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During a vocal lesson session one week before the monthly evaluation.

I was receiving disciplinary training today once again.

“Teacher-nim, can I…not…do the plank?

“Alright, Dohee, try singing one more time, one, two!”

Ah…

“– when I first saw you~ I look and stare so deep in your eyes~”

.

.

“oh say love love love –”

As soon as I finished singing, I collapsed on the floor.

“Ugh… I’m really dying…”

Teacher-nim Kwon handed me a bottle of water and said,

“Wow, Dohee, you’re doing really well now!”

“Are you talking about the singing?”

It sounded like he was saying I was good at planks.

“Of course. In that sense, why don’t we take a short break, and do it one more time?”

Ah.

“I can’t do it anymore… Please evaluate me now…”

The song I just sang was the one I was going to perform in the monthly evaluation.

“Hm, I think I’ll get a better sense of it if you sing it one more time.”

“That’s the third time I’ve heard you say that…”

“Oh, is that so?”

“…”

“Alright then. First of all, from the Teacher-nim’s perspective, it seems like your basics are solid now.”

“Oh…”

“But it seems like your emotional expression is lacking.”

“…? How am I supposed to sing with emotion while doing planks?”

“That’s right, and?”

“…”

“Then, try singing it again without doing the planks.”

“Ah.”

After I finished singing the song again, Teacher Kwon said,

“I’ve noticed this often before, but Dohee you are lacking in emotional depth.”

I thought I was singing with plenty of feeling.

“Dohee, what’s your MBTI¹?”

“MBTI all of a sudden?”

“Hurry up.”

“I’m probably ESTP².”

“As expected, you have zero empathy.”

“…”

“Go practice putting emotions into your singing.”

“Yes…”

.

.

.

So, for that reason, I was focusing on vocal practice in the vocal room during personal practice time.
Ah, my throat hurts.
I’ve been practicing vocals so much lately that my throat feels stiff.

“Ah, eh, i, o, u.”
“Ah, ah, ah.”

I kept trying to loosen my throat, but my voice just won’t come out properly.
There’s no helping it, I guess I’ll have to give up on singing for today and read the lyrics to find the emotions instead.

They say you need to immerse yourself in the character to understand the emotions…

The character in the song I’m going to sing for the monthly evaluation is a woman who falls for a man at first sight.

Hmm.
I guess I really do have zero empathy.
I might as well go for a walk.

I left the vocal room and knocked on the door of the adjacent vocal room.

– Knock knock –

Seoyoon Unni, who was inside, opened the door slightly and poked her head out asking,

“What?”

“Hey, is your practice going well?”

“Of course. I have a reservation for first place.”

“That’s great. Then why don’t you come out and we can go for a walk to clear our heads and digest dinner?”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“No, I don’t want to~”

– Clack –

Seoyoon Unni closed the door and resumed practicing again.

Ah.
Of all the times, Wooa Unni is probably having a rap lesson right now.

It can’t be helped.
I have no choice but to walk alone.

I went outside the company and started walking alone.

Since I’m walking anyways, I might as well look for emotional inspiration by people-watching.

I walked for 10 minutes ‘observing the expressions of the passing pedestrians, among them I saw a familiar face.

It was Daye, a fellow trainee.
And next to Daye was Kang Woohyun, a male trainee from our company who is the same age as Daye.

I approached Daye Unni and asked her.

“What are you doing here Unni?”

Daeye appeared surprised and replied,

“Oh? Ah… Dohee, what about you?”

“I’m just out for a walk.”

“Ah, well… I also came out for a walk and happened to run into Woohyun, so we were heading back to the company together.”

Kang Woohyun, who was next to her, added,

“That’s right. We just ran into each other and were heading back to the company.”

As if I’d believe that?

“Oh, I see. Well, I’ll continue my walk, so see you at the company later.”

“Yes yes…”

In fact, it was pretty common for trainees to date each other.
How could they not develop feelings when handsome and pretty people greet each other every day in the same building?

What’s funny is that the company doesn’t try to prevent this and even encourages it by making male and female trainees take the same lessons on personality development and sex education in the same classroom.
They probably think that trainees who date during their trainee period will continue dating after their debut, so they might as well weed them out in advance.

Anyway, I don’t know how long those two can keep hiding it.

.

.

.

Two days after the monthly evaluation, on Friday.

After having dinner with Seoyoon and Wooa Unni, I headed to the choreography practice room because they said the rankings were posted.
When I arrived at the choreography practice room, the other trainees were all sitting with gloomy expressions.

Did everyone do poorly?

I approached the ranking chart posted on the wall and examined it.
And I immediately understood why everyone was so upset.

March monthly evaluation rankings.

Kim Seoyoon
Lee Dohee
Kim Naeun
Ji Wooa
Han Shia
Kim Jiyeon
Yeon Dasom

Just yesterday, there were nine female trainees.
But today’s ranking chart had only seven names listed.
The names missing were Yeonji and Daeye.
This meant that two people had been released this time.

Seoyoon, despite being in first place, also had a stiff expression like the other trainees.
Moreover, Daeye, one of the two people released, was Seoyoon’s entry-level colleague³, so she couldn’t possibly be feeling good.

Usually, those who consistently rank low are eliminated, but Daeye Unni wasn’t in the lower ranks, so it seems that her relationship was finally discovered.

When Teacher-nim Yerim entered the practice room, she said,

“Everyone, get up quickly. We need to practice.”

