Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 8

#8.

Kim Naegwan was sitting in the evaluation seat.

Lee Jungyeon and Louie exchanged puzzled glances, looking back at Dojae after his sudden remark.

“Naegwan?”

First, he was talking about fortune-telling and feng shui, and now he’s bringing up Naegwan.

Louie, who wasn’t academically inclined and hadn’t studied much, actually knew what a Naegwan [a high-ranking eunuch in the royal court] was.

It was because one of the characters in his favorite historical drama, , was named ‘Kim Naegwan’.

“…Ah, never mind.”

Dojae quickly closed his mouth, as if regretting what he’d said.

Management Team Leader, Kim Seokcheol.

Looking at the simple nameplate in front of him, Dojae realized not only his face but also his name was the same.

Even his suit and upright posture resembled Kim Naegwan.

‘But that person is not Kim Naegwan.’

Even while acknowledging that fact, he couldn’t suppress his surprise and a strange sense of happiness.

‘I was surprised when I saw my mother, but….’

He never imagined he would meet someone like this in this world, someone who wasn’t even a blood relative.

Kim Naegwan was the one who oversaw and managed all of Dojae’s schedules for ten years, including his education and health.

It was no exaggeration to say that he spent more time with Kim Naegwan than with his own mother, who was constantly busy with imperial family matters and the crown prince.

Kim Naegwan was also one of the main reasons why Dojae tried his best, even when he felt disgusted with imperial life.

He knew that if Dojae caused trouble, Kim Naegwan, who was in charge, would be severely reprimanded.

‘He was such a consistently diligent person.’

Dojae, lost in thought about Kim Naegwan while looking at Team Leader Kim Seokcheol, quickly bowed his head when their eyes met.

It felt unfamiliar because Kim Naegwan always bowed his head first, but it didn’t feel unpleasant.

‘I don’t know what he’s like inside, but I hope someone like Kim Naegwan can debut at Kingdom Entertainment.’

With that thought, Dojae strengthened his resolve for the audition.

“Come this way.”

Soon, Dojae and Louie stood in the center of the practice room, following Lee Jungyeon’s lead.

“Wow. Even Baek Johee…….”

Louie, standing beside him, glanced at the evaluation panel and muttered with a slightly surprised expression.

In addition to Team Leader Kim Seokcheol, the panel included the Team Leader of Planning Team 2, the vice president, and Baek Johee, a famous ballad singer who had been with Kingdom Entertainment for a long time.

Cameras were set up behind the evaluation panel, suggesting they were doing camera tests for a live audition.

The composition of the judges was unusual for an audition that was simply selecting trainees.

‘This is the kind of setup you only see when you’re picking members to debut…….’

Thinking this, Dojae became convinced that this was the audition to select the debut lineup for the next Big Boyz group, scheduled to come out next year.

“Then, please introduce yourselves.”

As Lee Jungyeon sat down, the full-fledged audition began with a question from the Team Leader of Planning Team 2.

“I’m Kim Louie, and I’m eighteen years old! I’m not mixed race; I’m completely Korean. My hobby is watching TV or MyTube [a fictional version of YouTube], and my specialty is dancing! I’m especially confident in street dance!”

“I’m Kang Dojae. I’m twenty years old, and I’m confident in singing. I can also play simple musical instruments.”

The two introduced themselves, adding a little more detail to what they had written in their email applications.

“Oh my. I thought you were from a foreign country just by looking at your name. I’m sorry.”

Baek Johee looked at Louie and said with a smile.

“No, it’s easy to think that way because of my appearance and name.”

“So Louie is a Korean name?”

“Yes!”

“I was going to call on you because I thought you were good at foreign languages…….”

The Kingdom Vice President, who had been listening to Baek Johee and Louie’s conversation, muttered regretfully.

Louie quickly tried to highlight his English skills.

“I went abroad, so I can speak a little English. Very little bit, but…….”

He can speak a little.

Dojae thought Louie was being uncharacteristically humble.

“Oh, really? Where did you go, and for how long?”

“Philippines for 3 months…….”

A strange silence fell in the practice room for a moment.

Baek Johee, who had asked with interest, broke the silence by smiling without feeling embarrassed.

The Team Leader of Planning Team 2 turned his head towards Dojae.

“Then, does Dojae have any foreign languages he can speak?”

Dojae was newly reminded that Korean idols were expected to have so many skills.

Dancing and singing.

That wasn’t all.

You had to have at least one special skill to show off, such as acting, foreign languages, or playing various musical instruments.

Large agencies even took the initiative to provide education.

Because of this, there was even talk among young parents of sending their children to agencies instead of academies [private tutoring schools in South Korea].

‘One of the points where Kang Dojae was frustrated was this.’

New also provided foreign language or musical instrument education on its own, but it was very basic.

Everyone learned on their own at home, so Kang Dojae couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

‘I couldn’t even afford to buy an instrument.’

However, unlike Kang Dojae, Dojae was someone who had received a high level of various educations as the prince of a country.

“I am fluent in English, and I can speak Chinese, Japanese, French, and Arasa… Russian for everyday conversation.”

Dojae realized his mistake and quickly corrected Arasa to Russian.

In the Korean Empire, Russia was called ‘Arasa’, but not here.

Fortunately, the people on the evaluation panel seemed to have not even heard the word Arasa because it was so unfamiliar.

Rather, everyone was surprised by Dojae’s unexpected foreign language skills.

