Chapter 41
Perhaps Sehee was practicing intensely ahead of the audition, because after that day she no longer contacted Jihyun. Thanks to that, Jihyun was able to forget about matters related to Sehee and focus more on Ayoung.
Time passed quickly, and at last the day of the audition arrived.
Ayoung♡♥
I’m nervous.
That was the last text she received from Ayoung. Unlike usual, there wasn’t even a single cute emoticon.
Knowing Ayoung’s personality, Jihyun could picture it clearly—she had probably typed that message with her fingers trembling. Ayoung was especially prone to getting nervous.
It made her worried, and at the same time, imagining Ayoung trembling like a frightened rabbit made her feel sorry for her too.
But then again, when she thought about it, she didn’t feel like she was in a position to worry about anyone else.
‘Who’s worrying about whom….’
Jihyun steadied her shallow, trembling breath and placed a hand over her chest.
With the recording about to start soon, her lips kept drying out from the tension.
They said there wasn’t a strict flow and that it would be enough to simply familiarize herself with the basic script, but honestly, for Jihyun, that made it even more difficult.
She almost thought it would be better if everything—from start to finish—were fully written in a script so she could just memorize it.
‘There’s too much to be mindful of.’
Once again, she caught herself biting her nails—a bad habit she had. It wasn’t a habit she’d had when she was Sehee.
‘My nails are going to get ruined.’
Consciously pulling her hand away from her mouth, Jihyun took another steadying breath.
From outside, she could hear the murmur of voices. It seemed something was already underway.
She couldn’t hear the exact lines, but considering it was the first shoot, it was probably the MC delivering the opening remarks.
There had been talk that some famous actor would be hosting.
‘I don’t really know much about actors… I can’t quite remember the name.’
She was sure she’d heard it. Just as she was about to search his name to calm herself down—
Bang.
The waiting room door opened cautiously, and Seonghan stood in front of her with a tense expression.
“Jihyun, they said to get ready.”
“Ah….”
Her heart felt like it was pounding out of her chest. She was so nervous that when she stood up, she almost stumbled. If Seonghan hadn’t supported her, she would have fallen.
“Are you okay?”
He asked with concern. But Jihyun didn’t want to show any more weakness.
Even if she couldn’t be like the original Ahn Jihyun, she would do her best to show a presence worthy of the seat she occupied.
That way, her decisions would carry authority—and she’d be able to support Ayoung properly.
“We will now introduce the judges!”
“We’ll go up now.”
As soon as she arrived on set, several cameras rushed toward her, as if they’d been waiting, along with an introduction announcing her.
This was the real beginning. With her head held high, Jihyun stepped forward, silently repeating to herself that she could do this.
[Please hold your posture.]
That was what appeared on the prompter when she glanced at it. It seemed to be for the lineup introduction.
Folding her arms in her own way, Jihyun straightened her back and greeted the camera confidently, just like Ahn Jihyun she’d seen on media.
Sensing eyes on her, she turned her head slightly. All the audience members were looking at her.
Now that she thought about it, she’d heard that for the first episode and the final episode (which would include live voting), there would be an audience to create a more supportive atmosphere.
Countless eyes were on her. It was nerve-wracking, but at the same time, she felt a sense of pride—like she was doing well.
‘So now….’
Jihyun sat in the judge’s seat, and one by one, other prominent judges filled the seats beside her.
At a slightly tense moment, someone sitting next to her spoke first.
“The kids look like they’re in good shape.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes….”
Because she was nervous, her words came out tangled.
After clearing her throat lightly, Jihyun inclined her head politely.
“That’s true.”
“We met once quite a while ago, and this is the first time we’re meeting again. I’m not sure if you’ll remember.”
The woman smiled warmly and extended her hand.
Jihyun knew her name better than anyone. She was a famous choreographer—anyone who had ever watched idol choreography videos would know her.
