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minhypen · 4 months ago

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02. THE HAND THAT FEEDS

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐒 𝖮𝖻𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗉𝖾𝗈𝗉𝗅𝖾’𝗌 𝗆𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗌 𝗂𝗌 𝖺 𝗌𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝖺𝗏𝗈𝗂𝖽 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗌𝖾𝗊𝗎𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝖻𝖺𝖽 𝖽𝖾𝖼𝗂𝗌𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌. 𝖬𝗂𝗇𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗀’𝗌 𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗄: 𝖣𝗈𝗇’𝗍 𝖻𝗂𝗍𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝖽𝗌

📄𓏧 6.3k 𝐂𝐖 ⦂ cursing in the narration ⸝⸝　long overdue, but finally here! if you notice my own frustrations take form as minyoung's thoughts, no you don't

𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘 ⠷ Kr En Jp Sys

PLOPPING DOWN ONTO ONE OF THE CHAIRS WITH A DRAWN OUT SIGH, MINYOUNG TOOK SOME TIME TO REST AND COOL DOWN FROM THE AFTER-EFFECTS OF K AND NI-KI'S STRICT PRACTICE TIME.

The first test had been announced, and the rules? Do everything by yourself. Yup.

Somehow, due to Heeseung taking the lead (and Seon chiming in with his unnecessary input), the part distribution was thankfully done without much hiccups or delays. But Minyoung couldn't lie and say she was happy about being part 10. Though she was thankful that her lines weren't shared with another part like it was for parts 13 to 18, she barely had a line in the second verse, which was disappointing.

But of course, it was a vocal-focused performance with eighteen people and very unfairly distributed parts. It made sense that the better vocalists took the higher parts.

What didn't, was Seon claiming that Part 1 didn't need to be a good singer, only to immediately suggest making vocals the standard for assigning parts. But hey, that was just Minyoung's personal beef with Seon and not rational thinking…

No one could blame her, honestly. He’d been borderline dismissive and condescending, not just towards her, but all the girls during the part distribution, arguing against them and giving silly reasons to keep them from getting a part higher than part 6. Though no one voiced it out, Minyoung could see the animosity for him brewing among the other girls.

The boys hadn’t thought much about it though, for Seon’s words carried a bite that stung only the recipient.

Minyoung would bet that he’d have been sucking up to them if he could gain something from it, but the elimination voting was separate for the boys and the girls so he couldn’t be bothered.

After a somewhat chaotic practice with everyone trying to learn the dance together, Heeseung suggested that the I-Landers take some time to learn the verse at their own speed. And while Minyoung was a good dancer, she was a slow learner who couldn't be more thankful for the time and her buddies-slash-personal trainers' effort (and success) in teaching her the remaining verses.

Though she did almost break herself trying to keep up with those monsters, she could at least relax for a while without worrying about the dance.

But of course, peace could never be maintained for too long in a place that housed eighteen people, and Saebyeok and her little group of friends soon filled Minyoung's thoughtful silence with their loud conversations.

Turning around just in time to find Sunghoon and Jay bickering over the last bottle of the same type of drink, she smiled at her unnie who sat down next to her with a pat to Minyoung's head.

"Looks like y'all are having fun," Minyoung teased, chin pointing to Soojin and Heeseung chasing around Jungwon with an open water bottle.

"Yeah, they're all a handful." Saebyeok was obviously used to their chaos as the eldest of their group, simply bellowing out a ‘be careful’ as Jungwon ran out of the kitchen area with the two hot on his trail. "It seems you found yourself a little group, too?" the older girl questioned as she helped herself to Minyoung's corn chips, earning a nod and swat to the hand.

It hadn't been long since Minyoung had stopped being stuck at the hip to Saebyeok, but it felt like ages since she had spent some quality time with the girl. With Saebyeok hanging with her own friends, Minyoung had found herself in a small group of five, sticking with K, Mirae, Nicholas and Ni-ki during practice which took up most of their time.

"We've all just been practicing together," Minyoung bowed at Sunghoon who took the seat opposite her with a bowl of ramyeon in his hands (when did he get that?), "K oppa and Ni-ki helped us learn the whole song."

"I heard Ni-ki saying he wanted Part 1," Sunghoon chimed into their conversation.

Ni-ki did keep saying that, but Minyoung hadn't thought much about it. "There's not much we can do about it now though, everything's been decided already," Minyoung shrugged, earning nods of agreement.

“Hello there~” came the sweet voice of a smiling Jay as he took the seat next to Sunghoon. The ex-figure skater nudged his friend with his elbow only to earn a frown and a slap on the shoulder.

“Hi Oppa!” Minyoung suppressed a laugh at their seemingly never ending bickering.

“Sorry,” Jay switched back to a smile when he turned to her, “this guy’s been a pain in the neck all day for no reason.”

“Hey, don’t say that to someone we’re talking to for the first time!”

Minyoung giggled openly this time, side-eyeing Saebyeok, “Unnie has told me about your silly fights, I’m not surprised.”

“Huh?! She’s told you about us?” “What else has Noona told you?” Came the overlapping responses from the duo.

“A lot, but all good things, don’t worry.” Minyoung giggled again when Jay and Sunghoon narrowed their eyes at Saebyeok, untrusting of her blabbing tendencies.

Rightfully so, too. Saebyeok was indeed a blabbermouth who’d told Minyoung of Sunghoon, Jay and Heeseung’s life history basically—when they’d started training, what they did before that, how they met for the first time and some funny stories about their hangouts. Minyoung never got the chance to hear much about Soojin and Jungwon though, because the shoot for I-Land had started a month and a half after they were put in the same unit. And two free hours a week only got Saebyeok so far into her trainee-day-tales (exclusively in Japanese, even though Minyoung understood Korean just fine).

The said girl, unaware of her dongsaengs’ glares, was too busy smirking at Minyoung and wiggling her eyebrows. (Minyoung had taken a few glances too many at Sunghoon because he was handsome, duh, but she knew that the older girl took them the wrong way.)

“Whatever it was, don’t believe that woman,” Jay mumbled as Minyoung turned back to him, snatching Sunghoon’s chopsticks to help himself to his noodles. Sunghoon let out a whine with his mouth still stuffed with the food, but ultimately allowed Jay to take a bite, only to whine again when Saebyeok pulled the bowl towards herself after Jay was done.

“Is that all you’re eating for dinner?” Jay questioned, pointing at the packet of corn chips in Minyoung’s lap. “You should eat more,” he nagged when Minyoung nodded.

