A collage of video clips fill the screen before the logo appears, reviewing the events of the previous episode.

"I'll be doing the challenge ma'am."

"Are you sure? You don't know what those consequences are."

"I mean, I guess it's fair."

"I'm Kang Hoon, LOEN trainee."

"If she can successfully earn more votes than one of you after the final performance, she'll be joining your team. And you'll be eliminated from the show."

The screen goes dark for a moment before the logo appears, glowing against the black background.

Instead of it's usual shatter, it fades out quietly to reveal all ten remaining contestants sitting in the central living area of their dorm, along with Hoon who's standing slightly removed from the groups.

In front of them, Hyomin stand with an envelope.

"As I'm sure your teammates have told you, the results of this challenge may result in a lineup change for one of your Teams." The host's tone is calm but commanding, and the eleven girls remain quietly attentive as she speaks.

"All voting occured online, and closed last night. These," She gestures with the envelope. "Are the final results." Without further preamble she tears open the envelope and pulls out the paper inside. She raises an eyebrow in apparent surprise, before clearing and handing the paper off to Gyujin, who's standing beside her.

"Well then, I admit I didn't expect these results. However we'll start with the clear winner. Ahri, you're safe."

The singer deflates in relief, and next to her Shisae gives her hand a quick squeeze.

The host then turns to face Hiroko, and Hoon moves subtly so she also falls into Hyomin's line of sight.

"Second place was extremely close, closer than I would have thought. However," She pauses for a breath and Hiroko makes an aggravated face as they have to wait a moment longer for the results.

"Hoon, you have successfully earned more points that Hiroko. Welcome to the show. Hiroko you may go pack your bags."

The room goes completely still, before slowly, all eyes turn to face the newcomer.

Hoon shifts her weight to her other foot under the sudden scrutiny, but otherwise appears to remain unaffected, her expression a careful neutral as she processes the new information.

Hiroko however, is having far less success hiding her reaction to the news.

Tears are pooling in her eyes and she does nothing to stop them from streaking down her cheeks as she stares in shock at the host. For her part Hyomin seems content to wait and let the contestants react at their own pace, arms crossed patiently. Beside her Gyujin looks a touch more guilty, his eyes flitting everywhere but the eleven girls in front of him.

After a long moment, Hiroko clears and wipes her eyes. The break in the silence triggers everyone to react at once.

Both Minah and Yoonhee squish Hiroko into a hug which Natchaya tosses a glare towards Hoon. Jakyung shuffles nervously in her seat, as do most of Team One.

Another moment passes, and Hiroko pries herself away from her former teammates to approach Hoon, who regards her cautiously.

Hiorko takes a deep breath, and then holds out her hand.

"Take care of them, yeah?"

Hoon smiles faintly and accepts the offered handshake. "Sure thing Roko."

Hiroko takes her leave, vanishing into her room and leaving the ten contestants with the hosts. Hyomin claps her hands and all ten turn to look at her, the sense of loss still sharp in the air despite Hiroko's mature acceptance of the situation.

"Well then, now that that's done your next challenge will begin on Sunday. For the next two days you'll be working with the judges to improve your skillset. They'll be by shortly. In the meantime I'd suggest getting to know your new teammate." With that the host finally departs, followed by a clearly relieved Gyujin.

Team One wisely depart for the kitchen, leaving Team Two alone in the room.

Minah clears . "Well, um, welcome to the team Hoon." She offers a smile, which Hoon returns warmly, still seeming quite calm despite the heavy glares she's receiving from a certain Thai contestant.

"Oh come on unnie this is a load of พล่าม." Natchaya snaps. "There weren't supposed to be any more eliminations!"

"I thought you didn't like Hiroko? You should be thrilled." Yoonhee sound uncharactersitically bitter but Natchaya is unaffected.

"Oh please, I didn't like her sure but that doesn't magically make this totally fine!"

"Guys, could you not?" Minah looks at them pleadingly. "It happened, why don't we give Hoon a chance?"

"I promise to not boss you around." Hoon finally speaks up, shooting Natchaya a wry grin.

The Thai girl just rolls her eyes, but there's the slightly hint of amusement in her eyes before she glances away.

Hoon clears . "So um, anything I shoud be caught up on? Set roles or ships or anything?"

