Chapter 113
In stage expressiveness, which is applied to the dance ability evaluation criteria, facial expressions are extremely important.
In the dance mission, the participants perform on stage with AR playing.
Since vocal evaluation is excluded, there is no choice but to focus on dance and stage expressiveness.
Those kids should know that as well, so she couldn’t understand why they couldn’t hide their expressions like that.
And in contrast, from Sehee, there was a sense of composure that almost felt excessive.
No way—
‘I hope I’m just overthinking.’
After the stage ended, the first to grab the microphone was Jihyun.
Normally, it’s customary to wait until the participants catch their breath, but this time, Jihyun immediately looked at Sehee and asked,
“The stage felt like it was strangely creaking. The overall completion wasn’t bad, but I kept wondering why it felt that way—”
Jihyun looked one by one at the participants, who were still watching each other cautiously and glancing at Sehee.
“Was there perhaps choreography that hadn’t been agreed upon within the stage?”
There definitely must have been choreography that hadn’t been agreed upon. At the beginning, everyone had relaxed expressions, but midway through, the atmosphere became unsettled.
What Jihyun was curious about was why something like that suddenly happened.
Even if Sehee could be a bit headstrong, she wasn’t the type to act so unreasonably out of nowhere.
And the person in question slowly opened her mouth.
“It was simply an accident, and I just responded to it.”
“That sounds ambiguous.”
Despite the continued probing, Sehee spoke clearly and steadily.
“In the middle, I forgot a bit of the choreography. I had no choice but to change it slightly on the spot.”
“So you’re saying you didn’t inform them beforehand?”
“Yes. Forgetting the choreography was an unexpected situation, and I did it to avoid making a mistake.”
It was a lie. She could tell immediately.
For someone at Sehee’s level to forget choreography in the first place was impossible.
And even if that were true, it would still be strange. The team members had visibly looked flustered several times. Did that mean she forgot numerous parts of the choreography?
Then Sehee’s next words firmly cemented Jihyun’s suspicion.
“Anyway, I think it’s fortunate that in a situation where I made a mistake, I managed to get through it without further mistakes.”
“That’s true, but in this case, wouldn’t failing to fully learn the choreography be a deduction factor in terms of teamwork?”
Minseo asked worriedly. But Sehee didn’t even blink.
“However, I believe I overcame my own deduction factor well.”
“You seem to have considerable confidence in your actions.”
“Yes. After all, isn’t this survival?”
‘Something must have happened with Ahyoung.’
She could tell instinctively. Sehee’s attitude was as if she were deliberately showing something to Ahyoung.
But she couldn’t ask, and moreover, part of what Sehee said was correct, so there wasn’t much room to nitpick.
As Sehee said, while her actions brought a negative effect to the team, on an individual level, she had perfectly handled an unexpected situation and could be evaluated highly for it.
As an attitude for surviving in a survival program, it was more than fitting.
Without ruining the entire team, she had moderately eliminated a competitor, raised her personal score, and secured her survival.
But at the same time, doubt arose as to whether that was truly right.
‘It’s true I wanted to stimulate Ahyoung, but I didn’t want her to show it in this way.’
Rising by mercilessly and cruelly trampling over an opponent like this did not suit Ahyoung.
Jihyun looked worriedly back and forth between Sehee, who was leaving to prepare for the next stage, and Ahyoung, who was finally stepping onto the stage with a determined expression.
Before the stage lights came on, Jihyun bit at her nails absentmindedly, lost in thought.
She was looking forward to properly seeing Ahyoung’s well-structured dance, but at the same time, she was anxious—would this stage become the opportunity for Ahyoung’s talent to fully bloom as she hoped, or would she end up witnessing Ahyoung being swallowed by Jihyun’s own shadow in real time?
Then the curtain rose, and when Seunghye appeared first in the center, Jihyun had to suppress her frustration.
In the end, Ahyoung couldn’t escape her shadow. Of course. With things still awkward between Sehee and Ahyoung, there was no way they would have talked things through properly.
However, from the scene where Ahyoung, Rin, and the other smaller members gathered around Seunghye at the front and stared into the camera, a bit of doubt and hope began to form.
For a moment, it seemed as if the spotlight might focus solely on Seunghye, but the expressions and choreography of the other participants surrounding her did not allow the stage to flow that way.
‘It definitely feels different from the interim evaluation.’
The choreography had also been revised quite a lot.
Originally, she remembered many parts centered around the tall Seunghye. But in the revised version, although Seunghye was still at the center, the choreography allowed everyone to stand out overall.
For example, like now—choreography where they circled around her as if flower buds were blooming fully.
‘Before the revision, only Seunghye faced the camera and performed, but now they’re all moving brilliantly together.’
It changed from choreography where Seunghye alone was the center, to choreography where everyone became the center together around Seunghye.
Naturally, attention was drawn to the tall Seunghye, but the moment it seemed focused on one person, they all surged forward, redirecting the gaze and appealing individually.
As a result, the stage became more diverse and visually rich compared to the previous version, which had been uniformly cute or had only highlighted Seunghye.
Above all, what was most surprising was how it shattered what she thought was an obvious expectation.
‘I thought it would only be cute.’
She never imagined it would break away from that expectation.
Contrary to the initial draft, which had focused on a cute team atmosphere centered on Seunghye while showcasing her reversal charm, they inserted a structure where the members with cute appearances delivered a powerful performance.
In the dance break section, when the entire team pushed forward with powerful dancing alongside Seunghye, it blended with the cute image they had built up until then and felt thrillingly cool.
Not only Seunghye, but the other members also had a stage planned to show their own reversal charms.
‘I didn’t know they would think this far.’
After the performance ended, Jihyun looked proudly at the participants waiting for evaluation—especially Ahyoung.
“First of all, everyone did a great job.”
She didn’t grab the microphone first. This time, someone who clearly wanted to speak caught her eye.
‘Kim Minseo.’
A gentle person who smiled throughout.
From what Jihyun had seen, Minseo was kind and calm, but unexpectedly strict at times—whether it was praise or criticism.
And during Ahyoung’s entire stage, Minseo had not taken her sparkling eyes off her.
Jihyun knew exactly what that look implied.
She wondered how fresh Minseo must have found this stage, and how much she must have wanted to say to grab the microphone immediately after it ended.
“You did so well on the stage.”
At Minseo’s more excited-than-usual voice, the corners of Jihyun’s lips naturally lifted.
“This stage was originally supposed to be cute as the concept, right?”
“Yes.”
Ahyoung, the leader, received the microphone and answered briefly.
With an expression just as pleased as Jihyun’s, Minseo continued while looking at Ahyoung.
“It seems like there were some changes to the concept. Could you explain?”
“Yes, um. First… we seriously thought about the feedback from the interim evaluation. And… there was also advice from someone else.”