“”“ Yes… “””

Even though two people were released, the choreography lesson started as usual.

About 30 minutes into the lesson, Manager-nim Jo Soyoung came into the practice room with the two who had been released.
Unlike Yeonji who was relatively composed, Daeye was still shedding tears.

Sigh, she should’ve been more careful…

From the company’s perspective, since they invest a lot of money to turn trainees into celebrities, it was inevitable to release any trainee with even a minor issue.
But as someone who had been watching Daeye’s efforts for two years, I just felt sorry for her.

Manager-nim Jo Soyoung told us,

“Everyone, Daeye and Yeonji will be quitting as of today… So say your last goodbyes.”

I approached my crying Daye Unni and hugged her, saying,

“You worked hard, Unni.”

She continued to weep silently.

Sigh.

I also approached Yeonji saying my goodbyes.

After all the trainees finished saying their farewells and the two released trainees left the practice room, Teacher-nim Yerim immediately resumed the dance lesson.
And everyone danced harder than usual.

.

.

.

The next day.
After school, I boarded the bus to go to the company.
Listening to music with wireless earbuds, I received a call from Wooa Unni.

“Hello.”

– Dohee, where are you? –

“I’m on my way. I’m taking the bus.”

– Oh, really? By the way, did you hear the new trainees are coming today? –

It was now routine for new trainees to fill vacancies when trainees were released.

“Yeah. How many?”

– Three! –

“Oh, I see.”

– But do you know? Two of them are Japanese! –

“Ah, really?”

– What, are you not surprised? –

“Well, it was about time. The company said they have been holding global auditions since last year.”

– Aww. I thought you’d be surprised. –

“I have to get off the bus now, I’m hanging up now.”

– Alrighty~ See you soon! –

After hanging up with Wooa Unni, I got off at the bus stop near the company.
After disembarking at the stop, I walked a bit until I arrived at the company.

I greeted the lobby staff and went up to the third floor to sign the attendance sheet.
As soon as I reached the third floor, the three new people Wooa Unni mentioned were standing next to Team Leader-nim Sohyun.
I approached them and greeted them.

“Hello.”

The three of them all greeted me in unison.

“Hello!” “Hi!” “Nice to meet you⁴.”

Team Leader Sohyun said to me,

“Dohee, you’ll be introduced to them all at once in the practice room later, so go down and practice for now.”

“Yes.”

When I went down to the basement, most of the trainees were already in the practice room.
Entering, I said,

“Hello~ I’m here~”

“Dohee’s here?”
“Hi~”
“Who’s not here yet?”
“Seoyoon.”

I don’t know if it’s just our company. Unlike rumors online, there wasn’t much fierce competition amongst us trainees.
If anything, it was better if we were on good terms.
It’s just that there was a wall built between us trainees from getting too close to each other.

Of course, that b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲ Kim Jiyeon, who glares at me, is an exception.
Even so, she seems to understand that cat fighting with me would only harm herself, so she’s been quiet since the first time she tried to pick a fight.

A little while later, Seoyoon entered the practice room, and Team Leader-nim Sohyun followed.

Team Leader-nim Sohyun announced,

“Everyone, gather around.”

We all moved to stand in front of Team Leader-nim Sohyun, who then said,

“As you all know, new trainees are joining us today.”

Team Leader-nim Sohyun gestured to the new trainees waiting outside the practice room and told them,

“Come in, kids. Introduce yourselves.”

The shortest child started introducing herself.

“Hello. My name is Ahn Chaeeun, and I’m 13 years old! Please take care of me!”

I thought she seemed short, but finally, a kid younger than me had joined.

Next was the Japanese trainee.

“Annyeoaseyo⁵. My name is Kawasaki Azusa. I’m 12 years old.”⁶

“Azusa you are 12 years old in Japanese age, but 14 years old in Korean age. Azusa, from now on, when you talk in Korean, say your age in Korean.”

“Yes.”

“Next, Chiyo, introduce yourself.”

“Annyeoaseyo. My name is Kinoshita Chiyo. I’m 16 years old in Korean age. Please take care of me.”⁷

This Japanese trainee speaks well.

“Okay, the three of you, if there is anything you don’t know, ask the others.”

“””Yes.”””

Team Leader-nim turned to me, saying,

“Dohee, raise your hand.”

“Yes?”

“Raise your hand.”

I raised my hand as the team leader instructed.

“Asuza and Chiyo, if you don’t understand something in Korean, ask the person with their hand raised. Dohee is fluent enough in Japanese.”

“”Yes.””

Ah.
What a hassle.

1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator – is a personality assessment tool designed to categorize individuals into 16 distinct personality types based on preferences in four dichotomies
2. Extraverted (E): Energized by social interaction and external activities.
   Sensing (S): Focused on the present moment and practical details.
   Thinking (T): Makes decisions based on logic and objective criteria.
   Perceiving (P): Prefers flexibility and spontaneity over strict planning.
   **ESTPs can appear tactless, prioritizing logic over empathy and struggling to connect emotionally with others.
3. basically the raws say something like a person who entered the company at the same time
4. 반캅순니다 in the raws is a formal Thai phrase that means ‘nice to meet you’
5. it’s annyeonghaseyo but she has bad pronunciation
6. just know that her pronunciation is not the best as she is a foreigner
7. also similar pronunciation issues as did with Azusa but Chiyo had better pronunciation in introducing herself

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