Chapter 65: Between Spotlight and Silence

The bus, which had been running non-stop, soon parked its massive body in a small lot behind the indoor gymnasium.

The participants got off the bus and stood there blankly, staring up at the huge building for a long time.

A staff member busily moved around, pushing their backs to snap them out of it.

“Hurry inside!”

Following the staff’s instructions, they quickly entered.

Preparations were underway in a frenzy, several times more hectic than during the regular contests.

After all participants changed into the school uniforms prepared in the waiting room, attached their name tags, and put on their in-ears and headset microphones, the rehearsal began immediately.

“We’ll start with the group stage rehearsal for ‘Me and Me’!”

A staff member shouted loudly enough to echo through the waiting room and walked past them towards the passage leading below the stage.

Following quickly behind, they soon reached a dead-end space where a large lift device was installed in the center.

They climbed onto it, forming the characteristic triangular formation of ‘Me and Me’.

Soon, the chorus of ‘Me and Me’ began to blare, seemingly shaking the entire venue.

Just as they felt the floor beneath them rumble to the music, it slowly began to rise.

The lift ascended fully onto the protruding stage in the center of the venue and settled.

The lights that had been focused solely on the protruding stage instantly went dark, and after a moment, various lights directed at the stage began to shine.

At the same time, the intro of ‘Me and Me’ echoed loudly.

After meticulously checking the song, choreography, and the changing formations to the accompaniment, the trainers, who had arrived and were watching them from below at some point, raised their microphones and offered advice on various points.

After one more run-through of the stage rehearsal, they rode the lift back down.

Quickly retracing the passage they had walked earlier and returning to the waiting room, the costume change rehearsal also took place.

The ‘ALL Time’ team, who had to go on stage before them, started changing their clothes first.

During the costume change, a staff member monitoring the practice montage VCR to be broadcast intermittently checked the remaining time.

The ‘ALL Time’ team quickly changed their costumes and came out, and they entered the empty changing room to change theirs.

After re-adjusting their in-ears, headset microphones, and body packs, they came out.

Staff members immediately attached themselves to them, tidying up their outfits.

Meanwhile, the alarm for the VCR they had been monitoring earlier went off, and soon, through their in-ears, they heard the ‘ALL Time’ team’s rehearsal in progress.

Hurrying out of the waiting room at that, they quickly moved to the waiting area behind the main stage.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

A staff member standing in the passage leading to the stage pointed to a fluorescent sticker on the floor.

They stood in the pre-arranged order, designed for quick formation around the sticker, and waited.

Soon, Son Chae-i’s script introducing their team was recited in a staff member’s flat voice, and at the same time, the entrance signal came.

They went out to the stage at the signal and quickly formed their formation.

No sooner had they done so than the ment, presumably Son Chae-i’s, ended, and the accompaniment for their team’s mission song, ‘Time Killer’, began to play.

“Kids, we need to widen the formation!”

As their team finished the song and dance, Kwak Jinwoong immediately raised his microphone and shouted urgently.

Following his instruction, the entire team gradually widened the gaps in the formation and ran through the rehearsal again.

Despite this, Jinwoong still looked unsatisfied.

He eventually took out his phone, filmed their stage, came up onto the stage himself, quickly pointed out the parts needing correction, and then went back down.

Focusing on the formations Jinwoong had suggested, they did two more rehearsals.

Finally, the OK sign was given.

“Approximately 20 minutes remaining until the VCR playback ends.

Please change clothes quickly as time may be short!”

As they returned behind the stage after the rehearsal, a staff member urged them on.

They practically ran back to the waiting room, quickly changed into the ‘Wanna be your star’ outfits, and then returned to the waiting area behind the stage.

Once all participants gathered, a staff member standing on a fluorescent sticker called participants out one by one and began lining them up in order.

Saying they would enter like this and to remember the order, he stretched his neck to confirm he was standing in the eleventh spot from the front.

After waiting like that for a while, the entrance signal came again.

They entered in the order they had lined up, and each person took a position on the walkways of the three protruding stages extending from the main stage.

He, who had been eleventh, was placed at the very end of the right protruding stage.

As he looked around the audience seats, which felt quite close, the intro of ‘Wanna be your star’ suddenly began to play.

Only then did he snap to attention and focus on the song.

“I’ll be your star.”

As the song ended with Chae Han-ul’s part, Won Ju-ha pointed at a few participants and had them adjust the position of their hand microphones.

There were no other major issues, so they finished the rehearsal and went down below the stage.

