The Unpredictable Mid-Set Disaster
Fifteen minutes ago.
Jinseryeon’s “Saljjakhung!” had been placed in an awkward middle slot of the back row to introduce the non-mainstream trot genre.
Normally, after pre-recording, rehearsals would begin in the actual broadcast order.
“Sorry, but there’s a problem with the MC, Satoshi, so… let the singer-only performances rehearse first~!”
The staff’s sudden announcement turned the waiting room into complete chaos.
The sudden situation was gradually shaking Jin Seryeon’s mental state.
*It’ll be fine. I didn’t have any problems during practice.*
And so Jin Seryeon began her rehearsal.
*I have to do well.*
— Seryeon-ah. The song is fantastic, right? All you have to do is well.
— If you don’t make any mistakes, this is at least mid-level. You’ll have to stay up all night for summer events.
Perhaps because of the heavy tension.
Even Kang Seongdae’s usual casual words were now becoming a burden, each one stabbing into her chest.
“Eh? What’s with that woman?”
The outfit and vibe of Jin Seryeon were completely different from the idol singers, drawing their attention.
“Trot singer.”
“Why is a trot singer here?”
The seated idols never stayed long in music shows.
They only did short tours for the first one or two weeks after comeback and then wrapped up.
Even that was often handled through pre-recording for various reasons.
In other words, the staff and idols participating in the current rehearsal were mostly low-rank.
Except for some, like the camera director.
To them, Jin Seryeon’s appearance was a completely new and strange event.
As rumors spread among the idols, people gathered to watch her stage.
It was completely different from the reactions she received when she was on the Crepas girl group stage.
Back then, even if not friends, they at least viewed her as a competitor.
But now it was like watching a zoo monkey.
*Boksun-ah, I expected this much. Don’t worry and just do your best.*
She couldn’t fail again.
Fortunately, Jin Seryeon continued the rehearsal smoothly.
[I’m embarrassed to say… saljjakhung~↓]
[I like you, I like you~]
When the point choreography part — the cat’s paw dance — came out, laughter burst from the other singers and staff watching.
It wasn’t the earlier mockery, but a smile filled with genuine delight.
“What was that singer’s name again?”
“From Q-heet, it was Jin Seryeon.”
“She has pretty good charm.”
“The song is cute.”
During her time as the visual girl group Crepas, even though she was the main vocalist, she wasn’t particularly eye-catching.
Jin Seryeon just didn’t have the flair to be an entertainer.
The real problem was her lack of energy.
—Hey, don’t try to run away.
The relationships among struggling girl group members were divided into two types.
They either got closer through cheerleading or turned into enemies over the smallest things.
Crepas was the latter type and, since their results were poor, they couldn’t even release a second album and disbanded.
After the first verse ended, the intro began and the group dance started.
“Wow~ It was cute before, but now it’s provocative.”
“She dances pretty well.”
“Jin Seryeon, she was the main vocalist of Crepas, right? She’s younger than you since she’s twenty-four.”
“Eh? Really? She gave off this big-sis vibe though.”
They had expected the worst.
But when the singers watching the rehearsal gave positive reactions, Jin Seryeon began to get excited.
*Did the composer really make a huge hit song?*
With that thought, Jin Seryeon’s movements grew bigger.
In the process, her arm accidentally brushed against a dancer following the stage direction.
It was just a normal occurrence during stage performances.
But the moment the dancer’s hand touched her, sudden phantom hearing struck.
—Damn it! Crazy bitch.
The moment the memory from two years ago surfaced.
Jin Seryeon’s head turned completely white.
“What? Why did it suddenly happen?”
From then on, nothing was remembered.
She didn’t even remember how the rehearsal ended.
* * *
“Damn it. This is a no-smoking area.”
Kang Seongdae, about to pull out a cigarette, froze and let out a long sigh.
“Ugh… the kid who was doing well suddenly changed halfway through the second verse. She turned into a completely different person. Choreography all messed up, pitch unstable. She completely bombed it.”
Namhun and Wonhyung, who knew how much Kang Seongdae doted on Jin Seryeon, immediately sensed the seriousness of the situation.
“So what do we do?”
“When I asked what happened, she said she forgot the choreography in the middle. After she came down and practiced again, the singing was fine, but the choreography is all over the place.”
“Seryeon dances well.”
‘Even if she only learned broadcast dance for a short time, since she majored in ballet, I wasn’t worried about dancing. But she seems weaker in real performance than I thought?’
Namhun, who didn’t know Jin Seryeon’s Crepas days, felt puzzled.
“Seryeon is a bit low-energy, sure. I think it’s because I was putting too much pressure on her. She kept saying it’s a huge hit, it’s a huge hit.”
“Maybe. I got too excited and put too much pressure on Seryeon.”
“Still, we have to prepare for camera rehearsal.”
Music show rehearsals were done twice.
A dry rehearsal without cameras and a camera rehearsal matching the actual broadcast.
“How much time is left?”
“Two hours. Camera rehearsal is always in order, right?”
“Yeah. But since Satoshi-nim came, that’s a relief. If not, we would have had to go straight to the stage.”
If Namhun hadn’t calmed Satoshi down, Jin Seryeon’s rehearsal would still have been in the front slots.
Thankfully, because it had returned to its original back position, she had bought some extra time.
Lost in thought, Namhun recalled the recent event.
*Could it be that Satoshi’s ability activated in Seryeon too?*
He hadn’t seen it properly because he was pulled out of the waiting room right away due to the chaotic atmosphere, but it felt like it could happen.
“Let’s go see Seryeon first. There might be a way.”
* * *
Namhun cleared the entire waiting room except for Jin Seryeon and sent everyone outside.
Normally, newcomers shared waiting rooms with others, but thanks to Kang Seongdae, she could use a private one, which was a relief.
