The logo is done up for Christmas, with the poles creating the V replaced with candy canes, Christmas lights strung around both letters and snow glittering as it drifts past their multicolored glow.

A rush of snow falls over the logo, clearing to show the two teams from the previous episode sitting on the edge of the Arirang stage, waiting to hear the final results.

Natchaya is the only contestant who's completely relaxed as she swings her legs cheerfully in the air and her eyes wander. Even Jakyung has a trace of nerves present in her usually carefree demeanor.

Finally Hyomin looks up, her expression unreadable.

"We'll start with Team One. The member with the most votes on this team was Shisae. As such we're naming you the temporary leader of Team One."

Shisae looks startled, and then worried, glancing toward Miyeon and Jiwon as Hyomin continues speaking.

"As for the member who will be leaving the show. Kyungmi, I'm afraid today was your last performance as a contestant."

Kyungmi bows her head, he shoulders slumped.

It cuts to an interview with the newly eliminated dancer.

"I mean, I figured that would happen really. I've been bracing myself for it since we got our critiques." She says quietly.

"So you aren't upset?"

She hestitates. "I think it hasn't really set in yet. I'll probably start crying when it does."

The scene shifts back to the teams, where Hyomin has turned to Team Two.

"The member with the highest number of votes on your team was Minah. You will also be serving as a temporary leader."

Minah's eyes widen dramatically and she looks actively terrified by the notion.

"I can't lead! I'm not a leader!" She sounds extremely nervous in her interview. "I'm a base, not a flyer!"

It changes back to Hyomin who move on from the panicing Minah to look at the other girls.

"The eliminated contestant lost out by very few votes in this team. But Aerin, I'm afraid you've been eliminated."

Aerin looks stunned for a long moment, before she bursts into tears.

She's still crying in her interview.

"I... c-came... so... clo-ose it's... not fa-air." She bawls. She's holding a tissue box and her face is completely soaked.

Back in the theatre Jakyung pulls the distraught girl into a tight hug and rubs her back soothingly as Hyomin clears .

"Now your next challenge is going to be the toughest one you've had so far. You'll all be learning original Christmas songs for our special Christmas episode on Arirang, and in addition Iseul and Hyunmi have put together a special performance we're calling Year in Review that you'll all be performning together. However first we're giving you a special gift in honor of the holidays." She nods to Gyujin, who happily bounds forward, the smile on his fave bright enough that even Aerin calms down for a moment to listen to him.

"We reserved tables for you girls at one of the best meat places in town! You'll be going in your groups, so you can just relax and get to know one another for the rest of the night. You'll be starting work with Iseul and Hyunmi in the morning, but in the meantime Inho and Doyeol are ready outside in the vans!"

Aerin and Kyungmi are left standing on the stage alone with the hosts. Gyujin nods politely to Hyomin who then turns to the eliminated girls.

"If you'll wait just a moment, there's something I still need to talk to you about."

The scene cuts to show the two vans pulling up in front of a restaurant. The girls pile out, chattering excitedly about the food.

"Is their a cap on how much we can spend?" Hiroko asks Inho as they walk inside.

The rapper shrugs. "Probably? Maybe ask Doyeol, I mostly tune out when Ms Ahn is talking."

Natchaya apparenly overhears his admission and laughs. "I like you."

"Well you won't for long. With Aerin gone you're the only person left on Team Two who can rap." Inho looks entirely too pleased at the thought of analyzing and tearing down Natchaya.

The teen actually looks nervous for a moment before she shrugs. "Big deal, I'm a great rapper."

"Then why haven't you done it up to this point?" The judge challenges.

Hiroko slips away to join the rest of Team Two as they walk to their seats while Inho and Natchaya continue their face off.

"Where's Nat? Thought she was with you?" Jakyung glances up. "I wanted to start our meat and greet! Get it? Meat like the food?"