They went to the waiting room, changed back into their first outfits, the school uniforms, and returned behind the stage.

This time, they were lined up according to the rankings from last week’s ranking announcement ceremony.

“Just go and stand on that low platform over there before the final VCR ends.”

The staff member’s hand pointed to a low, white platform installed at the far end of the left protruding stage.

Once they stood on that platform, the final ranking announcement would proceed.

“If your name is called, come out to the main stage, give your speech, and then go to the right to sit in the chair corresponding to your rank.”

With that, he bent his arm and pointed to the far end of the right protruding stage this time.

The familiar pyramid-shaped chairs were now only nine in number.

With that final look at those nine chairs, the last rehearsal was completely over.

***

Returning to the hallway with the waiting rooms, the participants began busily preparing for the stage.

He tidied the clothes he had used for the rehearsal and would use for the main stage in a few hours, then headed to the waiting room for makeup and hair.

“Jae-seo, are you all done?”

He waited for his turn, got his makeup and hair done, and as he stood up, Kim Jae-ho opened the waiting room door and asked him.

Nodding, he quickly left the waiting room.

All his team members, except him, were gathered in the hallway, ready.

“Let’s go over the formations Jinwoong ssam pointed out one more time.”

Answering that he understood, he found the empty spot in the already-formed formation and joined.

Checking the gaps between each other, they adjusted the formation, and finally, they checked the camera rehearsal footage and fine-tuned it further.

Once they had checked even the final formation, there was less than two hours left until the main performance, the live broadcast.

Checking the time, they all headed to the participant waiting room.

The moment they opened the door and entered, a strong smell of food wafted out.

Following the scent, he turned his head to see packaged lunch boxes and salads prepared on a table in one corner of the waiting room.

“Oh, the food is here.”

“Seeing the food suddenly made me really hungry.”

Come to think of it, it was already well past dinner time.

Belatedly clutching his stomach, he grabbed a lunch box or salad and, pulling chairs into a circle, they began to eat.

“Seo-hu hyung, aren’t you going to eat?”

Park Seo-hu, who answered Yoon Jae-hee’s question with a nod, just gulped down water.

“It’s going to end really late, won’t it be tough?”

Looking at Kim Jae-ho, who was frowning with concern, Seo-hu shook his head.

“I feel like if I eat anything now, my voice won’t come out.”

Kim Jae-ho nodded slowly, unable to force him to eat when he said his voice might not come out right before the contest.

He quietly focused on his own meal, and a brief silence fell.

“Ah, I’m getting nervous.”

Kim Woo-hyun suddenly broke the silence and spoke.

Yoon Jae-hee’s eyes widened.

“You get nervous even though you’ve debuted before?”

“Well, it’s a contest, not just any stage.”

At Kim Woo-hyun’s words, Lee Ha-jin laughed quietly, saying, “Why are you acting tough, you get nervous before music show stages too.”

The two bickered, asking why he was saying that in front of the kids, and the atmosphere lightened a bit.

After that, they finished their meal with light conversation.

Team members gathered the empty lunch boxes, took them to the trash, and returned to the waiting room.

Disposable toothbrushes and toothpaste were available on the table where the lunch boxes had been, so they each grabbed one and headed to the bathroom.

Just as he finished brushing his teeth and took out the lip makeup tool, a cotton-swab-like cosmetic item given by the makeup staff, Seo Jun-jae entered the bathroom, saw him, and burst out laughing.

“Can you do it?”

The sight of him holding the cosmetic tool to his mouth looked awkward even to him, but he was rather flustered that it was funny enough to make him laugh like that.

“Give it to me.”

He said give it to him, but practically snatched the small tool from Jae-seo’s hand and suddenly stepped closer.

Lightly tilting his chin up, Seo Jun-jae gently dabbed the tool over his lips.

Then he suddenly opened his mouth and started quietly, “Jae-seo.”

“I wish I could stay with you.”

Startled by the words, spoken carelessly like a mutter, his eyes widened.

At that moment, Seo Jun-jae said it was done and stepped back.

“I’ll go ahead then.”

Turning around, he left the bathroom.

Jae-seo stared blankly at his back.

…He wishes he could stay with me?

Seo Jun-jae’s parting words began to swim dizzily through his mind.

In a few hours, the final successful candidates for Please Take Care of My Idol would be decided, so maybe he meant he wanted to debut together and be in the same team.

He fervently hoped that was the answer, but a persistent, uncomfortable feeling remained.

…It seems there’s another answer.