Chapter 405: Red Rouge (24)

How old could they be? All of them looked so young. It was hard to tell because they were all tall, but just looking at their faces, many of them seemed to be middle schoolers at most. Well, there was no need to just wonder about their age since I could simply ask.

"Excuse me, but can I ask how old you are?"

"Oh, yes! I will introduce myself first! I am the leader of Star Way, Sen! I am seventeen years old!"

As soon as Sen revealed his age, there were sounds of gasps from around the room.

"The leader is seventeen? Wow, you’re really young," Jin-Sung said with a surprised face. It was funny hearing that from someone who was also young calling someone a year younger than him young.

We were surprised, but why were the other groups who participated with us so astonished? Probably because it was so rare to hear about such a young age. The members introducing themselves after Sen were also very young.

For your information, the youngest member of Star Way was only fourteen years old. It was mind-blowing that they debuted right after graduating from elementary school. While we were utterly amazed, the members themselves seemed used to such reactions as they merely smiled bashfully. They had a kind of calm confidence, which was both impressive and slightly intimidating.

Joo-Han sensed the growing awkwardness because of the age difference, so he quickly stepped in to settle the atmosphere.

"Alright, let’s see what Star Way has prepared." He clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

"Yes!" the Star Way members responded energetically. They immediately formed their positions and began their performance.

We had already heard about Star Way from the production team and Goh Yoo-Joon. They were a group that held a similar position to Air Senior from our time on

Pick We Up.

Oh, of course, I meant in terms of ranking.

I heard that the rankings for

Pick We Up Two

now fluctuated a lot more than during our time, but Star Way had consistently been at the bottom. Despite their performance, which seemed quite good in terms of skill, it was evident that the issue lay not with the members themselves, but with the agency’s failure to highlight their charms properly. Their lack of camera awareness, expressions, and gestures were significantly insufficient compared to their skills.

‘They are good at what they do, though...’

But their performances were too flat and lacked excitement. The entire impression of their group was simply, ‘Oh, they’re good.’ Joo-Han, who seemed to have a lot to say about this from the beginning, would surely point out these aspects.

"Huff... Huff..."

Star Way’s performance ended, and the members stood in a line while panting heavily and looking like scared rabbits. It was hard to criticize or hurt their pride seeing them like that. Unlike the other members who hesitated to speak, Joo-Han immediately started giving feedback as soon as they stood in line.

"From what I see, the problem isn’t with your singing or dancing," he began.

"...Yes." Star Way already looked like they were being scolded harshly even though Joo-Han hadn’t started properly. They must have received a lot of criticism and feedback from the judges and viewers throughout

Pick We Up Two.

"Oh, this isn’t to say your singing and dancing are perfect, but there’s a much bigger issue here." Joo-Han was very serious. His expression was so cold and intense that even other contestant groups watching from the corner were tense.

"First of all, why don’t any of you look at the camera?"

"Pardon me?" one of the Star Way members asked, confused.

"Even though this is just practice, there’s a camera right in front of you, and an audience—" Joo-Han pointed broadly at us and the trainees in the corner. "With an audience present, shouldn’t you at least look at the camera or the audience?"

"Oh..." The members mumbled and looked embarrassed.

"But you don’t look at the camera or the audience. When the camera zooms in, you avoid eye contact. Your gestures and expressions are all the same, and there’s no expression acting or body acting. You just sing and dance. That’s it."

"..."

The Star Way members hung their heads and bit their lips. They seemed to be taking his words to heart.

"If you performed the same way on stage, it would be a serious issue. An idol doesn’t just dance and sing on stage."

"W... We’re sorry."

"No, you don’t need to apologize to me. I am not angry. I just don’t understand. Why? You’ve been on stage several times. You should have realized this through monitoring," he added.

They were on the verge of tears. Their eyes already brimmed with tears, and they seemed to be holding back.

However, it was an issue they needed to understand. The result of an idol failing to appeal to the public and fans was obvious. Their low ranking clearly showed how serious this issue was.

