Chapter 8
"Trainee Sunwoo Rin is X-grade."
What? Did I hear that wrong?
However, considering the fact that most of the trainees, including myself, were wearing dumbfounded expressions, I hadn't misheard.
And judging by the expressions of the judges, it definitely didn't seem like Ria had made a mistake.
Oops, of all people, I accidentally made eye contact with Kim Na-hee.
Why is that woman so hell-bent on eating me alive?
For now, since the grade announcement was over, I had to get off the stage.
Along with the three people next to me, I bowed with an awkward expression and stepped down from the stage.
"X-grade? What in the world is that?"
Bu Ji-seok muttered beside me.
That's exactly what I wanted to say.
Regardless of our curiosity, the next stage was being prepared.
'Yeah, if someone other than me gets an X-grade too, I'll roughly be able to figure out what kind of grade it is.'
Returning to my seat, I decided to relax and watch the other stages.
Although I still had some unresolved curiosity, the grade evaluation itself seemed to have ended better than I expected.
'A variable called Kim Na-hee appeared, but because of that, I'll probably get more broadcast screentime instead.'
Rather than playing it safe and becoming invisible, having my face shown on broadcast for even a few seconds was unconditionally an advantage.
Of course, that doesn't mean I want to become an unlikable character.
"Interesting, an X-grade."
Looking over at the voice coming from beside me, Eugene Kim was staring straight ahead again as if he had said his piece.
Not feeling any particular need to reply, I also focused on the stage without responding.
As the order progressed, more and more skilled individuals were appearing.
"Trainee Park Han-hwi is A-grade."
The first A-grade trainee was born.
Even after that, a few more A-grade trainees emerged.
"Trainee Baek Si-hyun is X-grade."
Finally, another X-grade trainee besides me appeared.
The trainee named Baek Si-hyun showed no change in expression despite receiving an X-grade.
Cold, sharp eyes, and skin so white it looked pale.
He was a peculiar trainee who didn't show any change in expression the entire time on stage.
Should I say he looked more like a mannequin than a person?
He was a trainee with whom I couldn't find a single thing in common.
'With this, I can't figure out what the standard is.'
The filming proceeded without a proper break, to the point where even the appearance of a few noticeable trainees no longer evoked any excitement.
As most of the order progressed and the grade evaluation was nearing its end, there was one trainee who still hadn't moved an inch and remained in his seat.
'As expected, the last turn?'
I glanced at Eugene Kim in the seat next to me.
Eugene Kim, whose turn had finally come, was slowly rising from his seat.
"Ah, it's finally the last turn."
"Who's the last order? Oho, this guy came out here?"
"Wow. I was a fan of this guy, but I had no idea he'd appear here. This is crazy!"
The judges' table began to buzz.
Eugene Kim, who had stepped onto the stage at some point, had a guitar in his hand.
Sitting on the chair brought by the staff and slowly preparing his guitar setup, there was no trace of tension on Eugene Kim's face.
Finally, the guitar setup was finished, and Eugene Kim spoke while still seated.
"Hello. I'm Eugene Kim from the US."
"Hmm, is that the end of your introduction?"
"Yes, it is."
At his confident answer, the judges nodded with expressions of 'as expected.'
"Understood. Then let's see the stage first and talk. Please start right away."
"Yes."
After finishing his short answer, Eugene Kim closed his eyes for a moment. And at the same time, his guitar playing began.
It was a melody I was hearing for the first time.
I thought maybe it was a pop song that I didn't know.
"Huh? What song is this?"
"I'm not sure either."
Seeing that most of the people around me didn't know it either, it didn't seem like a famous song.
The intro ended with a sweet melody.
Finally, Eugene Kim began to sing.
Wow-
As soon as he started the first verse, exclamations of admiration burst out from around me.
It was an even sweeter beautiful voice than the sweet guitar playing.
His voice seemed to have a magical power that pulled people in.
'If I raise my vocal and charm stats, could I become like that too?'
Eugene Kim's singing skills were truly overwhelming enough to make me think that.
Out of all the trainees who appeared here, he was probably the most overwhelmingly good at singing.
Receiving everyone's admiring gazes, Eugene Kim finished his song.
However.
'Did he prepare the dance separately?'
Compared to all the other participants who had shown both singing and dancing up until now, Eugene Kim presented a stage where he only sang.
