I Was Trying To Debut My Baby, But I Ended Up Debuting Instead

Chapter 10

‘…It’s done!’

The music was an electronic pop dance song, just like before the creation.

Her long hair fluttered with the clear synthesizer sound, creating beautiful curves along with her dance lines. Her clean and pure voice tickled the ears like a gentle breeze.

‘…It felt like summer.’

The actual season was early spring.

But Hyesung felt summer again when she looked at Na Yeonwoo. It was the second moment she fell for her.

‘Cha Joo Yeon is doing better than I thought. It seems the harmony is much better with one person missing compared to last time. Good, if they keep up this atmosphere until the end, it’s a guaranteed Basic level or higher.’

No sooner did she think that, Na Yeonwoo lost her balance and toppled to the side. Her shoelace had come undone, causing her to trip and fall.

“…Yeonwoo!”

A startled Hyesung covered her mouth and watched the stage with wide eyes.

Na Yeonwoo quickly got up and continued the performance, but her shaken mental state caused her to not sing properly in the latter half, and she repeatedly stepped on her untied shoelace, making continuous mistakes.

‘I… grabbed Yeonwoo’s ankle…….’

She remembered crying out, telling the one tied to her in the past to stop holding her baby’s ankle.

‘Tying her shoelace again… became the thing that held her back. Because of me, because of me, Yeonwoo…….’

With her mind blank, Na Yeonwoo ended up affecting Cha Joo Yeon next to her, ruining the latter half of the stage.

“Management A, the company name is A. There is no Ace level. Cha Joo Yeon is Basic, Na Yeonwoo is F.”

She hadn’t been marked down just because she fell.

Her subsequent actions sent Na Yeonwoo to F. If she had continued singing even after throwing off her shoes, she might have received the same grade as Cha Joo Yeon. That was the trainer’s evaluation.

Cha Joo Yeon put her arm around Na Yeonwoo’s shoulder and comforted her as they returned to their seats.

“Yeonwoo… I’m sorry. Because of me, because I told you to tie your shoelaces again. I’m sorry, really, I’m sorry, Yeonwoo…….”

Hyesung stammered, pouring out apologies in her guilt.

“Unnie… why,”

Na Yeonwoo, with large tears streaming down her big eyes, looked at Hyesung.

“Why are you apologizing, unnie? I’m the one who fell, and I’m the one who didn’t sing.”

Na Yeonwoo wiped her tears and forced a smile.

“Don’t apologize. You did it for my sake, unnie.”

Hearing those words made Hyesung’s eyes redden.

“Yeonwoo…….”

‘How could anyone not love someone like you…….’

“Even so, I’m sorry, Yeonwoo. Sniffle, boohoo…….”

Hyesung sniffled and hugged Na Yeonwoo tightly. Cha Joo Yeon, who hadn’t returned to her seat yet, also joined in hugging them and said,

“Why are you crying too, Hyesung unnie? Geez, now I’m about to cry too.”

And so, one Basic level and two F levels cried in each other’s arms. To an onlooker, it might have seemed as if they had just been called to debut in the final.

* * *

After all the class evaluations ended, the trainees changed into the practice outfits assigned to their respective classes and gathered again in the studio. It was time to reveal the signal song.

Already knowing the song, Hyesung stood in the F-level line with a bored expression. She stood on the edge where she wouldn’t be noticed, and her practice outfit was black.

‘I do personally like black, but dressed like this, I look more like a culprit in a detective cartoon than an idol trainee.’

Looking around, the F-level trainees dressed in black all seemed to be dejected.

‘Everyone looks really down…….’

In contrast, Hyesung, who had thoroughly messed up, didn’t look as despondent. She had expected this outcome and thought it was better to rise from F than to be stuck as a Beginner.

‘Apart from the embarrassment of messing up, the real problem is that Yeonwoo ended up in F too.’

Hyesung shifted her gaze to Na Yeonwoo next to her. Her eyes and nose were still red from crying earlier.

‘I can’t bear to see my baby cry twice.’

“Hyesung!”

While Hyesung was feeling sentimental, someone among the trainees called out to her and ran over.

‘Ah… she’s in F too.’

Hyesung recalled the memory of the pre-audition as she saw the approaching trainee.

“Um, since we’ve met here, could we perhaps introduce ourselves? I feel like I won’t know anyone at the site……”

“Sure. I’m Yoon Hyesung, 19 years old.”

“I’m 20 years old, Lim Yae-in. I hope we meet again!”

It seemed Lim Yae-in really had no trainee friends, as she enthusiastically waved her arms upon seeing Hyesung, who she had met once before.

“Is she a friend of yours, unnie?”

Na Yeonwoo asked, looking between Hyesung and Lim Yae-in.

“She’s not a friend……”

“Yes!”

They spoke simultaneously. Hyesung, who was about to say she wasn’t a friend since they’d only met once, was embarrassed. But to avoid making the other feel awkward, she quickly added,

“She, she’s not a friend, she’s an unnie! This unnie is 20 years old. She’s an adult.”

‘20 years old is still quite young. But she’s calling her unnie.’

At this point in time, meaning during the broadcast of season 5, Hyesung was 25 years old, so it felt quite embarrassing to call a freshly graduated 20-year-old “unnie”.

“Hello. I’m Na Yeonwoo, 18 years old.”

