Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: The Main Vocalist
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"You'll all sing together, and when I call a name, only that person will sing. Got it?"
The vocal trainer was the female judge.
They hadn't even started yet, but the contestants' faces were tense, as she had been dishing out harsh critiques throughout the evaluations.
"Yes."
"Alright, let's get right to it. No one forgot to memorize the lyrics, right?"
A few people hesitated, unable to answer.
A strange glint appeared in the judge's eyes.
"Don't tell me you didn't memorize them."
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
The judge let out a scoff, "Ha," as if in disbelief, then narrowed her eyes like a snake and scanned the contestants.
"Is this the right attitude?"
The judge crossed her arms tightly and began to taunt them from a crooked stance.
"Anyone who didn't memorize the lyrics, raise your hand."
No one raised their hand right away; they just exchanged glances.
"Hey. Why are you looking at each other? Raise your hands if you have a conscience. It'll all come out during practice anyway."
Slowly, contestants started raising their hands while glancing around.
"Four? There are ten people here, and four of you didn't memorize the lyrics? You. Try making an excuse. Why didn't you do it?"
The judge asked, pointing a finger at someone in the front row.
"M-me?"
"Yes. You."
I could see the tips of the chosen contestant's eyelashes trembling.
He quickly wiped his hands on his clothes, as if they were sweating.
"I'm sorry."
When he apologized without any excuses and bowed his head low, the judge's face turned red then purple.
A roar erupted soon after.
"Are you kidding me?!"
Even though I expected it, her voice was so loud I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut.
Even though I wasn't the one being scolded, I automatically straightened my posture and looked at the floor.
"How can you expect to receive training when you haven't even mastered the basics of memorizing lyrics? Your fundamental attitude is all wrong. The four of you, get out."
The faces of the contestants who had raised their hands paled.
It was no exaggeration to say they looked like they were wearing white stage makeup.
A contestant in the back moved his deathly pale lips.
"It won't happen again. Please give us one more chance."
It was a plea, bordering on a beg.
It was understandable. Being kicked out of this class now was the same as falling behind in the competition.
The parts would be assigned through this class.
'If they're completely excluded, all the good parts will be taken, and they'll have to split whatever's left.'
"Five minutes. If you just give us five minutes, we'll memorize the lyrics right away."
Another contestant chimed in.
It backfired.
The judge scoffed at the contestant's request for more time.
"If it only takes five minutes, why didn't you do it before class? Let me guess. You were either resting to manage your condition or too focused on dance practice."
Her words hit the nail on the head.
Half of the contestants who hadn't memorized the lyrics had gone to bed early, and the other half had gone to the practice room for dance practice, only returning to their rooms near dawn.
"You can't say anything, can you? Because I'm right."
"..."
"If you just wanted to dance, you should have become dancers. Oh, but are you even skilled enough for that? You're already wasting the other kids' practice time."
Her voice was thick with barely suppressed anger, boiling up from within.
"Stop disrupting the class and get out. This is the consequence of your own actions."
In the end, the four who hadn't memorized the lyrics left the practice room, their shoulders slumped.
I thought I faintly heard someone sniffling.
Only after the door closed did the judge's furrowed brow finally relax.
"Alright. Shall we start practicing now?"
The judge played the MR track on her phone.
"Just start singing."
The vocal practice began in a solemn atmosphere.
"Haru. You sing alone."
At the judge's call, everyone except Haru fell silent.
—leaving it behind, I take a step
A clear tone echoed through the practice room.
The gazes of all the contestants, including me, stiffened with the anxiety that Haru might even take the main vocal position.
I'd heard him during the first ranking evaluation, but his Korean pronunciation, pitch, and rhythm were perfect. It wasn't that he was good at just that one song from long practice.
He was just someone with solid fundamentals.
"Seo Yoon-seul, right after him."
My name was suddenly called.
—fly away
It was the high-note part that climbed just before the chorus.
—fly farther away
Since she didn't say anything, I continued singing without stopping.
And so, I entered the chorus.
Since the song had an Eastern feel, I used a mixed voice.
—I can’t embrace the me from back then
"Now, all together."
From the second verse, we all sang in sync again.
—like sharp beads of glass
your gaze upon me
The person called after that was Kang Ju-hyeok.
The song ended without anyone else being called by the judge.
The judge took a pen from her pocket and began busily writing something on the sheet music.
I just darted my eyes around, waiting for the judge to say something.
"Seo Yoon-seul."
As the silence continued, the judge looked up and met my eyes.
"Yes."
"Can you try the high-note ad-lib from the second verse right now?"
This was my chance.
I cleared my throat briefly, then belted out the high note.
"How high can you sing?"
"I can hit a B5."
