All 101 trainees were in a big room which had wood floors and white walls. As the trainees talked, Daiyu kept to herself. She was still a bit shy around the boys but she wasn't around Woojin which made it a little bit harder for her since she was already close to him.
BoA walked in the room, trainees greeted her kindly. She walked to the middle of the floor and started to speak into the mic she was holding in her hand. BoA explained how the trainees would be "escaping" their levels for a while, meaning they would be mixed with other ranks for group battles.
BoA also explained that instead of having to get 1,000 votes from fans who were watching, they had to gain 3,000 votes. The trainees gasped dramatically when they heard the news. Daiyu wasn't surprised at the stunts the trainers pulled, she had been through this before so new things weren't quite new to her.
[ talking to the camera ]
"Isn't 3,000 votes almost at a debuting range?" Daiyu asked as she tilted her head. "Ah, this isn't going to work."
She looked at the camera and let out a small laugh before shaking her head.
They got to pick their teams this time. Starting with Daehwi picking the first group since he was the center for the first performance. Daiyu was surprised as he picked everyone who stood out to fans across the world. In Daiyu's opinion, Daehwi had picked the best dancers, singers, and rappers, but he forgot a few that he might have needed later in the show.
Her name wasn't called by Daehwi. She stood still, almost as if she was frozen. Her only worry was not being picked at all, but that couldn't happen. She was someone who literally stood out compared to everyone else.
Hwang Minhyun was next to form his group. He picked really good people as well. His last pick, Daiyu. She smiled when she heard her name called and walked over to the boy standing up at the front beside the others he had picked before her.
After their group was settled, they stood off to the side and watched more groups be formed. When it got to the end, Daiyu felt bad for the trainees who didn't get picked. She wanted to say a few words like "Fighting," but she couldn't, it wasn't the appropriate time.
Once everyone was established in a group, the staff lined each of them up in a row. One standing behind the other, Daiyu was in the second spot behind Minhyun. She stood there with her hands behind linked together behind her back as she listened to BoA like everyone else was.
After being explained a complicated mission of two teams having to perform the same song, all the people who had picked their teams walked to the end of the room and stood side by side in a line.
"Only 8 of you can pick a song." BoA said as she pointed to the song boards behind her.
Out of 16 trainees participating in the race, 8 of them had the chance to grab a song board and bring it back to a pole, attach it, and claim it to be able to have that song for themselves. If they didn't make it, you weren't able to pick a group to go against in the performances.
"Ready, set... go!" BoA said and the boys took off. Daiyu was cheering for Minhyun like the other boys in her team were.
Unfortunately, Minhyun didn't make it back in time to claim a pole for the song board. Extremely close, he just didn't make it. Instead they were now one of the teams who could be chosen as a opponent to another team.
As their team stood there, trying to avoid eye contact, they watched every other team get picked. In the end, Daiyu's team was never picked which was good for them. However, they still needed to go against somebody.
Daiyu and her team just focused on practicing for the time they had, just like every other group was doing. At the start Hyunbin was dragging them down. He wasn't practicing and always tried to leave the studio before someone caught him in the action of leaving.
"Hyunbin!" Daiyu finally spoke up for the first time in the group.
Hyunbin turned around as he heard the girls voice which was rare. The others were looking at her as well to see what she was going to say. Daiyu was tying her shoes as she continued.
"Can you practice, please? I'm not trying to be rude, but all you do is leave practice to sleep. I understand you are tired, I am too, we all are. But, if we want to win this... we have to practice." Daiyu said firmly as she stood up after tying her shoes.
Hyunbin didn't say anything, he just nodded slowly. Surprised at the young girls words and defense, he closed the door and walked back towards the mirror in the room. From then on Daiyu helped him with the dance and the rap.
With the performance, all they could say was that it was great. Mistakes were made, but they were small and unseen by fans. The only people that noticed them were Daiyu and the others on the team.
Daiyu was extremely happy for how well Hyunbin did. She even praised him after the performance was over and they were walking back to the room where they would find out if they won or didn't win.
"You did amazing." Daiyu said with a smile, looking up at the tall boy.
"Thank you, Daiyu." Hyunbin said, walking beside the girl.
As they entered the white room, their team sat on the white seats, waiting for the next team to walk in which wasn't long after they arrived. Both teams watched the screen to see their votes. The most had been for Team 2, which was Minhyun's team. Daiyu ended with a vote count of 86 which was high enough for her.
She smiled, but that wasn't the end. Now they had to anticipate the few seconds between the votes and if they won. As she counted down, the screen showed the numbers.
Team Two's Win.
Both teams clapped and Daiyu was excited to see what would come next.
Now the scores of individual trainees were being announced. The names were popping up on the screen behind BoA who was standing in the stage as the trainees stood in their respected rows on the lower floor. Daiyu and the others had to witness seeing people who were in the eliminated section, on the verge of elimination, and the ones with high ranks.
Daiyu had dropped from 12 to 15 and shared her new rank with Lee Daehwi who was the center for the first performance. She was surprised, but also relieved that she only dropped three ranks. All she had to worry about now was the next day where they would find their new ranks once all their votes where added up.
Daiyu could relax a little with where she was placed, but she couldn't help but think that her next rank was going to be low.
