A single small wildflower blooming between rocks
Hid from the cold wind
And waited for the warm sunlight.
Park Jeong-sin had created <Wildflower> during the hardest period of his life.
It was therefore a sentimental ballad overflowing with heart-wrenching emotion, comparing him to a wildflower blooming unattended by the roadside.
From the moment Yujin began to sing, the judges stared blankly, listening to the song.
They focused on his voice.
They watched the shape of his mouth and the atmosphere he exuded.
The resonance of his voice felt both majestic and sorrowful.
The song was so difficult to imitate that every judge had expected disaster, but none had imagined he would sing it this well.
It was an excellent song choice. No, it went beyond excellent.
The song's overall atmosphere, the emotion he conveyed, and even the technical aspects left nothing to be desired.
‘We absolutely have to recruit him.’
Considering everything, no one could have been more suited to the main vocalist position.
He even finished the notoriously difficult high-note section cleanly, so once CEO Kim Dae-myeong had learned enough about him, he raised a hand.
“That was good. We'll stop here and move on to the next person.”
“Aah.”
The judges, who wanted to hear more of his voice, expressed their disappointment.
“Next, contestant 42.”
There were still other applicants, so CEO Kim Dae-myeong merely placed a check mark on Yujin's documents.
“Y-yes! I am......”
Contestant 42 surprised even himself with how much more nervous his voice sounded than he had expected.
He had just witnessed such overwhelming skill first.
I cannot sing nearly that well.
Can I really pass?
As worries like those filled their heads, one applicant after another made mistakes without displaying their true skill.
Auditions were battles of the mind by nature.
Do not pay attention to others. Just do what you always do.
Most people taking tests like auditions heard that advice, but how many could calmly maintain their composure even after seeing someone better than them right before their eyes?
‘It's exactly the same as before.’
The present situation overlapped with Chanhwi's memories from before the regression.
Throughout the evaluations of contestants 42 through 48, the judges' expressions remained displeased.
After watching contestant 49 fail when his voice cracked as expected, the final turn at last arrived.
‘Did we only find one today?’
‘What more could we ask for than finding even one?’
Half disappointed and half pleased, the judges called the final number.
“Contestant 50.”
“Yes!”
Chanhwi answered and looked at Yujin.
Yujin happened to be looking at him too.
Because Yujin remembered Chanhwi picking a fight with him out of nowhere, his gaze was slightly sullen.
“Watch carefully.”
With that, Chanhwi confidently strode five steps forward.
‘Before...’
He too had stepped forward while nervous in the face of Yujin's overwhelming ability.
But now that he knew the future and had somewhere else to go even if he failed here, there was nothing to fear.
Disappointment and boredom showed on the judges' faces after the consecutive failures.
Even so, he was styled better than the others, so they asked his name with a trace of hope.
“Contestant 50. Your name?”
“I'm Ha Chanhwi.”
“Good. Then shall we begin with a camera test like we did earlier?”
“Yes.”
Chanhwi naturally took a pose and smiled.
The judges' gazes changed at his movements.
It was the most natural camera test they had seen all day.
Without needing any instructions, he adopted the angles, poses, and expressions the judges wanted.
Expectation rose in the eyes that had held boredom.
“Very good. Then shall we see what you've prepared?”
“Yes. I prepared <House> by House Rose.”
So this one was a dance?
They had found a main vocalist, so finding a main dancer too would leave nothing more to desire.
But the judges were worried again this time.
‘House. That's unusual.’
Most Korean idol groups borrowed from new-style hip-hop, so house was relatively rare.
The song ‘House’ had a very fast beat, and most of its choreography consisted of footwork.
That meant a single misstep could lead to a major mistake, making it difficult choreography for a beginner.
But could they perhaps witness another miracle like the one before?
With that hope, they waited for the introduction to begin.
Da-da-da-da. Da-da-da.
As the introduction to ‘House’ rang out, Chanhwi slowly began to move his feet.
As the tempo quickened, Chanhwi's movements grew faster and faster.
Watching his dazzling footwork, the judges noticed that something differed from the original choreography.
“That song wasn't so sharply disciplined.”
“How does he make every move land so perfectly?”
“That's not all.”
CEO Kim Dae-myeong realized that Chanhwi kept casting his gaze somewhere other than at the judges.
He soon understood that Chanhwi's eyes were following the camera's path.
Chanhwi was moving while calculating where the camera would be watching him from if he danced to ‘House’ onstage.
‘It's as if he's performed on stages dozens of times.’
Even the applicants watching from behind the judges were busy following his dazzling footwork with their eyes.
“My feet would've gotten tangled there.”
The applicants who had applied as dancers clicked their tongues in amazement and secretly began to copy his steps little by little.
Contestant 41, Yujin, also tapped his feet as he tried to move, but frowned when it did not work.
At the end, Chanhwi gave a large pop through his chest and snapped out both arms at once.
He looked straight ahead with an expression that said he had shown them everything he could.
The moment the song ended, the judges began bombarding him with questions.
“You added old-school popping and locking to ‘House,’ correct? Did you modify it yourself?”
“Oh, yes. I thought doing this would make it more powerful......”
“Can you breakdance too?”
Chanhwi shrugged, then immediately flipped his body over.
In an instant, the positions of his legs and head reversed. Supporting himself on the floor with his left arm, he performed several movements with his legs.
After Chanhwi stood again, CEO Kim Dae-myeong spoke with interest.
“Have you been a trainee somewhere else? You seem skilled at finding the camera.”
‘That's because I have ten years of experience performing onstage.’
But he could not say that, so he offered a suitable excuse.
“I've never been a trainee, but I've danced on the street quite a bit.”
Kim Dae-myeong seemed to accept the answer and nodded.
After thinking for a moment, he made a new request of Chanhwi.
“I'd like to hear you sing too. Can you do that?”
“Sing, you mean?”
He had not made additional requests of anyone from contestant 41 onward, so the surprise among the applicants was even greater.
After a moment's thought, Chanhwi answered.
“Then I'll sing <Love Once More> by Park Hyeon.”
He had prepared and practiced a list of several songs just in case.
The introduction soon began, and Chanhwi sang.
It lacked the impact of Yujin's song, but he completed it cleanly and without mistakes.
CEO Kim Dae-myeong nodded, then announced the results without hesitation.
“Only contestants 41 and 50 will remain. Everyone else may leave. Thank you for your time.”
The applicants were disappointed, but it was the result they had expected, so they left the audition room without lingering.
Yujin, who remained behind, alternated his bewildered gaze between Chanhwi and the judges.
Why had they kept only the two of them?
‘Me too?’
Chanhwi was equally bewildered.
On his way to the audition, he had assumed that its result was already decided.
Only one person, Yujin, should have passed this audition.
He wondered why they had kept him too.
CEO Kim Dae-myeong looked back and forth between them and called their names.
“Yujin, Chanhwi. Would the two of you consider forming a duo?”
Both their eyes widened at those words.
A duo group.
That was the most ideal group CEO Kim Dae-myeong could currently imagine.
Unlike other groups, it would feature two members of undeniable skill, so it would not cost very much.
And...
‘They both have unmistakable colors.’
Though those colors were completely different, he had a strong feeling that bringing the two together could create a new one.
That was why he made the offer.
Yujin was the first to answer.
“I refuse.”