Chapter 29: Group Evaluation from Hell (3)

‘I personally think… you did a little better.’

Kang Siwoo chose me without even a moment of hesitation.

For a brief moment, a strange glint passed through Lee Dokyung’s eyes, but fortunately, he accepted his defeat without much fuss.

‘I think so too.’

‘Thank you. I’ll do my best!’

That was how it happened.

I stepped up with ambition—and actually ended up becoming it.

The main vocal, something I thought I’d never be tied to in my whole life.

Ah, life is really unpredictable.

“Phew… Main vocal.”

I let out a short sigh and rubbed my face with my hands.

Honestly, I was glad, but it was also true that I was very worried….

If I was aiming to be an all-rounder, this was a mountain worth climbing at least once.

Well, it’s not like I’m trying to be the main vocal of the debut team.

Can’t be helped.

When I lose confidence, I just try one more time. That was my philosophy.

I took out the lyrics sheet I had thoroughly analyzed and slowly scanned it with my eyes.

Our team’s final song selection was ‘First Confession,’ a duet song famous by Yoo Young & Jin.

One of the key features of this song is that, apart from the harmony in the highlight part, there’s no part that requires belting.

“This level of high note is manageable. The problem is here….”

The high notes in the final harmony part.

This part was the key—how cleanly and powerfully you could hit it.

I had put in considerable effort to develop the vocal technique for it.

‘Seohan, you have a good voice, so it’s worth a try.’

‘High notes don’t come out easily, right? You do have a lower pitch naturally, but with this song, it’s doable.’

Back then, Minseo mentioned the highest note in the song was a high C in the second octave.

Exactly the same vocal range as the highlight part of ‘First Confession.’

A range that was still difficult for me to hit comfortably with my current skill level.

Even for the average male vocal range, it’s considered high, so for someone with a lower voice like me, it was naturally tough.

But I trusted Minseo’s words.

She said that because she believed I could hit it.

In my past life… I eventually gave up and passed that part to someone else.

“I’ve got to try at least.”

I cleared my throat and turned on the recording app.

Since there was no one to give immediate feedback, I planned to sing it once and check my voice myself.

Listening with your own ears versus listening to a recording can be surprisingly different.

There are mistakes you miss when you just listen live, so I got into the habit of practicing this way ever since I was a trainee.

Click—

As the song began to play from my phone, I slowly opened my mouth.

The moment you came, the world stopped.

I came to believe this is what love is.

Thinking I was using mixed voice, I increased my volume as much as possible and pushed my voice upward.

Since Minseo gave advice until the final evaluation….

I want to know

Everything about you

“She likes it when the harmony bursts out at once.”

Then maybe it’s this?

“Ah—”

“I-want to—”

The trickiest part.

Of course, there was no way I could hit the high note smoothly on the first try.

To sing the high C in the second octave cleanly and comfortably, I needed Minseo’s help.

“One more time.”

She said to throw the high note forward.

To maintain clear vocalization when hitting high notes, you had to throw the sound forward.

If you try to squeeze it out and swallow it back in, it’ll just sound stifled.

I want to know

Everything about you

It’s no wonder she’s called Korea’s top vocal trainer—just remembering each of Minseo’s lines was a huge help.

“That was much better than before.”

I mumbled with a satisfied smile.

When I played the recorded part again, I could still hear slight tremors in the vocalization, but overall, it had improved a lot compared to my first try.

“A few more hours tomorrow, then we can practice together.”

Just in time—my voice was almost completely hoarse.

Unlike dance practice, vocal practice requires you to consider your throat condition the next day.

I chugged water and began getting ready to leave.

“Ugh, my voice isn’t coming out well….”

Ahem—

Humming the melody of ‘First Confession,’ I walked out of the practice room.

I was even thinking of picking up a can of cola on the way, a small and simple worry.

But then,

“Why are you looking at me like that? You’re scaring the hell out of me.”

Hm?

That voice sounded familiar, and I instinctively stopped in my tracks.

“Sigh….”

A deep sigh followed, one that sounded like the ground was caving in.

As I tried to recall where I’d heard that voice, it suddenly hit me.

That voice just now—wasn’t it Lee Dokyung?

The one who sighed just now was Kang Siwoo….

It felt like I had just walked into a really bad situation, so I quickly hid behind the door.

Kang Siwoo’s voice, much colder than during the meeting, opened the conversation.

“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m serious about this stage, and unlike you, this might be my last. So I’m going to give it everything. So please, let’s just get through this round quietly….”

“Hey.”

What the hell was that.

The atmosphere was so tense that my ears perked up before I knew it.

They couldn’t see me from that side, thankfully, but this meant I couldn’t quietly walk down the hallway.

No matter how awkward it made things for me, the two who didn’t know I was there began to really argue.

Their expressions showed they’d already held back plenty during the meeting.

Lee Dokyung let out a low curse with a twisted smile.

“You’re a real piece of work, huh.”

“……”

“I know how to keep work and personal stuff separate too. Even though I hate your guts, I smile in front of the camera. You should manage your expressions better—you looked like total crap earlier.”

Lee Dokyung’s sneering voice echoed down the quiet hallway.

Was he really someone who could say something like that?

He was a completely different person from the one who used to smile in front of me.

I clutched my throbbing head and mouthed the words.

“What is even going on….”

It was true that the atmosphere was awkward during the meeting.

