The results for the monthly evaluation for the trainees aren't really loudly announced. Rather than that, it was just posted monthly in the boards in the hallway, classifying them either as, “A list”, “B list”, or “C list” trainees. 

“A list” trainees are more likely to debut, but it doesn't exactly mean that those in “B list” and “C list” are out of chance. The list is only about who performed well on the evaluation for that month, but a single performance can still change the company's mind towards a trainee. 

While the company doesn't reveal the exact scores or ranking of each trainee, the very first name written on the “A list” is the trainee who ranked first. It was written in a much larger text than anyone else, being listed in the middle top of the paper. 

As for the rest of the trainees, the company arranges it based on alphabetical order. 

“He's ranked one again? Even after stealing another trainee's song?”

“It's always the same trainees in that list, when I can I ever get there…”

“There's never anything new, I bet he'll debut soon so it's best to be on his good side.”

“Isn't someone's name missing on the ‘A list’?”

“Wait, you're right–”

Unsurprisingly, the name at the top is Ha Yullei's. It wasn't exciting or new for the other trainees, meanwhile, seeing another top trainee being dropped on the “A list” is a cause of worry and intrigue. 

In the crowded hallway, trainees were trying to sneak a glance at the papers posted, curious to see which name they had missed. Song Noah waited for a few trainees to leave before directly checking the evaluation results, but there's a slight fear on what has remained and what has changed. 

It's still the same. 

Just like in the past, Noah's own name was still listed under the “A list” trainees. Cipher and Daiki's names were also there, but seeing the same name drop in the past didn't exactly bring any feelings of relief when it was someone he cared about.

As Song Noah was looking at the results, the former main dancer; Min Gaon, who was now listed under the “B list”, stood beside him. 

The younger trainee scanned what was written on the papers pinned at the hallway’s board. It looked like tears were threatening to come out of his eyes after seeing the sudden drop, but it didn't. 

Gaon would eventually climb back and make it to the debut line up, but seeing him down still made him concerned. 

To his surprise, Gaon turned towards his direction, “Noah hyung, is everything Teacher Kwan told me true?”

‘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.’

It wasn't, but it was those words that motivated him to practice harder. Would Noah's response have any effect towards the future? 

Regardless of what he'll say, he knew that Gaon would work hard. 

“I think, Teacher Kwan only said those words to motivate you.”

“You really think so, hyung?”

Noah nodded his head. It appeared that his small response was already enough to cheer him up even if it was just a bit. 

He gently patted the younger trainee's back as a form of comfort, but Gaon's face twisted for a split second. 

It became clear why he wasn't able to perform as well as he usually did. 

“Are you injured?”

“Um, nothing big hyung! I just slipped while practicing last Friday.”

“Have you gotten it checked?”

Min Gaon shook his head, “I would've missed the evaluation.”

Did Cipher and Yullei know? They were in the same group, but, if Cipher knew about it, Gaon would've been urged to get it checked as soon as possible. 

“You didn't have it checked even during weekends?”

“... Hyung, I really want to debut.”

If it turned out to be a serious injury, he wouldn't be able to practice for a few days. 

He was able to debut in the end but, somehow, the thought of just letting it remain untreated or unchecked didn't sit right when their schedules consisted of intense practice. 

“You will debut.” he assured him, “But, you need to take proper care of yourself if you want to do this for a long time.”

Before their lessons begin, Song Noah accompanied Min Gaon to inform the staff about his injury. The staff had him lift his shirt to take a look of the severity of it, and while Noah was aware that he was injured, he wasn’t prepared to see a large purple bruise that extended to the upper down to the lower portion of his back. 

Almost immediately, Gaon was rushed to the clinic by the staff using the company's van. 

Noah wondered if what he did was truly the right thing. He could see the fear and worry in Gaon's eyes as he was telling the staff about what occurred, and the expression on the staff’s face also didn't help ease his fears. 

The trainees immediately heard about the news, having overheard his conversation with Gaon when they were in the hallway. The fact that he didn't appear in their schedules had also made them concerned. Some trainees asked him about Gaon, and Noah's words became their final confirmation. 

A lot were shocked at how he managed to endure and hide it for three days, but the trainees mostly understood why he did it. 

Two of the members of his team for the previous evaluation were unable to sit still, and Cipher, who didn't know about the injury before, had a frightening look on his face. 

After one of their lessons, Cipher confronted the two trainees before they were able to leave the room. Half of the trainees had already left, but with Cipher blocking the door, the other trainees were unable to proceed. 

“You two, look at me.” realizing that the two members may have known about it beforehand, Cipher confronted them, “So you both knew he's injured, but you didn't do anything?”

‎“H-he said it wasn't anything serious.” one of the trainees answered. 

‎”How long have you known about his injury?”

“...We were there when it happened.” the other trainee answered, “When you were looking for Yullei-ssi before our evaluation, Gaon had a fall while practicing his solo performance.”

Cipher's eyebrows furrowed, you can tell that he was trying his best to remain calm, but he didn't seem happy with the other trainee's response. 

“Then, why didn't anyone tell me or the staff about this sooner?”

“You're a trainee too so you should understand, do you really want him to miss the evaluation?”

“And how about after that, no one bothered to get him checked?” 

The two were unable to respond. The other trainees who were in the room were also trying their best not to be involved, keeping their heads low. 

