June looked around the trainees. Most of them were looking toward his way, but he honestly couldn't tell. His eyesight was getting worse and worse throughout his career, and now he had to squint in order to see things from far away.
At this point, he could only see the faces of the trainees in the first three rows. The others were a blur to him.
Then, the ntors finally sat in their respective seats, with June in the very middle.
He grabbed the papers in front of him—the trainee's profiles placed in chronological order based on their performance.
As he went through the first applicants, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"They're having this group perform first?" Gun asked, a bit confused.
"That's new," Ji-hyun muttered. "I'm not complaining, though. I do want to watch their performance soon."
Just then, the large logo was shown on the screen, surprising even the trainees.
To their surprise, the first group to perform was from Top Star Entertainnt, one of the top companies in the industry. The other trainees began exchanging glances, wondering how they could possibly follow such a high standard.
"Why are they going first?"
"I'm thankful that we don't have to go first, but I also don't want to go second."
"Right. How could we perform right after Top Star Entertainnt?"
anwhile, the Top Star trainees turned to their oldest mber, Mina. Mina calmly stood from her seat and nodded at her mbers, silently telling them to get ready.
Of course, Mina was also nervous about starting the show. But at the sa ti, she was grateful for the opportunity to set the bar for the rest of the auditions.
"Good morning, ntors," Mina led the greeting for their team.
The ntors nodded in acknowledgnt.
"Whenever you're ready," Amira said.
The Top Star trainees nodded before going to their respective positions.
As they finalized their formation, June couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity wash over him as he heard the opening notes of 'Oasis.' It was a song he knew well, one that held a special place in his heart. He watched intently as the trainees perford, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
After the performance, June took the microphone, a curious gleam in his eyes.
Subtle squeals were heard from the audience, causing Amira to shake her head. The effect that June had on these trainees was honestly insane.
"That was unexpected," he remarked, his voice filled with genuine surprise. "Why did you choose 'Oasis'?"
The Top Star trainees exchanged nervous glances before Mina stepped forward to answer. "It's a song that we all love," she explained. "We thought it was a song that would show off our fresh charms really well."
June nodded in understanding. "I see. Well, I enjoyed watching your version of the song."
Despite so minor mishaps and nervous monts, their performance was stable and solid, with each mber giving it their all.
"You guys live up to your na really well," Lee Sik comnted. "Zeth and Ren must be proud," he even ntioned the two senior idols from their company.
They all bowed in gratitude.
"Yeah," Ji-hyun agreed. "There are so stability issues, but it's understandable. You guys are still trainees. However, I wish you would improve on that throughout the show."
The trainees nodded.
"So strict," the others muttered.
"I thought it was perfect."
"I guess there are so things that ntors see that trainees do not."
June heard the last statent and nodded to himself. Truly, if he had watched this particular performance last year, then he would have also failed to notice so of the incongruencies in their performance. However, being an idol for almost one year, he was now more aware of certain areas in which other perforrs could improve.
Amira took the microphone after the ntors deliberated.
"For five stars, we have...Mina," she started off, "and no one else."
The others slumped in disappointnt. However, they also couldn't deny that their oldest mber was the one who deserved the five-star rating the most.
With that, the Top Star trainees bowed and left the stage.
As the second group took the stage, the pressure was on.
After the high standard set by Top Star Entertainnt, it would be hard for anyone to break it.
Fortunately, it was the Harmony trainees who took the stage next.
"Why are all the big companies going first?"
"This will definitely make us look bad."
"Will we be okay?"
"I honestly don't know. Let's see how Harmony performs."
"Obviously, they're going to perform well. Saint Jisung is on their side!"
"Saint Jisung?"
"Yeah, Saint Jisung—the precious baby that we love and praise."
As the auditions continued, the Harmony trainees took the stage with confidence. They were told by their senior, Jisung, to have more confidence since that was what he lacked during the show.
They had chosen to perform "Love Leap" by IBE, a song that perfectly captured their charm and energy. With each note, they danced and sang with confidence, which left the audience in awe.
Their rendition was t with thunderous applause, the judges nodding in approval at the impressive display of skill.
"What's happening?" Ji-hyun chid in amusent. "These trainees are very talented too."
"Hmm," June said, smiling to himself. He could see the traces of his mbers from the trainees that represented their respective companies.
It made June wonder what it would be like if his mbers were judging along with him.
"It would certainly be more fun," he muttered.
"You all get four stars," Ji-hyun announced, causing the girls to cheer.
The show was definitely off to a great start, with two big and talented companies setting high standards for the other trainees.
However, as the auditions progressed, it beca apparent that not everyone possessed the sa level of talent. There were plenty of interesting characters, to be sure, but the lack of vocal skills among many of the contestants was undeniable. It seed as though they were holding auditions for a dance show rather than a K-pop survival program.
Well, this has been a valid criticism from the public for recently-
debuted K-pop groups.
Their vocal skills were truly lacking.
Ji-hyun scratched the back of her head as another dance-
centric audition finished.
"I don't get it," she sighed. "Why would companies send trainees who can't even hold a tune?"
"Yeah," Amira said. "I wasn't born a great singer, too, but I practiced hard to get to where I am today. I'm not seeing that effort from most of the trainees we saw today."
"Why don't you say sothing to them, June?" Lee Sik suddenly suggested, causing the other ntors to turn toward him.
June's eyebrows raised in surprise as he pointed to himself.
"?" he asked.
"Yeah," Gun nodded. "I think they'd listen to you the most."
June pursed his lips. He honestly didn't want to say such words. He would feel guilty since he also wasn't a great singer or a dancer during his auditions!
"Why don't we watch another performance?" he bargained. "If this trainee performs the sa as the other ones, then I'll say sothing."
The other ntors thought for a while before nodding.
"Alright," Lee Sik said. "You better keep your word then."
"Sure," June said. The production crew wouldn't put another untalented trainee after a series of untalented trainees, right?
"Right," he muttered, reassuring himself.
Then, he settled his gaze on the stack of papers once more, flipping over to the next page.
However, he paused when he saw familiar words in the trainee's 'company' category.
"Azure?" he muttered.
However, that wasn't what surprised him the most.
What was more surprising was the photo staring back at him.
"No," he whispered, frowning in confusion as he held the paper closer.
Oh no.
This was not happening.
"i Ling?"
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