Chapter 91
“Oh my.”
Listening to Ahyoung, Jihyun nodded without realizing it, letting out a sound of admiration.
Everything Ahyoung said was right. She was saying exactly what Jihyun had been thinking.
Taking one step back in order to move two steps forward. Accurately assessing her own abilities and presenting countermeasures suited to them.
Compared to the past, when she would simply follow whatever was said and go along with the flow, it could be called tremendous growth.
That Ahyoung, of all people, was expressing her own opinions and even rebutting in a clear and logical manner.
‘It seems her experience with Sehee really helped a lot.’
Even though Jihyun’s teeth still ground when she thought about how Sehee had treated Ahyoung, if Ahyoung had grown a step because of it, that was enough to satisfy her.
And so, the parts were distributed with Ahyoung taking the part she wanted, and Eunseo 맡는 것으로—Eunseo taking the killing part.
There were about two days left until the midterm evaluation. Whether Ahyoung could pull it off would be the key issue.
If so, it would be better to pay a little more attention to the stage composition as well.
‘I wish she’d think of something just a bit more detailed.’
Watching Ahyoung, Jihyun bit down on her nails with a crunch.
The vocal ability evaluation stage was like a double-edged sword for Ahyoung.
Compared to the other contestants, her vastly superior stage experience could work to her advantage. However, due to the nature of a “vocal” stage, the absence of “dance”—which would allow her to fully utilize that experience—was inevitably a disadvantage.
With dance, Ahyoung’s expressiveness would stand out more, but the vocal ability evaluation would consist solely of singing and a bit of facial acting.
And dance was also the area Ahyoung felt more confident in compared to vocals, which made it even more so.
‘In the end, the key will be how skillfully she can demonstrate stage presence on a vocal stage.’
There wasn’t any specific advice Jihyun could give her about that. She could only hope that Ahyoung’s stage experience would shine.
And for now, she felt that it was okay to trust Ahyoung.
If Ahyoung could organize her thoughts so clearly and say them like that, she must have already, at least subconsciously, thought about measures for it or how she would carry out her stage.
‘I was worried since it’s a vocal part, but maybe it was unnecessary.’
Seeing how much she had grown made Jihyun feel pleased inside. If there were a maturity stat visible through her “Insight,” perhaps it would have risen by one or two levels.
And time passed incredibly quickly. After a day flew by, it was already the period for the midterm evaluation.
In the meantime, Jihyun had holed herself up in the annex for the first time in a while, resting thoroughly while surrounded by the things she liked.
Shopping online, or turning on various self-produced idol content—especially from Mate—and watching them.
Ah, and at one point, since Moa had a brief opening in her schedule, she stopped by Jihyun’s room to see if there was anything else to look for.
In the process, Jihyun also reached out first to Winter, thinking she might try talking to her this time.
Jihyun
I’ll stop by the dorm for a moment.
I have something to find.
‘She didn’t reply, but….’
That was actually good news. Since the number 1 had disappeared, it meant she had read it—and hadn’t reacted irritably despite reading it.
Had her heart softened a little? Thinking that way, even though she had woken up at dawn for the first time in a while to get makeup done and head to the filming site, she didn’t feel that tired.
When she arrived at the filming site and headed toward the set, the sound of contestants practicing ahead of the midterm evaluation was in full swing.
The evaluation order was random. Since Eunseo’s team had drawn a later slot than Yoona’s team, Jihyun first watched Yoona’s team’s evaluation together with Minseo, the sub-mentor, as the main mentor.
There were no major surprises from what had been expected. Thanks to Yoona’s careful coordination, their stage flowed naturally and skillfully, like well-fitted gears turning smoothly.
If there was one slight regret, it was that the stage flowed too safely, without much variation.
“It feels like if Yoona were a bit more ambitious, an even better stage could come out.”
The evaluation comments were wrapped up briefly. It was a solid stage with not much else to criticize.
