Chapter 12: 12

 

Just excellent. These guys.

I sighed when I saw my kids who were like the others. It was a moment where I felt pathetic for thinking on how to boost the motivation that had fallen down to the ground. It was the moment we became STREET BOYS, NEW BLACK, and WE ARE THE WORLD.

On the STREET BOYS side, the pink-hair person nodded and gave us a thumbs up. If you were to interpret the meaning of it, wouldn't it go along the lines of this?

'Girl groups are the best.'

On our side, Kim Junghyun nodded and raised his thumbs.

Hey, don't do that.

I was dumbfounded. Weren't those the kids we were fighting against with a while ago? As I was have a moment of realization filled with disappointment, my eyes suddenly met the leader of STREET BOYS.

He had the same look.

The same as feeling speechless when seeing their own members wander around the girl group.

I see it's the same for you too. I nodded my head along with the other person who was also nodding.

Somewhat. . . it was funny and I felt sympathetic.




 

* * *




 

While NEW BLACK was practicing, Yoon Seokhwan was waiting for someone outside.

A person of great importance.

Soon after, he found the figure in the crowd. A women in her 70s with a mink coat. Yoon Seokhwan compares the woman's face with a picture on his smartphone and approaches her with a smile.

"Wooju's grandmother, am I right?'

"Yes, that's right."

The person looks up and down with suspicious eyes.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Yoon Seokhwan. I'm Wooju's manager."

"Ahhh, I heard of it."

Mrs. Kim Deoksoon smiled with her gums in full bloom, "Are you. . . the mister who insisted on my grandson to be an idol?"

"What?"

"He said he knows a manager who plead him to join, so he had no choice but to accept it again."

Yoon Seokhwan then realized the whole story.

Seon Wooju, you little punk. You sold me to your grandmother because you didn't want to get in trouble if you became an idol again.

"Ah, what are you doing staring around blankly like a minister?"

"What?"

"Didn't you come to show me the way?"

"That's right."

"Then you have to show me around! Since I couldn't see any single road, I wandered around the whole neighborhood. My legs are killing me."

"Yes grandmother. Of course, I'll guide you."

Yoon Seokhwan climbed the stairs slowly with Mrs. Kim Deoksoon, who made an impression of her knees hurting every time she climbed the stairs.

While heading towards the auditorium, Seon Wooju's grandmother asked carefully, "But if you're a manager, are you a high ranking person?"

"I'm not a high ranking person. I'm just a person in charge of taking care of the kids."

"No, I'm just worried that my grandson will be harm for no reason."

The person who has been arguing with anger just a couple moments ago was suddenly now cautious when her grandson was mention.

Yoon Seokhwan smiled and replied, "You don't have to worry. I mean it."

"I'm sorry. It was because my legs hurt so much earlier."

"That's all right, haha."

"But like is he truely really good at this?"

"Yes?"

"No. . . I mean, back when he was in another company, he only gave me the contract and everything. I haven't seen him sing or dance."

"Didn't you know?"

"Even if he was forced, he'll never do it. He's mean, and whenever I ask him to do something, he'll twist his body feeling shy, and say, 'Grandma, I can't do it', something like that."

"That's unexpected. That doesn't seem like his personality."

Before I knew it, the auditorium was crowded with people. The combined number of the executives and employees from the five agencies along with the families of the trainees was more than 100.

Yoon Seokhwan, who guided Mrs. Deoksoon to a chair, laughed and said, "You can look forward to today's performance. Really, it's a performance they've been working on for a month."

"Is that so?"

"You'll know when you see it."

Yoon Seokhwan gave a meaningful smile.




 

* * *




 

With the trainee's families and company officials gathered together, the year-end evaluation has finally started. The host was quite a famous comedian.

"He's a person who appears on TV."

"Oh my, oh my. Isn't he the person who appears on the fishing program?"

Unlike the calm officials, the trainee's families chatted as they were amazed by the appearance of celebrities. Whenever the host spoke, the audience would burst into laughter. Of course, not everyone enjoyed it.

"let's move on quickly please."

"Oppa, be patient." (Oppa, a term used by females to address a sightly older male or to older siblings who are male)

"Aren't you bored? I can't wait to finish and go eat.", Yoon Chanhyuk, a ballad singer, yelled.

Jang Sowon looked at him pitifully, "Oppa, why are you so tired when you don't even run the events these days?" (run the event, like host it)

"You should prepare for a comeback and concert at the same time."

"Ah, right. When did you say you were making a comeback?"

"Next month."

"That's a relief. I was surprised because I thought our songs would overlap."

