Cheshire looked at the other judges. She had known that they were eliminating but that didn't make her feel any better about her choice. It had been obvious who to choice on the white team. The only one who forgot their words, Yoonho. That made it no easier for any of them. But this had to be done. K. Will brought back in the trainees, telling the red team to stand on the stage behind them so that the white team could line up. Their faces said it all. This was painful.

K. Will took some pity on them and made the announcement quick. Ripping the bandaid off it one fast swipe. There were tears and lots of them. This was about as hard as losing Minkyun. Everyone was attached to the boys at this point. It was so hard for Cheshire to watch her boys breakdown. Her boys. She felt like every single one of them had become family to her and she couldn't help but to break down herself. She exited the balcony knowing there wasn't anyone to console her this time. Giri had had to go for some reason or another and all she really wanted at that point was to have him hug her and tell her it was alright. That everything was okay. She wouldn't get that though and she couldn't possibly ask Jooheon or I.M for such a thing right then. Despite being a judge she walked out. She couldn't be there anymore.

As she was going through backstage to leave the boys came through at the same time. Chess stopped in her tracks and turned to face the wall, not wanting them to see her tears. It was too late though, they had all already seen her tear stained cheeks and she knew it. She had hoped that they would just keep walking, that they would ignore her but apparently that wasn't their plan. She felt arms wrap around her waist from behind and a chin settle itself onto her shoulder. She sobbed then. A choked and strangled noise that she didn't even know she could make. She forced her head forehead to connect to the wall pulling both her hands up to cover that was opened in a silent wail. Soon another set of arms wrapped around her and her other shoulder held a chin. The sobs wouldn't stop wracking her body and she didn't know for certain that the shaking was entirely her own doing. Eventually the two boys managed to pull her away from the wall so that the other trainees could come hug her or pat her head or just give her a comforting touch whereever they could reach. She felt the two chins move off her shoulders to be replaced with a pair of large arms that pulled her face to his chest, though neither boy released his grip on her waist. Shownu's embrace sent her over the edge. It felt like having a younger brother trying to protect her when she should have been protecting them. Chess threw her arms around his waist, clinging so tightly that she was sure he was having trouble breathing but not one word of protest came from his lips. Shownu ran his fingers through her hair as she cried, leaving makeup on his pristine white shirt. Chess had not felt this kind of pain in a long time. It wasn't about eliminating trainees anymore, it was the fact that she once again could no longer protect those she cared about. She felt her knees go weak and the two boys holding her waist keeping her upright. She couldn't imagine how horrible this would have looked to anyone outside of their circle but at that point it probably didn't matter.

"Shhh... Shhh.... It's okay Noona. It's going to be alright," Shownu and the other boys started to lightly sway trying to get her to calm down. It took a long time before she finally loosened her grip on Shownu and pulled her face out of his chest wiping her cheeks on her hands, trying to make sure that she didn't look too bad when she looked up.

"Mianhe. Jinja mianhe...." Chess repeated this a couple times before she finally calmed down completely. She still couldn't bring herself to look at the boys though and she didn't know what to do. I.M took his arms from around her waist and moved to stand in front of her and lift his chin.

"Come on Noona. Let's get you away from these floors before they throw themselves at you again," He smiled sweetly at her when she chuckled a bit.

"I.M you're very strange you know that?" Jooheon had released his grip on her waist as he broke into his aegyo making Cheshire laugh a little bit harder. "There's my favorite smiley Noona."

Chess laughed some more as he wouldn't drop his aegyo at all. She could never have imagined that these would have been the people who had comforted her but she couldn't help but smile knowing that they were. "Saranghe boys. Jinja saranghe."

Chess made sure to make eye contact with all nine of the remaining trainees trying to make them understand that she really meant it. She loved these boys. She really did and she was not ready to let another one go without telling them.

The next day Cheshire woke up feeling much better considering she had spent the rest of the night with the boys. She even stayed the night at their dorm again where they played stupid team work games and drank a bottle or four of soju together to celebrate them moving on and mourn the loss of Yoonho who had left before any of them had even made it out of the venue. Today though they were going to Lotte World. Cheshire had never actually been and was being allowed this free pass to go unemcumbered since they were going to be filming the boys too which just screamed celebrity at a place like that anyways.

When she finally moved to get off the makeshift bed that had kind of just become her spot, she saw that over half of the trainees had opted to sleep in the living room on the floor. It was really adorable to see them all cuddled together. Chess quietly made her way to the bathroom and happened upon a black Angels shirt that had been cut into a muscle tank lying on the drying rack. Without a second thought she stole it and went into the bathroom to change and freshen up. She wore the tank along with a black and lime green bandeaux and a pair of skin tight ripped skinny jeans. She put a little light make up on since she was going out in public and simply pulled her hair into a high ponytail after brushing through it a few times. She was ready to go.