“I don’t want to cook, though.”

“So you’re just gonna eat diet food? Oh, that’s not good, lemme make somethin’ for ya...” Jay’s sentence faded to a mumble as he quickly rose from his seat, heading to the pantry without letting her respond.

Since when did corn chips count as diet food? Minyoung’s flabbergasted expression must have been funny, because Saebyeok and Sunghoon burst into laughter.

“He’s kinda obsessed with playing ‘mom’, don’t mind him.” Saebyeok patted Minyoung’s head. “His food is delicious, though.”

And delicious it was—Minyoung practically inhaled the bowl of japchae like someone who hadn’t seen the sight of food for days. Though her classy image kinda shattered in front of some of the classiest people in I-Land, she couldn’t bring herself to care at that moment.

Blame K and Ni-ki for making her insanely hungry. But also—bless Jay for filling her stomach with actual food, she might make him cook for her everyday with how good it tasted…

And just when the girl was about to be satisfied with a day done right, Heeseung strode in with Ni-ki, grabbing their attention. "Let's gather in the main practice room," he announced. Upon hearing their ‘okay’s, he walked out without further explanation, i-Pad in hand and Ni-ki by his side as the two disappeared into the gym, whispering to themselves like businessmen discussing a contract together.

...ooookay?

Minyoung shrugged to herself, finishing up the last of her dinner. She didn't really care what Heeseung was planning with Ni-ki as long as it helped the I-Landers. So far, Heeseung had been nothing but a helpful leader.

And when he did finally reveal his plans to everyone, the girl didn't feel any different.

Minyoung saw it as an opportunity to show off her preparation so far and how she didn't fall behind people with years of training. Some of the girls, especially Soojin and Sophie had openly expressed their concerns over her getting a higher part in the song simply because of how long (or short, to be accurate) her training period was. She's got to show them.

And show them, she did. Though Heeseung only told her that she did 'good,' the proud beam she got from Ni-ki and the surprised and impressed sounds from the trainees told her more than enough.

Unfortunately, some of the others were not so lucky. Nicholas was shaking like a leaf next to her up until his name was called and his nerves had caused him to underperform. Next to him was Sunghoon who'd received comments about being a bit ahead of the beat. Then there was Yeona, who had forgotten a part of the routine and sat down with tears lining her eyes even though neither Heeseung nor Ni-ki had commented anything other than a 'good'.

“Sophie noona, you’re up next,” Ni-ki called out as Sophie stood up to perform.

“Ahh, what do I dooooo?” Mirae whined beside Minyoung at being the last to perform, latching onto the younger’s waist as she bent down. “I’m so nervous…”

“Why?” Minyoung embraced the girl who practically laid herself in her lap. “You’re just going to show what you’ve been practicing, nothing to be nervous about.”

“But everyone’s watching and it feels burdening to be last,” Mirae pouted, lifting her head up to give Minyoung her best puppy eyes. (Why, though, Minyoung didn’t know. It wasn't like she could make the call to let Mirae not perform.)

“You’ll do fine, do you trust me?” Mirae nodded. “Then don’t think about the audience and just perform like you’ve been practicing.”

“...fine.”

“Mirae-ah, you’re up,” Heeseung looked up from his clipboard. “Please go ahead.” He gave her a small smile. Oh?

Throwing Heeseung a side-eye, Minyoung shifted her focus back to Mirae.

And genuinely, she didn’t know what the older girl was on. That was literally the best show out of all the trainees and she found herself gawking in disbelief at Mirae’s pout as she sat back down.

"Okay, let's wrap up for today." Heeseung stood up from his place, Ni-ki following his actions with a confused frown on his face. "Thank you everyone, and goodnight." He finally swapped his serious look for a smile, but earned more confused looks from the other trainees.

And for good reason, too.

Even if Heeseung had been acting as a leader and mentor, a lot of the I-Landers including herself had been expecting him (and Ni-ki) to perform at the end. But the '01 liner simply acted like he didn't see the odd looks from some of the trainees as he exited the room with a tired Saebyeok and a zoned-out Sunghoon on his trail.

Murmurs filled the room. “I thought Heeseung-ie was performing as well?” came the question from someone Minyoung guessed was Geonu.

“Were we being evaluated?” Was that Seon?

“Ahh, what?” K, definitely.

Yeona was still sniffling behind her and Nicholas groaned as he laid his head on Minyoung’s shoulder. “Ahh, that was so nerve-wracking…”

“I know,” Mirae cuddled into her other side, using Minyoung as a personal pillow along with the ‘02 boy.

Minyoung felt weird.

First the disagreement that arose about Heeseung changing the choreography and now this evaluation-like practice time that left some of the I-Landers feeling less confident than before—they felt like warning bells signaling impending doom. The rising issue with Heeseung's methods among the I-Landers told Minyoung that they'd end up having a conversation about this.

She just didn't expect it to come right the next day. But hey, at least the conflict would be resolved, right?

Wrong.

It seemed like getting the leader to change his slightly cold ways of training to something better was only her idea of resolution, because the other I-Landers seemed to have plans of changing the leader himself. And as they all sat gathered, each expressing their own dissatisfaction against their leader, Minyoung found herself staring at the dimly flashing egg instead of meeting anyone’s eye, unable to pick a side.

"With how talented hyung is, it's fitting that you're the center and the leader. But you're so good, and you keep hanging out with people who are good like you, so I feel like there's a divide between us all," Daniel expressed his thoughts, voice tentative.

...what?

'People who were good like him—', did Daniel mean Heeseung's little group of friends who he'd literally known for years? Where was the logic in that, or better—were any of the trainees even trying to be logical anymore?

Minyoung expressed her thoughts, although in a less confronting and more diplomatic manner, and the reactions from some of the I-Landers were instantaneous.

Geonu scrambled to explain that the leader should be easily approachable and not distant, Sophie, Yeonbin and Yeona argued that Heeseung's methods were crumbling their confidence and Seon claimed that Ni-ki would do better as a center after the suggestion from K.

None of their excuses gave Minyoung an explanation as to why the center had to be changed, and not just the leader.

Don't get her wrong. Just because Minyoung (and some other trainees) was able to handle Heeseung's harsh methods, didn't mean everyone else could keep up. Some people needed a more patient and encouraging approach, and that was completely fair.

But was it a rule for the center to always be the leader? Couldn't Ni-ki or K lead without changing the part distribution?

