Falling for the Omega Idol-Chapter 149: VOCAL EVALUATION (II)

TAEYANG nodded as a response to K-Beat’s question. "Yes."

"It’s a good verse. It matched the overall tone of the song." Although K-Beat didn’t have any particular expression on his face when he said that, anyone could see that he was quite impressed.

Yoon Jihoon beamed, unable to contain his enthusiasm. "And it’s not just the rap! This whole arrangement is excellent. Who worked on the new version?"

Taeyang answered without much thought. "It was all of us."

This earned him looks from the rest of the group.

"He’s being too humble," Robin cut in with a playful tone. "Taeyang did the backbone of the arrangement. We only suggested small changes here and there."

"Robin hyung’s right," Haneul added.

He was grateful Robin had spoken up. He knew Taeyang meant no harm—the guy probably genuinely believed it was a group effort. But if they’d all stayed quiet and let that answer stand, it would’ve looked terrible on camera once the show aired. People might think they were taking advantage of Taeyang. Maybe it seemed excessive to worry about things like this. But survival shows magnified every little thing—viewers would dissect their words in ways they never intended.

"Really, we hardly did anything," Joonhyuk said, in which Seongwoo followed with a vigorous nod.

Yoon Jihoon chuckled warmly. "I see. That’s wonderful. Taeyang-ssi, you’re not just skilled at writing rap verses—you’ve got a real talent for arranging music too. Looks like we have a budding composer in our midst."

’You have no idea.’ - Haneul thought to himself.

With the evaluations finished, Yoon Jihoon offered a final nod of encouragement before both mentors exited the practice room. The door closed softly behind them, marking the end of the session and leaving the two teams to process the feedback on their own.

Taeyang’s team couldn’t hide their satisfaction. After days of nonstop practice, the praise felt earned. Baek Eunwoo’s team, meanwhile, stood quietly. While they hadn’t been criticized harshly, their feedback seemed dull compared to the glowing remarks the other team received.

Haneul looked over at Baek Eunwoo’s team. Most of them stood with slumped shoulders, their earlier energy gone. But Baek Eunwoo seemed to take it in stride. He gave his teammates a comforting smile.

"We did good," he said to his teammates. "They just did better today—that’s all. We’ll take the feedback and come back stronger."

Something about his steady tone and that reassuring smile worked. Haneul could see the tension leaving his teammates’ bodies almost immediately - backs straightening slightly, faces clearing. It wasn’t instant cheerfulness, but the worst of the disappointment seemed to have faded.

Haneul raised his brow. That was actually well done. Baek Eunwoo had that rare quality of a good leader—he didn’t sugarcoat things or force empty positivity, but his calm acknowledgment of both their efforts and the reality of the situation somehow made the criticism easier to swallow. He didn’t hype them up; he just gave them solid ground to stand on. And that, sometimes, was often what people needed most.

"Is this what it feels like to get carried?" Joonhyuk said, snapping Haneul’s attention back to their group. The older boy was grinning. "It’s nice having two genius maknaes on our team."

Haneul knew exactly who Joonhyuk meant—him and Taeyang. During their days of practice, their ages had naturally come up in conversation. In the end, they discovered both he and Taeyang were the youngest members at 18 years old. So even though Haneul was much older inside, he’d taken to calling everyone else on the team "hyung"—everyone except Taeyang, that is.

"I would hardly call myself a genius," Haneul said with a dismissive wave and a small laugh. "Taeyang fits that description way more than I do."

"Why not? Your voice is certainly out of the ordinary," Taeyang said, matter-of-factly. "Like an angel singing."

Haneul turned to face Taeyang, their eyes meeting. Though Taeyang’s expression remained neutral, the intensity of his gaze made the rest of the room seem to fade away. There was something quietly profound in the way he looked at Haneul—as if, in that moment, nothing else held his attention. Haneul’s breath caught, his pulse quickening as warmth spread across his cheeks. The longer Taeyang held his stare, the more Haneul became aware of the quiet, insistent flutter in his chest.

And he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that. Not one bit.

That moment, which felt like eternity, was broken when Robin cleared his throat. Taeyang glanced away as if nothing had happened, while Haneul did his best to act normal. Even though he could feel the stare of their other teammates.

"Hey, I refuse to acknowledge that I was just ’carried’," Robin said with a playful huff. "Everyone contributed properly—that’s why the song turned out well."

"I-I think so too!" Seongwoo chimed in, his voice firmer than usual.

Joonhyuk raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. It’s a team effort."

Haneul let out a quiet sigh of relief as the mood settled back to normal. Thank goodness for Robin—he always knew how to fill those awkward silences before they could extend to even more awkwardness.

"Should we move to another room and practice?" Taeyang suggested after a moment.

The team members looked at Taeyang with expressions that clearly said "typical leader," but nobody argued. Everyone still agreed without complaint.

But just before they were about to leave, Baek Eunwoo stopped them. "Wait—Taeyang. You and your team should stay here. We’ll go to another practice room instead."

Taeyang turned to the other. "Are you sure?"

Baek Eunwoo shrugged. "Yeah. We prefer the practice room we usually use, anyway." His smile then shifted to the group, lingering noticeably on Haneul. "I agree with Taeyang—you do sound incredible. Though I’d say your voice is less like an angel’s and more like an enchantress’."

Haneul blinked, not sure how to respond. From where he was standing, he could see Taeyang frowning at Baek Eunwoo. But he still managed to say, "Ahm, thank you, I guess?"

Baek Eunwoo chuckled and walked out of the practice room with his teammates.

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