Episode Two

Part Three

All thirteen contestants gathered on the set, sitting in the same chairs. Minji was behind the judge's desk, glancing at her cards before putting them aside. Phoenix gupled, worried. Taeha smiled at her before turning her attention to Suji, who was on her other side. The elder seemed to almost be bothered by something.

"You girls will play a game and the winner gets to pick and assign a composer to the rest of the girls." Minji said, looking up at the girls. They all looked around, then at their own teammate. What kind of a game is it? Minji smirked, leaning back and tilting her head slightly. All the girls looked worried, "It's a simple little party game- Or, it was. I thought of something a little more fun. You'll be doing an obstacle course. This has a lot to do with your skills as an idol, though that probably surprises you. An idol needs a lot of physical endurance and, well, I'm not sure that any of you have that yet."

The girls gasped softly. If they weren't worried before, they definitely were now.

"But, only one person from each team will participate. Choose who will go wisely. Get into your teams. Break!" The girls nodded and rushed over to their partners, except for Nabi and Iris. They walked slowely to each other, not really wanting to be called a team.

 "I, um, I'm a pretty active person," Nabi started awkwardly, "I think I could..."

"Fine, then," Iris agreed simply, turning away.

Uh oh, how will those two get along?

The others were busy talking about who should go. "Umm, I'm not really athletic." Stacy said, looking at the other two in her group.

Daily raised a brow, incredulous. However, she resorted to shaking her head, turning instead to look at Seul.

"I'm only really good at one sport. Are you willing to take this one for the team?" The vocalist asked seriously. She herself may at exercising, but if she had to do it, she certainly would. She wanted to win.

"Yeah, no problem!"

Meanwhile Taeha and Phoenix played rock, paper, scissors to decide. The lose would be the one to compete. In the end, Phoenix won with paper.

"Taeha, you can do this," Phoenix said happily. The former idol kew she couldn't do it, so the best she could so was cheer her teammate on.

"I literally hate exercising," Sophia said immediately once she and Seoyun met up.

"Good, I like it!"

"Unnie, I wanna do it!" Minyoung said happily once she got to Suji. The younger was basically jumping in her spot.

"No, I want to," Suji denied, looking with a small glare at the younger. Minyoung stopped jumping at the glare and pouted.

"But I want to do it-- Oh I mean, Let me do it, I'm more athletic!" Minyoung stopped pouting and glared back at Suji. The older seemed frustrated, arms crossed and hip jutted out.

"I'll do it, Minyoung" She repeated firmly.

Maybe these two are worse...

"But we need to win." Minyoung shook her head stubbornly. On the other hand, Bonnie and Lily were looking at each other, trying to get one another to crack and say yes. They had been since Minji called break.

"Okay, okay, fine, I'll do it," Bonnie sighed, one hand on her hip.

"Okay, do well. We need a good dance song." Lily said in English, grinning at the other girl.

"Oh, and, the 2 winners can have special guests." Minji added with a sickeningly sweet smile, which caused even more of a stir.

 "Oh my God," Suji nearly cursed, but she caught herself. She and Minyoung seemed to be in a battle of will, and the scene changed to an outside course. The six girls in the lineup were Nabi, Seul, Taeha, Seoyun, Bonnie, and surprisingly Minyoung. Suji looked particularly dark among the remaining contestants, who sat on two rows of benches. Minji was dressed in a tank top, short shorts, and a baseball cap. She held a megaphone in her right hand. Seoyun was simple as well, a black and white stripped shirt, and Adidas sweatpants and tennis shoes. Minyoung sported a half-sleeved white shirt and black shorts. The shirt had words bordering the collar and stripes on the large sleeved. Nabi wore a black T-shirt, black leggings, and pink and white tennis shoes. She was the first to show a pop of color. Taeha was in a simple long-sleeved white T-shirt, and red shorts and shoes. Seul had the most color, a green shirt reading "To Love Onself Is The Beginning of A Lifetime Romance" in bold white text. Her shorts were a matching green, and shoes a loud pink. Bonnie seemed out of place with her e tank sopt and stretchy jean shorts. Minyoung look at Suji with a smug look, before getting ready like the rest of the girls. Minji held up her megaphone and turned it on.

"And go in 3... 2.... 1! Go girls!"

