Part 3
Since then, this trainee had never fallen from the A-1 position. He had firmly occupied the spot of the strongest for six full months, never dropping even a single rank.
Now, among the more than two hundred trainees in the GNK system, this legendary, terrifyingly skilled rookie king was known as the “Eternal A-1”.
Originally, A-1 was just a ranking anyone could aim for, but now it had become his exclusive title: whenever active trainees mentioned him in private, they would simply and crudely call him “A1”.
GNK had launched a new boy group only three months ago. Although it hadn’t made much of a splash, at the time, everyone thought “A1” would definitely take one of the debut spots. Unexpectedly, the company held him back and instead let A2 and A3, who were inferior to him, debut first.
Trainees who hadn’t interacted with “A1” thought it was rigged, but the A-class trainees who trained with him daily completely understood the company’s decisionā
It wasn’t because of his looks. As soon as this A1 entered the company, he caused a brief sensation with his heavenly appearance, evaluated as a “Godly Visual” worthy of being Skye’s sixth member.
A1 had the looks and the skills. The reason the company held him back was that his eyes were empty in front of the camera, and his face was paralyzed. His vocals and dance were top-tier, flawless standards, yet no matter how the teachers taught him, he had absolutely no expression management and no stage charisma. He was like an exquisite mannequin.
He didn’t follow rules and understood nothing of social conduct. When others spoke to him, he often gave no reaction, remaining as silent as a mute.
No matter how strong the skills or how high the visual, how could the company debut him if he was like a soul-less wooden block?
At this moment, in Class A.
A trainee by the window, wearing a tracksuit printed with “A16”, glanced downstairs, then widened his eyes and craned his neck to look. A few seconds later, he excitedly waved his arms, signaling everyone to stop practicing. “Holy crap, holy crap! Skye is back at the company!!”
It wasn’t strange that they were so excited. Nine out of ten trainees came to GNK because of their admiration for Skye or their longing for Skye’s halo. But Skye’s schedule was too busy; the last time they were back at the company was eight months ago.
Many trainees who joined GNK for Skye hadn’t even seen their seniors once. Finally waiting until Skye returned to the company, they were naturally extremely agitated.
In an instant, even Class A stopped practicing immediately. They didn’t even remember to turn off the music before sprinting out the door.
They had waited too long for this meeting. Even knowing that Skye would be preparing for a comeback and entering training campāmeaning they would see them at the company every day for the next monthāno one could resist the urge to swarm downstairs excitedly at the first opportunity.
The A16 trainee who ran out suddenly paused and looked back, only to see A1 still remaining in the practice room, quietly turning his head to look out the window.
A1 never opened his mouth to share his personal affairs, but everyone could tell he was mixed-race. After all, no native-born local would have eyes that faintly showed an inconspicuous golden-brown under the sunlight.
He grabbed A15 and pointed hesitantly. “Hey, shouldn’t we call A1 to come with us?”
A15 was in a rush, waving his hand with rapid-fire speech. “Aiya, why bother with him? It’s not like he didn’t hear that Skye is back. I don’t think he has any interest in the seniors. Let’s go, if we miss the front row we won’t get to talk to Senior Berlin…”
He was just about to turn and keep running when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw A1 suddenly turn around and stride toward him.
“Who did you say?”
The trainees trained together every day. Even with the competitive relationship, their familiarity wasn’t bad from being together day and night. But A1 never communicated with them, always acting alone. This was actually the first time A15 had heard A1 speak to him voluntarily.
He couldn’t help but stand there dumbfounded for half a second before repeating, “Uh, Skye? Senior Berlin?”
Immediately after, he saw what felt like an illusion: the beautiful golden-brown eyes of the person in front of him seemed to light up for an instant. Like a robot that didn’t move without a command, he came alive in a split second.
A15 watched, dumbfounded, as A1 hurriedly strode past him, even breaking into a run.
He was tall with long legs, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Left behind, A15 suddenly felt the annoyance of being played. “…What the fuck? What does he mean?”
He dragged A16 along, sprinting to catch up, grinding his teeth fiercely. “A1… Wait, what’s that bastard’s name again?”
Always using the rank number as a substitute, A16 also had to think for a moment before remembering. “Uh, Cecil.”
