Chapter 61

The Cleopatra game had (somehow) turned into a duel with the main vocals' pride on the line. That thrilling grudge match wrapped up faster than expected.

—Hello, Cleopa— ah, I'm out.

The first to drop out was, of course, Han Seongwoo, who wasn't mentally prepared to have that kind of humiliating footage of himself captured on camera.

He couldn't take the pressure of "the anxiety that a voice crack was coming" + "the embarrassment of watching himself strain for it," and declared forfeit.

—Hel! Lo! Cleopa! Tra!

—Hello!! Cleopatra!!!!

—Hel!!! Lo!!! Cleo!! Pa!!! Tra!!!!

The real surprise was Jung Siwoo. Watching the man usually called 'Miro's Young Master' go red down to his neck belting out high notes shocked plenty of the trainees.

"I forfeit."

"…Hyung, I didn't know you were good at this kind of thing."

"You can't survive drinking hangouts in applied music if you can't do at least this much."

"!!!!"

"Actually, I could go further, but the order doesn't matter either way. And I shouldn't wreck my throat."

"No, hyung. Then you should've stopped a bit earlier!"

"Why would I? When I've got a chance to grind down the throat of the opposing team's main vocal?"

"!!!!!!?"

"Right? Who told you to provoke me first?"

'Why does it feel like I lost?'

Jung Siwoo — who Hajin had taken for just a quiet, composed model-student-type senior — was actually a slightly unhinged schemer. Hajin, on learning this, couldn't close his mouth!

"Alright, trainee Kang Hajin. You threw yourself into that game with real passion. Now, please choose your stage order."

"Ah, yes. We'll…"

Either way, the winner was Hajin. Since this was a win he'd earned by going up against broadcast-savvy Seo Taehyun with a full hair-yanking performance, he needed to make the pick count.

Hajin thought:

'Kim Wonho said earlier the Cinderella team was aiming for slot one.'

Team 〈Cinderella〉 — with Jung Siwoo as leader, and Gong Seok, Kim Wonho, and Ju Eunchan on board — had reportedly prepped a glamorous masquerade-ball concept. Since there was a lot to set up, and — most of all — main vocals Gong Seok and Jung Siwoo needed their throats in top shape, they preferred an early slot if possible.

'And Blue Scandle's obviously going to want the last slot.'

That wasn't so much based on data as inferred from Han Seongwoo's personality. The song itself was grand, and if you could, you'd want to lock in the finale to shine as bright as possible.

"Hmm…."

Thinking it over, Hajin looked back and forth between Siwoo and Seongwoo.

'Well then — should I just give them what they want?'

"We'll go second."

At Hajin's pick, Seongwoo and everyone else looked stunned.

After going that hard, why pick second? Less impact than first, less lingering resonance than last.

"Yes, Sad Ending team — you've picked second. Any reason?"

"I'm a natural center by nature. So I want to claim center of the stage order too, standing tall."

"Hahaha, but I hear the Sad Ending team's center isn't trainee Kang Hajin?"

"…So this is my humble wish — to at least claim the center of the order."

Seriously, this guy. Ever since last time, he keeps trying to strike up personal banter.

Grumbling only to himself, Hajin smiled brightly. Anyway, thanks to Hajin's choice, the rest of the order was decided quickly too.

〜〚TO THE TOP〛〜

Cinderella

SAD ENDING

Paran (Surge)

"And so — at last, Miro Maze's second mission, To the Top!'s stage order has been decided. Today's mission features some very special mentors. In light of that, please give it your all so your stages can be ones you won't regret."

At Seo Taeil's closing line, the trainees clapped in unison. The fact that they'd stopped zoning out now that they had some recordings under their belt was kind of impressive.

Once Seo Taeil and the production crew disappeared, each team headed back to their assigned spots and sat down.

"Hyung. Is being second really okay for us?"

"Of course. We can win from second, no problem."

On the way back to the waiting room, Dan Haru asked in an anxious voice. Hajin patted his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Haru. As long as you nail your part."

