"Good morning, trainees!" Kang Minho brightly greeted as he walked through the double doors.
The 25 trainees had now gathered in the training center for the interim evaluations. The mentors entered the door one by one, shining like real celebrities. They were all made up and were wearing stage clothes while the trainees had only woken up.
Just then, 3 new people entered the room, making the trainees perk up. For June, they weren't familiar faces, but they seemed to be a big deal since Ren let out a small gasp.
"Do you know them?" June asked.
"Yeah," Ren whispered. "You don't?"
June shook his head.
"Well, they're some of the biggest producer names in Korea. That guy, Sven, is my mentor," he pointed to a fairly-young guy wearing heavy chains and heavily-tinted sunglasses.
"He must be good then," June inferred.
"He is," Ren responded. "He knows a lot about the technical aspects of producing."
Minho cleared his throat, capturing the trainees' attention.
"Well, it's been over three days since we've announced the Production Mission," Minho started off. "I acknowledge that producing a song in that duration is quite difficult, even for the experts that had graced us with our presence today. But this is a challenge you need to overcome."
"Therefore," Jihyun chimed. "We have come here today to give you some pointers for improvement. You are getting closer to your debut, and we want nothing but the best for you."
Jihyun's eyes strayed toward June. 'I want nothing but the best for you,' she thought but quickly shook her head and went back to professional mode.
"Exactly," Woo-jin said. "We don't want to take up too much of your time, so why don't we get started?" he asked.
"Hmm, who wants to go first?" Gun asked, looking around the room.
Without any hesitation, Lin Zhi confidently raised his hand. "We can go first, mentor."
The other trainees exclaimed in admiration, while Gun looked pleasantly surprised.
"I like the confidence," Gun said. "Come here first, then," he gestured to the center of the room.
Lin Zhi nodded and gave his laptop to the production crew. Meanwhile, June looked at the trainee's back with disdain.
Lin Zhi's change in attitude hadn't gone past June. It seemed like the drug dealer was truly trying his best to debut.
As the first notes were heard in the room, the mentors, as well as the producers, looked pleasantly surprised despite only the intro being played.
Lin Zhi stood confidently at the center, and that was when June knew something was wrong.
Now, he didn't know a lot about Lin Zhi's musicality. It was only when he transmigrated into the body of Choi Joon-ho that he learned Lin Zhi could actually hold a tune and dance to a certain beat. However, he knew that Lin Zhi probably never learned how to produce any music.
So, when June heard a professional-sounding track filled with intricate synths and well-made basslines, he started becoming suspicious.
'In the neon city lights, we come alive,
Dancing beneath the stars, the music makes us jive.
It's a wild, electric night, I can't deny,
We're partying like it's the end, up until sunrise.'
"Wait, they actually already wrote the lyrics?"
"What the hell? How'd they manage to do it so fast?"
"I heard Lin Zhi is actually talented in producing."
The trainees watching couldn't hold back their amazement as a complete soundtrack resonated in the training center.
The mentors, too, exchanged surprised glances. The trainees weren't required to incorporate their singing into the backtrack, but this team actually managed to do it.
'Life's a blur; in this moment we're unfurled,
Gonna do what we want in this crazy world.
The clock's ticking fast, so let's embrace the ride,
Tonight we'll spread our wings and let our dreams collide.'
'We're partying like it's the end of the world,
Life's a rollercoaster; let the colors swirl.
With hearts on fire, we tear life by the seams.
Together, we'll chase our wildest dreams.'
June frowned. Their lyrics sounded pretty good too. Then, he stared at Lin Zhi's smug expression. Was this guy actually talented in music production?
The well-made production ended on a good note, with both mentors and trainees amazed by the effort and quality of the supposedly amateur-made song.
"Holy crap. They did such a good job. Lin Zhi really wants to debut, huh?" Jangmoon whispered.
Even Ren, who wasn't easily surprised, nodded in acknowledgment.
"Your genre is Electro-Techo, am I right?" Samba, one of the producers, asked.
"Yes," Lin Zhi proudly said. "Despite being Electro-Techno, I tried my best to incorporate K-pop elements into the song."
"I?" Hyerin asked with furrowed eyebrows. "Did you make this song all by yourself?"
Lin Zhi humbly shook his head. "Ah, wait. It's a mistake. I produced the beat and wrote 90% of the lyrics, but my teammates helped a lot, too," he said sheepishly, looking genuinely shy.
Samba nodded, his expression satisfied.
"Well, you've done a good job," he said. "I like how it sounds a bit like the EDM songs from the West."
"Yes," Gun added. "You're actually a very talented producer, Lin Zhi. I believe your team doesn't have anything to worry about."
"Thank you, mentors and producers," Lin Zhi gratefully bowed.
With that, the first evaluation had come to an end. The other teams who followed also seemed to be doing pretty well. They were now down to 25 trainees, so it was expected that the performances would have improved a lot by now.
"The synths overpower the song," Sven commented on Jisung's team. "But other than that, It's good."
"Thank you," Jisung bowed while the others followed.
And just like that, four teams had already been evaluated.
June's team was the only one left.
"Hmm, Bubblegum Pop?" Samba said. "That's a hard one."
"Right?" Jihyun chimed. "That's a genre I've always avoided, even when I was younger."
"It doesn't suit you anyway," Gun joked. "It suits Hyerin more."
Jihyun clicked her tongue and acted like she was going to hit Gun. However, when she saw June through her peripheral gaze, she quickly turned demure.
Casper handed their audio file to the production team and waited for it to play.
While waiting for it to play, the trainees and mentors conversed among themselves.
"I still can't believe June chose this genre," C-Jay whispered.
"Have you heard the song? Do you think it's going to be good?" a trainee quietly asked.
Lin Zhi heard their whispered conversation and smirked. His team overheard the song yesterday, and it brought immense satisfaction to Lin Zhi's heart.
It was definitely going to be bad
"I'm looking forward to their team," Hyerin whispered.
"I'm excited, too," Jihyun said.
However, in the minds of these two women, they weren't excited for the song. Instead, they were excited to see June act all cute with the 'Bubblegum Pop' concept.
"I'm really curious how they did this," Samba said.
"Hmm," Sven merely hummed.
Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long. The other songs, despite being different genres, definitely had similar vibes to each other. That wasn't necessarily bad, but aside from Lin Zhi's team, who had already written their own lyrics, none seemed to stand out to the producers.
However, June's team definitely stood out.
Especially when a sweet and dreamy tune came from the speakers.
