Chapter 9: Unexpected Auditions and Hidden Tensions

“You… what are you doing?”

“I asked him to do it.”

“Ah…”

Seeing the unfamiliar face behind Kim Chan, Roy finally pushed himself up from the floor.

Sweat gathered on his forehead dripped down like beads, hitting the ground.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Seo Hyojin, the planning manager in charge of the overall direction for our trainees.”

“Hello.”

Roy shook the hand Seo Hyojin extended.

She had soft brown hair and light-colored eyes that stood out.

Her gently wavy hair shimmered around her chest.

“The CEO was right—your visuals are hard to capture fully on camera.”

Seo Hyojin smirked as she looked at the screen on Kim Chan’s phone, which was recording a video.

“This makes me want to work even harder on the promotions.”

“Manager, is this how I should be filming?”

“Yes. Capture the natural, everyday moments as much as possible. I’ll edit them and upload the clips to the company’s social media accounts.”

“Got it! Leave it to me!”

Kim Chan answered with confidence.

The footage he recorded that day was processed with subtle filter effects and uploaded to Bada Entertainment’s official YouTube and Instagram pages.

***

[Hunter Idol Trainee Category_Chatter]

Title: Bada’s trainees this time are kinda insane?!

Self-explanatory.

I pulled some photos.

[Source: Bada Entertainment’s official social media, YouTube and Insta.]

(Photo1) (Photo2) (Photo3)

The one in the first pic is Doha, already well-known among trainees.

His visuals and physique are still insane.

But apparently Doha sleeps a lot.

Even in the latest pic, he’s dozing off on a couch.

I only grabbed screenshots, but if you watch the video, you can hear someone’s voice? It’s a new trainee, and his voice is like honey.

Total main vocal material.

Since Doha’s great at dancing, I guess they picked someone who’s strong in vocals to match.

I might be imagining it, but doesn’t the new trainee in Photo 2 look kind of familiar? Just me?

And the one in Photo 3—R.O? First time seeing him! Does anyone know who he is? Maybe it’s the filter, but his skin is flawless.

Even scrubbing my face with milk every day doesn’t get me skin like that.

‘Oh? Who is this fresh new face? Loo, I’ve been in the trainee scene for years and never seen this guy before. ‘

Must be someone Bada discovered.

Damn.

Doha still slays.

‘When is he debuting? My wallet is ready.’

I heard from a friend’s friend who works at K Company that Doha applied to their idol program.

‘Did that get canceled because of the surprise dungeon incident?’ I heard it’s being restarted.

‘OMG when is it airing? I’m dying waiting.’

‘I know one of those trainees.’

‘He was in the debut group at SO Entertainment, but recently disappeared.’

‘Guess he got dropped?’

‘Why would they drop someone like that? SO must be blind.’

‘No idea about the inside story… but I did hear people saying he’s not with SO anymore.’

Honestly, those three could debut as-is.

Even with fewer members, they look great together.

Agreed. I like the third guy.

He’s totally my type—sharp and cool looking, with this slightly aloof vibe.

I like the second one.

He’s like a sweet puppy.

I’m for Doha! Love that sleepy cold-blooded prince look. R.O is a killer.

***

“The community response isn’t bad.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ve been checking the real-time posts and comments—people are super curious.”

“Are… they saying okay things about me too?”

“Don’t worry.”

Do Minkyung gently stroked Kim Chan’s hair as she scrolled through her phone.

He had been on the verge of debuting with SO Entertainment, but was eventually pushed out for reasons unknown.

Unfortunately, that sort of thing was all too common in the industry.

Even if someone had the looks and skills, there were tons of trainees who never made it to debut because something didn’t align.

“Chan, are you all ready?”

“Yes. Roy is showering right now, and Doha is still asleep.”

“Ugh, maybe we need a shaman to drive away his sleep demon. I’ve never seen anyone sleep this deeply. Doha! You need to get ready—we’re leaving in less than an hour!”

Today was the second round of auditions for Pick Your Hunter Idol! being held at K Company.

Thankfully, Roy had passed the first round.

Today, he would audition directly in front of the judges.

“Chan, let me check your outfit.”

“Okay!”

Do Minkyung put her phone away and took a careful look at Kim Chan.

His styling was clean and neat—just enough to make him stand out without overdoing it.

“Your waist is slimmer than I thought. Let me pin this part a bit tighter.”

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me every time. Where did this little gem of a trainee come from?”

Smiling at his politeness, Do Minkyung adjusted the waist of his outfit with a pin.

“Hey, noona.”

“Doha, we need to leave in an hour. You’ve got five minutes to wash up and get out here.”

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Doha nodded and stepped into the bathroom.

***

“Roy, your clothes—!”

“Ah… Please close your eyes.”

Minkyung’s face turned bright red as Roy stepped out with only a towel around his waist.

He had gotten too used to acting freely around other guys.

Feeling a bit sheepish, Roy brushed his hair back and walked into the room.

[Hero! You’ve lost more weight… What should we do…]

‘It’s because I’m always sweating buckets.’

