When there's more than one trainee in a vocal training room, the trainees usually line-up and take turns with the mic. It was one of the reasons why Song Noah selected the room with the worst equipment. 

The less trainees there are, the more time you'll have to practice.

Though, it wasn't really packed since most trainees focus on practicing their dance performance more before evaluations. 

Currently, there are only around 25-30 trainees at DAY-TA Entertainment. 

It meant that if half of the trainees are practicing their dance performance, at max, it’s four trainees alternating in one of the four vocal rooms, though it's usually around three. 

In this room, it was just the two of them. 

Naturally, Song Noah expected for them to take turns practicing their song. After Yullei finished a single round, Noah walked towards the mic, while the other man then stood at the side to watch. 

The atmosphere was strange. 

The fact that he's back to life didn't feel real at all, but each expression, and even the smallest movements that Yullei made was so life-like. He was exactly like how he remembered him. From the way he'd pinch the bridge of his nose when he's unsatisfied, to how he'd slightly turn his head and make a long blink when there's so much he wanted to criticize, the image of him looking displeased was too real and undeniable. 

Song Noah tried to calm himself down, but the erratic rhythm on his chest, and the emotions that were on the verge of revealing itself were more difficult to manage. 

It showed in his face and his voice. The shakiness was evident, and some of the notes sounded flat. 

Even to his own standards, it wasn't impressive. 

Despite giving up as an idol, Song Noah didn't completely quit singing. He sang in the comfort of his apartment, and the techniques, and the skills that he had was something that remained. 

But skills were never his problem, it was something else. 

The moment he finished singing his song, Yullei opened his lips. 

“I don't care if you're having a bad day, but if you're going to perform, don't make it obvious.”

“...”

“That song you're singing, ‘Joyful Parade’, if you're going to sing it like that, you might as well sing something else.” he could feel Yullei's disappointment with each of his words, “There's nothing joyful with your performance.”

Yullei had witnessed him practicing for the past few weeks, and his notes had never sounded flat and shaky during practice until now.

It was the most logical assumption to believe that he was having a bad day. The sight of his teary eyes, along with his quavering voice could give anyone the wrong idea.

Song Noah didn't know what to say. There's comfort seeing someone you've once lost act the same way as they do, but at the same time, this heart couldn't remain at ease. 

He thought it was long buried in his head, but when Yullei met his gaze, the screams, the lights—  and the sight of Yullei being crushed to death haunted him once again. 

Is it really possible to stand on the same stage again, if all it took was for Yullei to meet his gaze for him to re-experience that hell? 

No words came out of his mouth. 

Truthfully, even the other man's words of criticism weren't properly registering in his head. His chest had felt tighter than it did, and each beat felt like it was about to rip his heart. Even his knees had seemed to lose their strength. 

There was an overwhelming nauseous feeling, and Noah was doing his best to breathe. 

“… Song Noah— calm down.”

Noah mindlessly took a step back to lean on a wall for support. His face had gone pale, and his breathing had become erratic.  

Yullei had watched him with a mix of bewilderment and concern, finding it difficult to comprehend why Song Noah had reacted the way he did. 

It didn't seem to be because of his criticism. His expressions had been strange the very moment he entered the practice room. 

Yullei moved closer, looking down on Song Noah who was now sitting on the floor with his back pressed on the walls. He crouched down to meet him at an eye level, placing his right hand on Noah’s shoulders. 

“Compose yourself.”

His words didn't appear to have any effect. When Song Noah lifted his head, it was as if he was seeing something else. 

He looked terrified. 

He had done well in the previous evaluations. Why is he acting like this now? 

What are you afraid of? 

Yullei didn't understand, but the only thing clear was that his presence wasn't any help. 

The two remained on the ground for a minute, but eventually, Yullei removed his grip from his shoulders. He gave him one more glance before standing up and leaving the practice room. 

It was the sound of the door being slammed shut that brought Noah back. After that,the only sound he could hear was his own breath. There weren’t screams anymore, nor was he back on that stage. Noah didn't know how long he remained leaning on the wall after Yullei was gone, but he remained there until his breathing had gotten steadier.

What followed was the guilt. The embarrassment, and the feelings of disappointment and fear. If he couldn’t face Yullei at all, if he still couldn’t overcome these terrifying thoughts and feelings that he had, if he ends up failing because he couldn’t become like his old self… No matter how desperate he is, it won’t matter if he can't overcome anything.

The thought of it fills him with dread. 

Rolling up his sleeves, Noah stared at the bracelet, touching the words that were engraved. He needed to debut again, and if he performed poorly on the evaluation, his debut may get affected.

He began counting on his head. It was something he used to do whenever he’s trying to regain his composure. Redirecting his thoughts on something was a method that helped, even if it made the time painfully long.

When his emotions had subdued, he carefully stood from the ground, grabbing the microphone once again to re-sing the same song.

Joyful Parade.

It was the debut song of the veteran group, SPRING. Before the group moved into doing darker concepts, they first had a bright and youthful image. Joyful Parade wasn’t as popular or well known as their succeeding songs, and it may seem like an easy song choice at first, but, the amount of high notes and the pace of the song made it difficult to sing.

After all, it was a song that was sung originally by a group consisting of 9 members, and the notes were evenly distributed. It was a different story singing it alone. 

Song Noah didn’t know this back when he first selected the song, but one of the main vocalists of the group, Ha Jihan, was Yullei’s father.

Yullei hid his connection from the members for a long time. While the members did learn about it a year after their debut, the public was completely unaware; only learning about it after his death. 

