The Second Chance of A Suicidal Idol

A Final Stretch (7)

Joon-woo was so so nervous. Jung Hyun-Ok's team had performed and done decently well. Their feedback was not as good as Joon-woo's team, but not as bad as Reggie's. They got comments about immature vocals, but an overall good performance. Joon-woo wasn't worried about winning, he knew his advantage well, he was worried about his chances of debut.

Now, the votes were open and would be open for the next two hours before they closed. This vote was for everyone this time. Foreigners, locals, anyone who opened with the link. Last season, the show's winner had almost a million votes. Joon-woo thought that much to be a dream.

Through his interactions with the new and not forgotten producer, he could tell he held some favoritism. But that original debut line up was still clear in his head. All his friends and not him. It slightly worried him.

Carre huffed at Joon-woo's anxiety, as if finding it useless.

"It's really nothing to worry about. Producers love the ones that bring the most views."

"I know, Carre." Joon-woo replied. "But you know what they also love? Money and good relations with rich ceos."

Kite had been quiet ever since Carre came along. Joon-woo looked at the bird who would usually make snide comments with curiosity.

"Kite, do you think I'll be able to debut from here?" Joon-woo asked.

Kite shrugged. "I hope you do."

Joon-woo hummed.

Currently, Joon-woo had isolated himself in an empty practice room. He wasn't practicing, though his dancing still needed heavy work. He couldn't handle the anger that his shitty dancing gave him on top of his anxiety.

I want to debut here, He thought. Not SOUND Enterainment. He wanted to debut with Reggie and Mi Yong and Ryeo Hyun and Jung Hyun-Ok (and not really Baek Du-Ho).

He curled himself into a ball.

He didn't know why he took so much solace in such rooms. Ha-rin was forced upon in this room, groomed. Ha-rin brokedown in these rooms, worked himself to death.

Carre and Kite watched Joon-woo in silence. For once, they were quiet. They didn't bicker or scold Joon-woo.

"You'll debut from here." Kite spoke confidently after a beat of awkward silence.

"I want to." Joon-woo replied with a small scoff.

"You will." Kite replied.

Joon-woo hoped so. He was enjoying this life. He enjoyed it, and part of him was becoming okay with the fact it was temporary. As long as he could be genuinely happy now, did he think he could recover from his life as Ha-rin.

There were footsteps in the hallway that silenced the three, even Kite and Carre who could only be heard by Joon-woo.

"He's probably somewhere over here..." A voice asked.

Joon-woo slightly froze. Was that... Kim Seo-jun?

"Yeah. Sometimes I see him come over here alone. No idea what room though." Another voice asked. Joon-woo couldn't put a name on it, but it was probably another contestant based on the youth-sound it had.

"That freak probably comes over here to suck off the producers..." Kim Seo-jun joked.

Were they talking about... Joon-woo?

The other voice broke into laughter.

Joon-woo stiffened at the malicious tones they held. Really, were they looking for Joon-woo? How pathetic could these guys get?