EPISODE 4

A brief intro the scene returns us to where we left off last week: the elimination. The boys all come onto the stage, grouped in their teams. Some of them look fine under the pressure, Kyungtaek and Haneul and James each seem to be keeping a level head. Yeonin doesn't look any more awkward than usual, and Inho and Ted are both unreadable as ever. The youngers ones have it worse. Inshik is a bit of a mess, looking absolutely terrified, while Geomi is trying hard to keep a brave face on but failing.

The studio is now empty save the 19 contestants, the judges, and an apologetic-looking Yeonhee.

"Welcome back to Do or Die," she says into the camera. "Last week our contestants each performed their own cover of a sunbae group's song, and the audience voted on the individual standouts. Now we will find out who will get to stay on the show, and which contestant will be leaving."

The camera pans over the guys. It focuses on Alex and Geomi who each grab for Bomseok's hand to squeeze, standing on either side of him. Alex briefly glances towards team James where Ted nods at him.

"The one with the fewest votes in team Kyungtaek is," Yeonhee starts, dragging it out a little. "Ah, Kyungtaek. Please step forward." 

Kyungtaek just nods solemnly and steps forward.

"The one with the fewest votes in team Yeonin is," Yeonhee continues. "Geomi. Please join Kyungtaek and step forward." 

Geomi looks alarmed at the rest of his team as the news sinks in before he disentangles himself from Bomseok' hand and joins Kyungtaek.

"And lastly the one with the fewest votes from team James is Seowoo. Please join the other two at the front." 

Seowoo looks surprised before he can wrestle control of his expression.

"One of you will be sent home tonight," Yeonhee says. Geomi is already shaking before anyone's said anything yet. Kyungtaek reaches out and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

 

"I can't go home yet!" Geomi says in his interview section, looking visibly distraught. "I can't go first! Not again!"

"I know that I have more to show you," Seowoo says in his own interview. "It would be a mistake to vote me out now."
 

"I'm sorry," Yeonhee says, sincerely apologetic. "Geomi. You had the least amount of votes this round. I'm sorry, you will not be joining us in the next round. Please leave the stage.

Geomi's eyes widen with pure shoc. He closes and opens his mouth, looking at everyone on the stage and then back to Yeonhee. He shakes his head and tears fill his eyes.

"Geomi please leave the stage," Yeonhee repeats gently. Kyungtaek gives him a gentle little push and the still stunned Geomi manages to get into the motion.

 

The screen cuts to Geomi's interview again, but this time it just shows Geomi hunched over, sobbing.
"S-sorry," he manages to mutter. A staff member off-screen can be heard telling him it's okay and to take his time.

"I'm sorry just-" he sniffs. "This has all happened to me before and I thought I'd make it this time.
Or at least last longer than the first round!"

"Technically it's the second round," the voice off-screen says.

Geomi smiles weakly "You're right, I suppose that's something."
 

Back on the stage Yeonhee addresses the other contestants. "Time for you to go back to the dorms. Tomorrow you'll get your next mission, and it's an exciting one!" She speaks brightly but some of the contestants are still visibly shocked by the elimination. Alex all but crushes Bomseok's hand, who winces as he looks up to the ceiling to fight his own tears. Hyuk also looks shaken, looking down at his feet.

One by one they filter out of the auditorium.

 

"It was a great experience," Geomi says at the end, voice still shaking but not crying anymore. "Thank you."

         
Next the screen cuts do an outside view of the dorm building, showing that it's 10 in the morning.

The screen is divided into 4 video segments. One of them shows the practice room where six contestants are working hard practicing their dance. One of them shows another team of four practicing their own dance. One of them shows four contestants with lyric sheets practicing. And the last one shows the canteen where Jeongha, Bomseok, Changui, and Haneul are raiding the kitchen for food.

Suddenly an announcement comes from a sound system. "All contestants please report to the entrance hall."

"What's happening?" A confused Inshik asks Alex, but Alex brushes him off. In the kitchen the four thieves just look around guilty, but not before Haneul can grab a packet with apple slices.

All contestants filter into the hall where Yeonhee is waiting for them, surrounded by various instrument cases and other equipment. The camera finds Haneul discreetly munching on his apple.

"Apologies for the interruption," Yeonhee says. "From now on if there is a show opening, the right to perform must be earned. This challenge will determine who gets to open next week's show."

That sends a wave of excitement through the contestants. 

"This is an individual challenge," Yeonhee says. "Each of you will be going to a location of your choice to do some busking, promoting the show as well as yourselves. If you return with 50 thousand won within 4 hours you will be allowed to participate in the opening of the show! You may take anything you need from here and there are 18 taxis waiting outside for you. Good luck!"

