-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Lilac Scent
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After Han Young-won, a few more teams went, and then Hye-sung and Na Yeon-woo were called down together.
“What do I do, Eonni. I’m so nervous.”
Na Yeon-woo, who had been watching the trainees being evaluated on stage, grabbed Hye-sung’s arm, fidgeting restlessly.
“Huh? Oh. It’s okay. You’ll do great, Yeon-woo.”
But Hye-sung was even more frozen than Na Yeon-woo.
‘What is going on now? I’m sure there were three trainees from Management A, so why are there only two?’
The trainee next to Na Yeon-woo came over to Hye-sung’s other side, grabbed her arm, and started shaking it too.
“You’re nervous too, right? Yeon-woo, I’m so scared. We won’t get F, will we?”
“No way we’d get F… I’d be happy with just a Basic grade.”
“Hmm, I’m hoping for Middle or higher!”
‘In your dreams. You, Middle class? No, that’s not the problem. There was one more person besides you and Yeon-woo! Where did she go? Why is it just the two of you? And…’
Hye-sung glanced ahead of her. Soft, brown hair that fell just past the shoulders caught her eye.
‘Why is she in front of me? Things keep changing, and it’s making me anxious…’
Overwhelmed with anxiety, Hye-sung squeezed her eyes shut.
‘I take back what I said about feeling sorry for whoever had to follow Han Young-won. May I, the one performing right after that girl, rest in peace.’
“Are you okay, Eonni? You’re pale as a ghost…”
“Hye-sung eonni is before us, right? She must be nervous. You’ll do great, Eonni. Fighting!”
Na Yeon-woo and her companion mistook Hye-sung’s deathly pale face for simple stage fright.
“Yeah, you guys too… Oh, right, Yeon-woo. Check your shoelaces again. You said they were uncomfortable earlier.”
“Okay.”
Hye-sung recalled the scene where Na Yeon-woo had twisted her ankle and missed a step during the class evaluation.
‘So it was because her shoes were uncomfortable.’
“No, wait, I’ll tie them for you. Just a second.”
“No, it’s okay, Eonni! I can do it…”
Before she could finish, Hye-sung reached for Na Yeon-woo’s canvas shoes. They looked a little uncomfortable, as if they didn’t fit properly.
‘She’s already tall, why make her wear insoles… No wonder they’re uncomfortable.’
“Yeon-woo, is this better?”
she asked, slightly loosening the laces that were squeezing the balls of her feet.
“I think so.”
“I’ll tie the knot tightly, okay?”
“Yes, thank you…”
Na Yeon-woo scratched her head with her long fingers, looking apologetic.
“Hey, what about me, Eonni? Check my shoes too.”
Na Yeon-woo’s companion pouted playfully.
“Alright, let me see. Hey, these are velcro.”
“Hahaha, gotcha.”
“You little pipsqueak, teasing your eonni?”
“You’re shorter than me, though.”
The lighthearted banter briefly eased the tension.
“…your grade is Middle.”
The announcement from the stage snapped the three of them back to attention.
“Another Middle.”
“Aww, I hope I get Middle too.”
‘Over forty people have performed, and you can count the Aces on one hand.’
Instead, there were too many in Middle and Basic. It was proof that the overall skill level of the contestants was mediocre.
“Next, Cue Media’s trainee Lee Ju-ha, please come up.”
“Yes.”
Hye-sung’s gaze turned to Lee Ju-ha, who was checking her microphone.
‘She’ll do well… But as someone who knows the outcome, it feels a bit bittersweet.’
“Hye-sung eonni, do you two know each other? You keep staring at her,”
Na Yeon-woo’s companion whispered into Hye-sung’s ear.
“No. I just saw her for the first time today.”
“Oh, so you were looking at her like she’s a celebrity?”
“Yeah. Something like that…”
“I like Lee Ju-ha too.”
Na Yeon-woo suddenly chimed in.
“I even voted for her before… It feels a little strange meeting her like this.”
“You even voted for her?”
‘I knew Yeon-woo followed Ju-ha quite a bit, but this is the first I’m hearing that she liked her even before the Supernova Project.’
“Yes. I hope she does well on stage.”
“Yeah…”
Hye-sung watched Lee Ju-ha’s back as she walked onto the stage, a puzzled look on her face.
“I’m Lee Ju-ha from Cue Media.”
Hearing the introduction, Minty’s eyes grew sharper.
“She’s from the same agency as you, Minty.”
“If you go easy on her just because you’re from the same company…”
the rap trainer said half-jokingly, but Minty cut him off.
“If anything, I’ll be stricter, won’t I? Since she’s here representing our company.”
Minty spoke with a smile and a gentle tone, but it sounded like she was telling him to cut the crap.
“Let’s see it, then.”
“Yes.”
As the intro music started, the trainees in the audience began to murmur.
“Whoa, no way. Snowe?”
“She’s performing… this song.”
Minty, who had been on edge before her own agency’s junior trainee’s evaluation, looked even sharper now.
“Wow, isn’t this a new song? A track that came out just a month ago…”
vocal trainer Yoo Jeong-ah said in surprise.
The performance that followed was quite good. Everything was so harmonious that it felt like it could have been her own song.
The song was by Snowe, a new track released only a month ago—a risky choice. Lee Ju-ha, who had chosen this song, had been a trainee in Snowe’s debut lineup.
Around this time last year, Cue Media had gathered its female trainees for a project to compete for a spot in their next debut group. It wasn’t televised, but videos of the trainees performing their weekly mission songs were released on WeTube, the world’s largest online video platform.