Saebyeok and Soojin were the ones to shoot her suggestion down this time, not holding back on their blunt words and giving a passive aggressive assurance that Heeseung was a good leader who just needed the I-Landers to trust him.

Okay, ouch?

Minyoung slumped in her place, unable to hold back a pout at the immediate rejection of her opinion. Sunghoon caught her eye and gave her a sympathetic smile, which made her curl into herself more, not liking the pity in his eyes.

"Guys, please," The subject of the conversation had had enough, "I knew this would happen, which was why I was hesitant about being the center." Heeseung kept his eyes on the ground, making Minyoung wince at the disappointment on his face. "I'd personally like it if someone else took Part 1."

The resolution in his voice was obvious, which was what kept Saebyeok and Soojin from arguing when Ni-ki was made center and leader.

It wasn't like Minyoung was opposed to the decision—Ni-ki was really good, better than many other I-Landers, in fact—but she couldn’t help but feel that it was too rushed. (Because why would you pick 'better' if you knew you had the best right in front of you?)

What was done, was done though. She trusted the 14-year-old when he claimed he could pull it off, and as long as the results were good, Minyoung was happy.

Saebyeok, though? Not so much.

Minyoung settled into her bed, ready to rest after the long day when Saebyeok came bursting her way into the red room. Flinching at the sudden appearance, Minyoung called out from under her blanket, "You okay?"

"Okay? Do I look okay to you?!" Saebyeok snapped, getting on the bed with Minyoung and crawling under the blanket. "This place is filled with a bunch of ungrateful—" Saebyeok stopped herself from cursing and heaved a sigh, suddenly aware of the cameras despite having removed her mic— "people."

Turning on her side to face Minyoung, Saebyeok put a hand on the younger's cheek. "Sorry for snapping." The girl smoothed her fingers down the flesh of Minyoung's cheek, voice significantly softer. “Now, and earlier…”

"No, it’s okay." Minyoung scooted closer to the '01 liner. "It’s natural to be upset, and I bet Heeseung oppa feels even worse."

"Poor boy said he wanted some time alone," Saebyeok closed her eyes, voice lowering to a whisper. “If I were him, I’d have had these rascals crying by the time I’d be done with them.”

Minyoung hummed to show that she was listening, not wanting to interrupt her since she understood Saebyeok’s need to let out steam. “These guys who think they can control everything, they don't know how this show works.” The older girl frowned, making her look like an angry puppy. (No calling Saebyeok a puppy when she’s mad, Minyoung reminded herself.) “They think Heeseung was being harsh? Wait till the producers or directors come for an evaluation…”

Right, there was that. Minyoung sighed, drawing the blanket closer to herself. This was an unnecessary amount of stress for a 16-year-old to be handling.

"Where's Mirae, by the way?" Saebyeok asked, opening her eyes to look at the empty, still made bed beside her own.

"Don't know," Minyoung whispered back, "been missing since dinner."

The conversation died there as the girls fell into a thoughtful silence.

Saebyeok's words made sense the more Minyoung thought about it. There was no way the judges were gonna go easy on them, and Heeseung’s slightly-harsh-but-really-helpful training would have ensured that no one fell behind, that was for sure.

But the girl didn't realize just how true those words would turn out to be until it hit her right in the face. And even if it was not quite literal, it hurt just the same.

It was during the mid-point evaluation that things started going down, and wrong.

The evaluation itself came unexpectedly, and the I-Landers were flustered to say the least, by the appearance of such a well-respected senior. And while Minyoung hadn't been expecting any less, Rain's unconventional yet strict training methods threw everyone off their loops, leading to mistakes in the performance.

Rain was pretty understanding about them, but his warning of an immediate improvement being required left the I-Landers in a state of anxiety and confusion. Especially because everyone thought they'd been doing well so far. And that was exactly how Minyoung found herself in the living room of their temporary home, holding Ni-ki's hand with just one thing on her mind.

Someone needed to tape Seon's mouth shut.

He was the one who was so insistent about making Ni-ki the center just a day ago, but with just one hiccup down the line, his mind had suddenly changed. Now he was agreeing with Geonu who suggested that Heeseung should take back his position for the sake of vocals.

"It's a problem that Ni-ki can't sing well." Minyoung listened to Seon's reasoning, curious as to how he was going to justify his decisions this time round. "And it's not that he can't sing well—" Minyoung frowned, where was he going with this? "—he just can't sing at all."

…

What the fuck?

Minyoung snapped her head to him at breakneck speed, eyes shooting imaginative daggers at him that she almost wished were real at that moment. There was simply no way he said that when his dancing was like that.

No offense—actually, Minyoung did mean offense this time.

Seon deserved no respect from her when he himself was utterly disrespectful to everyone but the ones he deemed were of benefit to him. And by the offended gasps the other girls let out at his words, Minyoung knew they agreed.

Just as her brain said fuck it and she opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, a squeeze on her hand interrupted her.

Glancing down briefly at the hand holding hers, the girl turned to meet a sad pair of eyes. Ni-ki shook his head lightly as if telling her that it wasn't worth it. Oh poor boy...

Looking back at Seon with a weak glare that no one noticed, she opted to listen to the younger’s prompt of staying silent, shifting her palm to properly intertwine her fingers with Ni-ki's. He was right in stopping her though—as much as she wished to put Seon in his place, it would only make her look disrespectful to the viewers.

But of course, Minyoung shouldn't have forgotten the presence of a tigress in I-Land who went by the name of the rising sun, and like the sun did, Saebyeok didn't miss the opportunity to burn.

"What do you mean, Oppa?" She tilted her head with a confused look on her face that Minyoung would have believed was innocent, had she not known about her unnie's coy mannerisms. "He just made a couple small mistakes, nothing that couldn't be fixed."

"But he got it all wrong when we sang together earlier," Seon was quick to justify himself, referring to the 'after-evaluation evaluation' that Ni-ki went through with Saebyeok, Seon and Geonu in the purple room.

"Ehh?" Saebyeok scoffed with a silly grin, acting like she heard a really funny joke, "Of course he's gonna go off-pitch if his 'teacher' started him off with the wrong key." She nudged her chin at him teasingly, not bothering to hide that she was directly dissing him.

Pfft.

Minyoung couldn't help but snicker under her breath at that, smiling at the giggles from the other girls.

"Uhh, w-well I—" The humiliation on Seon's face almost made Minyoung feel bad for him, but she couldn't help but find it even funnier when Soojin interrupted him to ask what their next step should be.