“Hello, I’m Lim Yae-in. Please take good care of me.”

Lim Yae-in smiled brightly and took Na Yeonwoo’s hand.

‘Why is she so excited after getting an F grade?’

It was just as it seemed. Lim Yae-in, wearing the black practice outfit, stood in the same line as Hyesung and seemed strangely excited.

‘Anyone would think this was the Ace level line.’

If Hyesung’s stage was a disaster, Lim Yae-in’s was a total failure, just a tiny bit better than Hyesung’s, but still a mess.

‘Well, I guess it’s better than looking glum…….’

Shortly after, the staff finished the preparations, and the trainers stepped onto the stage. Behind them stood the Ace level trainees in purple practice outfits. Among them was Hyun Nana.

In the class evaluation, Hyun Nana had performed Minty’s solo debut song. The evaluation unanimously rated her as Ace, and Minty had even said,

“I think you could stand on stage in my place.”

‘That’s a bit of an exaggeration, unnie. It would be a disaster if you did.’

Hearing Minty’s evaluation, Hyesung thought so, but it was clear that Hyun Nana had left a strong impression on the trainers.

“Now, we will reveal the signal song for Supernova Project Season 5. Are you all ready?”

Seol Hanna said, looking at the trainees.

“Yes!”

Large letters appeared on the black screen of the front display.

Exciting beats reminiscent of a party atmosphere filled the studio.

[The splendid stage

When the curtain rises]

Immediately, a dancer appeared on the screen, dancing to the song.

[The dazzling spotlight

The sound of cheers and applause

Makes my heart race]

As the upbeat introduction heightened the mood, the trainees let out small exclamations and focused on the song.

[Watch closely, it’s my turn now

I’ll take all your hearts

I’ve decided to be the brightest one

Take a Chance!

Chance! Chance!]

As the chorus approached, the performance difficulty spiked.

The pitch heightened, and the rhythm was chopped into the tiniest beats with rapid directional changes and jumps. There were several turn moves in line with the word “turn,” making timing challenging.

[Watch closely, it’s my turn now

I’ll take all your gazes

Take a Chance!

Chance! Chance!

Turning a chance into an opportunity

Tonight, I’ll seize this chance]

After such an intense dance, the final pose was a relaxed, tilted stance as if nothing had happened, ending the video.

“Wow… it’s really hard.”

“I don’t think I can do it even if I dance until I die.”

“How many jumps are there?”

Voices of concern arose from all around. Even the Ace level trainees weren’t an exception. Naturally, the reaction among Hyesung’s group of F level trainees was more intense.

“Did you all see that? It’s not easy. You’ll practice by class when you get to the dorms, so keep your heads straight and watch carefully.”

* * *

“Has anyone picked up the choreography yet?”

“Huh? I’m picking it up now.”

Hearing the troubled trainee with a tablet, Na Yeonwoo approached and answered.

“Ah, Yeonwoo! Then, if you learn the choreography, could you teach us? It’s too hard……”

“Sure. Let’s all practice together. I’ve learned the first verse. The second verse seems to repeat, so it should be quick.”

“Yeonwoo, then you take the front part, and I’ll take the back. It’ll be faster with the two of us.”

Lim Yae-in, who had been practicing alone in the center, chimed in.

“Okay, but unnie, you can speak comfortably to me.”

“Oh, can I? Then I’ll just call you by your name.”

“Sure. By the way, have you seen Hyesung unnie? She went to the bathroom and hasn’t come back.”

“Hyesung? She’s over there in the corner.”

Lim Yae-in pointed to a spot where Hyesung was lying listlessly, half out of her mind.

“Unnie! You’ve been here the whole time? Get up, we said we’d practice together.”

Na Yeonwoo ran over to Hyesung, grabbed her arm, and pulled her up.

“Yeonwoo, it’s too late for me. You go on without me.”

“Huh? Go where. Hurry up and get up. Yae-in unnie and I will pick up the choreography. Here, take this. At least watch the choreography video.”

Na Yeonwoo placed the tablet in Hyesung’s hand.

“Okay……”

Hyesung weakly pressed play on the choreography video.

At that moment, the memory of the dance trainers Jade and Kang Min Gook demonstrating earlier came back like a nightmare.

“Yoon Hyesung! Are you joking?”

“Hyesung, please! How many times is it now?”

She could still hear the trainers’ scolding voices ringing in her ears. During the F-level practice, Hyesung, who had been marked in the class evaluation, had been singled out and scolded harshly.

‘I get hurt too. I’m human too.’

Being scolded publicly for the catastrophic freestyle had been so humiliating and unpleasant. She wished she could forget that moment.

‘…But I have to do it. Yeonwoo is working so hard. I can’t hold her back again.’

“Wow. Really. Exciting. This song. So. Exciting. Makes me want to. Dance. Haha.”

Forcing herself to raise her spirits, Hyesung replayed the choreography video repeatedly and then realized something.

‘I already know the moves, don’t I?’

Yes. She had already watched the video titled [Supernova Season 5 | Full Cam | Na Yeonwoo – Chance!] hundreds of times before the creation, so the choreography was already in her head.

‘Then why am I doing so badly?’

It was a situation where it was input into her brain but not output by her body.

[Today’s~ random quest has arrived!]

‘Why does this random quest always come at the end of the day?’