“Right, right.” A15 laughed in anger. “That bastard Cecil actually dared to play me. I saw he was clearly more eager than anyone!”
The grand seniors had returned, and the trainees of the entire GNK poured out, running to the first floor to welcome and spectate. To some extent, for these industry tops they looked up to every day, suddenly being able to see their idols was no different from a “pilgrimage.”
Because Skye basically represented the pinnacle of domestic entertainment today, standing right where they dreamed of reaching.
Heads bobbed; one group took the elevator, another took the stairs.
So, when the elevator doors opened, Berlin and his teammates, who were waiting for the elevator, saw a massive crowd of young brothers pouring out.
That wasn’t entirely accurate; they ranged in age from fifteen or sixteen to their twenties, all wearing similarly styled tracksuits with different practice room numbers written on them.
Berlin was stunned by the scene but reacted quickly, smiling and greeting the trainees. “Hello, hello, hi everyone!”
Compared to the other members, whose attitudes weren’t exactly enthusiasticācool, distant, and detachedānearly two-thirds of the trainees surrounded the approachable, smiling Berlin.
“Ahhh! Senior Berlin, you look even better in person than on camera!!”
“Senior, can I get an autograph and a photo? I finally met you; I chose to enter the entertainment industry just for you.”
“Senior, can you give me some pointers on my dancing? I’ve watched your ‘sup fancams so many times, I really learn a lot from every viewing.”
Berlin had a very good temper and answered them patiently one by one. He glanced at the time. “Don’t rush, everyone. We’ll be at the company for a long time and will come to the practice rooms every day. If there are…”
The scene was noisy and lively, voices clamoring. Amidst the chorus of “Senior this” and “Senior that,” a very clear voice suddenly cut through.
“Little Lin.”
Because of the sheer surprise, the scene suddenly fell into a weird silence.
All the trainees looked at each other, wondering who had the guts to be so bold, craning their necks and looking around to find the source.
Even if many of them screamed “Little Lin” or “Berlin” in their hearts, out of politeness or stage fright, they wouldn’t dare address him directly as “Little Lin.” After all, calling him that familiarly out of nowhere, no matter how good Berlin’s temper was, seemed inappropriate.
He was, after all, a grand senior they could currently only look up to, the undisputed top-tier idol.
Aside from belonging to the same company, they had no further connection.
The trainees knew very well that Berlin had no obligation to respond to them one by one, so they kept their attitude within a measured boundary.
Those standing closer heard it clearly, and gradually, everyone looked in one direction, locking onto the source.
Quite a few trainees were shocked.
“…A1?”
“He would actually take the initiative to call out so intimately… Was he ignoring us usually because he disdained speaking to us?”
“I thought he was still upstairs practicing, damn.”
Berlin also followed everyone’s gaze.
He didn’t look over because the person called his name, but because the voice sounded inexplicably familiar.
When he saw clearly the trainee standing a head taller in the crowd, he couldn’t help but freeze.
Berlin stood there in a daze, at a loss, and hesitantly spoke, syllable by syllable: “Cecil…?”
A person who looked exactly like Cecil stood in the crowd, only he seemed younger, looking like a teenager of eighteen or nineteen.
Compared to the dream, there were many subtle differences: his black hair was cut short, the daily style making his face look fresher and more heroic. The color of his pupils had suppressed their sharpness, fading from gold to a relatively low-key golden-brown, no longer so piercing. Yet his features still looked like a 3D model come to life, his stature tall, his expression looking somewhat unfamiliar.
Most importantly… among the crowd of flashing golden favorability scores, the top of this person’s head resembling the teenage Cecil was completely empty.
No numbers, no favorability, nothing at all.
Berlin subconsciously looked down. The ring was still safely hanging around his neck, not on his hand. It wasn’t a dream.
His voice was very low, spoken unconsciously. Because there were too many people and it was relatively noisy, most trainees didn’t hear it. Those who vaguely heard it suspected they had heard wrong, as they all believed Cecil and Berlin had absolutely no connection.
Only his teammates, who originally didn’t care much and just wanted to leave the crowd’s encirclement to go to the conference room, had a slight change in expression.
Hua Yan furrowed his brows, Han Yuzhe turned his head slowly to stare, Wu Hengyao was confused, and Jiang Shuiran seemed thoughtful.
