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

Chapter 15

“…Why?”

“I’m so tired… I need to rest a bit.”

“I know everyone is tired, but let’s get up and practice. We’ll feel more energized if we do it together.”

“Hyesung, while you were meditating, we kept going. Let’s rest for a bit.”

“Okay. Then let’s rest for just 10 minutes and then try again.”

‘Tsk. These kids are slacking off.’

Hyesung practiced the choreography with a few others who didn’t rest.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t she making any mistakes all of a sudden?”

“Hyesung, what did you do?”

‘Oops. I should have made more mistakes, but I did it too perfectly.’

“Huh? I don’t know. It just happened?”

Hyesung brushed off the puzzled looks from the trainees who found her flawless performance strange and got the resting trainees back on their feet to continue practicing. Then, Na Yeonwoo, who had gone to the vocal room, returned.

“Oh? You’re all practicing together?”

“Yeonwoo! I’m dying here, and you’re the leader, but Yoon Hyesung keeps pushing us~!”

“Hyesung unnie is?”

“That was strange. Hyesung unnie wasn’t the type to do that. She was probably struggling with her own tasks.” Na Yeonwoo looked very puzzled.

“No! Everyone said we’d stay up all night, but they keep trying to rest. If we don’t stay up tonight, we’ll get scolded tomorrow.”

“True, but we’re not machines~!”

“Hyesung, you’re full of energy because you rested and then joined us.”

Some seemed dissatisfied with the enforced group practice.

‘These kids… I was trying to help since I reached 99%.’

Seeing some trainees’ weak resolve, she thought they deserved to be in the F class.

“If you don’t want to do it, then don’t. If you want to get scolded and stay stuck in F class, just sit and rest. I’m staying up all night. Yeonwoo, come here.”

Hyesung intentionally made a few mistakes in the choreography while continuing the group practice with Yeonwoo and others who didn’t rest.

Seeing this, some who wanted to rest began to join the formation.

‘Looks like they finally came to their senses.’

After practicing until 2 a.m., everyone’s energy was drained, and they collapsed again.

“But where did Rurika go?”

Hyesung, who was scanning the trainees’ proficiency, realized that Rurika hadn’t been there since the group practice started.

“Oh, she was feeling unwell after lunch. She took some medicine in the evening and is resting in the dorm.”

“Really? I hope it’s not serious.”

“She said she’d come to the practice room if she felt better. Maybe she fell asleep?”

Wouldn’t it be a problem if Rurika couldn’t practice and fell behind because she was sick? Hyesung worried that Yeonwoo might get scolded if Rurika’s illness affected her performance.

‘…Is she very sick?’

But hearing that she was unwell bothered Hyesung.

“I’ll go check on Rurika.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Me too.”

“Me too.”

Yeonwoo, Lim Yae-in, and another trainee who shared the room with Rurika responded in unison.

“No, unnie, you should rest with the others. I’ll go alone.”

Hyesung quickly left the practice room before anyone could follow.

* * *

‘Yeonwoo’s choreography proficiency was just over 50% earlier. Lim Yae-in’s was around the same.’

Although she hadn’t seen their singing proficiency, she expected both to be below her level.

‘Especially Lim Yae-in. She probably didn’t even reach 10%. This is a big problem.’

As she headed to the dorm, she peeked through the windows of other practice rooms. The Ace class already seemed to have over 70% choreography proficiency. By tomorrow, they would likely reach 80%.

‘To move up to Ace, that’s the level you need to be at.’

Having already achieved 99% choreography proficiency, Hyesung worried about where Yeonwoo would go.

Basic class seemed likely, but it wouldn’t be impactful enough if she only made it to Basic after being given the F class instructor role. She had to somehow make it to Ace.

‘Is there no way to boost Yeonwoo up like I did…?’

Lost in thought, she arrived at the room where Rurika was resting.

“It’s Hyesung. I’m coming in.”

Hyesung cautiously opened the door and entered the room. The room was dark and quiet.

“Is she asleep?”

Rurika lay motionless on the top bunk of the left bed. Hyesung turned on the bedside lamp on the opposite side and checked her condition.

“Ugh…”

Rurika stirred, perhaps awakened by the noise.

“Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?”

“…Hyesung.”

Rurika, who had been tossing and turning under the blanket, sat up. She was covered in sweat, and her hair was plastered to her face.

“Hey, why do you look like that? Are you very sick?”

“…I have no strength… ugh.”

Rurika explained that she had been to the bathroom over ten times since dinner and was exhausted. She also had a slight fever and headache, indicating it wasn’t just a stomach ache.

“This isn’t good. Let’s ask to be taken to the hospital. Can you stand?”

“Yeah…”

Hyesung helped Rurika to the room where the production team was. Seeing Rurika’s condition, the staff immediately took her to the emergency room, scolding her for not reporting sooner.

Later, Hyesung heard that Rurika had been diagnosed with stress-induced enteritis and was only able to return to the dorm after sunrise.

After dropping Rurika off with the production team, Hyesung returned to the practice room and continued practicing for a while longer. As it neared 4 a.m., most trainees returned to the dorm.

At 5 a.m., only Yoon Hyesung, Na Yeonwoo, Lim Yae-in, and two others remained in the F class practice room. Just five of them.

“If we wash up now, we’ll get about an hour of sleep.”

“Isn’t that almost the same as not sleeping?”

