ATIS Chapter 22 pt 2

Many eyes fell on Liao Junchen's group. Eight individuals with distinct personal styles sat together, but the atmosphere was surprisingly harmonious.

After Liao Junchen straightforwardly expressed his desire to choose "DIA," the team members didn't immediately voice objections. Instead, they had a relatively relaxed discussion.

Han Suyan bluntly stated, "This song has the highest difficulty. My abilities might not keep up."

He didn’t feel embarrassed about admitting his skill gap; instead, he candidly pointed out that he might be a burden.

Liao Junchen understood his meaning and looked at Han Suyan seriously, "Since I chose you and Toei, I will be responsible for the team. I'll practice the dance moves separately with both of you, and I'll help you improve step by step for every move."

He spoke steadily, "I'm not asking you to significantly improve your dance skills in a short time, but group choreography can cover some shortcomings. I'll find a way to ensure the stage effect is not affected."

Toei, a foreign trainee with a relatively low profile in the team, looked utterly discouraged and lacking in confidence in himself. "But, I, dancing, is very bad. I, can't do it."

Liao Junchen was about to say something, but Han Suyan, after quietly listening to his just-made assurances, looked at Toei and said, "Before doing anything, don't imagine it's impossible."

Suyun quietly muttered, "Old chicken soup." (1)

Han Suyan pretended not to hear.

Toei ran his fingers through his soft linen-colored hair, and his eyes gradually brightened. He repeated, simplifying, "No, it’s impossible."

Quietly watching him, Qin Lu gently turned his head, pointed to himself, and said, "Liao Junchen is a very good teacher. I went from Class C to Class A in five days. You can also showcase the stage in a week."

Toei looked up, and handsome eyes of the boy his age were crystal clear. His gentle and resolute spirit could be expressed without words. Just a simple glance was enough to feel the reassurance.

With a nod, he summoned the courage to believe in himself for the first time. "Hmm!"

Cui Zhihao had been silently observing the situation of each group. When he saw the seemingly out-of-place Liao Junchen's team, he sighed in his heart that his vision was indeed good.

Children with vitality could be seen even in the initial evaluations and would gradually reveal more shining points in the show.

The heavens were both fair and biased. Everyone's starting point, from babbling to choosing different paths, gradually transformed through each tiny choice. To reach further places, there would inevitably be many regrets along the way, but there would also be the fragrant scents left by those who moved forward.

The song choices were quickly made. Most people guessed that with Liao Junchen's personality, he would lead them to choose "DIA.” However, Tou Tie wanted to make a comeback and chose the Avengers as his opponent. He selected a team not close in strength, but a team composed of trainees from Classes D and F.

Some got the songs they wanted and couldn't hide their excitement, but there were more trainees who got songs they weren't good at, wearing expressions of worry and sighs.

Nevertheless, now that the songs were chosen, it was as if the dust had settled. The next step was to strive to present the best stage.

 ---

Public practice time.

In a situation where everyone was in their natural state without makeup, a team stood out in the hall where trainees were scattered.

Liao Junchen's team gathered, each person with a lyric book recently distributed by the staff in front of them.

When the cameraman focused on this team, he couldn't help but exclaim at how pleasing the scene was.

Liao Junchen, with sharp and cold features, looked serious. His long, fair fingers casually tapped on the lyrics twice, and the small mole at the corner of his eye softened his initially indifferent facial features slightly.

Across from him was Han Suyan, with a handsome face slightly lowered. He wore a light green training suit with sleeves rolled up, revealing slim, fair forearms. His straight nose cast a light shadow, and his long legs that could not be fully outstretched were bent while he bit the pen cap, lost in thought.

The black-haired trainee sat between them, diligently using a marker to mark different parts of the lyrics. His light-colored eyes were transparent and clean in the light.

Even though they didn't say anything, the audience would probably be willing to watch this scene for a long time.

After quickly glancing at the lyrics book to understand the corresponding parts (A, B, C, D), the trainees lifted their heads. They probably had some concept of how to allocate the parts.

"Oh, right," Fan Xi recalled the procedure mentioned by the staff earlier, "It seems we haven't chosen a team leader and the C position."

He peeled off the two stickers from the lyrics book and neatly removed the backing.

"We don't need to choose a team leader anymore," Nan Xiao, with a deadpan face, pointed to Liao Junchen. "We already have the ready-made Initial C. The strength voted by ninety-nine people is the strongest. Let the capable one take the lead. (1)"

No one disagreed. Before Liao Junchen could react, Fan Xi directly slapped the "team leader" tag onto Liao Junchen's training uniform.

