"Hm. The shot still isn't coming out right. Let's take a breather and go one more time."
At the words of the camera director, head tilted at the monitor, the faces of the trainees waiting anxiously went deathly pale.
"Please, no more......."
"S-Save me."
Groans leaked out from everywhere. Watching them, hyung and I weren't in much better shape.
"How many times have we jumped, counting this one?"
"Hm....... Personally, I gave up counting after the fifth."
"I'm at seven......."
You're probably wondering what all this is about, but honestly, nobody's in worse shape right now than me.
About thirty minutes after they'd handed out the lunchboxes, a mini megaphone had echoed through the park.
-If you're done eating, please gather over here.
At first, I thought they just wanted to collect the trash in one place so it wouldn't get dumped everywhere. So I went along obediently.
Without knowing the world isn't that easy.
Anyway, after returning their empty lunchboxes, the 108 had been jumping like this ever since, watching a drone float in the sky.
"Waaah!"
"Star Recycle, fighting!"
"This time I'm debuting for sure!"
"Please take care of us!"
And not just jumping, either, but shouting lines handed out to each group, with bright smiles.
"Ah, that's not it. Can't you jump a little higher?"
"......."
"......."
But the director didn't seem to like this cut either. It would be easier if we were at least told what exactly the director wanted, but all we heard was to keep jumping, so now even the trainees had stopped answering.
Even higher than this? My back teeth clenched on their own. Say stuff like that sooner!
We'd jumped more times than I could count and had no strength left, so does it never occur to the director that demanding that now is too much? Tell the director to jump, and that drone would probably get smashed.
"Director, couldn't we rest for a moment and then try again? I think we need to fix the contestants' hair, too."
Just then, one of the staff next to the director raised a hand. At that, the trainees looked at one another, took in how wrecked we all looked, and smiled bitterly, half laughing, half crying.
Even the March spring breeze, still downright chilly in the shade, apparently couldn't beat the camera director's fervor, because everyone's faces were soaked with sweat. Needless to say, our hair was plastered down too.
"Yeah? Then let's meet again in ten minutes. It looks best when the sky's blue, so let's get it done today for sure."
Only then did everyone look up at the sky. White, fluffy clouds scattered across a clear blue sky.
It'd definitely be hard to find a view better suited to a boy-idol survival show. I had to admit it was pretty enough to be worth coming out in the middle of recording to do all this.
"Want some water?"
As I wiped the sweat that had run down to my chin with the back of my hand, hyung held out a cold bottle of water. When I asked with my eyes where he'd gotten it, it seemed the staff member who'd stopped the camera director had brought out a cooler.
Thinking that hyung always seemed to be the one looking after me, I took the bottle, cracked the cap, and asked.
"Thanks. Did you have some, hyung?"
"No. I brought two so we could drink together. Anyway, I hope we finish with the next one and get back in quick. Forget about the air on set, at this rate the ones going later won't have the strength left to perform."
Jun-hyeok hyung really is too nice. Here I was hoping the ones going later would lose the strength in their legs.
'That's not Jeong Jun-hyeok being nice, that's you being too nasty. Selfish punk.'
Hm? Is there a gnat buzzing somewhere? Ahh— what nice weather!
***
"Did everyone enjoy lunch?"
"Yes!"
"Yeees—"
After drying our sweat in the breeze and barely getting back to looking human with the staff's help, we pulled ourselves together and nailed the opening scene in a single try.
We'd come back into the set carrying that joy with us, so we could answer even the MC's stock question pretty happily.
"Love the energy. Well, I'll head up first. See you on stage in a bit. Star Recycle, fighting!"
"Thank you!"
The MC smiled brightly too, waved, and disappeared to the side of the stage. The trainees, who'd said thank you in one voice, quickly faced reality.
"Your sweet—"
"Here, one, two! Good!"
Those who hadn't performed yet were busy mumbling and moving, apparently going over their grade test songs, while those who'd already finished let out short breaths and climbed the stairs behind the stage.
That was the moment.
"Hyung, the day will come when climbing these stairs feels normal to me too, right?"
The words I'd kept thinking only inside came spilling out of my mouth.
"Huh? Don't tell me you lost your confidence in just a few hours?"
Hyung, who had stepped onto the stage first, looked back at me with startled eyes. And in my head, Super Strong Dragon chimed in too.
'Lee Jae-min, there goes your swagger.'
True. I'd held out this far on pride alone, so I can't crumble here.
"No way. I guess all that jumping just scrambled my head. The people behind us are coming up. Let's hurry in."
"Okay. I'll take your word for it, for now."
Even as he said it, hyung didn't take his suspicious eyes off me.
'Guess all that jumping shook your brain loose? Heh heh.'
If only that dragon would keep doubting me too, how nice that would be!
"Oh! Jun-hyeok hyung!"
Just then, someone waved at us as we came up onto the stage. And soon, seeing Jun-hyeok hyung smile and wave back that way, I took a deep breath.
