Lin Zhu participates in the Chinese survival program Idol Producer where she must compete with one hundred male trainees to be part of China's new group.
Will she make it?
Will she make new friends during her time there?
Will there be something more...
I headed to the practice room and began preparing everything. As I was connecting the laptop to the speakers, I got a text and I picked up my phone.
MC Jin: Hey, Lin! I just wanted to tell you that I talked to the staff and they gave us the okay for Zhou Rui's idea. Tell the boys, please. I will be there at around half past ten. Our rehearsal is at eleven. How are you doing with the other group? Are you too stressed?
Lin: Everything is fine, thank you. I learnt a dance fairly quickly so all that is left now is to practice. I'll tell the boys as soon as they get here. I'm glad it was given the okay. We will be waiting for you! I'll try to do my best leading them, although I'm sure it would all go much smoother with you!
Once I sent him that, I went back to work. In a few minutes it all was ready. I then began stretching and warming up once again just to pass the time while I waited. They were taking longer than they were supposed to, so I began rehearsing Agent J while waiting for them.
As I was dancing, the door opened revealing them all. I was about to stop, but they told me to finish, so I did. They all then sat down to watch me dance and, when I finished, applauded.
"The body rolls!" Yanjun and Xiao Gui said squealing.
"Come on, grow up!" I said and hit the back of their heads. "Let's practice okay? Oh and, by the way, MC Jin told me we can proceed with Zhou Rui's suggestion. The staff gave the okay."
*************************
At dinner time, we all headed down to the canteen and sat down with our respective groups. As we were eating, though, a woman from thr staff suddenly came in.
"Ding Zeren, Li Xikan, Zhu Zhengting, Justin, Bi Wenjun, Li Quanzhe, Fan Chengcheng and Zhu Lin?" She called out and we all stood up. "Please follow me."
As soon as she said that, we all followed her. The rest of the boys where whispering, wondering why she may have called us. We were also quite nervous ourselves. We didn't know the reason behind it either.
Once we reached the staff building, we went to the rather familiar executive producer's office. I was becoming really nervous as the last time I went there was when he told Chengcheng and I to go on that date.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Please, do take a seat while I finish this." Jiang Bin told us covering the speaker on his phone.
There was not enough space for us as we were eight. Two sat on the chairs and three sat down on the couch. Two sat down on the couch's arm rests. I decided to just stand up behind the boys of the couch.
"Sit here, Lin." Chengcheng offered me his seat.
"It's okay, don't worry." I reassured me.
"You can sit on someone's lap. I don't mind." Jiang Bin said as he hung up the phone. "Let me write something down. I'll be with you in a second."
I then sat on Chengcheng's lap awkwardly and we waited for Jiang Bin to be finished.
"I'm sure you will all be wondering why I called you here." He said standing up and leaning on the table. "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. I actually have good news."
"What is it, sir?" Chengcheng asked him.
"It's actually about your problem." He told him. "Your CEO sent me his answer. Needless to say, it was positive. He has agreed to let you date."
We then all cheered. Chengcheng hugged me tightly while the boys high fived each other.
"But!" He suddenly said and we stopped in an instant. "My condition is that you can't officially reveal your relationship until the program ends. After the ranking reveal, you are free to do whatever you want.
"So, as soon as they say the ranks, we are free to reveal it?" Chengcheng asked.
"Yes, as soon as we reveal your spot, you are free." Jiang Bin said nodding. "If there are no more questions, you are free to leave. Not you, Lin. I need to talk to you about something."
The boys then all left and I sat down on one of the chairs in front of his desk while he took a seat and typed something on his computer.
"I wanted to give you your schedule and guide for the final, which you already know will be live." He told me and handed my a bunch of papers. "You are expected to present along with Yixing. We need you to be less serious and joke around from time to try to make it more entertaining. As far as I know, you are a natural on that aspect, so just be yourself. Also, there are the two performances."
"Did Zhang PD give you all the files?" I asked him and he nodded.
"Yes. I want you to perform <My New Swag> and <Ego>." He told me as he checked the names on his computer. "I think both can lift the nervous mood of the final."
"Okay, I'll work on them." I told him.
"If you need back up dancers, feel free to ask any of the eliminated boys as they will be also attending the final." He informed me and I nodded. "That was all. You can go back to practice. I'm sure you are busy."
After that, I bowed and left. As soon as I closed the door, I let out a <Yes!> that came out higher than what I expected, so everyone working there looked at me weirdly.
"Sorry..." I apologised, bowing and smiling awkwardly.
