Chapter 17: Survival Show - Cover Song (2)
The tension I had felt regarding the contest briefly eased as I listened to the details about the competition.
"Ah, what was I so nervous about? A cover song from our agency?"
It seemed that Goh Yoo-Joon was on the same wavelength as me. Probably, it wasn't just us—most likely, all the trainees here felt a similar sense of relief.
'Are they taking it easy on us because it's the first round?'
After all, covering a song from a senior artist from the same agency was something we had been doing throughout our trainee lives. It seemed like they aimed to highlight the trainees' skills with a performance that was both familiar and fresh, setting the stage for more intense competition in future broadcasts.
"The choice of artist and cover song is yours to make, but the contest will take place on a stage with an audience in a week. After that, there will be a week of voting through the UNET streaming channel, and rankings will be determined solely by viewer votes."
‘Solely by viewer votes?’
The room was abuzz with murmurs from the trainees. The only ones who seemed unfazed by this voting method were the High Tension members from YU, who already had a fan base.
Then, a hand went up. "Excuse me."
"Yes?"
The question came from the one who had avoided eye contact with me earlier.
"What if our agency doesn't have a senior artist?"
"Ah, right. Trainees from True Entertainment don't have senior artists, so you are free to choose a song from any group."
I already suspected as much since they were relegated to the corner. It seemed like these members were the inaugural artists of their agency.
'Hmm... True Entertainment...'
The name of the agency was unfamiliar to me, even though I had been in the industry for a while. Maybe after this broadcast, this group might not garner much attention and fade away. I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for them right from the get-go.
The True Entertainment group didn’t respond to Reina and instead started discussing among themselves. Only I seemed to notice Reina's momentarily frozen expression.
"Okay, you have one hour to decide on your song starting from now. Feel free to discuss it amongst yourselves. Go!"
A large timer next to Reina initiated a countdown for sixty minutes, and the once-quiet practice room was filled with noise once again.
"Hey, what song should we choose? Which senior?"
Following Goh Yoo-Joon's question, the members gathered, and I casually voiced my opinion. "Wouldn't a song from Allure be the safest?"
"Well, true. Honestly, the most famous seniors in our agency right now are Allure."
"They are the obvious choice but also the best one."
The rest of the members seemed to agree with my opinion. In this situation, choosing an Allure song was pretty much a given. After all, Chronos was the only group that hadn’t danced to cool music in the auditions.
Hence, now was our chance to make an impression with our performance amidst all the attention, including that from the comedy and lighting mishaps. YMM Entertainment was a small-to-medium-sized agency, and before Allure, it was mostly filled with ballad singers, so there was really only one clear option for us to showcase.
After quietly listening to our opinions, Park Yoon-Chan asked, "Which song of Allure?"
I replied, "Let's do ‘Goblin.’"
"...‘Goblin?’"
At Joo-Han's questioning, I nodded. "Even if we are familiar with Allure's songs, preparing something challenging in just a week is too much."
"That's true, but..."
"We auditioned with that song, and only people from our agency know that we are very familiar with that song. So, wouldn’t it be better to practice the choreography with the same arrangement instead of starting from scratch?"
Our first image to the public would be Red Riding Hood Cha-Cha, so we needed to show a highly polished performance next. After all, overcoming an already established image with a single outstanding stage was a challenging feat.
Jin-Sung also nodded to my words. "I agree. I didn't mention it at first as I felt I was relying on Hyun-Woo hyung, but the “Goblin” arranged by Hyun-Woo hyung and Joo-Han hyung is perfect for the contest."
The dance break part had been made more powerful, and the vocal parts had been properly highlighted. We only needed to redistribute the parts to fit our group according to the original song.
“That is true,” Joo-Han said, “I thought of ‘Goblin’ when thinking about senior group Allure too, but since Hyun-Woo did it not long ago, I hesitated to bring it up.”
Just then, a camera that was filming another group slowly turned toward us. We stiffened but continued our conversation as if nothing was wrong.
I mentioned, “Actually, it's easier for me since I don't have to memorize anything new. But you might have to adjust the song a bit, hyung.”
“Leave it to me.”
Then Lee Jin-Sung raised his hand. “Can I be in charge of the choreography? I want to create something without straying too far from the original choreography.”
“That sounds good. I trust Jin-Sung’s dance skills. I am looking forward to it.” Joo-Han emphasized Lee Jin-Sung's dance skills with a broad—though somewhat forced—smile. It seemed he wanted to highlight each member's strengths, especially since the camera was on us.
“Hyun-Woo, while helping with my arrangement, can you assist Yoon-Chan with his vocals? If you could add some harmonies, that'd be great. Since you have experience and you are the main vocalist, make sure to accentuate Yoon-Chan's unique voice.”
“Okay.”
