I am a Pioneer

The last Stand

"We will now reveal the results of the popular vote" JYP announces. The L.E.D behind us changes colour, showing a black scoreboard with numbers from 1 to 11. "It will be revealed from 10th to 3rd. 11th will then be revealed before announcing 1st and second place" JYP informs us.

"In 10th place is" the scoreboard reveals the name in 10th place. Ho Jung's name appears.

"9th place goes to" the scoreboard reveals Ho Hoon as 9th place.

The rest were pretty obvious:

8th: Nam Youngjae

7th: Ra Chan-wook

6th: Seol Young

5th: Chu Jin-Ho

4th: Sim Hyun-Shik

3rd: DongBang Kyong

"We will now reveal the 11th place position"

The scoreboard reveals the name. We all gasp, a little in shock. Sim Kyu-Bong's name appeared in 11th place. This means that he hasn't done much to stand out to the staff, and the public didn't think too much about his teaser images. I was pretty surprised with my 5th place but assumed that it had something to do with my reputation among the staff, especially as they have seen my performances but the public hasn't. My teaser images weren't released to the public yet, bar one image of me in black hair with black eye contacts on in a suit. I thought I looked good, and apparently so did the public, if they voted for me, even if they only got one photo. there were a few comments on SNS about how they wanted more than just one photo of me, but JYPE refused to comply. They stated that for various reasons they are withholding my photos and intro video for a later episode.

Following the shocking result we just had, JYP tells us that it is time to find out who is in the number 1 spot. The two remaining contestants are Akizuki Akira and Hayashi Roh, the two Japanese princes of the show. Both are good-looking and talented. They are also very kind and considerate to the staff, and so probably earned a few more brownie points from them as a result. "In 1st place, we have" JYP starts. The two have stepped forward on the stage. A spotlight shines down on one of them. We all clap and congratulate them both. Hayashi has won the vote, apparently by a margin of 5 votes. The overall placements look like this:

11th: Sim Kyu-Bong

10th: Ho Jung

9th: Ho Hoon

8th: Nam Youngjae

7th: Ra Chan-wook

6th: Seol Young

5th: Chu Jin-Ho

4th: Sim Hyun-Shik

3rd: DongBang Kyong

2nd: Akizuki Akira

1st: Hayashi Roh

Overall, the result is pretty much as expected bar Kyu-Bong. But we don't have time to reminisce at that moment as it was time for the Last Stand. We all take our seats in the empty stands, ready to watch. We have had microphones attached to catch our reactions to the performances. JYP calls them both out and they play paper, scissors, and rock to see who goes first. Ho Jung wins and decides to go second. Ho Hoon steps into the centre of the stage. He has been put into a Black suit. His hair is slicked back. He brings out a microphone stand and prepares to sing. he is singing imagine, which is one of BTOB's debut songs from their debut EP Born to Beat. His performance was solid vocal-wise. He kept it steady, reached some pretty high notes, and his ad-libs were on point. But his dance was limited. He made a few movements here and there, but there wasn't much of a distinct choreography. The song ends quickly, and he walks to the side as Ho Jung prepares to perform. He is dressed in leather pants and a sleeveless shirt with a scarf. He stands in the centre of the stage and gets ready to perform. he has a headset on, so I assume that he is going to dance as well. The song starts. It's HIP SONG by RAIN. Ho Jung must have already known this song pretty well, as he is also performing the exact choreography as well. he didn't have long to practice so I assume he chose a song that he knew well. It was probably a good idea as it means that he can still show off his skills, but come across as a prepared performer having a plan B. The song ends. JYP is smiling slightly. Both Ho Hoon and Ho Jung stand in the centre of the stage.

"Well done to both of you. You have performed well, however, one of you performed better than the other and was prepared for this a little better too. I hope that no matter the result, you will continue to train and improve, considering the ages you still have a few more years to prove yourself as a trainee" JYP is trying to soften the blow. "Congratulations Ho Jung, you are safe, unfortunately, that means that you Ho Hoon, have been eliminated" Ho Hoon breaks down. We all rush over to console him. We had seen him working hard off camera and on camera. He was a very social and friendly kid. His issue was that he struggled to do multiple things at once. He couldn't sing and dance at the same time, or rap and dance at the same time. This is what ultimately let him down. However, with that, the latest episode was brought to an end and we headed back to the dorm to rest, recover and prepare for whatever was coming next. That included the aftermath of the Shows release which is about to happen. I am looking forward to seeing the public's reaction, I especially want to see what happens with Seol Young. How will they react to his personality? But most importantly, how will they react to his change in appearance and my performance of ADVICE in the following episode? I can only wait and see. But whatever happens, it should be very interesting for everyone involved. Especially with whatever plan JYP has come up with.

Meanwhile, In an office somewhere JYPE building:

"Ok, so how is the release coming along?" JYP asks.

"So far the response from the teasers has been very good. It has gained a massive amount of interest from the public. But we are getting complaints about Chu Jin-Ho's teaser image. They want more, but per your orders, we haven't released any of them" The head of promotions states.

"Excellent. My plan can go ahead then. We must draw interest to him via the mystery" JYP replies.

'What is he thinking?' The staff members all think at the same time.

Little did everyone know, he had a grand plan for the debut of the group, and for Jin-Ho especially. The monster trainee seems to have an endless amount of hit songs inside his head and an abundance of talent at his disposal. At his desk not only laid a folder with Jin-Ho's name on it but various K-drama scripts, modelling contracts and even a large folder with the label: PROJECT ARCHANGEL on it.