Chapter 26: Finding His Rhythm

He spread out the tissue, pressed it firmly against his soaking wet hair to absorb the moisture, shook it out, and dried it just until it was no longer dripping.

Then he wiped his face and any remaining water from his clothes and left the bathroom.

When he returned to the practice room, Ha Jin-woo, who had been stretching and warming up, saw him and his mouth fell open.

“What the?

Where did that Sim Jae-seo from earlier go, and how did you come back as a perfectly normal Sim Jae-seo in just 10 minutes?”

Ha Jin-woo joked, asking if he really only washed his face and demanding to know his secret.

Behind him, Jae-seo could see Yoon Ji-heon letting out a sigh of relief.

It seemed his concern earlier about whether Jae-seo could manage practice had been quite sincere.

Come to think of it, that made sense—hadn’t he suffered tremendous damage from the nuisance caused by his own team members before?

Of course, Jae-seo hadn’t committed anything like drunk driving or school violence, but he did feel a tiny bit sorry.

He should have pulled himself together before everyone arrived.

Feeling a twinge of guilt for no reason, he resolved to focus properly and work even harder at today’s practice.

***

Throughout the morning, they reviewed the choreography they’d completed yesterday, gradually adding details, and repeatedly practiced the parts where individuals were lacking.

Time flew by, and soon it was lunchtime.

Leaving behind his teammates who suggested they go down to the cafeteria together, he remained alone in the practice room.

Giving up a meal because he was sleepy—this was something he’d never experienced in his life, and even he was surprised at himself.

He leaned against the wall and sat down, and no sooner had his eyelids lowered than sleep overtook him.

In his drowsy state, he felt something approaching nearby, but he was too overwhelmed by the crashing wave of sleepiness to open his eyes and check.

He plunged into sleep in an instant, and his consciousness gradually grew hazy.

The next moment, his distant consciousness returned, and through his dimly opening vision, he saw the practice room ceiling.

…What?

I thought I fell asleep sitting down?

And then the next moment, he realized something was supporting his head, which was now lying down.

Something firm and thick in height…

What is this?

The moment he turned his head to identify what it was, his hazy mind became instantly clear.

What was supporting his head was a person’s thigh.

“You still have time.

You can sleep more.”

And it was Yeo Hyun-tae’s.

Too shocked to even think about getting up, he just blinked his eyes.

Yeo Hyun-tae spread his palm over Jae-seo’s face, blocking the pouring light from above.

“You said you didn’t sleep well yesterday?

I thought maybe I made you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s not that at all!”

At Yeo Hyun-tae’s question about whether it was his fault, Jae-seo finally realized his mistake and sat up abruptly.

Of course, since Yeo Hyun-tae was one of those targets in this perverted game and his favorability was quite high, Jae-seo couldn’t say Yeo Hyun-tae was completely blameless from his perspective, but when you thought about it, wasn’t Yeo Hyun-tae actually the victim?

The price for kindly bringing underwear—of all things—that his stupid teammate had left behind all the way to the changing room was that embarrassing scene…

Yet despite that, Jae-seo had acted like the only victim, being all sensitive, and Yeo Hyun-tae was worried that he might have caused Jae-seo to lose sleep.

One of the shouts from the numerous selves that had been fiercely fighting in his head last night came to mind.

At least it was Hyun-tae—thank goodness.

It was true.

Yeo Hyun-tae really was, truly, too kind and too good of a person.

If only he weren’t one of Jae-seo’s target candidates in this 19+ game.

“Um, anyway, thank you.

And I’m sorry too.”

Deciding not to unnecessarily bring up yesterday’s uncomfortable incident, he spoke while glancing sideways at the thigh that had been his pillow just moments ago.

Yeo Hyun-tae smiled faintly and shook his head.

“It’s fine.

If you’re tired, you can lie down more.”

“No, no.

It’s okay.”

Now that he was fully awake, why would he make things uncomfortable…?

Besides, just closing his eyes for a bit had already relieved much of his fatigue.

With the sleepiness somewhat abated, the lunch he had given up earlier began to beckon before his eyes.

“Did you eat lunch?”

Yeo Hyun-tae hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

Just as he thought—the presence he’d vaguely sensed before falling asleep had indeed been Yeo Hyun-tae.

He must have missed lunch because he kept supporting Jae-seo’s head.

If that was the case, there was only one thing to do.

“Let’s go to the cafeteria now, even if it’s late.”

***

Not long after he came back up from having lunch with Yeo Hyun-tae, the afternoon training began.

Vocal trainer Won Ju-ha and rap trainer Jace entered the practice room and sat on chairs arranged in one corner.

Won Ju-ha scanned us, standing in a row before them, and let out a “Wow” of admiration.

“This team’s lineup is amazing.”

“Right.”

Jace openly stared only at Lee Chan-seo, his eyes gleaming.