Votes were tallied based on the number of views and ‘likes’ on each video. The easy accessibility led to high participation from global fans, which later translated into a strong international fanbase for the debuted group, Snowe.
Lee Ju-ha had been a popular trainee ever since her videos were released, but she wasn’t selected as a member of Snowe. Rumor had it that she was dropped because her image overlapped too much with another member who was practically a shoo-in.
‘She didn’t pick this song for her class evaluation before.’
Watching Lee Ju-ha from below the stage, Hye-sung’s brow furrowed.
Snowe’s was one of the first-round mission songs. At least, it was before the apocalypse.
‘She used the song from the group she was cut from to create a narrative for herself and shot straight to the top ranks. But… in the end, she still failed to debut.’
It didn’t feel like someone else’s story. She saw Na Yeon-woo in Lee Ju-ha, who was destined to fail again. But the constantly changing situation was making her uneasy.
For now, more than her sympathy for Lee Ju-ha, she felt a stronger desire for everything—except for Na Yeon-woo’s situation—to unfold exactly as it had before the apocalypse.
‘And these stats.’
Seeing Lee Ju-ha’s status window right after her performance, Hye-sung was startled. Her stats were lower than the skills she had just demonstrated.
[Lee Ju-ha (Age 21/Female)]
Visual ★★★
Vocal ★★★
Dance ★★★
Star Quality ★★★
‘All three stars. I thought she’d be similar to Han Young-won… Just how much did she practice this song?’
Lee Ju-ha’s performance was in no way inferior to Han Young-won’s, who had been at a four-star level. If anything, her memorable song choice made a stronger impression.
“Is there a reason you chose this song?”
dance trainer Jade asked carefully.
“…As you all know, this is a song by my friends, who I spent my trainee days with.”
Lee Ju-ha caught her breath and continued.
“I wanted to show that just because I failed once, it doesn’t mean I’ve given up, that I’m still working hard behind the scenes. To show that, I thought this song… would be a good choice.”
was a song with hopeful lyrics about remembering the candy you ate as a child during tough times.
“In a way, it’s like a message to yourself, isn’t it?”
Including the storytelling, the trainers were full of praise. Even Minty, who had claimed she would be stricter because they were from the same agency.
“I seriously felt like a piece of candy was rolling around in my mouth.”
After receiving her Ace grade sticker, Lee Ju-ha offered a small word of encouragement to Hye-sung, who was waiting for her turn.
“Fighting.”
She seemed to have finally relaxed now that she had received her target grade. Seeing Lee Ju-ha’s sunny smile only made Hye-sung feel more uncomfortable.
‘Oh, I’m in big trouble. Seriously. What am I supposed to do?’
She was expecting an F, but she couldn’t help being scared.
Hye-sung forced her trembling body to move and walked onto the stage.
“Hello. I’m independent trainee Yoon Hye-sung. My skills are still lacking, but I’ll do my best.”
Worried she’d be asked about her past experience, she preemptively declared her inadequacy and immediately bowed her head.
“Yes… Have you had any experience as an agency trainee?”
vocal trainer S-One asked.
‘…Don’t ask.’
“It says here you’re from D&F.”
Seol Han-na pointed it out helpfully.
“Hmm… A trainee from a major agency. I’m looking forward to seeing if your skills are major-league as well.”
Minty said with a shrug.
She had only introduced herself, but beads of sweat were already forming on Hye-sung’s forehead.
“I, I-I-I… was only there for a very short time…”
“Yes, understood. Let’s hear the song.”
Before she could make any more excuses, the trainers called for her to get ready.
A faint violin intro began to play.
“What song is this?”
“Is it an original?”
“It has a really old-school vibe…”
The seated trainees tilted their heads, looking like they didn’t recognize it. In contrast, the trainers all seemed to know the song, their eyes widening at just the intro.
“Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard this song.”
“Oh my gosh, you’re taking me back. This was my Tiny Hompy’s background music.”
The two vocal trainers giggled, smiling.
Following the violin melody, a fresh piano tune drifted through the studio like morning mist.
Hye-sung adjusted her grip on the microphone and counted down in her head.
‘Three, two, one.’
[Through the shattering sunlight
I can faintly see your silhouette
Your sweet breath, the scent of lilac
I close my eyes and trace my memories]
The song Hye-sung had chosen was by female solo artist Lee Soo-kyung, released 16 years ago.
It was a quintessential song of that era’s sensibility, complete with an ellipsis (…) in the title.
It was a medium-tempo, dance-style ballad that compared a first love from a distant memory to the scent of lilac. *Lira*, the Korean title, was the French word for lilac, which was a more common term for the flower in Korea long ago.
The trainers’ expressions softened slightly. Just from the intro and the first line, they seemed swept up in the illusion of being transported back to that time.
Hye-sung’s gamble was paying off.
The song choice was calculated to pull at the trainers’ nostalgia, as they would have been students when this song was popular, hoping the fond memories would work in her favor.
‘Songs have that kind of power.’
[The lilac scent that brushes my nose
Calls you forth from distant memories
Ah, the lilac flower is my first love
Fading away like a dream]
The melody was bright, yet the song had an underlying sadness. To convey that feeling, Hye-sung barely danced, instead focusing all her energy on emotional expression.
[Through the swaying flower petals
I can faintly see your silhouette
When I close my eyes, I can hear your voice]
The song’s sentimental minor key, which made you feel inexplicably emotional despite its brightness, blended with Hye-sung’s own forlornness. Her situation was genuinely pitiful, and the fact that she looked slightly haggard from practicing behind a closed door seemed to add to that air of sorrow.
‘Phew. I finished without any mistakes. I did the best I could with my current skills.’
Hye-sung let out a breath and bowed politely.
