The title song of Season 1 echoes through the ceiling speakers.
– jump in! jump in! I’m falling for you! –
I woke up to the loud music.
‘What time is it…’
I instinctively reached for my phone, but there was nothing there.
‘Oh, right. They took my phone yesterday.’
I sat up and looked at the clock hanging in the corner of the dorm room.
2 PM.
I went to bed at 10 AM, so I had only slept for 4 hours.
22 hours of recording and only 4 hours of sleep.
Of course, the production staff is suffering just as much, so I can’t complain.
The production staff’s voice interrupts the Season 1 title song.
– Contestants, please wake up quickly and gather in the auditorium through the main entrance by 3 PM! –
Ha…
I need to wash up and get ready.
As I stepped down from the bed and opened the bathroom door, Hana Unni was in the middle of taking off her top.
I forgot to knock.
I quickly closed the door and said,
“I didn’t know you were using it. I’m sorry.”
I didn’t expect her to be up and washing already.
Hana Unni’s voice came from inside the bathroom.
“Oh, it’s fine~ I forgot to lock the door!”
“I’ll remember to knock next time, Unni.”
“Okay~”
But honestly, Hana Unni’s midsection is surprisingly impressive.
Is that a C? Or maybe a snug B?
My next goal, after surpassing Mom, is right there.
I stepped outside, washed my face in the shared bathroom, and returned to my room.
It seemed Hana Unni was still showering.
To shower at such a tiring hour, her stamina is impressive.
On the other hand, two people were still sleeping.
I approached Kim Se-yeon first and shook her.
“Se-yeon Unni, wake up. We have to be ready by 3 PM.”
Se-yeon Unni barely opened her eyes.
“Huh…? Oh, yeah.”
Now it’s Eun Se-ra’s turn.
She was sleeping while eating her own hair.
I approached Eun Se-ra and touched her, causing her to wake up with a start.
Whoa, that scared me.
“Are you awake? We need to get ready to go…”
“Ah…”
She looked around and stared at me intently.
What is it…
“Thank you…”
*
Once I finished getting ready and entered the auditorium, trainees were lined up by rank.
In the front row stood Seo-yoon Unni and Kim Na-eun Unni, wearing shirts with a big 1 on them.
So the tier 1s are in the front row.
I squeezed between them and stood.
“Look who’s here, the pretty one~”
Seo-yoon Unni replied in a monotone.
“Oh.”
In contrast, Na-eun Unni smiled warmly and said,
“When did our Do-hee start wearing makeup?”
Everyone in the room was doing it, so I couldn’t just not.
Though it was just basic skincare with sunscreen and the tint that Seo-yoon Unni gave me.
“How about it? Am I pretty?”
“Yes, you’re totally pretty.”
“You’re so pretty!”
Na-eun Unni is really nice, you know.
I glared at Seo-yoon Unni.
“What are you looking at?”
As all the trainees gathered in the auditorium, the trainers came up to the stage.
“Alright everyone, starting today we’ll kick off the practice for the title track ‘Fell in Love’, okay?”
“Yes~”
Dance trainer Ko Yoon-jeong stepped out to the center of the stage.
“Before we start with the grade-level classes, let’s first learn the choreography together.”
On the front screen of the auditorium, the dance video for ‘Fell in Love’ that we watched yesterday started playing.
Teacher Yoon-jeong briefly explained the choreography in segments.
After about two hours of group learning, the trainees had a meal and then moved to their respective grade-level classrooms.
The 1st tier classroom was on the top floor.
Just because it’s the 1st tier and on the top floor…
It’s just tiring to climb the stairs with no real merit.
In fact, the bottom floor is better.
The first lesson in the 1st tier class was another dance lesson.
Of course, it was nice to review the choreography we memorized over the last two hours right away.
We entered the classroom and practiced while going over the choreography until the dance trainer arrived.
I wonder which of the three dance trainers will come.
“Hey guys, hello!”
It was the only male dance trainer, Kang Moon-ho.
Like the others, he was a famous choreographer specializing in K-Pop idols.
“Hello~”
“Okay, so this is the 1st tier class, right? I see a lot of promising faces here. Let’s get started!”
As the music began…
– Your gaze on me is electrifying (electrifying) –
Most of the 1st tier trainees managed to follow all the choreography.
Of course, there were a few who went wrong, but we were still early in the process.
Teacher Moon-ho seemed pleased.
“Okay, you guys are really good.”
“Thank you!”
“Everyone’s catching on to the choreography really quickly, even though we haven’t practiced long.”
“Hmm… How about we split into groups and give it a shot? My dorm rooms are 1-1 and 1-2, so everyone come out.”
Seven of us, including me, stepped forward.
“Alright, let’s start from the intro part again.”
“One~ Two, one~ Two, three, four.”
The seven of us danced in time with Moon-ho’s voice.
“Okay, stop, stop. Overall, the movements are too strong. Make it a bit cuter and sweeter. You know what I mean by softer, right?”
“Yes~”
“Okay, again, one and two and three and four.”
“Boys and girls, cute.”
“Cute! Make it cute! Everyone stop.”
Moon-ho, sounding annoyed, cut the song and pointed at me.
“Do-hee, come to the center.”
Ah.
I stepped to the middle.
“Do-hee, you’re the youngest in the 1st tier class, right?”
“Yes…”
“But is that correct? Do it solo again.”
