Chapter 9: On the Way to School (1)

“Wow, getting first place in the wake-up mission is amazing!”

“Does that mean we get to pick the song first?”

“I was wondering where you went this morning, and turns out you got first place.”

“Good job, Seohan!”

Being given the right to choose the song first was a huge advantage.

Especially in the Stardust Project, even more so.

If they were going to hold a competition like this, they should at least make the song difficulty somewhat similar.

If I remembered correctly, the song choices for the first group evaluation varied wildly in both difficulty and style.

Pick the wrong one and you might not even be able to perform it properly—and end up eliminated in the first ranking ceremony.

Ha Junseo glanced at me and cautiously added,

“What song are you thinking of choosing?”

That was because the options were already laid out behind us.

A total of three songs. The 34 trainees would be split into six teams to begin the first round of competition.

Each song would be performed by two teams in a head-to-head format.

“I was thinking…”

“Alright!”

MC Han Dawon cut Ha Junseo off quickly.

I raised my head as if I’d been waiting.

First place. Song selection rights. Sure, those were all good, but to be honest, from the first-place perspective, it wasn’t all good news.

Normally, most competitions decide on songs through team discussion…

But here, it’s purely up to my choice. I couldn’t even hear what the other team members had to say.

“Alright, no discussion is allowed.”

“…!”

“Wait, no discussion allowed?”

“What? So we have to decide alone, without talking it over?”

The trainees began murmuring.

“Trainee Do Seohan, please come forward!”

To put it simply—if my song choice ruins the team, it’ll be my fault.

A wave of overwhelming responsibility washed over me, but I didn’t mind much.

Because my choice would definitely be the right one.

“Woooooo!”

“Seohan, we believe in you!”

“Choose wisely!”

Amid the cheers, I stood in the center.

“From now, trainee Do Seohan will choose the first song. Do you already have one in mind?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Oh, you’ve already decided?”

“I haven’t decided yet, but I have a song in mind.”

“Alright, great. Then let’s go over each song.”

Han Dawon introduced the first song in a low voice.

“Oh, this one’s super famous. It’s ‘Kill me’ by VENUS.”

“Woooooo!”

“A VENUS song?”

VENUS was one of the top boy groups, rivaling LROY.

Even eight years later—up until recently—people still reminisced, “Ah, that was the VENUS era.”

In short, it was a title song from a massively successful group.

“Wow, I want to do that one.”

“That’s insane…”

Of course, it was the song most likely to attract attention.

I passed on that one for now.

Han Dawon loudly introduced the second song.

“A sexy yet bubbly song about love—AVENTY’s ‘Love Myself!’”

“Wooooo!”

The only girl group song.

“That one’s good too.”

“The choreography is catchy and unique. I think it’s great.”

Rather than a typical performance, this one would definitely stand out. If someone liked challenges, they’d probably pick this.

Nodding along to the comments among the trainees, I moved on to the next song.

“Wow, I didn’t expect this one to show up. LROY’s ‘On the Way to School.’”

“Woooo…”

Somehow, the cheers were a little softer.

It was a song I had performed during the first evaluation.

LROY was a wildly successful group too, but people tilted their heads, surprised by the song choice.

Out of all their hit songs, why a drama OST?

It was a theme song from a popular school drama—well-known by almost everyone, young and old.

A song with a cheerful melody and a rookie-like charm.

“Ah, this is tough.”

Everyone spoke with smiles for the camera, but they were probably passing on it inside.

Unlike ‘Love Myself,’ it didn’t have much impact. It was upbeat, but a drama OST felt a bit off.

Maybe because their facial expressions weren’t very polished yet, I could read their thoughts.

After quickly explaining all three songs, Han Dawon passed the mic back to me.

“Have you decided?”

I looked around at my team members and slowly nodded.

Seo Haim mouthed, ‘VENUS, VENUS.’

Naturally, I pretended not to see. What if he got caught on camera?

I smiled and grabbed the mic. The customary line followed.

“I chose the song that I felt best suited our team members’ colors.”

Ah, I might get cursed out a little.

But still, this was the right choice.

If I picked another song, I’d probably regret it.

“I choose…”

“Drumrollllll!”

There was no hesitation in my choice.

“I choose LROY’s ‘On the Way to School.’”

“…Were you a fan of LROY? You picked their song again?”

“LROY are amazing! I’m a fan too!”

When Seo Haim chimed in with a grin, Lee Junhyeok shot him a subtle look.

Everyone was smiling on the outside, but I knew better.

Jin Sehyun was seriously thinking about how to break through this situation, and Ha Junseo was watching closely to keep things from getting tense.

And Lee Junhyeok… was swearing with his eyes.

Whoa, look at that murderous glare.

He looked at me with eyes that made it seem completely normal if he hit me.

I was truly thankful that the camera light was on.

I’d have to quietly run away at the dorm later.

Ugh, scary.

“Of course I’m a fan, but that’s not why I chose it. It’s a competition. I chose carefully.”

“That’s right. The song is good. Let’s listen to it first!”

Thankfully, Seo Haim was just cheerful as usual.

I’d only seen him from afar before, so I didn’t realize he was that bright of a person.

He just liked the song because it sounded good.

Anyway, I was clearly in a situation where it wouldn’t be strange for people to curse at me.

VENUS’s ‘Kill me’. It was so popular, everyone wanted a piece of it.

