1% || I-LAND

quatre. ( le remplacement )

There was a heavy silence as the I-LANDERS tried to regain their composure. Eventually, Heeseung -- who still held Aeri's hand tightly -- broke the silence. "Let's welcome them happily," he said to the others, earning a few nods.

The boys wiped their tears and straightened their posture as they waited for the new I-LANDERS to arrive. It was a strange feeling knowing that they had just cried about their friends's departure, only to welcome those who'd be replacing them.

When the gate started to turn, everyone stopped breathing because of the suspense. Aeri squeezed Heeseung's hand, receiving one back. Finally, when they started seeing who was inside the gate and had managed to leave the GROUND, the girl couldn't help but smile.

Sunoo was back.

She let go of Heeseung's hand, ignoring the newfound coolness, and went to embrace her friend. They had only been around each other for a day and yet, she felt as if she had known him for just as long as she had known her trainee friends. perhaps it was his bright personality that made her feel this way.

When they let go of each other, she watched as the others greeted the new I-LANDERS with the same warmth she used for Sunoo. Not knowing any of them apart from EJ -- who she had voted for during the entrance test but still had not interacted with -- she simply smiled at the ones who she met eyes with.

They all let noises of surprise escape their mouths when the new banners with face of the six new I-LANDERS dropped next to the old ones. "Look, mine is next to yours," pointed Sunoo with excitement while everyone clapped in awe.

After putting their nameplates in empty seats, Sunoo putting his next to Aeri's, everyone returned to their old -- or new in the newcomers's case -- seat.

Without further ado, The Voice spoke once again, this time not to announce who would be eliminated but instead to announce the next test. The word TEAMWORK appeared on the screen as it spoke. "We're going to announce the second test that will determine your shared fate."

Aeri felt the nerves in her rise.

When the choreography to Fire by BTS appeared next on the screen, everyone was left shocked at the difficulty of the performance. There were two moves were someone needed to be carried by the other parts. It was clear just by watching it that if one person was off, the entire performance would look wrong.

"This test will be performed on the I-LAND stage after 6 days." continued The Voice, making Aeri's eyebrows knit her eyebrows together in worry. The dance was way more difficult than the first one but they had less time for it. It would only make practice way more nerve-racking for them.

"The cooperative dance performance is crucial to this test. This is also based on joint responsibility and the average of the individual scores will become the team score. The result will determine the number of members that will be sent to the GROUND. Everyone must receive a high score to keep more people in I-LAND. You will be able to determine who gets to stay in I-LAND."

Same as last time then. Assuming that the entire speech would be similar to the one from the week before, she was tented not to listen and instead analyze the different parts, it was her guts that forced her to listen. And she was glad to have listened to her guts.

"The I-LANDER with the highest individual score for this test will receive an elimination exemption card. This can be used on any I-LANDER including yourself. In the case you use the elimination exemption card, the next elimination candidate will be eliminated."

Everyone gasped, including Aeri. She needed this card. Every day, her spot in I-LAND felt more and more unsafe.

"Please decide on your parts now. The parts may change at any time," finished The Voice.