Trainee Ch.52

Chapter 52: The Second Performance (7)

The result of practicing his expressions relentlessly in front of the mirror was that, by the time of the 9 p.m. group rehearsal, Lai Yudong’s face looked like it had been rolled flat with a rolling pin, stiff and lifeless.

Unlike dance, where small differences in movement are normal—even established idol groups can’t always be copy-and-paste synchronized—the tiniest variation in facial expression could mean a world of difference. It made Bai Xuanhe so anxious that he wished he could just do it himself, like tweaking a character’s face in a video game.

Fortunately, Lai Yudong caught on quickly. He simply wasn’t used to showing a side of himself that ran completely counter to his personality.

Especially the newly designed reversal move at the ending—it was so embarrassing he wished he could dig a hole and bury himself in it.

“The real test of conviction starts now!” Bai Xuanhe patted him on the shoulder encouragingly.

Lai Yudong looked utterly resigned to fate. “I’ll try my best.”

That night, the so-far smooth-sailing Bloody team ran into their first real setback.

Su Junzhe’s recurring waist injury flared up, and he had no choice but to leave the practice room early.

Without that endlessly cheerful little ball of sunshine to brighten the group, even though everyone still got along well, the atmosphere inevitably dipped.

During break, no one spoke. Wanting to lift his teammates’ spirits, Zhang Mingche broke the silence: “I hope Xiao Su gets better soon. Our group just wouldn’t be the same without him.”

“Is it serious?” Lai Yudong asked worriedly.

Though he said that, he knew in his heart that if even Su Junzhe—the type to grind himself to the bone—couldn’t push through, then it was probably not some minor issue to brush off.

“Dancers all carry some injuries. I’ve got a leg injury myself, but I don’t know how bad Xiao Su’s is,” Jin Xiheng said with empathy. “If it’s mild, some medicated patches and extra rest these few days should let him perform the day after tomorrow with no problem. But from the way he talked, he wants to be back at practice tomorrow morning. I’m worried if it gets worse, he might need a fengbi.”

[What’s a fengbi?]

[It’s a pain-numbing injection, used for emergencies. But once the effect wears off after going on stage, the injury usually gets worse.]

[Oh my god… I hope Su Su will be okay…]

[So young and already has a back injury… Is the training intensity in Korea too much?]

[That’s pretty normal for main dancers.]

[Can’t they just let Su Su rest? Health is more important. With his skills, missing a bit of practice won’t matter.]

The barrage of explanations made Lai Yudong feel even more conflicted. He let out a soft sigh—aside from praying that Su Junzhe would be fine, there was nothing he could do.

“Ah, I’ll ask him later tonight in the dorms how he’s doing.” Jin Xiheng suddenly remembered something and smacked his forehead. “Right—there’s something I need to discuss with you guys. Did you know tomorrow is Xiao Su’s birthday?”

“…Now we know.” Bai Xuanhe said faintly. “Why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

Jin Xiheng scratched his cheek guiltily. “I couldn’t help it. We don’t even have our phones here, I’ve completely lost track of time. I only found out today after asking Liu Qichu.”

Bai Xuanhe stared blankly at the wall clock. “Bro, there’s less than ten minutes left until tomorrow. Even if we wanted to prepare a surprise, it’s too late now.”

“That’s fine. I already asked the production team to order a birthday cake. It’s in the restaurant fridge. I just never had the chance to tell you guys since Xiao Su’s been here the whole time.”

Lai Yudong quietly reminded, “But… will he eat cake?”

Last time Zhou Rui invited Su Junzhe to eat instant noodles, he had refused. Something like cake, loaded with sugar and calories, was probably something he hadn’t touched in ages.

“…Right.” Jin Xiheng gave up with a resigned shrug. “Forget it. Even if he doesn’t want to, he’ll have to eat. Having a slice once in a while won’t suddenly make him gain ten pounds. Now—how should we give it to him so it’s more of a surprise?”

“How about pretending to have a fight, storm out, and then all come back in carrying the cake?” Zhang Mingche added, “I’ve seen variety shows do that before.”

[That’s way too cliché!!]

[As expected of the 25-year-old captain.]

