TDOCD Chapter 88

Chapter 88

4^th Round Competitor

"And now, who will face today's first-place team, Flora? Damin, please draw the name."

"Yes."

At MC Choi Gyujin's prompt, Han Damin reached into the black box.

All the contestants watched her intently, a palpable tension in the air.

Who would want to compete against the team that had claimed the top spot?

Finally, Da-min pulled out a carefully folded piece of paper from the box.

"Damin has drawn the name of the opposing team," Gyujin said. "Is there any team you were hoping to face?

Damin smiled faintly, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Well, they're all incredibly talented. I think it would be challenging no matter who we face." 

"True. But if you had to choose one team?"

Da-min gave a faint, awkward smile before skillfully evading the tricky question.

"Well, if I had to choose, I'd want to face 5^th May Rookie. Since we lost to them last time, I'd like a chance at revenge if possible."

 "Oh, seeking revenge against 5^th May Rookie! That's ambitious. Let's see if you'll get that opportunity. Now, Damin, please unfold the paper and reveal Flora's opponent!"

Damin unfolded the paper and checked the name. Her eyes widened in surprise, then her expression fell.

"What's wrong?"

 "Unnie, who is it?"

"Why do you look so worried...?"

Amid her teammates' concerned voices, Damin turned the paper around to show everyone.

U&I

A collective sigh escaped from both groups.

While there were no easy opponents left, they had drawn perhaps the most formidable team of all.

'U&I... of all teams...'

Their skills were undeniable, and their stage presence was so powerful that they could captivate an audience just by standing still and singing.

While the idea of collaborating with them had crossed their minds, competing against them felt overwhelming.

After working with U&I and MN to prepare for the third round, they seemed even more daunting as opponents. With the support of various experts and resources for the Next Artist program, U&I's agency might even surpass the expertise of SU, 5^th May Rookie's company.

'Can we really win against such a powerful group and company?'

'Still, we'd have to face them eventually...'

With U&I paired with Flora, 5^th  May Rookie was naturally matched with I Meet You.

The expressions of I Meet You members, who had never missed first place except in the third round, visibly darkened.

"Now that the teams are decided, we'll refer to Flora and U&I as Team A, and 5^th May Rookie and I Meet You as Team B for convenience," Gyujin announced.

The screen changed once more, displaying:

Assigned Song Announcement

"I will now announce the assigned songs for each team."

My lips felt dry. While facing U&I would be incredibly difficult, there was a tiny silver lining.

‘U&I has a very strong team color.’

Among all the participating groups, U&I had the most distinct style.

While this was their strength, it could also be a significant weakness in a competition with assigned songs.

 What if U&I, known for their heavy charisma and mature image, were given a bubbly dance track?

Or a cute, playful song that completely contradicted their image?

They might struggle more to adapt than other trainee teams who hadn't yet established their own style.

‘…Though they’d probably still perform well even if they struggled.’

Right, it might be more realistic to hope for a song that suits us perfectly.

'Please, please let it be a good song for us.'

I silently prayed as I watched MC Choi Gyujin.

"The assigned songs have been carefully selected by Start Plan's judges, your mentors who have guided you thus far, and the production team. We'll show you five candidate songs for each team," Gyujin explained.

At that moment, the black box in front of him was replaced with a pink one.

The screen changed simultaneously:

Assigned Song Selection Process:

2 songs from judges

2 songs from each team's mentor

1 song from the production team

One song will be randomly selected from these five candidates

"You'll randomly draw one of these songs to prepare for the competition. Now, can we have one representative from Team A come forward to make the selection?"

At his words, we exchanged glances with U&I. It seemed the leader should be the representative, but which team's leader?

Suddenly, Han Damin stood up and extended her fist towards U&I's leader, Young Il-rin.

"I'm not very lucky with draws. How about we play rock-paper-scissors to decide who picks?" Damin suggested.

"Ah, rock-paper-scissors... Actually, I'm not very lucky either. Maybe one of our members would like to..."

Both Flora and U&I simultaneously shook their heads.

Someone who wants to draw?

As if anyone would.

If someone volunteered to choose the song and ended up picking a bad one, they'd feel guilty throughout the entire preparation period. It was far more comforting to leave it to fate and the leader's hand.

Il-rin reluctantly extended her fist to meet Damin's.

Damin turned to her members and said, "Promise not to blame me no matter what song is picked."

"We promise!" the members responded enthusiastically.

Only then did Il-rin's expression relax a bit.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

"Ah."

Damin lost easily.

Nodding as if she had expected this outcome, Damin stepped aside to let Il-rin pass.

"Good luck," Damin said.

"Oh no..." Il-rin muttered.

Il-rin hesitated for a moment, then approached the pink box with a determined expression. She plunged her hand into the box without hesitation.

"I really don't know! Remember, no blaming!" Il-rin called out.

"So dramatic. How cute," Young-ju from I Meet You chuckled, watching the scene unfold.

After rummaging around in the box for a moment, Il-rin finally pulled out a piece of paper.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw the paper with the song title. True to their word, it was neatly folded into a heart shape and decorated prettily.

"Oh? It's heart-shaped."

"The heart is so cute. I wonder who made it?"

The members murmured quietly.

That's definitely Yuhwa's work.

Ji Yuhwa, even with her changed fame and group, her love for hearts remained unchanged. I could tell immediately, remembering the dozens of similar hearts adorning the letters we used to exchange during tough times.

Il-rin unfolded the paper and checked it first, then paused. With an expression caught between a smile and a frown, she showed it to the camera.

"Team A's selected song is [Midnight Vibe] by Dream Light sunbaenim," Gyujin announced.

Upon hearing the song title, I felt my tension dissipate. Thankfully, it was a dance track performed by an idol group.

Dream Light was a relatively recent boy group, known for their bad boy, rebellious concept in the K-pop scene. While I didn't know much about the group, I was familiar with this song. I even knew some of the lyrics.

'They often appear on YouTube Shorts, after all.'

"Midnight Vibe" was Dream Light's biggest hit. Even a year after its release, it still popped up on Shorts from time to time.

The song was characterized by its smooth, flowing chorus that evoked the excitement of nightlife, coupled with intricate choreography that captured the song's essence while being complex and challenging.

'If I remember correctly, there was even an easy version challenge because the original choreography was so difficult.'

I understood Il-rin's mixed expression. The dismay of a dance-challenged team drawing a song with notoriously difficult and complex choreography. Simultaneously, the relief that the song had plenty of room for rearrangement. And the worry about the opposing team's strength in dance.

The undeniable fact was that Flora had the advantage both in rearranging and performing this dance track. As such, it was a highly satisfactory song choice for us.

"Oh ho, so Team A's song is 'Midnight Vibe' by Dream Light. Well done. Il-rin, you can return to your seat now. Now, it's Team B's turn. Can we have one representative come forward, please?"

As Team B decided on their representative, the pink box was replaced with a purple one containing song candidates for Team B.

Shortly after, Jayeon, the leader of 5^th May Rookie, came forward to draw a song.

"Our Team B's song is [Dream Chase] by Neon Beat," Jayeon announced.

"Huh?" an unidentified voice exclaimed in surprise.