Realizing that pointing fingers won't do anything, Cipher took a deep breath, eventually letting the two trainees leave. The rest of the trainees also quietly made their exit. 

As everyone left, Cipher remained at the side of the door, and when Noah passed by, he thanked him. 

“Thank you for helping Gaon.” Cipher spoke in a gentle tone, “When I realized that both of them knew all along, I just couldn't help it.”

Did he really deserve any thanks for it? Knowing that Gaon could miss days or even weeks of lessons and practice, Song Noah wasn't sure if what he did was correct. 

...What if it'll affect his debut? 

He can only respond in a slight nod.

“I know you must be feeling conflicted. That kid– if you haven’t found out, he probably would have hidden it until the end.”

In the past, Noah didn’t even know that he was injured at all. Every single day, Min Gaon showed up to practice like nothing had happened. 

If only Noah wasn’t deep in his thoughts during their evaluation day, would he have noticed it sooner? The slip on Gaon’s expression earlier was only brief, but it was only because Noah had been an idol for a long time that he is now able to recognize when someone is hiding an injury,or when someone is in pain. 

==========

Min Gaon didn’t show up for the rest of their schedules, but from what they had overheard from the staff, his back thankfully didn’t have any fractures. While it wasn’t fractured, everyone assumed that he would still be required to rest for a week. 

When the fact that the first three members of the debut line-up would be announced soon, the topic of Min Gaon’s injuries had died down.

The trainees remained tense for the rest of the day. It wasn’t easy to remain composed knowing that the members selected by the company would be announced after dinner. Due to nervousness, the trainees could barely eat at all.

While it was true that their previous evaluation played a huge part in their chance of being selected, the debut line up isn’t just based on who aced the last evaluation; it was also based on which trainee the company believes would fit the best for their selected concept or which trainees they believe to have the “star factor”. Talent and skills were the top priority, but they also considered the trainees’ personality, marketability, and how well they’ll go together with the other trainees they’ll put in the group.

Due to his unparalleled performances for the past evaluations, everyone was already expecting Ha Yullei to debut, but as for the two other members to be announced, the trainees hoped that they would be one of the trainees to be considered.

At 8:00 PM, the trainees were eventually gathered in the same training room where their previous evaluation was held. CEO Choi Ji Yeong appeared to have just arrived, wearing an outfit that appeared to be used for their shoot. Other than him, the other judges were also present. 

The announcement still hasn’t began.The cameras were still being set-up by the staff, but it wasn't something Noah was surprised with. The selection process, and the announcement would be included in Dynamic Error’s documentary after debut, and it also consists of clips from their evaluations and their debut preparations.

He took the opportunity to check the former members of his group. Shin Daiki appeared calm and collected, while Cipher had a determined yet confident look on his face. The 6th member of Dynamic Error is still not a trainee in DAY-TA Entertainment, but if his memory is correct, he should be joining the agency this week. As for Min Gaon since he was rushed to the clinic earlier, he wasn’t currently in the evaluation room. 

His absence made Noah feel anxious. 

He isn’t here because of me.

In attempts to calm himself down, Song Noah touched the carved words in his bracelet, then finding courage to look at Ha Yullei.

When Song Noah briefly looked in his direction however, Yullei was already staring at him. Or rather than that, it was more like he had been observing him for the entire time. He wasn’t making any expression in particular, but Noah could feel his gaze as if it was drilling his head even after looking away. 

Was he thinking about the day of the evaluation? Noah doesn’t know, but it was the only explanation that made sense.

Thankfully, it didn’t really take long for the cameras to be set-up, and for trainees to redirect their attention as CEO Choi finally began to speak. 

“I hope your weekends were well spent, did you all have a nice rest?” CEO Choi greeted them, and mixed responses of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ can be heard from the trainees. Hearing them, CEO Choi let out a laugh, “I know, weekends aren’t enough, aren’t they? When I was a trainee, we only had a single day for a rest. I wanted to change that. Once you become an idol, it would even be harder to find rest.”

“It takes a lot of courage, and hard work to chase after your dream. We had a difficult time selecting these trainees, and there were a few differences in opinions among the executives and the staff before we came to a decision.” Choi ji Yeong told them, ”The names I would be announcing are the names of the trainees who would be candidates for the new boy group we’ll be debuting. Regardless of the results, I hope you’ll continue to work hard. ”

CEO Choi didn’t beat around the bush, proceeding to announce the first half of trainees that were selected.

 “The first candidate for debut  is… Trainee Ha Yullei!”

After Yullei’s name was announced, the trainees clapped out of respect. Ha Yullei didn’t display any emotion of excitement over it, as if it was something he was already expecting.

"For the second member, we have Trainee Bleu Louie Beaufort!”

Cipher covered his mouth after hearing his name. His eyes sparkled as it became teary, and his usual confident look had become emotional. The trainees who were close with him had begun to hug and congratulate him. 

With the two members having been announced, the rest of the trainees were on edge. Song Noah couldn’t even think properly. It was the same familiar feeling when he was waiting for his name to be announced, the feeling of his heart that was about to jump out of his chest, along with his knees that had become weak. 

“Lastly, the third member who will be a candidate for debut is… Trainee Song Noah!”

There was the feeling of arms being wrapped around his neck, and voices of trainees congratulating him. It was hard to process everything.

When he made that call the other night, he told himself that it would be the last time he’ll cry, but perhaps, it would be alright to let them fall again.