Hugo is the first to move, sauntering toward one of the portable stereos and taking it out the door with him. Inshik races toward the instruments, then changing his mind and runs upstairs to the dorms to grab his own guitar. Seowoo and Yeonin also go for a guitar, while Jaemin goes for a simple keyboard and Changui grabs the only violin. Haneul runs to the offices upstairs and grabs a handfull of paper, then goes to the break room to grab a foldable table and chair, and then he's off. All the dancers go for speakers and are out quickly, as do Ted and Hanjin. Inho grabs the last guitar, to Jeongha's dismay, who is then the last to leave, making do with a keyboard.

"I'm going to Hongdae," Inshik brightly says to the camera guy in his taxi. "I used to go busking with my uncle all the time, we've got a usual spot."

"I'm going to Ehwa," Changui explains in his own taxi. "There's bound to be a lot of people gathered there with a bit of change to spare."

"Itaewon," Hugo explains. "Strange and miraculous things happen in Itaewon."

"Give me your cellphone," Haneul demands of his camera woman in his cab. The woman protests at first but after Haneul does some truly cringeworthy aegyo she gives in. Haneul quickly types away on the phone. "I just sent out a tweet," he says proudly, holding the phone up to the camera. "I announced a surprise fansign at Dogok park in 15 minutes."

The camera cuts to Haneul setting up a table and a chair at the park and unfolding the big banner that each of the contestants got with them. It shows a full picture of his face and the Do or Die logo. Then he sits down with his markers and paper and an upturned hat to collect money. "And now we wait," he says to the camera.

Before long fans show up asking for autographs and photos. Haneul charges a donation for each and before long his hat is overflowing with bills and coins and he's having a ball.

Jeongha sets up at what looks like a mall and, surprisingly, is singing while accompanying himself with the piano. He has a nice tone and draws people in. When a song ends he spends a long time just chatting with the other people who come over and talking about the show, his infectuous grin plastered on his face the whole time. He even does some freestyle rap and the change rolls in steadily.

Alex is set up somewhere in Hongdae and is dancing, first doing his audition song and then just putting his ipod on shuffle and freestyling to whatever comes on. Before long he's got quite a crowd surrounding him and the coffee cup he's using to collect money starts filling up quite quickly.

Changui is at Ehwa university engaged in a fairly impressive violin solo. It's not the best violin play anyone has ever seen but it sounds pleasant and draws a bit of a crowd.

Inho is also in Itaewon and playing his guitar. He's not even attempting to rap and just plays his guitar and gathers a few onlookers, but most look suspiciously at his intimidating appearance and quickly walk past.

Hanjin, meanwhile, seems to be doing fine. He's camped out in front of the MNET building with his banner and is freestyle rapping to a beat coming from the portable speakers. He's already drawn a crowd around him and he's having the time of his life, interacting with the audience and lightheartedly dissing them in his raps.

Jaemin is playing piano and singing which does draw quite a bit of interest. As soon as he stops singing and tries to engage with the crowd it falls apart though. He stammers as he tries to answer one woman's question about the show and has trouble formulating a sentence, looking slightly panicked as he glances at some of the phones used to record the performance.

Hugo is in a square in Itaewon and his speakers blast Pick Me at full volume as he does his now infamous cover. A lot of people have stopped to take a photo of the bizarre guy in the intimidating mask. When that song ends it seamlessly transitions into SNSD's Oh! and Hugo starts dancing along to that, visibly having the time of his life.

Seowoo is in front of the Pledis building doing various acoustic coveres of Seventeen songs, both title tracks and B-sides he's worked on, which is garnering the interest of fans who'd been lingering around the building trying to catch a glimpse of the group. While it's not making him a lot of money it does get him a lot of attention.

James has found his way to another part of Gangnam and is singing and dancing to old X2 songs. He also does a few autograpsh and poses for pictures as people recognize him and he eloquently promotes the show.   Daebak is also dancing, just freestyling on whatever comes on in the radio and trying to make very awkward conversation during the commercial breaks. As many people are attracted by his dancing as they are driven off by his heavily accented English.

Other contestants are only shown in passing. Inshik is seen on what is his usual spot in Hongdae with his guitar. Ted is seen bboying and gathering his own crowd. Yoonshik, meanwhile, is performing in Gangnam. Kyungtaek is doing some kpop covers but not many people pay attention to him.

The screen fast forwards until there is only an hour left. Haneul is the first to set off back to the dorm after counting his money, carrying a mysterious white box that has disappeared in the next shot. Some minutes later Seowoo, Inshik, and Jeongha also pack up their stuff and head back. The camera shifts to the hall of the dorm building where now Inshik, Seowoo, Jeongha, Haneul, James, and Yoonshik are waiting. Alex comes in next. A few minutes later it's Ted who enters the hall. Inshik scoots over but Alex isn't having any of it, moving over to Ted's other side and leaving Inshik alone.

Time is really starting to run out now. Hugo wraps up a Roly Poly performance and counts his money. Then he thanks the audience and quickly heads back to the dorms. 

