Seha's reluctance to perform a Nexus song wasn't solely due to the debut group's history. Nexus was an active top-tier group.
Attempting a half-baked cover would only earn the wrath of their massive fanbase.
If we have one more A-grade member, I might have tried to make it work.
Personal feelings aside, Nexus's songs were suitable for the competition. If the team had a more balanced composition, Seha wouldn't have opposed it so strongly. However, his group consisted of one B-grade member, two C-grade members, and one D-grade member. With such a mediocre skill distribution, choosing a different song seemed like the better option.
Seha meticulously explained his reasoning, pointing out that ON Entertainment was brimming with legendary artists from the first generation to the current era, and even suggested alternative tracks.
The response remained cold. Seha looked at Minhyung, a D-grade member. When their eyes met, Minhyung quickly averted his gaze and slowly moved his lips.
"Um, Seha-hyung..."
"Yeah? What do you think, Minhyung?"
"Well... I still think Youngjae-hyung's opinion is right."
After speaking, Minhyung glanced nervously at Youngjae, the eldest member. Youngjae, now emboldened, gestured for Minhyung to continue.
"Unlike you, Hyung, we're all in the lower-middle tier."
"...So you're saying we should choose a Nexus song?"
"There's a saying: 'Better to be hated than ignored.' You might not understand, Hyung, but everyone else probably wants attention, even if it's negative."
After just a few exchanges, Seha felt suffocated. The pressure intensified as his teammates continued to isolate him, despite being on the same team.
Throughout the discussion, C-grade Im Junhyun, who had been mostly silent, chimed in to support his teammates.
"Seha can teach us, right? Or am I wrong?"
"...What?"
"Since you were in ON and even made it to the debut group, you must have practiced Nexus's songs a lot, right?"
Even in a team competition, memorizing the choreography and preparing the song were individual responsibilities. Moreover, they haven't even started practicing yet, but they were already acting like they'd handed the coaching duties over to him. Seha squeezed his eyes shut.
To make matters worse, C-grade Jinwoo, who was observing the situation, joined in.
"Is Seha uncomfortable?"
"It's not that."
"My roommate was A-grade too, at least during the first round. But I heard you taught Woo Jei well over there."
"Why are you suddenly bringing up Jei?"
"No, I just wondered if you're picky about people. You're not, right?"
Seha clamped his mouth shut at the manipulative tone. He was clenching so hard his lips hurt.
"Alright, if Seha agrees, it's unanimous! We'll cover Nexus!"
Youngjae stood up, looking pleased, and gave Seha's shoulder a light tap. Seha couldn't afford to alienate his teammates, and with all four of them being so stubborn, there was no point in arguing.
"Then let's do as Youngjae-hyung says."
"As expected of someone in the top tier!"
Seha reluctantly nodded, and a wave of forced enthusiasm followed.
This is bad.
They say the beginning is half the battle, but it felt like they'd already blown it from the start.
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<Team ON> Team A's discussion concluded with the decision to cover Nexus's second mini-album title track, X_X (Love is a virus).
Nexus, who debuted with a refreshing concept, attempted this conceptual track after securing a solid fanbase. Surprisingly, it became the peak of their career. Despite its somewhat unusual title, it's a masterpiece with a great rock sound, so in the idol scene it was called "X-Underbar-X," or simply "X-Nexus" for short.
The song is a bit dark, but...
This was a song Seha had practiced at ON Entertainment before leaving the company.
Having been cut from Nexus's debut lineup for not fitting the group's image, Seha had trained relentlessly, performing the song thousands of times to prepare for the next debut selection process and prove that he could handle any concept.
I'm confident.
It would take quite a while to oversee the entire team, but at least he could handle his own part for now. Seha nodded slightly and changed the subject.
"Youngjae-hyung is the leader, right?"
"Huh?"
Youngjae looked genuinely surprised, as if asking, "What are you talking about?" He gestured with his chin toward Seha, who had asked the question.
"The A-grade should be the leader. That way, they'll look favorably upon us, right?"
"Ah..."
"Seha, don't you want to be the leader?"
Seha felt increasingly pressured to make a choice, which he disliked. It was obvious Youngjae was trying to use him as a shield.
However, the cameras were already rolling in the practice room. Showing any discomfort here will be caught. Seha, thinking hard, scanned the remaining team members and said, "If no one else volunteers, I'll do it."
"Okay!"
As if he had been waiting for the opportunity, Youngjae swiftly changed the topic and unfolded the printed sheet music. It listed the positions to be assigned: Main Vocal, Sub-Vocal 1, Sub-Vocal 2, Main Rapper, and Sub-Rapper. Seha naturally aimed for the Main Vocal role.
Covering Nexus, a group praised for both their visuals and talent, required exceptional singing ability. Moreover, their cover song, "X_X," was notoriously difficult to perform. Among the team's vocalists, only Seha possessed the skill to handle the Main Vocal part with confidence.
"Should we decide on the Main Vocal first?"
"I guess it has to be Seha-hyung..."
Fortunately, everyone unanimously nominated Seha. The remaining positions were assigned smoothly: Yoo Minhyung as Main Rapper, Im Junhyun as Sub-Vocal 1, Yoon Youngjae as Sub-Vocal 2, and Park Jinwoo as Sub-Rapper.
Why does this feel so strangely off?
Seha finally secured the position he wanted, but something felt unsettling. His teammate isn't the type to give up his role so easily...
Forcing down his unease, Seha tried to convince himself he was overthinking things. Just then, Youngjae, who was quietly studying the lyrics, raised his hand. He spoke casually, as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Ah, but..."