Yoonhee's face visibly heats up. "Ships? N-no, nothing like that." She stutters, bright red at the thought.

Hoon pats her head apologetically. "Sorry, figured I should check though. You know the industry."

Yoonhee nods, still blushing.

Minah rescues the maknae by responding to the first half of Hoon's question. "Well Hiroko was one of our main singers with Jakyung, and she was the best dancer as well."

Hoon nods and frowns. "Well I'm not a great dancer, but I should be able to hold up my spot in the vocal category at least." She grins again. "Does fifty percent count?"

Nathchaya rolls her eyes, but beore she can reply the front door swing open to admit the three judges into the dorms.

"Alright, everyone front and center. We have a day and a half until the final challenge and we'll be making full use of it." Hyunmi's voice is sharp, and Team One soon appear from the kitchen to join Team Two in awaiting the judges' instructions.

"Hoon, Kaerin, Ahri, and Jakyung. You four will be with me to start." Hyunmi instructs. "Natchaya and Jiwon, with Inho. The rest of you will be with Iseul until further notice."

Her tone leaves no room for arguing and the contestants quickly split into the assigned groups, though there is some grumbling from Natchaya in particuar as she follows Jiwon and Inho out of the dorms.

The next shot shows the trio entering a small practice room. Inho wastes no time getting down to business.

"Alright, Jiwon you'll mostly be working on rythm techniques on your own since you aren't the main rapper on your team." He turns away from the teen, who shrugs and pulls out her headphones.

Natchaya glowers at Inho, who looks quite cheerful. "Nat, Nat, Nat." He grins at her annoyance. "You're the main rapper on Team Two but I'm yet to see you try. When we interviewed you for the show you claimed your best skill was your versatility. So let's see what you've got."

Natchaya's shoulders pull back and her chin raises defiantly. "Bring it."

There's a cut to an interview with Jiwon.

"I figured the focus would be on Natchaya, and I did briefly step into Inho's lessons last time he had them so I have some basics to work with while he focuses on her. And he's right, she's the main rapper for Team Two so it's more important for her to get her act together."

The scene shifts to show Hyunmi with her group in a larger practice room. The four girls are slowly walking through a rather complex choreography.

"It's not about hitting the moves perfectly, it's about the flow between them. You four have consistently been quite stiff in your movements from the beginning of the show, and with only one challenge left you'll want to fix that before your debut." Hyunmi is speaking rapidly as the girls dance. The judge is also moving through the choreo, though she's mirroring the four contestants.

"Dance is speaking with your body. It's not just a mesh of movements, it's a conversation." She continues to talk even as Kaerin stumbles and knocks both herself and Jakyung out of formation. "Sometimes you will trip over your own words, no matter how sure you are of the topic. The key is recovery and felxibility  for when things go wrong." She sighs and stop when he realizes that all four girls have now fallen out of sync. "You also need to be able to react appropriately when someone else messes up."

Ahri looks appropriately embarrassed at the mild scolding, but the other three seem mostly unconcerened.

"Well we aren't going to get it right away." Hoon offers. "It's also a matter of learning each other's rythms as well. Within our actual teams it's likely the reactions will be smoother since the teammates are more accustomed to each other's flow."

Hyunmi smiles faintly. "Very true, but you also will possibly work with backup dancers who you aren't as familiar with." She points out. "It's a balance."

Hoon nods in understanding. "Fair enough. SHould we start from the top, or from the point where we tripped up?"

The scene shifts to an interview with Jakyung.

"What do you think of Hoon so far?"

The singer shrugs amicably. "She seems to know what she's doing. I can't really complain about anything."

The final group shown is Iseul's, and they seem to be doing rather well.

"Honestly I can't say much." The vocal judge grins. "All that harmony work you guys did definitely did you favors in the vocal department. We'll just focus on proper technique for now and I'll let you all grab some lunch before rotations, how does that sound?"

The four with her cheerful agree, and they arrange themselves in a circle around Isuel's piano, taking turns singing consecutively higher notes as she plays them.

Miyeon looks quite please in her interview. "It's nice to know that we have been improving, and now we can focus on more nit-picky things. It gives you a real sense of accomplishment." She smiles warmly. "I... honestly didn't think I woud have as much fun as I have in this competition. I know you're trying to be tough on us, but it's actually a much warmer atmosphere that Produce 101 was." She blinks and then frowns. "Shoot, probably shouldn't say that, should I?"

