Chapter 7.7 - Lightly 7 (2/2)

Kim Wuju, Lee Suh-ah, Jun Shihyuk, Song Mirae.

Wow… It looked quite impressive with all the top students gathered.

I also remembered seeing the teacher during the Chapel. She was… teacher Hong Yoojin was it?

“Hello.”

“You’re here. Come sit.”

When we sat down on our seats, teacher Hong Yoojin walked up the stage.

“Hello. I’m Hong Yoojin. You guys all know me right? And since you guys know each other as well I’ll skip the new members’ greetings.”

After that was a short explanation on the objective of the study group. Practising together and giving feedback to lead each other and improve our skills… that kind of explanation.

It was fine.

It was fine but…

“…”

Glancing to the side, I could see Jun Shihyuk glaring at me. Endlessly without even blinking his eyes.

Why’s he like that? Those eyes plus his massive build was quite scary.

‘Why?’

“…”

Even when I whispered to him, he gave no replies.

He seemed to have been like that during the interim presentation of the composing department as well… It was weird. Just a few days ago, although we didn’t talk much, we still greeted each other normally didn’t we?

A similarity between the interim presentation and right now… after thinking for a bit, I threw my eyes to the other side and saw Song Mirae making a bright smile with her chair right next to mine.

…Song Mirae was there with me during the song performance as well.

Thinking up to there, I slapped my thighs and gave a smile at Jun Shihyuk.

Aha, Shihyuk was into this type of girls huh?

Thinking that it was cute, I grinned and moved my chair towards Han Dasom a bit and my shoulder touched hers for a short moment.

“…!”

“Sorry.”

After staring at Han Dasom and her flushed cheeks, I faced my gaze back to the front.

“…like this, there will be times when you guys would be practising alone while I would sometimes give out lessons. Hmm what else… We do this once every week so don’t be late. Now, let’s leave the explanations at that and continue from last week’s lesson.”

“Yes~”

Placing her arms on the lecturer’s desk, Hong Yoojin flickered her eyes.

“Now! We talked about the ‘prac tests’ last week right? It’s coming up soon with around a month or so left. You should all know how important it is and because it has a great impact on the final marks of the first semester, you guys should practise hard from now.”

Indeed. One month wasn’t that long.

“Of course, I won’t be talking too specifically about the ‘prac tests’ because I am a teacher myself and it could be considered a preferential treatment. However, let me talk generally and objectively about the ‘prac’ which you guys would be facing soon.”

She then stood in front of the blackboard before writing ‘Prac song’ with chalk.

Hong Yoojin pointed at the words flashing in white.

“Prac songs. Although it may be obvious, you have to sing prac songs at a prac test. Every prac test might have different regulations and limitations on the songs allowed but you must sing a prac song in any case. And choosing the right prac song is very important.”

After explaining all that, she glanced at us before pointing at Han Dasom with her finger.

“Our new member, Dasom. Do you perhaps know why?”

“That… because the types of songs people sing well are different…?”

“Right. Some may be exceptional at skills while some could have a good body, perfect for singing. Or maybe they’re good at high notes, but is that all there is to it? Is it over after just choosing one song you were good at? Can you master that one song and come out on the top of every single prac test?”

“…”

The practice room turned quiet after her question. I was staying silent with my mouth closed when Jun Shihyuk shot his hand up.

“You need to sing something that suits the interviewer’s taste.”

“…Well, there’s that too, but you know that they’re mostly done blind these days right? So you don’t know who the interviewer is beforehand and plus, there could be multiple markers.”

“…”

Ship Jun Shihyuk has sunk!

It’s fine; that was good! – I gave him a smile gesturing that but Jun Shihyuk started glaring at me with a frightening expression.

Mhmm, right. That could seem like I was making fun of him huh. That was my mistake.

“Anyone else? Wuju?”

Tilting his head, Kim Wuju replied with an innocent expression.

“It’s boring to just sing one song.”

“…That’s true but… can we try thinking about the fundamental reason? Anyone else? Does our new member Yunjae want to give it a try?”

Seeing her glance at me, I scratched the back of my neck feeling slightly awkward.

I did know the answer but… I didn’t know why Song Mirae, Jun Shihyuk and even Lee Suh-ah were staring at me with sparkling eyes.

After looking around for a bit, I finally opened my mouth.

“You need to consider your competitors before picking the song.”

“Competitors? Why? Isn’t it just about you doing it well?”

Ah… it felt like I had become an extremely small-minded person in the elegant world of music. Staring at Jun Shihyuk who had an expression that said, ‘ah right’, I opened my mouth again.

“Of course, you have to do well but the interviewers are people as well. They will definitely compare you to competitors and that’s why we need to pick a good song.”

If vocalisation and basic techniques was a sword style, the prac songs were weapons.

Depending on the sharpness of my weapon, the angle and the length, it could make my sword style appear stronger than it actually was or it could contrarily make it look weaker.

That’s why it was important to change the song according to your competitors.

Let’s say your competitor was good at high notes. Then if I picked a song that could show off high-level skills, it would be difficult to compare us two because it was impossible to declare which one was better.

But if I picked a song that required high-level skills on top of expression abilities?

Comparatively, two would look better than one and just like that, by just picking the prac song well, it could enable you to be somewhat in the advantage.

When I finished my explanation, teacher Hong Yoojin stared at me strangely before opening her mouth.

“Right. A song should suit your voice type, allow you to have the upper hand in comparison to your competitors and fit the requirements of a prac test. All these must be considered for a good selection of the song. Well, you could just defeat other students by pure ability but… there aren’t many students capable of that right?”

Hearing that, I stole a glance to the side.

‘Kim Wuju.’

I could see him listening to the explanations without much interest, but that was normal as he had no reason to in the first place on top of his lack of interest.

Kim Wuju… Kim Wuju…

The genius tenor Kim Wuju, who was crazy about music – the greatest obstacle I would have to overcome at the prac test.

“Haa…”

…He really was a tough opponent. There was nothing to point out from his basics, his techniques seemed to be better than mine with a higher vocal range than me and better physical abilities overall.

I guess if I had to pick one, it would be that he was weak in analysing and understanding like what had happened at the song presentation.

But the songs that he brings to the prac test would be rectified by his teacher so it would definitely be perfected. Besides, when I asked last time, he said he was doing a difficult lied that showed off fancy skills and required physical capabilities as well…

‘Skills, and physical capability.’

After writing those words in my brain, I drew a big X on top of those.

It was obvious that I would be smashed if I was to fight in either of those areas so let’s choose a different song that could show off a different aspect.

What advantages did I have…

After some thought, I reached an answer.

‘Sword style change.’