I won't lose to you

5

The first episode aired, and the response was overwhelmingly positive on Eindra's side. People were making fan edits of her, with clips from the promotional video, the episode and also from her introduction video, which had gone kind of viral. She couldn't tell if people liked the sexy part or the embarrassingly awkward part where the doors closed on her trying to put her legs behind her head. She also stumbled upon some fan accounts for her. However, she did notice that everything she saw about her was from international fans, and she barely saw any videos or comments in Korean.

And also, Duri was very popular, even more than he was before. People were going insane over his Jelly Pop cover, Eindra kept on finding edits of him when she was trying to watch ones of herself. It pissed her off, to be honest. Mnet had also included Eindra's reaction to Duri's performance, which was devastating for Eindra because Duri did not need to know her mouth was hanging open and she was practically drooling. She was really dreading seeing him again, because he was definitely going to tease her for it. On the plus side, Duri's reaction to Eindra's performance had also been included, and he was basically staring bug-eyed in a state of shock. Exactly the reaction she was hoping for.

They all gathered together to reveal the results of the vote from the first episode. Eindra ended up in seventh, which she was happy with. She knew it was a competition of popularity rather than talent, so all she had to do was be more appealing to the audience, because her talent had got her second place from the judges. Iseul got sixth, Kaeto fourteenth and Dayao thirteenth. Aera was unfortunately lower down in 23rd. It was all fine until first place was revealed. Lee Duri. And suddenly, Eindra was no longer okay with seventh. Suddenly, her entire world was crashing down, and it was all his fault. She can't beat him in talent, and she is nowhere near beating him in popularity, so does she even have a chance?

She put her thoughts on pause for a second and wondered why one person had gotten her so riled up. She realised it was because he was so intimidating. He had the visual, talent, and the personality. He was the fan favourite, and it's likely that she would never surpass him in votes, because she just wasn't as captivating off stage as he was. He was smiley and kind and funny, she was just bland. She looked over at him, and he was beaming from ear to ear having just received the news he was in first place. She wanted to rip her hair out, or his. The jealousy was almost killing her.

The first mission went by, and Eindra performed as well as she could. Jimin gave off the perfect energy for the chorus and Eindra added a high note to one-up the boys' team. Her team won, however Eindra came in second amongst her own team, as Jimin gained the most votes. Eindra wasn't upset about that, because Jimin absolutely devoured the killing part.

Duri excelled in his performance, as expected, gaining first place. That's when Eindra started to feel bitter about her second place. She didn't feel negatively towards Jimin for beating her, but she felt jealous of Duri. She just didn't understand why she was so obsessed with him. Why it was only him who bothered her. In the current ranking, there are five other people who were ahead of her, but for some reason it's only him who pushes her towards anger and resentment. Maybe she needed therapy.

After the first mission, they had some time to relax before the first elimination. Dayao encouraged Eindra to go out for a drink with their team to celebrate their win, and Eindra actually agreed with little persuasion needed.

"Thank you so much for picking me, Ein," Jimin said, who had already had quite a bit to drink,"When I received one star, I thought I'd never be able to prove myself, but you saved me,"