“We should decide the center today though, stretching this out will not end well.”

Right, focus on the matter at hand, Minyoung told herself, squeezing Ni-ki's hand again when all eyes turned to him. Ni-ki kept his head down, biting his lower lip in thought.

“I’d like to keep my position.” Ni-ki’s voice retained some of its usual firmness, and Minyoung felt grateful that Seon’s comments hadn’t affected his confidence even if she was sure that he was hurt.

Some I-Landers were obvious in their disappointment with his choice, but their murmurs of complaint had no effect because Heeseung had refused to take Part 1 unless Ni-ki let him have it.

And though Minyoung wasn’t in complete agreement either, she couldn’t bring herself to question the boy when he was so confident that he could do it even as he was sobbing into his hands.

“I’m sorry for messing up,” he sniffled, bringing his head up to meet her eye for the first time since they entered the yellow room. Though she was glad he seemed to be feeling better, why he was apologizing to her, Minyoung had no idea.

She watched him quietly, not knowing what to say as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve before turning to her. Smiling, she brought a hand to wrap around his shoulder, expecting him to curl into her embrace. Instead, he lightly shrugged her hand off to wrap her up in his arms, making her lean on him.

“Thank you, Noona.” His voice was rough with the amount of crying he did, but he sounded composed when he spoke. “You too, Hyung.” He leaned back further on to K, pulling Minyoung so that she had her head resting on his stomach.

"Aigoo, it’s okay." K ruffled Ni-ki's hair lightly, wrapping his own arms around the boy to allow them a more comfortable position.

A few breaths passed as the three enjoyed the comforting silence. But the suddenness of the evaluation and the stress of the events that followed caught up to them, and Ni-ki’s rumbling stomach finally broke the silence. Bursting into laughter, the boys sat up as Minyoung stood from the couch.

“I’ll go make us something to eat,” she said, the smugness in her voice betraying that she’d already planned what she’d be making. Ni-ki didn’t protest, feeling way too hungry to hold on any longer, and K was quick to send her off with a happy wave, claiming that he had some important matters to discuss with the younger boy.

Hmm, sussy sus…

Choosing to ignore K’s off behavior, Minyoung left the room with a goal of making Ni-ki happy with her choice of food. Minyoung might despise the act of cooking, if it was to cheer a dear friend up, she'd do it without complaint.

Just one thing though. How do you make mabo dofu again?

Ni-ki had mentioned it earlier that day, claiming to miss his mother’s go-to dinner choice and so, Minyoung wished to give him the feeling of home. Forgetting how to make it though, was not in the plan.

(It was her own fault honestly, she’d gone too long without actually cooking to still remember the recipes she’d learnt five years ago.)

As she stood in the kitchen staring holes through the pack of tofu as if it’d cook itself if she stared long enough, she didn’t notice the curious pair of eyes that peeped over her shoulder until the owner spoke right in her ears.

“Need some help with that?”

“Oh!” Minyoung turned around to find an amused Jay staring down at her. “Jay oppa, you’re not asleep yet?”

“Was just heading to bed when I found you standing here with a huge loading sign spinning over your head,” he teased, grabbing the tofu from her. “What were you trying to make?”

“Mabo Dofu, you know what that is?”

Jay ignored her question, “For yourself?”

“For three.”

Minyoung followed after Jay who headed to the pantry upon hearing the reply, “Whoa, what? How do you know how to make it?” the girl questioned with wide eyes, seeing him grab a pack of minced pork.

“Heat the rice for me, yeah?” Jay ignored her question again and held out two packs of instant rice, before suddenly retracting them to smirk at her. “Or is it considered below Princess I-Don’t-Like-To-Cook to do such a trivial task?”

“Oh shush,” she playfully scoffed at him, snatching the rice from him and ignoring his chuckles as she headed out to heat it up.

As she sat in a crouch in front of the microwave, staring at Jay as he worked his magic, a shadow loomed over her and grabbed her attention.

Nicholas smiled down at her. “Whatcha doin’ down there?”

Minyoung wordlessly pointed at Jay like the sight of the boy chopping onions would explain her position on the ground. Nicholas stared at Jay, then turned to Minyoung, then looked at Jay again before bursting into laughter.

“Okay.” He crouched down next to her. “I’m guessing he’s making your dinner?” he probed, well aware of Minyoung’s aversion.

“Yeah, isn’t he so nice?” Minyoung looked back at Jay with a gaze of admiration. “I wanted to make something for Ni-ki, but I forgot the recipe so…” She shrugged with her lower lip jutting out, earning a hum from the boy.

“I’m so worried about the performance,” Nicholas admitted, voice lowering with the change in topic. “It’s just day three and yet it feels like everything’s falling apart.”

Grabbing his hand, Minyoung squeezed it. “We can’t decide that we’re going to do bad before we actually do it, Oppa.” The girl didn’t like his pessimistic mood. “We’ll practice hard with a positive outcome in mind.”

Nicholas sighed, throwing his head back. “You’re right, but it’s so hard to focus when some problem or other keeps coming up.”

“I know, but don’t you think the main problem is that we’re all looking at the center with a magnifying glass but forgetting that every one of us must do well to score high?”

The girl could literally see the light bulb go off inside Nicholas’ head at her words. “That—I didn’t think that way at all…” he seemed sheepish with the revelation.

Minyoung just smiled. A lot of the other I-Landers didn’t, either.

“Food’s ready,” Jay called, interrupting the conversation.

“Oh, really? Thank you so much!” Minyoung stood up to catch Jay in a grateful hug, earning a pat on the head.

“Eat well~”

Wishing Nicholas a good night, she placed the cutlery, the rice and the main dish on a huge tray before heading to the yellow room.

Pausing before the door, Minyoung took a deep breath in. She should leave all worries outside the room before entering—food should never be a victim to one’s feelings of sorrow, stress or anger.

If the universe decided to be kind to them, all would go well, they wouldn't end up performing horribly.

Horrible. This was absolutely horrible.

Minyoung hid her face in her hands, feeling the shame wrap around her. The girls had scored a little higher than the boys, but even that was a humiliating number.

76 67 64 52 51 48

Average: 60

Minyoung screwed her eyes shut. They were absolutely done for.

Three female I-Landers must be eliminated.

Half. That was half of all the girls in I-Land. The boys had a similar fate, all of them groaning and whining at the thought of having to eliminate six people.