"A B5?"
"Yes."
Dozens of pairs of eyes turned towards me.
A B5.
It was a range not easily attempted.
My shoulders squared with pride.
"I thought you had more room in your voice. Is there anyone here more confident in their high notes than Seo Yoon-seul?"
No one raised their hand.
It stayed that way for a few seconds.
"Well, that settles the main vocalist. Congratulations, Seo Yoon-seul."
The judge's eyes curved into half-moons as she looked at me.
* * *
After the training session, it was time for self-practice.
The filming staff all left, leaving only the fixed cameras behind.
While we were practicing, the door suddenly opened, and someone peeked their head in.
It was the junior writer.
"We need to do an individual interview. Haru, could you come with me?"
"Okay."
Haru quickly wiped his sweat with a towel, grabbed his water, and followed the junior writer out.
'The individual interviews are finally starting.'
The individual interview.
One might think it's just a time to hear the contestants' inner thoughts, but there's more to it than that.
In a way, it could be called the highlight of the program.
It's where each person's personal story unfolds, and misunderstandings from minor conflicts can be resolved.
A single thoughtless word spoken in that small room could give the production team a hint about how to portray you on the show.
'I need to keep my wits about me when I go in there.'
I continued practicing, steeling my resolve for the yet-to-come interview.
Haru returned after a long while.
The corners of his eyes were red, suggesting he had cried during the interview.
After his return, a few more contestants were called out one by one.
I was engrossed in practice, waiting for my turn, when suddenly.
"I heard you can hit a B5. Is that for real?"
A sharp jab.
The voice was almost picking a fight.
I looked to see who it was and found it was one of the guys who'd been kicked out of vocal training for not memorizing the lyrics.
"I asked if it's true."
"Yes."
My concise answer made his lips twist into a smirk.
"You're not lying?"
He spoke as if he hoped I was lying.
'So this is what a power struggle feels like.'
This was the first time I'd experienced a power struggle firsthand.
GANGSTER-M had a brief moment in the spotlight after debuting, but we crashed and burned quickly.
Who would bother trying to start a power struggle with a member of a failed group?
How tiring.
At least there were no microphones, which was a relief.
The cameras might pick up some audio, but with the CCTV-like angles, the details would be drowned out by the music.
"What would I gain by lying about that? It would be exposed in no time."
"I watched some videos of you singing."
I'd seen him busy on his phone and thought he was working on something, but I never imagined he was watching my performances.
"But a B5? You looked like you were struggling with even lower notes."
Since it had only been a year since my debut, the performance video he looked up must have been for my debut song, 'PUMP'.
As for cover songs, the company never let me sing the full version, so I'd only ever sung a brief part of the chorus.
If that was the only video he'd seen, I could understand why he was confronting me like this.
Besides, these guys hadn't even seen me sing the theme song for this program.
"Even in your most recent video, I could see you were short of breath and straining for the high notes. How could you suddenly hit a B5?"
From a normal perspective, it was an unbelievable story.
Improving so drastically in just a few months.
If it weren't for my experience of 'regression,' something you'd only find in a fantasy novel, I wouldn't have believed it either.
"Say something."
"First of all, 'PUMP' didn't suit my vocal color, so I intentionally strained my throat to produce a thicker voice, which left my vocal cords in terrible shape throughout the promotion period. So, during my break, I completely changed my vocalization. That made it much easier to produce sound."
Everything was true, except for the part about it taking five years to master.
"And you expect me to believe that?!"
Thinking I was messing with him, a thick vein popped on his neck.
At that, the others who had been focused on their own practice started glancing our way.
"This isn't some word game. If you could master your voice just by changing your vocal technique a little, who here would be a bad singer? You think we've just been slacking off all this time?"
I had no intention of belittling his efforts.
"That's not it."
"Then what is it?"
"I was just honestly explaining my own situation."
It seemed like nothing I said now would resolve this.
"Hey, what's all this? I know you're upset about losing the main vocal spot, but this will only hurt you. The cameras are still rolling."
Kang Ju-hyeok suddenly stepped between us with a friendly smile.
He playfully waved at the camera on the ceiling.
"No, I just came to ask because I was curious, but he started spouting nonsense, and I just got heated for a moment."
"I get that you're sensitive right now, but this is when you need to practice more. In the end, the video we're filming together has to turn out well for everyone's benefit."
I don't know if it was the power of the camera or Kang Ju-hyeok's smooth talking, but the anger directed at me instantly subsided.
"Alright, then. Let's get back to practice."
Kang Ju-hyeok wrapped an arm around my shoulders as if to protect me.
I should have said thank you, but for some reason, the words wouldn't come out.
"Seo Yoon-seul. It's your turn for the interview."