"We have to deal with this for the next five weeks?" Yoonhee groans, though she's grinning teasingly over at Jakyung who sighs dramatically.

"I'm a genius, unappreciated in my own time!" She laments dramatically, throwing herself back into her chair.

Natchaya joins them then, and she automatically laughs as she sits beside Jakyung. "Are they being mean to you?"

"No one appreciates me Natchaya!"

Natchaya pats her head consolingly. "There there, I appreciate you."

"You two are weird." Yoonhee decides. "I like it!"

"Um, do you guys know what you want to order?" Minah pipes up awkwardly.

"Still looking madame leader." Natchaya drawls, picking up her menu for the first time since sitting down.

Minah looks at her feet, clearly embarassed.

Hiroko glances at the temporary leader for a moment, a clear internal battle being projected onto her face, but she ultimately just looks back down at her menu.

Yoonhee, Natchaya, and Jakyung continue chatting and laughing, while the other two members of their team all but hide behind their menus, engulfed in a nervous silence.

The camera pans away from the group to focus on Team One, who are seated across the restaurant.

As with Team Two, two of the members of Team One aren't speaking much, but unlike Hiroko and Minah, Jiwon and Shisae are still engaged in the conversation, simply choosing to quietly observe for the most part.

"What sort of Christmas song do you think it will be? I love Christmas songs! I hope it'll be a dance song, those are the best to put decorations up to!" Kaerin is taking a mile a minute, her excitement saturating the air around the table.

"I'm sure we'll find out in the morning Kae. Have you decided what you want?" Miyeon smiles in amusement and gently pushes the menu towards the chatty singer.

Kaerin immediately switches gears. "I haven't even looked! Oh my gosh, so much meat!" She looks eagerly through the menu, singing an improvised song about meat under her breath as she does.

Jiwon smiles softly, placing her own menu down as well. "It was nice of the staff to give us this time off before making us learn two performances in a week."

"But they're Christmas performances! They'll be fun." Ahri is smiling brightly and Miyeon laughs.

"You're a Christmas fan too I take it?"

Ahri grins abashedly. "Just a bit. But it's such a great time! There's this feeling in the air you know? It's hard to be sad, even if we will have to work extra hard this week."

Shisae nods in agreement, smiling lightly herself.

Miyeon shrugs amicably. "Fair enough. I think it's going to be fun working with you guys, I'm glad we were grouped up." She adds with a grin.

Ahri grins back. "Me too."

Jiwon shrugs, but she's smiling, and Kaerin is all too happy to loudly proclaim that they're going to be the best group in all of Kpop, earning her some annoyed looks from neighboring tables.

Only Shisae gives no clear indication of how she feels about the group, instead looking back to her menu, her face unreadable.

The scene fast forwards about an hour and shows both groups ordering and subsequently receiving their food. The focus stays on Team One as time returns to normal speed and Kaerin notices something in a far corner of the restaurant.

"Hey, is that Doyeol and Iseul? I thought Doyeol left? And Iseul didn't even come with us."

"Kaerin don't talk with your mouth full." Miyeon makes a slight face as she pulls her plate slightly away from Kaerin. "And no, Doyeol never left. I'm pretty sure he and Iseul are dating."

Shisae nods idly and Jiwon hums around her own mouthful of food, but Ahri is as surprised by the news as Kaerin.

"Really? How do you know?" The singer glances at the two curiously. "I wouldn't have guessed."

"It's obvious if you know what to look for." Miyeon shrugs.

"I think it's cute." Kaerin smiles wistfully. "I've always wanted a boyfriend for Christmas."

"Have you asked Santa?" Ahri jokes.

The group continues chatting amicably as the focus changes back to Team Two, who seem to have relaxed a bit since the food arrived.

"I hope we get more of a vocally-focused song. Between the teams I think we have more vocal variety than they do." Hiroko is musing.

Natchaya grins. "We got more everything, our debut is in the bag." She declares confidently before taking a bite of her food that looks like it should be too large for her to actually be able to chew.

