Final Grade Evaluation Start
Final grade evaluation: start.
The trainer and the writer stepped deeper into the building, the cameraman trailing behind them toward the sound of singing.
The farther they walked, the more the trainer felt her heart hammer against her ribs. She swallowed hard.
And for good reason.
The practice rooms were arranged so that the farther you went in, the higher the class you found.
At last the two of them and the cameraman arrived outside the A Class practice room—
"Right, lift the high note a little more from there."
"Ah… okay."
"Seol-ah, can you check this part of the choreography for me too?"
"Sure, unnie."
What waited for them was the only brightly lit space in the darkened building: three A Class trainees still deep in practice.
"Ah…"
The moment trainer Kim Yesol saw them, she froze where she stood.
A thousand thoughts flooded her at once.
The most talented girls in the program were pulling an all-nighter the day before the final grade evaluation. Girls that skilled couldn't possibly be ignorant of how important it was to manage their condition. So why were they foolishly grinding away right up until the last night?
…It was obvious.
Because of the cruel things she had said earlier. Because of the weaknesses she had torn open with those harsh words. They were working themselves raw, oblivious even to the hour, trying to fix those flaws and show something better.
Kim Yesol felt proud of her students—and at the same time…
"…Hhk."
Something hot surged up her throat. She clapped a hand over her mouth.
How deeply must her words have cut them, for them to be throwing themselves into practice like this, as if their lives depended on it?
…She was sorry.
She was disgusted with herself for digging into the wounds of girls who shone so brightly, and she was so, so sorry for the pain she had put into her words.
She couldn't even bring herself to step inside the practice room. She simply stood outside and watched her students.
"…Khk, khh."
Barely holding back the sob that threatened to break free.
Inside, the students practiced without any sense of time. Outside, their teacher watched them with eyes full of emotion.
It was a scene that could only be called beautiful.
And of course…
Whirr—
…the camera was never going to miss it.
Inside the A Class practice room, practice was in full swing.
Each of them was wholly absorbed in preparing for a final grade evaluation only hours away—when, quietly—
Sssk—
One of them, instead of throwing herself fully into the work, kept glancing toward the hallway outside.
Her name was Yu Seol.
Perfect. Just as planned.
Confirming that the production staff and the trainer were standing together outside the practice room, she allowed herself a quiet breath of relief.
Fortunately, everything had gone the way she designed it.
To stage this exact scene, she had first leaked to the production crew that A Class would be staying late to practice tonight.
"Writer-nim! The three of us were thinking of practicing a bit tonight—would it be okay if we used the practice room late?"
"Huh? Tomorrow's the final grade evaluation, why would you practice tonight… ah—no, wait. Haha! Of course, practice as freely as you like!"
Until now, the production staff had been pulling strings behind the trainers, making life miserable for the A Class trainees. But there had been no real malice in it. They had simply been manufacturing extreme situations to drive up the ratings.
Put another way: if it served the ratings, the production crew could just as easily become the contestants' allies.
Contestants foolishly practicing late into the night before the final grade evaluation. Viewers would never hate the sight of girls pouring blood and sweat into their dreams—and the production team would never let a scene like that slip through their fingers.
On top of that, Yu Seol had reeled the trainer in as well.
"Teacher, I need to call my parents later—could I borrow your phone for a bit?"
"Oh? Sure, here."
"Thank you. I'll call them later and leave it on the table in the practice room."
Contestants practicing deep into the night. A trainer moved to tears watching them. And a camera.
If those three ever overlapped, she had thought, it would be a jackpot.
And… just as she had hoped, the jackpot hit.
All that remained was to monopolize the spoils.
With a picture-perfect smile, Yu Seol turned toward Ha Yerin and Lee Hyejeong, who were still deep in practice.
"Alright, why don't the two of you try it together this time? I'll watch both of you at once."
Whirrr—
Even now, the camera installed in the corner was feeding their voices straight into the audio track.
It would all make it into the broadcast.
And when it did, the image of her guiding the other two through practice would naturally cast her as the leader of A Class.
Being the leader of A Class was a quiet way of advertising that she was the most skilled contestant of them all. On top of that, the sight of her helping the others would earn her a kind, generous image.
Two birds with one stone.
Failing to manage her condition the night before the final evaluation was a downside, sure—but what she stood to gain still outweighed what she stood to lose.
And so Yu Seol threw herself into coaching Ha Yerin and Lee Hyejeong with everything she had, right up until the camera finally pulled away.
Even after it left, she kept coaching them for another thirty minutes just to be safe.
"Alright, let's wrap it up for today. We've got the final grade evaluation tomorrow, after all."
By the time practice ended, the clock was pointing at one-thirty in the morning.
Call time was six. Even if they left right now and went straight to bed, getting a full four hours of sleep would be a stretch.
Even so, the two who had been coached by Yu Seol all evening made a point of thanking her.
