Kisa was friggin serious. She went on a diet and trained hard every day. She drank nothing but disgusting protein shakes and studied foreign languages and history. She never ate any sweets, even though you tried to tempt her every day.

"Sour skittles, Kisa-ah!" You said desperately. "Look! Reese! Twix bars! Sour belts! Oh, come on, Kisa-ah, you LOVE sour belts!"

Kisa would just shake her blue head, smile at you, and commence with her workout.

"This is so CREEPY!!!" You complained, lying down on the couch in your house. Hwayoung, Dongwoon, Yoseob, Jieun, and Hyunseung were all there, playing games and wating snacks. Kisa was out exercising. She could be running a marathon for all you knew.

"Since when was Kisa interested in winning friggin BEAUTY PAGEANTS??!!!" You moaned desperately. "What happened to our beloved maniacal blue monkey?"

Dongwoon frowned and nodded. "I miss her. We hardly have any time to hang out anymore."

Yoseob returned after refilling the chip bowl and sat on your legs. "Owch, dammit, Yoseob!"

He chuckled and gave you time to remove your legs, then sat down. You put your legs on his lap instead. "Guess there's nothing else we can do but cheer her on, I guess." You sighed.

"What about you two?" Hyunseung asked the other girls. "Aren't you entering?"

"Of course." Hwayoung and Jieun said at the same time. "But why do we need to train?"

"That's true............." Dongwoon said, nodding his head. "You girls don't need to train, you already have the education for this kind of stuff. And Kisa doesn't."

"I hope Yoseob oppa and Dongwoon sunbae and H-H........shy-boy sunbae comes to cheer us on." Hwayoung said, stuttering over Hyunseung's name.

"Oh? You're calling us sunbae now?" Dongwoon said happily.

Hwayoung stuck out her tongue. "That's just because when I enter the contest, I must be mature and composed. I can't go around calling people "unnie" or "oppa", can I? I must call them respectfully "sunbae" or "hoobae". That's all."

Suddenly, you had an idea. You sat up quickly, nearly toppling over the chip bowl. "Yah, Dongwoon...........do you think she's entering to protect you?"

Dongwoon looked baffled. "Protect me? From what?"

"Well, if you haven't noticed, that queenka Krystal has been slobbering all over you lately.........."

"Oh yeah, that's true............" Dongwoon said, in a tone that obviously stated he hadn't noticed at all.

"Idiot." Everyone snorted. Dongwoon looked offended.

"Well, I just hope Kisa knows what she's doing." He mumbled. "I honestly don't care whether she wins or loses, but it would if she got out in the first round."

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Finally, it was the day. You wished Kisa, Hwayoung, and Jieun luck as they went backstage. You went to sit next to Yoseob and Hyunseung in one of the rows of seats. Dongwoon sat next to Yoseob.

"I wonder what they have to do." You said over the excited babble of the other students.

"Who knows?" Yoseob shrugged. He took hold of your hand and drew playful circles into your palm. It tickled. "The three stages are beauty, intelligence, and a wild card."

You giggled. "Seriously, Yoseob, that tickles! Stop!"

"Only if you kiss me!" Yoseob teased, continuing to draw extremely ticklish circles onto your palm.

"S-seriously Yoseob, it t-t-tickles.........." You said in between giggles.

Hyunseung leaned over you and pulled your arm out of his reach. "Stop that, Yoseob-sshi. It's starting!"

Backstage, Hwayoung was peeking into the crowds and say this. She flared up in anger. "Why the hell is Hyunseung sunbae doing embracing ~~~~~~~~ sunbae like that? Why is he holding her arm? No, wait--------why am I even jealous of that? NO, WAIT!!!! WHY AM I EVEN JEALOUS AT ALL??!!!

The principal came on stage. "Alright. Backstage, we have rows and rows of different kinds of clothing. It's the contestant's job to pick out the right combination to suit her looks and style. She will then go down the stage like it is a runway and perform the Walk."

"The Walk?" You hissed. "The WALK?" You nearly stood up and shouted indignantly. "WHAT THE #*$@ IS A WALK??!!!!!!"

"Calm down, ~~~~~~~-ah." Yoseob said calmly, pulling you back down.

"But how the hell is Kisa supposed to know what a Walk is?" You groaned. "She's going to get kicked off before she even gets a chance!"