For all his leadership, hyung was pretty picky about people, so who would he greet like this?
Following behind hyung with a puzzled look, I was surprised again when I found out who it was.
"You came in fast?"
"Yeah. My legs were shaking, so it was hard to stay standing. These chairs are hard, but they beat sitting on the floor."
Kim Se-jun? When did he get this close to hyung?
'Don't tell me you're jealous?'
What are you talking about? Breezily ignoring Super Strong Dragon, I nudged hyung's side, and hyung, quick on the uptake, gave a small shrug.
"We talked a bit earlier on the way to get the water. Turns out Se-jun's a year older than you. So I told him to talk comfortably. That's okay, right?"
Aha? So that's what happened while I was spacing out.
"Of course! I'll call you hyung too, then. Nice to meet you, Se-jun hyung."
Suddenly having one more person to call hyung was a little bewildering, but we'll be on the same team anyway, so it's not bad. If anything, thank you very much!
"Sure. Nice to meet you too. And since it's come to this, let's all drop the formalities."
"Sh-Shall we?"
Wow— there's a reason his leadership rank is a step higher than mine. He won over shy Jun-hyeok hyung in one go.
I was blinking at the two of them, at the awkwardly smiling Jun-hyeok hyung and the one who'd gone from Kim Se-jun to Se-jun hyung.
"Then shall we meet the next contestant who'll be chosen by our Keepers?"
Once the MC had checked that the contestants who'd finished their grade test were seated, his voice filled the stage.
His voice was so pumped, as if the stage had been blazing just a moment ago, that I thought, a top actor really is something else, and while I was lost in that, words appeared on the screen.
"Nanum? Was there an agency called Nanum?"
"First I've heard of it too. Isn't it a new one?"
From behind my head, I heard the KDO guys muttering in the Grade A seats.
Of course you don't know it. It's not well known at this point. But the moment Recycle ends, you'll regret it.
"Hello. I'm Park Min-hwan of Nanum Ent.!"
Because I plan to reel in Park Min-hwan, the strongest intro singer out there, as our sub vocal without anyone knowing!
'Who knows. He doesn't seem like the type to come over easily, but give it your best.'
Why are you throwing cold water on it already?
'Throwing cold water? Look at his face. You won't be able to handle him, will you?'
The thing, which usually vanished after one grumble, added one more line, unlike itself. Thinking this wasn't like it, I quietly watched Park Min-hwan, who had already started singing on the stage.
In all the time that passed without a word—
You were always by my side—
An absorbing half-falsetto that swallows the opening whole! This is exactly what I've been after!
'Not that, look at his face, I said. It's written right there in his eyes: [Main vocal or bust]. If you want Park Min-hwan, you'll have to give up main vocal yourself.'
Everyone, the judges included, was marveling at Park Min-hwan's voice, but Super Strong Dragon stubbornly went on about his looks. Even spouting nonsense about me having to give up main vocal.
No matter what you say, I have no talent for face-reading, and I have no intention of handing over main vocal....... Huh?
If this heart could ever reach you—
While I was bickering with Super Strong Dragon, the song had flowed on to the hook of the 1st verse.
In that moment, what I picked up on was Park Min-hwan's stubbornness. And along with it, a firm resolve to hit the song's highest note, a G# in the second octave, not with the half-falsetto that was his strength but in full chest voice.
This endless waiting, now I just want it—
But right before the last note burst out, I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut.
It was the result of two feelings coexisting in me: a desperate wish for him to carry that tension all the way through, and the urge to look away in case he failed.
'Hey, hey. Open your eyes. You, of all people, shutting your eyes, what's that supposed to be? I get that you don't want to hand over main vocal, but don't you think looking away is way too petty?'
Just then, Super Strong Dragon scolded me, and at the same moment, I snapped my eyes open and waited for his last note.
To stop—
And Park Min-hwan, as if he'd read what I was doing, pulled off the final note perfectly.
Sure, the veins in his neck bulged and his face turned bright red! But he did it, and that's what counts!
"Whoa!"
"That's insane? Nanum? It was Nanum, right?"
The loudest applause I'd heard so far filled the stage. Mixed in between were cheers and the voices of people now seeing Park Min-hwan in a new light.
It's not like I did it, but I feel proud for some reason. This is thanks to you, Super Strong Dragon. So, about that—
'You. Don't tell me you're about to say something shameless like, show me the stats of everyone who comes out from now— right?'
Before I could even finish, the thing cut me off at the source.
Hm. I feel like I should step back here and show that I have some shame, at least.......
'Watching you, it seems like the shame everyone else has is missing only in you, that's why I'm saying it. You're not going to hand over main vocal even if you bring him in anyway.'
But since I've apparently been found out already, going all in shameless doesn't seem so bad.
So let me, the shameless one, ask a favor. We can talk about the main vocal spot later!
Show me. Park Min-hwan's stats.