TDOCD Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Round 3 Ranking 

Moments later, MC Choi Gyu-jin returned to the set, and filming promptly resumed.

"And now, for the dream's beginning, Start Plan. We're finally down to the ranking announcement for the third round Mix & Match."

Despite the generally cheerful atmosphere throughout today's filming, except during Team Awesome Friends' VCR, the silence before the ranking announcement was inevitable.

'...'

The trainees' attention was fixed on MC Choi Gyu-jin.

More precisely, on the mission results about to fall from his lips.

"As explained earlier, this round's results are determined by combining the judges' evaluations, pre-broadcast viewer votes, and view counts of the group performance focus videos," Choi Gyu-jin stated, his face growing even more serious as he continued in a cool tone.

'Ah...'

An empty sigh of disappointment echoed from U&DA's direction.

Meanwhile, I-Meet-You and Romance Story were so frozen they couldn't even manage a sigh.

In this tense atmosphere, the judges' faces appeared on the screen behind MC Choi Gyu-jin.

The MC stepped slightly to the side and said:

"Now, we'll begin the official ranking announcement. First, we'll reveal the team rankings all at once. Please show the team rankings."

At his words, the screen changed and with 'ding! ding!' roulette sounds, all team rankings were revealed.

Mix Match Results

1st Place: Flo&U

2nd Place: Crescendo

3rd Place: Red Sun

4th Place: Awesome Friends

...Huh?

For a moment my mind went blank.

What am I looking at right now?

After one, two, three seconds passed, we... burst out screaming as we stood up.

"WAAAAAAH!!!"

We're first place?

First place, oh my god, first place!

We were so shocked we couldn't help but shout wildly.

The other members were the same.

Because we were a team composed entirely of members from groups that had never once achieved first place before.

People who desperately wanted first place but couldn't reach it.

Of course, while the Mix & Match results weren't the overall rankings, seeing that number '1' in front of our names was still indescribably joyful.

"Congratulations!"

"That's amazing!"

"Congratulations, everyone!"

Applause poured out toward us as we jumped up and down with joy.

Naturally, trainees who had members in shared our joy since our scores would become their group's scores.

And Romance Story, desperate for even a single point...

They couldn't manage to keep their expressions in check.

It was understandable since all Romance Story members were in the 3rd and 4th place teams.

Of course, this was just the stage ranking and the final rankings hadn't been announced yet, but it was hard to keep negative thoughts at bay.

And 5th May Rookie, who had never fallen from first place until now, barely clapped while maintaining an ambiguous smile.

In this situation, their pre-broadcast votes would need to be overwhelming enough to overcome the video view count scores to reverse the outcome.

In other words, it meant there was a higher chance of 5th May Rookie losing first place in the final results.

And if 5th May Rookie doesn't get first place, then this round's winner might be...

'It might really be us this time.'

Thump-thump, my heart started racing again.

"Yes, Flo&U has claimed first place in this Mix Match stage evaluation," Choi Gyu-jin continued. "They left a strong impression with their unique staging and pair dance. Shall we hear from the judges why they chose Flo&U for first place?"

At MC Choi Gyu-jin's words, the judges' faces appeared on the screen again.

Among them, Ji-hoon picked up the microphone.

"Yes, first of all, congratulations to Flo&U for getting first place. To be honest, when we first saw Flo&U’s song choice, we were quite worried. It was such a strongly distinctive song."

We nodded earnestly while trying to hide our smiles.

Seeing this, Ji-hoon smiled and continued.

"More than the arrangement or staging, we were most curious about how these members would bring this song to life. But there was something we hadn't considered."

"Something you hadn't considered? What was that?"

At MC Choi Gyu-jin's question, Ji-hoon gestured toward us with his palm up.

"We hadn't considered that Flo&U was full of members with personalities even stronger than the song."

"Whew... Flo&U’s color was much stronger than the song's."

"Yes, throughout the pair dance, even though everything moved so quickly and chaotically, every single member stood out without exception."

For an idol group it’s rare for each member to stood out.

This was an enormous compliment.

Ji-hoon continued:

"Not to mention their vocal and dance skills. It was good enough to remind us that skills are really important. It was an excellent stage that showed us new sides of the members."

"Yes! Thank you. That was Judge Ji-hoon's comments."

As Ji-hoon's commentary ended, the screen changed.

The new screen displayed [Final Ranking Announcement] in huge letters.

Sweat began to bead between my tightly clenched fists without me realizing.

’The results please please.’

While I stared intently at the screen, feeling like my dopamine addiction had been activated, MC Choi Gyu-jin spoke:

"Congratulations once again to Flo&U for their first place in the stage scores. Seeing your joy makes me feel elated too. But it's not over yet! Flo&U, it's too early to celebrate. We still have the final rankings to announce."

All trainees' eyes turned to the screen.

MC Choi Gyu-jin shouted loudly:

"Let’s reveal the final rankings for Start Plan Round 3 Mix & Match! now!"

A dramatic BGM resounded, and once again, the 'ding ding' sound of a spinning roulette was heard.

And finally, the final rankings were revealed.

Round 3 Mix Match Final Rankings

1st Place: Flora

2nd Place: 5th May Rookie

3rd Place: U&DA

4th Place: I-Meet-You

5th Place: Romance Story

'Ah...'

With energetic and glamorous BGM playing, spotlights shone only on me and the Flora members in the dimly lit space.

MC Choi Gyu-jin shouted with an excited voice:

"Round 3 Mix Match 1st place goes to Flora! It's their first time in first place. Congratulations!"

A tingling sensation spread from my fingertips.

It felt like a breath I'd been holding was finally released.

1st Place: Flora

Trying hard to suppress my ragged breathing, I looked around at the members. They were all moving towards each other, unable to make a sound.

Finally, with no space left between us, the Flora members embraced each other with all their might.

"Girls... Oh, girls..."

"What do we do? We really..."

Those who could speak were the fortunate ones.

Someone I couldn't see because of our embrace was trembling like an aspen leaf, and most were just patting each other wordlessly.

"Everyone, you did well."

Han Da-min struggled to control her emotions as she comforted the members.

All the Flora members were overwhelmed with emotion, but fortunately, no one was crying from being unable to control their heightened feelings.

Though our noses tingled, this was just first place in the third round.

We hadn't won the final victory.

There was another team experiencing intense emotions for a different reason.

It was Romance Story, who had now become the eliminated team.

'We shouldn't act in a way that might seem inconsiderate.'

So we only showed moderate joy before quickly returning to our places as the BGM ended.

"Yes, and second place goes to 5th May Rookie. While second place is still a very high ranking, for 5th May Rookie, who has always been in first place, there might be a bit of disappointment."

Afterwards, Choi Gyu-jin highlighted each group from first to fourth place, offering brief comments and conducting short interviews.

And finally...

"Once again, congratulations to Flora. Now..."

Choi Gyu-jin paused and looked at Romance Story.