Yoonhee tilts her head thoughtfully. "I don't know, they have Kaerin and she's definitely the strongest vocal on the show." She looks apologetically at Hiroko and Jakyung but neither seems to take offense so she continues the thought. "Wouldn't it be better to get a dance song? You and Minah-unnie are both great dancers and the rest of us follow a choreo a lot better than Kaerin can." She looks a little awkward as she explicitly names Kaerin, but Hiroko smiles.

"That is a good point, but with Iseul and Hyunmi working on whatever 'Year in Review' is, I'm betting we won't have a choreographer to help with the song, so we'd want to instead focus on our singing since I don't know about you guys, but I can't really choreograph all that well. All five of us have different vocal tones from what I've heard so we have the potential to really sound amazing with the right song."

Minah is watching Hiroko with both gratitude and sadness and is the only person at the table who doesn't respond to Hiroko's analysis.

"I guess that's  good point. I hope we get a vocal song then!" Yoonhee agrees cheerfully.

"Whatever we get we're going to be awesome at it, because we're the best team." Natchaya proclaims confidently. "After all, I'm on it!"

Yoonhee and Jakyung both get on her case after her final exclamation, and even Hiroko is laughing, looking more relaxed than she has in weeks.

Minah watches the exchange, tense but with a small smile despite herself.

The scene is again fast forwarded through the rest of the meals, and Doyeol and Iseul drive the groups back to their dorms once they've paid.

The dorms are less chaotic that before, with only ten people remaining.

Miyeon grabs Minah and pulls her aside as the others get ready to sleep.

"Hey, why don't you take Kyungmi's old bed? You keep sleeping on the matress outside and it can't be comfortable."

Minah looks surprised by the offer. "I don't mind, I've gotten used to it really." She glances away. "Eugene and I were waiting for a room to have two open beds so we could still chat before sleeping." She admits in a smaller voice.

Miyeon clears awkwardly. "Well, the bed is there if you want it." She excuses herself to head to the bathroom.

Minah chews her lip nervously, and then spots Hiroko sitting on the couch, texting. She hesitates, and then walks over to the other girl.

"Uh, hey."

Hiroko glances up. "Hey. What's up?"

"Um, I was wondering if I could sleep in your room from now on? Since there are empty beds there?"

Hiroko shrugs. "Sure, though you'll have to have a top bunk since Ahri and I took the bottom."

"That's fine. Thanks." Minah looks like she wants to say more, but ultimately she just nods and walks away, with a somewhat bemused Hiroko gazing after her.

The next morning finds the two groups in the large practice room with Hyunmi and Iseul.

"Alright, Iseul and I gave up our sleep last night to put the final touches on this, and we've got one day for you to learn it all so pay attention and you won't get yelled at." Hyunmi instructs.

The girls look at each other nervously but remain silent as Hyunmi continues speaking.

"There are six songs total. The final one will be performed by everyone but the rest have a set number of people."

Iseul takes over, pulling out a clipboard. "We've separated the songs into two groups - introductory and additive. You'll choose which introductory song you want to learn and then the additive ones will be decided from there. Hyunmi and I will dance in whichever intro dances don't have enough people signed up, but will not be part of the additive section at the end.

"Why not?" Yoonhee pipes up. "If you're in the first section anyway?"

"Because people don't want to see us performning, they're here for you." Hyunmi is no nonsense, but Kaerin is having none of it.

"We can do Secret from Cosmic Girls! They're twelve and we're twelve and it's a great song anyway!"

"They're thirteen actually." Iseul corrects. "And we're only getting involved in the first two dances to make the numbers even."

Ahri clears softly. "Well, it is Christmas. It would be nice to work together."

Hyunmi starts to protest, but then sighs.

"Alright, we'll add Secret to the end. Now would you all sign up for an intro dance?" Iseul attempts to sound annoyed, but she can't stop the pleased look that crosses her features.

