The unexpected first evaluation. The task was to perform the dance for the first theme song, ‘Produce’. The participants in Team 1 were filled with confusion.

'W-what, so suddenly??!'

‘Not even a heads-up! This is way too abrupt!!’

They had only seen the ‘Produce’ dance a few days ago and, at most, had practiced it individually for about two days. Regardless of how much time they had spent on practice, the participants’ mental states were shaken in an instant.

They didn’t show it outwardly, but inside, it was chaos.

Perhaps it was because they had just seen people from the ‘dance team’ eliminated and sent home. The eyes of the Team 1 participants were riddled with anxiety, worry, nervousness, fear, and more. At this point, the choreographer Lee Han-na was looking directly at No. 1.

“......”

Her brows faintly furrowed.

‘No reaction, why. Is it an act, or is he serious.'

Unlike the others who were restless, No. 1 was calm to the extreme. Lee Han-na found herself slightly annoyed without realizing it. She had hoped to see No. 1 flustered, but that calm yet overwhelmingly handsome face didn’t show a single crack.

In fact, Lee Han-na had been slightly bruised by Kang Rojun a few days earlier.

It was because Rojun had simply evaluated the 'Produce' choreography Han-na had created.

‘It doesn’t look difficult.’

At the time, with many cameras around and her veteran status, she had brushed it off with a smile, but as a human being, she had been mildly irritated by Kang Rojun’s villainous tone. At any rate, Lee Han-na had been keeping a close eye on Rojun. He was the only participant who had passed the training, and had showcased a jaw-dropping ‘brake’ dance during the second evaluation.

Moreover.

'He's truly a villain off stage.'

Even Kang Rojun’s quirky demeanor. With a face like that of a god, he stood out even more. After shifting her gaze away from Rojun, Lee Han-na scanned the other participants. The remaining twelve all looked completely devastated. Seeing that, Lee Han-na regained her smile.

“Don’t feel too pressured about the first evaluation. Just as the name says, it’s a light evaluation. I asked the PD not to give advance notice. That way, we can see your real skills.”

Sharing a glance with PD Woo Han-suk behind her, Lee Han-na continued her explanation.

“For Team 1, each person will come up on stage and perform the ‘Produce’ dance with those two dancers. That’s the first evaluation. Just do what you can, perfection isn’t required. We know you’ve only had about two days to practice individually, so don’t worry.”

Thanks to her briefing, the pressure seemed to ease slightly from the eyes of the Team 1 participants, and Lee Han-na wrapped it up.

“We’re not doing the group dance version of ‘Produce’ that I showed in the practice room. It’ll just be the solo ‘Produce’ dance. You don’t have to worry about group formations.”

As Lee Han-na sat down in the designated single chair, PD Woo Han-suk standing behind shouted out.

“Team 1, please move to the prepared waiting room for now!”

A short while later.

Team 1 entered the waiting room prepared in the hall where the stage was. Cameras were installed all around the waiting room with sofas, and the staff seated the participants on the sofa using No. 1, Kang Rojun, as the anchor point.

A familiar large monitor could be seen directly ahead.

It felt similar to the setup from the first and second evaluations.

This time, the staff who handled the seating collected the participants’ cell phones. It was to prevent them from watching practice videos while waiting. About five minutes later, as soon as the staff left the waiting room, the Team 1 participants immediately began to speak.

“Ah- seriously, isn’t a sudden evaluation a bit too much??”

“My point exactly. It’s like showing up to school and suddenly being given a test.”

“Did you practice a lot?”

“I did a bit yesterday, but only picked up the moves from the first verse, not the second at all......”

“Wow, that’s a lot! I couldn’t even get halfway through the first verse.”

“Honestly... I didn’t touch it at all because I thought there’d be a dedicated training for ‘Produce’.”

Complaints that may or may not have been sincere broke out here and there.

“But why are they suddenly doing the first evaluation?”

“Right, I thought there was only one evaluation. The one during group dance practice.”

“What should we do?? It’s even scarier now that there’s filming.”

Amidst the noisy waiting room, No. 15, sitting on the sofa to the right of Kang Rojun, was rather quiet. He was observing the atmosphere.

‘Is everyone in a similar situation as me? Or maybe they practiced like crazy and are just pretending they didn’t.’

Though he had yellow hair and strong facial features and was fairly composed in his own way, he was still worried. Would this evaluation negatively affect their future survival? The fact that it was being filmed meant it could directly impact the vote counts. Then he.

-Slide.

Glanced sideways at Kang Rojun, who had his legs crossed. No. 1, showing no reaction, was simply staring at the large monitor in front.

No. 15 was curious about what Rojun was thinking.

‘He’s always so calm no matter what happens. Even now. Is it because he practiced a lot?? No, I didn’t see much of No. 1 in the practice room. Even if he did practice, what could he possibly have done with less than three days?’

So No. 15 decided to just ask.

“No. 1-nim, did you practice a lot? You seem really relaxed.”

At this moment, a few nearby participants also turned their eyes toward Kang Rojun. Looking at No. 15 without much interest, Rojun’s reply was simple.

“I don’t know.”

“Sorry?”

‘I don’t know?’ What kind of answer is that. No. 15 blinked and turned his gaze away.

‘Yeah, this isn’t like when it was ‘brake’. ‘Brake’ was a hit song and had practice videos available. There were tons of tips and dancing information on the internet. Maybe he even knew the ‘brake’ dance before coming to ‘Produce That 100!’.'

Then he came to a conclusion.

‘But ‘Produce’ is the first theme song and the choreography was only just created a few days ago. The movements and formations are unfamiliar to everyone. Even I took half a day just to identify the key points. No matter how great No. 1 is, it’s got to be difficult.’

He may be a monster, but No. 1 is still human. He must be struggling to learn the dance too. That villain act he put on for Lee Han-na was just maintaining a concept or showing off. Compared to ‘brake’, the practice time for this was virtually non-existent.

In the end, No. 15 and the other participants found comfort in watching Kang Rojun.

It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay to mess up.

Everyone would be the same.

At that moment.

-Slide.

The staff member who had left the waiting room re-entered with a request.

“We’ll begin the evaluation starting from the last number!”

This time, Kang Rojun wasn’t going to be the first up.