Martin Edwards Park

When HYBE decided to hold a competition to recruit new trainees, Martin didn’t really bother. He thought that he wasn’t really going to be a part of it. However, once Bang PD-nim came up and announced that CORTIS would be the judges, he was suddenly interested. This meant he would be on TV again. As a judge. That was pretty hard-core and super mature. Not that he’d know what being mature was. He was after all the guy who added too much MSG to pork belly jjajangmyeon. Being the leader of CORTIS for a year, shooting MV’s, going around the world for concerts and producing songs that became Internet’s trendsetters was not easy. However, Martin kept that positive energy. And now, he was part of one of the world’s biggest K-pop groups, being judges for new people to achieve their own dreams. The audience cheered as the lights switched on. CORTIS was seated on five swivel chairs at front with a desk and a bright, big red button. Tempting to push. But only done if they found someone truly impressive.

"Hello, Seoul! What a crazy crowd it is!" came James’s loud, energetic voice, causing people to laugh. "Let’s see if the candidates have the same enthusiasm."

Keonho, ever the teasing maknae, grinned. "Yeah! Since this is the first time CORTIS is making an appearance as judges, we need to be formal."

"Yeah, good luck with that, Keonho," came the silent, smooth and sarcastic lilt of a smirking Juhoon. "You’re last cooking show ended up in a disaster."

"Hey, don’t you mean me, Hyung? I’m the one who accidentally set fire to the tomatoes in the kimchi!" came Seonghyeon’s quiet but thoroughly amused voice. A chorus of laughter erupted from the audience.

"Okay, okay, guys, time to focus," came Martin’s deep, youthful but resonant voice as the lights dimmed. There were a lot of candidates. Some came in with piano, some with violin, others with microphones, and some with nothing at all to just dance. However, none of the boys were feeling it. It may have been the 15th, heck, the 16th candidate who caught their attention and made the audience go quiet. James’s grin faltered, Keonho went quiet for once, Juhoon looked impressed and Seonghyeon leaned his chin in his palm.

Somehow, Martin got it worst of all. He felt his knees go weak, his cheeks heating up quickly, his eyes dilating onto her presence and vibe. To him, it felt..different. Like a melody he couldn’t get out of his head or a beat he discovered and loved. His lips parted slightly and his grip on the table loosened like he was floating. There was something about her hair, her clothing style, her posture and especially her eyes, the intensity in them that made him feel like swimming in a warm, gooey lake of chocolate. She felt like an undiscovered song blossoming in his 24/7 creating mind.

Tentatively, Seonghyeon broke the tension first. "Hello, what is your name?"

created by a0mj_28 2026© on janitorai.com