"Agh— this is driving me crazy!"
I'd spent about an hour tearing my hair out, breaking the choreography video down second by second, but all I'd managed to catch was the big moves.
The song I'd been listening to on repeat felt like it was buzzing around in my head, so I'd pulled out my earphones too and was lying on the floor staring at the ceiling.
"What's up? Something not working?"
"Jun-hyeok hyuuuung—"
Not Se-jun hyung, whom I'd known for all of two days, but my longtime savior Jun-hyeok hyung was smiling down over my head. Not even Super Strong Dragon could've stopped the whine that came out of my mouth the second I saw hyung's face.
"I can follow the song well enough, but picking up the choreography is so hard."
"Jae-min, haven't you gotten a lot better than before?"
"I think getting good at something you already know by repeating it and starting from scratch are different territory."
Right now, Jun-hyeok hyung is the only one I can open up to this honestly, I'm telling you.
Whining, I grabbed hyung's hand and sat up, and someone sat down next to hyung and held out a hand.
"Hello?"
"Yes. Hello. But who....... Huh? No way?"
The thought that I had to make a good impression on anyone Jun-hyeok hyung would bring over won out, so I shook the hand first, and only then could I take a good look at the person's face. And then I had to clamp my mouth shut so I wouldn't scream.
"I'm Park Min-hwan, Jun-hyeok hyung's roommate. I heard we're the same age, so let's talk casually!"
When I shifted my gaze slightly, hyung nodded with a bright smile.
Wow— making friends with Park Min-hwan already. Hyung, you're amazing!
"I'm Lee Jae-min. Let's get along from now on."
"Sure. But you're already picking up the choreography? I heard you're hoping for vocals."
The joy of hyung reeling in my future sub vocal lasted only a moment before the topic went right back to .
"It's true my preferred position is vocals, but I want to dance properly on that stage just once."
I laid my true feelings bare. And isn't the stage the kind of place where the more you get up on it, the more you want to keep going up?
"Aha! I get that feeling. The song itself flows along nice and easy, but the beat's chopped up way more than you'd think, right?"
"Yeah! That's exactly what I wanted to say! I've got the big moves down more or less, but there are way too many little ones."
My opinion of him had already shot up like crazy when he told the little-sister story, but seeing how well we clicked, Park Min-hwan was definitely a member who'd debut with us too.
"That's trainer Do Hyeon-min's signature. He hides lots of fiddly little moves, and apparently a lot of fans actually love that."
"Haah— I'm not that type, I'm telling you. Can I do it in 3 days?"
Forgetting Jun-hyeok hyung was even there, I focused on my conversation with Park Min-hwan.
So much so that I lost track of time, to the point of thinking that if I'd known talking with someone my age who had the same dream would be this fun, I should've gotten along better with people before too.
"All right, all right. Save the chatting for later."
"Right. We don't have time. Are you getting a feel for it, hyung?"
Hyung, who'd been fading from my mind, gripped my shoulder hard, and as I came to my senses, I let out a deep sigh.
The last time I'd checked our ranks, hyung's and my dance ranks were the same. Then hyung must be pretty thrown by the choreography right now too. I knew that, but I asked just in case.
"No. Not at all."
And hyung answered cleanly, as if he'd been waiting for my question.
So no surprises, huh. Se-jun hyung already turned me down, so now I have no choice but to cling to Super Strong Dragon.
'Who said I'd help?'
Ah, don't be like that, help me just one more time!
Come on, we've got the bond of fighting our way this far together. I was just about to whine that I'd handle the singing myself, so it should just help me with the dancing.
"Still, I'm glad I've got Min-hwan. He picked up the choreography in no time, you know? Jae-min, if you're okay with it, want to practice together?"
Jun-hyeok hyung said something unbelievable.
But I'd already heard the little-sister story. On top of that, that was a pretty funny scene, a story the whole nation would get to know, and now he's going to show me a plot twist?
"Eh? But didn't even his ten-year-old sister say Min-hwan's dancing was no good? Ah, sorry."
"Nah. I'm the one who said it, so. But do you know something?"
"What?"
Is he secretly a really good dancer who pretended he couldn't dance to stir up attention, even selling out his sister, some kind of scheming character?
My heart pounding, I waited for Park Min-hwan's story, and he soon held up both his hands and began to explain.
"Picking up choreography and dancing well are separate things. Like you said earlier, this and this are different territory."
"Huh?"
"To cut to the chase, I'm good at picking up choreography, but I can't dance. But I figure if the three of us practice together, we'll get a bit better. What do you think?"
It feels like my head can't keep up with reality. Maybe because I never imagined we'd end up helping each other out this quickly.
But the important thing is that if I miss this chance now, I feel like I'd lose the whole point of coming on Star Recycle.
"Sounds good. I'm counting on you!"
***
"The bridge one more time."
"Redefining true worth—"
In exchange for Min-hwan teaching us the choreography, hyung and I decided to look after his vocals. His vocal skills were good to begin with, good enough that I'd marked him as sub vocal, so if it was just touching up his pitch, we could handle that to some extent.
'This is an unfair trade. An unfair trade. There's nothing in it for him at all.'
For all 3 days, along with the nagging, Super Strong Dragon piped up whenever I was about to forget, and I do think it has a point. I've got a conscience too, after all.
And so time flowed on, steadily, even as I wished it wouldn't, and the test I'd been waiting for the whole time arrived.
"Huh? Why is the door closed?"
But the main auditorium didn't open its doors even at the appointed time, 9 in the morning. I looked around, wondering if this was another hidden-camera setup, but there wasn't so much as the C of a camera in sight.
