Episode Four

Chuseok special/episode four, part three

"Wow, the girls certainly are having a hard time, aren't they?" Minji smirked, looking at the crowd, "Let's keep watching!"

The scene switched to Team Sunshine, where the girls were in their practice clothes again. Some time had passed, seeing how as Taeha's hair clearly needed to be redyed. Their choreo was smooth, a bit y and a bit playful. They mouthed the words, holding up a hand if it was their turn to sing or rap. Taeeun was watching from the back, standing on a chair and yelling directions whenever he felt someone needed additional instruction. Partway through he turned of the music, approaching Stacy.

"Stacy, hey, why don't we try you switching spots with Minyoung. If you just take the steps quicker to get to your next spot, you'll still make it," He suggested kindly, but they all knew what that really meant. Get in the back, you're not good enough to be in the front. However, the '95 liner simply nodded and switched places. It was obvious that Minyoung felt bad to take the spot. Hopefully they'd switch back later.

With Team Vanilla, they were going over fashion designs with the coori unnies. Suji seemed nearly sick as she looked at one of the group designs.

"Not...Not the sequin ones. Please," She looked over at Phoenix who would be making the final decision.

"Aww, but I liked that one, Yeobo!" Seoyun hung on her, but the eldest shook her head.

"How about the pink, yellow, and blue combo?" Daily asked. Lily looked over at her, pleased. After learning more Korean, the vocalist seemed much more comfortable in her own skin, and was more outspoken. She really must want to win, Lily thought before speaking herself.

"It's passble, so let's put that in the maybe pile. I agree, not the total-sequin ones."

"These are cute?" Seoyun half-asked, half stated.

"Not with the song," Phoenix denied.

Well, these girls are sure are picky about fashion!

"Okay, listen Taeha Unnie, you need to take charge," Bonnie had taken her to the side to give her a little talk about being a leader, "You need to make decision, otherwise, we'll never win. But those choices need to be good for the team. The song we chose doesn't fit Sophia at all, but she it up. Even Jinsoon looked unsure about handing it over. Don't just think about you."

"You're right, Bonnie, I'm sorry," Taeha looked down, ashamed. Of couse that was all for show.

Q. How did you feel about Bonnie giving you a real talking-to?

"I felt bad. I wasn't making many decisions, and when I was, I wasn't thinking of my team, just what I wanted to do. I hope that I can make it up to them by being a better captain for the rest of this round," Taeha bowed her head. The camera switched to Minyoung.

Q.  Do you think Team Sunshine is going to perform well? It there too much discord in the team?

"I think there's too much arguing, a lot of us want a lot of different things," She responded wisely, laughing as she felt much too awkward. She bit her bottom lip before she it to soothe the pain. Definitely a bad habit, "I hope that everything will work out in the end."

Aww, don't worry about a thing.

It switched to Seoyun in the white room instead of the interview room.

Q. How do you think your team will do compared to the other team?

"I think we'll do really well. I feel like they're struggling a bit," She hid a smile behind her hand, "I hope everyone can make a very good impression in the end."

Q. Back to last episode, how did you feel when Nabi left?

"Oh...It made everything real. I really could go, you know? Even though this is my last chance. I worry for Nabi, too, she'd about at the age cap for normal debuts...I felt really sad. She worked really hard for every performance. She put her heart into it."

It was late, about one a.m., when the camera showed the Sunshine girls went into their temporary dorm. Everyone was already in their pajamas, having changed before they left the Plan A practice rooms. Seul wore a bright ensemble, with a pattern no one really understood. Bonnie had chosen a more pastel pink pair, just a T-shirt and shorts with the words "I'm Fine" on the top. Sophia was once again turning heads with her strange bright yet soft blue...Thing. Minyoung was simple with black and white top and short shorts. Iris enjoyed her black tank top and bright pink shorts. Stacy was especially cute with her long-sleeved grey crop top, grey-blue shorts, and grey slippers. Her hair was in a bun and held back with a headband. Taeha's outfit was styled like a doll, light pink with white lace and just pretty. They all settled on the couch, however, not heading to the two rooms just yet.

Wow, Team Sunshine is so cute!

"Hey, guys, I want to apologize for not being a good team captain," Taeha began. Emotional music began to play in the background, "After losing Nabi, I became really concerned with myself and wasn't ready to take on the role. As a hopefully-idol, I need to be more adaptable and able to fit into whatever role I was given. I promise to do better from now on." She tactfully ignored Iris' eye roll.

"That's okay, Unnie," Seul comforted, scooting a little closer to the blonde on the couch, "I think you'd make a great leader."

"Thanks, Seul," She smiled, but before she could say anything else, Sophia rudely (?) interrupted.

"While this team-talk was fun and all," She grinned at her joke- Teen-talk, team-talk? No?- and stood up, "We should head to bed. Gotta be up at six again with Taeeun to practice." With a mix of agreements, she, Seul, Minyoung, and Iris headed to one room while Taeha, Bonnie, and Stacy headed to the other. The lights turned off for the night.

The camera did the ever-wonderful transition from night to early morning before switching to inside the temporary Team Vanilla dorm. Surprisingly, everyone but Suji was a good cook on the team, and so breakfast had been designated to Lily and Daily, while dinner was up to Phoenix and Seoyun. It was a pretty good system, as the former two were working on their low-fat omelette and homemade protein shake- One that didn't taste bad. They worked in a quiet yet peaceful atmosphere, Daily humming a song Lily didn't recognize- Maybe something from China? Seoyun and Suji were coaching Phoenix on something or another, neither had checked, and things were pretty great.

