𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 ―𝐝.𝐨.𝐝

Chapter 7

[ Cho Seungmin's POV ]

I wanted to sleep.

After 40 of the same performances, I was ready to ignore everything and sleep. But B's warning continued to echo in my head.

"It doesn't matter if you don't need the lessons. If you don't look like you pay attention, you'll be evil-edited to a character the general public won't like."

Evil editing, was it really that bad?

I was someone disconnected from the internet. I had a phone solely for communication or anything related to work.

Watching girls dance? Scrolling through Twatter? Games? I rarely did those on my own.

I only joined this show because I thought it would be nice to try something new. Years of having the same two-faced lifestyle led me to be bored of it. But so far, this show wasn't as adrenaline-rushing as I thought it would be.

Despite these thoughts, I continued to sit straight and watch the performances in front of me. It was almost my turn anyways, noting how Park Moondae was on the stage now.

"He practiced hard every night. I think he'll do good."

And he did. Despite the energy he put into his movements, his vocals remained shockingly stable. His singing was already the best among the group of participants here, but paired with the dancing, it was even more impressive.

Even the judges were shocked by his development. They sang praises that weren't heard yet by those who had already performed.

But to me, there was something more startling than that.

It was the fact that Moondae hyung was smiling so widely.

The Moondae hyung that had a top-tier poker face was suddenly radiating with a smile.

Badump.

"What was that?" I thought as I clapped with the rest of the participants.

Was he that happy about getting some compliments? I didn't know he could smile like that.

When he came back to his seat, still breathing heavily, I handed him the water that was under his seat.

"Thanks, and good luck," he said casually.

I smiled and rose from my seat as my rank was called up to perform, but I continued to listen to their conversation.

"M-Moondae!" Ahyun hyungnim whispered, pumping his fists slightly up and down excitedly. "You did a-amazing!"

Moondae hyung wiped the sweat from his face and nodded his head modestly, saying, "Thanks. Like I said on stage, you helped me a lot."

When I glanced back, his face was already back to its usual blank expression.

Maybe my eyes deceived me earlier.

I threw away the thoughts as the music started and I began to move. I made sure to pay attention to my facial expressions too, smiling when I turned to face the judges or closing my eyes when singing high notes. I was told to do so by B.

Based on their reactions, I don't think they were expecting me to dance well. They had placed me in the intermediate level, most likely because of being a b-boy and not a k-pop dancer, but what they didn't know was that I could probably dance to anything well.

I simply did breakdance because I like to. Plus, the classes were free. And I know how good I am at controlling my body. I just needed to know what to do, and I could do it.

As for vocals, I wasn't a singer. My voice was okay throughout, but I don't think it fit the song's concept well. The song was happy and childish. My voice is more on the husky, low side.