Suddenly left alone with Namhun, Jin Seryeon was extremely tense.
“Seryeon-ah. No, Boksun-ah. Tell oppa what’s going on.”
Jang Namhun was certain there was something wrong with Jin Seryeon.
【Performance — Jin Seryeon in complete confusion】
【Comprehension / Understanding — 100】
【Proficiency / Mastery — 100】
【Immersion / Focus — 100】
【Digestibility / Execution / Expressiveness — 100】
【Condition — 5】
【Audience reaction — 100】
【Overall score — N/A】
Condition 5.
Overall score — N/A
It was the same situation as with Satoshi.
When she first arrived at the waiting room, the ability hadn’t activated.
But when they were left alone, it suddenly activated.
*The trigger condition… is when I’m in such a bad state that I need to rely on someone, and we’re left alone?*
I don’t know exactly, but it felt like that.
Since the ability was unkind, he would need multiple cases to be certain.
But even if he knew her mental state had broken, without knowing the cause, he couldn’t heal it.
*Satoshi just needed someone to listen to him talk, but…*
Actually, Namhun didn’t know that speaking to him in Japanese had had a huge impact.
They weren’t even acquainted.
But Jin Seryeon, Boksun, was different.
Their interactions had grown distant after she debuted with Evil Spirits, but before that, they were very close.
Even without blood connection, she was closer than a cousin.
Until Yuyeon was born, she was almost like a real sister to him.
It was the same the other way around.
Namhun was such a person to Jin Seryeon.
“Namhun oppa… what should I do.”
Jin Seryeon poured out the trauma she had never told anyone to Namhun, bit by bit.
The fact that the Crepas members had bullied her.
“I thought it was getting better, but when I went on stage with the dancers, the memory came back and my head went completely white.”
Jin Seryeon, whose mental state had collapsed, hugged Namhun while sobbing.
Like when she was little.
“It’s okay.”
Namhun held Jin Seryeon and stroked her back.
Seryeon, who had a soft personality, was always nervous even during auditions.
Whenever that happened, he would give her courage.
Exactly like now.
“You practiced so hard for two years. Under that tough composer, Kang Seongdae.”
“Yeah…”
“Don’t you remember? You used to shake with fear when it was time to go on stage after practicing to death.”
“I remember. Even then, oppa comforted me like this.”
“Yeah. What happened then? In the end, you went on stage and did well.”
“But…”
“Boksun-ah. Wasn’t it harder now than when you were an idol?”
Jin Seryeon gave a small nod.
She had practiced extremely hard because she couldn’t afford to fail again.
She thought this was her last chance to remain a singer.
“You just have to give your best. If you mess up the rehearsal… well, you don’t have to do the music show.”
Jin Seryeon was startled by Namhun’s irresponsible-sounding advice.
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s not like you have to do the music show, right? You’re a trot singer.”
“…Is that true?”
She had to stage, go to the shop, get clothes made, call the dance team.
She had poured a huge amount of money into today, so that wasn’t an option.
Kang Seongdae would go crazy if he heard, but Namhun started lying to Jin Seryeon.
*I have to take the pressure off.*
“Yeah. So relax. If it doesn’t work, just quit.”
Jin Seryeon’s eyes wavered at Namhun’s words.
Anyone could see it was nonsense, but his gaze looking at her was so firm.
*…Is that true?*
【Condition — 25】
Jin Seryeon’s condition improved slightly, but it was still not enough.
In the end, the problem was the trauma.
*The cause of the trauma is the group dance.*
Namhun had also seen the dancers and singers practicing together in the waiting room.
Except for the important parts, their movements were identical.
*That’s why the older memory comes back.*
But he couldn’t remove the choreography.
Then a good idea came to him.
Namhun checked his watch.
One and a half hours remained until the rehearsal.
*That should be enough.*
* * *
“Change the choreography?”
Kang Seongdae was flustered by Namhun’s sudden words.
“Changing it now is impossible. The broadcast is coming soon.”
The dance team leader also raised objections.
“It’s not about changing the dance team’s choreography. It’s about changing Seryeon’s choreography.”
“Eh? But… it would be even harder for Seryeon, who isn’t even a dancer, to learn the new choreography in a short time.”
“Seryeon majored in ballet, but she’s not particularly skilled at dancing. The current choreography is lively and has a lot of stage movement. That seems to be bothering her.”
Namhun completely omitted the trauma and insisted on changing the choreography.
“Um… would that really make a difference?”
The dance team was skeptical.
After all, the existing dance wasn’t that hard, and from their perspective, Jin Seryeon’s dancing skill wasn’t lacking either.
“Since we have to do something, let’s mainly change the point choreography and focus only on the song. It might be better.”
“Hmm…”
Everyone had doubts.
They didn’t think changing something like that would suddenly change the situation.
But Namhun was certain this method would work.
*If the choreography is different, they will clearly feel that they are dancers and I am a singer.*
Right now, they are feeling like one group because they are dancing the group dance for impact.
“The group dance in the intro part can just be changed, so it should be quick.”
“Um… everyone gather!”
The dance team leader waved and the dancers rushed over.
To gather ideas.
At that moment, Namhun stepped in and stopped them.
“No. The dancers should just do the original choreography.”
“Eh?”
“Seryeon’s choreography is something I have already thought of.”
The dance team leader tilted his head at Namhun’s bold declaration.
What kind of crazy talk was this?
“…The composer?”
Laughter burst from the dance team, and Wonhyung let out a snort.
The dance team leader was also one of the dancers who had worked with Namhun since before.
“Don’t say that. Just leave it. It’s because of him.”
“What do you mean ‘because of him’?”
“You don’t remember? Sunnyight’s stupid head.”
* * *