Chapter 08

It was the day of the second showcase and also the day when the eliminations officially begin. So naturally, all the guys were more on edge than usual, with the combined fear of delivering a flawless performance and not getting eliminated in the same show, weighing down on them. I, on the other hand, was very excited for their stage; I could not wait to see the end result of how our combined hard work will amaze the crowd and the judges. I was pretty sure that they would deliver a rocking performance if they did even half as good as they did in their practice.

I was standing with them backstage, where they were waiting to be invited and interviewed by the emcees on the stage. I could not help but notice that Chanyeol was visibly fidgety while Baekhyun seemed to be shaking with nervousness. Others too were quiet and nervous.

“Why are you guys so nervous? You did so well last time and I know that you will do even better this time” I said, trying to raise their confidence.

Kyungsoo gave me a small smile that did not reach his eyes and Chanyeol gave me a very watery smile.

“It's not just the performance that we are worried about, Noona” Chanyeol said looking down at me (he is so freaking tall!) “Many of the bands performing consist of former trainees who have way more knowledge about the judges and their preferences than a band like us, who only ever did small underground gigs in front of drunken audiences. I even heard there are rich heirs of famous businessmen in some of the bands, so of course, these bands will have undue advantage over us” he ended with a pout and Baekhyun nodding morosely beside him.

“You know, when I was in middle school, we had a debate competition in our school” I started hesitantly, but with full intention of making them optimistic again “there were many participants, but while everyone was excited to go on the stage and speak, they were also wary because we also had the school principal’s son in our batch and the first prize in every competition he participated belonged to him as he was favoured by the judges all the time. So this time, a new transfer student who had just recently joined our school was also participating, and he knew nothing of the undue favors bestowed on the principal’s son. When he went up to the stage and spoke, he spoke so well that he had the rapt and undivided attention of both the judges and the audience, he spoke so passionately that the audience gave him a standing ovation at the end of his speech, thus the leaving the judges with no option but to award him with the first position. While there were many orators of equal caliber, but he was the one who succeeded because he tried his best while the other gave up even before going up on the stage, thinking that they had no chance whatsoever. My point is, there will always be some people who may have had it easier than you or who never had to ‘climb’ and ‘fight’ for the position that you are now after facing so many hardships, and you can’t do anything about that. But what you can do instead is stun them with your performance and mesmerize them with your singing so that there is no room for any doubt and they have no other choice but to vote for you. Don't give up before you have even started, If you think you have no chance at winning, isn’t it better to go down fighting so that the end you will at least find solace in knowing that you tried your best? ” I ended, feeling the heat rise up my cheeks as I had gotten a bit more passionate than I had initially intended to. But it did have the desired effect. They looked a lot more hopeful and energetic than before evident by Chanyeol’s beaming smile or Jongin’s ‘fighting’.

“Besides, you don’t have anything to fear as long as you have my ‘good luck hug’” I said, as I pulled Kyungsoo who was nearest to me in a hug, followed by each member. It wasn’t until I reached Joonmyeon that I realized how awkward it was, but he did envelope me in his arms and I chose to ignore the goose bumps that rose on my skin when I felt his breath tickle my neck “Thank you” he whispered before pulling away.

“Did you see our performance noona? Did you see it?” Sehun asked eagerly when they rushed off backstage. Their excitement rubbed off on me too, and I was also feeling pretty elated myself. And why wouldn’t I, I was as proud as they were happy now. Based on their last week’s performance and the combined ranking of the judge’s score and the votes from the viewers, they were currently in the top 3. And to top it, they had received the top scores from the judges for their stage this week, thus effectively gaining ‘immunity’ from the next week’s elimination, so of course this was a pretty big thing for celebration.

“Did you see me rap?” asked Chanyeol.

“And me, did you see how I reached the high note?” piped up Baekhyun

“What about me? Did you see my dance in the piano bridge” demanded Jongin.

“Guys guys” Came a voice from behind me. I turned around to find that it was a very smug Joonmyeon “Don’t overwhelm her” he said, looking at me.

“Hyung! Can we go out for celebration?” pleaded Baekhyun.

“You do realize that this was just our second performance?” Joonmyeon, at once donning the mask of the unyielding leader “We still have many stages to prepare and we won’t have any time left if you guys keep insisting for a celebration each time we win”

In the last few days, I started to understand a lot more why Joonmyeon is the way he is. Why everyone mistook him for a softie with no spine at first glance, but in fact, he was what could be constituted as the backbone of the group. I could understand why he, instead of others in his group, was best suited for the role of the leader. He knew exactly when to convince people or when he should be rigid in enforcing his decisions. He carried the softness of silk over the edge of steel. While the other members were a lot more impulsive, he was calculative and r