𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 ˢᵛᵗ

twenty ♬

"Welcome to Note Battle!"

The game was introduced. At first, I thought it'd be just like any other note battle game I had played before. Who can hit the highest note, who can hit the lowest note, who can hold the longest note type of game. However, it was not quite what I expected.

"In this game, you will be partnered with a person of your choice. As there is an odd number, one person will be this game's MC. That person has been voted by the audience, and it's none other than Jeong Sunni!"

Sunni was ushered towards the area where Jae-suk was seated, and occupied the chair next to him. They were seated as if they were a judging panel, facing us contestants who were exposed on the stage.

"The rules are simple. You and your partner will compete for the highest or lowest note that you can sing. The catch, you will both be wearing noise cancelling headphones and each person will have a note which they are forbidden to sing. That note will only be known by your partner, not you. Now, let's get to the partners!"

Rae-soo and Rae-ha were clinging to each other, afraid that someone might take away the other. I'm assuming they're both partners so I turned to see where Joo was. Kae-soo seemed to have beaten me to it as she stood close to Joo's side, claiming her as her partner. I was distracted by On-ja and Na-young arguing over who gets to be Paris' partner, barely noticing the person who slithered their way across the stage.

"Chae-ri let's be partners," Paris smiled so sweetly that it was sickening. The comment made the two girls jerk their heads our way, giving me stone cold glares. There was no time to refuse her as Jae-suk had begun speaking. Paris snaked her way next to me, the height of her making me shrink into myself.

"Bring out the headphones!"

Set staff brought out several pairs of black headphones and handed them out to us. They were a brand I'd never seen before, probably because of product placement. I was about to put the headphones on when a bony hand stopped me.

"I couldn't help but notice you talking about a Seokmin earlier," Paris's voice softly whispered, yet there was some possession laced in her words. "I used to be friends with one a long time ago."

All I could do was tilt my head at her, confused as to why it was necessary to tell me that. So she knew Seokmin; what's that got to do with me? I opened my mouth to ask her but she silenced me with her finger.

"Talk later," She slyly grinned before withdrawing her hand to wear her headphones. I was flustered by her sudden action, and continued to stare at her. Everyone was now waiting for me to put mine on, so quickly slipped them over my ears trying to hide my embarrassment of being last.

Damn you Kang Paris.

Back at the dorms

"5 6 7 8 one two three four, five six se- no no stop," Soonyoung sighed frustratedly at Wonwoo and JJ who had messed up for the second time. "It's arm up, leg across then back back."

The trainees had only 4 hours left of practice before the big assessment. Not only did this assessment decide whether you'll stay on at Pledis, it also chooses when you'll finally debut. Fail the test and you will be saying goodbye to your dreams of becoming an idol. You'd think it was a joke, to have so much riding on one dance, a dance that basically determines your future. But it isn't a joke, which is why many quit upon hearing about it.

Only the ones who were worthy of debuting stayed, just like these lot.

"Let's take it from the top!" Jun yelled, putting the song back to the beginning. He jogged back to his starting position just as the music begun, and they started to dance. All was going well, that was until Wonwoo slid a beat too early, causing JJ to stumble backwards into Dino, ultimately ending up with Joshua getting knocked over by Jeonghan because he leaped out of the way. It was an honest mistake that could've been made by anyone, however emotions and tension was already running high and this tipped a few over the edge.