TDOCD Chapter 85

Chapter 85 

...And with Lee Sia cutting off So-hae's words, the judges' evaluation came to an end.

"Yes! Thank you, Team Red Sun for your hard work. Please return to your seats!"

With all team performances concluded, we now had to wait for the judges to finish their evaluations. Moments later, the Red Sun team returned to the set and headed for their seats. Perhaps due to their cute performance and the earlier VCR, it looked like little chicks following Han Damin in a row.

As all the trainees took their seats, MC Choi Gyujin spoke.

"Thank you everyone for your hard work during this competition. The judges are currently evaluating your performances, so we'll take a short break before announcing the results."

A brief rest period was given to the trainees. As soon as the break began, they instinctively huddled with their group members, like a going back home instinct.

"Unnie! We really felt your absence! We looked for you every morning!"

"You missed me? Isn't it just because I usually make you breakfast?"

"Well, I can't deny that~"

"But you all were amazing. When did you grow up so much~? I'm overwhelmed with emotion."

"What does 'overwhelmed with emotion' mean?"

"Ah, looks like we still need to work on your vocabulary."

The debuted trainees were either catching up on the week they'd missed or celebrating their reunion.

Like them, we naturally gathered around Han Da-min.

"Did everyone do well?"

At Da-min's question, Choi Song-yi wordlessly fell into her embrace.

Right, she probably didn't do so well. Even from the VCR, it was clear she had a tough time.

Song-yi might have actually run away if it weren't for Min Ha-young.

"Our members are really the best. I missed this vulnerability."

Ha-young dramatically pretended to cry while hugging everyone at once.

"Vulnerability...?"

I couldn't help but laugh at Ha-young's choice of words.

I understood what she meant though.

While we Flora members aren't lacking in determination, our drive feels different from that of the debuted trainees.

If Flora is a group of desperate individuals who came together from various places, supporting each other in our pursuit of debut...

The debuted trainees are survivors who fought fiercely every minute and second among hundreds of trainees over several years.

After spending a week with them, one would naturally realize - ah, Flora members are actually quite gentle and kind.

Even if we try to get filmed as much as possible whether through eating, playing, or doing anything else in front of cameras we are not as ambitious as other teams, we even sleep in the practice room when cameras are around.

While I'm used to seeing this, Ha-young, experiencing trainee life firsthand for the first time, seems quite drained.

-

But after a while, you find yourself doing the same things.

What seems excessive during trainee days actually accumulates into skill after debut.

I guess that's what they call an idol's "it" factor.

And...

I quietly turned my gaze to Han Da-min.

She flinched and gave me a sour look.

"What? I know what you're going to say, but please don't. It's embarrassing..."

"With you and me, under the night sky!"

I didn't say anything.

Before I could speak, Ha-young was already singing the opening of "Starlight Whisper" with sparkling eyes.

"Hey, stop it!"

Da-min's earlobes turned bright red.

Though she waved her hands in protest, Ha-young was already performing the choreography right in front of her.

Mischief overflowed from Ha-young's eyes.

She precisely mimicked Da-min's movements and expressions, thoroughly teasing her.

"...pfft."

Sorry, Da-min. I'll laugh a little.

No matter how well Da-min performed, this cute fairy-like concept really didn't suit her.

Especially since Da-min herself was clearly embarrassed about it.

Naturally, it was the perfect situation for teasing.

The playful Ha-young wouldn't miss such an opportunity.

"Ahhh! Did I really look like that? Really? It wasn't that bad, was it?"

Da-min grabbed me in panic and asked.

I just answered with a silent laugh.

Honestly, Ha-young was exaggerating, but it was similar.

"No, don't tease Da-min unnie... She was really cool."

Ra-eun timidly spoke up from behind, but her words didn't reach the two of them.

"Come here!"

Finally, Da-min had to grab Ha-young in a tight hug to stop her from moving before she stopped giggling.

"But you know what? We must have really grown close."

Da-min said as she released Ha-young.

"Why?"

"Throughout the camp, I kept thinking about you all."

Everyone nodded in agreement with her words.

Even I had been waiting for Ra-eun to come quickly when I was first surrounded by unfamiliar team members.

Seeing Young-il-rin reminded me of Da-min, seeing Young-ju's ambition reminded me of Ha-young, and seeing Ji-a clinging to Young-il-rin with aegyo reminded me of Song-yi.

I even thought 'this would have been better if I'd done it with the members in rounds 1 and 2' while soaking my feet in ice water - at this point, we were pretty much a lost case.

But it's inevitable.

Living together at camp, eating, sleeping, and sweating profusely together.

Naturally, you grow attached to each other while sharing many conversations.

"Anyway, watching you all from a distance in different teams, you were really cool. You shined even brighter there - I was a bit jealous."

"What do you mean doing better in other teams~"

While listening to the members enthusiastically catching up, a thought suddenly occurred to me and I spoke up:

"By the way, unnie, what was your song choice?"

"Huh? Mine?"

"Yes, you couldn't mention your choice because you were listening to other team members' opinions. What was it?"

"Ah, right! You said you wanted to do it with us!"

In the VCR, even though she was clearly disappointed about not being able to reveal her song choice, she had jokingly said she could do it with Flora instead.

If it matches the next round's theme, we might be able to consider it.

"You remembered that?"

Da-min covered her mouth, touched, and barely managed to speak.

"The song, well, it's one you all know well..."

At that moment, a voice from the production staff was heard from outside the set.

"Resuming filming! Trainees, please return to your seats!"

Ah, looks like the judges had finished their evaluation.

The members separated from each other with reluctant expressions.

"Let's continue this conversation after filming."

The Flo&U members who had scattered to their respective groups gathered together again.

"Finally, it's over."

Young-il-rin said with a shiver.

I grinned while looking straight ahead.

"Indeed."

Unlike rounds 1 and 2, I wasn't very nervous this time.

Maybe it's because I wasn't in Team Flora, or perhaps because the evaluation burden was shared among team members.

And honestly, we know we won't be eliminated.

The performances of teams with our members were all good.

Moreover, didn't they say the group song focus video views and pre-voting would be reflected in the judging criteria?

For the pre-voting, of course 5th May Rookie would dominate, but thanks to Han Da-min and Min Ha-young drawing attention, interest in individual trainees had increased tremendously.

Even if we lag in votes, our video views were three times, sometimes even ten times higher than other groups.

Therefore, we're far from elimination.

Thinking about groups at risk of elimination...

I-Meet-You, who mentioned the risk of elimination several times in their VCR interviews, and Romance Story, who had been neck-and-neck with them in rankings.

Start Plan's previous round performance won't affect this round's evaluation.

But they've consistently maintained low rankings, and didn't receive much attention even in the group song where they were placed at the bottom of the stage.

Even though I-Meet-You's response improved somewhat due to Episode 1 and their unique vivaciousness...

They can't expect much from pre-voting since they were mentioned less than individual trainees.

Excluding the stage performances, it feels certain that either I-Meet-You or Romance Story will be eliminated.

'Wonder how it'll turn out...'

Personally, I hope I-Meet-You doesn't get eliminated.

After all, I saw how desperate Young-ju was.1