In Han Yuzhe’s pitch-black eyes, a trace of confusion appeared.
This person was strange.
In Han Yuzhe’s vision, what he saw was different from everyone else.
Everyone’s soul had its own color and shape.
Only this personāhis soul was incomplete. Only half of it remained; he was half an empty shell.
Han Yuzhe’s gaze swept over the boy’s slightly hollow pupils, then he withdrew his gaze, uninterested.
Interesting, but he didn’t care much.
A shell lacking a soul was nothing more than a walking machine, a piece of wood without joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness.
The type a demon despised the most.
Berlin stared blankly at “Cecil,” not understanding why he would appear in reality. At the same time, he noticed that “Cecil” didn’t seem to know why he had called Berlin’s name either, standing there frozen with a blank expression.
Realizing there was something different about him compared to the person in the dream, Berlin’s gaze fell on his tracksuit.
He feigned a casual smile and asked calmly, “Ah, so is that the current A-1?”
The trainee next to him was a bit envious that Cecil had caught Berlin’s attention, but knowing Cecil’s strength was indeed formidable, he knew he couldn’t be jealous.
Soon, the trainees responded, talking over one another: “Yeah, yeah, he’s the strongest A-1 right now, named Cecil.”
Berlin was slightly dazed, then nodded. “Is that so?”
Amidst the envious gazes of the trainees, Berlin knew this wasn’t a good time to talk to “Cecil.” So, suppressing his confusion, he simply bid farewell to the trainees, bypassed him, and went to the conference room with his teammates first.
During the meeting, Berlin was rarely so distracted. He didn’t understand why the person he thought would only appear in dreams was encountered in reality today.
And had become the trainee most likely to debut in their company.
Berlin, who had just confidently revealed his secrets to the guy yesterday: …How did this happen TT.
The meeting process itself was very dull. As a member, Berlin mostly just had to listen, not speak.
The content wasn’t much different from previous work arrangements. Berlin grasped most of it and knew what to expect.
After the meeting ended, Berlin found a random excuse and slipped away quickly.
Left in the conference room, his teammates were inexplicably concerned about that strange trainee.
Hua Yan frowned. “Did Berlin know his name beforehand? What is he, A-1? That means the best among the trainees? Does Berlin care about that?”
Wu Hengyao was very arrogant. “Best among trainees isn’t necessarily better than just anyone.”
Jiang Shuiran lowered his eyes and asked a seemingly casual question. “Is this A-1 human?”
“Of course,” Wu Hengyao spun his chair, not understanding why the usually calm Jiang Shuiran was so serious. “I didn’t sense any Source Power from him.”
Han Yuzhe had been lying lazily on the table since the meeting ended, not participating in the topic.
He wasn’t interested in things with incomplete souls. Whether human or not.
Leaving the conference room, Berlin took the elevator straight to the sixth floor.
The dance practice rooms were arranged in order from A to F. Skye’s practice room was separately located on the seventh floor, not on this level.
Class A was at the end of the corridor.
Berlin paused when passing the vending machine in the hallway, stopping to buy two cans of Americano.
Holding two cans of coffee between his fingers, he walked toward the end of the corridor. Passing each practice room, he could faintly hear the rhythmic music coming from inside.
The soundproofing was decent. Every practice room door was closed, and no one noticed Berlin passing behind them one by one.
The most important point was that no one thought Skye’s Berlin would take the initiative to come to the sixth floor where the trainees were, so no one looked out the door.
Class A was, of course, focusing on practice at this moment.
A transparent pane of glass was embedded in the door. Berlin leaned against the doorframe, quietly watching the people inside the practice room through the glass for a while.
Step forward, turn, popping precisely on the beat.
Berlin lowered his eyes.
In “Cecil’s” dance moves, he sensed a familiar shadow.
…The shadow of Berlin himself.
A song happened to end. “Cecil” turned around to walk toward the door, where the sound system was placed.
As he turned, his gaze met Berlin’s.
A few seconds later, the practice room door opened.
“Hey A1, why are you opening the doorā”
The sweating trainees opened their eyes wide in surprise when they saw Berlin, falling silent in unison.
Having been caught, Berlin relaxed against the doorframe, shook the canned Americano in his hand, smiled, and looked up at Cecil.
“Buy you a cup of coffee?”
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