Ah…
I had no choice but to relax this time and dance as femininely as possible.
“I danced.”
“Yeah, Do-hee! That’s it. It’s so cute!”
“It’s a compliment, but it feels sad.”
“Thank you…”
“Okay, shall we all go with this cuteness?”
After two hours of dance training, we were given a 10-minute break before the next class. However, most of us just went to the restroom and began warming up our voices, practicing songs for the upcoming vocal lesson.
Suddenly, our candidate vocal trainer, singer Sua, walked in.
“Hello!”
“Did you all just sing? Love the passion~ Awesome.”
Teacher Sua sat in front of the piano placed in the middle of the room with a big smile.
“Alright, since there are only a few numbers here, let’s have one person come out and sing. Who wants to go first?”
While everyone hesitated, trainee Jung Eun-ah raised her hand.
“I’ll go first!”
“Okay, love the spirit.”
Eun-ah got her throat ready and started to sing. As someone who came out confidently, her skills were excellent.
But.
“Jung Eun-ah trainee.”
Teacher Sua’s tone was displeased.
“Yes…”
“Do you realize it just flows flat? By the chorus, it should be getting more exciting, but there’s no thrilling vibe at all.”
After her, the other trainees who went up were all top-tier, but.
“Jeon Ha-rang trainee, you’re not putting in enough effort. Is that the Haru Enter style? That’s not a Haru style. It just seems lazy.”
“Hana, why aren’t you going up with your real voice, not your falsetto? If you’re that scared in practice, what are you going to do on stage?”
“I don’t understand how Gong Chae-rin trainee is top-tier. Just because you’re a rapper doesn’t mean you can’t sing. Which idol these days can’t sing just because they’re a rapper? Idols are all-around entertainers. What can’t they do?”
“Yoo Ye-rin trainee, you’re just off-key.”
“Kim Na-eun trainee, try to sing with the mood of the song a bit more, okay? Let’s have some fun.”
Contrary to the image of being kind, the criticisms coming from Teacher Sua were harsh.
Yet, a few received praise.
“Oh, Seo-yoon sounds really good. It fits perfectly with the song.”
“Hyun showed that the basics aren’t finished… but the voice is nice. Let’s work a bit harder.”
“Wow… there’s a reason they call her the top candidate. There’s a reason for Eun Se-ra’s name being mentioned.”
And then it was my turn.
I started singing.
In the middle of my song, Teacher Sua interrupted me.
“Do-hee, do you want to play the piano while you sing?”
“Ah, okay.”
I sat at the piano where the teacher made space for me and began to sing.
After finishing my song, Teacher Sua spoke.
“Good job. Yeah, the rhythm, pitch, and atmosphere are all good, but… do you know why I wanted to hear you sing while playing the piano?”
“Uh, no…”
“I was curious whether it was you not hitting the points or if it was the tone not matching up.
“But the conclusion is that the tone doesn’t match.”
“It’s clear that you know all the points when you play the piano. You have the musicality of a genius, that’s for sure. Since the piano is set, the tone comes alive immediately.”
“Ultimately, the roughness of the tone is the problem.”
“You need to think about how to fix that tone yourself, Do-hee. Got it? Whether to enhance it or change it completely, understood?”
“Yes…”
“Right. Of course, I’ve said this, but overall your skills are good. You’re charming. Still, let’s try a bit harder.”
Ah.
What’s the problem?
I can’t blame genetics; Mom and Do-ah have pretty voices too.
*
Day 2 of practice.
After finishing my vocal, dance, and self-study lessons, I had free time before bed.
Instead of resting, I headed to the large practice room with vocal rooms to practice.
The large practice room had five vocal rooms.
With 99 trainees, the number of vocal rooms was woefully insufficient.
Unless it was free time, it was almost impossible to use them.
Of course, I could practice outside, but still, a vocal room would be better.
When I arrived at the large practice room, all five vocal rooms had their lights on.
Wow… Everyone’s practicing like this?
Honestly, I felt proud of myself for practicing without taking a break.
Is this the basic level of dedication?
Sigh, I guess I’ll just dance while waiting.
After practicing dance by the mirror for 30 minutes.
No one came out of the vocal rooms.
Just to check, I approached a vocal room and pressed my ear against the door, but most of the vocal rooms were silent.
What’s going on? Is the light being on a mistake?
I opened the door to one vocal room.
As soon as I opened the door, a startled trainee jumped up.
“What are you doing here?”
The seated trainee stood up with an apologetic expression.
“Ah… I’m sorry, you need to use the vocal room, right? I was so tired that I just sat down for a moment and ended up falling asleep…”
Well, memorizing a song in three days isn’t easy.
So the production staff decided not to extend the schedule but to cut down on sleep.
Yesterday, after 22 hours of filming, I got up after 4 hours of sleep to practice.
Today, I got up after just 3 hours of sleep to practice.
With a tight schedule, I couldn’t not feel tired.
“It’s free time now, so you can go back to the dorm and rest.”
“Ah… yes, thank you. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay. Hang in there.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
The trainee apologized again before leaving the vocal room.
Sigh… Suddenly, I feel really tired too.
Should I just sleep?
Thinking for a moment, I went back to practicing singing instead.
I know it might be more efficient to just sleep and practice later.
But it seems that practice has become an obsession for me.
On holidays, I sleep twice as well.
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