"Seha, about the chorus in your main vocal part... Hyung wants to sing it."
"What do you mean?"
"Sub-vocal 2 doesn't have many lines, right? If Hyung takes the chorus, at least I'll have a memorable part."
Seha was too stunned to speak. So that's why he gave up the main vocal position, including the chorus, so easily—he'd been setting this up all along.
"I don't have many lines either if you take that part," Seha protested.
"Even if Seha doesn't take this part, the fans will still focus on watching you."
This time, Seha couldn't back down. Apart from a few short lines, the main vocalist's part consisted entirely of the chorus and the high notes at the end. Asking Seha to give up the chorus was essentially telling him to be nothing more than a high-note shuttle.
"Fine, then. If you really want it, I guess I have no choice..."
Yoon Youngjae clicked his tongue, sounding genuinely disappointed. It was an uncharacteristically pitiful tone.
Ah, this is going to be edited badly.
Yoon Youngjae's retreat, feigning defeat, planted a flag for "devil's editing." Normally, top-ranked trainees would be portrayed as being harassed by those in the middle and lower tiers. But Seha was in a unique position as an independent participant—a contestant with no backing, whom the production team could eliminate at any time if he became inconvenient.
For some reason, he felt deeply uneasy.
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With the atmosphere heavy and subdued, Team A began learning the choreography for "X_X" in earnest. Seha, who pretty much memorized the entire routine, took on the role of teaching the others.
The center position was supposed to be decided on the second day through team member evaluations, but judging by how things were going, it seemed likely to be Yoon Youngjae, not Seha. The teammates were clearly more concerned on pleasing Yoon Youngjae, a trainee from a mid-sized, well-known agency, than of Seha, an independent participant.
If I take the center position here, I'll just be feeding the production team exactly what they want.
Seha had long abandoned any ambition for the center spot. Having already secured the main vocalist position and refused to yield the chorus part to Youngjae, pushing further would only make him a target of public resentment. But...
I just don't see anyone who's center material.
A center should at least have charisma, but this... He was trying to wink in the middle of a song with a dark, melancholic vibe. He was even attempting ad-libs even though he hadn't fully memorized the choreography.
"Phew, that was a lot. Should we call it a day for practice?"
"Woo-hoo, freedom!"
Objectively speaking, Seha was the most skilled member, but he also practiced the most and for the longest hours. The balance was off.
"...I'll stay a bit longer and finish up."
Seha wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and watched his teammates rush out of the practice room without a single goodbye.
[I know you're the poison]
[So come to me and kiss me]
The song echoed through the empty practice room, now only occupied by Seha. Even singing the song without dancing was challenging, yet the members seemed to have chosen it without considering the vocal difficulty. The future looked bleak.
Grumble. As his thoughts deepened, his stomach began to growl.
I'll just have a throat lozenge and keep going.
Seha rummaged through his pockets. The throat lozenges he always carried were nowhere to be found. He suddenly remembered leaving them at the dorm.
After setting down the lyrics and music sheet, Seha let out a deep sigh and stepped out of the practice room. After walking back to the dorm to grab the lozenges, he paused abruptly as he turned to return to the practice room.
The team members, whom he thought had dispersed after practice, were gathered in the hallway connected to the practice room. They hadn't been there when he left for the dorm, it seemed they'd settled there when he was chatting briefly with Woo Jie while searching for the throat lozenges. He overheard snippets of their conversation.
"I can say this since there are no cameras here, that guy looks so innocent, but he's ridiculously greedy, right?"
"No wonder he got dropped from the debut group. His personality must be pretty flawed."
"Still, since we're united, Nexus' song was chosen."
The entire team snickered at Seha for choosing a song by a group where he got eliminated from the debut lineup.
Ah... He must think he owns the hallway.
To reach the practice room, Seha had to either pass through this hallway or take a long detour. He hesitated at the crossroads, torn between forcing his way through and enduring the awkwardness, or taking the detour and making things even more uncomfortable for himself. Neither option offered him any advantage.
I should have just skipped getting the throat lozenges.
He regretted his decision from fifteen minutes ago. In the end, Seha chose to take the long way around. It was better to suffer alone.
As he turned sharply and took a few steps, Yoon Youngjae and the other team members' voices suddenly cut off. And then...
"Did I came out here just to see this?"
It wasn't the voices that I didn't want to hear...
"Chewing someone out isn't something to brag about, yet you're being unnecessarily loud."
It was Dohyuk's voice. It was impossible to tell how long he'd been listening, but his tone was more sarcastic than usual. He heard that Dohyuk was relatively friendly to the other trainees, except for Seha, on the outside. Perhaps that's why Yoon Youngjae and the rest of the team members all seemed flustered by Dohyuk's unusual attitude.
"If it were me, I wouldn't waste time needlessly criticizing others."
"S-Senior..."
"Wouldn't improving your skills through practice be a better way to humiliate someone you despise?"
Dohyuk continued without giving a chance to explain.
"Don't get upset. Mark my words. This is part of an assistant's duty."
With that, Dohyuk strode past Yoon Youngjae's group. As he crossed the hallway with his long legs, he spotted Seha hiding behind the wall and paused.
"...What are you doing there, you little rat?"
His cold expression momentarily faltered before snapping back into place.
"I didn't do this for your sake, hyung. Just so you know."
Even hearing those words, Seha still felt a surge of relief and gratitude in that moment.
A strange warmth bloomed in his chest. Witnessing his ex-boyfriend, who usually bristled with hostility toward him, now defending him from behind, left him feeling strangely moved.
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