The girls crowd around the clipboard, writing their names in the spaces designated for the three songs.

Once everyone has stepped back Iseul looks at the paper and laughs. "Wow, no one wanted to do Sistar? I'm surprised." She glances at Hyunmi. "So how are we going to play this?"

"We'll start with the groups dances and go from there." The dance instructor decides. She looks over the sheet briefly, and then looks back to the contestants. "Jakyung, Natchaya, and all the girls in the Only One group, you'll be doing all three - four of the additive dances. Does anyone want to switch groups?"

Everyone shakes their heads, and Hyunmi nods.

"Excellent. Well, let's get started, we have a long day ahead of us."

The scene switches to the interview room, where Kaerin is bouncing happily in her seat.

"It's nice to all be working together for once! All the going against each other made me sad."

The exasperation in Doyeol's voice is heavy as he replies. "You are aware that this is a competition right?"

In another interview Jiwon isn't quite as pleased.

"I'm not saying I don't appreciate Iseul and Hyunmi's hard work putting this together, but it does cut down on time to work on the original songs that I'm guessing we'll be judged on. And the fact we haven't even gotten to look at them yet has me a bit worried since there's not even a way to plan ahead for how we want to practice once we do start rehearsing them."

The view changes back to show the girls exhausted, but most sporting bright grins.

"I cannot we actually did it. Either it was easier than I was expecting-"

"Or we're more accustomed to having to learn in short amounts of time. Either way," Miyeon smiles over at Yoonhee, "I'm pretty dang proud of us."

"Alright girls, you've got your own songs to work on as well. Inho and Doyeol will take you to your practice rooms and give you the sheet music and CDs of the backtracks."

The two groups divide themselves without further prompting as the two men enter the room.

Doyeol pauses to speak for a moment with Iseul while Inho takes Team Two out the door. When the cameraman walks over to Team One he's met by a squealing Kaerin.

"Oh my gosh you and Iseul-unnie are so cute together! When did you start dating? Did you get her something special for Christmas?"

Doyeol promptly turns bright red and herds the five girls out of the practice room while Iseul laughs behind them.

"Kaerin that is really not your business." He finally replies once they're a ways down the hall.

"But you are dating? That's so cute! You two are adorable together!" Kaerin continues squealing despite Doyeol's obvious mortification.

Miyeon comes to his rescue. "We all agree that we're happy for them Kaerin, but you're embarrassing the poor man."

Kaerin looks at Doyeol in surprise. "Sorry oppa! I didn't realize you weren't open about it yet!"

"The company wanted to keep it quiet on the show." The cameraman says. "Plus we aren't really official yet. I'm going to ask her on Christmas." He's bright red, and Kaerin's subsequent shrieks of excitement do him no favors.

Luckily for the blushing cameraman, the girls reach their destination right then. Doyeol quickly hands the music to Shisae and hurriedly makes his exit.

Shisae is quick to get everyone on track, handing out the sheet music and heading over to the mp3 in the room. She starts the music and the five listen to it, following along on their own scores.

As it ends, Shisae gets to work.

"Alright there are no rap parts in this, so I think I'd rather focus on choreographing and teaching the dance so you four can take all the lines."

Ahri frowns. "Are you sure? You sing well, you took half the chorus last week."

Shisae shrugs. "I don't really like singing. But I didn't want to be eliminated and I didn't know we'd get that chance to appeal after the performance. I can sing if I absolutely have to, but rapping and dancing are really where my passions are." It was a long speech for the contestant, and her teammates nod in understanding.

Miyeon takes charge of distributing lines while Shisae rewinds the music and starts working on the dance.

The sound cuts out and light christmas-y music plays over the slightly sped up images as Shisae keeps dancing while the others warm up their vocals and practice their parts for a while. Eventually Miyeon waves to Shisae and says something, earning a nod from the leader and the four girls leave the room.

