SEIYUU ACADEMY: EPISODE ONE.

IT'S TIME TO START WITH THE FIERCE COMPETITION.

WEEK TWO, DAY ONE. THE TRAINEES ARE WAITING IN THEIR CLASSES.

SOON ENOUGH, THE FIRST PERFORMANCES WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE EXAM ROOM.

〔 KIM GARAM ﹕ CLASS ONE 〕 Oh... [sighs] I'm so nervous...

〔 NIE XINNING ﹕ CLASS ONE 〕 Don't worry, Garam. I know you've practiced hard for today, and I'm sure you'll do great. The others believe in you as well.

〔 KIM GARAM ﹕ CLASS ONE 〕 [looking down, barely swinging her legs from her seat] ... You think so, Xinning...?

〔 NIE XINNING ﹕ CLASS ONE 〕 Of course. [holding GARAM's hand] Take a deep breath.

GARAM ISN'T THE ONLY STUDENT FEELING PRESSURED RIGHT NOW, HOWEVER.

ALL THE STUDENTS ARE ANXIOUSLY STARING AT THE DOOR, GASPING AT ITS SMALLEST MOVEMENTS.

〔 FAN ZHIPENG ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 Ah, I'm so excited! I can't stay still...

〔 SHIN ARIN ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 Calm down, Zhizhi... You'll do great. You're an excellent vocalist! You're not going home today. [clapping his hands] Prepare yourself!

〔 FAN ZHIPENG ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 I will!

〔 "HOON" ﹕ STAFF 〕 [knocking on the door] Excuse me...? The first CLASS TWO team we have written here should come to the EXAM ROOM...

〔 "HAO" ﹕ STAFF 〕 EDEN SEOK, HANNAH YUXIN CHEN, SUNG HANNA, CHOI MINGYU, SHIN ARIN and... LI SHIYUN. Six people, hm? Good luck.

〔 FAN ZHIPENG ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 Good luck, Rinrin!

〔 PARK JUNO ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 You got this, Mingyu.

〔 CHOI MINGYU ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 Of course I do, Mr. Sarcasm.

〔 PARK JUNO ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 Mh? I was trying to be supportive... Don't get too cocky. You know what happens when you get conceited like that.

〔 CHOI MINGYU ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 ... I won't let you say that again. Let me show you what I'm capable of!

THE FIRST TEAM REACHES THE EXAM ROOM, GUIDED BY THE STAFF.

[THE DOOR SHOULD BE CHANGED, THOUGH... IT LOOKS LIKE MY HOUSE'S BATHROOM DOOR AFTER MY MOM KICKED IT DOWN BECAUSE I WAS TOO BUSY STREAMING AUTOMATA'S MVs.]

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Before we start, remember your grade proposal on GO SUBIN's performance can be vetoed, Baekhyun.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 I know... I promised I would be unbiased, but I guess the production doesn't trust me either way, huh... [sighs dramatically]

[AS MUCH AS I LOVE YOU, I DON'T TRUST YOU WITH THAT EITHER...]

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 [chuckles] I'm curious to find out our students' current skill level. It's time to be impartial and strict, but within the limits of respect.

[THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID... BUT WILL VOCAL QUEEN TAEYEON KEEP HER PROMISE?]

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Of course. Please, let them in.

THE CLASS TWO STUDENTS STAND IN FRONT OF THE TEACHERS, EXTREMELY TENSE.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Oh, we're starting with CLASS TWO... I almost forgot! Please, relax a bit. We won't bite. How about you take a deep breath?

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Baekhyun is right...! Start when you're finally calm and ready. [reading the papers in front of her] So your team went for Hot & Cold as their audition song... I see.

〔 SHIN ARIN ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 We're ready, I think.

〔 EDEN SEOK ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 We should be, yes.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 You may start, then. Good luck!

THE VERY FIRST TEAM OF THE DAY STARTS PERFORMING.

WHAT WILL BE THE FINAL OUTCOME?

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 ... Oh. Well... That was... The final performance...?

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 I wouldn't say this was absolutely bad, but...

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 For it to be a vocals only performance, it was extremely underwhelming. Even the more experienced vocalists were quite disappointing in this aspect... [sighs]

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 I'd start with the positives. EDEN has a very nice voice, I was pleasantly surprised... It makes sense you're AUTOMATA's Main Vocalist.