"I don’t like speaking this harshly to such gentle and good-looking juniors, but as a senior, I want to help you do better. This might hurt your feelings, but I have to say it. If you continue like this, there’s no way you will overturn your ranking."

"..."

The Star Way members remained silent as they absorbed his words.

"Please pay more attention to your expressions and gestures, and have the courage to look at the camera."

"Thank you!" Star Way responded loudly and bowed deeply. Fortunately, Joo-Han’s message seemed to have gotten through.

Joo-Han probably spoke more harshly out of concern. He had seen groups that had appeared with us on

Pick We Up

naturally disappear.

I wanted to comfort them. "Eat well and work out to build some muscles. You are too slim. If your muscles support your powerful dancing, you will look even better," I suggested.

"Yes! Thank you!" they responded enthusiastically.

Following Star Way’s performance, all the contestants’ performances continued. After that, things went smoothly. Each group had its strengths and weaknesses, and we provided appropriate feedback and care.

Watching and giving feedback to all these teams was more challenging than expected, but it was a relief. Unlike the previous season with Air Senior, the production team seemed to be more selective in accepting participating groups. The contestants all accepted the feedback willingly.

It was finally Sequence’s turn.

"Hello! We are scene stealers, Sequence!"

It was a pleasure to see them. We couldn’t show our delight too openly, considering the other juniors were watching, but it was clear from our bright expressions that we were genuinely happy to see them.

"Oh, finally, it’s your turn~" Goh Yoo-Joon said with a sly grin.

The production team likely wanted to capture our reunion with Sequences and our joy.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"I’m looking forward to this. You will do great, right?" I encouraged them.

"Let’s just watch Sequence objectively now. Go ahead!"

Sequence members looked slightly burdened by our words, but they energetically responded and formed their positions. Their basic concept was supposed to be cuteness and charm.

Thus, their song choice was a bit different from other groups. This time, they performed High Tension’s "Happy," a very lively and cheerful song. High Tension wasn’t a group known for their synchronized dance, so Sequence had likely rearranged the song significantly to showcase their unique group dance.

From the start, they performed acrobatics by stepping on each other’s backs and immediately transitioned into a group part. The feedback we had given them previously had clearly been implemented. Their eye contact, which had been lacking, and their tendency to focus too much on either dance or vocals had significantly improved. They seemed to have studied a lot about the difference between performing on stage and practicing.

I heard their recent rankings were consistently high, often first or second, and it was understandable given their skills.

However, that didn’t mean there was nothing to critique.

Sequence’s performance ended. The members looked quite satisfied, and I was very pleased as well. Objectively, they had done very well, and I wasn’t just saying this because we were close to them.

"As expected, you are very good since all of you trained for a long time. It’s evident that you’ve become much more stable since the last time we saw you," I praised.

"Thank you."

Jin-Sung gave them a thumbs-up. He seemed much more comfortable talking to them than to other trainees. "But you still seem to look back too often, which shows a lack of focus. And, Aeon, you..."

"Ah, yes! I will correct that," Aeon responded quickly.

"About the acrobatics you did at the beginning, that was impressive," Jin-Sung continued.

"Yeah, it was cool," Goh Yoo-Joon agreed.

"But it looked very unstable. It felt dangerous and nerve-wracking to watch." Jin-Sung placed his hand on his chest, indicating his heart was racing. "You looked very insecure, so if you are likely to make a mistake, it might be better to leave it out."

"The acrobatics at the beginning?" Aeon clarified.

"Yes, it looks too dangerous. It’s unstable, so either leave it out or practice a lot more."

Having experienced many injuries from doing acrobatics and dangerous dance moves, both Jin-Sung and I were more cautious. We didn’t want the Sequence members to get hurt, which could prevent them from performing and negatively impact the group. They seemed to take our advice seriously as they nodded in agreement.

"Thank you!"

With Sequence’s performance being the last, the first round of feedback for all groups was completed. We gathered the trainees in the center of the practice room.

"Now, we will have individual counseling sessions for each group. If you have a preferred mentor, please raise your hand," Joo-Han announced.

All the groups raised their hands.