"That's a wrap on recording. We'll head out slowly, starting from the bottom row of seats."
Having announced the end of recording from the middle of the stage with a single clap instead of a slate, the staff member guided the trainees out. Row by row, starting from Grade F, it took a whole forty minutes just for all 108 to come down off the stage and gather in the plaza again.
Which meant it was well past 9 in the evening, and we still hadn't had dinner.
"Hyung, I don't know if it's okay to say this at a time like this, but......."
Unable to hold out any longer, I grabbed Jun-hyeok hyung's sleeve tight. I'd hardly ever done this, before or after coming back, so hyung's eyes went round as he asked.
"Huh? Is something wrong?"
"I'm so hungry. My hands are literally shaking."
"Lee Jae-min, you!"
In that moment, Jun-hyeok hyung's eyebrows twisted slightly, though he'd never been anything but kind whenever he looked at me.
Thinking the devil inside hyung might jump out if this went on any longer, I quickly dragged Se-jun hyung in.
"Aren't you hungry, Se-jun hyung?"
"No way I'm not. Can't you see my legs shaking?"
And my judgment wasn't wrong. Se-jun hyung took my side, shaking both legs way more than necessary!
"I'm hungry too, but....... For two people who just met today, you two sure are in sync."
"It's not two, it's the three of us. Right, Jae-min?"
Se-jun hyung slung an arm over the shoulder of Jun-hyeok hyung, who was muttering and shaking his head, and grinned at me.
Just the picture I wanted.
"Exactly. Let's go all the way to debut together, just like this!"
The twenty-three-year-old Lee Jae-min would never have said something this cringey. But the me now is twenty, so wouldn't it be fine to let this much slip, acting clueless?
'Well, as long as you don't go around blabbing that you know the future, it's not a problem.'
Hey, hey. Even Park Min-hwan's little sister, who turned ten this year, would know that much, right?
***
Wee-ing—
A moment later, just as all the lights on the empty stage went out, a staff member gathered the trainees' attention with a mini megaphone.
"Good work, everyone. Once you've each picked up the luggage you left, we'll do one more headcount. Please come to the entrance by 10."
"Yes."
"Yeees—"
Unlike the cheering at the final remarks a moment ago, drained answers came from here and there. Everyone was probably either hungry like us or completely out of energy, one or the other.
Come to think of it, the youngest trainee was sixteen and the oldest was twenty-six, I think.
They'd locked up kids at the most rambunctious age in one place for that long, and not a single fight had broken out, so I couldn't quite decide whether I should compliment MTV for being impressive.
"When on earth are they going to feed us dinner?"
"No, before that, I think we should wonder whether they're really feeding us at all."
"True. Seeing as they haven't said a word so far, I'd say that's pretty likely."
Well, anyway, the three of us really were a team that clicked. Se-jun hyung would set it up, I'd take it, and then Jun-hyeok hyung, who you'd think would never join in, would close it out. Perfect.
So perfect that if this teamwork held up through all the tests to come, I couldn't ask for more.
"Jae-min, did we leave our stuff near entrance number one?"
Well, it wouldn't be too late to think about that when the time came, so let's find our stuff first.
"Yeah. It was 1-2. Then, Se-jun hyung, see you later."
"Yeah, yeah. Sure!"
Jun-hyeok hyung and I waved and hurried off to find our suitcases.
"Did we overdo it a bit?"
As we each dragged a suitcase toward the entrance the staff had told us to go to, Jun-hyeok hyung murmured carefully.
It wasn't unreasonable for him to think that. Just looking around us right now, the only people with suitcases were the two of us.
"Aw— we didn't come here just to record episode 1. Don't forget we have to stay here at least a week or more."
Besides, when MTV sent the official notice, it had mentioned something like coming prepared for up to 1 month, so this much luggage was nothing, I'm telling you!
"Huh? AP brought suitcases too?"
"Yes."
But why was the staff member so surprised to see a suitcase? I'd packed only what I needed and kept it down to 20 inches.
"Hmm— let's all move to the dorm first. This way."
Anyway, judging by the way they said AP too, does that mean someone else besides us has a suitcase? I thought no one would be as thoroughly prepared as me.
"From now on, apart from special circumstances, you'll be living with this building as your base."
The dorm, which we reached after walking about 10 minutes from the set, looked a lot like the retreat-center buildings from middle school field trips.
"Hyung, don't tell me they put up a whole new building just for this?"
"Hm. Maybe. You could use it for all kinds of things just by changing the layout anyway."