Minyoung felt the dread and anxiety tighten their hold on her throat, making it hard to breathe. Truthfully, she’d felt good about her performance, but there were enough girls who still thought less of her skills which could result in a possible elimination. And the system’s announcement about the lack of a debut chance for the Grounders was all she could think about as she tried to catch her breath.

Forcing herself to calm down and take some deep breaths, Minyoung regained her ability to breathe after a couple minutes. The only way to keep herself from losing her mind was to think that she’d be eliminated for sure. At least she wouldn’t be surprised if it actually happened.

The voting will commence in 2 hours. You may go check your scores one by one in the voting room.

Alright, thanks Robot-nim…

Minyoung’s name was called right when she had found the strength to get up and settle into Mirae’s lap. “No, don’t go~” Mirae whined, tightening her arms around Minyoung’s waist.

“I have to, though~” Minyoung whined back using the same tone as the older girl as she detangled herself from the tight hold Mirae had on her. “I’ll be back in a jiffy, I prommy,” Minyoung baby-talked her, earning the usual puppy-eyed look and a nod from her unnie, who was truthfully the only one keeping her sane with her exaggerated aegyo in the tense situation.

But it seemed like Mirae herself wasn’t holding up very well. Minyoung could tell just from the look on her face as the older girl came downstairs after checking her own score, that her anxiety was getting the best of her. The smile she always wore was gone and her eyes were glossy like she was tearing up. Minyoung wasn’t so happy with her 64 either, but by the looks of it, her unnie needed more cheering up than her.

“Shall we go upstairs?” Minyoung tried to distract her from whatever score Mirae had seen inside the voting room. Upon receiving a nod, she locked arms with her unnie and practically dragged her upstairs, trying to catch up with Saebyeok and Yeona who she saw were on their way to the pink room.

Knocking on the door just as it closed, Minyoung invited herself and Mirae in.

“Hey, you two,” Saebyeok greeted with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes as she sat down on Yeona’s bed.

“Hello,” came the lifeless voice of Yeona.

“What are you doing here all alone?” Minyoung sat next to Yeona, giving Mirae the space between the older girls. Nodding at Saebyeok who showed her the performance video paused on the i-Pad she held, Minyoung scooted closer. “Let’s watch, then.”

The two hours somehow flew by, with the girls replaying the video over and over even though it wasn’t much help in deciding the eliminated candidates.

It was hard to even think about sending someone off. Six days wasn’t a lot of time to get too attached to the girls, but Minyoung had grown fond of all of them in some way even if there hadn’t been much interaction. Technically, it was a rule of I-Land that someone was always going to be replacing someone else, but it wouldn’t hurt any less to watch them leave.

And she certainly wasn’t okay when the candidates were announced after the voting, two hours later.

Receiving 5 votes, Sophie

Minyoung tried her best to not look in the girl’s direction. She couldn’t help but notice the girl’s poor form while dancing, and it seemed like the others did, too.

Receiving 4 votes, Kim Soojin

Now, she was someone Minyoung felt guilty about voting for. Not because she thought Soojin didn’t deserve it, but because of the way Saebyeok sobbed next to her when she heard the name. Minyoung knew that Soojin’s departure would break Saebyeok’s heart, but she had to stay fair to her own conscience and vote for the person who didn’t meet her standards. This was a competition after all.

Minyoung would have never guessed how hard it would become to keep up that belief until she heard the next name.

Receiving 4 votes, Kang Mirae

Ah, the irony.

It was kind of funny. All her life, Minyoung never thought of herself as a crier. It had to be some hocus-pocus shit done by the cube because she found herself in tears for the second time in the same week, for the exact same reason.

So much for promising herself to keep calm.

The boys were all crying too, having surprised themselves by eliminating some unexpected I-Landers, like Jay. (All the while Seon got to stay, something that confused Minyoung greatly.)

She tried to keep the tears from falling though, not wanting to upset the eliminated candidates any further. Especially Ni-ki, who seemed to be holding back from bursting into tears himself.

He quietly stayed by her side, watching her bid long, teary goodbye’s to Mirae, Nicholas, Jay, Jake and anyone who came forward to greet her. Only when she was done and he was sure to have her full attention, did he finally move closer. The look on his face was calmer than before, like he had accepted his fate.

"Don't cry, please." He brought up a hand to pat her head.

Minyoung frowned at his unusual action, but accepted his affection without voicing her thoughts.

Since when was he older than her?

His weird behavior momentarily distracted her from the situation at hand, but she was quickly reminded of it again when the system voice asked the eliminated I-Landers to leave through the Gate.

"Take care of yourself, alright?" Minyoung reached up to rub the hand that was still on her head, eyes glassing up again. "And make sure to come up next time."

Ni-ki's eyes were softened with guilt and regret as he forced a smile. "I promise I’ll come back. Wait for me, okay?"

She would definitely hold him to that word.

Taking a seat in her designated chair, Minyoung kept her head down as she replayed the events of the past week.

And no matter how she thought about it, there seemed to be no denying that the results would have turned out far better if the I-Landers hadn't changed Heeseung’s role as both center and leader.

While Ni-ki was good at fine-tuning the performance, he hadn’t managed to get all the I-Landers up to standard. And though his vocals were definitely corrected by the time they performed, they didn’t match up to Heeseung's honeyed voice. And as the center, all eyes went to him first, making his role all the more important.

Minyoung knew that neither Ni-ki nor Heeseung were to blame though—they’d both given their all. It was some of the other I-Landers who were at fault, trusting neither themselves nor their leaders and basically jeopardizing the performance with their doubts.

And Minyoung couldn’t deny that it was her own fault, too. There were many opportunities where she could have spoken up firmer, could have opposed the decisions which she felt were wrong and yet she chose to remain silent after a couple rejections. And though it didn’t affect her directly (thank god for that), a loss to the team was still a loss.

Regret was something Minyoung never felt, being used to owning her decisions regardless of its outcome being positive or negative. But the whole thing gave her a new resolve for the future tests.

To never let the I-Landers who had beans for brains mislead the others again.

BONUS SCENE

D-4 I-Land Practice Room, First Floor 11.45 PM

Peeking inside the lounge of the smaller practice room, Mirae called out with a tentative voice, “Can I come in?”

Heeseung, who’d been deep in thought until her arrival, turned around with a startled look, earning a sheepish giggle from the girl. “Oops, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you…”

“No problem, come in.” Heeseung waved his hand lightly. She held in the instinct to pout at the emptiness in his eyes as she trod over the soft carpet.

