Auspicious Day

Still perfect no matter how many times I rewatch it. Today, my life is a green light too.

The center of Auspicious was, as expected, Beom Se-hyuk.

The irony of light, almost frivolous lyrics set against an intense hybrid trap track created a strange and compelling synergy. Team Sinabro had calculated every angle — the song, the lyrics, the choreography, even the moments designed to let each member shine — and fitted the pieces together with the delicate precision of a completed puzzle.

Auspicious, by contrast, had taken mismatched scraps and stitched them into a single quilted masterpiece.

It was a contest between harmony and difference.

While the trainers and composers delivered their evaluations after the song ended, Ye-chan stared hard at Beom Se-hyuk.

For some reason, the Se-hyuk standing before him now felt incomparably sharper than any version Ye-chan remembered from previous resets.

Of course, since they were going to debut together, that was how it should be. They had practiced side by side through the entire break from camp, and Ye-chan had casually dropped bits of the know-how he had accumulated over years of idol life.

But this feels like he's hit a peak beyond anything I accounted for…

Sensing the gaze, Beom Se-hyuk turned his head.

Hey, you idiot. Look ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forward!

Terrified that Se-hyuk would be immortalized on camera for zoning out mid-evaluation, Ye-chan urgently signaled with a jerk of his chin.

Se-hyuk grinned, triumphant, as if he understood perfectly.

That is not what I meant. What the hell did that guy think I was saying?

Fortunately, the judges' lavish praise wrapped up right after, and Se-hyuk and his teammates returned to their seats. Ye-chan quietly let out a breath.

"Three days until the main performance. We'll be expecting stages far better than today's."

With the vocal trainer's final words, the long mid-check came to an end.

"Ugh, I was so nervous I didn't even realize I was starving."

Waiting in the meal line, Nam Ji-yu groaned. The mid-check had left him too tense to eat breakfast, and his usually plump cheeks looked drawn.

"From here on out, it's nothing but practice, huh?"

Seonwoo I-gyeong, standing ahead of him, glanced back with a playful smile.

Nam Ji-yu clutched his head as if just hearing it gave him a migraine.

"Ha, I'm seriously jealous. Sinabro could take today's stage straight to the main performance and it'd still work. Our team's got such a long way to go!"

"Huh? We got praised too, though?"

Kim Se-gyeong from Team Raindrop, who had been laughing with the person behind him, jumped in, startled by Nam Ji-yu's words.

Nam Ji-yu gently stretched Kim Se-gyeong's still-baby-soft cheek and answered,

"That was just luck of the draw."

After a quick glance around, he leaned in and whispered,

"The two teams before us were kind of rough, right? If we'd gone later, we never would've gotten such generous feedback."

"Oh… I see…"

Watching Nam Ji-yu pat the dejected Kim Se-gyeong on the head, Ye-chan silently agreed.

The main performance order is the same, so if everyone performs like today, Nam Ji-yu's team would get decent marks… but I doubt it'll play out that way.

Ye-chan's gaze drifted briefly to Bae Sae-byeok, who was demolishing his tray with combat-level focus.

In previous resets, even after Bae Sae-byeok became an actor and they shared the common ground of being entertainers, their paths had barely crossed. Ye-chan didn't know him well.

But a guy with eyes burning that fiercely didn't look like someone who would go out without achieving something.

Our team needs to work harder too.

Three days was more than enough time to reach a far higher level than this.

The next day was Thursday — the night Choose My Prince 99 aired.

"Do we really have to watch this? I'm dying from lack of time…"

"Tae-rang, just give it up."

"Uuugh…"

From the cluster of seats to the left came the whispered exchange between Gi Tae-rang and Im Chae-jin of Team Domino.

After getting thoroughly shredded at yesterday's mid-check, the entire Domino team seemed to have steeled themselves — overhauling lyrics and choreography and throwing themselves into practice. The effort was admirable, but they clearly hadn't been sleeping properly or showering thoroughly. They did not look good.

