Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 33. First Monthly Evaluation (5)

The moment Lee Doha took his first step, Kang Hajin thought to himself.

This is it.

“Oh my.”

“Doha’s really improved.”

With Gong Seok’s ad-lib line, Yoon Taehee and Lee Doha’s dance break began. As the song’s theme was rebellion, the choreography in this part involved the two exchanging fierce movements that made it seem like they were fighting.

Since they weren’t performing the same moves, Lee Doha wasn’t directly compared to Yoon Taehee, who was relatively better at executing the moves. However, whenever they synchronized, Doha’s long limbs moved with precision, matching the exact angles.

The thrill when all the practice pays off and every move aligns perfectly with the beat!

After Yoon Taehee used Doha’s thigh as a stepping stone to successfully pull off a clean backflip, Hajin and the remaining members, who had been waiting in the back, confidently strode forward like victorious generals, taking their positions as the final third chorus surged.

Watch closely, it’s me. This brilliant Victory

The melody fills the broken moonlit night

The two hands clasped together will shine in the end

I’ll invite you to the end of this beginning

Welcome, this is the NEW WAVE

The song ended with heavy breaths. The five members, who had held their ending poses for a while after the song ended, soon stood in a line at Hajin’s signal, ready to receive feedback.

“……”

“……”

Unlike the other teams, a long silence lingered. The trainers, who were supposed to evaluate them, hesitated to speak. As the silence dragged on, making everyone but Hajin and Doha uneasy,

*Clap, clap, clap*—

“……!”

“Well done. You did a great job putting this together.”

Taeil, who had been quietly observing the whole time, broke the silence with applause and a brief compliment. The tense expressions of the team members brightened at the praise from senior Seo Taeil.

“The gestures were better organized than I expected. It’s my first time seeing Doha do a dance break. You’ve practiced a lot, huh?”

“Ah… thank you.”

“But why did Doha do it? Wonho is good at dancing, so it might have been fine if he’d continued with a solo after his part.”

“……”

“Was Doha really the best choice for the dance break?”

Though the question was posed with a smile, it was far from gentle, causing a momentary silence. At that moment, everyone instinctively looked at Hajin.

Lee Doha’s dance break had been entirely, solely, Hajin’s decision.

And as if unfazed by the attention of everyone in the practice room, Hajin calmly answered.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because Wonho had to handle the choreography for the third chorus, it would have been too much for him to do the dance break as well.”

“……”

“Seok was busy with the ad-lib, so he couldn’t participate. Doha was physically similar to Taehee, so I thought he would fit better with the duel concept. He also needed to support Taehee’s acrobatics, and…”

Hajin paused briefly, glancing at Doha and the choreography trainer before continuing.

“I believed Doha could do it.”

This time, the trainers nodded, seemingly unable to argue with his reasoning. Seo Taeil, tapping his pen on the desk as if he were somewhat convinced, then nonchalantly asked.

“What about you?”

“Sorry?”

“What about you, Hajin? Couldn’t you have done it?”

“……”

‘…What?’

Hajin, who had been answering smoothly up until now, suddenly fell silent. Suho, who had been watching, also looked at Hajin with a slightly bewildered expression. It wasn’t a difficult question, so why?

“I volunteered for it.”

Breaking the silence, Doha quickly raised his hand and answered instead. The hopeless trio, who had been silently observing, tried hard not to let their thoughts—*When did you?*—show on their faces. Thankfully, even they had enough sense to keep quiet.

“Doha did?”

“Yes. I wanted to try it. Also, I thought it would be great if Hajin could sing the third chorus.”

“Really? …That’s a good ambition. Anyway, you all did well. You prepared well.”

With Doha’s words, Taeil leaned back in his chair, signaling the end of his evaluation. After receiving brief feedback from trainers in each field, Hajin and the rest of the team members were finally able to return to their seats.

“Hyung, hyung. I think we did….”

Wonho, who had received positive feedback for his choreography, called out to Hajin with an excited voice as he sat down, but he couldn’t finish his sentence upon seeing Hajin’s cold, stiff expression.

“Oh, did you call me? What did you say?”

“Oh? No, I just said you did well.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Hajin belatedly turned to Wonho and offered a polite reply, but there was still an inexplicable shadow cast over his expression.

‘We got praised, so why does he look like that?’

Wonho shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. Hajin, meanwhile, clenched and unclenched his fists, lost in thought.

“Alright, everyone. Good job. The evaluation results will be posted on the bulletin board the day after tomorrow, so make sure to check them.”

“Yes!”

The trainees responded loudly with a *Thank you!* as the trainers left the practice room. Hajin, who had been hanging his head the whole time, also stood up.

The first monthly evaluation was over.

* * *

That evening, in the second-floor conference room of the Miro building.

Since Miro trainees received a total of three days off after their monthly evaluation, all employees involved in Miro’s upcoming survival project, including those from the rookie development team, had gathered in the conference room to review the results of the monthly evaluation.

“These kids are definitely in the top tier.”

“Well, naturally. Even if it wasn’t for the survival show, they were already in line for debut.”

