04

    Step Four

    :: Class Advancement Evaluation Part II ::

    "!!!" Wang Qi grinned widely and eagerly ran to receive the Class A sticker from Park Insa. He quickly peeled off the old Class C sticker and replaced it with the new Class A one without hesitation, stretching out his shirt so that everyone in the studio could clearly see. Jacan noticed that some people clenched their fists tightly.

    Huh, he was quite good at stirring things up. It was unclear whether he was genuinely naive or if this was all pre-planned, but his actions successfully rattled some of the others. It was likely that the performances to follow might see some mistakes due to the pressure from his superior display.

    [Would the young 'Cotton bud' please wait in the lounge until the evaluation is over? We will continue with the rules for the next segment after that.]

    "Osu!" Wang Qi acknowledged with a salute, then half-ran, half-jumped towards the designated lounge.

    Following the departure of the first Class A young man, the studio fell into silence, but it was a silence of two kinds:

    First, the fun and excitement of stepping up to be evaluated by experienced seniors in the industry. Second, a silence stemming from fear—

    Fear that their prepared performances weren't good enough.

    Fear of losing face if evaluated poorly.

    Fear of admitting that they might not belong in this place.

    And that fear only multiplied as the subsequent performances received critiques that made many cringe.

    "Your breathing still needs work."

    "You're offbeat; don't rush too much."

    "Don't choose a song that doesn't match your capabilities—it doesn't showcase your talents and makes the performance boring."

    "If you know you can't hit the notes, don't force it—it becomes a scream of a ghost, not a high note."

    'Mommy, I want to go home...'

    "Let's take a break," declared producer Im Heewoo, stretching his arms up and sweeping them from left to right to shake off the stiffness in his back. "Go tell the judges we'll take a twenty-minute break. Staff can fetch some water and snacks for the other trainees," he added, mindful not to serve anything too heavy that might hinder their performances later.

    After five hours, only half of the contestants had been evaluated. It looked like it would be close to midnight before the day was done.

    "Alright kids, a twenty-minute break. Anyone who needs to drink water, use the restroom, or touch up their makeup, go ahead and do it quickly. After that, we're going non-stop until everyone has performed."

    "I'm exhausted and I haven't even performed yet," complained a trainee sitting next to Jacan, thumping his shoulder. "My muscles are all tensed up," he continued, anxious every time senior Park Insa reached for the ball, wondering if his number would be called next. While not being called was a relief, the tension of watching others perform made him eager to just get his own performance over with so he could relax.

    "Looking at the number left, we probably won't get to the dorms until past midnight," one remarked. Although each performance might last only 2 minutes, the judges took much longer, sometimes asking the trainees to sing or dance more than what was planned, leading to evaluations that could extend up to 10 minutes.

    "Very few have made it to Class A." The judges were super stingy with this class.

    "Only two so far, right?" Among the 99 contestants, more than 50 had initially assessed themselves as Class A, but facing the judges, many dropped to Class B or even as low as Class E—a slap in the face that was profoundly demoralizing. The sticker they had given themselves felt like a burning hot metal plate, something not to be touched unless their capabilities were truly sufficient.

    "Wang Qi and Kato Eiji," Jacan leaned back, wanting to rest his eyes, but the trainees around him continued to discuss the evaluations non-stop.

    "No one from our country made it, how is this acceptable?" someone exclaimed in dissatisfaction.

    "Exactly, this is a show organized by our country. Why are there so many foreigners participating, and even getting good positions?" another joined in, and the group vented their frustrations more animatedly.

    "..." The young man of mixed heritage clenched his fists tightly, his eyes shut.

    "They don’t even contribute to their own country and come here to steal our jobs," as one person broached the topic, others nearby who shared similar sentiments joined in, creating a small but intensely vocal group.

    "And some of them get famous and then go abroad to make a living. They use our country’s art scene as a stepping stone without any gratitude," the discussion heated up.

    Enough already.

    "They should be made to sign indenture contracts to teach them a lesson."

    Enough was enough.

    "Foreigners are so disgusting."

    Enough...

    "If you can't say something constructive, just keep quiet. Is that a mouth or a sewer?" Jacan opened his eyes to look at the young man next to him who, although he was speaking with his eyes closed, spoke quite loudly, causing the conversation to suddenly quiet down.

