back and comforted her for a long time.
But we still had to decide what to do about the center issue.
Since the center drew the focus on stage, it had a direct impact on whether we won or lost the team battle.
Of course, it wasn’t that Eunseo unnie was bad, but there were three people with outstanding visuals and Chaerin unnie, whose dancing stood out.
Relatively speaking, she had no choice but to get buried.
For now, it was something we had to decide after going to the vocal training room and receiving our vocal lesson.
.
.
.
“Yeeun! That’s it!”
Teacher Sua clapped, delighted.
Oh...?
“Yes, you just have to stretch it out like that!”
“Ah... Thank you...”
Even though she’d been praised, Yeeun unnie’s eyes darted around as if she were bewildered.
After being scolded by vocal trainer Teacher Sua, Yeeun unnie finally, after several attempts, managed to sing the chorus without issue in a clear, pure tone that anyone could recognize.
If she sings just like that, there really won’t be anything to worry about...
She’ll probably get a lot of votes too.
“For now, overall, everyone is stable. The rap is clean too.”
Teacher Sua seemed satisfied as she pointed out each person and gave advice.
“Dohee, I don’t know what you did, but I can already feel that your tone has improved a lot.”
“Thank you!”
Since I’d been consciously thinking about my vocalization even when speaking normally, it seemed I was improving faster than expected.
Lately, even Seoyun unnie had been listening to my voice, which had risen by about six keys, and saying ridiculous things like, “Dohee, did you eat something weird? Or are you maybe manic?” but whatever.
It was good news.
In any case, thanks to repeating it every day, as long as it wasn’t a high-note part like now, I could sing a line or two here and there in a clear tone without much burden.
Of course, if I sang several lines in a row, it would get rough again.
“For now, if you can all sing like this while dancing, there shouldn’t be a problem. Yeeun, make sure you remember how that felt just now, okay?”
“““Yes~”””
“Okay, let’s sing it once more.”
Thankfully, at least there was hope for our main vocal.
***
After vocal training ended, I went to the bathroom with just Eunseo unnie.
“Unnie, what do you want to do about the center? Before we talk about it in front of the cameras, let’s be honest with each other now. Feel comfortable.”
Since she’d at least received positive feedback during vocal training, she seemed more composed, but there was still a shadow over her face.
If I were being honest, I thought there would be no problem if either I or Chaerin unnie took the center.
But this was, strictly speaking, a survival program broadcast through mass media.
Since people watched while empathizing to some extent with the contestants, there was a high chance they’d prefer a narrative where a center who lacked skill grew, rather than a story where the center was changed because she lacked skill.
Of course, there would be viewers who wouldn’t care as long as the member they liked became center, but that probably wouldn’t be the majority opinion.
This made me think maybe we should have chosen more carefully when we first picked the center.
At the moment, the contestants being mentioned the most online were Sera unnie, a candidate for first place who was famous as a publicly revealed JS trainee, and me, who had been chosen as the title center.
Because of that, as a popular trainee, I didn’t need to worry at least until the first ranking announcement, so I’d yielded the center position to Eunseo unnie, who needed the opportunity more than I did.
Chaerin unnie was also under Zy, so she probably had nothing to worry about thanks to the agency’s solid fanbase.
But in the end, I’d overlooked that if we lost the team battle, the people whose chances of elimination rose were actually the less popular team members.
Excessive yielding could end up causing a team member’s elimination.
Of course, it was good to seize an opportunity and become a popular contestant, but getting the next opportunity was important too.
Breaking the silence, Eunseo unnie opened her mouth.
“I... just want either you or Chaerin to do it...”
It seemed her spirit had already been broken.
“Why?”
At my question, Eunseo unnie seemed to get choked up for a moment, but soon spoke as if she had given up, like she was airing her grievances.
“Because honestly, you and Chaerin are both better than me, Dohee, and you’re both more popular too...”
She’d really lost confidence after just one bad critique.
“Unnie, you’re confident in your skills, right?”
“...”
“You are, right?”
“I mean, yes, but...”
“Unnie, don’t worry about the team members and tell me. What do you want to do?”
“Honestly, I want to keep doing it...”
“Then that’s enough. I like people who want to do it more.”
I had to comfort Eunseo unnie again as she burst into tears once more.
***
After discussing it, we voted and decided to keep the center as it was.
It was something everyone had agreed on when we first chose the center anyway, and if we changed the parts, the choreography and singing parts of the two people switching would also change, which would cause confusion.
Thanks to that, the atmosphere in our group became relaxed again.
Of course, Eunseo unnie cried while saying thank you and hugged everyone, but I refused to accept that cringey mood.
More importantly, the problem blew up again with the main vocal.
What is this, some kind of emotional debt rollover?
- I’m as charming as an It girl
- Hold me tight~↗ght↘ -
During live practice, Yeeun unnie’s voice cracked frequently.
Of course, live practice continued, but whenever the song ended and we looked at Yeeun unnie, she would fidget with her fingers shyly, looking both sorry and embarrassed.
“Sorry...”
“It’s okay. We can try again.”
Sigh...
Like that, her voice kept cracking here and there...
And once we passed ten tries, Yeeun unnie was on the verge of tears.
What on earth is the problem...
I thought back to when she’d hit the note cleanly.
What had vocal trainer Teacher Sua said again...
- Yeeun, are you kidding me? Stretch it out more -
- More! Stretch it out more -
- More! Park Yeeun! -
Mm...
“Yeeun unnie.”
“Hm...?”
“Follow me to the bathroom.”
“Huh...?”
From what I could tell, she was the type who did better when you rode her hard.