1% || I-LAND

trois. ( la position maudite)

Two days before the final countdown reached its end, the thirteen I-LANDERS were all called to the lobby and asked to get inside of the gate. With the countdown pausing, they were all left confused as to what awaited them on the other side of the gate. They were all led to the stage on which they had done their entrance test, the entire front part of the room in shadow.

Naturally getting into a line with the others, Aeri squinted as if that would help her see what hid beneath the shadows of the room. It was to no avail, of course.

Beside her, she felt Heeseung move around nervously. Were they supposed to perform on stage already? His position had suddenly been changed, he wasn't sure to be ready for it yet.

Finally, the lights on the other side of the room brightened, letting them see the reason as to shy they had been called out of their practice rooms. In front of them, stood the famous producer RAIN with a smile and a few papers in hand. Was he there to evaluate them?

Everyone bowed in respect to their senior when he approached them. "Hello everyone, I'm the producer RAIN Jung Jihoon, and I'm in charge of this test," he introduced himself, making a few boys let out a gasp. "While I may be a producer on the outside, I want to mentally support you and become close to you all. I won't use any honorifics, is that okay?" Everyone agreed. Aeri didn't really see herself disagreeing to such a request.

"Is your test preparation coming along well?" he asked them, making them confirm with a few nods. "I'm curious where your skills are at right now, how about you let me see your group choreography?"

Aeri glanced next to her at Heeseung, who looked just as nervous. She wasn't ready to perform in front of anyone yet. She didn't practice enough. She could feel anxiety running through her veins. dancing in front of the boys was one thing, but dancing in front of RAIN was an entirely different thing. He was a professional, what they all dreamed of being.

"It's best if you make mistakes in front of me now," he told them before starting. "It's like with athletes, it's best to make mistakes in front of the coach during practice so that you can fix those mistakes for later on."

Quickly, they all got into formation and waited for the lights to dim. An alarm blared through the room, announcing the start of the music.

And though she knew the choreography by heart at this point, the loud beating of her heart made it difficult for her to keep up with the beat at first. She managed to get back on the beat after a few moments but she knew that it was already too late. She tried to glance at RAIN's expression to see if he had noticed, but he was in her blind spot, being blocked by one of the other boys in front of her.

Even with the small chance that he hadn't noticed it, she did. She knew.

"Make a line now, one line. Hurry, hurry," he rushed them as soon as the choreography came to and end. She didn't have the time to catch her breath before she was running the form a line with the other contestants. "Now, you're going to sing," he demanded.

He wanted to see their ability to sing when out of breath. Thankfully, it was one of the things aeri was good at: stability. she didn't spend this many hours singing while running around and doing planks for nothing.

Each after the other, everyone sand their part, doing their best not to song too out of breath. Aeri couldn't help but glance next to her in worry when Ni-Ki suddenly forgot the lyrics. She willed her face to show nothing even when guilt started to haunt her with the knowledge that she could have done something to help the boy. She had seen it coming, yet had done nothing to stop it.

After he finished his part, he looked down in shame. Guilt squeezing her insides, she slipped her hand in his ans squeezed it once, offering her silent support. She didn't let his hand go until the very last moment as she could feel that it had comforted him a little and she'd be lying if she said it didn't reassure her as well.