Chapter 89

I spent the next moments just glaring at people. The Luminin guys who were making snide comments at us now couldnt meet my eyes. Yes, this was how they shouldve responded from the beginning. I knew that there was currently a gap between our status on the show and in real life, but as this show progressed, I was confident that this gap would quickly dwindle.

Of course, we werent quite there yet. Even if we were the main characters of this show, we had so many weak points where people could attack us. We didnt even debut yet and didnt have a big fandom like Only One. Above all, our company was the smallest and worst of all the groups companies.

But Im confident that we could turn all of this around, I thought. We planned to debut after this show and our fandom was steadily growing. And after we won this program, we could confidently change our agency to a big corporate one. Though everything wasnt set in stone yet, everyone knew that it could happen and there was quite a high possibility of that happening too. Thus, I thought I was now in the position to get up and reestablish this fact to everyone like this.

Perhaps, Yeon-Hoon thought I was going to start a real fight at this rate and pulled on my clothes to tell me to stop. I pulled my eyes away from other people. I didnt know how my behavior would be shown on the show, but knowing producer Park Soo-Chuls personality, I knew he wouldnt miss a chance to show some drama.

But still, he wont abandon us. And if he had to choose who to save between Luminin and us, I knew who he would pick. Thus, there was no need for me to worry even about the editing. At most, the show would only show Luminin provoking us and me responding to it.

Okay! So, did everyone enjoy the show? Park Soo-Chul came to the scene and asked.

Yes!

We had fun!

Thank you everyone!

The stiff atmosphere instantly turned bright for the show. It was as if no one had been tense or shot out provocations. Seeing this, Park Soo-Chul smiled softly and continued. Everyone worked really hard today too. Now, you all are free to return to continue practicing or sleep!

Yes, sir!

Thank you~

People began to rise one by one. The first team to rise was Luminins team alliance. It seemed they knew there was nothing they could gain by staying any longer. I also bid my farewells to my Siren members.

Good luck with your practice.

Lets be more chill, Tae-Yoon.

See you tomorrow.

My group members appeared a bit concerned with my conflict with Luminin, but I simply accepted their farewells and walked toward Kang Hyun-Sungs team. Soon, this training camp would be over, and in the short time period left, I wanted to practice as much as possible.

Thus, I thought Kang Hyun-Sung would suggest we continue practicing at this late hour when he unexpectantly said, Lets rest for today.

Really?

What?

Are we really going to rest, leader?

Yes, lets rest.

Kang Hyun-Sung suggested that we rest for today. I felt shocked and confused, but since I couldnt force everyone to continue practicing, I just decided to accept his decision.

***

I lay on the bed. Though I took a shower, I didnt feel refreshed. Perhaps, it was because I had been used to practicing late into the night and dropping unconscious onto the bed that I was feeling this way.

Or maybe not. My condition wasnt great the whole day, I thought. The episode that aired today was definitely satisfactory. Though we gained some negative attention because we were edited as main characters again, that was a hundred times better than getting ignored. Furthermore, I didnt feel as physically tired because we didnt practice as much as usual. Yet, I didnt feel good.

I lay on the bed and fumbled with my phone after a while. I looked at the pictures I took with my group members, surfed the internet, and looked at videos that made me laugh mindlessly. Yet, I couldnt keep my interest for long and my mood immediately dropped again.

Rather than doing this, I should just practice. I thought it was better to move my body rather than fool around in my room like this, so I went down to the basement. I thought nobody would be there but the practice room door was open.

Ah.

Kang Hyun-Sung was practicing by himself. It was awkward to see him like this, and Kang Hyun-Sung also appeared startled to see me.

Why did he tell others to not practice but went to practice by himself? A part of me thought he was cheating since we were going to get individually assessed in this round.

No, its ridiculous to count individual practice as cheating. It seemed I had a negative filter on whatever Kang Hyun-Sung did. Besides, I had come down to the basement to practice on my own too so I had no right to say this to anyone else.

As I stood awkwardly, Kang Hyun-Sung told me. If you are going to practice, go ahead. But if you arent going to, why dont you leave? He was telling me to stop standing still in one spot.

I'm going to practice. I couldnt go back after all this. Furthermore, if I just left without doing anything, I would become someone who escaped the scene because I was afraid of Kang Hyun-Sung. I didnt want that to happen at all costs.

Kang Hyun-Sung had been practicing with his earphones in his ears, but he asked me, Should I just turn on the speakers?

If I said yes to this, we would really have to practice together. Thus, I said, No, lets use our individual earphones.

Do as you wish.

Thus, I put some Bluetooth earphones into my ears and loosened up. This was our third-round song, "Never Mind". The song was edited and was now finished. I didnt know what kind of song producer Kang Hyun-Sung contacted, but the song was rearranged splendidly. The end of the third verse was especially well done and fulfilled my suggestion of putting the chorus on an infinite loop.