He laughed suddenly, eyes creasing with a genuine smile as he looked down at something. Following his gaze, she realized it was the fluffy pink Hello Kitty socks she was wearing, feeling a fond smile creep up at the fact that he was finally laughing.

She took a seat next to him, grabbing a cushion to hold over her lap.

For a while the two stayed awkwardly silent, Mirae not knowing what to say despite having been the one to approach him and Heeseung feeling too aware of himself with the girl next to him.

“Thank you,” she spoke after a couple minutes of quietness, “you’ve been giving your best in helping us all.” Turning to look at him, she whipped her head back down when she caught his eye. “I’m sorry you got your spot taken.”

“I’m not.” Heeseung shook his head, making the girl look back at him. “I’m fine with part 13.”

“Why is that?”

He shrugged instead of answering. Mirae let it be at that, closing her eyes as she settled back into the plush of the seats.

“Thank you,” came Heeseung’s voice, this time as a whisper. Though it wasn’t wordy, his gratefulness was conveyed clearly enough.

Mirae smiled. “Anytime, Oppa.”

🏷️ 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ( 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 ) @queenriki7 ; @kangseulgithegreat ; @terryfiedgyu ; @d-dilemma ; @enhaslxt ; @loveyjisu ; @pinknjm

INSPIRED + BETA READ BY @enmi-land && SLOW UPDATES

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#𝐌𝗶𝗡𝗛𝗬𝗣𝗘𝗡 ◜🪽◞#enhypen #enhypen fanfiction #enhypen x oc #enhypen 8th member #enhypen added member #enhypen iland #enha #enhypen ff #jungwon #yang jungwon #jungwon x oc #riki #niki #riki x oc #niki x oc #nishimura riki

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minhypen · 5 months ago

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01. THE UGLY BROWN CUBE AND ITS WACKASS RULES

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐒 𝖩𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝗐𝗈 𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖨-𝖫𝖺𝗇𝖽, 𝖬𝗂𝗇𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾𝗅𝗂𝖾𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝖾𝗈𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝗎𝗅𝖾 𝗌𝗒𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗆 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝗁𝖺𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝖾𝗂𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝖾 𝖺 𝗆𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗈𝖽𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗅 𝗀𝖾𝗇𝗂𝗎𝗌, 𝗈𝗋 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖺 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖼𝗋𝖺𝗓𝗒 𝗌𝖺𝖽𝗂𝗌𝗍

📄𓏧 3.2k 𝐂𝐖 ⦂ cursing in the narration ⸝⸝　repost with a new layout

𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘 ⠷ Kr En Jp Sys

MINYOUNG DIDN’T KNOW WHAT SHE EXPECTED WHEN SHE ENTERED THE I-LAND, BUT IT CERTAINLY WASN’T THIS. Looking around as she stepped down the small stairs, she took in the sight around her.

The “Gate” led to a spacious area with seats arranged in a semicircle, and right above it was a display with flag-like icons showing blank profiles. Behind the seats was a practice room which seemed larger than any of the ones Minyoung had stepped foot in, and next to it were smaller practice rooms, probably for individual practices.

The sleek finish and sophisticated look of the interior starkly contrasted with the ruggedness of its exterior, because the second Minyoung saw the cube, she'd deemed it unworthy to look at more than once. It looked like the villain's headquarters from a dystopian movie, if Minyoung were to put it kindly.

Slightly menacing, and just plain ugly. Compared to that, the interior was a welcome contrast.

But of course, the inside had to reflect the outside in some way, which explained the questionable decor of rocks scattered randomly, and the huge egg she just walked out of.

The tastelessness of the designer was the least of Minyoung's concerns though, because the rules of the survival show seemed just as questionable, if not even more.

Who deemed it a clever concept to make the contestants (literal kids, except for a few, mind you) judge each other and decide the entry candidates for I-Land?

Everyone (including herself) was as clueless as she had expected them to be, and it reflected in the results of the entrance test.

Trainees who performed first got in easily even if their performances were mediocre, whereas the standard got higher as the end approached. Trainees who Minyoung had thought would get in, didn't make it simply because there were less available spots in I-Land.

It almost made her question if the main reason for her and her unit-mate's entry into I-Land was owed to Minyoung's luck in Rock-Paper-Scissors rather than their performance and skills.

Minyoung deemed it unfair because the voting process had been harsher on the latter trainees.

Even worse, the system voice (or Robot-nim, as she liked to call it) implied that all of the tests moving forth would require such voting to determine the results, including the upcoming “test” to remove five trainees and satisfy I-Land’s capacity.

It was rather cruel, Minyoung thought as she watched Robot-nim list the facilities I-Land held, no one would want to leave after seeing all this.

You may all go explore the I-Land.

“Amazing,” a male voice spoke from beside Minyoung, at the same time an arm looped around hers with a cheery ‘Hello!’ being thrown her way. Kang Mirae and Kim Sunoo, Minyoung recalled. Both of the newcomers burst out in giggles at their sync, making Minyoung chuckle.

“Well, hello to you too, friends,” Minyoung said in a posh tone, “how may I help you on this fine evening?”

“I was going to ask if you wanted to go look around with me…” Sunoo hovered an arm around her shoulder, properly side-hugging her when he saw Minyoung nod slightly and pulled her away from Mirae’s hands, “...alone.” The implied ‘go away’ in Sunoo’s tone and actions made Mirae frown.

“Hey now, we can talk to her together,” Mirae gripped the younger girl’s arm and tugged Minyoung closer. “Don’t hog,” she glared playfully at Sunoo.

Minyoung raised an eyebrow at how casually they were conversing, pulling away from both of them with a squirm to face them. “Do you guys know each other already?”

“Yeah,” “Uh-huh,” came the simultaneous replies as both of them reached out for her again, not giving her time to question how they got to know each other.

Laughing at their eagerness, Minyoung wrapped an arm around Mirae and moved closer to Sunoo. “Let’s just go together, I need company, too.”

Mirae held her waist, nodding at her words, “we’re sitting together when we get back here.” Just as Minyoung was about to nod, Sunoo tugged the girl away by the sleeve of her off-white hoodie.

“Let’s go explore!”

“Hey, what about me?” Mirae whined as she ran to catch up with them. Minyoung laughed at the annoyed expression Sunoo displayed at Mirae’s insistence to join them, finding it amusing that her two new “friends” were already fighting over her.

