The door closed behind Jiwon.
The noise hit him immediately.
Conversations.
Footsteps.
Someone nervously practicing scales in a corner.
The waiting room felt even louder than before.
Or maybe his ears were simply ringing.
For a few seconds, he stood there without moving.
The performance replayed endlessly in his mind.
The opening chord.
The shaky high note.
The final chorus.
Every mistake felt magnified.
Every good moment felt distant.
The uncertainty was the worst part.
He had done everything he could.
Now the decision belonged to someone else.
Jiwon exhaled slowly and found an empty seat against the wall.
Then he waited.
Minutes passed.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
Nobody announced anything.
The tension inside the room continued to climb.
Some contestants stared at their phones without actually reading anything.
Others walked in circles.
One boy tapped both feet so fast it looked painful.
Everyone was pretending to be calm.
Nobody was succeeding.
The door to one of the audition rooms opened.
Several heads turned instinctively.
A contestant emerged.
Then another.
And another.
Most wore unreadable expressions.
Some looked relieved.
Others looked devastated.
Then—
Jiwon froze.
Silver hair.
Cross earring.
Kang Hyunwoo stepped out of a nearby room.
The future idol looked completely different from when he had entered.
Not defeated.
Not discouraged.
Just…
Human.
Hyunwoo stretched his shoulders before releasing a long breath.
The movement appeared casual.
Yet Jiwon’s eyes immediately dropped lower.
To his hands.
They were trembling.
Only slightly.
But unmistakably.
Jiwon blinked.
For a second, he thought he imagined it.
Then he saw it again.
A faint shake running through Hyunwoo’s fingers.
Gone almost immediately.
Hidden as Hyunwoo shoved both hands into his jacket pockets.
Nobody else seemed to notice.
Jiwon did.
And suddenly something felt strange.
Because the Hyunwoo people remembered was flawless.
The future’s golden boy.
The visual everyone loved.
The performer who dominated every stage he stepped onto.
Yet the person standing here now wasn’t that version.
He was just another teenager waiting for results.
Another contestant.
Another dreamer.
The realization settled quietly.
Success had a way of erasing the difficult parts.
People remembered victories.
Not the shaking hands beforehand.
Hyunwoo eventually noticed him.
Their eyes met.
A grin appeared.
“Still alive?”
Jiwon laughed.
“Barely.”
Hyunwoo nodded seriously.
“Same.”
Despite the words, his shoulders looked noticeably more relaxed than before.
Jiwon tilted his head.
“How’d it go?”
Hyunwoo stared at the ceiling for a moment.
Then shrugged.
“I messed up.”
The answer surprised him.
“You did?”
“Missed a turn.”
Hyunwoo rubbed the back of his neck.
“Not a big one.”
His smile became slightly awkward.
“But when you’re standing in front of four legends, every mistake feels huge.”
Jiwon couldn’t argue with that.
Because he had felt exactly the same thing.
For a brief moment, neither spoke.
Then Hyunwoo glanced sideways.
“You?”
Jiwon considered lying.
Instead he answered honestly.
“I wasn’t perfect either.”
Hyunwoo immediately pointed at him.
“See?”
“What?”
“That’s normal.”
Jiwon rolled his eyes.
A laugh escaped Hyunwoo.
The tension between them eased.
Not completely.
But enough.
Then a staff member entered the waiting room carrying a microphone.
The reaction was immediate.
Every conversation stopped.
Every head turned.
The atmosphere changed so quickly it felt like someone had removed all the oxygen from the building.
The staff member waited until the room was completely silent.
Then spoke.
“All candidates who completed the first evaluation…”
His voice echoed through the room.
“…please proceed to Hall B.”
Nobody moved.
For half a second, everyone seemed frozen.
Then the room exploded into motion.
Chairs scraped the floor.
Bags were lifted.
Contestants hurried toward the exit.
Jiwon’s heartbeat quickened instinctively.
Hall B.
Results.
Beside him, Hyunwoo adjusted his backpack.
For the first time, the easy confidence disappeared from his face.
Only for a moment.
But Jiwon saw it.
The uncertainty.
The anticipation.
The same thing everyone in this building was feeling.