〔 EDEN SEOK ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 Oh, thank you... [bows down] But I'm actually one of the Lead Vocalists.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Really? That's even more surprising. [checking her papers]

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 ... That being said, your natural voice alone won't save neither you nor the rest of the group.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 The pacing turned out to be a mess from the second half of the song onward, not to mention the gap — skills wise — between your best performers and your worst ones was extremely noticeable. It seemed like a completely different song to me, and not in a positive way.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 I would understand if it was solely because of the skill levels themselves, but for qualified singers to perform just as bad as mere beginners... It makes me wonder if your failure was caused by the lack of individual efforts into this performance. It seems like you're taking this evaluation very lightly despite knowing well the implications of getting the lowest score.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 [sighs] Let's wrap this up with your grades... I think you two agree with what I've written here, right?

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 As much as I feel sorry for some of these... Yes, I do. I'll announce them, if it isn't a problem.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 ... Not at all.

THE TRAINEES STAND IN FRONT OF THE TEACHERS, MOST LOOKING AT THE FLOOR WHILE GRITTING THEIR TEETH.

THEY SEEM ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 The highest grade out of 15 in this team is...

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 EDEN SEOK, 9. In the same range, SHIN ARIN got 8... We had high expectations for both of you but despite being undoubtedly the best in your team, you still didn't perform to the best of your capabilities at all. I'm sure you'll prove us wrong in the future.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 I wholeheartedly agree. Don't take it as a defeat, but rather as an important starting point for your journey in SEIYUU ACADEMY.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Indeed. Next we have... CHOI MINGYU and HANNAH YUXIN CHEN, 6. Similarly to what we said before, we see the skills but not a proper preparation related to the song itself.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 I would've enjoyed your performance more if only you didn't look that conceited or if you didn't try so hard to look "cool". Are you unaware of what you're singing about? That would explain a lot. Please, next time study your pieces properly... Because this shows how little dedication you put into it.

〔 CHOI MINGYU ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 ...

〔 HANNAH YUXIN CHEN ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 ... Will do. I'm sorry.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 It's OK. Thank you for understanding... [sighs] Finally... LI SHIYUN, 4, and SUNG HANNA, 3. Both of you are beginners, so I'll be short: it's OK. You will improve with time and dedication. The thing is... I could barely hear SHIYUN singing both in her individual parts and the ones with EDEN and MINGYU... [checking her papers] Well, it's understandable why. Give a look here...

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Mhm? [visibly confused] ... What is this?

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Medical reports. A list of things to keep track of while evaluating our students, in short.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 ...!?

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Yours is quite concerning, SHIYUN. I sense some effort and the general vibe of the song was properly conveyed, but... [tapping on the papers] I'm extremely worried. Your health is already compromised on its own, so are you sure you want to cont-

〔 LI SHIYUN ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 I do.

THE TEACHERS DROP SILENT.

〔 LI SHIYUN ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 I'm taking care of myself well enough. I gave out personal info to make sure my rights would be protected, not to be underestimated... If there's something to improve on, I'll take all criticism. But don't tell me to stop just because of this.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 I see, I see... Reasonable choice. I'm very sorry for my comment, it wasn't appropriate at all.

━━━━━━━━━━

〔 LI SHIYUN ﹕ CLASS TWO 〕 ... To be fair, bringing up the topic at all was a low blow. I don't think Taeyeon-sunbaenim meant to degrade me or anything... But are we judging a person's worth solely based on their natural predisposition now?

━━━━━━━━━━

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 As for HANNA... I know that you've never sung in your band, but I'd expect you to have even the minimum sense of rhythm considering you're a bassist... Now that's not a mistake I'd blame on you being a beginner. It was painfully obvious you've not practiced this piece at all.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 And that should be all there is to it. We hope to see better sides of you in the near future. Follow the staff members to your class, please.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 [as the team leaves the class] ... Were we too harsh? Even if they didn't complain at all, I still feel quite bad.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 I wonder as well... [sighs] But again, I would feel sorry if our colleagues had to see this rendition of their song.

AS THE TEACHERS SPEAK, THE SECOND TEAM OF THE DAY SHOWS UP.

FROM CLASS THREE ITSELF, STUDENTS LEE SIYUN, YUELIANG, DO JUNSEO, NOH SEOKHOON AND YANG ZIXUAN ARE THE NEXT TO SHOW UP.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Another large group...! Good morning, guys. What are you performing today?

〔 LEE SIYUN ﹕ CLASS THREE 〕 [gulps] We're performing this song in front of them!? They're literally the original performers!

