After all the trainees' level evaluations were over, before we moved to the dorms, we got to check out the theme song for .
", the long-awaited theme song is… 'Look.'"
"Look" was a fast, rhythmic track with a catchy hook and choreography that was ornate, detailed—and powerful.
"As expected, the difficulty is still insane…"
The choreography for "Look" was crammed with moves on every beat. I could see the trainees who'd checked it looking uneasy. It was hard, and above all, it was obvious memorizing it wouldn't be easy.
"Starting tomorrow, you'll practice the choreography for five days, and on the sixth day you'll take a new grade evaluation based on the theme song."
The MC added that stage positions would be divided according to the newly assigned grades. Of course, camera time and placement would all vary by grade.
"With the theme song 'Look,' you'll be performing on A-Net's music program 'Music A.' Since it's the first stage where you'll approach the Idol Makers who'll cast their precious votes for you, please do your very best."
At the MC's words, the trainees nodded with tense eyes. Everyone was exhausted from the long hours of filming, but hearing about the high-difficulty theme song and the first chance to catch viewers' attention seemed to snap them all awake at once.
With that stiff atmosphere still hanging in the air, once all filming wrapped, we headed to the dormitory set apart from the studio.
The dorm was a facility usually used for corporate training retreats. Accordingly, it had numerous rooms where we could practice and a separate auditorium large enough to gather all the trainees in one place.
Before room assignments, we first gathered in the big auditorium for a brief explanation of the schedule going forward. By then, it was already well past midnight.
"During the dorm stay, four trainees will share a room. Once assigned, rooms will remain fixed through the theme song and the first mission. For today, go to sleep first, and please gather in the auditorium at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Breakfast time starts at 7."
The staff looked every bit as tired as any office worker. They didn't drag things out—just gave a short notice, then handed out cards to the trainees with their assigned room numbers.
"My room is… 102."
I took the card and let out a sigh of relief. First floor—thank goodness. If they'd made me climb stairs in this state, I would've actually died.
Pushing through trainees scattering in every direction, I headed toward the guest rooms and went into 102, tucked away in a corner of the first floor. No one was inside yet.
Without waiting for my roommates, I shoved my suitcase into a locker and made straight for a bed. If I'd managed to arrive early, I might as well claim a bed first.
And then I tried lying down on the top bunk.
"Won Yu-ha… hyung? Trainee? Wake up!"
…When I opened my eyes, it was morning.
"…What? What happened?"
I blinked around blankly with a dazed face. The room that had been pitch black when I came in was now brightly lit, and next to my bed a trainee I didn't know was smiling at me.
"You must've been really tired yesterday! I thought I was getting here early too, but you were already asleep on one side of the top bunk so I didn't even get to say hi. You were sleeping like the dead—you must've been exhausted."
"…Uh… yes."
"I woke you because I thought it'd be nice if we roommates grabbed breakfast together before assembly. Want to come?"
"…Let me just wash up first."
I rolled out of bed, hair a mess, and headed straight to the bathroom. The face in the mirror was a wreck.
…Fair enough.
I'd crashed without even removing my stage makeup properly or brushing my teeth. My physical-stamina stat being a D was apparently even more pathetic than I thought.
I used the provided cleansing foam to wash my face, ran water through my hair, brushed my teeth, then towel-dried and stepped back out.
Only then, with a clearer head, did I face the roommates I'd be sharing a room with during the dorm period up through the first team battle.
"Sorry for the late introduction. I'm Won Yu-ha from KRM."
When I bowed first, the trainee who'd woken me up flashed another bright smile and returned the greeting.
"I'm Cheon Se-rim from Garam Entertainment~! Please take care of me!"
The contestant who introduced himself as Cheon Se-rim had sharp yet pretty features. His slightly fox-like eyes curved lightly; overall he had a face that gave off a bit of a street vibe but also looked like he'd get along anywhere—like a guy with a very likable personality.
"Let's get along well during the dorm stay!"
I nodded at Cheon Se-rim's words and thought:
He's not the quiet type.
He seems like the kind to deploy social skills in all directions. You could feel the built-in, high-octane energy.
"Hello. I'm Joo Dan-woo from Seez Label."
Next to introduce himself was a trainee with a rather striking look.
His agency, Seez Label, was a hip-hop label with many strong-concept rappers, and Joo Dan-woo definitely had the vibe they'd favor.
With bold, glamorous features, thick brows, and big eyes, his well-defined face made a strong impression. At first glance he looked flashy yet cold, like someone hard to approach.
But judging by how few words he spoke and how calm his expression was, his personality seemed the exact opposite of his intense look. In my experience, guys whose eyes don't carry much force often have a gentle temperament, so he probably wouldn't cause trouble during the dorms.
And the last trainee was—
"You remember my name, right?"
Aiden Lee, the one who'd been showing me odd interest since yesterday.
"Let's get along."
Seeing him grin so familiarly, I had a strong feeling that dorm life with Cheon Se-rim, Joo Dan-woo, and Aiden Lee wasn't going to be quiet.
"You're twenty too? Let's drop honorifics."
As soon as I said my age, Aiden Lee shot that out. Even at my lukewarm reaction, he kept pushing like our chemistry was great—seemed like a guy with very little sense for reading the room.