[LOL, I’ve seen that scenario at least three times.]

[I remember Mo Li’s season had the exact same script.]

[? How did this turn into a stab at Mo Li too]

“Will he even believe it?” Lai Yudong cut right to the key point.

Setting aside whether it was old-fashioned or not, he didn’t have much confidence in their group’s acting skills—especially Bai Xuanhe and Jin Xiheng, whose chances of breaking into laughter were about ninety percent.

And if they laughed mid-act…

Just imagining it was enough to picture a very awkward scene.

“I can already see Su Junzhe smiling at us like we’re a bunch of lovable idiots.” Mo Li tactfully expressed his rejection.

“Let’s just put it directly in the practice room.” Lai Yudong suggested a new plan. “We can set the cake out beforehand, then pretend to be late, so when he walks in alone, it’s waiting there.”

“That’s not subtle at all,” Bai Xuanhe muttered. “Though honestly, I kind of like it. Very straightforward.”

“Then it’s decided.” Jin Xiheng finalized it with a clap. “We’ll meet in the practice room half an hour early.”

And just like that, the birthday plan was set in a rather hasty fashion.

To make sure they could wake up early the next day, the Bloody team actually wrapped up before sunrise for the first time.

When Lai Yudong returned to the dorm, it was just past 2 a.m. The moment he pushed open the door, he saw Liang Zhisheng and Li Xu scribbling furiously at the desk, looking like he’d walked into a graduate study hall.

He was puzzled. Weren’t they in different groups? Why were they working on the same thing?

“Xu—”

Liang Zhisheng thought the person coming in was another roommate. But then, the makeup mirror on the desk reflected back a striking flash of pale blond behind him. He quickly stopped mid-word and turned his head in surprise.

“Yuki? Back so early?”

“Mm. Keeping a healthy, living-world schedule.”

Lai Yudong didn’t think that still being awake at 2 a.m. counted as “living in the daylight world” at all. He glanced at the red-haired boy, who was irritably scribbling a few words only to cross them out again, and quietly asked:

“You guys are…?”

“Reworking lyrics.” Liang Zhisheng’s face twisted as the painful memory resurfaced. “I don’t know what your dance group is like, but the rap group’s evaluation class was terrifying. Once Teacher Li Ke opened his mouth, no one survived.”

“Everyone?” Lai Yudong thought he was exaggerating.

Liang Zhisheng nodded heavily. “Everyone.”

“……”

Savage.

[For real? That scary?]

[I watched the rap group once. Not exaggerated at all. Li Ke’s tongue-lashing scared me into clicking out of the livestream on the spot.]

[He said not a single lyric from the rap group was usable, and if they wanted to treat this crap as their farewell speech for getting eliminated, they could go ahead and keep singing like that.]

[Brother Chu even got scolded—asked if he planned to use the same flow for his whole life.]

[Damn, that ruthless?]

[Li Ke has this fearless bravery of not caring about fans.]

[Not really a problem, he’s got plenty of fans himself.]

“He said my lyrics read like a third grader’s rushed bathroom journal homework—plain and stinking. If the teacher didn’t have to grade it, no one would bother giving it a second glance.” Li Xu tore out a page full of scribbles and edits with a blank expression, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into the trash. “If I don’t finish a new version tonight, I’m not sleeping.”

Clearly, his competitive streak had been triggered.

“Teacher Li Ke’s aggression is way too strong.” Liang Zhisheng was laughing nonstop at the vivid insult, as if he himself hadn’t been a victim too. “He said my lyrics sounded like something written by a poser who hasn’t read many books but still wants to force a ‘deep literary’ persona on NetEase Cloud.”

Lai Yudong was utterly stunned.

He had never witnessed such a scene himself, but judging from the barrage and his roommates’ descriptions, Lai Yudong could well imagine how terrifying it must have been. He felt genuine sympathy.

Good thing he hadn’t chosen the rap group for a “breakthrough challenge.”

He thought to himself, hopefully he’d never have the “honor” of being roasted directly by Mentor Li Ke.

…

The next morning, the Bloody group—minus Su Junzhe—gathered on time.

Jin Xiheng placed the pre-ordered cake right in the center of the practice room floor, positioned so that it would be the first thing seen when the door opened.