From behind the camera Doyeol laughs. "Too late now."

Miyeon looks uncertain or a moment, before she grins ans shrugs. "I suppose so."

The view turns into a three-way split screen, showing all three lessons slightly sped up. As time passes the contestants start switching between the classes at their apparent leisure. Finally all three classes end and the contestants reconvene in the Arirang theatre.

Hyomin and Gyujin are standing on the stage, each holding severl sheets of paper. Once the contestants have settled into their teams, the host begins speaking.

"For the past few days you've been honing your skills. Now is the time to show what you are capable of. This final challenge will require all the skills and teamwork you've built over the past three months." She pauses, and then gives a faint smile. "This final challenge involves your debut songs."

The contestants, already concentrating completely on the host, seem to become even more focused on her, the eagerness tangible in the air.

Hyomin lets it linger for a moment before she continues speaking. "Over the past month that you've been working in your groups, Gyujin and I have been looking for appropriate debut songs for each of you. Shisae, Gyujin has your group's chosen song, and Minah I have yours. Your challenge will be to have your debut performances ready for next Sunday. You'll have the option for assistance with your choreography, but for everything else you'll be on your own. Any questions?"

The contestants are silent, adn Hyomin nods.

"Excellent. Leaders, come get your songs. Good luck girls."

The show returns to a close shot of Natchaya glaring at the paper in front of her.

A zoom out shows the other four members of Team Two also looking over their song. After a moment Minah glances up and notices Natchaya's annoyance.

"Everything alright Natchaya?" She asks worriedly.

The Thai girl scoffs. "Stupid Inho has me running rap crap all weekend and there isn't even any rapping in this song!" She grumbles. "What was the point of all that?"

"To improve your rapping ability? You know, for future songs?" Hoon offers snarkily. "The debuted group is set to have four releases over the course of a year, there won't be much time between promotions to work on you weak points."

"I don't have weak points." Natchaya snipes back without missing a beat, and Hoon rolls her eyes.

"Everyone has weak points. For example, yours is understanding that success requires actual effort." The singer's tone is borderline mocking, and Natchaya tenses.

"Okay guys I think that's enough of that. Let's start dividing the lines, how about that?" Minah sound vaguely desperate as she interferes with the argument before it can go any further. "Guys?"

Hoon nods easily. "Sounds good, if everyone gotten through the song?"

Natchaya's glare holds strong, but she too nods.

"Could I take the chorus?" Yoonhee speaks up nervously. "I know I don't have the best voice but..." She coughs nervously. "Could I?"

Minah smiles. "I think that could work. Guys? Did anyone else want that part?"

Hoon shakes her head. "I was actually going to suggest it go to Yoonhee, I think it would sound good with her vocal color."

Yoonhee beams happily at the older contestant's words. Natchaya rolls her eyes.

"If you're so good at line distribution why don't you do it all?" She challenges.

Hoon holds up her hands placatingly. "It was just an idea. I have no intention of taking control, so calm down alright?" Some frustration manages to seep into the end of her sentence, and she takes a breath before continuing. "Look I won't say anything else. You guys can make the divisions on your own."

"No. We're a team which means we all contribute." Minah interrupts. "Come on guys, we're potentially a few weeks from debuting, shouldn't we be passed all this?"

"Hoon's new." Jakyung offers.

Minah sighs. "Not helpful. Look if we win this, we're going to be with each other for the rest of the year. If any part of you actually wants that debut, you need to start acting like teammates." She takes a breath. "I'm not the best leader, but I'm willing to try. But I can only do so much, you guys have to want this as well." Her expression is pleading. "You do want this, right?"

The other four share at look, and then Hoon holds out a hand to Natchaya.

"Truce?"

The Thai girl sighs, but accepts the handshake. "Yeah, truce. Sorry Minah."

The leader beams. "Forget it. Let's get these lines distributed!"

Things are going notably smoother with Team One in their own practice room. However, there is one point of dissention.

"Aren't these lyrics sort of... racey? Especially considering Jiwon is only 16." Shisae is speaking to Gyujin, who looks vaguely uncomfortable.

