The production assistant herded us toward Recording Studio C.
Seventeen of us filed inside—Doyun, Yuhyun, Jinwook, and a mix of trainees I recognized from various teams.
The space felt cramped, with microphone booths visible through soundproof glass.
"Rules are simple." The assistant held up a ceramic jack-o'-lantern bowl filled with folded papers.
"Draw your prompt. Inside, you'll find a Halloween-themed lyric starter and your assigned backing track. Five minutes to write. Ninety seconds to perform. Sound engineers evaluate pitch, tone, emotional delivery, and how well you executed the theme."
She set the bowl on a metal folding table.
"The top five trainees get Category One. Middle six get Category Two. Bottom five..." She paused. "Category Three."
My stomach tightened.
Five minutes wasn't much time to craft something coherent, let alone compelling.
The door banged open.