Jang Sowon swept her chest. If the timing of her song overlapped with the powerhouse of ballad, it would be bloody for no reason. It was fortunate that such a situation was advoided. (bloody as in, competitive song charting/wins over each other if it makes sense)

Yoon Chanhyuk asked in a sour tone, "When are you going to release it?"

"I'm discussing it with the company."

 

"Still?"

"The company's finances aren't good these days. I want to release it sometime in February of new year, but the situation had to follow."

Yoon Chanhyuk soon remembered a project that the other party was recently working on.

"Didn't you say you'll do a collaboration?"

"That's right."

"Did you find a singer to sing with?"

"No, not yet."

Jang Sowon sighed deeply, "I made the base of the song, but I can't find a singer to sing with. I want it to feel fresh, but I need a singer like that these days."

"How about me?"

"Do you feel the freshness from yourself?"

"We're done. That's it."

Yoon Seokhwan grumbled.

"I'm too busy to do it anyway."

Jang Sowon smirked at the addition of his excuse. It was like an informal conversation, drinking out with friends I usually meet at drinking parties.

At first glance, they seemed to be people who came to play around, but when the performances started to begin, the atmosphere did a 180 degree flip.

Eyes that subsided in an instant. Turning into professionals, they quietly begin to look over the grading sheet.

THE END OF THE YEAR EVALUATION.

There were agencies with many participants, so the total amount of stages were 10 teams. Since many trainee's families attended, there was no time to reprimand or praise the trainees as soon as the stage performance was over like a monthly evaluation.

It was because the end of the year evaluation was an event for families. This is what your daughter and son is doing. In that kind of situation, I couldn't say, 'your score is. . .' in front of all their family members.

Instead, base on the scores given by the judges, the ranking from 1st to 3rd were often announced.

At the end of each stage, sharp evaluations were exchanged from the judge's seat.

"What did you think?"

There were some harsh comments.

"At first, I thought they were trying to show off their sexiness, but I don't think it was sexy at all. Their expressions were forced."

"I think they're a bit nervous."

"As a trainee, it's cute if it's only once or twice. They can be nervous, but they can't show it on stage."

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On the other hand, it was well received.

"Overall, it's all good. The voice, pitch, and tone are stable."

"I think they need more confidence. You don't have to be so humble when you look at your skills."

And so, it was also an opinion that was agreed upon on by all.

"In general, this year's level is high." (Meaning all trainee's are doing amazing this year!)

The judges, who were nodding, looked at the schedule.

"There are only two left, right? LEMON and DNS."

"DNS, aren't they the kids that are debuting this year? STREET FIGHTER."

"It's STREET BOYS, sir."

"Ah, I see."

"Which team goes first? Oh, it must be LEMON. They're coming out now."

 

"Oh, everyone is handsome."

Five trainees each appeared in stage outfits. In the midst of the applauses like a school festival, a brown-hair boy, who appears to be the leader, grabbed the microphone.

"One, two, three. Hello! We're NEW BLACK."

"Please introduce yourself."

"I'm Seon Wooju. A trainee who will soon be 22 years old."

Then one by one, they introduce themselves. Everyone looked nervous. The children holding the microphones stood in formation.

"Woahh, they're so young."

"These kids are my style. They're really cute."

Yoon Chanhyuk and Jang Sowon exchanging such words, shook their head when the instrumental started. The music that came from the speaker was trot. They weren't the only ones to react like that.

The officials, as well as the judges, raise their head at the sudden sound. Each showed a curious response, but the audience was the one that showed the most dramatic response.

Until now, the middle-age audience members have been openly yawning. At least they concentrated when their son and daughter came out, or honestly interested in the performances of other people's children. Go ahead.

Idol songs were a culture that parents couldn't understand. English lyrics that couldn't be understand, chaotic performances, and there weren't any mellow songs or fun with it.

When there were two teams left, the parents were looking at their watches. Waiting for the tiresome performances to end.

Just then, when the trot instrumental started, they looked at the stage like bears who woke up from hibernation. It was a masterpiece familiar to the middle-age generation, 'BE WITH ME'.

The slightly modern arrangement was supported, but the main melody was the trot that everybody knew.

The trainees on stage move in formation.

While the long instrumental continued, a group applause began in the audience. A clapping sound to the beat. It was a different reaction compare to before.

The members, who stood with stiff faces, exchanged glances among themselves. Then, they looked at one person at the same time. To them, Seon Wooju showed a smile saying, 'See, I told you'.




 

* * *




 

"Let's start with a trot song."

Four weeks ago, in the practice room.

Seo Rihyuk frowned. He couldn't understand.

I wasn't going to overlook trot. Only the younger generation would ignore the ability that the trot seniors had over the older generation.