"Well, it's not unheard of to perform such songs at that age..." He trails off under Shisae's distinctly unimpressed  expression. "Look we didn't have that many song options and your team was particularly hard to balance. One amazing vocalist, one strong rapper, one decent vocalist, and two passable singers. You're all over the map! This was the only viable option for you group." He shifts nervously. "Well then I'll leave you to it, good luck!" With that the co-host makes a hastry retreat, leaving Shisae nothing to do but return to her group.

"Well, no chance of a new song unfortunately, unless we write it ourselves and I don't think a week is adequate time for that." The leader announces.

Kaerin is blushing as she reads over the song. "Maybe we could just change the lyrics?"

"Oh come on guys it's a song." Miyeon interupts. "Nothing to get worked up over. Are we really wimping out over a couple of lyrics?"

"Honestly I don't care either." Jiwon adds. "It's a good song and the meaning matches the tone of it. I can take some of the less ual lines if you're that worried." She does a quick scan of the song, and then points to the second verse. "Here, I'll do this part. It's innocent enough."

"Just one section?" Ahri asks quietly. Jiwon shrugs as she underlines her self-chosen part.

"I'm fine with that. I can focus on the dance techniques Hyunmi showed us instead." The maknae assures the other girl.

Shisae nods. "Alright then, Kaerin, I think it makes the most sense to give you the chorus?"

The singer reads it again and then nods. "Yeah, that isn't so bad. I can do that." She begins marking her sheet as Shisae turns to Ahri and Miyeon.

"Any preference guys?"

Miyeon shrugs. "I can take the 'love and kiss' part that's freaking everyone out." She offers easily.

However Ahri clears . "Actually... I was thinking I could do that part? It's slightly lower and I've been working on my mixed register all weekend. It's not perfect but I think I have an idea how I'd want to sing that part?"

Shisae looks over the sheet, and then proposes a compromise. "We'll divide that section bewteen you guys, and then you can take some of the fina chorus Ahri."

Both girls nod and begin noting on their music, checking with each other as the leader glances down at her own paper.

"I guess that leaves me to do the raps then." She frowns. "It's a pretty big part o the song though. Jiwon would you want any of them?"

The maknae shakes her head and smiles. "You're the best rapper on the show right now, we'll want to show that off."

Shisae smiles faintly. "Alright then, let's get started."

The scene shifts back to Team Two a few days later as they work on a choreography with a few of the backup dancers.

"And one, two, three, down." A woman is standing in front of them, slowly moving through a move reminicent of a body roll, but with arm movements.

Behind her, the Team attempts to follow. Yoonhee and Minah smoothly complete the move, and Hoon doesn't do too badly, but Jakyung manages to smack herself in the face. Natchaya doesn't even finish the move since she starts snickering at Jakyung.

The teacher turns to face the two of them, frowning. "Jakyung we've been doing this move for almost thirty minutes, and it's not as hard as you're making it seem. And Natchaya, focus on your own dance please."

The Thai girl clears , rolls her eyes, and then nods, stepping back into formation to let the choreographer continue to scold Jakyung.

"Look if the move is too difficult for you just say so. We don't have very long to work and this is going to be your debut song - you need to do well."

Jakyung looks at her feet. "Sorry, I'll work harder."

The choreographer sighs. "Take five guys, I'm going to do some rearranging of the formantion. Hoon how okay would you be not dancing as much?"

Hoon looks surprised. "Very much honestly." She laughs a bit. "But whatever works best is what I'll do."

The woman nods and waves the other dancers over to her while the group relaxes with the water bottles sitting by the mirror.

The scene shifts to an interview with Hoon.

"So how are things going with the group so far?"

Hoon smiles. "Well after some initial tension things are actually going a lot smoother than I would have expected. Minah is a pretty good leader, if maybe a bit apologetic, and the others are quite amiable for the most part."

"Even Natchaya?"

Hoon's smiles becomes a bit more wry as she replies. "Even Natchaya. Though she's certainly a handful."

"Hoon's been a great addition to the team." Minah says insistently in her own interview. "She has a really nice voice and she's got this calming presence that really helps me out when things are getting tense. It's hard to stay nervous around her, you know?"

"I really don't" Doyeol responds. "But if you say so."

