Snow-Kissed Rose (GL) Chapter 74

TL Notes:
I'll stop using "quotations" for team names moving forward.

After lunch, teams returned to their respective practice rooms to digest and communicate.

Although the situation between Song Yingshi and Huai Xu had been sweet and harmonious throughout the past hour, they promptly entered work mode the moment they stepped into their practice room.

Since each team's center was decided through audience votes, every team defaulted to having their center double as their team leader. However, Team Falling Asleep was more special, having two centers instead of one. Hence, they needed to decide on a team leader.

Originally, the other members of Team Falling Asleep expected a humble exchange of the position between Snow-Kissed Rose. Instead, the two settled it with a game of rock-paper-scissors.

The winner was Huai Xu.

Song Yingshi led everyone to applaud formally.

While applauding, Song Yingshi scanned her teammates for the third public performance. All eight teams this time had five members each. In addition to herself and Huai Xu, the remaining three members of Team Falling Asleep were Kou Lengyu, Chen Wan, and Li Taoran.

Kou Lengyu needed no introduction.

Chen Wan was primarily a vocalist, but she was decent in every aspect required of an idol. Her ranking hovered around 10th place, never moving far from it. She had a clear voice, which made her a good fit for singing Falling Asleep.

Li Taoran was a rapper. She was put in Class B after the Initial Rating Performance. Although she soared to 3rd place and joined Class A after the first public performance, she plummeted to Class C after the second public performance, making her a volatile-type idol. Fans had likely noticed that she had dropped the ball in the second public performance and was at great risk of facing elimination in the third public performance. Hence, they concentrated all their votes and helped her get into Team Falling Asleep. According to staff, her fans didn't hold high expectations for her; they only hoped she could latch herself onto her capable teammates and survive the third public performance.

In short, rankings aside, every member who could get into Team Falling Asleep was very popular among the audience. Furthermore…

Song Yingshi noticed a similarity among her three teammates—

All three of them were beautiful.

Kou Lengyu could keep her fans supporting her, even after her failed attempt to debut in last year's Star of Spring, so it went without saying her appearance was top-tier.

Chen Wan had the face of a classical beauty. Although her soft appearance didn't stand out, it could withstand scrutiny. Moreover, the more one looked at her face, the more beautiful it became.

Li Taoran had thick eyebrows and the face of a queen. Her only flaw was her penchant for making silly faces, which earned her the nickname "Embarrassing Queen."

…Wouldn't this make us the Perfect Face Team? Song Yingshi thought when she considered how all five members of their team had top-tier appearances.

…

Song Yingshi wasn't the only one who noticed her team's specialty. Information on the eliminated trainees leaked onto the internet, so netizens quickly compiled a list of teams based on it. Of course, even without this leaked information, netizens could still easily deduce the member composition of Team Falling Asleep, as every one of the team's top five candidates was highly popular and had zero chances of getting eliminated.

In any case, when the marketing accounts posted the photos of Huai Xu, Song Yingshi, Kou Lengyu, Chen Wan, and Li Taoran, the comments they made were as followed:

"Prediction for Team Falling Asleep's Composition #PerfectFaces #PerfectFaceTeam!"

"This team might as well debut on the spot!"

"Snow-Kissed Rose is too pleasing to the eye! Their teammates are not bad either #blush."

…

Team Falling Asleep's strengths were obvious to everyone, and it sparked a lot of discussion among the other teams:

"I already know which team will be number one in the third public performance."

"Strength+popularity. I'm not even going to think about beating them."

However, when the trainees came off practice in the evening and bumped into Kou Lengyu talking to Wan Jiao in the corridor, they heard her wryly smiling as she said, "My team is… Have you guys started training? My team's progress is a little slow. We only got done with introductions so far since our dance is still being choreographed."

Wan Jiao, who was originally teasing Kou Lengyu about joining the "predetermined" number one team, was shocked by Kou Lengyu's words, exclaiming, "How is that… Ah! Is it because of the double-center?"

Kou Lengyu nodded and said, "Yes. The instructors originally choreographed the dance for only one center, so changes are needed now that we have two centers."

"Even so, it shouldn't have taken them this long, right?" Wan Jiao asked, tilting her head.

Kou Lengyu shrugged and pulled out a jelly pack provided by one of the show's sponsors. While sucking on the jelly pack, she mumbled, "Our precious Little Shi isn't satisfied with the result, so she's going to modify it herself."

…

The practice room version of Falling Asleep was only intended for one center. Because of this, the dance instructors visited the team in the afternoon to inform them which parts of the dance they had decided to change.

Song Yingshi carefully listened to the instructors' explanations and watched their demonstration. She even wrote down and drew their movements on paper.

Initially, Song Yingshi didn't comment on the changes, only keeping her thoughts to herself. When the instructors called for a break, she called Huai Xu outside for a private discussion.

After glancing at the VJ nearby, Song Yingshi turned to Huai Xu and said, "Team Leader, I want to hear your opinion on the dance."

Huai Xu was Team Falling Asleep's official leader. She was also Falling Asleep's composer, so she understood the song the most. Hence, Song Yingshi decided to privately communicate her thoughts with Huai Xu before voicing them to the others.

"I think the choreography is a bit messy," Huai Xu answered frankly. After a short pause, she continued in a solemn tone, "It hasn't been long since 'Falling Asleep' was released. The instructors even had to make last-minute changes because of our team's uniqueness; they've already done their best. The dance just lacks further polishing."

Song Yingshi was momentarily distracted from her solemn thoughts when she heard Huai Xu's words.

Was Huai Xu being considerate of the instructors? Although Huai Xu never openly showed it, Song Yingshi realized that her gentleness would always appear in subtle places, like the light reflecting off of a prism, small yet dazzling.

Song Yingshi quickly reigned in her thoughts, nodding as she concluded, "Too little time was given to choreographing, so the final product lacked polish. The unexpected double-center situation further disrupted the instructors' rhythm."

"It's usable, but if we have better options…" Huai Xu said.

Song Yingshi and Huai Xu exchanged looks and said in unison, "Re-choreograph."

After hitting it off, the two smiled at each other.

It was a brief, subtle smile that only showed in their eyes, so not even the VJ standing nearby caught it. Before the VJ could react, Song Yingshi and Huai Xu were already walking back to the practice room side by side.