Idol of the Heavenly One - Chapter 13.1
The six parts were distributed harmoniously, and the choreography was modified from something that felt girlish to one that looked like boys could actually perform it. Most of the choreography changes were done by Lee Soonbok and Kwon Ji-hak, and Baek Jae-heon sharply cut out the parts that felt a bit too much, turning it into a truly perfect choreography.
“Guys, get home safe. See you tomorrow. Good work today.”
“Good work.”
“G-good work…! S-see you all tomorrow…!”
“Ugh, I’m exhausted! See you tomorrow, hyungs!”
As soon as practice ended, Baek Jae-heon disappeared without a word, and one by one, starting with Joo I-rip, then Go Hee-min, Lee Soonbok, and finally Kwon Ji-hak, everyone said their goodbyes and left.
I also gave the kids a quick “good work” before they left, but my practice wasn’t over yet.
“Y-you’re going to stay and practice more?”
While the others were packing up, I stayed standing alone in front of the mirror. Lee Soonbok, who had seemed like he would be the first to run out the door, slung his bag over his shoulder and came over to ask.
“Yeah. I still sound a bit like a goat when I sing while dancing.”
“How much l-longer are you going to stay?”
“Two hours maybe? I have to catch the last train.”
“Ah…”
But then, as if he wanted to stay and practice together, Soonbok suddenly put his bag down on the floor, stood beside me, and faced the mirror.
“You’re going to practice more too?”
“Y-yeah.”
“But you don’t sound like a goat.”
“I-if I sound like a g-goat even in that easy part, I won’t be able to d-debut.”
His sudden self-awareness caught me off guard, but when I kept my expression neutral, Lee Soonbok immediately brought up the part he must have known I was trying to fix.
“It’s that part that goes, ‘The rough road before our eyes—’ right? That’s where you turn into a goat.”
“Yeah. Even if I sing with strength in my throat, it still happens.”
“T-that’s because the choreography drops your body down so suddenly at that moment. There’s actually a little trick for that.”
“What trick?”
“You just don’t lower your body at that part.”
“But it’s a group dance. Is that okay?”
Lee Soonbok gave me a look that said of course it was fine. I tried it like he said, and he even did the choreography behind me so I could compare. I was grateful.
“Oh, it’s not as noticeable as I thought. And I didn’t sound like a goat either.”
“R-right? I studied this by watching sunbaenim videos because I’m weak in vocals. This is what they do when there’s a part that makes their voices shake a lot…”
Looking at Lee Soonbok’s proud expression, I thought to myself that even if he acted like a noisy chick always chirping next to Baek Jae-heon, his passion was like a rooster announcing his presence at dawn.
“But I have something I’m curious about.”
“Huh? W-what is it…?”
“Why do you follow Baek Jae-heon around so much?”
“W-what?! I d-don’t follow Baek Jae-heon around!”
This kid clearly knew how to manage on his own, so why did he always stick to Baek Jae-heon?
“Really? I just thought you two must be really close friends.”
It didn’t feel like it was just friendship. It felt like he really relied on him quite a bit.
“Ah, r-right…? Hehe. Does it look that way? Actually, I’ve been a trainee for three years, but I didn’t have any friends here. But when Jae-heon joined last year through the open audition, he took care of me right away.”
Hearing Lee Soonbok openly explain why he relied on Baek Jae-heon made me think he really was as gentle and mild as his name suggested. But why hadn’t he made any friends for the two years before Baek Jae-heon arrived?
“I-I get way more nervous than people think. I have poor social skills and stutter a lot, so… if someone doesn’t talk to me first, I can’t fit in well.”
That surprised me. He did stutter a lot, but he didn’t seem like someone with poor social skills or who had trouble approaching people. Even now, he was friendly enough to share a useful tip with me first.
“T-thanks to Jae-heon, I’ve gotten a lot brighter now. I used to never be able to talk to anyone first…”
Baek Jae-heon surprised me too. He told Kwon Ji-hak to strengthen his core, he looked after Go Hee-min, he even took care of Lee Soonbok who couldn’t approach others on his own. Come to think of it, he had told me to do planks too. Was he just the kind of person who always looked after others?
“Baek Jae-heon is really kind.”
“Yeah! J-Jae-heon is s-super k-kind…!”
He looked like a cold and haughty prince, so it was surprising how much he actually led by example in kindness.
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