Minseo seemed to think the same, adding that it would become a good stage with just a bit more distinctiveness before concluding.
After that, Jihyun immediately attended Eunseo’s team’s midterm evaluation as a sub-mentor. It felt like it had been quite a while since she had seen Ahyoung.
‘Is she nervous?’
With her lips pressed tight and her eyes rolling around, Ahyoung somehow looked resolute, which made Jihyun laugh.
She was supposed to cheer her on, not laugh—but why did she look so cute?
‘Ah, we made eye contact.’
Ahyoung’s eyes, which had been rolling like jade beads, as always revealed her emotions transparently without trying to hide them.
The moment she met Jihyun’s gaze, her eyes curved brightly beneath her slightly tousled blonde hair, looking so lovely.
Jihyun lightly pumped her fist toward Ahyoung.
Perhaps encouraged by that support, Eunseo’s team’s midterm evaluation turned out even better than expected.
As if to prove how excellent Ahyoung’s choice had been, she perfectly fulfilled the role of scene-stealer throughout the song, proving herself.
Even though Eunseo had taken the A grade and the killing part, Ahyoung stood out more.
Main mentor Minseo also mentioned that Ahyoung’s part was good. Thanks to that, Jihyun was able to see Ahyoung’s bright, relieved smile for the first time in a while.
She was looking forward to the main competition. It was the first time she could feel that way with peace of mind.
‘You can do it, Ahyoung!’
On her way out after the evaluation, Jihyun met Ahyoung’s eyes once more and smiled softly.
This time, she truly had a good feeling.
Right after the midterm evaluation ended, that night.
‘So noisy.’
Inside the A-grade dorm room, the murmuring voices and the sound of footsteps going back and forth had been irritating Sehee’s ears for a while now.
No matter how much she tried to ignore it, the noise kept getting louder—and on top of that, more voices joined in.
In the end, Sehee grabbed her sheet music so tightly it crumpled and stood up.
It needs to be moderately quiet to focus.
Bang—!
“What are you all doing right now—”
But Sehee’s expectation that they would merely be gathered and chatting was completely off.
Seunghye, Eunseo, and Sehyun. The three of them were huddled together, staring at a white, glowing rectangle.
Sehee immediately recognized what it was and raised her voice in shock.
“You’re using a phone right now—!”
“Shh!”
Tall Seunghye sprang up and covered Sehee’s mouth. Then she smiled sheepishly and shook her head.
“It’s a spare phone, Sehee unnie.”
Unnie? Since when am I your unnie? I’ve never had a younger sister like you. Just because we made eye contact a few times, you think I’m your unnie?
And you’re B-grade this time, so you’re in a different dorm. Why are you even here?
Sehee’s eyes shot out words like rapid fire. Sensing that, Seunghye didn’t let go and simply gave an awkward smile.
“We talked a few times when we shared a dorm before. That makes you unnie.”
‘If only you’d just keep quiet.’
Only then did the sharpness in Sehee’s gaze subside a little.
But the moment Seunghye felt relieved and took a step back, Sehee’s storm of words resumed.
“Why are you here? Your dorm is downstairs.”
“I came to hang out with Eunseo unnie.”
“Did it not occur to you that you coming here right now could become a problem?”
“But I’ve never seen any staff members walking around the dorm so far.”
“And the cameras—”
Ha… Sehee let out a short sigh.
She actually knew. Being aware of cameras and finding them was something Sehee—who had lived as ‘Ahn Jihyun’—was more confident and skilled at than anyone.
There were cameras in the living room, but there were obvious blind spots anyone could notice. Just like where Seunghye and the others were now.
In the end, there was technically no problem with Seunghye’s movement route.
And although they weren’t supposed to switch dorms with each other, strictly speaking, that didn’t mean they weren’t allowed to visit.
Fine. All of that was acceptable. But at least that thing in their hands shouldn’t have been permitted.