Back in the practice room the Team is again working on the choreography, but now Hoon and Jakyung are situated in front of mic stands, singing their parts as the others dance.

The choreographer claps twice as they finish the set, smiling. "Looking much better guys, you'll be blowing minds at the performance tomorrow. Let's just run the ending dance again just to be sure, you tend to fall out of sync at that part."

The girls, all sweaty and panting, simply nod and get into formation.

"Five, six, seven, eight!"

The scene switches back to Team One, who have also moved to choreography. Shisae has, as usual, taken on the task and is slowly showing the others a short series of moves, counting out the beats as she goes.

"Okay, did you all catch that? Let's try it out slowly." She instructs.

After carefully arranging the girls into a formation, Shisae calls out the beats and they begin awkwardly moving. Shisae glance back to check on their progress and occassionally calls a specific correction to one of the other girls.

"Jiwon, cross in front not behind. Straighter back Kaerin."

Both quickly make their corrections and continue dancing, pulling a smile from their leader.

It cuts to an interview with Shisae.

"So how are you feeling about being leader now?"

Shisae has to think for a moment before she responds. "Well... it's not as bad now. I don't know if I'm just used to it, or if the girls have become easier to handle, but it feels like slightly less of a burden now. than it did when I was first given the title." She admits, and then gives a small smile. "Plus their dancing has gotten much better, which certainly helps things."

Back in the practice room a few days have passed, and all five girls are looking quite comfortable with the dance. Shisae claps for attention after finishing a run.

"Alright I think we look good! Next step, singing while we do it."

Miyeon raises and eyebrow but stays quiet as the other girls all grab water and sit down for a quick rest as the leader speaks.

"The other team has done a lot of vocal work in past challenges, so we'll want to match up with them. And so I propose we start practicing the dance and sing our parts as best we can as we do."

Jiwon nods. "Sounds good to me."

Miyeon hums agreement as well though she looks less excited at the prospect.

And interview with her reveals the reason for her lacking enthusiasm.

"We mostly lip sung on Produce 101 so singing live isn't really my forte. I don't have that many lines but I don't want to look bad. The whole team needs to do well, you know?" She laughs a bit as she finishes her thought. "It really isn't all about looks."

Doyeol sounds genuinely stunned. "I never thought I'd hear that coming from you."

Miyeon shrugs. "What can I say? I've got a good group."

The five run vocal warm ups in the practice room, led by Kaerin and Ahri. Once everyone is comfortable, they start up the music and do their best to project over their own voices coming out of the speakers. The scene speeds up a bit, showing them repeating the dance over and over, with the occasional water break giving them some respite. Finally the scene slows again and Shisae gives her group a warm smile.

"I think we're ready guys." She announces. "Let's go get that debut!"

The theatre is crowded with fans, many carrying signs supporting their preferred team and contestants.

In the wings Hyomin ad Gyujin have swapped expressions. For one the main host looks quite excited while her cohost appears more cautious.

"Thing may not work out the way they need to Hyomin, are we prepared for that?"

Hyomin waves him off. "This is the moment I've been waiting for my whole career Gyujin, could you please not be a spoil sport?"

The cohost sighs but concedes. "It is nice to see you so happy for once." He says after a moment.

Hyomin grins at him. "What's not to be happy about?"

Outside the theatre Doyeol is pulling aside fans for quick interviews. The cameraman doesn't look particularly pleased with his job, but he's polite with his questions nonetheless.

"How long have you been following Vs?"

Two extremely excited girls are the first to respond. "Since episode one! We're Miyeon's biggest fans!" They speak in unison and squeal excitedly after the end of their sentence.

Another young woman, though much calmer, is the next to answer. "Only recently actually. I saw the promotion for it on my way to work one morning and happened to turn on the TV part way through the Christmas episode. I liked the performances and the girls and found myself tuning in every week after that."

A third girl laughs awkwardly. "I'm just here with my boyfriend. He's a major Minah fan."

"Minah! I love you!" A guy, likely her boyfriend, calls from off screen and Doyeol audibly sighs.

The svene shifts to the backstage area, when Team One wait nervously in the wings for their start cue.

"There are way more people out there than normal." Ahri whispers nervously.