All I could do here was summon Super Strong Dragon.
Hey, hey, what's going on here?
'That's a minor thing in broadcasting. They just forgot to tell you. Here comes one now. Don't give the staffer too hard a time. That one's just a salaried worker too.'
......So what you're saying is, the location changed and they didn't announce it in time, something like that?
"Excuse me! Sirs! It's not there!"
Just then, I saw the staff member Super Strong Dragon had mentioned running toward the main auditorium, shouting into the familiar mini megaphone. Judging by the way they called us sirs, they must have been really flustered.
"You should've told us that sooner!"
"Ah— I've got to do it before I forget the choreography."
Now that I knew the whole story, instead of grumbling at the staff member, as Super Strong Dragon had said, I nodded weakly, eyes gone unfocused, at being told to go back to the dorm, change out of the tracksuits into uniforms, and gather at the set.
"Hello. I'm your MC, Jeong Gyu-won. Have you all been well?"
"Yes!"
"You're so handsome!"
And a whole hour later, the MC, standing center stage on the set, smiled brightly and waved at the camera, and a few trainees sitting in the seats by grade on the stage called back out of habit.
I know it can't be helped if you want to debut here, but they sure are easygoing. To be able to react like that after being run ragged like this. It's almost admirable.
"Today is the day we unveil the song that represents our Star Recycle. We can finally show you the stage our National Keepers, who've only heard the song so far, must have been looking forward to so much."
Where on earth would the National Keepers have heard the song? Ah, they said it'd be released a week before the first broadcast, so as of today, it'll start playing everywhere in 3 more days.
I was clutching a heart that felt ready to burst, letting all kinds of stray thoughts run wild.
"All right, then, from now on, we unveil the stage for Star Recycle's OST. 'Again, Light'!"
The moment the MC finished saying something that made no sense, a 'Cut!' came from where the camera director was.
"Unveiling the stage? We haven't done anything yet, have we?"
"Maybe they'll put out a practice video?"
There was no one gathered here who didn't know the word cut meant the recording was over.
The trainees each muttered a word or two at the incomprehensible situation, and of all of them, maybe about half, me included, were sitting there as if nothing was wrong.
"They must have wanted to show us looking neat for the opening."
"I guess an opening where we're drenched in sweat after taking the test would be kind of weird."
When Jun-hyeok hyung and I muttered, the eyes of the trainees around us went wide. Only then did they grasp what was going on.
"Even so. Now they don't even explain things beforehand?"
"They want us to adapt to this much on our own. Whatever."
With Se-jun hyung chiming in on top of that, the explanation was complete.
It wasn't exactly a quiet voice, so the trainees who caught what it meant started passing it on, and the muttering suddenly turned into anger.
"So trainees like us don't even deserve to have stuff like this explained?"
"This is really going way too far. They've been running us ragged since day one, and now they're brushing us off even on a day this important?"
"Trainees are people too."
What I was hearing wasn't good. Voices were starting to get louder and louder too, and it felt like something really bad was about to happen, so my eyes wavered on their own.
Huh? I was just trying to explain a little, so why is it turning out like this? Hello? The first real mission hasn't even started yet, so why is everyone acting like this? Sirs?
Only now did I realize that the trainees hadn't been holding in their anger; they just hadn't been able to get angry because they didn't understand the situation itself.
Ah— I think I get how the staff member felt, so flustered they called us sirs earlier.
'Ooh— aren't you going to get scrapped before you even get recycled? Heh-heh!'
No! I have to debut!
***
"Then can't we just win?"
"Eh?"
In that moment, as if he'd heard the cry in my heart, Se-jun hyung nudged me and spoke up. Of course I was too startled to answer properly.
"How are we supposed to beat a production crew that's coming at us on purpose!"
"Right! Do they think we don't know they'd already half-decided the grades before it even started?"
Other trainees ran their mouths in my place, at least. Sure enough, it looked like everyone had caught on about the grades.
But why were they taking out those complaints on poor Se-jun hyung?
"About that. I bet the Keepers all know too?"
I'd meant to keep quiet, but I had no choice but to speak up.
I get to rescue Se-jun hyung and plant my presence in the minds of the future members I haven't met yet. Two birds with one stone.
"What?"
Hm. I never thought they'd get what I meant right away. If anything, I'm just grateful, since them challenging me like that gives me an excuse to explain.
"I mean, the Keepers haven't been watching survival shows for just a day or two. They've probably already figured out every trick the production crew pulls. So we'll have to let this one slide, but once the voting kicks in, won't the people who are actually good have the advantage, quite literally?"
Come on, come on. Get it by now.
We can't go down the road to ruin right from the start of the show.
More importantly, I'd like to wrap this up fast before the production crew notices something's off and turns the cameras this way.
"You think? I guess the Keepers are the ones voting, so they can't mess with that."
"That's true too. Hah— this time I'll go as far as I can, and from next time on, I won't even sleep."
Luckily, a few seemed to understand what I was trying to say. Because they started going back over the song and dance, gritting their teeth in anger.
If the trainees who'd spoken up start moving like that, even the trainees who didn't get what I meant won't be able to say anything.
"......."
They never meant to speak up in the first place, so staying quiet to the end is probably what they think is right, and I have no intention of blaming them for that.
"Phew— it's quiet now."
"Good work, Jae-min."
"Lee Jae-min, that was pretty cool?"
Just as I confirmed the situation had settled down for now and was breathing a sigh of relief at the hyungs' smiles, Super Strong Dragon popped out.
'But what happens if the production crew rigs the votes too?'
Rig the votes? Don't worry about that. They'd never dare pull something like that, obviously.