"…I get what you're thinking."
Once we checked the rough arrangement outline Aiden Lee had scribbled on the sheet music, we nodded, feeling a little relieved.
It was only a rough sketch, but at least we could confirm that Aiden Lee hadn't dragged us here purely on impulse.
'…He really is something.'
I thought as I looked over the outline Aiden Lee had jotted down. It was extremely simple, yet good enough that I could understand why he was praised by professionals on the very first day of individual evaluations.
'And didn't this guy basically come up with it the moment he saw the evaluation song?'
We'd checked the evaluation song only a few dozen minutes ago. As soon as Aiden Lee finished that, he chose "BINGO."
Meaning, in that short moment, he'd immediately pictured how to rearrange "BINGO" and what concept to match it with. Only then did I truly realize why Aiden Lee was able to debut.
'Now I can see why he got the "genius" character.'
I didn't know the details, but he'd probably passed previous missions in the same way—flashing ideas, bulldozing ahead, dragging his teammates along to solve everything the way he wanted.
It was unsettling to not know when or where he'd drop a bomb next, but talented people were talented for a reason.
When we accepted his idea, Aiden Lee grinned and asked for confirmation once more.
"Then we're going with 'boyish refreshing game concept,' right?"
"…Boyish refreshing game concept… Yeah. I'm in."
"To be honest, I couldn't imagine how to turn 'BINGO' into a refreshing concept, but with this arrangement, I like it too."
"Then can we make Yu-ha the main vocal?"
"About that."
It was the topic I'd been waiting for. Before Aiden Lee could start rushing ahead again, I quickly cut him off and opened my mouth.
"Let's rethink this."
"Huh?"
I could feel Aiden Lee's smile stiffen, but I continued without stopping.
"The main vocal is an important position. It doesn't feel right for just the two of us to decide it without discussing it with the rest of the team. And…"
I looked around at the trainees and slowly finished speaking.
"…I'm sure there are people here who want to try for main vocal."
Even if they hadn't said it aloud.
The main vocal gets the most lines in the song. That meant any trainee with some vocal skill would want to take a shot at it at least once.
When I said that, I could immediately feel the team members glancing at each other. After a brief silence, the first hand that went up was from Hwang Young-oh of F-rank.
"Actually… I want to try for main vocal."
Hwang Young-oh had earlier said he was very worried about his recognition. In the first level evaluation, he'd been acknowledged vocally and even received an early B-rank.
In the re-evaluation, he must not have shown the same skill level, because he'd fallen from B all the way down to F. Maybe because of that, he seemed determined to make up for it somehow. And the best way to do that was, of course, to take a main position.
But taking a main position also came with risks.
If your skills didn't hold up, you'd get replaced in the middle, and if you made mistakes, you'd get criticized even harder.
'But the spotlight the main position gives is worth that risk.'
So for Hwang Young-oh, it seemed better to shoulder some risk instead of fading into the background with a sub-part.
"I think my voice suits a refreshing concept. I'm confident I can express the song well, and I want to challenge it."
And once one person spoke up, the others slowly began sharing their opinions as well.
"I like both Young-oh and Yu-ha, but speaking as a teammate… Aiden, I'd like you to take the main vocal."
"Me?"
Aiden Lee widened his eyes as if he'd heard something completely unexpected. Kim Taeyoung of B-class scratched his head and explained why.
"You're the one arranging this song. And honestly, I think you're the most solid vocalist among us. Since the main vocal has to be the foundation of the song, shouldn't the most skilled person take the role?"
"Um, I…"
Watching Aiden Lee's troubled expression, I quietly sighed in relief. It finally looked like I had a way out of being the main vocal.
Aiden Lee, flustered, started talking again about the mood of the arrangement he would direct and the kind of voice that would suit it. Hwang Young-oh and Kim Taeyoung added their thoughts, and the atmosphere slowly began heating up.
Watching them exchange opinions, I quietly thought:
'Morally, the main vocal shouldn't be me—it should be another trainee.'
Aiden Lee wanted me as the main vocal for his concept song, but that wasn't what I wanted. And it wasn't what the other trainees wanted either.
'Everyone here wants the best position they can get.'
We were in a survival program. 100 trainees, all running toward the single goal of debut—teammates, but also competitors.
And in survival shows, the ones who win are the ones who want it the most.
It was right that those trainees should be the ones to seize the opportunity to debut. And above all, I knew very well that I wasn't desperate enough to steal someone else's chance.
'To think my goal in a survival show is to escape.'
Some people would curse me. Others wouldn't understand. Some might even consider the thought itself an insult.
But I never had a choice to begin with.
'If I don't participate, I die.'
I still couldn't decide whether my regression was a blessing or a curse. But what was certain was this: I still didn't have a choice.
I was running because someone else's will forced me to. Deceiving people unintentionally, stealing their chances unintentionally.
That was why I wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.
So I wouldn't have to walk a path I never wanted. So I wouldn't have to look back at a path I'd long abandoned.
Which meant, at this moment when the conversation was shifting, there was only one thing I needed to do: keep my mouth shut and wait until someone better was chosen as main vocal.
'The key is to leave the impression that it's not because I don't want to do it, but because I want the team to have the best main vocal.'