The sharp smell of sweat hit Ye-chan's nose, and he discreetly shifted a little farther away.

"Huh? Hyung, did you miss m— wait, why are you looking at me like that?"

Seonwoo I-gyeong, who had spread his arms wide while still seated at the sight of Ye-chan approaching to escape Gi Tae-rang, wilted under the look of pure disdain.

Ye-chan answered with a sigh and turned his eyes to the screen, where commercials were still playing.

"It's starting!"

At exactly eleven, the live broadcast of Chumaf Episode 8 began.

Because it covered the Second Royal Succession Ceremony, the trainees' atmosphere on screen was notably subdued. The occasional sniffles from around the room made Ye-chan think, once again, that the editing had been done well.

With a serious expression, he fixed his eyes on the screen and focused on the vote counts — numbers only visible in the actual broadcast.

Overall votes had risen compared to the First Royal Succession Ceremony, so the benefits hadn't made a major impact. The same held true for Ye-chan and Beom Se-hyuk.

Without the benefit, it would've been about 449 votes ahead.

The gap had widened, but the rankings themselves hadn't changed.

Ye-chan quietly felt relief — and at the same time pictured the SNS explosion that would be happening right about now.

With a margin this razor-thin, nobody's getting any sleep.

The thought of fans pulling all-nighters to vote filled him with equal parts pity and gratitude. The most direct way to repay that unconditional love was, of course, an outstanding stage.

Let's show them a stage so perfect there's nothing left to add.

Watching the screen shift from the succession ceremony to the third training camp, Ye-chan renewed his resolve.

He had expected the editing environment to grow more brutal as the season progressed, but the mid-check footage shot just yesterday still left him impressed.

This is the power of Korean variety television.

After teasingly cutting between the trainers' and trainees' reaction shots from the mid-check, Episode 8 ended.

"Khng."

Gi Tae-rang, who had been whining about wanting to practice right up until the broadcast started, was now streaming tears and snot. Having clawed his way back from the brink by a single rank in both the first and second ranking ceremonies, the moment clearly hit him hard.

"Hey, stop crying already."

"I-I'm really gonna work hard. So I won't be ashamed in front of the hyungs and friends who got eliminated…!"

At Gi Tae-rang's congested declaration, Im Chae-jin's eyes reddened too.

Ye-chan stared into empty air for a moment.

Youth, huh.

The sixth night of the fourth training camp was drawing to a close.

"Ye-chan-ssi, you're done! Next, I-gyeong-ssi, please sit!"

The day of the third performance.

With his hair finished, Ye-chan rose from the chair and moved to the mirror in the corner. As he fiddled with the gat cord knotted firmly under his chin, the mirror reflected Jeong Ui-tak approaching in a pale beige cardigan.

"Whoa, the outfit is seriously cool. Hyung, can I take a picture?"

"What for?"

Ye-chan asked, naturally striking a pose. Jeong Ui-tak held up his phone.

"To sell it for a fortune once we debut."

"Look at this little businessman. How's your condition?"

"Perfect. Oh, this came out really well."

"Ui-tak! Your knees! Your knees are getting dirty!"

The stylist hurriedly stopped Jeong Ui-tak, who had dropped all the way to his knees for the shot. Dragged away by a stylist who had nearly fainted at the dust on his white cotton pants, Jeong Ui-tak was replaced by Kang Hae-sol sweeping in with the hem of a jade-green dopo fluttering behind him.

With jet-black hair and a pale face, Kang Hae-sol in full hanbok looked like he had just stepped out of a historical drama.

Probably a slightly… no, a significantly uptight rich young master type.

Sensing the stare, Hae-sol raised one eyebrow. At the what-are-you-looking-at glare, Ye-chan shrugged and yielded the mirror.

Apparently thrown off by Ye-chan's mild response, Hae-sol pouted for a second before turning to the glass and adjusting his appearance.

"Oh, everyone looks great!"