After completing this big task, Fan Xi grinned and said, "Okay, next! Who is the C position?"

This time, everyone didn't make an immediate decision but quietly started to think.

Qin Lu, casually rocking back and forth with his knees hugged, smiled lightly. "Liao Junchen is the strongest, and the style of this song also suits him. I vote for him."

Upon hearing this, Liao Junchen lifted his head and, contrary to everyone's expectations, shook his head, lips pursed. "I've already taken the Initial C for the theme song. This time, for the public performance C position, it's up to you all."

Qin Lu restrained his smile and quietly looked at Liao Junchen.

No one had expected Liao Junchen to voluntarily give up the chance to compete for the C position on his own. In fact, everyone knew in their hearts that Liao Junchen didn't need to actively give up the opportunity for the C position; his strength was universally acknowledged as the strongest.

Moreover, to be honest, the C position for the theme song and the C position for the public performance were completely different. The theme song was recorded in a studio without an audience, while the public performance was the first time the trainees formally appeared in front of an audience.

All trainees had worked so hard for so long to stand on the stage. No one would not want to stand in the center and become the most eye-catching person.

But Liao Junchen had given up. He seemed to have made this decision easily, probably having thought about it long ago.

Liao Junchen didn't need to do this. Even if he were elected for the C position again, no one would say anything. In a talent show, strength was the best reliance.

He chose to give up, clearly wanting to leave this precious opportunity for his teammates.

Nan Xiao's first reaction was to advise him to reconsider. He had been in the industry for many years, from a bit naive at the beginning to now starting over from scratch, fully aware that "kindness" in this circle was meaningless. In the beginning, he also once gave up an opportunity that was important to him for a friend, but it was precisely because of that exposure that the development of two of them have since gone in completely different directions.

Even though he gained the other person's gratitude, looking back, Nan Xiao had some regrets.

If he had seized that opportunity himself, would everything have been different later on?

However, when Nan Xiao locked eyes with Liao Junchen, he realized that Liao Junchen was different from him.

If the past Nan Xiao was blindly kind, sacrificing a part of his own interests to give an opportunity to a friend, then Liao Junchen was the complete opposite — calm and rational.

He did consider his friends, but that didn't mean he didn't cherish his own path. Liao Junchen's gaze was very clear; he knew exactly what he was doing. He had absolute confidence that even if he didn't take the C position, his stage wouldn't be any less visible to the audience.

This was a high level of confidence derived from absolute strength, not ignorant arrogance. It was earned step by step, being fully aware of the weight of each step.

So Nan Xiao swallowed the persuasion on his lips and said with a paralyzed face, "Okay. I vote for myself."

Fan Xi: "..."

Fan Xi, with red hair, was quite nonchalant. After hearing that Liao Junchen had given up, he didn't think much. When he saw Nan Xiao volunteering, he immediately became interested and said, "I vote for myself too!"

Su Qinglan: "...You guys are something else!!"

Liao Junchen's eyes held a smile as he, without much expression, pointed to the black-haired trainee who hadn't participated, "Hmm, I vote for Qin Lu."

Qin Lu was momentarily stunned, and before he could speak, he saw Han Suyan, who had always looked cold, also pointing, "Hmm, him."

Looking at this and that with sparkling eyes, Toeisup worked hard to participate and said, "I, I vote for P Lu."

Su Qinglan, who was still out of the loop, felt inexplicably left out. He was the one who watched rating stages and even shared upper and lower bunks on a bunkbed with Qin Lu. How could Qin Lu not be his best friend in the world so quickly—

He sulked.

Five minutes later, the C position selection had settled in the dust without the directly involved party realizing it.

Qin Lu looked down at the "C position" tag that had just been slapped on by Fan Xi, feeling a rare shock.

Fan Xi, like an event host who had infiltrated into the team, seemed to enjoy this host-like position and directly moved on to the next step, saying, "Have you all looked at the lyrics? Once we finish dividing the parts, we can start practicing."

Qin Lu: "..."

While Liao Junchen's team progressed rapidly, most other teams were still in the stage of selecting a team leader.

An awkward and condensed silence enveloped the trainees. None of them wanted to be the team leader. Being a team leader meant worrying and taking responsibility, and it had little practical significance. Perhaps it would be a thankless task, and they might even face complaints.

Moreover, if you became a team leader, you were likely to miss the chance for the C position.

The atmosphere fell into a stalemate.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter