"Kyaaak! What do I do~! So cute~"
A female staff member bouncing around as if she didn't know what to do with herself.
The other staff members around her were also looking at me with warm smiles.
That's right.
I had changed into cute rabbit pajamas that only babies should wear.
I could understand the staff's reactions.
With my visuals in this outfit, how could it not be cute...
Which was exactly why it was something I would never wear normally.
After letting out an inward sigh, I turned my head to look outside the room.
Three people were looking at me through the glass window, twisting their arms together in absolute delight.
Hana, Harang, and Sera unni.
We must have plenty of time left.
I told them to go practice.
Sigh...
'How did I end up with this kind of image?'
Is it because I'm the youngest?
Or because my baby fat hasn't gone away yet?
I felt troubled.
I'd once read an article about the psychology of cuteness.
It said that when people see cute creatures—for example, a baby's bright smile—a love hormone called 'oxytocin' is secreted.
In other words, humans are designed to feel love toward cute creatures.
Therefore, being called cute wasn't a bad thing.
It meant lovable.
Even a man would feel quite good hearing it deep down.
At some point, I'd started thinking that way too.
But if that was the case, why couldn't they stop at just calling me cute? Why did they have to make me act it out like this every single time to be satisfied...
I wanted to let out a big sigh, but I couldn't because I was conscious of the cameras.
And I looked so pathetic today...
The assistant writer, who had been jumping around making a fuss without knowing my troubled feelings, asked me.
"Trainee Dohui! Have you thought about how to do the rabbit imitation?"
Good question.
What exactly is a rabbit imitation?
"No, I don't really know..."
Since it's for PR, I should do it properly.
Besides the image of a rabbit gnawing on a carrot, no other ideas came to mind.
"It's okay! I've thought of something, so wait just a moment!"
The writer dashed out the door and soon came back with a tablet.
On the tablet screen, the writer pulled up a video of rhythmic movements to the children's song 'Mountain Rabbit.'
"I think you just need to do these movements to this!"
Ah, I want to get off.
***
Less than two days after the arrangement meeting, we received the arranged version of 'FATAL' from the production crew.
Of course, we'd given them detailed ideas, but I hadn't expected to get the arrangement back this quickly.
There were a whopping twelve groups the music director had to worry about.
They must have been incredibly busy just with the arrangements...
We went to thank the music director for finishing early.
"Oh, did you listen to the arrangement? It came out well, right?"
But the music director's face when we actually met looked very relaxed and comfortable.
'Ah, this person outsourced it.'
So this is why having a big production budget is nice.
After finishing our pointless thanks, we began full-fledged stage practice since we had the arranged version.
And ideas kept coming up constantly even during practice.
"How about rolling up suit sleeves after the intro here?"
I showed off my forearms.
Forearms with just the right amount of definition—neither too much nor too little, nicely split.
"Oh~ that's not bad? It'd be a good point move."
Hana unni agreeing.
Then I noticed Hana unni's forearms.
The three-dimensional contours of her muscles.
The first thought that came to mind was that I shouldn't fight with this unni.
Wait, she was a short track athlete, so why are her arm muscles like that too?
. . .
With practice going on all day.
We finally returned to the dormitory at dawn.
"Tired..."
Sera unni collapsed right onto the bed.
The members of our room were, of course, exactly the same as Team 'FATAL.'
Thanks to that, it was good for building camaraderie, and we could continue practicing at night even after returning to the dorm.
Of course, the production crew's intention was probably to get footage even at the dormitory.
I should wash up first.
Even though there wasn't much dancing, I'd practiced passionately all day, so I'd sweated quite a bit.
I felt like my body reeked of sweat.
"Who's washing up first?"
Hana unni asked, pulling out a bunch of snacks from her bag.
"I'll eat first, then wash. Anyone want some~?"
This unni seemed to have filled an entire suitcase with nothing but snacks; the snacks never ran out from day one.
Meanwhile, Sera unni, collapsed on the bed, stretched her arm out trembling toward the biscuit Hana unni was holding.
"I... want to eat..."
A pattern I'd seen every day during dorm life.
We're not even kids, but when there's food, she just reaches out.
"Unni, give me chocolate..."
Harang unni, collapsed on the floor rather than the bed.
Harang unni, who had been languishing, gave up on getting onto the bunk bed and just lay on the floor.
Both Harang unni and Sera unni were on the verge of collapse.
They might have already collapsed.
It wasn't that their stamina was particularly lacking.
Hana unni had led the practice as the leader...
She still seemed to think she was an athlete.
"Dohui, aren't you going to eat?"
Hana unni asked, shaking some jelly.
"I'm trying to lose some weight."
"Huh... really? Why? You're so pretty right now. You don't need to lose weight!"
Why do you think?
I'm trying to lose my baby fat.
But the one thing I was worried about was whether I'd actually lose fat from my chest.
I'd heard that when you diet, your chest is the first to go, but surely not...?
"Right... you're cute..."
A muffled voice came from Sera unni, who had her face buried in her pillow.
"Please wash up and go to sleep, unni."
"Don't wanna..."
"Sigh... Hana unni, what time are we waking up tomorrow?"
There were no special schedules until the mid-evaluation, so our schedule was completely free except for meal times.
So it was the leader Hana unni's job to set the schedule.
"Shall we wake up around 7 tomorrow? It's 1 o'clock now~ so we can sleep about 6 hours?"