Inho has switched from just playing guitar to rapping, still accompanied by the guitar. It's an interesting sound but his aggressive style of rap only pushes even more people away. 

Hanjin is shown with so much cash that the snapback overflows. He has trouble pulling himself away from the large crowd gathered around his performance but after many bows of thanks to those who watched him he, also, starts making his way back.

The camera switches to Changui, who's sitting with his legs casually crossed and leaning back on a bench while a bunch of students, both Korean and foreign, sit around him. His violin has been long forgotten, sitting in its case. The camera catches him chatting about the merits of Socratic and Platonic teachings, switching between three different languages effortless as he tries to explain his views and discusses them with the students. The camera guy tries to get his attention but Changui is miles deep into this conversation.

Ten minutes before the countdown ends Hanjin rushes in, a triumphant grin on his face. It's a minute before the time is up when Hugo comes saunting in through the front door, looking completely unconcerned that he almost didn't make it back, and he quickly hides a plastic shopping bag. The screen fast-forwards another half hour before all the contestants have returned. Changui returns last, an apologetic smile on his face.

"Ah you've all returned," Yeonhee says. "Unfortunately only ten of you made it back in time for the next opening performance, though I'm sure all of you have helped considerably in promoting the show!"

Inho grimances but doesn't say anything.

"Haneul, Jeongha, Inshik, Seowoo, James, Yoonshik, Alex, Ted, Hugo, and Hanjin, congratulations! Please report to the main practice room right away to start learning the opening song."

The ten are generally excited as they get a move on. Inho congratulates Hanjin before sending him off, and Alex high fives Ted. Haneul nudges Jeongha and the two can be seen grinning and chatting as they leave the room.              The camera returns to a similar stage, though the crowd is quite a bit bigger than last episode's. Yeonhee is standing on stage, cue cards in her hands and charming smile on her face. "Welcome back to Do or Die's second live episode," Yeonhee says. "This week we've got a very special challenge for our contestants that they're all very excited to show you. But first let's see the exciting opening, shall we?

   

Inshik (Sunyoul / first singer); Yoonshik (Jinwoo / black shirt blonde); Haneul (Hwanhee / white shirt blonde); Jeongha (Gyujin / brown hair and chain, I'm grasping at straws here they all dressed the same); Seowoo (Kogyeol  / short brown hair)
Hugo (Xiao / striped jacket and sound barrier destroying fan scream); Hanjin (Kuhn / black and white shirt); Hanjin (Bitto / Black jacket with red); Ted (Wei / grey shirt)  ;  Alex (Wooshin / white jacket)

The audience goes wild as the performance ends. Banners for Haneul, Hanjin, and James can clearly be seen just like last week, but they're joined with quite a few banners for Alex and Jeongha, and even one for Hugo. The one who holds it is wearing a scary mask just like Hugo does and screams frantically when he comes in view, the same deadly scream that was heard during the performance. 

The boys make their way backstage to change into their performance outfits and the focus is back on Yeonhee. "Phew that was certainly impressive." She turns to the judges. "So the boys performed covers just now, but the teams will be performing their very own songs won't they?"

"That's right," Seona says. "They've recorded original songs for this episode that will be available as digital singles after the show airs."

"For most of the contestants it must have been their first time ever recording a song, and they had to choreograph themselves too. What do you think of the result, Kangho?" Yeonhee asks.

"Choreographing isn't easy and not everyone can do it, but all three groups really did their best." Kangho says.

"I simply cannot wait to see what they have in store, how about you?" The crowd roars in response to Yeonhee.

"Now for this week's voting things will be a little different," Yeonhee says. "You will still be voting for your top 5 candidates in the show, but this time we'll be adding all the votes of each team and the team with the lowest overall votes will have their least popular member eliminated. Vote as you did before, but keep in mind the team of the contestant you're voting for matters too."

"Now I'm extremely curious about our first performance," Yeonhee says. "Let's wait no more."             

The scene switches to all the contestants gathered in the big practice room. They all look very exhausted and some of them are still half asleep. In the front is a board with three plaques with song titles on them, and in front of are the three judges.

Cipher is grinning as usual, but the other two look more serious. "Good morning contestants," Carver starts off. "It's time for the weekly rankings. Every week we will redistribute your ranking pins according to the previous week's performances and your achievements. Without further ado, let's start with the vocalists, shall we?"

The new vocalist ranking:

#1 - Yeonin
#2 - Haneul
#3 - Inshik
#4 - Yoonshik
#5 - Jaemin
#6 - Seowoo
#7 - Changui
#8 - Kyungtaek

Next up is the dancers: 

#1 - James
#2 - Daebak
#3 - Alex
#4 - Hyuk
#5 - Hugo

For the rappers:

#1 - Hanjin
#2 - Jeongha
#3 - Bomseok
#4 - Inho
#5 - Ted

Hanjin is quick to drape an arm around Inho's shoulders and congratulate him on his one rank promotion, though Cipher is quick to remind him that it's only because Ted was even worse than Inho. Haneul also looks very content with his new spot in the hierarchy while Jaemin frowns.