"I think they overbooked on purpose." Jiwon replies, just as quiet. "It's a tactic to try and make us nervous. Just breath and focus on the dance, we've nailed it a million times already."

Ahri nods, and a moment later Shisae puts out a hand, looking slightly awkward, but equally determined.

"Fighting?"

The other four pile their hands on top of hers. "Fighting!"

The scene returns to a view of the crowded theatre. The audience chatter excitedly to each other as they wait, and there's a swell of cheers as the lights dim and the hosts walk out onto the stage.

"Hello and welcome, to the final live performance of Vs! We're extremely glad to see so many of you out here tonight to support our contestants, and I know there are just as many at home watching this live streaming. Tonight the two teams will be performing their potential debut songs, and it's up to you dear viewers, to decide - who will debut? Both teams have worked hard as always to create a memorable performance this week and I'm confident it will be a tough choice when it comes time to vote. Now enough from me, let's get to the first performance!"

Gyujin looks mildly amused as he silently follows Hyomin off the stage, and Team One files on to near deafening cheers. The girls smile and wave excitedly as the settle into their opening formation. Once the crowd has settled down, the music begins.

Miyeon - Junghwa;Black Hair/No Mic, Ahri - Hani;Curled Light Brown Hair, Shisae - LE;Rapper, Jiwon - Hyerin; Bangs/Straight Hair, Kaerin - Soji; Black Hair w/ Mic

Once again the noise is overwhelming as the audience applauds, and the Team takes their time bowing and waving to their fans before finally calming down enough for the judges to being their critiques.

Hyunmi is quick to start. "I assume Shisae did the choreography?"

Shisae nods a quiet affirmative, and a few members of the audience whoop, causing the contestant to release a startled laugh and then immediately blush.

Hyunmi's mouth quirks up in amusement. "As usual your dance is quite beautiful. However, I noticed it was rather simplistic. While it does fit the tone of the song after seeing what you've created in the past it was a bit of a let down for me." She then smiles. "That said though, your syncronization was quite impressive, and I'd like to specially mention Ahri. Your expressions were on point, good job."

Ahri beams happily to have been called out, and several more fans cheer for her.

Inho goes next. "Shisae, what can I say? This was your best performance yet. Solid flow, proper musicality mixed in, and with your own definite style. My one nitpick is how often you ran out of breath. You're not only a rapper but the main dancer of your team - your control really should be better by now."

Shisae nods apologetically but otherwise doesn't react to the critique.

Iseul glances at Inho briefly before voicing her own thoughts. "Kaerin it seems you've finally started to figure out how to sing and dance simultaneously. I was quite pleased with your final long note, it's the steadiest I've heard you since the show started."

"Shisae helped me!" The vocalist pipes up happily.

Iseul nods. "Well it paid off. I'd also like to mention Miyeon. Up to this point you've been one of the most consistent lip singers of the girls, but I actually heard your voice this time around. I like the effort, keep it up."

Miyeon nods, smiling.

Iseul's expression the becomes more serious. "However, Ahri, this was poor form from you, especially after that performance last week. You had clear strain in some of your mixed notes and some pushing on the belts. Maybe focus a bit more on your breath control during your practices, it will likely help."

Ahri nods, less excited about this call out than the other.

Hyomin claps twice to get everyone's attention. "Well then, I think that was quite the performance, don't you?" She lets the crowd cheer happily before continuing. "Let's see if Team Two can top it!"

Backstage the two teams pass each other.

Kaerin offers them a bright grin, but only Yoonhee returns it, and rather nervously. Once the other team is gone she turns to ther teammates.

"We've got this, right? We've totally got this."

Hoon pats her shoulder. "Absolutely. Don't think about them, just focus on doing your best out there, yeah? We'll be awesome."

Yoonhee takes a few deep breaths before nodding firmly.

"Right, okay. Let's do this."

The five file onto the stage to cheers just as loud as Team One's. They perk up some at the enthusiasm and quickly fall into place, and the lights suddenly drop to pitch black, earing cries of surprise and excitement from the crowd.

Minah - Sihyun;Two-Tone Hair, Jakyung - Boa;Red Hair, Natchaya - Narae;Blonde, Yoonhee - Jiwon; Braid, Hoon - Bokyung; Cornrows

The girls remain on the ground for a long moment, breathing deeply, before they begin standing up and waving to the cheering audience.