But breakfast is at 10...?
"I hate it... nooo..."
Sera unni buried her face in her pillow to express her refusal.
Thanks to that, her voice was buried in the pillow, so Hana unni couldn't hear it.
"Please... let's wake up for breakfast... okay?"
Harang unni, collapsed on the floor, attempted to resist at least.
"Tsk, tsk, our youngest holds up this well; how can the unnis be like this? Back in my day, I couldn't even sleep 4 hours."
Sigh... I should wash up first.
As I got down from the bunk bed and tried to go to the bathroom, someone grabbed my ankle.
It was Harang unni, who had been collapsed on the floor.
"Dohui... help me up... I want to wash up too, but I'm exhausted..."
The culprit behind this situation every time, Hana unni, was eating a choco pie without a care from the side.
"Why, do you want some? I'll give you one?"
Ha...
It was a routine repeated every day.
After practicing all day.
We returned at dawn like this, ate snacks, and talked.
And somehow everyone managed to wash up.
And we tried matching harmonies until everyone fell asleep in bed.
In the end, we were practicing even after coming to the dormitory.
Maybe we were practicing even after falling asleep.
Because in my dreams, Hana unni was shouting "One more time!" on an infinite loop.
***
Trainer Yunjeong, seated at the judges' panel, opened her mouth.
"Wow, this is a total super team."
I'd known those words would come out.
"I'm so looking forward to this?"
"Right? I love this song; I wonder what concept they went with."
The three trainers sat in front, exchanging small talk before the evaluation.
"So the leader is Hana, then who's doing the killing part?"
I raised my hand.
"I'm in charge of it."
"Oh~ Dohui? Seriously, anyone in this team doing it wouldn't be odd. How was it chosen?"
Hana unni said with a smile.
"Actually, only Dohui volunteered!"
In the arranged version, the killing part was something we shared while matching harmonies, so everyone passed it to me without greed.
Therefore, it was a meaningful killing part position only in the first verse part without harmonies.
The trainers didn't know that yet.
"Ah, really? Unexpected."
"So how did you decide on the concept?"
"The original is intense music with a dance track beat, but for the arranged version, we decided to change it to a groovy R&B-style beat."
"Oh~ it sounds good just hearing about it? Do you have a staging direction in mind?"
Trainer Sua, the vocal trainer, said.
"Yes, everyone had so many ideas that we actually had to narrow them down."
"As expected, super team is great, I love it."
"Okay, then shall we see it right away?"
A familiar MR flowed out.
The original version, not the arranged one.
Since it was mid-evaluation footage that had to be included in the broadcast, we had to show the stage with the original song to prevent spoilers.
That meant there were many parts we couldn't show.
'A bit of a shame.'
But after finishing the stage.
The trainers were laughing in admiration.
"Wow, this is the unarranged version?"
"What do I do? It's already good?"
I could tell it was praise even before they laid out detailed feedback.
"I'll go first with feedback."
First, vocal trainer Sua.
"First of all, it was so good the moment I heard it. Especially the harmonies were so good it didn't feel like a trainee stage but a pro stage, wow... It seems like each of you brought out the strengths of your voices from low to high. Who arranged it? Don't tell me you all did it together; there must be someone who led it."
Trainer Sua's voice unable to hide her excitement.
This was exactly when I had to be humble.
It would be revealed through the broadcast anyway.
Still, my body didn't seem to agree, twitching as if it would raise my hand at any moment.
Harang unni, seeming to know how I felt, thankfully said in a loud voice.
"Our youngest, Dohui, arranged it!"
If only they'd leave out the "youngest" part.
"Oh~ as expected, this is why they say piano is the foundation of music. A piano genius is different, right?"
I wanted to say yes right away.
But what was always important was the virtue of humility.
"No! The unnis helped a lot, so it was practically done by everyone together!"
I didn't think I was saying something I didn't mean.
I've always thought this way.
That I'm an extremely humble person.
Yes.
Modest piano visual genius Lee Dohui.
Kya~ crazy.
Trainer Sua smirked at my obvious humility and said.
"Alright, alright. Anyway, the harmonies were delightfully ticklish and felt good the whole time I was listening. I expect the arranged version will be even better. Looking forward to it."
"Yes!"
Then Trainer Yunjeong.
"Kids."
Trainer Yunjeong smiling—a rare sight.
Trainer Yunjeong was smiling.
"""Yes!"""
"You guys are really good. It was fun to watch the whole time. Especially when you four made eye contact and matched harmonies, I got immersed too. I have nothing more to say, and you all must have been under a lot of pressure since everyone around you kept praising you as a super team. Good work, everyone."
"""Thank you~!"""
Finally, dance and performance trainer Mun Jinu.
"Seriously, all your gestures in between and your gazes were so good. Is the man being seduced by the song perhaps me? I think I've already fallen for it."
Trainer Sua, who was listening, scolded him.
"Ah~ Trainer Jinu, please don't do that."
"Ah, why? I'm praising them because they're good."
"Trainer Jinu, you're an idol!"
"I'm long past being active. It's fine~"
Trainer Jinu joked around playfully, but regardless, all evaluations and feedback were positive.
After greeting them, we left the room to the sound of applause from the trainers.
Having received praise throughout the evaluation, I felt somewhat light and airy.
"Wow, Dohui, you're so red."
"Right? Why is she so red? Hehe."
"Cute..."
Well, as if they aren't the same.