It had a powerful style, and aside from the fact that always-smiling Seo Haim might stand out oddly, there were no real downsides.

If it had felt too burdensome because of its fame, picking the girl group’s song wouldn’t have been a bad idea either.

But as the first player, I bypassed both and picked LROY’s drama OST?

Everyone probably thought the same thing on the inside.

They might say something now, but I guarantee their thoughts will change in just a week.

Love Myself?

Sure, it was good when you heard it.

But man, that song is tough as hell.

The Stardust Project, more than other auditions, rarely edited vocals, which led to a lot of skill controversies.

Because it was a girl group song, people didn’t notice it right away, but both teams who did that song eight years ago were disastrous.

Even if you lowered the pitch, the key was still high, and the choreography was sneakily intense. Not to mention the unfamiliarity with girl group songs.

It was an extremely difficult song.

And as for VENUS…

They had a bit of a sad story.

Not being able to explain this situation made me feel incredibly frustrated.

“If we could have discussed it… that would’ve been nice. I’m sorry we couldn’t.”

“No, no. You don’t have to apologize. I’d feel pressured too. But I like it—the song choice.”

“I think it suits our team’s color and has a nice vibe. I agree.”

Jin Sehyun added that since girl group songs are hard to pull off, he was thinking of either VENUS or LROY anyway.

He was probably sincere, but it was a little surprising he was taking my side.

He casually laid the groundwork to avoid scolding me and then started listing all the pros of the song.

“To be honest, when I first heard this song, I already had a vision. I was thinking about how to rearrange it.”

“Oh, Seohan, you already thought about how to rearrange it?”

“Yes, roughly.”

Ha Junseo looked up with a bright face.

Jin Sehyun would probably do a better job with the arrangement than me, but I gave enough explanation so he could visualize it too.

“The background is school, right? The original version is a bit mellow, so I was thinking of laying a more upbeat rhythm. Something like this.”

Doo-doo-doong. Doong.

I patted the floor with my hand to show the beat, and Jin Sehyun’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

Ha Junseo nodded enthusiastically as he listened.

“Uh-huh.”

“What if we change the mood midway and transition from the original to the remix?”

“You mean layer that beat and twist it once in the middle, right?”

“Yes. That’s the rough concept I had. Adding a rap in the middle might make the transition more natural too.”

“I think the concept sounds good?”

Only then did Ha Junseo seem convinced and his eyes began to sparkle.

Of course, I had the upper hand in stage sense. Part of it came from quickly picking it up during auditions, but mostly from the past eight years of data stacked up in my head.

I loved music shows so much that I watched them regularly despite being busy.

Now that I think about it, it was partly due to my lingering attachment to my old dream, but maybe also because of a gut feeling I’d need it one day.

What kind of performance would fit?

What stage setup would have the most impact?

I’d always believed experience couldn’t be ignored, and as these ideas surfaced naturally in my head, even I was a little surprised.

Jin Sehyun quietly listened to my stream of explanation, then chuckled.

“Ah, that’s really good.”

Jin Sehyun wasn’t the type to express his thoughts easily, so the fact that he said that—

It must have really been good.

“Who’s good at rearranging?”

“I can do some rearranging. I’ll work with Seohan.”

As Jin Sehyun raised his hand, the meeting moved forward smoothly.

This atmosphere wasn’t as bad as I thought.

The anxiety that had lingered when I made the song choice was starting to fade.

Ha Junseo stroked his chin and muttered quietly.

“Hmm, it’s actually really good. What do you think, Junhyeok?”

“……”

The remaining problem was the time bomb: Lee Junhyeok.

Everyone turned to look at him, but their expressions didn’t seem too worried.

He was the one most dissatisfied when the song was first picked.

But hey, no way he’d show that with the camera rolling, right?

“Oh, I don’t like it.”

Well, here we are.

Amid the silence, Seo Haim spoke up first.

“‘You don’t like it.’ As in, it’s a ‘not’ in my heart…! Is that what you meant?”

“……”

“Ha…ha ha…hah! Guess not!”

Still living in a flower field.

Seo Haim, looking sheepish, poked my side.

“Make a cicada noise or something. I don’t know how to break this chilly mood…”

“Wouldn’t that make it chillier?”

We exchanged whispers too quiet for the camera to pick up.

Honestly, what Lee Junhyeok just said was enough to make even a cicada buried underground burst out in rage.

Sensing four bewildered stares aimed at him, Lee Junhyeok smirked.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad song. I just personally think the VENUS song might have suited our team better.”

It was my fault, sure, but he dumped it all on me.

Ah, just give me one week.

Let’s see if you’re still saying that in a week.

I was so frustrated I could scream, but I just gave an awkward smile.

Caught in the middle was Ha Junseo.

“Anyway! The song’s been decided! Right? Let’s think about how we’re going to work with it.”

“Let’s start by dividing parts.”

Jin Sehyun was smart. The youngest of Stardust, yet the biggest brain—Sehyun.

He must’ve already figured out Lee Junhyeok’s personality. Thankfully, what could’ve escalated seemed to settle down.

“Good, sounds good!”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

It felt like Lee Junhyeok was digging his own grave.

Not bad from my point of view.

I was planning to eliminate him in the first evaluation anyway.

That nasty temper that even hits his teammates—

I was ready to watch how it would all blow up.

With that in mind—

One of the trainees asked the most explosive question possible.

Ah.

“Who wants to be center?”

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