The Level Test
When Jeong Yu-ah first saw her in the waiting room, she stopped what she was doing.
She had never considered herself that kind of person—someone easily swayed by looks, or quick to judge others solely on first impressions.
It made no sense for someone like her, who had spent over ten years honing her skills at Pohang IC, to be shaken by something so superficial.
And yet, she couldn't help but freeze.
The girl who had just walked through the waiting room doors.
She possessed a magnetic charm that went far beyond being merely "pretty."
Looking closer, she didn't even seem to have tried. She wore absolutely no makeup, dressed in nothing but a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans.
She wasn't wearing anything eye-catching, either. She had simply walked in, yet the entire atmosphere of the room shifted.
The cameras were honest. The filming crew near the entrance pivoted in unison to face her.
Jeong Yu-ah tore her eyes away and checked the girl's profile card.
Independent.
Having no affiliated club meant she had made it here all on her own, completely outside the youth academy system. No club backing, no professional trainers, and zero experience performing on a team stage.
"A classic case of being cast purely for her face, then. Since she's independent, she won't last long."
Jeong Yu-ah looked back ahead.
She needed to prepare for the level test. The only person she should be focusing on today was herself.
Just as she was settling her thoughts, the independent girl came over and sat directly across from her.
Up close, her presence was even more striking.
The girl sat down, closed her eyes, and began to mutter something under her breath.
"...Montiel steps up..."
"...He shoots..."
Jeong Yu-ah quickly looked away.
"...The keeper dives the wrong way..."
It was a bizarre way to relieve tension. She was literally commentating on a soccer match to herself. And she was incredibly serious about it, too. It was a hilarious sight, but Yu-ah held back her laughter and focused on the front.
"Focus. Focus."
A soft thud echoed from beside her.
Glancing down, she saw a photocard lying on the floor. It was a Leona Messiah photocard. The girl scrambled to pick it up, but she was too late.
Another trainee had already snatched it up.
Jeong Yu-ah tried to empty her mind.
"Ah, she's a Messiah fan."
She left it at that.
As the participants began moving to the studio one by one, the TV in the waiting room flickered to life, displaying the studio layout and the seating arrangement.
It was a tiered pyramid of seats. A single throne for first place sat at the very top, with the rows expanding as they cascaded downward.
Jeong Yu-ah scanned the pyramid, her thoughts turning quiet.
Most of the girls here probably didn't understand what that number-one seat truly represented.
Every single camera would be trained on it. It was prime real estate for the editors, meaning the eyes and attention of every viewer would be locked onto whoever sat there. Performing perfectly would be taken for granted, and even the slightest slip-up would draw a barrage of criticism.
It was a heavy burden that even club youth academy graduates struggled to bear. For someone making their very first television appearance, it was practically impossible to handle.
"A seat only I can handle."
Jeong Yu-ah walked toward the first-place seat.
But someone was already sitting there.
It was the girl from the waiting room.
Independent. Han Sae-ah.
Jeong Yu-ah paused for a moment before speaking up.
"Excuse me."
The girl turned her head.
"Would you mind moving?"
"...Why?"
Her reply was curt. It was obvious she had no intention of backing down.
"Because that seat isn't something you can handle."
She meant it as a kindness. Truly. She had spoken as gently as she possibly could.
But then, the girl locked eyes with her.
And she refused to look away.
Jeong Yu-ah didn't know what to make of it. Was she trying to say something, or was she just lost in thought? Her soft gaze held no hostility, yet she showed no sign of retreating either. She just stared.
So, Yu-ah simply stared back at her face.
Up close, she was even more breathtaking than before. Her eyes were sharp and clear without being overly intense, her nose perfectly straight, and her features possessed a natural, effortless harmony that required no artificial enhancement.
Honestly, she looked like a little kitten. It made Yu-ah want to tease her a bit.
They stood there, locked in a silent staring contest for what felt like an eternity, when—
"...Whether I can handle it or not... is for me to decide."
At the same time, something welled up in the girl's eyes.
"Oh my."
Jeong Yu-ah narrowed her eyes.
They were tears. Just a tiny hint of them.
She seemed to be trying desperately to hide them, but it was a losing battle. Clenching her fists and biting her lip to hold her ground, she looked exactly like someone who was utterly terrified but refused to back down out of sheer pride.
Jeong Yu-ah gave it a quick thought.
Forcing her out of the seat probably wasn't a good idea. The cameras were already rolling, and getting pushed around on the very first episode wouldn't paint a good picture for the girl's debut.
Even if her stubbornness was so cute it made Yu-ah want to tease her even more.
"Fine, do as you please. Experiencing just how heavy that seat is will be a good lesson for you."
She turned away without any lingering regrets.
The girl seemed like someone who needed a bit of looking after.
Conveniently, Seol I-an was standing near the second-place seat.
"I-an, do you mind if I sit there?"
I-an silently stepped aside.
As Jeong Yu-ah took her seat in second place, she glanced back up at the throne.
Despite her eyes being watery just moments ago, the girl was now sitting tall, her chin raised with a smug, triumphant expression.
"Does she think she won?"
After the trainers were introduced, the level tests officially began.
They went in order of the seating.
Starting from the first-place seat.
The moment the staff called her number, Jeong Yu-ah sneaked a glance at the top of the pyramid.
The girl was completely frozen.