〔 YUELIANG ﹕ CLASS THREE 〕 Your parts are literally the easiest! What are you worried about...

〔 DO JUNSEO ﹕ CLASS THREE 〕 Let's calm down now...! He's not a singer, he has all rights to be worried, especially considering we're performing the same song our sunbaes performed years ago... Don't they hate it too? Let's be understanding of each other's weaknesses!

〔 LEE SIYUN ﹕ CLASS THREE 〕 ... Thank you for defending me, but that doesn't make me feel any better about this situation.

〔 YUELIANG ﹕ CLASS THREE 〕 Or maybe it's because Siyun doesn't have a wolf in him... I wish I could live just like him... As soon as there's a full moon, I can't help but let out an howl... Awoo...

[... YUELIANG, THIS IS NOT THE SIMS 4. WE HAVE NOT DOWNLOADED THE WEREWOLVES EXPANSION PACK IN REAL LIFE.]

〔 YANG ZIXUAN ﹕ CLASS THREE 〕 ... How about we keep the howls for when we need to sing?

〔 NOH SEOKHOON ﹕ CLASS THREE 〕 ... Is he always this weird?

〔 DO JUNSEO ﹕ CLASS THREE 〕 [placing a hand on SEOKHOON's shoulder] Trust me, we've seen worse...! Ask Taeyang too.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Oh, so they're performing Wolf... I see... I wonder how that will go? Whose idea was it...?

ALL STUDENTS IMMEDIATELY TURN TOWARD YUELIANG.

[AND WHY DID I KNOW IT ALREADY... IT'S ALWAYS HIM. I SWEAR TO GOD HE'S MORE OBSESSED WITH OMEGAVERSE AND WEREWOLVES THAN AUTOMATA STANS.]

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 I see... [laughs] Well, let's see how it goes!

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Feel free to start whenever you're ready.

THE CLASS THREE TRAINEES START PERFORMING AS THE MUSIC STARTS.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 [whispering] Oh... That was a very good start. I wonder if this performance will go well compared to the previous one.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Their profile says they're a rather weak vocalist and rapper, but it seems like I'm wron-

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 ... What a horrible pronunciation. I can't distinguish the words he's rapping... This takes away all his classmate did before him.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 He's off beat too... And it's horribly noticeable. This is literally just the start of the song. How can he mess up so badly just a few seconds into it?

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Well... [writing on her notebook] They saved the rest of the group with their parts... Something that the other team couldn't do in front of us just yet.

THE TEACHERS HAVE MIXED OPINIONS UNTIL THE VERY END.

... WELL, A BIT BEFORE THAT.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 [almost too loudly] Woah! That was such a hard part... But he did it flawlessly.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 [smiling] Seems like I can give my first high grades of the day. That reassures me...!

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 There was something good coming out of this performance, then.

AS THE PERFORMANCE ENDS, THE TEACHERS LOOK AT THE PAPERS WITH INDECIPHERABLE EXPRESSIONS.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Well, well... This wasn't a good performance any means. The song selection penalized the least experienced performer and the line distribution didn't make sense compared to your real skills.

〔 LEE SIYUN ﹕ CLASS THREE 〕 Uhm... We didn't really choose the line distribution. It was our class's DELEGATE, CHOI EUNWOO...

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 ... And is CHOI EUNWOO in the room with us right now?

LEE SIYUN STANDS STILL, MORTIFIED.

ALL THE OTHER TRAINEES STAND STILL, LOOKING AT THE FLOOR.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Thought so. Listen... If you think excuses like this one can justify anything, I think you're not ready in the slightest to proceed with this show. And don't interrupt me while speaking.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 You should've chosen another song in the first place. This isn't a song beginners can perform with ease, both vocals and rap wise. The CLASS REPRESENTATIVES don't have absolute authority either. Nothing but health reasons can justify the messy performance we saw today.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Now, onto the specific trainees... There were some who deserved some high ratings, at least.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 I liked DO JUNSEO quite a lot. Most of your parts were rap so I can't exactly evaluate your technique, but you managed to keep the performance together even with the others messing up. It was somehow recognizable. You did well.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 We're also pleasantly surprised by YUELIANG... We can see why you chose the song, even if it would've been more beneficial to choose a song that fits all of you. Your vocals shined the best in this performance, and considering you had the most vocally difficult parts we're surprised you made very little mistakes.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Being praised by the original performer of your same parts should be a hint to the grade you're getting today... Maybe not the maximum, but almost. Keep it up! [writing down on her notebook] This should be enough, right?