Not that Minyoung was complaining.

Being the textbook definition of an extrovert, Minyoung was always open to making new friends. But she was even more thankful for Sunoo and Mirae’s initiative at that moment because her two Japanese friends seemed nowhere in sight, and with one Kim Taeyong not making it to I-Land and Choi Saebyeok leaving to join her own group of friends, Minyoung was left searching for some company.

She didn’t blame Saebyeok though. The older girl wasn’t obligated to stay by her side no matter how close they’d gotten in the time they spent training together. She’d been told stories about Saebyeok’s training period by the girl herself, and certain names were frequently mentioned in them.

Lee Heeseung, Jay and Park Sunghoon were three of them that Minyoung got to meet before the Entrance test due to their seating arrangement. Though Minyoung had experienced the feeling of being a third wheel for the first time by accidentally sitting between Heeseung and Saebyeok, she could feel the close friendship they shared just from their short conversation and warm eye contact.

Looking back down from the top of the stairs, Minyoung found Saebyeok laughing at something with Heeseung and Kim Soojin as she had an arm looped through Sunghoon’s. Smiling at the sight, Minyoung let herself be dragged by Mirae up the remaining steps.

And there it was—the I-Land house in all its glory.

The living space was huge, with a plush couch and a glass opening right in the middle and there were hallways leading to what Minyoung assumed were the different rooms.

Like pieces of iron drawn to a magnet, the curious crowd moved toward the dining area because of the smell of food, all while marveling at whatever part of their temporary home they could see.

"This place is no joke," Sunoo whispered close to Minyoung's ear as if he wasn't allowed to express his opinions out loud, "I just can't believe we made it in only to immediately participate in another voting."

Eyes doing an exploration of their own, Minyoung smiled at the pout evident in his voice. "Let's get a good look around first." She drew closer to the boy in hopes of providing comfort, pulling Mirae along by her hand. "Hopefully the three of us will get to stay."

"I just don't—" Sunoo cut himself off with a gasp at the sight of various dishes arranged on the kitchen island. Similar gasps were heard all around as the trainees quickly surrounded the food, hands already busy grabbing at whatever they could find and stuffing their face with it. Some of them didn't even bother grabbing a plate before digging in.

Minyoung scrunched her nose at the haste, but she understood. No one knew for sure if they'd get to stay in this heaven at the end of the two hours, so everyone was trying to make the most out of the little time they had in I-Land.

Letting go of the two, Minyoung grabbed a small plate to stack some of the grilled meat (were those pork ribs?) and chicken drumsticks, and moved away from the crowd. Finding herself a comfortable spot, she munched on the chicken as she observed the trainees.

The other girls were busy looking around as they ate, while Jay and Daniel tried to find someone who knew how to make ramen without burning the kitchen down.

Soojin and Saebyeok seemed to hold a mini competition to find out who could feed Yang Jungwon more, judging by the way Saebyeok was trying to hand feed him a piece of pork rib and Soojin kept piling his plate with more and more food.

The poor boy was visibly in pain with how full Minyoung could guess he was, but he didn’t protest when Saebyeok fed him another piece.

As she watched the amusing scene in front of her, Minyoung realized how unusual her behavior was—observing silently from a corner instead of mingling around and making friends.

Since she needed to know what the others thought of her, Minyoung felt like she couldn't approach anyone without a strategy, especially the other girls who were her direct competition. She needed to make sure everyone saw her as an equal despite her short training period. And more than that, she wanted to be someone who the participants wouldn't think of voting out.

And for that, she needed to make a good impression on the contestants, so she chose to observe the interactions around her to learn their mindset.

Minyoung nibbled on her pork rib as she watched Seon going around praising and sweet-talking the contestants, a typical chameleon way of making sure he stayed in I-Land. She scoffed under her breath in amusement as she heard him praise Sungchul's vocals.

If Minyoung was going to stay in I-Land, it would be purely out of her talent. She just needed to find a way to present herself as someone essential for the team.

She usually wasn't this way—plotting ways to appeal her skills to her peers. Minyoung preferred to let the results speak for themselves. But as it was, and unfortunately for her, her fate rested in the hands of the other contestants instead of the producers who'd seen her progress, and she had to survive somehow.

Finishing her last drumstick, Minyoung moved to the sink to wash her plate.

A hand opened the faucet just as she reached for it and held a plate under the running water. Jerking back slightly to avoid colliding with the person, Minyoung looked up to see K smiling down at her. The 16-year-old returned the smile with a small bow—he was the oldest after all—and leaned on the counter once more.

"I enjoyed your performance a lot," K kept his eyes on her, gently smiling as he washed his plate, "you're a really good dancer." Minyoung didn't expect the compliment from K of all people (everyone knew he was the best dancer out of all the participants), but she appreciated it.

She just hoped he wouldn’t notice her cheeks heating up. She wasn’t used to compliments from guys, alright? Her only proper male interactions were with her brother and father, and she went to an all-girls school, so any slight positive attention from boys her age (and maybe a bit older) made her feel slightly fuzzy in the head.

But that was not important right now.

Shaking her head slightly and thanking him for both his words and the space he left for her to wash her own plate, Minyoung decided to take this chance to ask him about his opinion on the voting. Being more experienced than her, he’d definitely have some pointers that Minyoung would find useful.

That, and she figured living in her head without talking to the contestants would not help her win the favor of anyone.

She turned to face the older boy—er, man? As she opened her mouth, K interrupted her with his own question. “Any ideas about who you’re voting for?”

“Not yet,” she pouted. “Do you have—"

“Can we all gather in the living room?” Seon called out, interrupting her again. Damn, why won’t people let her talk?

Minyoung sighed as K smiled apologetically. It was okay, she’d talk to him later.

Four pairs of eyes turned to the 16-year-old as she entered the blue room. Faltering in her steps at the sudden silence that overtook the room at her arrival, Minyoung let out a sheepish laugh. “Sorry, I thought you heard me knocking…”

“No problem, come in,” K smiled warmly at her. The three other boys, Ni-ki, Ta-ki and Nicholas greeted her politely as she sat down next to Nicholas. “I wanted to talk to you before the voting anyways,” K grabbed her attention again.

“I don’t know what to do, Oppa…” Minyoung sighed, before suddenly straightening up. “Oh! Is it okay if I call you Oppa? Or would you prefer K-san?”

“K-san?” The three Japanese trainees chorused in surprise. Nicholas chuckled at her overly-polite address (how he knew who ‘san’ was used for was beyond her) as he shook his head.