"See? You should have listened to me when I told you to move."
After a brief moment of paralysis, she stood up. She was surprisingly quick to compose her expression.
Actually, she just seemed to cycle through emotions incredibly fast. It was hard to believe the girl who looked on the verge of tears earlier and the one now wearing a face of grim determination were the exact same person.
Yu-ah watched her walk toward the stage. Her back was stiff and straight. She was clearly trying not to show her nerves, which only made her look even more tense.
Jeong Yu-ah crossed her arms and waited.
Independent. Self-taught. Zero youth academy experience.
No matter how she looked at it, this girl was here on Pick Yu-Ah purely because of her visuals.
She would need to get a decent grade on this test to minimize the inevitable backlash for sitting in the first-place seat.
Jeong Yu-ah watched with her arms crossed.
After a brief self-introduction,
the music began to play.
~♫
The song was In the City, the signature track of South Korea's legendary ballad singer, Siseong.
It was an incredibly difficult song that demanded Siseong's signature delicate falsetto and a devilish level of technical skill to seamlessly transition between chest voice and head voice.
If someone with mediocre skills attempted it, they would end up sounding like a buzzing mosquito, and even the slightest mismatch in vocal tone would completely ruin the performance.
On top of that, the breath control required was brutal, leaving almost no room to breathe.
It was a notorious "vocal assassin" of a song.
Recognizing the track immediately, the Pick Yu-Ah trainers sitting at the judges' table began to murmur among themselves.
Soon, the intro faded, and the vocal track began.
"In this city where only I remain, you are nowhere to be seen."
Her voice was so delicate it felt like fine silver dust scattered over a jade plate—so fragile that one feared it might shatter at any moment.
"Even if I search for your traces, your heart remains hidden."
"That figure, now gone, inside my wavering regrets..."
"The more I try to bury it, the larger your presence grows."
Jeong Yu-ah's crossed arms slowly unraveled.
She hadn't even realized it. Her arms had simply dropped to her sides.
"Are you even in this city? Are you eating well?"
"I feel like I'll miss you someday."
"The times we spent together, which can never be again..."
"The pain called 'you' swallows me up once more."
Without realizing it, Jeong Yu-ah leaned forward, her back leaving the seat.
By the time she snapped out of it, she was already perched on the edge of her seat.
"Living in this city where I miss you—"
"So that my self might meet you someday."
"If by chance we cross paths in those traces—"
"I remember you, whom I can no longer see, within the city."
The studio fell dead silent.
One hundred girls held their breath in unison.
All the whispering vanished.
Nearly a hundred people sat forward, their eyes staring toward the trainers' table at the front of the stage.
Ri Cheon-hee, who had been slouching with her chin in her hand, sat up straight. Ahn Ji-hwa's smile vanished as her eyes locked onto the stage. Kim Na-ju lifted her head and uncrossed her arms.
Jeong Yu-ah looked back at the stage.
The second verse began immediately.
The mesmerizing voice made her lose all track of time, and before she knew it, the song was already building to its climax. She didn't even have time to process her thoughts.
"Living in this city where I miss you—!"
As the high note soared, perfectly blended with flawless technique, Jeong Yu-ah's jaw dropped.
Without even realizing what they were doing, the trainees sitting on the pyramid seats had turned on their phone flashlights and were swaying them from side to side.
Before anyone knew it, the studio had transformed into an intimate concert venue.
"So that my self might meet you someday,"
"If by chance we cross paths in those traces,"
"I remember you, whom I can no longer see,"
"Within the city..."
"Whoaaaaaa!!!"
The moment the song concluded, a thunderous roar of cheers and applause erupted.
Han Sae-ah stood with her eyes closed. Her grip on the microphone was completely relaxed.
She no longer looked like someone who was nervous. For her, this space wasn't an audition stage; it felt as though she had simply come out to play and enjoy herself.
"That is absolutely not a voice manufactured in an academy."
Having spent nearly ten years in the youth system listening to hundreds of vocalists, Jeong Yu-ah made her swift judgment.
Throughout her years in the academy, she had seen all kinds of singers—some brilliant, some terrible.
There were those who were technically flawless, and others who excelled at emotional expression. But this girl existed on an entirely different scale.
It wasn't a matter of discussing natural talent or debating vocal technique.
She was in a completely different league.
Comparing a typical idol trainee's vocals to Han Sae-ah's was like comparing the combat strength of a human toddler to a fully grown silverback gorilla.
The performance ended in what felt like a flash.
Low murmurs of awe rippled through the crowd. Beside her, Seol I-an sat in silence.
Yu-ah noticed I-an's hand, resting on her knee, clench into a fist and then slowly release.
To coax even a flicker of emotion out of the notoriously stoic Seol I-an was a feat in itself.
Listening to the reactions around her, Jeong Yu-ah quietly admitted it to herself.
This was a first.
Since deciding to participate in Pick Yu-Ah, she hadn't viewed a single one of the other hundred contestants as a true rival. Not until now.
Jeong Yu-ah stared at Han Sae-ah on the stage. The girl opened her eyes and looked straight ahead. She was so utterly unshakable that it was hard to believe she was the same person who had been on the verge of tears in the first-place seat just moments ago.
"What did she say her name was?"
Han Sae-ah.
Independent.
Jeong Yu-ah engraved the name deep into her mind once more.
And then, the dance evaluation began.