You carefully lifted up the window, not wanting to make too much noise. Your parents didn’t exactly give you permission to go out since you’ve been practicing at Teddy’s club every chance you got. But tonight was the night and there was no way that they could stop you.

From the hallway you heard a door creak and you froze. Please don’t catch me, please, please… You heard it close and footsteps right after. Freaking out you carefully shut the door and jumped into your bed, covering your fully clothed body under the comforter and closed your eyes.

The door opened and your mom poked her head inside. She rubbed her eyes and nodded when she saw you ‘fast asleep’. After hearing the door close you waited a few minutes before opening your eyes.

Making as little noise as possible you got out, putting the pillows under the covers as a decoy. When you finished you heard light rasping at your window.
Yongguk smiled brightly and waved. You happily went over, being cautious when opening the window.

“Hi~”, he kissed you. “Are you ready?”
“Mhm.” you smiled, “But be quiet, my parents are asleep.”
He raised a brow and looked at your door, “Then let’s hurry up!”

Your jaw dropped when you reached the venue for the competition. It was twice the size of Teddy’s club and it was packed with people waiting to see who would be performing. “Whoa.” you breathed.
“Don’t get nervous now babe.” Yongguk squeezed your hand.
“I’ve never been in front of this many people before.”, he hugged you tightly, making sure that you wouldn’t get lost in the crowd.

While heading backstage you caught sight of the VIP section, were the judges were. You didn’t catch any faces, only that they were all wearing suits.
“Bracelets?” You turned, seeing a bouncer by the backstage entrance.
Yongguk lifted your laced hands, showing him your pink one and his red one.

He nodded and unclipped the velvet rope. Backstage you saw Jay and the other boys, sitting calmly in a circle. “I’ll see you before it starts.” Yongguk brought you close, pecking your lips.
“Okay.” you beamed, giving a wave to the rest of Soul Connection.
“Noona~” Jongup sang brightly and hugged you.

“Finally!” Jay gave a dramatic sigh.
“Chill.” You rolled your eyes, “How much longer?” you asked.
“About ten minutes.” he took a deep breath.
You plopped down next to Junkyung, “Are you excited oppa?”
He nodded proudly, “I just hope I don’t slip on my way off stage like the last time we practiced.”
You held back your laughter, recalling the incident.

From the corner of your eye you could see someone looking in your direction.
You turned and met eyes with Seungho. He blinked, giving you a quick smile.
Inside your head you felt bad that you hadn’t talked to him since he admitted to helping Jieun. To show him that you’d forgiven him, you smiled back.

“COMPETITORS TO THE STAGE!”
Everyone rose to their feet, feeling the atmosphere getting tense. Yongguk held on to your hand as everyone formed a straight line, hearing the cheers of the crowd.
“EVERYONE, EVERYONE!!” Teddy stepped up, “HERE ARE THE TOP FIVE!”

You smiled, giving a small wave to Min, Jia, and Fei who were smack in the front.
“The judges have randomly chosen the order. It’s all back to back, no intermission.” Teddy continued, “Once the five have done their performances, two teams will be eliminated based on the scores.”

“From there, the top three will compete. Now, the prize~” He smiled. You all stole glances at each other, wondering what the winning team would get.
“These judges guys…they aren’t our usual ones no sir. Whoever wins will get a contract of five years under a company that I cannot name.” he spoke each word louder since the crowd cheered.

On the stage each everyone’s eyes widened. “Five years?” you whispered.
“That’s a really big prize.” Jay gulped.
“Competitors, are you ready?” Teddy smiled.
“HELL YEAH!” you all shouted.
“Alright! The order is as follows, drum roll please~

…..

…..

…..

…..

…..

…..

MBLAQ.

SOUL CONNECTION.

BLOCK B.

JAY PARK.

and BIG BANG!”

Backstage you all huddled together in a circle.
“Whatever happens tonight, we’re all friends.” Zico said. “Even if we’ve been through some and jumped to conclusions and all that stuff.” he smiled cheekily at Seungho.
“Whoever wins, wins. No hard feelings.” You nodded, “We’ll all cheer for each other.”
“MBLAQ, on stage!” You all glanced back, hearing the crowd start to chant.
“Alright guys.” CSP grinned, “Let’s finish this.”

--

It seemed like an eternity after you finished. If Jay made it to the top three, which you hoped he would, then you would do another song that he had prepared. You didn’t tell Yongguk that though, it involved some PG-13 moves with Dongwoo, nothing too bad though but still you didn’t want him getting mad.

“You okay babe?” Yongguk tightened his arms around your waist.
“Mhm.” You opened your eyes, trying not to fall asleep. The competitors were not allowed to leave the backstage area until the top three were announced.
It was nerve-racking waiting for the results.

Teddy jogged in, waving you all over to the stage. As everyone filed in the crowed cheered loudly.
“Now, I have the three teams who are in the finals.” Teddy held up a small card.
Mir leaned over, trying to read it.
“Yah!” Teddy slapped the bill of his hat over his eyes, “No peeking!”
You giggled, “Firstly, give it up for them again! They did amazing!”

As the noises died down you could feel the nerves settle in.
“I will announce the three in random order.” he solemnly looked at the line up.
“The first group to advance is
…..

…..

…..

BIG BANG!”

The five boys’ jaws dropped, slowly reacting to their name. Teddy motioned for them to step forward, claiming their place.

“The next one is

…..

…..

…..

MBLAQ!”

Squealing like little girls they jumped up and down, and moved up to stand next to Big Bang. Yongguk squeezed your hand tighter. There was no chance that both of you would make it. It was bound to happen but neither of you liked the feeling. Teddy pressed his lips together as he looked at the card, a little confused at the line up.

“And the last spot belongs to

…..

…..

…..

JAY PARK!”

You looked up at Yongguk, his head hung low with closed eyes.
“Oppa.” you hugged him.
He shook his head, “It’s okay, I’m fine.” he smile weakly.
Instead of cheering with each other, you all went up to Soul Connection. Disappointment was written on their faces as you exchanged hugs and handshakes. You all followed Jay, doing the same thing to Block B before taking the spot on the far left, next to MBLAQ. Teddy frowned, it’s not that he didn’t think that Jay didn’t deserve it, but he had heard the judges talking. He heard them say that SC did amazing, so why weren’t they in the finals?