Her Korean name was Seo Jiyoung. Her English name, and stage name, was—
“I’m Jaina. Since we’ll probably be talking a lot on broadcast, it’ll be less confusing if you call me that, right?”
“Yes, yes. I’m Ahn Jihyun.”
“Oh come on, is there anyone here who doesn’t know Ahn Jihyun?”
Jaina jokingly nudged Jihyun’s arm.
“If there’d been a chance, I would’ve loved to work with you, but your company has its own in-house team, so….”
“Ah, right. I’ve always wanted to meet you too, so it’s a shame.”
“Yeah, but it’s an honor to finally meet you like this… Oh, looks like we’re about to start.”
As Jaina said, there was no more time for small talk.
The introductions were over, and the back of the set was buzzing as they prepared to begin introducing the trainees.
‘Did Ayoung’s intro video turn out okay?’
She’d coached her well, but she hadn’t been able to ask yet, so she was still a bit worried.
Still, with Ayoung’s visuals and voice, that combination should have appealed well to viewers.
Don’t worry too much, she told herself.
It was in that moment of brief reflection.
“Hello!”
The first trainee had already come up on stage, energetically capturing the attention of the judges, including Jihyun.
“I’m Lee Hyeran from Wondam Entertainment.”
Her confident voice, dignified walk, gaze, and expression—everything looked perfect, but…
‘No.’
Jihyun could tell instinctively. Unfortunately, this trainee didn’t feel like someone who would make it into the rankings.
The stage confirmed it. The confidence and clean expressions she’d shown when she walked out were gone, replaced by eyes filled with tension, as if she were forcing herself to seem okay.
Because of that, even though it was a short performance of just over a minute, mistakes kept appearing here and there.
And then, at a moment when things already felt unstable—
“Ah!”
She stumbled. She missed the vocal cue, lost the dance tempo, and froze in place.
In that instant, the same confusion appeared on Jihyun’s face, on the audience’s faces, and on Hyeran’s face.
She’d expected nerves since she was first, but not to the point of completely collapsing like this.
‘This is….’
Regretfully, Jihyun carefully circled C on the evaluation sheet.
A, B, C. Assigning the lowest grade made her hand tremble slightly.
But when she cautiously glanced sideways, she saw that the others had already finished scoring without hesitation and were even prepared with their comments.
Only then did she truly feel it—the weight of the seat she’d been given.
Jihyun was sitting in a position where she was evaluating someone’s future—someone who had poured their desperate hopes and dreams into this moment.
‘If you stand in that position yourself, you’ll end up judging objectively anyway.’
Only now did Sehee’s words truly sink in.
So that was why she’d said that to her.
While she was lost in thought, it became Jihyun’s turn to speak.
“The stage… I watched it well.”
After a brief pause, gathering her thoughts, Jihyun delivered a conclusion that combined the kinds of comments she’d heard and observed.
“You prepared hard for this performance, and your energy was good. You probably know better than anyone what you regret.”
Then, one final sentence.
“But there are still good aspects that remain, so I’ll look forward to what comes next.”
Phew…. After finishing her first evaluation, the tension eased a little.
Time passed, and the second and third applicants took the stage in turn.
As the order went on, the pressure eased somewhat, and she even had the mental space to think about when Ayoung and Sehee might appear.
Just as she was only counting on those two—
“Hello!”
Up to number 16, there hadn’t been any trainees who stood out particularly, and the atmosphere remained tense. Then, a trainee with a lively voice stepped onto the stage.
Her fresh, cute greeting broke through the cold air filling the set. In contrast to that, her long legs carried her confidently to the center of the stage, immediately drawing the attention of all the judges, including Jihyun.
The most noticeable thing was her height—unmistakably taller than any trainee who had appeared so far.
‘Just how far does she go up?’
As Jihyun watched the number 17 growing larger the closer the trainee came to the front of the stage, the words slipped out of her mouth before she realized it.
“Um… how tall are you, by any chance?”
