Haesung’s face was pale as she sat before the dressing table, hyperventilating. She closed her eyes and began to murmur under her breath, like some sort of prayer, “Everything’s going to be okay…everything’s going to be okay…”

She opened her eyes, staring at her own reflection, and suddenly noticed Rian standing behind her, leaning against a pillar. Haesung leapt out of her seat, turning to Rian. Her tone angry and anxious, she demanded, “Why did you only come now? Do you know that we haven’t practiced even once yet? How are we supposed to perform now?”

Rian’s eyes were cold as she answered, “Well then, you should win easily, shouldn’t you? You spent so much time practising, while I haven’t practiced at all. Shouldn’t it be a breeze for you?”

Realization struck Haesung, and her eyes narrowed to slits as she asked, her tone disbelieving, “You knew all along, didn’t you? You knew that it was going to be a competition between the partners right from the start.” As she spoke, her tone changed, becoming angrier and angrier, “That’s why you chose me. Because you thought I was weak. Because you thought you could trample all over me. I’m right, aren’t I?”

Rian looked at her coolly, easily meeting her challenging gaze. The idol took a step forward, using her taller height to intimidate her ‘partner’ as she asked, “So what? Do you have a problem with it?” She tilted her head slightly, “Unless you’re admitting that you’re afraid, cos you know you’re weaker than me?”

Haesung hesitated, unwilling to make that admission. Rian sneered, “It’s all right, I don’t need you to admit something that everyone already knows.” Slowly she removed her jacket before turning to face Haesung, “You may have practiced a lot for this audition, but don’t forget: I’m already an idol. I’m used to this. And that gives me a natural advantage, don’t you think?”

Haesung had to resist the temptation to strangle the idol. Her hands trembled from the effort as she replied, trying to keep her tone calm, “I’m going to prove to you. I’m going to prove to you that just because you’re an idol, just because you’re supposedly more talented than me, doesn’t mean that you’re better than me. I’m going to show you that my hard work is going to make me better than your ‘talent’, and I’m going to have you admit it.”

Just then, Soon-Doong rushed down from the stage, towards Haesung, catching her by surprise and destroying the tense atmosphere. Her eyes were teary as she said, “I…I lost, Haesung. You have to win, all right? You have to win for me.”

Haesung’s nervousness and anxiety immediately returned. She bit her lip, taking Soon-Doong’s hand, “I…I’ll try.” Slowly, she walked towards the stage, completely forgetting to take her mic.

Rian rolled her eyes. She glared at Soon-Doong, “Are you an idiot? Do you think she’s not nervous enough?” She took the mic that Ailee gave her, and then snatched Soon-Doong’s before hurrying to Haesung and tossing the mic at her, “Here. Relax a bit, or you’ll ruin everything.”

JB waited in anticipation as Rian and Haesung slowly made their way onto the stage. Rian glanced over at him, and their eyes met briefly. JB mouthed, “I’m waiting.” Rian’s lips curved upwards slightly, but she forced the smile back and made her way to the centre of the stage.

There was a slight pause. Then the music began, a slow, beautiful melody.

JB’s eyes widened as he recognised the song. Behind him, he heard Nana whisper to Ailee, “Oh my god…isn’t that the song that JB and Rian composed and wrote together like, during our trainee period?”

Rian lifted the microphone and began to sing the lyrics, her voice gentle and melodic:

“How long will I have to wait for you to come?
The tears, the stains and my breath
The many days we spent with each other
Can it subsist?”

Taking a deep breath, Haesung lifted the mic and began to sing.

JB sat up abruptly, his expression startled, as no sound came from Haesung’s mic. His head whipped around and he looked at the President, thinking this was a trick on his part, but Ji-soo and the President looked as surprised as he felt.

Rian looked back at Haesung, her eyes wide and startled. Realising what was going on, Rian immediately lifted her microphone again, and began to sing

“Every time, always defending the day.
There is a small dream.

Wishing on a star, to those stars above the clouds
Promise me that it won’t be long
If someone could listen to me
Whoever sees my happiness hanging”

Yoojin stared at Rian, shocked as she began to take over the song completely. He watched as Haesung’s feet brought her slowly forward, and she continued to mouth the lyrics, even though everyone could tell that there was no sound coming from her. He watched, as the tears began to well up in Haesung’s eyes, and, remembering all the sweat and effort that Haesung had put into practising for this audition, his rage began to grow.

JB couldn’t hold his sigh back as he watched the ‘duet’. One person’s dreams were being announced to the crowd, while the other’s was being crushed completely.

As the song came to an end, Rian lowered the mic and she looked meaningfully at JB, knowing he would understand the message of the song.

The Principal cleared his throat, getting their attention. There was a pause. Then he looked at Haesung, “Will you please check the batteries of your mic?”