Hyunwoo noticed Jiwon looking.
Then smirked.
“Well.”
Jiwon nodded.
“Well.”
Without another word, they joined the crowd.
Together with hundreds of other contestants.
All walking toward the same destination.
Some would continue.
Some would go home.
And nobody knew which side they belonged to yet.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Hall B was massive.
Rows upon rows of seats filled the room.
Contestants poured in from every direction, slowly occupying every available space.
The noise gradually faded as more people sat down.
An enormous screen dominated the front wall.
Dark.
Silent.
Waiting.
Jiwon took a seat.
Hyunwoo settled nearby.
Around them, nervous whispers moved through the crowd like waves.
Nobody wanted to wait.
Nobody had a choice.
Then the screen flickered.
And the room instantly fell silent.
The first cut was about to begin.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Hall B was enormous.
Rows of seats stretched from one end of the room to the other.
Contestants filled them one by one until almost every spot was occupied.
The noise gradually faded.
At the front stood a giant screen.
Dark.
Waiting.
Then it flickered.
Every conversation stopped.
A man in a black suit stepped onto the stage.
Producer Choi Minseok.
The executive producer of Star Dust.
Not a judge.
Yet somehow even more intimidating.
He adjusted the microphone.
“Good work today.”
No one responded.
A few nervous laughs appeared before quickly disappearing.
Producer Choi glanced at his tablet.
“Before we announce the results, there’s something you should understand.”
The room grew even quieter.
“Today’s audition isn’t the entire first round.”
Murmurs spread immediately.
“Auditions have been running across the country for the past week.
They will continue for several more days.”
Jiwon’s eyes narrowed.
That explained a lot.
The competition hadn’t fully gathered yet.
There were still contestants he hadn’t seen.
People who hadn’t even stepped onto a stage.
Future rivals.
Future surprises.
Producer Choi continued.
“One hundred and twenty-six candidates have advanced from today’s evaluations.”
The hall instantly became tense.
“The names displayed on the screen have passed.”
The monitor lit up.
Names began scrolling.
The room exploded.
Cheers.
Gasps.
Relieved laughter.
Tears.
Nobody tried to hide their reaction anymore.
Jiwon stared at the screen.
Searching.
Then—
HAN JIWON.
His name appeared.
For a second, he simply stared.
A blue window appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
[ROUND 1 CLEARED]
Quest Progress: 23% → 41%
━━━━━━━━━━━━
The notification vanished.
A long breath escaped him.
Only then did he realize he’d been holding it.
“Looks like we survived.”
Jiwon turned.
Hyunwoo was standing nearby.
For once, his smile wasn’t effortless.
It looked relieved.
Human.
“Congratulations.”
“You too.”
Hyunwoo dropped into the seat beside him.
Neither spoke for a moment.
Then Jiwon glanced toward his hands.
Steady now.
Unlike earlier.
Unlike when he’d walked out of the audition room.
“…What?”
Hyunwoo caught him staring.
Jiwon shrugged.
“I was thinking.”
“That’s never a good sign.”
“Probably not.”
Hyunwoo folded his arms.
“You look suspiciously calm.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Jiwon raised an eyebrow.
“Coming from the guy whose hands were shaking?”
Hyunwoo froze.
The silence lasted exactly one second.
“…You saw that?”
“I did.”
A groan escaped him.
“Delete that memory.”
“Can’t.”
“Traitor.”
Jiwon laughed.
So did Hyunwoo.
Just like that, the lingering tension disappeared.
Then Producer Choi raised a hand.
The room quieted again.
“The next evaluation will begin in approximately two weeks.”
Confused voices erupted immediately.
“Two weeks?”
“Seriously?”
“That’s so long.”
“As mentioned earlier, auditions are still ongoing.”
The complaints died down.
Right.
The show wasn’t waiting for them.
New contestants would continue arriving.
The competition would continue growing.
“During this period, some candidates may participate in interviews, profile filming, and preliminary activities.”
That earned a new wave of nervous looks.
Apparently they weren’t completely free.
“The details will be sent individually.”
Producer Choi smiled.
“In the meantime…”
Everyone already knew.
“Keep practicing.”
A collective groan swept through the hall.
