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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Joint First Place
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'This is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.'
After Do-hyun's stage ended, the lights went dark.
In that darkness, Jung Hye-seon nearly burst out laughing.
The performance had a clear structure—introduction, development, turn, and conclusion—that was hard to believe came from a 17-year-old high school student. It was that seasoned.
And her tap dance skills were flawless, leaving Hye-seon utterly speechless.
As if agreeing with Hye-seon's thoughts,
clap clap clap—
After a brief silence, applause erupted, filling the small theater.
Soon, the lights that had gone dark came back on.
There stood Do-hyun in the center of the stage, breathing heavily as he stared out at it.
Choi Sung-jin, who had been at the drums, came over and stood beside him.
The two bowed toward the audience.
Hye-seon watched them both with an intrigued expression.
"That's Lee Do-hyun, huh."
"No wonder the musical theater department keeps talking about Lee Do-hyun this and Lee Do-hyun that."
One of the judges sitting next to her spoke up.
For this year's musical theater freshmen, the trio of geniuses led by Kim Sun-woo had been the standouts.
But before long, Do-hyun's name started coming up alongside theirs.
The music department teachers were reacting like, after just one stage, they finally got why Do-hyun had been rising in the musical theater department lately.
"Talk about insane. Totally insane. Lucky musical theater department, huh? Two geniuses like that in one year."
The judge muttered while placing Kim Sun-woo and Lee Do-hyun's evaluation sheets side by side.
Hye-seon shrugged and glanced down at the program listing the next performers.
"Who knows. It'd be a relief if it ended with just two."
On the program Hye-seon was looking at, five teams remained, listed side by side.
Among the remaining names were Moon Woo-hyuk and Song Ha-na.
***
Even after Do-hyun's incredible stage, the dance test continued.
Two performances in particular stood out.
One was Moon Woo-hyuk's collaboration with violin for a scene from the musical *Do Re Mi Fa Sol*.
He blended tango and broadcast dance perfectly, creating a visually delightful stage.
It was noticeable how he'd minimized the balance issues always caused by his tall frame and physique.
Once those distracting elements were covered, his superior height and long limbs generated tremendous power.
By effectively highlighting forceful movements that played to his strengths, he earned high marks.
The other standout was Song Ha-na's stage.
It was a beautiful performance, just as expected.
True to form, her dance to piano accompaniment was ballet-based, exuding an air of classical elegance.
The piano melody was kept minimal, harmonizing effectively with the static and dynamic movements of the ballet as accompaniment and sound effects.
Once all the dance test stages were over, sighs rose from the audience.
"…What the hell is up with this year's musical theater first-years? Seriously?"
"They're all freshmen, right? What did I just watch?"
The judges kept letting out hollow laughs and shaking their heads.
The second- and third-year musical theater teachers serving as judges flipped through their evaluation sheets in disbelief.
They'd heard the rumors, but the talent pouring out from these first-years far exceeded expectations.
It was overwhelming.
Cheongyeom Arts High had seen plenty of talent over the years.
But discovering this many raw gems in one year? This was a first.
"Everyone, good work. Take a 30-minute break, then we'll announce the results right away. Gather back here. Musical theater and music departments—you never know when you'll collaborate again, so chat among yourselves."
The dance test results were being announced today as well.
It was a relatively long 30-minute break.
Hye-seon and the other judges disappeared backstage for their meeting.
The small theater immediately buzzed with chatter.
"Hey, hey, Lee Do-hyun. Today's stage was all Lee Do-hyun, Lee Do-hyun again."
As always, Woo-sik came right over like he'd been waiting.
"Choi Sung-jin? That your name?"
And as usual, he struck up a conversation with someone he'd just met.
It didn't even surprise me anymore.
I noticed Choi Sung-jin jump in surprise at hearing his name called out of nowhere and glance my way, but I pretended not to notice.
Woo-sik was loud, but he wasn't a bad guy.
"That drumming was killer. You turn into a whole different person when you're behind the kit."
"R-Really?"
"Look at you even now. The kid pounding the drums on stage earlier wasn't some 'R-Really?' type."
Woo-sik sat next to Choi Sung-jin, mimicking his shy demeanor in amazement.
It could've been an awkward situation, but Choi Sung-jin didn't seem offended—he seemed to get that Woo-sik was just excitedly praising him.
Yeah, that's Woo-sik's talent.
"But where's your partner? Why're you by yourself?"
I suddenly remembered and turned to look at where Woo-sik had been sitting.
The spot was already empty.
He'd finally teamed up with the flute major he wanted for today's collab.
So why was Woo-sik alone now?
I started to ask, but then I saw his gloomy face and shut my mouth.
I had a pretty good idea why he was solo.
He probably wouldn't get to talk to that flute major again after today.
Meanwhile, Song Ha-na, Moon Woo-hyuk, and Kim Sun-woo had stepped out of the small theater and were walking the path.
"You were pretty good today."
Song Ha-na, of all people, spoke first and actually praised Moon Woo-hyuk.