The evaluations of each team were quickly reviewed. To highlight the main opinions:

“For Team D… was it a song choice mistake?”

“Except for Seongwoo, almost none of them pulled it off well. I was a bit disappointed.”

“Tae-hyun seems to have gained some confidence this time, doesn’t he?”

“Right? He looked a bit down before, but… he seems to have overcome it.”

“Maybe he got a lot of healing when he went home recently because he was having a tough time.”

Honest evaluations of the trainees continued. From their attitudes over the past month to the skills they showed on stage today, everything was discussed carefully, as they were selecting the first top-tier group to showcase in the survival show.

“What did you all think of Team A?”

And finally, the hot potato that everyone had been putting off was brought up.

“Uh….”

“Well, they did well. But…”

“They’re a tough one.”

Despite the mostly positive feedback, no one was quick to give a definitive evaluation.

‘What? Wasn’t that team really good?’

Kim, who had been moved to the next team in charge of content from Enderway, originally under Miro, found their reaction puzzling. From what he saw during the filming of the monthly evaluation (which would later be used for broadcast material), Team A had left the deepest impression on him.

“Ha, I’ll be honest. They did well, but…”

“……”

“I just don’t know if that’s their usual level or if they just exploded with potential on this stage. I’m not sure they’re really the kind of kids who should be in the top tier of the next survival show, based on their evaluations so far.”

Assistant Manager Yoo from the rookie development team, known for speaking his mind, sighed as he voiced his concerns. With that, others began to express their thoughts as well.

“I wonder if they really did that well. I mean, it was surprising to see someone like Doha doing a dance break, but in terms of objective difficulty, wasn’t it a bit ordinary?”

“More than that, no one really stood out. There wasn’t anyone who really caught my eye….”

“It just felt like watching a regular idol group performance. That’s about it.”

Kim, taken aback by the harsh criticism, glanced at Ji Suho and Seo Taeil, who had been sitting quietly. However, neither seemed inclined to argue and simply listened to the others’ opinions.

‘What? Do they agree with this?’

Having only observed completed groups, Kim was confused by this first experience of evaluating trainees.

‘But they were so good!’

Unable to hold back any longer, Kim raised his hand to express the question that had been bubbling up inside him.

“Excuse me.”

“……?”

“Isn’t that actually a good thing?”

Everyone turned their attention to Kim. Feeling the heat of their gazes, Kim, who didn’t have much seniority, broke out in a cold sweat but remained determined to defend Team A.

“For trainees to look like a fully-fledged idol group… isn’t that pretty amazing?”

But Kim genuinely believed it.

‘It was just that polished.’

Sure, when judged individually, they might not be as skilled as the top trainees from other teams. But as a group performance, it was clear that each member had given their maximum output. This was obvious even without watching it multiple times.

Even if their previous evaluations hadn’t been great, shouldn’t this be taken into account?

An underdog story of underestimated trainees rising up!

This was the kind of growth narrative that no content creator should overlook!

“Even considering the next survival show… I think they’d make for an interesting addition. Having at least one or two trainees like them…”

As Kim cautiously spoke, he noticed Ji

Suho looking at him. Ah, a scary person. Worried that his comments might have been out of line, Kim licked his lips, only to realize something.

‘He’s smiling?’

Ji Suho was smiling, as if pleased by what Kim had said.

“There’s merit in what you said.”

Then, as if the smile had been a dream, Ji Suho returned to his usual poker face and took the lead in steering the conversation.

“Even if they don’t outshine the top trainees from other teams, let’s consider the impressive aspects of their performance in the evaluation.”

“……”

“We need to objectively assess whether these trainees had untapped potential that only surfaced today or if today’s performance represents the peak of their abilities. The top 10 trainees will, after all, be the first faces of Miro’s new generation.”

Everyone nodded, acknowledging the decision that took into account both sides. *So, should we discuss who among the five should be selected?* Ji Suho’s gentle prompting encouraged everyone to share their opinions.

“Doha has no reason not to be in the top tier.”

“Of course. He’s written, composed, produced, and now even handled dance breaks.”

“I think Wonho deserves a high score too. He choreographed this performance, right?”

“As for Seok… I never knew he could do this much. Before, he only sang verses.”

There were various opinions about the team members. Taeil, who had been quiet, finally spoke up, looking at Suho.

“Aren’t you going to say anything? Isn’t Kang Hajin the one you’re pushing for?”

“What about you? You seem to care about Hajin a lot. Why don’t you speak up for him?”

“Come on, if I did that, it’d be unfair. I need to stay neutral.”

“So do I.”

Hearing Suho’s response, Taeil chuckled and shook his head. *I like how clear-headed you are, but… what if Hajin doesn’t make the top 10?*

As Taeil muttered to himself, Suho laughed and said,

“Well. I don’t think that’s something you need to worry about.”

“Huh?”

“Look over there. It’s been decided.”

Taeil followed Suho’s gaze and saw the whiteboard set up for the meeting.

*Final Rankings for the February Monthly Evaluation, 20XX*

It was the first sign of a major shift.