"I'm nineteen. I'm an early-year baby, so my friends are all twenty though."
"Then you can speak casually to us too."
Who are you to decide that?
"Hyung, that might fly at school, but we met in the workplace. I'm not trying to become a genealogy breaker~."
In response to Aiden Lee—who'd come from England and probably wasn't used to Korea's age hierarchy—Cheon Se-rim replied with smooth cheekiness. Then he struck up a conversation with Joo Dan-woo, who'd been quietly eating breakfast.
"Trainee Joo Dan-woo, you're… hyung, right?"
"Twenty-two… I am."
"Then you're the oldest in our room! Please feel free to drop honorifics, hyung! Ah, can I call you hyung?"
"…Yeah. Please take care of me."
Joo Dan-woo dipped his head again as he said it. At his polite manner, Cheon Se-rim grinned.
"Hyung, you must really have a good personality."
I'm pretty sure that wasn't just me hearing it as, "So you're easier to handle than I thought."
I averted my eyes and focused on the food on my tray. While the others chatted (mostly Cheon Se-rim and Aiden Lee), I kept shoveling food and managed to finish much faster than the three of them.
With an empty tray in front of me, I was debating whether to head to the auditorium first.
Thud.
"…?"
"Eat."
Aiden Lee dropped a banana onto my tray. I looked up, puzzled.
Why…?
Seeing my blank face, Aiden frowned slightly and murmured by my ear.
"The portions here are tiny. I never eat breakfast anyway, so you take this. You need strength to sing."
He must have thought the reason I'd finished fast and was staring at my tray was because I was still hungry.
…No reason to turn it down.
Practice was going to be brutal from here on, so eating a little more couldn't hurt. I didn't refuse; I peeled the banana Aiden gave me and took a bite.
After we ate, we gathered in the auditorium at 8 a.m., just as the staff had announced last night. Trainees in colored vests were already lined up by class.
A-grade was blue, B green, C orange, D red, and F black. Among us, Aiden Lee and Cheon Se-rim were A-grade; Joo Dan-woo and I were both D-grade.
As Aiden and Cheon split off when we entered the hall, I reflexively waved back at them and then headed with Dan-woo to the D line.
I let out a small sigh of relief.
Maybe being a lower grade is a bit of a blessing.
If I'd been in the same class as Aiden—who for some reason kept showing me strange goodwill—or Cheon Se-rim—who seemed high-spirited and like he had something up his sleeve—I would've been exhausted.
Of course, neither of them is the type to fade into the background, which is great for broadcast, but that's exactly why I didn't really want to get close.
Dan-woo, on the other hand, would catch the camera's eye thanks to his striking looks, but he didn't talk much and his reactions were muted, so there wasn't much to mine for airtime.
At best they'd pan across the trainees and show his face once. If I sat next to him quietly, I could get some spillover exposure.
I needed to bail out of with just the right level of name recognition, so it was best to avoid standing out. No need to grab some pointless title or step forward unnecessarily.
"Hello, trainees of . Did you sleep well last night? Today we'll start with a group session to learn the lyrics and choreography of 'Look'…"
Watching the trainees overreact to every word from the mentors in a bid to get even a second more of camera time, I settled on my game plan.
From now on, I'd aim to be "the trainee who slipped at debut for lack of fun and presence."
"I think Yu-ha should be the leader."
"…Sorry?"
"The dance leader, I mean. Looks like among the D-grade, the only ones who've memorized the choreo are you and Dan-woo, and Dan-woo said he's taking vocal leader, right? Then you can take dance."
Couldn't we just dump everything on Dan-woo…
I swallowed the words that nearly made it out of my throat. Jane, eyes shining, asked me:
"How did you memorize the choreography already? It's not exactly easy."
"Re… peated practice."
"Good memory, huh? Nice—that means you know where to set the points. Yu-ha, come stand in front of the others."
I stepped forward quietly, cursing up a storm inside.
…Damn.
Is my face okay right now? I probably look like I've just been handed a raw deal.
My expression control isn't great, so I was afraid it was slipping. Hopefully they'd chalk it up to nerves and nothing more.
Usually this kind of title is a big opportunity for trainees; if you put on a sour face after getting it, you're pretty much handing them material for an evil edit that same day.
Anyway, with no way out, I stood before the trainees. Jane said:
"Match the beat and show the moves slowly. Those in the back, follow along with Yu-ha."
On Jane's claps, I began demonstrating the choreography slowly.
The theme song, "Look," was built for impact: addictive tempo and lyrics, plus fierce choreography.
In particular, the choreo used arms and legs simultaneously, with big, fast moves, lots of detailed motions and point highlights—memorizing it wasn't easy.
But that only applied to trainees seeing "Look" for the first time.
…I've already danced "Look" a few hundred times.
Once again: was a smash hit.
So of course, as an idol who debuted in the same era, I had the "Look" theme down cold.
Whether for practice or fan requests, I'd danced it dozens of times—if not more—and there's no way I'd forgotten it just because some time had passed.
"Great! Let's go with this. As leader, Yu-ha, help everyone during the dorm period."
Watching me make it through to the end, Jane smiled as she spoke. I nodded—and swallowed yet another line I couldn't say out loud.
…We're screwed.
Looked like the plan I'd laid out was diligently falling apart from the very start.