That connection and discovery was what made him understand his personality more. It was also something that made him feel like they weren’t too different. 

With still almost half an hour left before the evaluation, Song Noah practiced his selected song. His voice was still a bit shaky on his second attempt, but it became more stable on his third round. Still, one flaw is obvious. Rather than being bright and energetic, it sounded more ‘desperate’. It failed to capture the feelings of the song.

Yullei was correct. Perhaps, he would be better off singing something else. 

Song Noah was able to deliver an impressive performance in the past, but in his current state, it wouldn't be realistic for him to receive a positive evaluation if he were to perform this song as he is now.

At the same time, changing the song would be risky.  He also didn’t have enough time to prepare another background track, so it might mean choosing from the ones that the Song Noah from the past had previously performed.

He didn’t know which one would be the best.

There wasn’t any time left. 

Before even making a decision, Song Noah had to leave the practice room to head to the training room where the evaluations would be held. 

When he twisted the knob to open the door however, he found that Yullei was standing outside. From the looks of it, it seemed like he remained there for the entire time.

Why didn’t you leave? 

“… Thank you for your feedback earlier.” Song Noah tried his best to not make any eye contact, lowering his head,  “I also apologize for bothering you with your practice, I really do appreciate you for giving me space, and for staying here too.”

Yullei gave him a scrutinizing stare. There was a few seconds of silence, before he eventually managed to give him a reply.

“I was harsh earlier. I don’t harbor any ill feelings and intentions towards you. ” The words that you’ll usually expect did not follow, but Noah understood what he wanted to say.

He wasn’t someone who is good with giving apologies. 

“Eveything you said earlier is true. Please don’t think about it.”

There was another silence between them. 

After giving a small nod, Yullei began making his way to the evaluation room. Song Noah followed him soon after, walking a few steps behind.

When they arrived, a few trainees were already sitting on the floors at the side of the room. Some chatted with their fellow trainees to calm themselves down, while there were also some who were dead quiet. The former main vocalist sat in the empty space next to Daiki, who was the latter.

A table at the center in front was already set-up, and the judges for today’s evaluation were also already seated. With the camera man adjusting his camera to record the evaluation, and the managers, producers, visual directors, company executives, and even some of their seniors watching, the entire atmosphere at the room was tense.

But what made it worse was the arrival of the CEO of DAY-TA Entertainment, CEO Choi Ji Yeong, who used to be the leader of a popular group L.O.C.K. 

CEO Choi is rarely present on the evaluations since he is still someone active in the industry, but his presence usually means one thing: A selection for the members that the company is eyeing to debut soon. 

His presence alone was enough to make everyone nervous, but the fact that he’s personally watching made everyone more competitive. 

The words from the CEO himself confirmed it.

“I applaud everyone for working hard for the past few years or months. It’s not easy being a trainee, so I want to thank you all for doing your best.” CEO Choi said, “The company is planning to debut a boy group at the end of this year, and today, we would be selecting half of the members for the line-up. The selected trainees would undergo a separate evaluation before making it to the group.” 

The room grew quiet with his announcement, and you can feel the trainees becoming tense. There were those who were stunned as well, since the CEO was once a top idol. 

“I hope that regardless of the results, you won’t feel discouraged and instead be inspired to work hard. Our team is wishing nothing but everyone’s success, and it’s my wish to see everyone here stand on stage one day.”

The room was filled with applause, and the trainees began whispering to one another, praising the CEO for his compassion. Not long after,the evaluation finally began. The trainees were called by their groups, and the first group to be called was “Team A”, which was the group Yullei and Cipher were in. The main dancer, and the youngest member of Dynamic Error, Min Gaon.

Team A performed a song from the group “Lioness”, a girl group with a Fantasy concept. And just as how it was like in the past, the group received positive feedback from the judges.

“I like the distribution of the parts, and I think each of the members individually shined.” one of the judges, Daseo-P commented, “Who is the leader of the group?”

The members looked at Cipher. 

“Trainee 13, Louie, is it?”

“Yes.”

Currently, Cipher hasn’t gotten a stage name yet. His real name is Bleu Louie Auclair, but Song Noah used to call him ‘Louie Hyung’.

“You did a great job, you also managed to execute the fierceness required in this song. It’s a song that suits you well.”

CEO Choi commented, “The harmony in this group is great, but Trainee 13 and Trainee 17 stood out. Both of you had impressive stage presence, and I can tell that you trained diligently for this performance.” 

Trainee 17, Ha Yullei. 

“Thank you.” The two of them thanked the judges.

“Overall, it’s an impressive performance, but isn’t one of the members a bit lacking?” One of the judges, instructor Kwan said, looking at one of his evaluation sheets, “Trainee 25, Min Gaon… I had high expectations since you had positive evaluations in the past, but you don’t seem very adaptable. You seem to excel at hip-hop dance, but outside of that, your performance doesn’t stand out at all. You need to be fluid when executing certain steps, but you just look stiff.”

Hearing his words, Min Gaon looked down. It looked like he was on the verge of tears. The harsh feedback from the judges was what motivated him to work twice as hard, eventually landing him a spot in the debut line-up.

“I’ll work hard, Teacher Kwan.”

After giving feedback for the group evaluation, the Trainees from the A Team then proceeded to perform individually. Cipher received both positive evaluations for both vocals and dance, and he was also praised for adding rap to his vocal song. The other trainees in the group received mixed evaluations, and eventually it was Yullei’s turn.

Song Noah avoided watching him, but his eyes couldn’t help but widen when he heard his selected song.

Rather than the song he practiced earlier, Yullei was singing Joyful Parade.