"Ugh."

"Ah, hyung! Don't scare the kid!"

"Our center. You can do it today, right? Hyung's counting on you."

"I said stop pressuring him!"

Whether Taehyun smacked his back or not, Hajin just threw Haru a thumbs-up.

"……!"

And at that signal from Hajin, something clicked for Dan Haru — his eyes lit up. Age seventeen. The new center of 'To You I Declare.'

At Hajin's declaration of trust, Haru nodded and threw up his own thumb, just like Hajin.

"Yes! I'll do great!"

"Yeah, that's the spirit. What's our goal?"

"Make someone cry!"

"How much are we going to make them cry? Goals need to be specific."

"Uh… to where they can't breathe, just full-on sobbing?"

"Ah, Kang Hajin. Don't teach the kid weird stuff!"

---

Recording for Miro Maze's second mission, 'To the Top!', got underway. When the stage — looking as if a whole canal had been picked up and set down onto it — was unveiled, the trainees watching the program feed in the waiting room all gasped.

'They really did go bigger since it's on a soundstage.'

The only ones not shocked by the scale were Seo Taehyun, who'd already been through broadcast-level production on 'Boys of the World,' and Hajin, who'd once ferried artists through the backstages of sets like this on a daily basis.

'Used to be the one running around with an intercom on — sitting in a waiting room like this feels strange all over again.'

Just as he was watching the frantically running ADs with a sympathetic look —

On the monitor, the identity of the 'special mentors' Taeil had teased was being revealed.

—Today's special guests are — none other than!

—The original artists of the songs the trainees will be covering!

"Whoa, no way."

At Taeil's line on the monitor, all the trainees drew in a breath. Soon, familiar faces everyone knew appeared on screen.

—Enderway's unshakable center! Mentor Choi Yeonwoo.

—Hello, I'm Enderway's Choi Yeonwoo.

—And this next one is… a familiar face, isn't it. Upia's main vocal — Mentor Cheong Hansol.

—Hold up, hyung. That's my introduction? Do you find me embarassing?

—And this one's a face we haven't seen in a while, so it's a real pleasure. The one and only Empress of Ballads — Mentor Sarin has joined us.

"Whoa, hyung. What do we do."

"I'm a real fan of Mentor Choi Yeonwoo! Aah!"

"So we're doing this in front of those people? Seriously insane."

'Sarin's here?'

While everyone else was reeling from the original-artist reveal, Hajin looked at Sarin on the monitor in surprise.

'She'd basically gone quiet around this point and dropped out of activity. Did she come because she's close with Seo Taeil?'

Seeing Sarin now — for the first time in ages across all his lives — she clearly looked older than she did in his memory, like far more time had passed.

'She got married, sang the occasional OST here and there… and from some point on, disappeared from the industry entirely.'

The memory from his days working under PD Kwon was still vivid — her trying to book Sarin, getting shot down hard, and drinking herself under the table over it.

"First up, Cinderella team. This way, please."

"Cinderella, fighting!"

"Fighting!"

At the AD's cue, the first team headed to the studio. Fireworks burst on stage, announcing the mission's start.

Hoo — Hajin worked the tension off his body and swallowed hard. Then he just flat-out shouted:

"The pride of Gaon Arts University's applied music department — Jung Siwoo! Tear that stage apart!!!!"

Siwoo, warming up his throat on the way out of the waiting room, staggered and missed a step at Hajin's shout. The other trainees turned to look, snickering. Regardless, Hajin just shrugged and smiled.

'Might as well go tear it down properly while you're at it.'

Hajin smiled meanly and stared at the back of Seongwoo's head.

A magnificent finale? I'll make sure you can't even dream of it.

---

'They're all doing well.'

Sarin fixed her eyes on the stage.

A beautiful masquerade ball. An intelligence agent who's infiltrated it accidentally crosses paths with fated love — 'Mood Night,' reinterpreted through that concept, put the two main vocals' rock-solid harmonies right up front.