“I don’t think you have to be that polite.”

Cheeks burning at his gaze, Minyoung averted her eyes only to find K staring at her with the same soft eyes and a smile, “Oppa is fine.”

“Alright,” Minyoung nodded, slightly ducking her head to cover her face with her hair. God, please, not again…

“Noona dances so well,” her attention was grabbed by the cute compliment from a cute Ta-ki. Minyoung didn’t know if he was talking about her unit performance or the freestyle she did when everyone was showing off their skills after their little meeting, but she smiled sweetly at the comment, thanking the boy.

“Is Ta-ki the youngest here?” Minyoung tilted her head, looking between him and the other boy who—even though he didn’t look the part—could possibly be younger than Ta-ki since she didn’t know their birthdays.

“No, I’m younger,” Ni-ki shook his head confirming her guess, smiling widely at her.

The unfamiliarity of his voice made Minyoung realize that they were speaking for the first time ever in the ten months they’d known each other.

(Well, know would be an overstatement, the most they’d done was exchange bows on the first day of Minyoung’s training and wave at each other when they’d cross paths at the company, but Minyoung considered him a friend regardless.)

Though the familiarity in his eyes and smile unconsciously brought a fond smile to the girl’s face, and she nodded at his answer. “Have you thought about how you’re going to decide the elimination candidates?” Minyoung started the conversation she’d been waiting forever to start, not noticing the oldest’s curious eyes on her.

“I have a little idea, but—” Ni-ki’s answer got cut off by Robot-nim calling out the boy’s name, asking him to head to the voting room.

It seemed God wanted Minyoung to decide who to vote for on her own, ‘cuz this was the fifth freaking time in two hours that she’d been interrupted from getting opinions from the other trainees.

Well, alright then.

“I just decided who to vote for,” Ni-ki announced hurriedly before closing the door behind him. A rush of anxiety hit the remaining trainees in the blue room as they collectively groaned at the prospect of possibly leaving the state-of-art I-Land building to some cheap downgrade called ‘Ground’.

Now, Minyoung hadn’t seen the place yet, but even the name was incredibly ugly. So ugly, that she’d admit that the 'ugly brown cube' was a hundred times better. Eugh.

Just then the door opened to reveal a head of short brown hair peeking inside. The newcomers’ eyes lit up at finding her target as she strode in to grab Minyoung by her shoulders.

“There you are,” Yamazaki Hana exclaimed, looking relieved like she’d just found her lost child.

She was in no way lost, but she could accept being referred to as the older girl’s child. Ever since Hana had been introduced to Minyoung as her assigned ‘friend’ by BigHit, the older girl had basically adopted her. Hana, along with Minyoung’s older sister Minji, made sure she felt the least homesick one could be when they were so far away from home, something the girl was extremely thankful for.

Quickly greeting the three boys, the ‘00 liner turned to Minyoung again, “Let’s head to the lobby, everyone’s gathering there.”

The boys expressed their agreement, all three of them throwing Minyoung a smile as they moved past her. "Time for elimination," Nicholas heaved a sigh.

“Okay,” Minyoung followed after Hana with a feigned calmness, trying her best to ignore her loudass inner voice that kept repeating the same thing like a broken record.

This was not going to end well.

And well, it didn’t.

Kim-fucking-Sunoo was eliminated for whatever fucking reason and Minyoung could swear she saw red the moment his name was announced to be the most voted. But since the time and place was not appropriate to express her anger and frustration, she held it in.

But then, as if the universe wanted to test her patience, Hana was announced as the next eliminated candidate.

Yamazaki Hana, who was literally one of the top female dancers in I-Land, got fucking eliminated. If the I-Landers couldn’t see her skills, they were probably blind.

For a few seconds, the young girl sat with her eyes closed in her place on Hana’s lap, as she tried to calm her breathing. The eliminated candidates were decided. There was nothing she could do except hope they came back up. Anger was not the answer.

Inhale, exhale.

Opening her eyes and standing up, she was met with a smiling Sunoo walking towards her.

“How in the world are you smiling right now?” Minyoung whispered in disbelief as Sunoo chuckled. Taking her hands in his, he ignored her question in favor of pulling her close.

“Can I hug you?”

Minyoung sighed shakily, moving closer to wrap her arms around his shoulders, making sure to maintain a small distance so that their chests were not touching. She could feel the boy’s arms loosely wrap around her waist as his warm exhale fanned over her neck.

“I’ll be back,” was the only thing he said before parting with a smile, moving on to say his (hopefully temporary) goodbye to Daniel.

Turning around, Minyoung rushed into Hana’s arms. This time, the hug was a tight tangle of arms as the girls held each other close as if that was enough to keep Hana in I-Land. Pulling back slightly to look at the older girl’s face, Minyoung ducked back to bury her face into Hana’s shoulder when she felt tears stinging her eyes.

This was so not fair.

Saying goodbye to the first batch of dropouts was hard enough. Minyoung still remembered the look of lost hope on Taeyong's face as he bid her goodbye, and she didn't think she could handle seeing it again on anyone else's.

Letting go of the older girl, Minyoung watched the five trainees trudge towards the rotating egg, eyes incredibly blurry with tears.

How Hana and Sunoo got eliminated was beyond her when I-Landers like Sophie and Seon were right there. No offense to anyone, but if there were anyone in I-Land whose skills needed the competitive environment Ground promised, it was those two.

But then again, it wasn’t like Minyoung expected any better than the Entrance Test.

She wondered if the voting process was all part of a grand scheme to help the talented but underestimated trainees prove themselves to the other contestants and the viewers, so that no one would question their competence upon their debut. Or more specifically, she desperately hoped that was the case and that the voting was not a cruel joke played by the producers.

That would be a little too cruel, even for a survival show.

As she watched the five contestants leave through the egg with silent tears streaking down her flushed cheeks, Minyoung could only think about one thing. Whatever the producers’ plan was, Minyoung was gonna have to survive through it all if she wanted to debut.

No matter what.

🏷️ 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ( 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 ) @queenriki7 ; @kangseulgithegreat ; @terryfiedgyu ; @d-dilemma ; @enhaslxt ; @loveyjisu ; @pinknjm

INSPIRED + BETA READ BY @enmi-land && SLOW UPDATES

𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗩 𓈒 𓈒 𓈒 𝗠𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 𓈒 𓈒 𓈒 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧

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