Rule It All | Idol AU

Episode 4: Part 5

While the Cypher Battle was going on, the vocal representatives were rehearsing in one of the side rooms. There was thick tension in there, as although they were competing against each other, they needed to collaborate to make a good performance.

They were assigned to sing Beautiful by Crush, a song from the Goblin OST. It was a sorrowful love song about losing the love of your life. It was well-known, definitely a song that everyone knew, making it easy for them to quickly memorize the lyrics.

Many of them were avoiding each other's eyes, the separation between being seniors and juniors being quite obvious. The younger idols were shyly looking away, while the other ones seemed unsure of what to do. At the end, Jihye spoke first.

"We should probably divide the parts up first, right?" Jihye says, looking around.

"Noona, you should lead us." Haechan says, looking towards Yeonhee. "Be our leader."

"I don't know if I'm the oldest though." Yeonhee mutters, looking up at the producers. They nod their heads, signally that she was. "Oh, I guess I am."

"Well the parts are divided already." New points out, trying to help out. "There's male and female parts."

"Right." Yeonhee says, nervously gulping as she looked at the lyrics. In Bermuda, Minji would always lead them and Kanna always acted casually with the two older girls. She was foreign to the leader role. "Well, is there a part that someone particularly wants?"

[Yeonhee Interview.]

"Honestly, I didn't know what to do." Yeonhee admitted. "We were pressed for time so we needed to get organized quickly.

[Scene changes back.]

"I think the person who starts the song is important." Haechan says, looking at the lines. "And we should think about the harmonies as well."

"If we're blending voices, we should make sure they sound good together." Woobin adds, before shyly looking away. "Ah sorry, I'm not that experienced, I should stay quiet."

"No, that was a good point." Seungmin says, cheering Woobin on. Yeonhee agrees, nodding her head and giving Woobin a thumbs up.

"Okay, let's start with the first part." Yeonhee says, looking towards the males. It was the first two lines of the song, "Is there someone that wants to do this?"

A few hands went up as they eyed the room. Yeonhee looked nervous as all the males had raised their hands, all of them wanting to start off the song.

Oh gosh, Yeonhee thought, not knowing what to do. She should probably make a decision but she didn't know what to say.

The beginning part is like a center. Whoever gets it will stand out for the rest of the performance.

To help her out, Ayla slowly raised her hand. "Um, if it helps, maybe you all can sing the part and the girls can vote? I just know we don't have enough time to argue about parts."

"That's a great idea." Yeonhee quickly says, trying to get them moving. Ayla had a good point, they didn't have much time so they couldn't argue much.

Thankfully, Woobin, New, and Haechan backed out, preferring other parts. That left Heeseung and Seungmin in the mix, meaning that between the five females, one of them would be chosen.

"Why did you back out?" The producers ask Haechan in his interview. "Didn't you want the starting part?"

"I did but at the same time, this was also a group performance." Haechan told them. "There's pros and cons to taking the starting part. If I took it, I would be highlighted in the beginning. At the same time though, the starting part didn't have high notes or parts where you could really highlight your skills. So I decided to go for another part instead."

"The more competition for the part, the longer it'll take to decide, meaning that we'll have less time to practice." Woobin added when he was asked the same question. "Honestly, I wanted the part, but I didn't want to spend time fighting over it."

"It sounds selfish, but I wanted to stand out." Heseung told the producers during his interview. "I'm competing against some of the best vocalists in the industry so I need to stand out somehow."

After the two sang, they did a quick vote, where Seungmin was the winner. Heeseung got his second preferred part, and from then on, everyone was simply sliding into the other parts.

"How did you feel about getting the first part?" The producers ask Seungmin, the male smiling during his interview.

"I was glad, I think I can do well." Seungmin told them. "At the same time though, it's a lot of pressure. So I need to make sure my nerves don't get to me."

Okay, maybe this won't be so bad, Yeonhee thought as they practiced, memorizing the lyrics. It soon turned out worse than she thought it would be, as it was hard to hear yourself with everyone singing at the same time. To make it worse, the producers cut their time short, calling them back to the stage.

"What, already?" Haechan exclaimed, reading all their minds.

"We just started though." New added, looking towards the producers. "Isn't this too short of a time?"

"I haven't memorized the lyrics yet." Jihye mumbled, eyes on the sheet.

"You all need to go back now. The rap challenge is already finished." The producers told them, ushering them out. The idol exchanged looks wondering what they could do, but it was clear that they didn't have an option.

"I guess this is how competitions go." Woobin sighed as the idols filed out of the room, towards the stage. Feet were being dragged as they went back to the stage, where the others were waiting.

The judges were already settled at the front, the idol groups sitting on the sides, eyes on the vocalists. Their lyrics sheets were taken away, each of them handed a microphone as they came up onto the stage.

"How are you all feeling? Nervous?" Seungkwan asks the group getting settled on stage. "Jaein from Amare, how do you feel?"

"Very nervous." Jaein somehow squeaks out. "It feels like I didn't practice enough."

"May I say something?" Yesung asks, raising his hand. The MC's nod, giving the judge sitting in the centre the floor. "Honestly, you all didn't have enough time. To perform a song with people that you've never sang with in such a short amount of time is extremely difficult, I'm not even sure if I can do it."

"Everyone, take a deep breath." Yesung instructed. "Now do your best but don't beat yourself up if you make a mistake. This challenge is extremely difficult and I'm sure your groupmates can agree with me on the fact that pulling this off would be a miracle."

The vocalists nodded, all seeming to feel a little bit better with Yesung's reassurance. To make it easier for them, there was a prompter in front of them, helping them out with the lyrics.

"Without further ado then, let's begin the vocal challenge."

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