When she walked back out to the living room none of the boys had moved so she quickly connected her phone to the speakers again and turned up the volume. This time it was BigBang's Bae Bae that startled the trainees awake. When some just rolled back over Chess went up and loudly imitated T.O.P.'s rap above them causing them to curse and finally start moving. After getting woken up they all started moving to get ready for the day. As the song finally changed to Good Boy, Shownu came out of the bathroom shirtless.

"Oh my god! My innocent eyes!" Chess yelled as he came closer to her. She laughed when his eyes widened and his face dropped into a shocked expression.

"Are you really wearing my shirt?" Chess bit her lips giggling at the shirtless boy in front of her. He really was like a younger brother.

"Oh this? It's yours? Yeah I grabbed it off the drying rack. I liked it so I figured I'd wear it today," Shownu groaned in response.

"I specificlly washed that so I could wear it today," Chess couldn't help but laugh as he retreated to his room to search for a new shirt utterly defeated.

"What is your deal with stealing peoples shirts?" I.M came over to her finishing pulling on his own shirt.

"Well I'd steal your pants too if I liked them. But unfortunately I also couldn't fit them either," Chess looked at the ceiling deep in thought for a second. "Honestly the reason I always steal peoples clothes is something I can't tell you. Contract. Its a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."

"One day that contracts going to end and you're going to have to tell me all your secrets," I.M smirked at her as she wrapped a hoodie around her and then a thick black peacoat.

"Maybe. You'll have to be around for that long though," I.M finished putting on his own coat and wrapped his arm around her shoulders pulling her into his side so he could whisper in her ear.

"I'm not going anywhere."

The trip to Lotte World was uneventful but as soon as she got there Cheshire was wide eyed and childlike. She proclaimed how she wanted to ride everything and the only one brave enough to attempt some of the rides was Jooheon. They split off from the group in favor of going to the French Revolution and the Giant Loop rides. When Jooheon tried to get her on the Gyro Drop though she literally ran away from him. When she stopped running she found that all the guys were staring at the Gryo Spin and Jooheon shortly caught up with them while they were considering. Chess quickly ran to I.M pulling him towards the line for the ride by the hand. He laughed at how excited she got, it was just so cute. He made it a point to intertwine their fingers though when she didn't let go of his hand. It startled Chess since she hadn't realized that she hadn't let go of his hand yet and drew her attention to his smiling face. She couldn't think of a reason to make him let go so she just looked away and blushed. When she looked to her left though Jooheon was there and he grabbed her other hand interlocking their fingers. Just when she thought her face couldn't get any redder Shownu showed up behind her and wrapped his arms around her neck. These boys were going to kill her.

After some strange looks from the attendant the group got on the ride and sat in their respective seats. Cheshire was literally bouncing up and down in excitement waiting for the ride to start. Jooheon and I.M both sniggered at her childlike behavior before everyone heard Wonho yelp as the bar locked him into place. Cheshire laughed so hard that if it hadn't been for the bar holding her in place she would have fallen to the floor. When the ride started moving everyone was yelling and having a blast except for Wonho who looked like he was about to die.

The day went on in a similar manner with not a lot of conversation but a whole lot of smiles and laughs. They rode most of the rides and they ate almost everything in sight. It had made everyone forget the breakdowns that happened the day before and couldn't have been more perfect in Chess's mind. By the time they were getting tired the boys decided to take one last photo on the bridge above the ice rink when they got two of the mascots to come take a picture with them. Cheshire had been informed of the plan so she was standing in the back ready to strike her pose before they realized what was happening.

When she did and #Gun realized what was going on she cracked up. The face he made was just so exasperated that he looked like a grandpa. Once everyone had read the banner though they were starting to feel the seriousness of the week ahead of them.

This was it, their last mission for No.Mercy. The boys couldn't tell what they should be feeling judging by their faces. None the less this definitely ended their fun trip. It was time for them to go back home and for the boys to go back to the practice rooms. Cheshire was excited for it to end but was nervous at the same time. She would have to help eliminate two more of the boys and she had no idea how she was going to manage it. She loved them all so much and they each brought something very valueable to the table. So much talent was being wasted while they were still trainees but she felt like it was a smack in the face to be told she could only choose 7 to debut. She hoped that the boys would understand when the final decisions were made but she couldn't even ask that of them either. She'd just have to wait and see what happened just like everyone else. It felt like the Hunger Games. As each boy dropped their number on the ground she stood and watched and when the last one hit the banner she looked at the boys backs as they walked towards the exit.

"May the odds be ever in your favor."

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A/N I know the Lotte World bit is kind of cheesy and meh but it had to be included because I mean its ing Lotte World. But I hope it was still at least slightly enjoyable... As always Thank You for Reading! Kamsamnida!