old cigarettes | min yoongi

xlv.

"yikes, this place is starting to feel like a second home," minjae said, stifling a yawn.

donghyeon raised an eyebrow at her. "if by 'second home,' you mean a home that is constantly filled with anxiety and pissed off and tired people, then yes, it's a second home."

"no, no," you jumped in, leaning forward in your seat, "it's like your relative's house at christmas or something. everyone wishes they were at home sleeping instead of around a bunch of assholes."

needless to say, you didn't have a very fun experience at your last dinner party. around the time you were ten years old, your parents had dragged you and jin-ae along to your father's family reunion. there wasn't any other kids your age there, so you and jin-ae had to find a way to entertain yourselves. which went about alright until all the adults got drunk.

today, the votes for the first episode had finally been counted up, and now you were going to find out who was going and who was staying. the atmosphere in the room could be cut with a knife, and you hated the awkward silence that hung over it like a thick blanket. many of the others had resorted to playing on their phones, but minjae was still trying in vain to make conversation.

at least this time they didn't make you wait for mr. sagong; they just directed you to a room immediately. the ten of you were splayed out all around the room, with many taking corners or leaning against the wall. basically anywhere that didn't make them the center of attention.

as the door creaked its way open, ten heads snapped their way up to stare at the person expectantly. mr. sagong entered the room with his usual cheery and slightly patronizing attitude, earning an immediate mood drop from the rest of the room. doom's day had arrived.

"now, i'll skip formalities. i'm sure you're all very eager to hear what the results are of the fan voting." he said, straightening his already immaculate cuff links.

you were sure you weren't going to make it. according to what minjae had said the other day, the fans she'd seen seemed to like you a lot; you just had a hard time believing her. well, what qualities did you have that would make you stand out from everyone else? you'd blended in with the crowd all your life, so surely you had no distinct qualities or personality traits, right?

"in tenth," mr. sagong started, pulling a small slip of paper from the inside of his suit jacket. "tam jina." you all clapped as jina looked slightly disappointed, but not really surprised. jinju gave her a little nudge and a smile though, and it seemed to cheer her up.

"in ninth place, sun hyonu." you all clapped for hyonu too, but you weren't really surprised. on the episode, you could tell he was a fairly good rapper, he just wasn't really suited to be an idol. "in eighth, na seyeon." the unsurprised clapping continued. neither of the two really seemed fitting.

"in seventh, and the last to be eliminated," mr. sagong said, and you heard minjae suck in a breath next to you. you really hoped you could stay in. maybe there was a very small chance you could surpass all the other incredible performers here and win. you wouldn't have to worry about money for a while then.

"is yong jinju." everyone clapped and tried to look sad for her, but they all released a sigh of relief. there was a mix of emotions flowing through your head, and you didn't know what to think. disbelief that you'd actually passed the first round, sadness that one of the nicer people didn't pass chiaye in votes, and secret relief that you were able to stay and perform more.

mr. sagong cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "congratulations to the other six contestants for passing the first round of voting! but who got the most votes? in sixth! is pan jitae."

silence. you were all confused. you'd never heard that name before. the silence continued for a minute before kwan stood up, a massive grin on his face. "guys, kwan is my stage name. jitae sounded too much like other idols' names so i decided to go for something different."

"ohhh." you all chorused before clapping. that made sense.

"in fifth place, ryo youngil." you swore youngil's smile at the news of his placing could light up even the darkest of days. even chiaye seemed to lighten up a little at his smile.

"fourth place goes to," mr. sagong started, and all the remaining contestants lent forward a little in your seats, anticipating. "jung nari." you let out a breath you didn't know you'd been holding. secretly you were upset that you didn't get anything higher, but you were grateful nonetheless.

"in third place is mo minjae." minjae's face lit up and you clapped the loudest for her. you didn't quite know what it was, but it was almost like she'd become your friend through this whole thing. at least if you didn't win, you'd get something out of the competition.

"out of the last two contestants, who will take out the top for this round?"

you all fell silent. even if something felt off about donghyeon, you just really hoped he topped chiaye. you didn't want her to have that satisfaction. it would probably raise her ego much more than it needed to be.

mr. sagong cleared his throat. he was obviously being slow about it to tease you. "ka donghyeon," there was a pause, "or on chiaye?"

minjae groaned and slumped back against the couch as mr. sagong simply snickered at her. "did you get lessons from Lay or something?" minjae asked, not bothering to sit up.

he merely grinned stupidly in response. as much as he seemed like a nice man, you just wanted to slap that grin off his face. "second place goes to... on chiaye! which means first is awarded to ka donghyeon!"

you could tell chiaye was ticked off. but noting that mr. sagong was still in the room, she forced a smile onto her face as everyone clapped. donghyeon, on the other hand, looked absolutely dumbfounded. you giggled slightly at his face as the news slowly started to sink in.

"congratulations to you all! just a heads up, the next episode will be airing very soon. sorry to all who have been eliminated and good luck to the rest of you!" with that, mr. sagong took his leave and the rest of you remained for a bit to chat. those of you in the group chat, anyway, the rest left not long after mr. sagong with a slight scoff of displeasure at their placings.