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Indeed... Let's announce them, then!

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 YUELIANG, 11. For DO JUNSEO, 10. You performed well overall, although your groupmates' mistakes partially affected your lines as well. You both sounded a bit... Rusty? It's like you haven't sang in a long while, which makes sense. But you did quite well.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Next one would be... NOH SEOKHOON, 6.

〔 CLASS THREE 〕 !?

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Your voice was shaky and unstable after your first few lines... I think it doesn't have to do with your preparation, but rather with your emotional status at the moment... I've listened to the song you performed in Strings Attached, so I know your average level... But this was not it. We hope to see your best sides from now on.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Finally, YANG ZIXUAN and LEE SIYUN...

TAEYEON STARES BLANKLY INTO HER PAPERS.

WHAT WILL BE THEIR FINAL RATING?

THE PERFORMANCES GO ON AS EXPECTED.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Thank you very much, girls. I'm very proud to say there are no grades under 7 among you.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Even the worst performer of the bunch did quite well... I'm glad! I can't wait to see you in your best shape, LI MO, and the same goes for all of you.

━━━━━━━━━━

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Good job. Seems like this CLASS TWO's group was well prepared.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 You did well! KYUHYUNG, I think a 13 should do. Congratulations!

THE STUDENTS' DESTINIES, HOWEVER, MOSTLY RELY ON THEIR FOUR NEW THREATS...

THE NEW STUDENTS.

HOW WILL THEIR AUDITIONS GO?

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Oh my! We're finally meeting our new faces. I wonder how their audition will go...? That girl, RURUKA, could easily fill the gap caused by ELVIRA's departure... She got a good grade, after all.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Indeed... As for the other three, I checked out some of their material and... Yes, they're quite good. I'm not sure about their live vocals but we'll finally find out today!

THREE BOYS WALK INTO THE ROOM TOGETHER, ALL WEARING MATCHING OUTFITS.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 How cute.

〔 ??? 1 ﹕ ??? 〕 Hi hi! We're three of the original Popping Party members! We hope you'll like our performance...!

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Good morning! We got told you found out just recently that your fellow members were applying just like you, is that right?

〔 ??? 2 ﹕ ??? 〕 That's true...! I was the most surprised, I think, since I was already involved in the program... I worked on quite a few designs! Especially the keys... They're cute, right~?

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 They are indeed. [smiles] Good luck.

〔 ??? 3 ﹕ ??? 〕 Thank you for giving us this chance...!

ALL THREE BOW TO THANK THE TEACHERS.

THE PERFORMANCE STARTS AS THEY STOP HOLDING EACH OTHERS' HANDS.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Oh, My First And Last by NCT Dream. Fits them quite well.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 That's CHA JISEONG, right? He's so cute! He reminds you of Pororo, doesn't he?

[WELL, SHE'S NOT WRONG... THERE'S A REASON WHY EVERYONE CALLS HIM PPORORO, AFTER ALL!]

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Mhm! But he doesn't only have cuteness by his side... I like his voice quite a lot. To be fair, all of them sing very well... This kind of song really fits them all.

〔 D.O ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 There are a few mistakes here and there, but that's something they can work on during their journey here, considering how high their grades will be.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Not to mention they all considered their idol career over... Haesol is working as a designer right now, and the other two stopped their idol activities at the same time. I think it's fair.

〔 BAEKHYUN ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Mhm, indeed. Well, let's just listen to the rest of the performance.

THE TRAINEES FINISH THEIR RENDITION OF MY FIRST AND LAST IN FRONT OF THE MENTORS.

〔 TAEYEON ﹕ VOCAL TEACHER 〕 Well, it seems like we have finally reached an agreement.

WHAT WILL THEIR FINAL SCORE BE?

AND WHO WILL HAVE TO GIVE UP ON SEIYUU ACADEMY ONCE AND FOR ALL?

FEVEN'S CORNER !!!

Hi there! This is my last update before a (hopefully short) hiatus due to urgent external reasons... Those on Twitter will know. ^_^ I also won't have my laptop on me for a while, so part three of the episode will come later than expected... Mainly because I need to make some edits. 💔

I'll try making up for it by posting a #SYATWT chapter if I can. No promises since I won't have access to electronic devices as much as usual for a while, but I'll try my best!

P.S. If it doesn't make much sense, I haven't reread it at all this time. So enjoy whatever this mess is 👍