Vrrr—

Roy turned on the hairdryer and began drying his hair.

At the same time, he opened a bottle that combined skin toner and lotion and carelessly applied it to his face.

“Hyung, you have to put this on too. Skipping skincare just because it’s a hassle will ruin your skin in an instant.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Roy’s nagging was almost as persistent as his little sister Alyssa.

Still, he obediently let Kim Chan put some cream in his palm and applied it to his face.

“Whoa. Hyung, you really look like a different person when you’re dressed up.”

Unlike Kim Chan, who wore a pale blue shirt and jeans, Roy wore a pink sweatshirt and beige slacks.

Kim Chan circled around him like an excited puppy.

“Roy, come here. I’ll do your hair. We’ll do a light makeup look, too.”

Minkyung called Roy over, spreading open what looked like a toolbox in the living room.

Roy had to clench his mouth to stop himself from laughing at the ticklish sensation of the brush against his face.

“All done. You two go to the office and get something to eat. The manager should’ve brought sandwiches and salad.”

“Okay, noona.”

Kim Chan held his aching stomach—he hadn’t eaten anything since waking up.

Roy was just as hungry.

The two headed to the office and filled their stomachs with the sandwiches that Hyojin had prepared.

[Hero, you always look happiest when you’re eating.]

“You look the happiest when you’re eating something good, hyung.”

Roy chewed his sandwich while hearing two voices—one from a person and one from a spirit—both saying nearly the same thing.

***

“Contestant number C-12, please come in.”

“Yes.”

A woman wearing a name badge that said Staff and an earpiece called out Roy’s number.

Roy got up from the waiting area and entered the audition room.

As soon as he stepped into the makeshift space made of container boxes, three cameras turned to capture his image.

“Ooh, this one’s got visuals. He could easily pass for the center of a current idol group.”

“I heard C group had a lot of good-looking trainees. Guess that wasn’t just a rumor.”

“His first-round audition video is pretty unique.”

“So, should we go with that one?”

“Sounds good.”

The three judges sitting behind a long table looked through Roy’s profile and whispered among themselves.

“Hello. I’m trainee Hwang Roy.”

“Hello.”

“We were just talking about this, and according to your paperwork, your first audition video was pretty unconventional. So, instead of what you’ve prepared today, can we see the same performance from the video?”

“Yes.”

To pass the second audition, Roy had pushed himself relentlessly, completing the weekly and daily missions Earth assigned to him.

He practiced so hard the floor of the rehearsal room was constantly soaked in sweat.

Over the course of a month, he’d gotten blisters on his feet multiple times.

Now, his dancing had improved to an E-, and his singing was at an E.

Still, compared to the other trainees, his skills were lacking.

Kim Jungah and Jung Hojun prepared the audition in a way that highlighted Roy’s strengths as much as possible.

But the judges threw in an unexpected twist—a spontaneous challenge.

Instead of the prepared performance, Roy was told to showcase humming and swordplay, things he hadn’t done since that first audition.

Though startled for a moment, he quickly collected himself.

[Yikes! Hero, I’m cheering for you! You can do it!]

Roy let Earth’s unhelpful, noisy cheer enter one ear and exit the other as he calmed his breathing.

“I need a long stick for the swordplay. Is there anything I could use?”

“Now that you mention it… Would this work?”

“Yes.”

A broom, painted in green and red, was placed in Roy’s hand.

“You sure that’ll be okay?”

“Let’s just see how it goes.”

***

“Roy, well done. That must’ve been tough.”

Hwang Guman patted Roy’s shoulder as he exited the audition room.

It was hard not to feel grateful toward someone who followed such a grueling schedule without complaint.

“What about Kim Chan and Doha?”

“Doha’s still in the middle of his audition, and Kim Chan should be coming out soon, but I haven’t seen him yet.”

“I’ll go look for him.”

“You will? That’d be great. Bring him over here.”

“Okay.”

Roy headed toward the direction where Kim Chan had gone in for his audition.

Roy was in Group C.

Doha was in Group B.

Kim Chan was in Group A.

Since Kim Chan’s number came first, he should’ve been out already, but it seemed like his audition was taking longer than expected.

“Hey, did you hear there was a fight over there?”

“Who the hell gets into a fight during an audition?”

“Looked more like someone was getting picked on.”

“Not our problem. Stick your nose in, and you’ll only get dragged into trouble.”

The voices of two boys passing by Roy stuck in his ears more than they should have.

‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this.’

[Hero, should I give it a try?]

‘You can do that?’

[Of course! I marked him as your companion a long time ago.]

Roy didn’t even want to ask what kind of “mark” she meant.

‘Lead the way.’

[Sniff sniff. I smell Kim Chan’s scent coming from the southeast!]

Roy followed Earth’s guidance and walked southeast.

As he got closer, he began to hear faint murmuring.

It was a secluded area, hidden just outside the staff’s line of sight.

Thud.

“Ah, fuck. Do you have a death wish or something?”