Episode Six

Part one

All ten girls had slept in the training room the previous night- They'd practiced late into the night and it would hae been useless to try to head back to the dorms when they had to start filming the next morning. Suji had grabbed all of her extra blankets and pillows again, and they'd made the training room one gigantic, slightly uncomfortable bed. However, it allowed them all enough room to sleep as close or far away from whoever they wanted. Seoyun and Suji had cuddled up with Minyoung between them and had fallen asleep immediately, to no one's surprise. Taeha had slept on the other side of Suji, and Stacy had slept next to her.

Daily and Seul had actually slept together in a little corner, laughing late into the night about one thing or another. Bonnie might have thrown a pillow at them to tell them to shush it and go to bed. Bonnie had slept on the half of the room with the mirrors, laying up against them with no one too near to her- She wasn't as emotionally attatched to many people unlike everyone else, it seemed. Phoenix took a spot a few feet across from her. Lily had originally taken up a spot near Daily, not too close but not too far but through the night ended up cuddling into her chest. That would be fun.

Minji opened the door to the room quietly, inspecting the scene. She'd been very close to opening the door on Seoyun, and she was glad she'd missed- It would have ruined the surprise. Airhorn in hand, she made her way to the middle of the room. The blonde mentally counted to three covering one ear and pressing the other to her shoulder before holding the button. Immediately Suji was up, shoving Minyoung off of her stomach (When did her head get there?) as she covered her ears and shouted a multitude of curses- Good thing she didn't have a mic pack on yet, and the airhorn was too loud for her to be heard. Minyoung was shoving a blanket around her head, and Seoyun simply plugged her ears, sighing. Daily and Seul had knocked their heads together and were both whining, trying to rub their aching foreheads and cover their ears at the same time. Lily was huddled in a ball, cringing- She hated the sound of airhorns. Phoenix had creatively shoved her head in a pillow, and Taeha and Stacy were scrambling over each other to get towards the door. Bonnie...Hadn't woken up. Minji droped the airhorn with a raised brow.

"Phoenix, wake her up," She commanded and looked over the mess of people, "Well, that was great.  Today, girls, you will be doing an individual challenge- Everyone is doing a solo, whether you're good or not."

"Why so suddenly..." Suji muttered, rubbing her eyes.

"We'll be going in age order- Suji, change your clothes ASAP and meet in vocal recording room 2D. Staff brought you all a change of clothes. Rush break!" She smirked and stepped over the mass of sleepy bodies before exiting the room. Seul stared after her.

"How does she look so flawless at four-thirty a.m.?"

Q. Sophia was voted out last episode.

"Yeah, I was actually pretty surprised," Suji admitted, picking at a scab on her arm. She'd fallen while practicing for Dumb Dumb last recording and it hadn't healed very nicely at all, "She was a great competitor, but I couldn't tell if it was her age or the fact that she was just a technical singer."

Q. Technical singer?

"Oh, well, Sophia sang with all the right techniques but no emotion. It didn't feel like she loved what she was doing, it was like she was just doing a job that she was good at but with no heart behind it," Suji sighed, "Which was sad, because that girl definitely had potential. Everyone pretty much agrees about her singing." The scene switched to Lily in the black room.

Q. Sophia is considered a technical singer by the other contestants?

"I guess so," Lily smiled with a shrug, "It's not always a bad thing, but her high notes all sounded the same, you know? She could take this opportunity to learn more about her flaws improve herself."

Q. Are you excited or nervous about the solo mission?

"Definitely nervous! When you have teammates, you can rely on them to make up for your deficiencies, but when you're on your own, the only person you can rely on it yourself. Not only that, but you have an entire stage to fill. That's not the easiest thing to do," She admitted with a nervous laugh, "That's why I admire soloists so much."

Q. Do you think you'll do well this round?

"I'll give it my best shot."

The scene switched to Suji- Dressed in something totally not her style, a long-sleeved black shirt layered under a sleeveless, plaid dress paired with black flats. She it up though, and knocked on the door to vocal recording room 2D. Minji's voice called her in.

"Hey you, sit down," Minji gestured to the chair near the door, and Suji bowed before taking a seat. She looked straight at Minji, fearless and waiting, "We're working on getting your composer so you can work with her, but until then, tell me what you want to do. What are your plans for this round, Suji?"

"I want to show everyone that I've found my style," She replied immediately, "I've improved using the judges' advice and I want to let everyone know. This is my chance to show my true potential, and that's what I intend on doing. It's time for me to step it up and do what I'm good at, to show that I'm good at it. I love to sing and rap, so I need to show that I do. That's what I need to do this round, prove my worth and my talent."

Minji inspected her silently, her lips as she thought to herself. The room was painfully quiet, and it was though time had stopped.

"Does this have anything to do with the internet? After Iris got voted out, a lot of people started to diss you, saying that only the bad rappers are left while the true talent was voted out. Do you agree with that? Do you think it's true so you're working harder to change that?" She asked cooly, yet Suji shook her head wordlessly. Her pale face and clenched fists told another story. It was then that Suji's composer, Kim Aecha, walked in.

"Good morning ladies, shall we get started?"

Back in the training room, the others were picking up the blankets and pillows, folding the blankets neatly and stacking everything in the corner. Seoyun was too busy playing with her hair and improving her "body roll game," whatever that was. Bonnie was trying to bribe her to stop with the promise of money, but she was stubbornly refusing. Whatever. If only Bonnie knew candy was the way to go. Lily observed the scene and shook her head, turning back to the blanket she was folding. She wasn't feeling very confident- She'd been nearly edited out of the last few episodes entirely, and that didn't mean anything good. If fans didn't see her, fans didn't like her, and if fans didn't like her, then she'd be voted out. It wasn't like she did nothing- In fact, she was often the glue that held the teams together, a good mix of ambitious and cheerful to keep everything in balance. Apparently the PD didn't agree.

"Lily~" Daily called softly, poking her friend in the side, "What are you worrying about over here?"

"Nothing, Daily, don't worry about it," Lily lied flawlessly.

"I don't believe you," She shook her head, "Are you worried about going solo? You have no reason so be, you're an amazing dancer!"

"I'm confident in my dancing!" Lily said automatically, lowering her voice with pink cheeks when everyone turned to look at her, "It's just that, I'll have to sing or rap too. Being a soloist means rapping or singing on top of everything, you know? I can't just dance, it's not how it works. That's what I'm worried about."

Before Daily could answer, Stacy called out to them.

"Hey, you two, we have to finish up!"

"I know, sorry," Daily replied, and she watched as Lily walked away. That conversation hadn't gone as planned.

Behind-the-scenes unreleased footage!

"I think I'll totally do great," Nari spoke confidently to herself, staring in the mirror, "I've got absolutely nothing to worry about. Solo performances are where I can really shine. I've been waiting for this."

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"Seoyun Unnie?" Stacy bit on her thumb nail, "Do you think I'll be voted out? I'm not that talented..."

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"I can't believe Sophia Unnie got voted out," Seul sobbed covering her eyes messily. Her makeup began to run and the staff handed her a few tissues, "How could you? Oh my god, how could you? She's my closest friend here!"

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"I need to work harder," Phoenix spoke uconfidently to the camera, " I- Never mind. Cut that."