Chapter 24 - No Time For Sickness

He woke up late in the day. He felt dizzy and drowsy as he sat up. Groaning, he pressed his hand to his forehead to feel how hot it was. Oh no… did he get sick?! There was no time for sickness! He pushed himself off the bed and walked to the bathroom to clean himself up. When he entered the training room, the trainees were singing and dancing on their own.

He glanced at the television to see the host appeared.

"New challenge: Sing an original ballad separately and another together."

'Yes!' He inwardly jumped with glee, 'I will definitely win this one!'

"Throughout your time on Project Idol," the host announced, "You will be visited by mentors that will assist you on your journey."

An image of 4 pictures were shown on the screen.

"Producer Jie; Choreographer Minji; Producer Ryoshi; Manager Bon."

"You have 3 days to write an original song for yourself and sing an original ballad."

The host left the screen and everyone was quick to start writing a song. Shun was not feeling well, but he pushed himself to write something original. He remembered writing a song when the task was available, so he would sing that song personally. He hummed as he thought about a ballad for a group. Coughing, he felt how tired he was, so thankfully he didn't need to dance for this challenge.

A mask was handed to him from Taemeng, one of the trainees and he thanked him. This boy was only a year younger than him, but held such a cold stare. He wondered what happened in the trainee's life that made the boy act that way.

"Are you sick, Shun?"

"Probably, but no time for rest," he placed the face masked on to cover his mouth, "Got to come up with a ballad."

"You won't preform well If you are sick," Taemeng stated and held up the notebook he had, "Beside. I wrote one for the group already."

Shun lifted his brows in surprised. That certainly was fast and he couldn't help feeling grateful for the boy.

"Did everyone agree?"

"They will."

"You… sound so confident."

"I am," Taemeng nodded and left him to speak with everyone else. Too tired to watch everyone's reaction, he closed his eyes as his head was feeling heavy.

'Nope! Can't sleep. Go make tea,' he told himself and he struggled to stand. Groaning, he headed to the kitchen and boiled up water to use. Taking a drink of his lemon tea, he sighed and heard a few trainees join him.

"Shun, can we have our meals early? All of us practicing in the training room together doesn't give us many spaces."

"Eh? We are singing as a group though," he mumbled, "If you mean practicing separately, go to your room."

"I guess…" they murmured to one another and he stared at them with deep bags under his eyes.

"Come on, let's choose our numbers," another called out from the training room.

Shun finished his tea and joined the rest of the trainees. As they were picking their roles, he sighed rubbing his head. So many of them were raising their hands to be 1 and they were arguing so much, Shun just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep.

"Wait," He spoke up with a hand in the air, "Why don't each of you sing the part that Taemeng put for 1. We will vote," he explained, "Remember, vote for the best singer for 1 and not cause they are your friends," Shun reminded with a frown and waved them to begin.

It wasn't because he didn't like the trainees, he did. It reminded him too much of the arguments back in his time with his siblings. They rarely ended well. It was something he did not miss and he couldn't help frowning at the witch for putting him in this situation.

Listening to each participant sing, they voted for who fit the part most. This continued until all spots were filled. Shun had the last spot, 15. Taemeng had asked if he wanted to audition for a different spot, but he said it was fine. Shun figured he would focus on the individual one to get him through the challenge. Besides, 15th spot only had one line. That was easy to remember.

So they sat on the floor singing together.

It reminded Shun of when the singers would come play and sing during events. His little sister loved them and his oldest brother always charmed them all. Smiling with the memory, he swayed to the song. Taemeng's lyrics were… simple. A simple message about being happy and liking what you do.

When they were done with their 3rd practice, he stood up and swayed. He felt arms held him up and concerned voices from his fellow trainees. Waving away their worries, he smiled at them and headed to the kitchen to prepare them meals.

"You should rest," A few trainees, including Taemeng, spoke up.

"Mm, soon. Just gonna make food real quick for everyone," Shun said as he cooked rice.

"We can help," a young trainee offered and he nodded.

With the help, he was able to rest more and that was helpful to him. He coughed lightly and ate away from everyone in case what he got was contagious. Heading to the room while the rest were still practicing, he laid on his bed. He closed his eyes and sung his personal ballad, thinking about home, his family, the villagers. Did anyone miss him? Did anyone mourn the unprincely youth?

He didn't know when he fell asleep, but when he woke, it was the next day. Still not feeling well, he made sure to drink lots of water and tea throughout the day. With that in mind, he joined the others in the training room. As they were singing as a group, a few trainees suddenly gasped. They all followed where their eyes were staring to also be in the same position.

Their mentors finally arrived to speak with them.

Producer Jie; Choreographer Minji; Producer Ryoshi; Manager Bon.

They greeted them with bows and bright smiles.

"Hello everyone. Since you are on the bottom floor, you have to work harder to make it to the top floor, huh?" Producer Ryoshi questioned and the trainees nodded.

"Mm, let us hear what you got for this challenge," Producer Jie spoke up and they watched them like a hawk.