The Second Chance of A Suicidal Idol

A Final Stretch (3)

As Joon-woo professed, the reaction-focused practice showcase went totally in Joon-woo's favor. Though in the episode they wouldn't show the performances but only the surprised and exaggerated reactions of contestants, Joon-woo encouraged his team to do their best.

Team Three, that included Jung Hyun-Ok were surprised at just how prepared Team Two led by Joon-woo was. And if Team Three, who were moderately prepared, were surprised by Team Two's stage-ready performance, you can bet Team One was knocked out of their socks.

As Joon-woo staged, Mi Yong loudly complimented and thanked Joon-woo for his good leadership. The oldest contestant listening to the leadership and thanking the youngest contestant. Wasn't such a sight to behold?

Misa and FYP spectated the showcase, giving dramatized reviews of each team.

"To be honest..." FYP would begin, stopping himself from talking for ten prolonged seconds. "(insert contestant name)..." He would pause again.

Joon-woo wanted to roll his eyes everytime, it was how they always did their evaluations to make the mood more tense for the camera.

Luckily, only good reviews came Team Two's way. Only good reviews with the slight criticism of Sa Jung-Soo and Cha Ji-Hyuk's vocals at certain points in the performance. Misa raved over Joon-woo's guitar playing, only further pushing the PD-pick agenda (Misa wasn't even a producer yet he got glares when complimented by her!).

Team One got chewed out the most. FYP saw their shaky vocals and the way Kim Seo-jun even forgot a line in the song and took his chance for more drama. He called the team inexperienced and unprepared and when he got to Reggie, he simply nodded his head and shamed his leadership skills.

But Reggie, who had been down lately, didn't even faltar the harsh criticisms. As if his lashing out at Kim Seo-jun had empowered him, he had seemed to change...

Joon-woo shivered thinking about just how scary Reggie when angry was. Funny enough, most of the times Reggie had even been rumored to be angry was for Joon-woo's sake. Really, wasn't that fueling a bromance even outside of media purposes?

Honestly, despite Joon-woo's ulterior motives to prove that a leader who got listened to was the most efficient way to have a good performance, he gained a lot of insight from the showcase. He got a better grasp of what contestants to avoid, what ones he could linger around without getting sneered at, and the various talents and advantages each contestant had.

Most of the contestants were very dance-oriented. In fact, Mi Yong and Ryeo Hyun appeared to be the only all-rounders to be; and Joon-woo, the only main vocalist. That brought a little hope to Joon-woo's cause. Perhaps he could debut now, with the producer's and even the fan's favor.

Things seemed to be going well now, after the many trials of struggle, and Joon-woo was actually a bit excited to see where this would go.

–+–

Kim So-yeon, otherwise known as @miyongsleft_ball, sat at her computer screen with a face mask and silk pijamas. She, in all her 25 years of life, had never so excitedly waited for a live stream.

It was the final challenge of Producer10. After this challenge, fans all over the world would have access to a voting portal and put in their votes for the debut line up.

Printed photos of Winner merch decorated her walls, and among the mass of Mi Yong, was a printed photo of Joon-woo. That's right, Mi Yong was Kim So-yeon's bias and Joon-woo, her bias-wrecker.

Kim So-yeon had called her mother and sister for the first time in two months just to beg for them to vote for Joon-woo and Mi Yong. She wanted to debut. She needed them to debut. She had spammed her old highschool group chats to vote for them. She had asked all her K-Pop stan friends and non-K-pop friends to vote for them.

She smiled widely at the screen. The Producer10 logo spun and waiting music played. The live viewer count was 600,000 and this was just one streaming platform it would air on. On TV, viewers watched. On Metube, viewers watched. There were about four platforms airing the finale, and almost a million people in total, were watching.

The Producer10 logo suddenly changed and revealed a large empty stage. On it was Misa and FYP, they locked eyes with the camera.

Misa wore a grand gown that ran to her ankles, it was tight on her legs and highlighted her thin figure. She wore a masquerade mask. FYP too, wore a masquerade mask, but instead had dress pants with a pearl-colored dress shirt.

"Welcome, viewers, to the finale of Producer10 season two!" Misa cheered with a rich-like laugh. "In the beginning, we had 50 contestants, 50 trainees with the dreams to debut. Now, we have just 15..."

Kim So-yeon rolled her eyes. She really didn't care about those eliminated. The one that saddened her the most was Bo Jaesang, and even then she never shed a tear.

"..and even in the 15, only 5 will go on to debut." Misa revealed with a sly smile.

Kim So-yeon paused. Park Joon-woo, Mi Yong, Jung Hyun-Ok, Reggie, Baek Du-Ho, and Ryeo Hyun... That was 6 people she wanted to debut, but only 5 would? She clenched her fists. Their producers were too cruel!

The chat rang with shocked reactions:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
What????????
😲😲😲😲😲
no way bruh
💗💗💗Du-Ho Oppa💗💗💗
only five????????
Reggie pls debut 💗💗💗

A big 5 appeared on the backdrop of the stage.

"Haha, just five?" FYP asked Misa in an obvious act.

Misa nodded, "Only five. But there always could be a twist..." She winked at the camera.

Kim So-yeon nodded rigorously at the obvious hints Misa was dropping. Her picks could debut. Her picks would debut.

"But, let's not make the viewers wait so long..." Misa hummed.

Her and FYP suddenly stepped aside, revealing 4/5 of the members of Team One standing at microphones. Contestant Kim Seo-jun sat instead, at a piano a yard away from his team.

They all wore oddly styled wedding suits in various blacks and whites and their microphones were decorated in red ribbon. The piano had a trail of grand red carpet at the bottom.

The chat blew up in surprise:

💗💗💗Seo-jun oppa💗💗💗
💗💗💗Seo-jun oppa💗💗💗
💗💗💗Seo-jun oppa💗💗💗
ahhhh Reggie looks so good in the suittttt
💗💗💗Du-Ho oppa💗💗💗💗💗💗Du-Ho oppa💗💗💗
💗💗💗Du-Ho oppa💗💗💗💗💗💗Du-Ho oppa💗💗💗
wedding concept??????

Kim So-yeon looked at Reggie's tall and slender figure, her eyes were practically in hearts. He wore a white suit with a rose poking out of the pocket. His hair was dyed to a more platinum blond. Baek Du-Ho wore a black suit that suited his secluded aura well. There was a purple rose in his pocket. Kim So-yeon always thought the 19 year old to be a bit gloomy and he and Joon-woo appeared to have a strained relationship in the most recent episode.

Nevertheless, she locked eyes with Reggie's slightly nervous and giddy figure and smiled. She knew Reggie had worked hard to improve his vocals. She was excited to see how this would go.