“But even an hour’s sleep is different from staying up all night, your body will feel it.”

To avoid being groggy during the morning vocal lesson, they decided to rest for an hour.

“Disband! See you in the morning.”

* * *

“You didn’t come back last night?”

Han Youngwon asked Hyesung, who was changing clothes, leaning crookedly against the bed ladder.

“No? I came back after 5.”

“I didn’t hear you washing up.”

“Oh, it was so late that I used the common shower to avoid waking you guys.”

“Really? I see.”

But didn’t she sleep with earplugs? Why is she asking this? Hyesung tilted her head in confusion.

“Hyesung, you must be tired.”

Lee Joo-ha approached and handed Hyesung a vitamin ampoule and a tonic. It was an expensive set sold for 7,500 won at the pharmacy.

“Drink this after you eat.”

“Wow, thank you.”

‘See, she’s so kind. I don’t know why she didn’t debut. It’d be perfect if she debuted with our Yeonwoo.’

“Youngwon gave it to me.”

“Youngwon unnie did?”

“She seemed worried since you spent the night at the practice room. Right, unnie?”

“Not really. I just had some extras.”

Han Youngwon pointed to the suitcase on the floor with her chin. One side was filled with tonics and recovery drinks.

“Whoa. That’s a lot…”

There were boxes of Kwipe and Gilcom.

‘That alone is over 300,000 won!’

When she worked at the company, Hyesung had saved money for Yeonwoo and rarely bought expensive supplements for herself, even when she was tired. She swallowed hard.

“If you need more, just let me know. I have another suitcase full.”

Hyesung, hearing this, began to see Han Youngwon as a saint.

“Thank you. Thank you. I’m so grateful for this precious gift… This expensive stuff…”

Seeing Hyesung’s exaggerated gratitude, almost bowing, Han Youngwon quickly moved away, saying, “Why is she acting like this?”.

In the morning, they had another vocal lesson. Rurika couldn’t participate due to her condition.

Other than that, the day seemed to be going like the previous one until Lim Yae-in got scolded harshly by the vocal trainer, Yoo Jung-ah.

“Yae-in, do you think you can keep singing like this just because your position is dance? This program is for selecting singers. How can you still not hit a single note correctly the day before the re-evaluation? How many times have you missed the first note?”

Yoo Jung-ah, who had also been a vocal trainer in the previous season, usually taught by encouraging rather than scolding. This was the first time anyone had seen her so angry. The atmosphere in the class became very tense.

“Everyone, listen up. You focus only on dance practice, right? You think just making some noise will do for singing, but you’re wrong. If you can’t do it while standing, how will you manage live performances while dancing? Even if we overlook the re-evaluation, what about recording and performing on stage?”

Yoo Jung-ah sighed as she looked at the frozen trainees, then placed her hands back on the keyboard.

“Yeonwoo, you’re up.”

Na Yeonwoo, looking very nervous, clutched the

lyrics sheet tightly in both hands.

“Why is your voice so small? I can’t hear you. Try again.”

Yoo Jung-ah said in a low voice.

“Yeonwoo, open your mouth wider. Project your voice!”

Na Yeonwoo didn’t even reach the chorus before getting scolded.

“Next, Hyesung.”

“Yes…”

Last night, she had been so busy leading the F class trainees in group practice with Yeonwoo that she hadn’t properly practiced her vocals. She also might have been a bit complacent because it was a song she already knew.

‘Ha… I’m going to get scolded too.’

Her current singing proficiency was barely over 30%.

[Lucky Four-Leaf Clover (Common) activated!]

“I’ll take all your feelings~ I’ve chosen myself to shine the most~”

Hyesung sang the chorus plainly, without any flourishes. Thanks to the four-leaf clover, she didn’t make any mistakes. But it wasn’t particularly well-sung either. It was just not noticeable.

“Yes! This is the minimum sound you need to produce.”

Yoo Jung-ah took her hands off the keyboard and said. For the first time today, her expression softened.

‘Is this the effect of the four-leaf clover? Or did I actually do well?’

“Like Hyesung, sing plainly. At least hit the notes correctly. Don’t try to add unnecessary flourishes when you can’t sing well.”

It wasn’t praise but rather setting a minimum standard. She was essentially saying to sing in a way that wouldn’t stand out, blending in with the voices of higher-ranked trainees.

‘Right. This is the F class.’

Hyesung, who momentarily thought she had done well, understood. The expectations were different for the F class compared to other classes.

* * *

After witnessing Na Yeonwoo getting scolded in the morning, Hyesung became anxious about how to help her quickly.

‘I have an idea from yesterday. But I don’t know if it’ll work.’

Her idea was to use while practicing vocals with Yeonwoo. She was curious if Yeonwoo’s experience would accumulate from the repeated practice as the time rewound.

‘Status window. Can be applied to others?’

[It can only be applied to the user. The scope cannot be extended due to low Imagination.]

‘At what level of Imagination can it be applied to others?’

[Imagination must be at least 4.]

She had no idea how long it would take to reach level 4. It could be a few hours or even a month.

‘As expected, it’s not possible.’

With her low Imagination, it wasn’t feasible. Moreover, rapidly improving someone’s skill in a short time could be risky.

If the person realized they weren’t improving on their own, they would become suspicious. Although it might be a good strategy if used gradually and repeatedly.

‘Is there no other solution?’