"Haa… haa… Yeah. Let's head back. Thanks for today, Seol-ah."
"…Thank you for today."
"……"
Watching the two of them thank her without the faintest idea they had been used, Yu Seol felt a strange, complicated emotion.
Ha Yerin and Lee Hyejeong were both outstanding in their own right. Even with the trainer's intimidation tactics, they would have held onto their A Rank without any trouble.
And yet here they were, thanking her, completely oblivious—
What idiots.
Yes. Idiots.
That was what Yu Seol thought of them.
Especially Ha Yerin.
The first time she had seen her… when Yerin had chosen the same song and danced it…
Even Yu Seol, of all people, had found her dizzyingly captivating and beautiful.
And when she heard the girl had only been training for a month, she had even felt threatened.
"…Next time, I'll show you something even better."
When Ha Yerin had said that, something in Yu Seol's chest had gone warm.
…So she had put distance between them.
She hadn't come to My Idol Academia for friendship or some little rivalry game. Getting close to someone she would eventually have to compete against until one of them bled was the stupidest thing she could do.
She had reasons—not only to win My Idol Academia, but to succeed as a debuting idol afterward.
But watching from a distance, she had realized Ha Yerin was a little different from what she had expected.
Yu Seol had assumed they were the same kind of person.
They weren't.
Ha Yerin had the coldest, most rational face imaginable—and yet her heart was quietly, stubbornly naive.
Sometimes she even feels like some middle-aged guy.
A bear wearing a fox's mask, maybe.
Just look at her now.
Shuffling over, completely unaware she was being used, ducking her head in thanks—how foolish could one person be?
"…I feel like I learned a lot thanks to you, unnie."
"……"
In that moment, Yu Seol saw it.
Beneath Ha Yerin's cold, expressionless face, a faint warmth. The genuine gratitude she was feeling toward her.
Naive little fool.
The entertainment industry was not a place where talent alone got you anywhere.
…She herself had learned that the hard way, hadn't she?
In that sense, Ha Yerin was no real competition for Yu Seol.
Yerin would never surpass her in the end.
And if that was the case…
If she's never going to be a real rival anyway… maybe I can close the distance a little.
The thought crossed Yu Seol's mind in a flash.
And so…
"Don't mention it, Yerin-ah. You worked hard today."
For the first time that day, she dropped into casual speech with Ha Yerin.
"…!"
Was it really that shocking?
Ha Yerin's flawlessly beautiful face went blank with a look of pure, idiotic surprise.
"Pfft."
There was something so endearingly clumsy about it that Yu Seol couldn't help a small laugh.
At the time, Yu Seol had no idea.
That the most dangerous fox in the world is the fox who doesn't even know she's a fox.
And that someday… she would look back on this moment as both the greatest regret of her life and the best choice she ever made.
The next day, on the set.
"……"
"……"
Over a hundred people had gathered, and yet the air was cold enough to feel silent.
Six in the morning.
Even at that early hour, not a single person looked tired.
Today was the final grade evaluation for My Idol Academia.
Depending on how they performed, they might—or might not—secure a good position on the group theme song stage that would open the show. Every contestant approached the evaluation as if pouring out their last strength before the real competition began, and the judges carried themselves with matching solemnity.
"Alright, then. We will now begin the final grade evaluation. Evaluations will proceed in reverse order, from F Rank to A Rank."
Starting from F Rank, of course.
From the production team's perspective, it made sense—if you wanted a clean, well-shaped broadcast, you needed the warm-up acts first.
"First up, F Rank trainee Go Dahyun. Please come forward."
"…Yes."
The moment her name was called, an F Rank trainee stepped onto the stage with a face full of resolve. Her set jaw carried the will to absolutely nail this performance.
But…
"Ah…"
From the very opening, her dancing tangled and her pitch wavered—an unsteady start—and then…
"Ah, no…!"
"Keep going, keep going!"
By the middle of the first verse she had completely lost the song, and the stage fell apart.
Mastering both dance and vocals perfectly in a single week and delivering a full performance was never easy. For most of the contestants, even memorizing the entire choreography had been a struggle.
"Ah……"
The contestants watching from offstage let out soft sighs of sympathy for the girl who had crashed her performance.
But…
"……"
"……"
Unlike the contestants, the judges showed no reaction at all to the ruined stage. Han Siwoo, holding the microphone as their representative, simply kept a straight face and said—
"Yes. Thank you for your hard work. Trainee Go Dahyun will remain at F Rank."
"…Th-thank y…"
"Yes. You may step down now."
—and delivered the evaluation with complete calm.
There are moments like that.
Moments when being yelled at and scolded would actually feel kinder. Moments when total silence—as if you were no longer even worth reacting to—is far more terrifying.
In that sense, this final grade evaluation was…
"Thank you for your hard work. F Rank maintained. Next."
…a different kind of hell from the evaluations that had come before.