"Trainee Eugene Kim, I heard your song well. By any chance, the song you just sang is...?"
"It's my self-composed song."
"Ah, as expected."
The vocal trainer said, nodding with a satisfied expression.
Other than her, the other judges were also sending admiring looks toward Eugene Kim.
At that moment, Ria grabbed the microphone.
"Trainee Eugene Kim. Your singing skills are indeed as good as I knew, no, hearing it in person, it's truly an amazing skill. But did you not prepare anything for dancing?"
"Yes, I couldn't prepare any dancing."
'Wait, if he says that...'
The venue buzzed at Eugene Kim's unexpected answer.
And just as I expected, a slightly agitated voice followed.
It was none other than the dance trainer, Kim Na-hee.
"Trainee Eugene Kim, you didn't prepare?"
"Yes, I couldn't prepare."
"Isn't it that you didn't do it, rather than couldn't?"
"I didn't hear from the beginning that this was a place to be evaluated on dancing."
At Eugene Kim's answer, I looked outside the stage where the writers were.
There, I could see the writers desperately shaking their hands in an X shape toward Kim Na-hee, looking earnest.
But Kim Na-hee, as if she couldn't see the writers' desperation, continued with even sharper questions.
"This is a place to select idols. Isn't it only right that you should have prepared dancing?"
"I didn't think it was a given. However, as you said, I came out here to become an idol, so I will work hard in the future."
To not back down a single word against that Kim Na-hee.
Rather than feeling refreshed, pity came first.
'A comrade in the same situation as me has appeared.'
Wouldn't Eugene Kim's name have just been added to the very top of Kim Na-hee's hit list?
Of course, my name would have originally been in that spot.
Another judge beside her stopped Kim Na-hee, who was trying to lash out even more after hearing Eugene Kim's answer.
Meanwhile, Ria, who had been looking for a timing to jump into the conversation, seemed to think this was her chance and hastily joined in.
"Trainee Eugene Kim, as I mentioned earlier, this is a place to select idols. Regardless of whatever circumstances there are for not dancing, we will not take them into consideration."
"Yes, I understand."
With that, the conversation came to a close for now.
"Trainee Eugene Kim is X-grade."
One more person was added to the X-grade.
***
"Grandmother, I'm leaving."
"Yes, go well, our grandson. No matter where you go, if you just do as you do now, our grandson can become a great person. Don't skip meals, and make sure to take care of your health first."
"Yes, don't worry, please go back in now."
"Alright, I got it. But did you tell Min you're going?"
"I left a note. Well, he's not a kid, so it'll be fine."
-Min, I'll be away for about 2 weeks. No contact.
I thought about the contents of the note I left on my younger brother Min's desk.
Well, isn't that enough to say what I needed to say?
Just in case, I also slipped in two 50,000 won bills, so there shouldn't be a big problem.
"Alright, go now, you'll be late."
"Yes, I'm really leaving now!"
I hugged my grandmother once and walked toward the bus stop with my luggage.
After walking a certain distance, I looked back. I could see my grandmother standing still, just waving her hand at my back.
I gestured to my grandmother to go inside quickly, and set off on my way again.
It had already been 3 days since the grade evaluation, which was the first filming of National Idol, ended.
And today was the day to enter the dorm to prepare for the debut song evaluation.
***
When I arrived at the gathering place, the surroundings were as bustling as a market due to the people who arrived first and the busy staff.
And in the distance, I could see several types of cars parked, seemingly prepared for moving to the dorm.
'Just looking at the cars, I can clearly see their intentions.'
The first car I saw was a celebrity van. Without a doubt, the A-grade would ride that.
Next, I saw a large tour bus. Judging by its size, I thought the B and C-grades would ride together.
Lastly, a small van that looked like it seated about 10 people. The D-grade would ride that.
Thinking about 10 men riding that car seemed a bit bleak.
Packed in and riding it seemed like it would make one reflect on their situation.
It looks cruel from the start, but this is MusicNet.
It was like that last year, so nothing had changed much. It will get even more cruel in the future.
How extreme must it have been that a one-hour video compilation of trainees crying from the last season was circulating on YouTube.
Was the title 'JuiceNet' or something.
'Anyway, what will the X-grade ride? They're not going to make us run there, are they?'