Having finished his own hair in the meantime, Seonwoo I-gyeong — gat properly in place — strode over with a big wave of his arms. Ye-chan had expected him to gather his shoulder-length hair into a proper topknot, but instead it was tied low into something like a short ponytail.

Between the hairstyle and his face, he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was definitely a young master — just a distinctly rough-around-the-edges one.

"The princesses' eye for talent was spot-on. This is seriously good."

When Kang Hae-sol yielded the spot, Seonwoo I-gyeong planted himself in front of the mirror. He turned his head this way and that, then spun in a full circle, grinning with satisfaction.

Just as Seonwoo I-gyeong had said, all five members of Team Sinabro were wearing the jade-green silk dopo perfectly, each in his own style.

"I-gyeong hyung, can you spin one more time?"

"O~kay!"

Kang Hae-sol's eyes lit up at the way the fabric flared with Seonwoo I-gyeong's movement, and he outright requested an encore. Seonwoo I-gyeong cheerfully obliged, spinning in place again.

"It spreads out more than I expected, doesn't it?"

Watching seriously, Kang Hae-sol turned to Ye-chan for his opinion. The hems were definitely flaring wider than they had during practice.

"Yeah. The other formations should be fine, but… for I-gyeong hyung's first part in the second verse, should we gather half a step farther apart than in practice?"

"That much? Ye-chan, you spin once too."

The moment the conversation turned to the stage, the smile vanished from Seonwoo I-gyeong's face and he stopped spinning. Ye-chan checked the distance to the wall and completed one full turn at choreography speed.

"…Hae-sol and Ye-chan stick to the practice spacing. Hwi-gyum and Seung-heon, drop back half a step."

"I'll go tell them."

Kang Hae-sol left to find Woo Hwi-gyum and Lee Seung-heon, who were still getting ready.

Only Ye-chan and Seonwoo I-gyeong remained in front of the mirror. Seonwoo I-gyeong's face relaxed again as he watched Kang Hae-sol's retreating back, then he spoke.

"Hae-sol's pretty great, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, he is."

At the sudden praise, Ye-chan answered, and Seonwoo I-gyeong nodded in satisfaction.

"Yeah. He's a really solid kid. Raps that well, dances that well, good-looking face — and on top of that, he works hard."

"True."

Ye-chan agreed promptly.

"And you, Ye-chan — you sing well, dance well, good-looking face, and you're diligent too."

"Well, yeah."

When the gold leaf started getting applied to his own face, Ye-chan didn't bother denying it and simply nodded along.

Seonwoo I-gyeong let out a short laugh.

"At this point, isn't it time for you to praise me?"

Ye-chan nodded readily and began rattling off praise with zero soul behind it.

"Hyung's handsome too. You dance well, and your rap is, uh…"

"Forget it. What's the point of forcing a bow out of someone?"

I already said all the compliments there were to say, though?

Ye-chan stared at him, baffled, as Seonwoo I-gyeong waved him off and then smiled smugly.

"But honestly, there are plenty of trainees who are good-looking and sing or rap well and dance well. Just looking at our team, Hwi-gyum and Seung-heon are like that too— hey, are you even listening to your hyung right now?"

Ye-chan had no idea why the man was laying this much groundwork. Reading the boredom on his face, Seonwoo I-gyeong snickered.

"Anyway. With this many solid kids around, you know why I only pick on you and Hae-sol?"

"No idea."

As Seonwoo I-gyeong said, Ye-chan had noticed throughout this entire camp how particularly warm and clingy the older trainee was toward him and Kang Hae-sol. He had figured it was just personal taste — everyone had preferences — but apparently there was a reason of his own.

Ye-chan found himself a little curious about what he and Kang Hae-sol had in common.

He leaned in as Seonwoo I-gyeong gestured for him to bring his ear closer.

Seonwoo I-gyeong whispered,

"I'll tell you after the performance."

People say there are two ways to drive someone up the wall.

The first is to start talking — and then stop.