    "What's with you? Wanting to be the good guy?" The person who had started the topic glared at him, his hands trembling slightly.

    "Not at all, if you want to destroy yourselves, please continue," Kim Jiseong scoffed.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Are you really dumb or just pretending? Even though it's break time, the cameras aren't taking a break. Do you think the group chat won't be used in the first tape? Drama is a main dish for variety shows," another trainee next to Jacan hadn't finished his sentence when the group that had been vocal went pale and quickly stood up to excuse themselves to the restroom.

    On the way, they were blaming each other for bringing up such a risky topic.

    "Why don't you fight back?" After targeting those with harmful words, the next target of the young man was his neighbor who had remained silent even though he was being insulted.

    "Just like you said, reputations aren't built easily. A moment of satisfaction isn't worth the loss," he finished and then winked at a camera hidden nearby.

    "Sly," if he hadn't spoken up, this person might have used those naive trainees as a step ladder to craft an image of being bullied. That alone would boost his ratings because a gentle image tends to attract female fans who like the 'mommy' or 'girlfriend' vibe.

    "Besides... they aren't wrong," he was a foreigner. Coming here to follow his dreams just added unnecessary competition for them.

    It was hard enough competing among themselves, do they really need to compete with foreigners in their own country?

    "No, you're wrong," was all Kim Jiseong could say before the judges announced that the break was over and everyone should return to their seats to prepare for the next evaluations.

    ...

    [Number 25, please come forward.]

    "Number 25, are you ready?"

    "Ready," Jacan stood up, indicating his position before walking down from the stands to prepare in the adjacent lounge.

    The young man checked himself in the mirror, touched up his makeup slightly, and after making sure his appearance was okay, he walked out to stand in front of the judges.

    "Ah, it’s you, your audition round was really impressive. We have high expectations for your performance today," Kim Bomi spoke, adding pressure to test his focus.

    "Thank you," Jacan bowed gracefully to accept the compliment before signaling the team to start the music he had prepared for his performance.

    Do you see that light?

    The loneliness that envelops the heart

    That person is just a passerby, not significant

    Don't look back, don't look behind, don't let anyone see the tears

    For this performance, Jacan chose a song with a relatively fast tempo to showcase his skills. Throughout, he maintained a balance in his dance moves to prevent any voice disruptions while swinging his arms or stepping heavily. And just when everyone thought that was all to his performance…

    Swish

    There was a sudden gasp of amazement.

    He switched up the rhythm of the performance by adding a solo dance section towards the end, removing the woolen coat that represented softness in the beginning, revealing a sleeveless inner shirt that displayed well-proportioned arm muscles.

    With the bulky wool coat no longer obscuring his physique, the vigor in his arm and leg swings increased. His positioning, dance lines, everything seemed perfectly placed as if carefully curated.

    He even managed to divide his attention to flirt with the cameras and the judges, effectively fooling them with his external appearance.

    Jacan wasn't merely dividing his attention as everyone thought, but these were responses his body was accustomed to when on stage. Unlike in a rehearsal room where he only saw his reflection, here, he had fans and a general audience watching. He needed to entertain them and make them feel involved.

    All these expressions stemmed from five years of accumulated experience in the entertainment industry, slightly dimmed after not being on stage for about two years until his sister Shinsu had recently helped him evaluate his performance and reminded him of his focus.

    Tears are worthless

    If the one watching does not deserve them

    Thump, thump, thump.

    "Pant Pant... Thank you for watching," Jacan briefly caught his breath after finishing his performance. He took a few more breaths through his mouth and soon returned to normal, not showing any signs of fatigue.

    "That was an outstanding performance," the two women applauded in unison, their admiring gaze fixed on the young man and not wandering away.

    "Last time you performed a robot dance, I thought you were only good at popping. But you really surprised me this time," Jung Wangseong praised, while his hand busily wrote scores in the evaluation sheet.

    "By the way... I've never heard this song before," Lee Danbi raised an eyebrow, asking for an explanation.

    "It's a song I composed myself."

    "The lyrics and the melody?"

    "Yes, I wrote everything myself."