Nabi was by far the fastest from the start, diving under the rope net into the mud without hesitation. Seoyun and Seul were close behind, the next Minyoung, Bonnie, and Taeha. Sophia screamed for Seoyun to go faster, but instead Minyoung pulled ahead of not only Seoyun and Seul, but Nabi as well. She scrambled onto the platform, looking at the foam pieces on water she'd jump on. If she fell off, she'd have to start again. Minyoung swiftly jumped from foam to foam. Thank goodness she's light and oddly can balance on uneven surfaces. 😅 It's amazing seeing as she has a hard time balancing on flat surfaces. Seul was next to enter the second stage, copying what Minyoung was doing. It's a good thing she's light too.

Be careful!

Seoyun fell off on her second platform, spluttering in the water. Nabi, surprised at the sudden splash, slipped off the endge straight into the water. Bonnie took her opportunity with a very different strategy. She clung onto the edges of each foam piece, crouching down before launching herself to the next one in a flurry of limbs and a bit of screetching. Seul and Minyoung were neck and neck on the rock wall before Seul slipped, screaming as she fell. She grabbed hurriedly at whatever she could, which happened to be Taeha's arm. The blond went down with her, the vocalist being the youngest's landing. Taeha began to cry, feeling a sharp pain in her leg. Seul hurried up, looking at her worriedly.

"Unnie, are you okay? Are you hurt? I'm so sorry I pulled out of-" Taeha pushed herself up, swallowing thickly as she started to climb again. Bonnie had taken the lead on both of them. Minyoung looked back at Bonnie and claimed faster, almost slipping near the top. Seoyun had made it across the foam and now was climbing the rock wall, neck and neck with Nabi. Minyoung and Bonnie were at the final stage. The two looked at each other and smiled. It was like they were wishing each other good luck.

They began the last leg, climbing through a tunnel that seemed pretty large to them on their hands and knees. Nabi was a close third place now, barely behind Minyoung as the three grabbed their sixty pounds of brick, only a rope holding them together. Minyoung was breathing harshly, chest squeezing painfully. Nabi's rope slipped off the bricks and her curse was bleeped as she tried to hurriedly put them back. Seoyun took her place right behind the two, Seul and Taeha much farther back as the maknae of the competition trailed barely ahead, only able to look back at the pained look on the vocalist's face. Minyoung and Bonnie were neck and neck, again. The two huffed and pulled on the rope holding the bricks. They looked at the edge of the finish line and pulled harder. Minyoung over taking Bonnie. Bonnie however, gathered up the rest of her strength and ran a head, coming in first. Minyoung passed the line soon after. The two dropped the rope and fell to the floor, exhausted.

Seoyun was third, Seul fourth, Nabi came in fifth, and Taeha sixth. There was no time to celebrate, though, as Taeha whined in pain, holding onto her left leg. Seoyun was by her side, laying her down and the on-call medic right there. Minji made her way over, all the other girls staring at the scene. Seul looked away, feeling guilty. She looked down at her hands and sighed softly.

"It's okay Seul, you didn't mean to," Sophia said and air patted the other girl, "Are you okay? You fell too." Seul nodded quietly.

I hope Taeha is okay...Taeha hwaiting!

"Let me look at your leg," The medic said. The examination was quick, Seoyun by Taeha's side the whole time. She comforted the '95 liner well, pushing her sweaty hair out of her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but Taeha Unnie..." She looked over at the scene. Taeha was being treated by the doctor there. Minji cleared and looked at the other girls. "Get cleaned up. Bonnie and Minyoung won so they get a special guest. Bonnie also chooses your composer."

"Yes ma'am," Suji bowed. The scene cut to the interview room. Minyoung was sitting there smiling sweetly.

Q. How was the obstacle course? Was it more fun or challenging?

"It was really fun up until the brick drag. That was hard." Minyoung said and nodded.

Q. How did you feel when you saw Taeha hurt?

"I honestly didn't know she got hurt, after I felt bad. She probably won't be able to dance for a few days." It changed to Phoenix in the Black Room.

Q: How did you feel when Taeha fell?

"It was kind of...Scary," Phoenix admitted, "I didn't think that the competition would be so ridiculous as to have an obstacle course, so the fact that someone was hurt while doing it was...Yeah. I used to be the leader of a group and she was my teammate especially so I wanted to help her, but Seoyun Unnie and the medic were already there."

Q: Why didn't you do the obstacle course?

"I'm not very good at sports, and we decided to do rock-paper-scissors. I wish I has lost instead, though."

Isn't Phoenix nice?