"What's gotten into you? Using nice words and everything?"
Moon Woo-hyuk tried to hide how pleased he was and sniped back pettily.
But then,
"Yeah. You always looked so heavy when you danced, but today you seemed lighter."
"What?"
The praise relay continued with Kim Sun-woo chiming in.
Having both of them compliment him was unfamiliar territory.
Moon Woo-hyuk's face flushed as he floundered.
Song Ha-na shook her head at how obviously flustered he was.
"Jeez. If you can't even hide your feelings like that, what're you gonna do when you grow up?"
She muttered something about that's why he wanted to be an actor, and Woo-hyuk, feeling a bit stung, grumbled,
"Who says I can't hide it? I'm not hiding it."
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
"Haha. Cut it out, you two."
Kim Sun-woo laughed and intervened at the pair who couldn't hold a normal conversation.
These two could never manage more than five words without clashing.
"Anyway, was there some real change or what?"
When Kim Sun-woo asked quite seriously, Moon Woo-hyuk fell into thought.
If there was one thing different, it was just that.
Truth be told, Moon Woo-hyuk had a major shift in mindset today.
He'd watched Kim Sun-woo and Do-hyun's stages and 'accepted' it.
Unlike the previous two tests.
This time, after seeing their performances, he'd immediately admitted to himself that he couldn't beat them.
Once he thought that way and took the stage, he could focus.
He still had some competitive fire, but he wasn't overly pissed.
If anything, he even felt a bit freed from the crushing pressure that had made it hard to breathe.
He'd never had much confidence in dance to begin with, so maybe it was possible.
"Nothing much… really."
But it was still too embarrassing to say it out loud.
Plus, the guy standing right in front of him was one of the two he'd acknowledged.
"Hmm. I see."
Song Ha-na spoke to Kim Sun-woo, who was smiling oddly like his curiosity wasn't satisfied.
"Speaking of, you were a total surprise too. Didn't you say you weren't into piano? Why harp all of a sudden?"
When Song Ha-na first heard Kim Sun-woo had chosen harp for accompaniment, she'd doubted her ears.
The guy who'd never shown interest in harp before, passing over the piano virtuoso for harp.
"Just felt like it. No big reason. I heard a harp and suddenly an idea for choreography popped into my head."
Kim Sun-woo didn't admit it was because Do-hyun had stimulated him into that choice.
The three shared a brief, knowing glance, observing each other.
None of them said it outright.
But maybe they vaguely sensed it.
Who was at the center of the changes they'd all been feeling lately.
***
The 30 minutes waiting for the rankings flew by in a mix of anxiety.
Back in the small theater, the musical theater students murmured among themselves.
Jung Hye-seon, now alone on stage, looked at them and spoke.
"Not nervous? The results for today are right here in my hand."
The chatter died instantly.
"No need to be. Today's rankings won't decide your life."
Hye-seon smiled at their reactions, then unfolded the results sheet.
"Other teachers put it up on the screen or whatever, but not me. Straight to the point—starting with first place."
A tense air hung as eyes focused on two people.
Everyone knew it subconsciously.
First place would be one of those two.
"Today's first place."
The kids went duh-duh-duh-duh on their mouths while smacking the auditorium chairs with their hands.
All thanks to Woo-sik's influence.
"Congratulations. Lee Do-hyun."
The name Lee Do-hyun killed the noise instantly.
Everyone turned to stare at me in shock.
But then,
"And Kim Sun-woo."
Another name came from Hye-seon's lips: Kim Sun-woo.
The eyes that had been on me now turned to him.
The kids buzzed.
"Lee Do-hyun and Kim Sun-woo. Both teams take joint first place today."
Joint first place made them buzz even louder.
"This needs some explanation, so let me clarify. Everyone quiet."
At Hye-seon's words, all the students snapped to attention, focusing on the stage.
No one had mentioned joint firsts beforehand, so they were all dying to know what was up.
Even I was puzzled—this was a first for me.
"Both teams' choreography was excellent. Someone's taste might prefer one over the other, but that's subjective. On the teachers' score sheets, they tied, and we saw no need to split them. Ranking those two won't change anyone else's position."
Tie.
The students murmured and swapped opinions, but that was it.
As Hye-seon continued explaining, they started nodding along one by one.
Yeah, hard to pick a better one between them.
No room for argument.
"Any objections?"
Hye-seon asked, but no one answered.
Not even Song Ha-na, who always raised her hand with questions.
"Then we're good? Next up..."
Hye-seon moved straight to the next ranking.
Amid it all, Kim Sun-woo and I looked at each other, as if on cue.
Gone was his usual smile; his expression was unreadable as he held my gaze without flinching.
No reason to look away, so we ended up in a stare-down that wasn't quite a stare-down.
Kim Sun-woo thought,
Lee Do-hyun.
He's probably the same type as me.
And at that moment, Do-hyun, not averting his eyes and staring straight back, thought,
Kim Sun-woo.
Even living his second life, a genius even harder to beat than expected.
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