Forty minutes later;
In the audition room, Elena and the other three were standing on the side, watching Da-in's awesome performance, who was singing stably despite her powerful moves.
As Elena watched the judges, criticizing the faults, nervousness crept up to her neck, once again. 'Damn. This isn't even a reality show program. If their evaluation is strict in this round, I wonder what happens during the training… The K-pop in this world seems even crueler than my past world…'
"Congratulations, you have passed. Welcome to Treasure Campus," spoke Gang Yong-chul a.k.a. Gang Brothers, bringing a smile to Da-in's face, which was filled with panic after hearing the evaluations.
It was only then that Elena's nervousness disappeared.
'So they were just pointing out the faults in performance, huh! I shouldn't worry about the fault and just need to be calm and give a clean performance.'
"Next, contestant, please," called out Hye-rin.
Taking a long breath once again, Elena stepped forward and walked towards the platform before the judges, and greeted them with a bow.
"Annyeonghaseyo (Hello), I'm Jang Elena."
"Nice to meet you." JJPro greeted back in response as usual.
"Oh! Jang Elena?" As Hye-rin sounded out her name as if they knew each other, JJPro and Yong-Chul turned their heads towards her.
Meanwhile, Hye-rin takes a look at the information on a sheet of paper, and spoke "You have an impressive profile and newsworthy story."
Then, looking at her, she asked, "So, you trained at ZC for 3 years and are the original member of Resonance?"
"Resonance?" As soon as they heard the name, everyone, including the judges takes a look at her with interest.
Instead of answering them and confirming the doubts, Elena spoke with hesitation, "Uhh… if you don't mind, can I perform first?"
"Yes. Sure, please go on," replied JJPro before gesturing her to proceed.
Giving a USB stick to an employee, who connected to the port and was ready to play it, Elena then handed out the three printouts with lyrics to the three of them, "This is an original song, written and composed by myself. The name of the title is What Do You Do."
"Ohh! An original song? Your song from the audition is indeed brilliant. I expect this to be the same." As Hye-rin showered Elena with praises, JJPro commented in a whisper, "You seem to take a liking to this girl."
"Then, I hope, you will give her to me, later," replied Hye-rin in a whisper.
JJPro then looked at Elena and wondered, 'if it's just the looks, she's beautiful and might look even better with a bit of nose job. However, Genesis has far better-looking natural beauties. Let's see…'
Taking a look at the lyrics, JJPro nodded, 'Hmm, this girl is talented. As expected of a former ZC trainee. I wonder whether she's learning how to write songs for the past four years or something…'
Right then, the piano music started to play, and slowly the drums followed.
Listening to a slow tempo, Hye-rin started nodding, "It is simple and pleasant…"
Elena then started singing.
"A day passes, but my phone doesn't ring,
Now I've gotten more used to waiting
Like the sand in an hourglass,
.
.
.
Baby, it's your last time
To give me your best try
And to give your heart to me."
"Gamsahabnida (Thank you)." Elena bowed, finishing the performance.
The judges didn't say anything about it and asked whether she prepared anything else.
Expecting this question, Elena replied, "Yes," and then looked aside to gesture to play the song from the USB.
Tilting her head lightly and keeping her hand in one of the pockets while staring at the judges, Elena started singing another song with a confidence that developed because of the expressions on the judges.
"No limit in the sky that I won't fly for ya."
Touching her face, Elena continued the next line…
"No amount of tears in my eyes that I won't cry for ya, Oh No..."
Singing the next line, Elena slowly started to perform powerful and sharp dance moves, awing the remaining four contestants as well as Yong-Chul and Hye-rin. The only one who was completely calm was JJPro, who narrowed her eyes, examining each and every move until the end.
Finishing her performance, Elena bowed again and started to breathe heavily.
"Okay, before we evaluate your performance, I want to ask, how long did you prepare for this performance?" asked JJPro in a calm manner.
"Uhh… a little more than three weeks. I wasn't good at dancing, so…" As Elena hesitatingly answered her, Yong-Chul commented, "Well, your voice was completely stable throughout the song in both of the performances. The moves were powerful, but they weren't sharp enough. And your expressions are sometimes stiff and sometimes tense. You really need to work on that."
As Elena nodded, JJPro grabbed the mic, "As Yong-Chul-ssi mentioned, your vocals are nearly perfect. They look like they are almost polished, like a trained singer. You kept your breath under control from the start until the finish, but what concerns me is your stamina.
Just as you finished a 3-minute song, you were completely out of breath. I found that you took slow breaths while performing.
You have a lot of moments where you can take a long breath during performance. You must understand the difference between controlling and suppressing. What you did is the latter.
You shouldn't do that in the future, understand?"
Elena nodded, "I understand."
JJPro then continued, "I have no complaints or pieces of advice for the first performance. The lyrics and their meaning are quite simple and easy to understand. Overall, I like it."
"Thank you." Elena bowed in response, feeling the excitement in her heart.
As Hye-rin grabbed the mic, a peal of light laughter escaped from her, "Elena-ssi?"
"Yes?"
"I'm a bit disappointed by your performance today."
"Eh?" Elena was stunned as she stared at Hye-rin, not willing to believe her ears. JJPro and Gang Brothers turned their heads towards Hye-rin, including the four remaining contestants in the batch.
Meanwhile, Hye-rin continued, "After seeing your audition video, my expectations were very high. You showed your vocal range.
I felt that your vocal prowess was comparable to that of experienced professional singers, possibly outranking many of them. That's why I sent you a golden star badge.
But, today's performance, Hmm, how should I say… not bright enough. It was good; however, it's just because of my expectations that I can't help but feel a little low.
Coming to the dance, you certainly improved your dancing skills compared to four years ago. And as Yong-Chul-ssi said, you need to work hard on your expressions. It's also one of the things that connects you to the audience.
While singing, your expressions are perfect during the dance performance, I feel like you are too tense, worrying about mistakes.
Physically, you are fully recovered, right?"
"Yes." As Elena nodded, JJPro then said, "So, now that your performance is finished, tell us, are you really an original member of Resonance? I'm curious, what made Lee Soo-man-unnie pull you out of the group?"
Elena nodded in response, "I was actually Uhh… supposed to debut with Resonance as the main vocalist, but just before, like a month to go, I was injured because of a car accident, and I was pulled out as a result."
"You finally decided to return after taking a four-year break?" asked Yong-Chul.
"Not really. She never took a break," replied Hye-rin, instead of Elena.
As both of them take a look at Elena, the latter proceeded to tell the story of how she was in a vegetative state until a while ago and why she decided to try for the audition without taking a break of atleast a year.
Upon hearing her, a trace of pity appeared in JJPro's eyes as he commented, "I always tell our trainees that an idol needs to have the right attitude. You did a good job of not telling your reason first, or else, we can't help but get affected by it, and maybe, we would have ignored the flaws you presented."
"Thank you." Elena bowed again and stood there in silence as the three judges started discussing.
After their discussion was over, Hye-rin announced, "Congratulations, you passed. Welcome to the Treasure Campus. My expectations of you are still up there. I hope you won't disappoint me next time."
After bowing again for an nth time, as Elena turned around to walk towards the bench, where the rest of the four sat, all of a sudden, Hye-rin stopped her, "Elena-ssi, wait a second."
"Yes?" Elena turns around to face Hye-rin, thinking what else is there to talk about.