The scene does a spinning rotation to show Team Two, who look quite pleased as they look over their music sheets.

"Looks like you got your wish unnie! Hyomin-unnie knew what you wanted before you did!" Yoonhee smiles over at Hiroko, who grins back.

"Indeed. I will never question the management again." Hiroko declares.

Natchaya rolls her eyes. "Yeah right."

Hiroko laughs. "Yeah, I totally will."

Natchaya looks surprised at Hiroko's easy-going reply, clearly having expected a snappy remark.

Jakyung smiles happily as Minah awkwardly clears he throat.

"So um, why don't we listen to the back track and then figure out how we want to divide the lines?" The temporary leader suggests, her nerves obvious.

Everyone agrees easily, and Minah relaxes some and smiles. They listen to the track, and when it finishes Hiroko raises a hand.

"Why don't we all sing the whole song and then decide who sounds best on which parts?" She suggests.

Minah nods, shooting a thankful look over at Hiroko. "That sounds good. Do you want to start?"

"If no one else wants to...?" The other girls shake their heads and Hiroko does a quickly hummed scale before begining to sing.

However the song is left unheard as the Christmas music from early again begins playing and the auditions are sped up. The scene swirls to a new view once again after a minute or so.

Team One, minus Shisae, are at the recording booth, much to the operator's surprise.

"You already want to record?" He asks incredulously. "You just got the music."

"Better now than later when we might not have time." Jiwon explains. "We do hope we aren't imposing on you sir." She adds with an abashed smile.

The operator sighs and smiles. "Alright Jiwon-ah, I wasn't doing much anyway. Who's going first?"

There's a quick fast forward as the girls decide their order of recording, and then everyone except Miyeon pile into the recording studio to wait their turn while Miyeon heads into the sound booth to record her parts.

As she records the other three do a few more vocal warm ups and then start looking over their parts again.

Jiwon finishes first and walks over the the where the operator is having Miyeon run through a few harmonies. He glances up and nods, and she smiles back.

Wordlessly she watches him working the sound panel and continue giving Miyeon instructions until he's satisfied and tells her to send the next person in.

He looks over at Jiwon, who's still fully focused on the screen in front of him.

"You interesting in audio engineering?" He asks with some amusement.

She startles. "It's certainly interesting. I've never been on this side of the glass before. It's quite complex what you do." She comments.

"Pull up a chair, I'll explain what I'm doing with the next girl if you want."

Jiwon grabs one of the nearby rolling seats and slides up next to the operator as Ahri enters the sound booth.

Miyeon glances at Jiwon and then looks at Kaerin.

"What's she doing?" The older contestant asks.

"I dunno," Kaerin shrugs. "But she looks happy. And if she learns how to work everything we won't need to hope the operator is here next time!"

Miyeon nods, still eyeing Jiwon. "Yeah, that's a good point."

"Jiwon is super smart." Kaerin says cheerfully, missing the slightly odd look on Miyeon's face as she does.

"...Yeah. She is." Miyeon agrees. "Hey, want to run your part with me or a bit to make sure you really get it?"

Kaeirn happily agrees, apparently missing the obvious topic change.

The view warps back to Team Two, apparently a few days later as they're picking out costumes rather than practicing.

"Trust me green would look tacky. I say we theme it white and red, with everyone in cozy sweaters or some other long sleeved outfit to match the wintery vibe we're going for." Yoonhee has clear control of the situation as she carries a bag as the girls walk through the costume warehouse they'd been in the previous week.

"Ooh what about this?" Hiroko holds up a black felt hat. "Could I wear this? It's cute."

Yoonhee opens to protest, but Jakyung looks over and makes a small exclamatory sound.

"I saw and outfit earlier that would look so cute with that! Hang on, come with me, let's see if it's your size."

Hiroko and Jakyung vanish into the mess of clothes and Yoonhee sighs.

Minah taps her shoulder a minute later, holding up a bright red jacket hopefully.

