Stay - Yang Jungwon 양 정원

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

I got up from Jungwon's bed and glanced at the timer, "I'm going to check my score now... then I'll pack," I decided, putting on my shoes again.

"Tell us your score after!" Geonu yelled as I was about to leave.

"Elemento of surprise~" I cooed, giving a thumbs up before leaving.

Everyone else seemed to be in their rooms, or somewhere else as there was no one in the living room or kitchen. I wondered how many people had checked their scores already. I went over the performance in my head, trying to figure out what score I probably got. Everything went smoothly, I was shaky in the beginning but I got better afterward. I sighed to myself realizing that it was almost impossible to know my score. The judges were the ones who rated my best, and it was pretty clear they gave no mercy in handing out everyone's score.

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"I feel that Chaeri and Jungwon were the only two who knew the important parts of the song," Wonderkid commented.

Doobu nodded, "I think even if this wasn't her best performance... she still did very well."

"What I want to see next test is that same confidence and energy she had in her entrance test," Sung Deuk said.

"Ah, imagine, once she gets more confident, everyone else is in trouble," Rain joked.

"She also led everyone during practice," Zico pointed out. "Which is not an easy thing to do, on top of being center."

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There was no one in the voting room as I entered. Just me and the camera. I hesitated for a second if I wanted to know now. "Just rip off the bandaid," I mumbled to myself. I clicked 'View Score' and automatically my card appeared. I hit confirm and looked up at the screen.

Individual Score: 78

"Oh shit." I immediately covered my mouth, looking at the camera. But then I started laughing, almost crying out of relief. There was no way. I got the 78. I placed my hand against my heart, feeling how fast it was beating. It lifted a little bit of stress off my shoulder. If I was eliminated to the Ground, I could leave knowing that I got the highest score.

I stared at the screen longer, ingraining the memory in my head before clicking exit on the screen and leaving the voting room. I tried hiding my smile as I headed back upstairs.

However, when I came back, the blue room was filled with almost everyone. My spot on Jungwon's and even my own bed, was taken up by everyone. "I was gone for not even five minutes," I laughed as Youngbin scooted over for me to lay down next to Jungwon.

Both Jungwon and I yelled when Niki suddenly jumped onto the bed, laying across both our backs, "NIKI!" I protested, trying to get my arms out from under myself. These were the moments when I enjoyed being an only child.

"This is a comfortable bed," Niki giggled like a mischievous little kid.

"Niki, come on!" Jungwon complained when Niki shifted his weight off me and completely onto Jungwon.

"Wait, Chae, you just checked your score? Just now?" Seon asked, taking a bite of a granola. I nodded, trying to hide my smile.

"But we don't know who got 78," Youngbin muttered. I pretended to be interested in my nails as they continued talking about the 78.

Seon sighed, "I just want to know who got that 78," He said, getting into bed next to Geonu. "Ah, well I guess I just revealed it wasn't me. If only we knew who got 78, since we know each other's skills," Seon continued. "We can figure out which standards they used in evaluating us," I looked at Jungwon and saw him holding back a smile. But I saw those dimples.