Haesung did as she was told.

The batteries, as the Principal expected, had been removed.

A murmur ran through the crowd. The Principal pursed his lips, “Shin Haesung, disqualified.”

Rian allowed a smile to cross her lips.

“However, Rian, you are also disqualified.”

There was utter shock in the expressions of all the people watching. Haesung turned to stare at Rian, so startled that was hanging open. Rian stared at the Principal, stunned. The Principal continued, “This is, first and foremost, a duet. In that case, you should have shared your mic with Haesung instead of just dominating the song by yourself. Because you lack the teamwork skills necessary for duets and groups, and because you missed the focus of this audition completely. So, Rian, disqualified.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Rian and Haesung slowly descended the stairs, Soon-Doong immediately grabbed Haesung and pulled her away from Rian. Her tone venomous, Soon-Doong accused, “You did it, didn’t you? You removed the batteries from Haesung’s microphone because you wanted to sabotage her! You were scared of losing, so you sabotaged her microphone!”

The other people backstage began to murmur and point at Rian, looking at her in a completely different way. Rian stared at Soon-Doong in disbelief, “Why would I do that? I have nothing to be scared of from her.”

But no one seemed to agree. Instead, her words were met by silence as they stared at her, as if seeing her in a new light. Rian’s lips pressed into a tight line as the silence dragged on.

Haesung opened to speak, but Soon-Doong interrupted her, “If you’re scared of Haesung, you should just admit it! You’re nothing but a cowardly cheat!”

Rian’s fists clenched. Without another word, she stormed away. Soon-Doong gave a snort, “See. I was right.”

Haesung stared after Rian in shock. After a moment, she pulled away from Soon-Doong, running after Rian. She caught sight of Rian standing at the staircase leading out of backstage, leaning against the railing. Her eyes were cast downwards, her long, silky tresses hiding her face. Haesung bit her lip. As she took a step forward, she heard footsteps from above, and JB appeared at the top of the staircase. JB paused, his eyes fixed on Rian. After a moment, he slowly walked down until he was standing in front of Rian.

Rian looked up at him, “Go. I want to be alone. Just go.”

JB didn’t move.

“Fine, I did it. I did it, all right? I took the batteries out. So what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it?” Rian’s voice became increasingly upset as she spoke. But JB just continued looking straight at her, his expression unreadable. Finally, Rian lost her composure. Her eyes becoming teary, she looked away and said, “Go. Just go, all right?”

JB spoke at last, “I know you didn’t do it. I know you’re not that kind of person. I trust you. You’re better than that.”

There was a pause. Rian’s voice was shaking as she asked, “Why are you suddenly being like that…”

JB hesitated for a moment. Then, overcoming his reservations, he reached forward and gently hugged her.

Haesung staggered as she watched what she felt was a confirmation of the previously rumoured idol loveline.

“And thank you. I…I remember that song. You sang it for both of us…thank you.” JB’s voice was barely more than a whisper, and his arms tightened around Rian. After a moment, Rian’s arms wrapped around JB as well, and she felt, for the first time in a long while, comforted and relaxed in his warm embrace.

Haesung bit her lip. All of a sudden, a hand grabbed her. She turned around, startled, only to see Yoojin. Yoojin looked up at the idol couple, and his lip curled. With an aggressive jerk, he pulled Haesung away, to a deserted classroom. As he slammed the door shut, he Haesung and demanded, “Are you stupid or what? Why did you just stand there and watch them?”

Haesung looked down, staring at her clenched fists. Yoojin’s brow knitted, “What is wrong with you?”

Haesung collapsed. Her fists unclenched, and Yoojin’s eyes widened in shock as the microphone’s missing batteries rolled out of her hands. 

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Another update! I think this is my longest chapter yet...it's kind of difficult to stuff in everything that I want to write, this chapter took a really long time. Did you guys like it? I managed to write out the JB/Rian hug, but I don't know if I managed to express it well enough...and the Yoojin/Haesung loveline is kind of developing, albeit very slowly...

On a side note, the votes at the moment are: Jr and Seul with 10, Jr and Ailee with 16, Nana and Siwoo with 24 and Nana and Hong Joo with 2. If you haven't voted yet, please check out the previous chapter to vote!

Remember guys, comment and subscribe! Oh, and please check out my other two new stories:

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/163765/chasing-love-hyomin-jiyeon-myungsoo-myungyeon-jbdreamhigh-jbdreamhigh2-jjcouple , which is a JB/Rian/Myungsoo fanfic and

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/163769/let-me-stand-by-you-jinwoon-jiyeon-dreamhigh2-jbdreamhigh-jbdreamhigh2-jjcouple-gminor , which is a gminor couple oneshot