"This would work?"

Yoonhee smiles. "Yeah, that will work. Add it to the bag, and is that your whole outfit done?"

Minah nods. "I was thinking - you haven't looked for yourself yet, have you?"

Yoonhee shrugs. "I'll coordinate with whatever you guys find I guess."

Minah smiles. "We'll look together." And she drags Yoonhee into the mess of clothes."

The Arirang stage is done up with lights and holly, and even several of the audience members are wearing santa hats or snowflake crowns.

Hyomin and Gyujin walk on, waving, and some of the audience looks surprised or confused but most shout excitedly.

Hyomin waits for the audience to calm down before she begins speaking.

"Hello and welcome to a very special holiday episode of Arirang! Tonight we'll be replacing your usual hosts as our girls will be premiering their Christmas songs here tonight later on!"

Several audience members cheer excitedly.

Gyujin continues. "But first, to start our show we have a special performance by the contestants that reminisce about all the great songs we've heard this year. This is Year in Review."

Th hosts exit the stage, and a moment later Yoonhee, Shisae, Hiroko, and Kaerin all walk onto the stage, followed by Hyunmi who stands in the center.

The other contestants and Iseul stand on the sides, visible but out of focus.

Only One - Hiroko; Studded Hat (Yeoreum), Kaerin; Short Blonde Hair (Xuan Yi), Shisae; Long Sleeved Studded Black Shirt (Eunseo), Yoonhee; Black Jacket/School Uniform (Dayoung)
Why So Lonely - Minah; Red Hat (Luda), Miyeon; Red Jacket (Bona), Ahri; Pinkish Corduroy Dress (Dawon), Jiwon; Black Corduroy Dress (Soobin)
I Like That - Iseul; Black Shirt (Yeonjung), Jakyung; Star Sweater (Seola), Natchaya; Grey Jacket (EXY), Hyunmi; Long Blonde Hair (Cheng Xiao)

When the performance ends the girls all crowd to the front of the stage to interact with their fans, while Iseul and Hyunmi quietly depart from the stage.

The cameras follow them offstage as Hyomin and Gyujin announce the next performance.

The ten girls are chattering excitedly with each other as they head back to the dressing rooms.

"I still can't believe we actually pulled that off!" Yoonhee is practically vibrating from the lingering excitement and adrenaline.

"I can't believe I didn't trip during Shooting Love!" Kaerin replies, just as enthusiastic.

"I can't believe that either." Natchaya calls from further back in the group.

Kaerin ignores her and she and Yoonhee continue giggling all the way to the dressing rooms, where the two finally have to split to go with their respective teams.

In the Team One dressing room, the girls chat as they change, expertly keeping away from the cameras when they aren't decent but speaking loud enough to still be heard.

"Can someone help me with my cloak? I can't get the bow straight." Ahri's voice sounds a moment before she appears in the camera's focus, decked out in pure white with a short fur-line cloak wrapped around her shoulders. She fusses with the bow a bit before Miyeon appears, laughing a bit as she reties the bow and straightens it out.

"There you go." She grins and Ahri smiles back.

Miyeon is dressed similarly to Ahri, though instead of a snow white dress she's wearing an equally white skirt and jacket combo. She also doesn't have a cloak on, though a moment later Jiwon appears in view and hands the older girl one.

"Thanks." Miyeon nods to the youngest.

Just then a stage hand pops her head in. "Ten minutes, stand by." She informs them, and there's some scrambling to fix cloaks and finish changing, and a moment later the girls file out of the room.

The scene transitions seamlessly to show them walking out onto the stage, waving cheerfully as they fall into their starting positions.

Miyeon - Naeun;Bangs, Ahri - Chaewon;Fur Cloak w/ Fuzzy Balls, Shisae - Yena;Fur Cloak no Fuzzy Balls/No Line, Jiwon - Hyunjoo; Ears Visible, Kaerin - Jinsol; High Notes

The audience cheers as the girls curtsey and quickly leave the stage as the next performance begins.