  However that was one thing and the trainee performance was another.

"Are you serious?"

"It's fresh and nice."

"There's a limit to what's fresh. The stage is no joke, and the performance has a TPO." (TPO. . . time, place, and occasion)

"And so, that's why I want to sing trot."

Seon Wooju lifted three of his fingers.

"First, TIME. I heard our performance is going to be the ninth or the tenth? By the end of it, everyone from the judges to audience must be exhausted. There's our family. I wish we could do anything, but what about the others?" (Others as in, people other than their own family haha)

 

It was with a logical tone of voice.

"Second, OCCASION. As you said, it not bad to go with the safe option. However, the only songs that the trainees would choose are pop songs or electronic sounds. It would sound different to our ears, but it would sound similar for the audience. On the other hand, if we start with a trot song, we'll be taking half of it."

Seon Wooju's word were convincing.

In fact, a legendary singer has won the grand prize at a music festival with the same strategy.

While everyone was convinced, there was only one question left.

"Then what about PLACE?"

"Third, PLACE. Did you preform at TAEHWA HIGH SCHOOL last time?"

"No, we did it at CHANYOUNG HIGH SCHOOL."

"While you guys were discussing, I searched for pictures of TAEHWA HIGH SCHOOL's auditorium. Look here, the platform is smaller than you think, right?"

That was an unexpected point.

As Seo Rihyuk was expressing subtle admiration, Seon Wooju spoke with the photo on his smartphone.

"If we sing a trot song, it's basically possible to make the choreography smaller. I think the other teams will struggle since they didn't take this into consideration."




 

It was just like that.

The teams that have preformed so far have made minor mistakes. It was due to the narrow stage. They made a lot of colorful and cool choreography, but there wasn't enough space to unfold it.

Even if the dance was corrected immediately after rehearsal, it was inevitable to stumble if the dance that they've been practicing for a month was changed in a single day.

Then their expression would changed.

They would be so absorbed in their dance that they wouldn't be able to concentrate on stage. How can the audience focus when the singer who's preforming can't concentrate?

However, NEW BLACK was different.

It turns out that they were able to focus fully on stage since they had known about the stage issue and learned choreography to match with it. Their expressions were relax.

The audience was at ease. Unlike the previous performances where they (the audience) were nervous, they were doing good. It was due to the stage performance that was going on that made the viewers feel comfortable.

 

"Look at them."

Jang Sowon smiled as she was looking at the fearless trainees.

"Oppa, I don't know who made the choreography, but this isn't normal."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at their movements."

"What's wrong with tha-. . . ahh."

Like a professional, Yoon Chanhyuk also knew what she's was talking about.

"They aren't stumbling."

"They're pretty good at using the space. I'm thinking there's a smart thrifty kid on the team? It's a choreography that can't be preform if one didn't do some research beforehand."

Jang Sowon rested her chin on her hand and her eyes sparkled.

"Maybe this will be an interesting performance."

After that, the instrumental ended and the song begins in earnest.

The first batter up was Wang Jiho. When the young-faced middle school student appeared with a microphone, the attention was at focus.




 

그대 어디에 있나요 (Where are you)

여기 있나요 저기 있네요 (Are you over here or over there)

왜 나를 멀리 하는지 (Why are you far away from me)

나는 아무것~도 안 했는걸~ (I did~n't do anything~)




 

  Doing well with the trot, the elders smiled cutely.  The song was like all the other songs, but the facial expressions (of the audience/viewers) were excellent.  People of the same age group, who weren't excessive, gave a favorable gaze.

  Wang Jiho smiled at the response.

  Ba-dump.

  I could hear my heartbeat.  This is how anyone who's ever been on stage has felt.  The stage where singers and audience exchange emotions.

  When I felt the goodwill of the audience, my heart pounded and the hairs on my neck rose.

  Trot was an excellent choice.




 

  "Jiho, you have to sing the first line."

  "Why?"

  'What the point of singing trot?  To capture the attention of the audience.  Of course, the member who can capture the most attention should go out.'

  At that time, that's what Seon Wooju asked.

  'I think his strength lies in his facial expressions.  It had the power to draw in and make the viewers focus.  You have to make good use of it.'




 

  At the end of his part, Wang Jiho sent a wink and a finger heart to the audience.  Everyone smiled except for the healthy mens. (Health men. . . LOL like men who are adults who can still have offsprings, not old- AHH)

  As he came to the side, Wang Jiho exchanged glances with Seon Wooju who came out onto the stage.  A thankful glance response with a soft smile.

  When Seon Wooju appeared as the center, a different smiled was shown out from the audience, who have been smiling at Jiho until now.

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