That way, I could avoid evil edits and quietly fade as the "boring character." Once the members divided the parts and I slipped into sub-vocal, I could avoid making any more impact.
While I was thinking that, simply watching Aiden Lee struggle—
"I still like Yu-ha hyung!"
—Zixuan suddenly popped his head forward, eyes sparkling.
"Yu-ha hyung's voice suited 'Look' too. I'm sure it'll suit the boyish refreshing game concept as well! And Yu-ha hyung is skilled enough that the vocal trainer praised him. His voice is great!"
…Why are you suddenly doing this.
Whether I was flustered or not by the unexpected recommendation, Aiden Lee reacted like he'd been given unexpected backup, his face lighting up brightly.
"I knew it, right? Uh—um. Can I speak informally to you?"
"Ah, yes! Please just call me Zixuan comfortably!"
"Then call me Eden."
And then the two of them suddenly started bonding out of nowhere, like they'd just found a friend who matched their wavelength.
But the backup fire didn't end there.
"…I also think Yu-ha is the right choice."
Joo Danwoo suddenly spoke up and recommended me as well.
"In the arrangement Eden planned, the ad-lib is an important section. Trainee Hwang Young-oh's voice definitely suits the refreshing concept, and Eden is also vocally skilled, but it might be a bit difficult for both of them to bring out the ad-lib and maintain the overall mood of the song."
"Right, right!"
"…If you do it with falsetto, it loses impact, but if you use too much power, it'll ruin the atmosphere of the song. And Eden's tone is on the lower side, too."
"Right? Right, hyung?"
"I think… Yu-ha's strengths will really shine in this song."
Backed by Eden and Zixuan's agreement, Joo Danwoo calmly laid out why he thought so. My vocal strengths lay in handling the higher register freely without tension or bad habits, and in connecting notes smoothly.
"This ad-lib rises, and the shifts in pitch are big, so it's hard to control. So if Eden's goal is to make this ad-lib shine, I don't think anyone can do it better than Yu-ha right now."
"Yes! That's exactly what I've been trying to say!"
Aiden Lee now looked completely in full bloom. He must've been afraid his plan would fall apart.
Hwang Young-oh, discouraged by Joo Danwoo and Zixuan's support fire, nodded with a slightly darkened expression. Three team members were already backing me, so he must have judged that taking main vocal was now unlikely.
Even Kim Taeyoung, who had suggested Eden, seemed convinced by Joo Danwoo's logic and gave up the idea of recommending Eden.
'…This isn't what I wanted.'
Watching the overheated atmosphere cool down, I felt troubled. Before I could do anything, the situation had spiraled completely opposite to what I'd planned.
"Then we're deciding on Yu-ha as the main vocal, right?"
"Wait—"
"Yes!"
"Great!"
"Okay."
"Then it's decided!"
Bang bang bang—Aiden Lee tapped the floor like a judge banging a gavel. Next to him, Zixuan bounced excitedly, looking even happier than the person involved.
Completely oblivious to how despairing I felt…
'....'
And like that, in the end, I was given the position of main vocal.
Exactly as Aiden Lee had originally planned.
"Haa…"
On the way to eat with the team, I let out a long sigh.
Today ended after deciding how to divide the creative assignment and positions. Eden planned to do a rough arrangement in the afternoon so that from tomorrow onward, we could work on choreography and lyrics.
Before that, the final positions were confirmed:
Main Vocal – Won Yu-haMain Rapper – Joo DanwooSub Vocal 1 – Aiden LeeSub Vocal 2 – Hwang Young-ohSub Vocal 3 (Leader) – Kim TaeyoungSub Vocal 4 – ZixuanSub Vocal 5 (Main Dancer) – Park Wonhyo
And the most important role, the face of the song: the center.
—The center is… Zixuan!—R-really? I can do it?—Of course! Who else screams "refreshingly cute" more than you!
It was Zixuan.
'At least that part worked out…'
Zixuan received votes from me, Park Wonhyo, Kim Taeyoung, and Joo Danwoo. Hwang Young-oh also tried for the center position but wasn't selected in the end.
'…He looked a little dissatisfied, though. Hope that doesn't become a problem.'
He'd failed to get everything he wanted, so it made sense he would be unhappy. But if he had any sense, he wouldn't cause trouble. At worst, he'd vent a bit in an interview.
—Yu-ha… Pocari boy...
Aiden Lee muttered that with the expression of a raccoon that dropped its cotton candy, but I ignored him.
I sat down with my tray and blankly began eating. My stomach felt hollow but hungry, so the food kept disappearing.
By the time I had nearly finished my tray—
Tap.
"…?"
"Yu-ha, eat."
I blinked as Aiden Lee placed his tonkatsu on my tray.
After putting it there, he calmly picked up his own side dishes and continued eating like nothing happened.
'Why…?'
It reminded me of the first training camp, when he'd put a banana on my tray.
—If you're going to sing, you need strength.
'Is he giving it to me so I can sing well?'
Thinking back, he had said something like that that day.
I thanked him briefly and picked up the tonkatsu with my chopsticks. As I put it in my mouth, Aiden watched me eat and then said, in a quiet, passing tone:
"You need strength… when you're forced to do something you don't want to do."