“Wait, what about me?” exclaimed Goh Yoo-Joon. He would have been the main vocalist if it wasn’t for me, so he was surprised that his name wasn't mentioned in this conversation. Hearing this, Joo-Han responded in a considerate tone as he was very conscious of the camera.
“Yoo-Joon, you have incredible vocal skills, but your role this time is even more important.”
“What role?”
“You are good at writing lyrics, right?”
“...Excuse me?”
What? This was news to me. Neither I nor any other group members had ever seen Goh Yoo-Joon write lyrics. However, undeterred by our shocked expressions, Joo-Han continued to say, “How about you take on the rap section of the song? It’s your debut as a rapper, but I have faith in your versatility.”
Goh Yoo-Joon whispered, “But I’ve never written rap lyrics before…”
“The choice is yours of course. However, I can't think of anyone else who could handle the rap section as well as you could.” With a gentle voice yet a subtle pressure in his gaze, Joo-Han managed to silence Goh Yoo-Joon.
“...Alright, I’ll give it a try.”
Only after Goh Yoo-Joon’s reluctant nod did Joo-Han's expression soften. Although his approach might seem somewhat autocratic, it was a calculated move from a trainer’s perspective. He aimed to ensure that each member’s talents were highlighted on camera, even the most seemingly insignificant ones. For example, he wanted the audience to appreciate Park Yoon-Chan’s melodious voice and Goh Yoo-Joon’s newfound lyrical skills.
When the camera shifted to another group. Joo-Han finally relaxed, letting out a deep sigh. “Since Yoon-Chan's skills are still lacking, make sure to teach him well, Hyun-Woo. I will mention it to the trainer as well.”
“Okay.”
“And Yoo-Joon, I will help you, so try to do as much as you can on your own, and come to me if you get stuck.”
“Hyung, you're putting too much on my plate.” Goh Yoo-Joon expressed his dissatisfaction with the sudden role but didn’t try to change the decision. It seemed like the result would be way different from the past, but I wasn't too worried as I trusted each member’s abilities.
However, Joo-Han’s expression wasn’t very positive, possibly because there was a lot to manage outside of just skill and performance.
I glanced at the remaining time. There was only about ten minutes left. As the members continued chatting, I nudged Joo-Han and whispered, “Hyung, are you going to report to the manager during the break?”
“Yes, I should. He will want an update.”
“Let’s go together. There is something I need to discuss with you guys.”
“Can't you say it now?”
“Not in front of the camera rolling.”
Perceiving my unease, Joo-Han nodded in understanding.
“Alright, let's do that.”
Despite Allure's fame resting predominantly on “Goblin”, we swiftly decided on our song choice. With the remaining time, we delved into the details—finalizing the arrangement's mood, deciding on the core performer, and addressing similar issues.
An hour later, Reina, who had stepped out for a while, returned to the practice room and positioned herself in front of the timer.
“Has everyone finalized their song choices?”
“Yes!”
Reina had a demeanor reminiscent of a high school teacher addressing her students. She nodded in acknowledgment and gestured toward a large board that the staff had brought in.
“Starting from the group on the far right, I would like the leader of each group to come forward and write down their song choice next to their group's name. Let’s begin with Street Center.”
Although the broadcast had already introduced the groups through captions or introductory videos, this was an opportunity to learn more about the names of the groups and their respective agencies.
Street Center's agency was known for showcasing quality performances with a large number of members, and Street Center itself consisted of fifteen boys. They chose a lively song from their senior group with a similar number of members. Starting with Street Center, most of the groups listed the hit songs of the most famous seniors from their agencies.
"Ah, of course it’s ‘Goblin.’"
When it was our turn, some members of the group next to us commented softly on the “Goblin” song that Joo-Han chose. When our eyes met, the member greeted me with a polite smile and a slight nod.
"Ah..."
That person. He was a trainee who looked much younger than us, probably around grade seven or eight. I was so struck by the familiar face that I forgot to respond to the greeting and just sighed in amazement.
"Eh, do you have something to say to me?" he asked as he sensed my intense stare.
"No..."
He then turned back to chat with his group members. Yoo On-Sae. I suddenly realized that he was one of the trainees I had mentored when I first became a trainer, before joining a major planning agency four years later.
'Now that I think about it, he was originally with another agency before transferring.'
It was unexpected to encounter my former trainee here. Lost in my thoughts, I continued to stare at On-Sae.
"...Hmm."
"Seems like a risky situation."
The anxious whispers of my group members brought me back to the present, and I refocused my attention. "Ah, the song..."
I couldn’t conceal my surprise upon seeing the song choice of Air Senior from True Entertainment, a group we had minor altercations with even before the shooting started. They didn't have any senior artists within their agency, which gave them the freedom to choose any song from the participating agencies' artists. And the song they had chosen was...
[Air Senior - Allure, ‘Goblin’]
It was “Goblin”—the same song we had chosen and arguably the only hit song from YMM.
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