Hyunmi waits patiently for the noise to quiet some before clearing and smiling at the contestants.

"Nice dramatics at the start." The dance judge smiles somewhat teasingly. "But in all seriousness thought the dance was rather simple it had some nice movement within it. I liked how you worked around your weak points." She glances pointedly towards Jakyung but moves on. "Hoon, you fell out of sync a few times but overall the performance was solid. I also liked the use of backup dancers, it added nicely to the story."

Inho glares at Natchaya. "I spent all weekend training you padawan, and this is what you give me?"

"The Force must only be used when necessary." She snipes back, grinning.

Inho laughs. "Fair enough. Iseul, your turn."

Natchaya's teammates stare at her in stunned confusion. She shoots them a wink.

"Don't worry about it, you'll just hurt your heads."

Iseul speaks up then to give her thoughts.

"Vocally Jakyung and Hoon compliment each other quite nicely. There was some shakiness on your part Jakyung, especially right after you'd done some dance, but overall your harmonies were solid. Yoonhee, I'm actually impressed. You came here as one of our worst vocalists and you just carried a chorus pretty dang well."

Several people in the crowd cheer, and one teenage boy wolf-whistles, earning him a shy blush from Yoonhee.

Iseul shakes her head with a smile. "Minah you also stepped up well in this performance, I like that you're embracing your lower register. And Natchaya - excellent emotion. That seems to be your strong suit and you used it well here. Honestly I don't have anything more to say than that, Team Two, you have always been vocally impressive and that showed tonight. Excellent job."

Minah doesn't wait to get backstage like Kaerin had to pull her group into a hug, which is returned with varying degrees of amusement. The group is shooed off by Hyomin as she and Gyujin reclaim the stage.

"As predicted, quite a tough choice! Voting is now open, and will remain so for the next ten minutes! Get your vote in now for the group you want to see debut! And remember we do have one more episode so tune in next week! Thank you and goodnight!" She holds her smile for a moment as the audience cheers. She then relaxes and turns to Gyujin.

The scene cuts to a camera closer to the two as they exit.

"See? It went fine. You worry too much."

Gyujin just shakes his head. "We'll see when voting closes."

The judges join the two backstage. "See what when voting closes?" Iseul pipes up curiously.

Hyomin just waves a hand. "Don't worry about it Iseul. You've got a date tonight right? We'll clean up, you go on. Tell Doyeol he can clock out early as well."

Iseuls shares a bemused look with her fellow judges before she shrugs and heads off, calling a thanks over her shoulder.

"Ah young love. Remember being that age?" The remark is to the general vicinity, but Inho responds anyway.

"Nope, considering I'm younger than that age. Anyway I'll let you people reminice, I'm going to help tally up the votes." With that he excuses himself, leaving the three older staff members alone backstage.

"So what are you two up to now? Letting Iseul leave early? Not chastizing Inho's snark? You're in an oddly good mood." Hyunmi notes to Hyomin with distinct amusement. "I don't think I've seen you this excited since that time in third year that shall never be spoken of." She smirks and Hyomin calms somewhat.

"There's only one more episode and the show has been nothing if not a hit. The station will have to give me that promotion!"

Hyunmi nods thoughtfully before turning to Gyujin. "And you're worried because?"

"The scores were thrown thanks to the botched challenge. We could end up with a tie." Gyujin explains.

Hyomin tuts. "Please the chances of that are next to nothing, and while both songs were excellent Team Two has a handicap with Hoon since no one knows her."

Inho chooses that moment to return, holding an envelope. "Done! Are you three still being old or can I come back now?"

Gyujin pulls a face. "Am I old enough to have a cane to whack him with yet?"

The women laugh as Hyomin accepts the envelope from Inho. "Thank you Inho. Hyunmi if you want to leave as well you're both dismissed."

"Hell yeah I'm hitting the bar. Coming?" Inho glances over to Hyunmi, who shrugs.

"Oh why not."

The two head off as Hyomin pulls open the envelope, and promptly freezes, staring at it in shock.

Gyujin sighs and takes the paper from her hand. "It's a tie then. What should we do now?"

Hyomin blinks slowly, and then shakes her head. "You know Gyujin... for once I really don't know."