True to the name Star Recycle, would this building keep getting recycled to churn out idols too? If so, then like Super Strong Dragon said, the scariest thing might be humans after all.
'Don't forget you're human too.'
Why would I forget something like that?
Wee-ing—
At the sound of the mini megaphone, the trainees' eyes swung that way like Pavlov's dogs. The staff member seemed a little flustered by that, but soon rattled off what needed to be said without a hitch.
"To keep it simple, this entire building is the dorm. And the cafeteria and group and private practice rooms are in a separate annex next door. Please check the details later in the notice left on your bed."
"There's a separate annex?"
"Wow— I've never had my own practice room before."
Like the few trainees who spoke up, I was also amazed at MTV's scale. I hadn't expected them to build the dorm and the practice rooms separately.
On TV they only ever showed the people, so I thought everything happened in one building, but it turned out they just hadn't needed to explain it.
"Also, rooms aren't assigned by grade but at random. The number of people sharing each room may differ. We'll go by name, not agency. Trainee Kang Hye-jun."
"Yes!"
Hm. Splitting us by grade would lower their odds of getting scenes that grab viewers' attention, so is this their trick? Sure enough, putting different grades together makes for battles of nerves and more fun.
Anyway, how many people would I be sharing a room with?
"Trainee Lee Jae-min."
"Yes!"
While I was running all sorts of simulations in my head, my turn came around.
2nd floor, room 204. I wonder where hyung is.
"Jae-min! What number room are you in?"
I was watching Jun-hyeok hyung nervously wait for his turn when someone tapped my shoulder and asked. There were only two people here who'd do that to me.
"Se-jun hyung, saying it like that makes it sound like prison."
"Is it really that different? Anyway, where are you? I'm in 204."
"Huh? Me too!"
Unlike a prison, where getting out means freedom, this situation was the complete opposite, so I couldn't really relate to what Se-jun hyung said, but getting the same room was good news.
"Ooh— lucky us. I wonder where Jun-hyeok hyung is."
But Se-jun hyung's reaction was clean-cut. Even while bringing up Jun-hyeok hyung, unlike me, his attitude said he didn't much care if they weren't in the same room.
Then again, for people who weren't from the same agency and had only met today, it was a relief he cared even that much.
"Jae-min, Se-jun!"
While I was forcing my brain into positive mode, Jun-hyeok hyung, having gotten his room number, came running toward us.
"Hyung! Where are you? Se-jun hyung and I are in 204."
"Ah— I'm in 206. At least we're on the same floor."
"I know. Ah, but at this rate we're going to skip dinner and end the day!"
Speaking for myself, I was still way more comfortable with Jun-hyeok hyung than with Se-jun hyung so far, so I had nothing to say.
I was just starting to think I should've smuggled in some snacks if I'd known it'd be like this.
"Then we'll give you twenty minutes from now. Drop your luggage in your assigned room and gather back here. It's late, but you've got to eat dinner, right?"
"Yes!"
March 20. It was the moment 108 voices became one for the first time.
***
"They're not going to serve it like this every meal, are they?"
"No way....... Then they'd probably charge us for food separately."
It was close to 12, so even just ramen would've moved me, but the sight spread out before my eyes was dazzling.
Not only was there a variety of Korean, Western, and Chinese food, but protein, the essential energy source for guys our age, was piled up like mountains at every station.
I melted naturally in among the trainees who were grabbing trays as if bewitched and piling them up in a frenzy.
"I want to eat more, but if I eat any more here, I'll be super puffy tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah. It's a shame, but our stomachs are full, so now we should sleep."
It felt like I could still polish off two more trays, but I wasn't confident I could digest it and sleep, so having to put down my chopsticks was just so sad. Jun-hyeok hyung seemed just as disappointed as me, because he kept drinking nothing but water.
"Huh?"
But Se-jun hyung, eating ramen across from us, tilted his head as he looked at us.
What on earth is that reaction?
"Hyung, what's wrong?"
"No, it's just that I don't get puffy no matter what I eat or when I go to bed. Nobody around me does either, so this is the first time I've heard someone say they can't eat because they'll get puffy."
......Yes. It shows. That's why you can eat ramen so happily at this hour.
Vocals is a position that uses the abs a lot too, in its own way, but dancers must be on a whole other level. If I want to eat a lot, should I raise my dance rank some more?
'Not for your debut?'
I get it, so please stop hitting where it hurts. I'll be ground to dust before I even debut.