“This is serious.

Just looking at the member combination already raises expectations.

You guys really need to do well.

Well then, shall we listen to the song once?”

When Won Ju-ha looked toward the staff, the accompaniment for ‘July Snow’ immediately began playing.

The fact that his part, which would come right after the intro currently playing, was the very first line of this song brought a fresh wave of tension.

He swallowed dryly once, and by the time he did, the intro was almost over.

He opened his mouth in time with the beat where the intro ended.

Won Ju-ha listened to the three-minute and thirteen-second song while maintaining an expressionless face, and even after the song ended, she remained silent for a moment.

At this, even Jace glanced at her sideways, and they all looked at each other, trying to read the situation.

Just as the atmosphere in the practice room seemed about to sink heavily, Won Ju-ha’s lips curled up into a smile.

“You did well.

The parts are divided appropriately too.”

Contrary to their worries, receiving positive reviews, Ha Jin-woo, standing next to him, let out a small sigh of relief.

When Won Ju-ha turned her head and asked, “What about you, Teacher Jace?”

Jace, who seemed to have been just as nervous as them, stumbled for a moment before pouring out praise as if rapping.

“Ah, the rappers were really good.

Trainee Lee Chan-seo did so well during the agency evaluation that I had high expectations, but he did even better than I expected.

And Trainee Yeo Hyun-tae?

I think this is my first time hearing him rap, but he’s good.

Good tone, clean diction, good rhythm.

Ah, you did your own rap making, right?”

“Yes, we each did our own parts.”

Jace nodded emphatically at Yeo Hyun-tae’s answer, then raised both hands and stuck up his thumbs.

At what might be the highest praise in Please Take Care of My Idol’s history of rap part evaluations, even Won Ju-ha looked surprised, letting out an “Oh!” and looking at Yeo Hyun-tae and Lee Chan-seo.

“Wow, our vocalists can’t lose either.”

Won Ju-ha, who had chuckled and spoken playfully, shifted her gaze to Lee Woo-rim and Seo Jun-jae.

“First of all, everyone did well.

Especially Woo-rim and Jun-jae—you were very stable and clean with the high notes.

But I think you two need to coordinate the ad-libs at the end to some extent.

Let’s have you two work on that first, and I’ll listen to it next time.”

And next….

Trailing off, Won Ju-ha turned her head, and her gaze stopped at Jae-seo.

“Having Jae-seo do the intro was a really good choice.

The focus really increases at the beginning.”

“Thank you.”

“But instead, it feels a bit stiff compared to the song’s mood?

I think it would be good if you sang with more dynamic contrast.”

Then Won Ju-ha sang his intro part to demonstrate.

When he tried to follow along as closely as possible, Won Ju-ha’s eyes widened and she nodded.

“Right!

Make the weak parts there even weaker than now.”

Following Won Ju-ha’s instructions, refining it as he went, he sang it four more times until finally the OK sign came down.

“Remember what you just did.

Shall we try singing the later parts too?”

Applying the dynamic contrast as he had just done, he sang through his parts consecutively.

Won Ju-ha intermittently interjected, pointing out parts that needed correction.

As he repeated the process of modification and sang multiple times, at some point, he suddenly felt like he understood what kind of feeling he should sing with.

When he sang once applying that feeling, Won Ju-ha beamed brightly and clapped her hands with a sharp smack.

“That’s it.

Jae-seo, practice like this.

You did well.”

“Thank you.”

Won Ju-ha, who had smiled at him with satisfaction, soon shifted her gaze to Ha Jin-woo and continued the training.

***

After the training ended, they decided to have individual practice time to review what they’d learned in the lesson, and Jae-seo headed for the vocal practice room first.

Or rather, more accurately, he was dragged there by Lee Woo-rim and Chae Han-ul.

Of course, since he had intended to practice anyway, he followed them into the room without resistance.

While he repeatedly sang his parts, focusing on the dynamic contrast Won Ju-ha had given him as homework, Lee Woo-rim pointed out parts that seemed awkward and offered advice, which was quite helpful.

After the three of them had been cooped up in the small vocal practice room for a long time, just singing, his throat hurt and he started feeling stifled, so he stood up.

“Hyung, where are you going?”

“I need to practice dance too.

We have to show the teacher tomorrow.”

Saying they’d go practice too, the two immediately followed, attaching themselves to his arms as he returned to their team’s practice room.

Standing before the empty wall with the mirror in front, he began dancing the choreography from start to finish, but some movements just wouldn’t take shape properly.

One of them was a move where you bend your left arm and wrist at a right angle, but his elbow kept sticking outward, no matter what he did, it looked awkward.

No matter how much he tried to bend it, his arm only got sore without any improvement.

He was just staring intently at his arm reflected in the mirror when—

“Want me to help you a bit?”