I felt a bit anxious, but brushed it off as nothing major. Whatever I rode, as long as I could enter the dorm, it didn't matter.
"Rin hyung!"
Kang A-jin, who seemed to have just arrived, dragged his luggage and walked toward me.
And while I was talking with Kang A-jin, the Bu brothers arrived soon after.
"Now, let's gather by grade. Please move immediately to your grade shown on the signboard in front of you!"
When most of the trainees arrived, a person who looked like an assistant director shouted loudly, holding a megaphone.
I greeted Kang A-jin and the Bu brothers, then moved to where the X-grade signboard was.
After me, Eugene Kim arrived next, followed by 3 more trainees who approached the X-grade signboard.
There were a total of 5 X-grade trainees.
It was a somewhat ambiguous number.
They all seemed to have a screw loose somewhere, or to put it nicely, they were trainees with strong individuality.
'Wait, then does that mean I'm like that too?'
With five gathered, someone should have greeted first, but so far, none of the five of us had opened our mouths first.
Just as silence lingered between us.
Wow-
Cheers erupted from the A-grade side.
Looking at it, the A-grade trainees were boarding the van.
I could also see the faces of the B and C-grade trainees watching the scene enviously, and the D-grade trainees with devastated expressions.
The competition started from these small things. Everyone would find it hard to be detached in this situation.
Well, except for our X-grade, who remained expressionless.
At that time, one of the writers walked toward us.
"X-grade trainees have two ways to move to the dorm."
The writer spoke, holding out a lottery box to us.
"Through the lottery, 2 people will ride a premium convertible to the dorm, and 3 people will ride the van together with the D-grade trainees."
At the writer's words, we nodded silently and put our hands into the lottery box one by one.
'Am I the red ball?'
Looking around, I made eye contact with Eugene Kim.
The color of the ball Eugene Kim was holding was also the same red as mine.
"Now, trainees who drew the red ball, please follow me this way."
Eugene Kim and I followed the writer and moved.
'What premium convertible, it's just a domestic car with an open roof.'
As soon as I saw the car, I could immediately tell that we had become victims of PPL.
I thought the car looked somewhat familiar, and it was indeed that car that appeared without fail in the 60-second commercials last season.
Like that, Eugene Kim and I boarded the car with the open roof.
Exactly 3 minutes later, we keenly realized that it was November.
Ugh-
Since it was the backseat facing the wind head-on, there was nowhere to hide.
Eugene Kim and I had become crazy racers piercing straight through the cold November air.
'He's struggling more than I thought?'
I was fine since I used to jump into the water in the middle of winter like it was a meal. But Eugene Kim was shivering from the cold to the point where his lips were turning blue.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
He says he's fine, but he looks like he's about to die.
To make matters worse, Eugene Kim was only wearing a thin jacket as a coat.
"Excuse me, could you close the roof of the car?"
At my words, the camera director filming us from the front shook his head silently.
These heartless broadcasting station bastards.
Left with no choice, I took off the padded jacket I was wearing.
"Wear this."
Taking off the padding and handing it to Eugene Kim, Eugene Kim looked at me and said in a low voice.
"Um, short sleeves..."
"It's fine, I don't get cold easily."
I forcefully pushed the padded jacket onto Eugene Kim.
Eugene Kim, who hesitated for a moment, must have decided he needed to survive, and soon used the padding I gave him as a windbreaker like a blanket.
If I had known this would happen, I would have worn long sleeves.
The cold was bearable, but I was worried about how I would look on broadcast wearing only short sleeves in an open-roofed domestic car in early winter.
While I was sitting there with my face scrunched up as much as possible.
"Um... thank you."
Eugene Kim said in a careful voice, perhaps gauging my mood.
Um, I'm scrunching my face not because I'm cold...
Still, looking to the side, Eugene Kim had an expression that looked a bit more alive than before.
"It's nothing."
With that as my final answer, we moved to the dorm in silence.
Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as I thought to get to the dorm.
"Thank you so much."
Getting out of the car, Eugene Kim returned the clothes to me.
This, it feels like...
Isn't this a situation where a message saying 'Ding! Eugene Kim's affinity has increased by +5' would appear right in front of my eyes?
-Trait 'Rival' is activated. (Target: Eugene Kim)
At the floating message, I suddenly felt a stinging sensation in the back of my head.