Of course, the loop wasnt actually infinite and repeated about five times before settling down slightly and disappearing altogether. All in all, I thought it was a great arrangement that captured both sentimental feelings and excitement.Diiscover new tories at nve/lbin(.)c/o

And as if the song producer knew that a song could sound bland if the same melody and lyrics just repeated again and again, there was a slight change of melody and lyrics in the looping chorus part. And thanks to that, it felt like a completely different song in the third verse.

If they know how to make lyrics of this level and rearrange the song like this, its someone who knows how to make a whole song by themselves. If I could, I almost wanted to ask Kang Hyun-Sung for the song producers number and contact them separately.

I warmed up while listening to the song and inspected each of my moves. Though I didnt want to admit it, Kang Hyun-Sungs practice methods and tips had helped me. It helped me liven up my dance moves and hone the details. Besides that, I learned how to control my breathing, have better control over where to put more or less force, reserve my stamina, and so on. By just observing him and learning his tips and pieces of advice, I felt my skills rise.

Though my dancing was almost perfect because I used the power of Insight, this ability wasnt a means to all problems. After learning about it a bit more, I realized that Insight allowed me to showcase the best performance I possibly could but nothing more. Thus, my dance moves were only able to become another level cleaner with Kang Hyun-Sungs guidance. Of course, the result of that was always mouth-dropping because it awakened my potential to the highest level, but it couldnt create talent that didnt exist.

And I cant beat a born genius. In other words, the Insight ability put me at the highest peak of skills that an ordinary person could reach by doing their best.

While I inspected my moves and followed the details that Kang Hyun-Sung taught me, Kang Hyun-Sung suddenly said, Mr. Tae-Yoon. Are you going to dance like that in that part?

Why?

Dont you think this is better? Kang Hyun-Sung asked and showed me what to do by example. The details were slightly different from the ones he taught me during practice.

I thought you told me to do this.

But that was when we were practicing in a group.

? What? Was he saying that our movements were supposed to change in a group and in an individual practice?

When we practiced in a group, I told you the smoothest and cleanest way to move. But I think its better to have details that match you individually as a person when practicing separately.

Are you supposed to differentiate between the two situations?

Why wouldnt you?

I see.

I changed my moves according to the direction Kang Hyun-Sung told me. My dance moves became obviously cleaner. How should I describe it? Before, it felt like I was wearing form-fitting clothes, but now, it felt as if I was wearing clothes that were perfectly tailored to me.

He really is a genius, I thought. Kang Hyun-Sung was someone who had already placed first in dancing in another show, Select Your Idol. Truthfully, one could say that his dancing skills were 90% of what made the current Kang Hyun-Sung. Like that, we practiced for a while longer and practiced quite a great deal. It was time to return now.

But what is this? I found myself competing against Kang Hyun-Sung on who could practice the longest. We didnt say anything to each other nor made any declaration to do that but agreed on it through silent signals.

This was like how cars implicitly got into a speeding contest when driving. From the moment our eyes met while practicing, I sensed a strange sense of competition from our exchange and atmosphere. I had originally planned to go back to bed before 11 p.m., but it was now 11:30 p.m. At this point, I could practice until the next day. But I didnt want to go back up like this. I wasnt the type to feel competitive like this, but I didnt want to lose today at all costs.

This is really infuriating. And that was how 12 a.m. arrived. And it soon became 12:30 am, then 1 am, and then, 1:30 am.

Hes so headstrong I thought I couldnt bear it any longer when Kang Hyun-Sung hung the towel around his neck and left the practice room first.

Good work, he said.

As expected, hard work always paid off. I lay on the ground with my arms and legs stretched out. Ha! What happened today? I picked a fight with Luminin and strained myself after feeling a strange competitive spirit against Kang Hyun-Sung. I wasnt usually the type to be swayed by my emotions this much.

But maybe its because of my hormones. It seemed I was getting influenced by my physical body since my body was nineteen, though my mind was twenty-four. I was at an age where hormones oozed out of me nonstop.

I should go up after five minutes, I thought. Since it would be awkward to meet Kang Hyun-Sung right after I went up, I decided to rest a bit. Five minutes later, I wiped my sweat with the towel and went up the stairs.

I planned to wash myself before sleeping when I suddenly thought, Maybe I should use the jacuzzi.

With all the sweat that I poured out, I wanted to soak myself in the warm water while feeling the cold air. I thought it would be a good change of mood and could clear up my mind. Thus, I changed into my swimming trunks and moved to the second floors veranda. I opened the door and went outside.

Ah.

Again?

I saw Kang Hyun-Sung soaking himself inside the jacuzzi with his swimwear. Though I used the jacuzzi with other members before, I had never seen Kang Hyun-Sung use that area. He had always gone to his room by himself, saying he didnt like these things.

I thought you said you didnt like jacuzzis.

Yet, he was enjoying the jacuzzi with the most relaxed face I had ever seen on him.

I just dont like other peoples bodies touching mine, he replied.

I laughed humorlessly because I was too baffled to respond, but I couldnt turn my feet since I also came here to relax.

Shaaa. Thus, I filled up another jacuzzi next to the one that Kang Hyun-Sung was using and went inside.

And that was how I had the most awkward time at the jacuzzi late at night.

Chapter end