The scene changes to show Team Two in their dressing room. They've already gotten changed, so the five of them are sitting on the provided couches as they wait for their turn to perform.

"Ah, I'm really nervous." Yoonhee is fidgeting in her seat. "I always trip on the run in the first harmony."

Hiroko rests a hand lightly on their maknae's shoulder. "Don't worry Yoonhee, even on the off chance you do slip, it's barely noticable, and the rest of your parts sound amazing so people will copmletely forget it happened, even if they do notice it." She promises.

Yoonhee smiles weakly, and Minah watches them quietly with an undefinable expression crossing her face.

A stagehand chooses that moment to pop in and give them their ten minute warning. Quickly they line up and head out, nerves and excitement coloring the air around them.

Again the scene transitions directly to show them walking onto the stage to cheers from the audience. They take no formation, and instead simply remain in their line as they wait for the music to start.

Hiroko - Wendy;Black Hat, Jakyung - Seulgi;Plaid Dress, Natchaya - Joy;Black Ascot, Minah - Irene; Red Jacket, Yoonhee - Yeri; Far Right

The cheers are explosive, and everyone waves at the crowd as they exit, a bit slower than Team One had as the act following theirs is the hosts rather than another musical performance.

This time the focus lingers on the stage as Hyomin and Gyujin reappear. They wait for the crowd to quiet down before Gyujin speaks.

"What a night! Are you guys feeling the Christmas spirit?"

He's answered by cheers and he grins. "Excellent! But unfortunately it looks like we're almost out of time!"

Boos sound from the crowd, and Gyujin looks surprised and amused. "Wow we didn't even cue that! Hey, I'm sad too, but we do have one more very special performance left before we go! How many people here watch Versus?"

At least three quarters of the audience call the affirmative, and Gyujin grins.

"Tell me guys, do you miss any of the eliminated contestants?"

Somehow the cheer for that is even louder than the previous one and Gyujin's smile widens.

"Well as a special Christmas surprise we've invited them all back tonight to give a special stage! Unfortunately Olivia and Hyojin were too busy to come, but we hope you still enjoy the performance!"

The cheeers are the loudest they've been all night as six of the eight eliminated Vs contestants walk onto the stage and take formation.

Yeeun - Soyeon;Long Blonde Hair, Jina - Yujeong;Short Blonde Hair, Aerin - Yulhee;Center Chair, Eugene - Haein; Tiny Antlers, Kyungmi - ZN; Red Hat, Jaelyn - Solbin; First Singer

They bow repeatedly at the applause as Gyujin and Hyomin return to the stage as fake snow starts falling around them.

"Thank you everyone for coming! Good night and happy holidays!" Gyujin cries exuberantly, waving and smiling.

Even Hyomin has a smile on her face as she tries to keep the fake snow from landing in her hair.

Just before the camera cuts out, someone from offstage lets out a shriek and barrels straight into Eugene in a giant hug.

The screen breifly goes dark before it lights up again to show all the contestants piling onto the stage as the audience from the show departs.

Minah still has Eugene in a tight hug that the younger doesn't seem to be objecting to. They're talking with Miyeon who seems torn between feeling uncomfortable and excited.

Yoonhee has made her way over to Kyungmi and the two are chatting a mile a minute as if their argument the previous week had never happened. Both are teary-eyed and grinning impossibly wide. They're interrupted by Kaerin flying out of nowhere to pull them both into a hug.

Yeeun and Ahri have found each other in the mess of bodies and are talking softly, warm smiles gracing both of their faces. Aerin is standing with them though she seems like an outsider to their discussion

In another corner, Jakyung and Natchaya have been joined by Jina and Jaelyn, and all four are laughing loudly.