"No, she won't. It's okay, ~~~~~~~-ah." Dongwoon said quietly. You stopped shouting and looked at him curiously. He smiled. "Kisa is smarter than you think. I bet she has a way to pass this stage. No doubt about it."

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Kisa looked around frantically. Girls were already pulling dresses and clothes off of the racks and scrambling to see if they worked out.

"What should I do? I've never done this before!" She groaned, flipping through clothes at random.

Girls giggled around her. "Look at that blue-haired freak." She heard some whisper. "Isn't that just sad? To think she had a chance in this competition?"

"Losers should just leave."

"No way is she winning with THAT hair..........."

Kisa scowled, her eyes burning with angry tears. Suddenly, she felt a gentle hand pat both of her shoulders. It was Hwayoung and Jieun.

"We can't let you get out in the first stage, Kisa-ah." Jieun said, smiling widely. "We'll help you out this time around."

"Really?" Kisa gasped joyfully.

"Here." Hwayoung shoved a bundle of clothes into her arms. "It's perfect for you. Now hurry and get it on!"

"R-right!" Kisa stuttered, racing to pull the clothes on.

"Hurry! We have some time before it starts!" Jieun said. "I'll show you how to do the Walk."

"Runway models do it all the time." Hwayoung instructed. "Lisanna showed me how to do it once."

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"I will read the names out of the contestants as they Walk down the stage and back out the other exit. Ready, everyone? #1..........."

You dazed through a few names before the principal called out "#10, Yang Hwayoung..........."

"It's Hwayoung!" Yoseob said, leaning forwards.

Hwayoung walked out, looking as dainty and polite as a little lady. She wore a rather old-fashioned dress that somehow looked good on her. She looked like a delicate, beautiful, porcelain doll. She looked at the crowd and flashed a huge smile. Hyunseung's eyes grew big when he saw her. You smiled.

"..................#23, Lee Jieun..................."

Jieun, of course, looked absolutely gorgeous. She decided to go on y and glamorous as her look, wearing a short black cocktail dress and strutting down the stage as if she really was on a runway.

"........................#31, Natsumi Kisa................."

"It's her, Dongwoon! Yoseob! Hyunseung!" You practically stood up to see her. Your jaw dropped, as did many in the audience.

Kisa looked stunning. Her blue hair was pulled out of its pigtails and flowed down her back like a waterfall, making her pale skin look even paler in comparison. All the hard work paid off------she looked slim and graceful in a long, simple white halter dress. She looked like a mermaid goddess. She walked determinedly------not as graceful as Hwayoung or as confident as Jieun, but at least she didn't mess up and stumble, like a few girls did. You applauded along with the crowd, clapping hard.

"....................And now, ladies and gentlemen, please wait as our unbiased judges vote!"

There was a long moment of tense silence. Finally, the principal called out the names of those who passed.

"#4, #5, #6, #10, #15, #20, #21, #23, #27, #31, #34, #36. Anyone who's number I did not call, please leave the stage."

Girls sobbed bitterly as they disappointedly left. There were only twelve girls left, including Hwayoung, Jieun, and Kisa.

"It is now time for the intelligence stage. There are five questions each. Each contestant must have knowledge about foreign language and history, as well as common manners and etiquette. If a contestant answers a question wrong, they are immediately disqualified."

The first girl got it wrong the first time. The second girl got two questios right but couldn't tell what an entire cutlery dining set was. The third girl got four questions right but couldn't answer the last question within the time limit. Hwayoung answered everything perfectly, of course, and passed. The next girl was Krystal, who also answered everything and passed. The next two girls answered wrong. Jieun passed. The next girl couldn't answer even one question. Kisa stuttered a bit, but she got the right answer within two seconds of the time limit and passed with relief. The rest of the girls tried their best but were cut as well.

It was down to Hwayoung, Jieun, Kisa, and Krystal.

"Now we are entering our wild card stage!" The principal said into the microphone. "This stage is called 'Cooking Talent'! In the school kitchens, we have prepared a wild assortment of food. It is your job to create a dish that will surpass the other contestant's dishes. We will monitor you on camera. The judges will taste the food and declare who is the winner!"

"That's great! Kisa will have a fair chance!" You said in relief. "She knows how to cook!"

"Oh, ." Yoseob says, paling.

"What? What happened?"

"It's true, Kisa and Jieun and Krystal must know how to cook..........but Hwayoung's never cooked a thing in her life."

"Oh, ." We all groaned.