But I thought that was just because Kang Siwoo was generally awkward with everyone.

Turns out, I was very mistaken.

Just from the way they talked, they might as well have been sworn enemies.

It was a miracle they didn’t grab each other by the collar and start fighting.

Did something happen during their first evaluation?

I was frowning and thinking hard when suddenly my name popped up.

“You picking Do Seohan as main vocal—wasn’t that out of spite for me?”

Why was the topic suddenly shifting this way?

Apparently, Lee Dokyung wasn’t happy that Kang Siwoo had the final say in choosing the main vocal.

Well, I guess it would be uncomfortable if someone you were on bad terms with had that authority….

“You were just worse, that’s all.”

Kang Siwoo wasn’t wrong either.

Lee Dokyung’s vocal performance wasn’t exactly stable.

Lee Dokyung’s expression twisted even more at Kang Siwoo’s blunt remark.

“What?”

“You were worse—anyone could see that. Even if Minseo had been there, she never would’ve given you the main vocal spot.”

“Hey, Kang Siwoo.”

“This is a competition. Like I said before, I’m not going to bring personal feelings into it. I actually hope you’ll cooperate.”

Kang Siwoo’s low voice faintly reached my side.

“Cooperate?”

“Just don’t stab me in the back like last time.”

Backstab. That word, a signature move of Lee Junhyeok, made me pause for a moment too.

Somehow, instead of resolving things, their conversation just seemed to be spiraling deeper into confusion.

“Backstab? Oh~ that?”

Lee Dokyung laughed and replied.

“What? You still mad that I brought that up in front of the PD?”

“You’re not a decent guy if you try to get more screen time by selling someone else’s family issues. That’s what you were trying to pull.”

“What’s wrong with using what’ll come out anyway? It wasn’t a bad chance to use it, right? And since you threw a tantrum and got it cut from the broadcast, didn’t it turn out the way you wanted?”

So basically….

If I were to guess, Lee Dokyung tried to get his team more screen time by exposing Kang Siwoo’s family issues to the PD,

and it almost aired, but Kang Siwoo threw a fit and stopped it?

If that’s true, he’s probably totally blacklisted now?

…….

I wanted to know more about what happened, but it didn’t seem like anything else would come out of Kang Siwoo’s tightly closed mouth.

More importantly, if I stepped out now, they’d see me, so this was the end of my eavesdropping.

Someone else’s family matters.

Not something I wanted to know….

But I should probably find out what happened between those two.

“Sigh.”

First, getting through the evaluation safely came before anything else.

Lee Dokyung, unhappy about the part assignments, and Kang Siwoo, hiding a secret family background.

While I was struggling with the sudden chaos in what I thought would be a smooth group evaluation, heavy snow was falling from the sky.

“Kyaa! It’s snowing!”

Seo Haim was bouncing around like a puppy seeing snow for the first time.

Even on this freezing winter day, he had the windows wide open, completely thrilled.

“Do Seohan! Want to go outside and build a snowman with me?”

“…It’s cold.”

“You don’t get it. That’s the whole point—that’s the romance!”

Ha Junseo slowly nodded at Seo Haim’s words.

“Romance… yeah. On snowy days, just looking at streetlights makes me sentimental.”

“You’re already sentimental 365 days a year—even in the middle of summer.”

Jin Sehyun clicked his tongue and shot a blunt remark.

Unlike the excited Seo Haim and Ha Junseo,

Jin Sehyun’s eyes were filled with fatigue.

He had stayed up nearly all night practicing for the second evaluation, so he didn’t have the energy to roll around in snow outside.

Jin Sehyun glanced toward me and asked,

“Do you like snow too?”

“Not sure. It’s like beautiful garbage.”

“…!”

Seo Haim turned into a wide-eyed puppy at my bombshell comment.

“How could you say something so harsh….”

That shocked expression was something else.

I felt kind of bad, like I’d just destroyed his childhood innocence.

But I was being honest.

“When it snows… you have to clean it up…. Cleaning it makes you cold… If you don’t clean it, it freezes… And if it freezes, it makes life harder?”

“As a main vocal, you should be more emotional. How can you be so realistic?”

“You’ll understand once you enlist.”

Seo Haim flinched and looked over at Ha Junseo.

“What do you think about what the youngest just said?”

“He’s got a sharp tongue for someone so tiny.”

It’s unfair. I already enlisted once!

Tsk.

Ha Junseo sipped his bitter Americano and clicked his tongue.

“You’re only supposed to say things like that when you’re old like me.”

“Agreed. Junseo-hyung probably sees a shovel floating in front of his eyes.”

“Haim, that’s not how you tease your hyung.”

A twenty-year-old saying things like that…?

“If you were really old, you wouldn’t be able to handle that much caffeine.”

As these people—basically the same age—competed over who was more “aged,” a sudden uneasy thought crossed my mind.

Oh wait.

“Do I have to go again…?”

“Huh?”

I’d forgotten.

I still had time since I was turning eighteen soon… but still….

“Sorry. I just got lost in thought and felt gloomy.”

“Yeah. Tomorrow’s the mid-evaluation. You’d be nervous.”

“He’s doing vocals for the first time—it’s natural he’d be anxious.”

That’s not it.

Instead of correcting them, I sighed and accepted it.

“I’m really nervous about the mid-evaluation. Ha ha….”

Snow falling so beautifully like that could only mean one thing.

Damn it.

“Beautiful garbage.”

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