A strange sound like gears grinding up metal suddenly sounds, and everyone wices. A sudden clump of fake snow drops down from the rafters and lands squarely on top of Jiwon, who'd been standing a little bit away from the reunions, watching them instead of participating. She blinks, clearly stunned.

A voice calls an apology from the rafters. "There was a jam in the machine! We turned it off so it won't happen again."

Jiwon fruitlessly tries to get the polymer out of her hair, surprisingly calm for someone who just had a bucket of the stuff dropped on her out of nowhere.

Hyomin clears , and it's clear she's rather amused by the incident. She checks her phone quickly before gathering the contestants together. "Well we should move this back to the dorms and let the stage crew clean up so they can get back home tonight." She announces.

The girls nods agreement and follow the two hosts back to the dorms.

However they have another surprise waiting when they open the door to find the whole dorm decked out in Christmas decorations, complete with a tree in the center of the living space. Sixteen presents sit underneath the tree, and all eyes turn in shock to the host.

"Merry Christmas girls." Hyomin says shortly before leaving.

Gyujin lingers a bit longer. "Since you're here over Christmas we thought we'd do something for you girls. It's no fun spending it away from family, but we hope you like each other enough that this isn't a copmletely terrible substitute?"

He gets his answer a moment later when not only Kaerin, but Yoonhee and Kyungmi all drag him into a very excited group hug.

"Thank you oppa!" Kaerin squeals.

Once Gyujin has managed to extract himself from the hug and excused himself from the dorms the girls turn to the presents.

"You think there's really one for everyone under there?" Kaerin looks extremely excited as she starts looking through the presents.

"Wait!" Yoonhee exclaims. "Aren't we going to have a Santa?"

The girls look at her in confusion and she explains.

"You know, someone who hands out the presents?"

Minah smiles. "That sounds like fun!"

"I found a Santa hat!" Jaelyn jumps on board with the idea moments later, waving two red hats around. "I vote youngest have to be Santa!" She adds, throwing the hats to Eugene and Yoonhee.

Yoonhee manages to catch the flying object, but Eugene ends up with a hat in her face.

Both manage to get the hats onto their heads properly, and each grabs for a present.

Eugene looks over at Yoonhee, clearly unsure of what to do next. Yoonhee smiles.

"You can give your present first!" She offers.

Eugene glances at the label. "Um, Hiroko unnie, this one is yours."

Hiroko gingerly takes the box from the younger girl and unwraps it with care. Inside is a book, and Hiroko's mouth drops open before she can stop it.

"It's about advanced music theory and composing! I've been wanting to get into this." She looks genuinely touched. "I think they actually tried to tailor our gifts to us."

Yoonhee looks even more excited as she passes the next gift to Minah while Eugene looks for the next gift under the tree.

The evening is slightly sped up, though each gift is shown, if only shortly. Each girl is obviously quite pleased with her gift, and soon only Yoonhee and Eugene's gifts are left.

The scene returns to normal speed as Yoonhee speaks. "We'll open them at the same time, okay Yujin?"

Eugene nods, eyeing Yoonhee's significantly larger present uncertainly. The two tear off the wrapping paper, and Yoonhee lets out a delighted squeal.

"Oh my gosh they got me a karaoke machine! Guys, guys we have to plug this in right now! There's a TV in the main common room we can use!"

Hiroko, who up to this point had her nose buried in her new book, looks up. "Actually I'd be up for that. We can do all the Christmas classics."

There's agreement from nearly everyone in the room, and those who don't agree are dragged along by their friends regardless, leaving Minah and Eugene alone in the dorms.

Eugene is holding a peice of paper, eyes wide and teary as she reads it over and over again.

Minah places a hand lightly on the younger girl's shoulder. "Is everything okay? Where's your present?"

Eugene looks up at her friend and breaks into a watery smile. She waves the paper at Minah. "Everything is better than it ever has been unnie. Merry Christmas."

Minah looks slightly confused, but she smiles back. "Merry Christmas to you too."