Even Louie looked back at Dojae again.

“Oh. That’s amazing. Did Dojae also live abroad?”

“Not really, it just happened…….”

Dojae mumbled, unable to say that he had received one-on-one lessons as part of his prince’s education since he was young.

“I’ve never heard you speak Russian! How do you do it? Can you introduce yourself in Russian like you did earlier?”

Baek Johee asked one question after another, as if she was amazed.

“Меня зовут Кан Чжэ Чже [My name is Kang Dojae].”

Dojae, who said he could only speak everyday conversation, spoke Russian quite fluently.

In fact, no one knew Russian, so they didn’t even know if Dojae was saying the right thing, but everyone watched Dojae with admiration anyway.

The Kingdom Vice President, who had an inscrutable expression, also looked a little impressed.

“You said you can play musical instruments as a special skill; what can you play?”

The Team Leader of Planning Team 2 continued to ask.

“I’ve been learning piano since I was young, and I’ve been learning guitar for about half a year.”

He couldn’t learn guitar when he lived in Gyeongbok Palace [the main royal palace in Seoul], but he was able to learn it when he came to Cheongju Haenggung [a temporary palace].

He was quick to learn, but his skills weren’t good enough to show off.

In fact, he was better at playing the danso [a Korean bamboo flute] or haegeum [a Korean string instrument] than the guitar, but Dojae kept his mouth shut for now because it didn’t seem like an ordinary thing to mention.

“You must have put in a lot of effort in many ways.”

Baek Johee praised him, looking at Dojae’s printed email content with admiration.

As a prince, these things were too natural, so the praise felt all the more novel.

In the meantime, the vice president, who seemed to be thinking for a moment, opened his mouth in a stiff tone.

“That’s great. I think we’ve introduced ourselves enough…. I think I should talk about this audition.”

Dojae and Louie focused on the vice president’s words.

“I don’t know if you expected it, but what we’re looking for is not a trainee to be raised from the beginning. It’s a member of the group that will debut next year.”

Louie, who unconditionally followed Dojae, widened his eyes.

“There are no talented people among the internal trainees who are ready to debut yet, so we planned an audition to recruit members from outside.”

The Team Leader of Planning Team 2 added with a sigh.

Unlike large agencies where beginners who know nothing and talented people from all over the country and the world gather as trainees, trainees do not gather well in unnamed agencies.

This was even more true for talented and decent trainees.

Kingdom Entertainment was no different from an unnamed agency as an idol agency, so Kingdom Entertainment was having trouble securing trainees in many ways.

It was better than when Big Boyz was first formed, but it was not satisfactory.

Because of this, there were not enough trainees who could debut right away next year.

The remaining trainees were there, but they were not satisfied with them, so they had been holding auditions for half a year already.

It was a contrasting situation to New Entertainment, where trainees who could debut right away if they went to another agency were fiercely competing.

“We want experienced people, not new recruits, is that okay?”

“No problem! Then it’s us! There’s no problem at all! We’ll show you with our skills!”

Louie answered confidently to the vice president’s stiff question.

It was a great opportunity for the two of them, who had some skills and had been trainees.

“We’d be even better if we could debut next year.”

Following Louie, Dojae answered in a calm tone, and the vice president shook his head.

“The problem is that we’re looking for one member.”

One person. Dojae and Louie looked at each other at the unexpected development.

Louie’s face was extremely dark.

He had followed along to be with Dojae no matter what, but he was disappointed that only one person would be chosen in the end.

“The group we’re planning has six members. There are already five members, and we only need to fill one more. We don’t need any additional people. We won’t stop you if you want to remain as a trainee, but…….”

The vice president knew very well that there was no merit in becoming a trainee at Kingdom Entertainment for the sake of becoming a trainee in Kingdom Entertainment’s next debut group, which was unknown when it would be, for those who were trainees at New Entertainment.

The vice president continued, not assuming that one of the two would become a trainee.

“Both of you have good looks and seem to have abilities after talking to you today. The atmosphere is a bit different, but it seems like either of you would fit into the team. So I think we can pick one of you as a member of our group today.”

The vice president looked back at the others as if asking if they agreed.

Everyone was nodding.

From the moment they saw the song videos the two had sent, the staff were already excited, saying they had to get either of them.

Seeing them in person made their minds even more firm.

As if everyone’s opinions had been gathered, the Team Leader of Planning Team 2 said.

“We’ve already confirmed your singing skills through the videos you sent us.”

Louie’s singing was characterized by a clean and clear soprano voice, as if his voice had not yet changed.

It seemed that he had not been a trainee at New for a long time, so he was not at a very high level, but he had the basics, so it seemed like he only needed to practice a little more.

Dojae’s singing was impeccable.

There was already a main vocalist, but if Dojae was selected as a member, they might have to change the main vocalist position, as he was so excellent.

Timbre, vocalization, and breathing. He had all three, and his eye contact with the camera was perfect.

It was as if he had been on stage several times.

However, there was already a main vocalist as excellent as Dojae, and the member position that Kingdom wanted to newly select was different.

“We need members with overall abilities that are above average, rather than members who are only excellent in one thing. So we’re going to evaluate dancing at today’s audition.”

Unlike Louie, who sighed in relief at the mention of dancing, Dojae’s expression hardened imperceptibly.

Something he had never done in front of others.

If he had to pick one thing he was bad at, it would definitely be dancing.

***