Even Producer Choi laughed.
“Especially keep practicing.”
A few minutes later, staff members entered carrying stacks of paper.
The room immediately focused on them.
Assignments.
Jiwon accepted one and unfolded it.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
TEAM 17
Han Jiwon
Kang Hyunwoo
Seo Doyoung
Park Jaehyun
Lee Minseok
━━━━━━━━━━━━
A shadow appeared beside him.
Hyunwoo held up the same sheet.
“Well.”
He sighed dramatically.
“Looks like we’re stuck together.”
“You make it sound terrible.”
“The jury is still deciding.”
“Fair.”
“Team 17?”
A hesitant voice interrupted them.
A boy stood nearby.
Round glasses.
Messy black hair.
Thin build.
The kind of person who looked more comfortable holding textbooks than microphones.
“That’s us,” Hyunwoo said.
The boy visibly relaxed.
“Oh, thank God.”
He bowed.
Then accidentally bowed again.
Realized what he’d done.
And froze.
The silence was painful.
Hyunwoo immediately lost the fight against laughter.
The boy covered his face.
“I’ve been here ten seconds.”
“That’s impressive.”
“I’m already embarrassing myself.”
“Also impressive.”
The boy sighed.
“My name’s Seo Doyoung.”
“Han Jiwon.”
“Kang Hyunwoo.”
Doyoung nodded.
Then seemed unsure whether he should bow again.
Which only made Hyunwoo laugh harder.
“Please stop.”
“No promises.”
“Team 17?”
The voice came from behind them.
Calm.
Steady.
The three turned.
A tall young man approached.
Dark hair.
Broad shoulders.
Long legs.
Nothing flashy.
Nothing that demanded attention.
Yet somehow people noticed him anyway.
The confidence was subtle.
Quiet.
The kind that didn’t need to be announced.
He stopped in front of them.
“Park Jaehyun.”
His gaze moved across the group.
Sharp.
Observant.
“Looks like we’ll be working together.”
Hyunwoo leaned slightly toward Jiwon.
“I suddenly feel unprepared.”
“Same.”
The corner of Jaehyun’s mouth lifted.
Barely.
“It gets worse.”
The group blinked.
Jaehyun folded his assignment sheet.
“I haven’t even started pretending I know what I’m doing yet.”
For a second nobody reacted.
Then laughter spread through the group.
Even Doyoung smiled.
A fifth voice joined them before the moment could end.
“Good.”
A boy with light brown hair approached.
Backpack over one shoulder.
Easy smile.
Relaxed posture.
“Nobody looks insane.”
The group stared at him.
He nodded to himself.
“That’s always a good start.”
“And you are?” Hyunwoo asked.
“Lee Minseok.”
He glanced around.
Then shrugged.
“I’ve seen worse group assignments.”
“We met thirty seconds ago,” Doyoung said.
“Exactly.”
“How does that help?”
“It doesn’t.”
That earned another round of laughter.
A microphone crackled overhead.
“All successful applicants are dismissed.”
The hall immediately came alive.
Chairs scraped.
Bags were lifted.
Contestants began leaving.
Team 17 remained where they were.
Five strangers.
One team.
One stage waiting somewhere in the future.
“Two weeks,” Jaehyun said.
“Then Round Two starts,” Hyunwoo added.
“We should exchange numbers,” Minseok said.
Doyoung immediately nodded.
“Finally.
Someone responsible.”
“It definitely isn’t me.”
“Or him,” Hyunwoo added, pointing at himself.
Contacts were exchanged.
A group chat was created.
Simple things.
Yet they made the team feel real.
Jiwon looked at the four boys standing around him.
Then toward the exit.
The audition was over.
The competition wasn’t.
Not even close.
Across the country, contestants were still stepping onto stages.
Still singing.
Still chasing the same dream.
Two weeks.
Fourteen days.
It sounded like a long time.
Jiwon knew better.
A familiar blue window appeared before him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
[NEXT EVALUATION]
TEAM PERFORMANCE MISSION
Time Remaining:
13 Days 23 Hours 41 Minutes
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Jiwon smiled.
Then closed the window.
Two weeks.
He intended to use every second of them.