After that the judges leave and Yeonhee comes in, which improves the mood considerably in the room.

"Good morning everyone," she starts off. "Today we've got a very exciting challenge for you. You will be recording an original song."

This helps wake up those who are still asleep. Jeongha, who'd previously been looking rather dazed, immediately perks up. "Wooooah, already?!"

"Today's leaders will be those who had the most votes last episode. You will each be allowed to choose your song," Yeonhee continues. A segment of the chorus with guide vocals is played. One of them is a rather sensual mid-tempo song called Love Me Do, another is a youthful and innocent song called Fireworks, and the last is a mid-tempo ballad called Butterfly with a strong beat.

"The first of our leaders is Haneul."

Haneul stands up with a proud grin before she's finished announcing. "I'll take Butterfly," he says. He goes to the board and stands under the Butterfly sign.

 

"I chose Butterfly because it's a vocal heavy song," Haneul explains in his interview.
"Hopefully it'll truly let me show off my vocals and show that I have what it takes to be ranked #1." 
 

"Next up is James," Yeonhee says. "Congratulations, you got the second amount of votes, please choose a song."

"I'm taking Love Me Do," James says immediately. 

"Then, Alex, Fireworks is the only one left for you."

Alex looks up, surprised to be the third most popular contestant. Changui gives him a soft push and mouths 'Go!' and Alex gets up an takes a spot at the front.

"Now one by one, according to the order of your popularity, you will choose a song to join. There can be only six members per song so choose carefully," Yeonhee says. "Once a song is full it can no longer be chosen."

The first one called up is Hanjin, who immediately joins Haneul for Butterfly.

The next is Inshik, who hesitates before going with Fireworks.

Jeongha and Daebak both join Haneul, while Yeonin indecisively looks at his options before finally chosing Love Me Do. 

Surprisingly Hugo is next and he wastes no time joining Love Me Do.

Changui opts for Fireworks, while Inho immediately joins Hanjin.

Hyuk manages to get the last spot in Butterfly and Bomseok and Jaemin move to the Fireworks side.

Ted unhappily moves over to Love me Do while Yoonshik looks from Fireworks to Love Me Do and begrudgingly joins James.

Of the last two Kyungtaek chooses the last spot in Love Me Do and thus Seowoo was no choice but to complete the Fireworks group and the teams are done.

           

The scene shifts to team James listening to the song with the guide vocals. They each have a lyric sheet in front of them.

"There is only one rap part," James says. "Ted you should take it, since you couldn't show off your skills last time."

Ted nods his thanks and marks it on his paper.

  The scene cuts to Ted's interview. "Was I disheartened by last week's judging?" He repeats the question.
"Yes. But I will show Cipher I have what it takes to be the main rapper." He points at his #5 pin. "This won't stay long." 

    "Now we've got two main vocal parts, hyung, one of them is yours, obviously," James says to Yeonin. "As for the other-"

"I'll take it," Yoonshik interrupts. 

"That's what I was going to suggest, hyung," James says. "You should take it, you have a good voice."

"What about you?" Kyungtaek asks. "You're a rapper are you not?"

"I'm not the best vocalist but the rap should go to Ted," James says. "Don't worry about me. Do you guys want to run through what's left, see who should take each part? Hyuk I think you'd really suit sub-vocal 2-" 

Next the camera shows the group performing for the judges during their evaluation, 2 days before the live performance. As the group is going over the choreography James created it is clear that something isn't working. The dance is simpler and less, well, vogue than last time so Ted's doing a lot better, and Hugo is trying really hard. Even Kyungtaek is doing alright all things considering. It's clear the problem is, once again, Yeonin.

"Very interesting choreography," Kangho starts off. "Sensual but simple. You did a good job James."

James nods and looks very proud.

"However, Yeonin, Yeonin..." Kangho taps his pen onto his clipboard in frustration. "Are you even here with your head? You look distracted."

Carver is next. "James, you're unstable. You'll have to work on that if you want to sing your lines well. Hugo, half the time you are out of breath, and your mask doesn't help your intonation. Yoonshik, you're the only one I have no critique for, you're doing well."

They each acknowledge their critique. Hugo amicably, while James looks a little annoyed. Yoonshik looks very pleased with his compliment and can't contain all of his smugness when he glances at James.

Next it's Cipher's turn, and Ted looks a little apprehensive. "Ted," Cipher starts, drawing it out a little longer than necessary. "I'm very happy to hear you actually rap, keep it up."   Ted breathes out a sign of relief.

After the judg