The pure white box completely concealed the cake inside. On top, Su Junzhe’s name was written in cherry blossom pink marker—the same shade as his fan-support color. Surrounding the name were doodles the five members had drawn together: Lai Yudong sketched candy, Mo Li drew a smiling face, and so on.

From a distance, it looked like a piece of kindergarten children’s artwork; without opening the box, one would never guess a cake was inside.

Jin Xiheng looked around the empty practice room and frowned. There wasn’t any good place to hide. “Where do we wait? Behind the door?”

“No room,” Lai Yudong estimated, eyeing the door’s width. “At most three people could squeeze in. …Unless we climb on each other’s backs.”

[Yu-baby actually has a sense of humor]

[Shoulder-riding works too]

[Please don’t be this ridiculous hahahaha]

Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—such an absurd scene never made it to the screen. In the end, they decided to hide around the corner in the hallway.

Mo Li, being slimmer, crouched in the front. Lai Yudong, thanks to his height, stood in the back. The five of them poked their heads out from behind the wall one above the other, like a game of Jenga stacked with heads, waiting for the director’s signal.

It wasn’t long before the birthday boy arrived. They quickly withdrew their heads and ducked back behind the wall.

Completely unaware of what was about to happen, Su Junzhe hopped lightly up the stairs. From the spring in his step, no one could have guessed that just last night, he had been in so much pain he had to leave practice early.

Creak—

A sound of the door opening came from inside. Lai Yudong cautiously stuck out half his head; once he was sure the target had entered the practice room, he quickly patted Bai Xuanhe in front of him. “He’s in.”

Hearing that, Bai Xuanhe bolted out first, grabbing Jin Xiheng with his left hand and pulling Lai Yudong with his right. Behind them came Mo Li, nearly scrambling on all fours to keep up, and Zhang Mingche, who exclaimed in surprise, “Careful!”

The five of them charged into the practice room like a bandit gang, startling Su Junzhe, who was crouched in front of the cake.

“Happy birthday!”

“Happy 18th birthday, Xiao Su!”

“Happy 19th birthday!”

“Eat cake!”

“Hap—”

Because they’d forgotten to rehearse the birthday lines, they had zero coordination and all shouted different things; the overlapping voices made it as noisy as a wet market.

[Who was it who said “eat cake” hahaha]

[I think it was Yuzu]

[Wasn’t it Bai Xuanhe?]

[Yuzu got scared by Teacher Jin’s booming voice—he opened his mouth and went mute]

[Aaaah the “mute” persona lives on, huh!]

Lai Yudong felt wronged. He hadn’t expected his seemingly normal teammates to be so loud, it gave him a jolt; the blessing stuck in his throat after just one word.

He could only wait for everyone to finish yelling, then add his line half a beat late: “Happy birthday, Su Junzhe.”

Crouching on the floor, Su Junzhe tilted his head up at the teammates who had surrounded him and let out a snort of laughter. “I knew something was up—today Jin Xiheng didn’t wait for me. I thought he was worried I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t call me on purpose… turns out you were all waiting for me here.”

He lowered his head and stared at the doodle-covered cake box for a few seconds, carefully identifying the drawings, as if trying to figure out what each stroke was meant to represent.

After a moment, Su Junzhe let out a soft laugh. Holding the cake in both hands, he stood up, curving into a genuine smile. “Thank you, everyone. It’s been a long time since I celebrated a birthday with others.”

“Are we eating the cake?” Lai Yudong was very concerned about the cake’s fate.

“Of course.” Su Junzhe’s eyes sparkled with laughter. “It’s a rare occasion—I’ll make an exception this once. Can’t waste everyone’s thoughtfulness. But…”

He glanced at the wall clock, the smile on his face deepening. “It’s 10:02 right now. You’re late.”

Jin Xiheng was dumbfounded. “That counts!?”

“You didn’t gather in the practice room on time, so of course it counts.” Su Junzhe’s eyes flicked toward the doorway. “Yuki, don’t think I can’t see you trying to sneak back. Today, the birthday boy’s word is law.”

Lai Yudong: “……”

Escape attempt—failed.

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