The flashy performance set to a grand orchestral arrangement was arguably a bit much for trainee-level stage presence to carry. But the trainee at center — Ju Eunchan — anchored it with real weight, thanks to his tall frame and long limbs.

'And this choreo was worked out entirely by the trainees themselves, right?'

Sarin circled the text on the evaluation sheet that read 'choreography created by trainee Kim Wonho' and slipped into thought.

"Then would Mentor Sarin like to say a few words?"

"……"

"Ms. Sarin?"

"…Ah, ah. I'm sorry."

Startled by her name being called, Sarin quickly grabbed her microphone.

'Pull it together, Lee Sarin. What are you doing making a nuisance of yourself at a judging gig.'

Snapping back into professional mode, Sarin gave a smooth laugh.

"Sorry. Their stage was so amazing I kept re-reading this evaluation sheet."

"Aren't you paying a little too much attention to other people's kids?"

"Ugh, I know. Wondering how I might just, you know, take them home to our company."

"Ria was trying to poach them last time too — none of these guys are safe, are they?"

Thankfully, the sharp-eyed Taeil played along and defused the situation with a bit of banter. Sarin looked at the trainees waiting for her assessment and quickly picked up where she'd left off.

"Really, I enjoyed it so much. Jung Siwoo-gun? Your singing was so good. To the point I thought, if only I could sing that well…."

"No, sunbaenim! Sunbaenim, if you say that, none of us can sing!"

At Sarin's line, Enderway's Choi Yeonwoo — the youngest among the mentors — grabbed the mic in mock horror. The other mentors chimed in too, but Sarin, for her part, meant it.

"Oh, no. Once I gave birth, I really can't sing the way I used to anymore."

The words she'd kept tucked away slipped out mid-conversation. Sarin was startled herself, but the other mentors seemed to take it as her being humble, waving it off and saying, "Even so, Sarin is still Sarin." The tip of Sarin's tongue turned a little bitter.

"…Still, since I'm a mentor, let me offer a bit of advice — Wonho-gun?"

"Yes!"

"Personally — when you were dancing in the back, you were bursting with confidence and expression, but during your own parts, I felt like that faded a bit."

"Ah… yes."

"Maybe it's because I'm a ballad singer, but when you sing, becoming a more confident version of yourself is really important. For a singer, a song is such a precious thing."

At the sincere advice, everyone nodded. Sarin's evaluation closed things out, and the first team stepped down from the stage.

Next up, at last, was the trainees covering Sarin's own signature song.

"Sad Ending team! Please come up onto the stage!"

At Taeil's lead-in, five boys — each in a different school uniform — stepped onto the stage.

"Alright then, Sad Ending team. First, could you introduce your team a little?"

"Yes. We'll greet you."

A sharp-featured boy, who seemed to be the leader, exchanged glances with his teammates and adjusted their spacing.

"One, two—" he counted off, and then….

"Hnnnngg—"

"Oh nooo!"

"Sob… hic…."

They just started bawling. What's more, all five were crying with distinctly different little details.

One dropped to his knees. One flopped down and pounded the ground. One turned around and waved a handkerchief off toward something in the distance.

"Oh my, what is that."

"Ah — they're crying because it's a sad ending?"

"These guys are funny."

The boys had blown right past the actual team introduction and just started bawling, and the mentors couldn't help bursting out laughing. About five seconds of that brief wailing later, the boy in the middle — who'd been sobbing with his face buried in his hands — grabbed his mic again.

"Hello, we sing of all kinds of breakups —"

"The Sad Ending team!"

At the cue, the boys — each still crying in his own posture — chorused the team name in unison. At the greeting — like a scene out of a musical — Sarin laughed out loud.

'Funny kids. …And that concept — I never would've thought of it.'

Curiosity and interest in them welled up of their own accord. Sarin's eyes drifted back once more to the evaluation sheet describing their stage.

〈Stage one-line intro — 'To My Most Beautiful Moment, I Declare'〉

'I hope they do well.'

Her heartfelt wish faded inside her mouth, unspoken.