Team Vanilla girls were confident in everything they'd picked out. The MV filming was in three days, and all they had to do was make sure they'd gotten the choreo down. With the help of their choreographer for the current round, Ryuzaburo, things were easy but catchy, and they fit the song well. No one of them really fit the song perfectly but they all did enough that it worked out well. Yes, they were prepared for this performance round.

Snippets of colorful MV filmings played, harsh vocal and dance practicing, fittings for outfits and the girls simply spending time together, all flashing by. The camera panned on Minji at the judge's table, along with Soyeon of Produce 101 and Apink's Naeun as the guest judges.

"Welcome back everyone! Now that we saw all of their hard work before the performances, let's see them work live! Team Vanilla, please take the stage!" Minji sat down, and the five got into position. All the lights turned off.

(Yujin- Phoenix. Yeeun- Suji. Sorn- Daily. Seungyeon- Lily. Seunghee- Seoyun. CLC LIKE Who's Who)

What a great stage~!

The music stopped and all five stood, holding the position for a while before standing  straight and bowing. They walked to the front of the stage and stood in a line, looking up at the judge's table. Naeun spoke first.

"It was my first time watching you five work together," She began, "You guys really have a great team dynamic- You all worked well together and everyone's voices complimented another's. The song was catchy and well-executed. I do wish there had been a long rap segment for Suji, however. The rap was very cutesy, and I wish it had been a bit more mature. However, as I understand, that's just Suji's style. Seoyun's high note was enjoyable, as were Daily's. Thank you ladies!"

"Well, I don't have as many nice things to say," Minji scoffed, "Seoyun, that was nothing near your normal potential. I understand that you were making your voice fit with the song and not being too overpowered, but in that case maybe the song choice should have been different. For Lily, you're better off as a dancer than a vocalist." Well, that was a blow to Lily's heart, "I will admit, though Phoenix and Daily owned the song compared to the rest of you. They fit the concept well enough and executed their parts quite nicely. As for the styling, that was up to you, and I think the diversity in the outfits is fine. Phoenix looks the best out of everyone. Except for Lily, everyone got an acceptable amount of lines- A lot of Lily's lines should have gone to someone like Suji who is more vocally talented. Thanks everyone."

"Well, I did like your concept. It was very relatable, particularly to the current younger generations, " Soyeon smiled, "It's undeniably catchy and everyone looked great, even with Seoyun's weird floral dress. Your aegyo was on point, actually, girls. It was obvious to everyone you were singing live, and if there were any vocal imperfections, none of you stopped and instead worked with it, not getting embarassed. Good job everyone! Team Sunshine, if you could get ready."

(Minyoung- Yoojung, Iris- Nayoung, Sophia- Chungha, Bonnie- Pinky, Taeha- Somi, Stacy- Sohye, Seul- Doyoon l.O.l. WHATTA MAN Who's Who)

This is a tough competition again!

The audience seemed to be very pleased, cheers coming from what semeed like every corner of the room. This time Minji spoke first, eyes trained on Minyoung.

"Overall the song was good, but there were a few disappointing members. Minyoung, you rap better than, so do it. You keep refusing to show your full strength, as though you'd rather not be a rapper- If you don't want to be, stop rapping. Stacy really owned her lines, so I wish she had more. Bonnie strained her voice to a degree and had a lot of lines, so it would have been better if you'd given some to Stacy and Sophia. Also, it would be nice if you'd bother to sing most of your chorus- You know, the "whatta man" parts? Overall, your styling was pleasing to the eyes, and the song was catchy, though in a much different way than Team Vanilla," Minyoung and Bonnie looked at each other for support- Hopefully the voters were less disppointed than Minji, "It was y to a  degree, but not overwhelmingly so. It was enjoyable, thank you. Soyeon, if you would."

"Honestly, Sophia shouldn't have performed this song, so I understand her fewer lines. Seul and Minyoung can even pull it off, but not Sophia. Also, you were out of sync every once and a while through the performance, your dancing became more distracting than fun or impressive. For me, Iris was the star here. Despite what kind of lines she got, she owned them well even though hre charisma didn't show as well as it could have. Thank you, Team Sunshine."

"Well, I have to say, I enjoyed the choreography. I agree with both Minji-sii and Soyeon-ssi, actually, from Bonnie to Iris. Your shoes were a little crazy and didn't match the rest of your outfit, but they weren't too distracting. I think most of you lacked a stage presence, though, and charisma. My advice is to be more confident on stage. I did enjoy the song, so thank you for a good performance." Team Sunshine bowed and the other five walked to join them on stage, waiting for the final results. The judges spoke to each other quietly, mics off.

Q. How did you feel about your performance?

"I think I did really well," Seul smiled a the camera.

Q. Did you really purposefully sing worse than usual?

Seoyun laughed ashamedly, "Uh, yeah, I did actually. I hoped no one would talk about it, but I guess I was wrong~ Whoops!"

Q. Did you feel like the judges were being unfair with their criticisms towards you?

"Not at all," Minyoung allowed a few tears to fall, "I think Minji-ssi is right, I need to decide what my path is."

The scene focused on the judges again, this time sitting in their seats properly. Soyeon held a paper in her hands, eyes scanning the contestants. The paper held both the performance winner and the eliminated girl, the votes having come in. She swallowed before speaking.

"The win goes to Team Vanilla."