The day started out like any other day in I-LAND, with the contestants gathered at the iconic Egg lobby room, waiting eagerly for their next challenge. Jia had some zoom meetings arranged for early in the morning, so she wasn't able to visit the guys until much later in the day. By the time that she had walked into the lobby, it seemed like the contestants had already divided themselves into 2 teams and were already practicing their songs.
"Oh!" Jia smiled when she saw one group practicing in the old gym room, "so you guys are team 'Chamber 5'?"
"Oh noona!" Kim Sunoo smiled brightly at the arrival of the idol, "yes that's us! We were just practicing for the new challenge."
"I see that you've been practicing really hard," she giggled at the messy practice room with pillows and blankets scattered around the floor.
"It's hard to do the choreography with the props," Taki sighed, "but it's also really fun!"
"Yeah, we get to throw the pillows at Heeseung-hyung at the end of the song," Jungwon chuckled.
"Oh yeah! I forgot about that part of the choreography!" Jia giggled, "bet you like the ending a lot?" She looked at Heeseung.
"I love it," he laughed jokingly.
"So how are things going? This is not really the usual cool theme you guys are used to right?" Jia chuckled.
"It's hard to do the expressions," the aussie admitted, "I always get so embarrassed for some reason!"
"Smiling with no shame... it's hard," Jungwon sighed.
"Oh come on boys," Jia chuckled, "you guys are thinking too much!" she suddenly walked up to the audio system and played their song.
"Just forget about your worries and have some fun!" Jia pulled the boys to the center and had them all jam to the song.
"Just play around!"
Jake and Sunoo giggled when they noticed Heeseung and Taki doing some silly faces while dancing around.
"Yeah just like that!" Jia cheered when she noticed the guys starting to let loose.
Jia couldn't help but giggle when she saw Jake's cute dance.
"For songs like this, it's really important to be able to convey that joy to the audience," the boys stopped dancing the second she started talking.
"The viewers will be able to tell easily if you are forcing your smiles, so you shouldn't fake it," she explained, "that's why you should really enjoy the performance, that way you'll be showing nothing but genuine happiness!"
"Of course, the choreography and vocals have to be good, but you can also win the audience with charisma," she said with a smile.
"Should we start practicing?" Sunoo looked at his teammates, "now that noona is here, she can help us out."
"Oh yeah," Jia nodded, "let's see how you guys are doing with the blankets and the pillows!" she started collecting the props but was quickly interrupted by the boys.
"No noona! It's our mess!" Jungwon grabbed the blankets from her hands, "we got it!"
"What? But I'm just helping!" Jia pouted when the guys actively prevented her from trying to tidy up the room.
"It's okay noona, we've got it," Heeseung smiled at her after he finished picking up the last pillow, "come on guys, let's get in formation," he waved at his teammates to get in their spots.
Once Jia was done pouting, she walked up to the audio console, "you guys ready? I'll play the music now!"
"Yes noona!"
Chamber 5 practice went really well, the guys were having a lot of fun despite still learning the choreography. They seemed to really enjoy the song and it was starting to show in their smiles.
Since the choreography wasn't as intense, Jia believed that the guys would be able to nail it without problem as long as they made sure to practice properly with the props. Plus she was sure she could trust Sunoo with handling the team's expressions considering he was pretty much an expert in smiles.
With great confidence in this team's ability, Jia decided that it was time to visit the other group. Their song was called 'Flame On' and it had a more Cool theme compared to 'Chamber 5', which shouldn't be an issue in itself. The problem was that this team currently had six members, but the performance was meant for only 5.
Unfortunately for the contestants, the person that placed last from the previous Chemistry Test was going to be revealed in two days, and would end up being eliminated. That meant that the two teams would potentially have to shuffle some members around depending on who lost an individual.
That being said, it seemed like team 'Flame on' was able to divide the parts up and were already practicing hard.
"Jay? Did you choose to sit out for practice?" Jia was confused when she walked to the main practice room and saw Hanbin, Daniel, Niki, Sunghoon and K practicing the formations while Jay was standing at the very back, filming with his tablet.
"Oh noona! I didn't see you walk in," Jay quickly walked up to the audio system.
"Hey guys, noona is here!" He paused the music, interrupting the group practice so that the team could greet the idol properly.
"Oh Jia noona!" Daniel smiled brightly.
"Hi guys! Looks like practice is going well?"
"Yeah, it's been going pretty smooth," Sunghoon nodded.
"I'm really glad to hear that!" Jia smiled.
"Yeah, we've got a great leader to guide us," K patted Sunghoon's shoulder with a warm smile. This caught Jia by surprise.
"Oh! Leader Sunghoon! This is the first time you've been a leader right?" she looked at the ice skater with surprise.
"Yeah...," he scratched his neck bashfully, "K nominated me, and next thing I know, I became the leader..."
"Hey, don't be shy," Jia nudged his arm lightly, "be proud! You were nominated for a reason right? You gotta own your title or else Sunoo will beat you!" she grinned.
"I guess you're right," Sunghoon mumbled shyly.
"Come on! Raise your chin up leader!" Jay suddenly cheered, earning a smile from the ice prince.
"So aside from leader Sunghoon, how are you guys dealing with the positions?" Jia turned to look at Jay specifically, "you guys have an extra member right? Was that why Jay was recording you guys? Are you taking turns with someone?"
There was a bit of a quiet pause that took over the guys. Even their energetic expressions changed to a more distressed one.
"Jay-hyung and I are doing part 3..." Daniel spoke up.
Jay nodded, "I'm in 11th place, which means that most likely than not, I'm the one that's going to be eliminated in the upcoming global votes," he explained, "I didn't want to take up a spot in the performance just to be eliminated and mess up the guys' hard work..."
Jia felt upset but was also moved by his selflessness.
"I understand what you are doing Jay, it's very noble of you to do this," she placed her hand on his arm comfortingly, "but I hope you aren't giving up yet..." she said with a frown.
"Don't worry noona, hyung isn't going anywhere," Niki butted in, sounding super serious.
"Yeah! We won't let him leave!" Hanbin smiled.
Jia giggled at the cute duo, "alright guys, I'm counting on you then!"
"Alright then!" Sunghoon clapped, "Let's go over the song and show noona our progress!"
Jia smiled and stepped to the front to better survey the practice. The guys quickly walked into position and their aura changed the moment the music started playing.
Five guys danced and sang with intense energy while the sixth member stood towards the back following the choreography by himself.
As much as Jay's reasoning made sense, Jia still disliked that he had chosen to sit out of group practice. She genuinely believed that he was jumping the gun with the whole elimination thing and was handicapping himself by not participating in group practice. If he didn't get voted off, then he'd be left with less days to practice the formations with the team.
Rather than protesting Jay's method, Jia decided to keep on helping the team. She stayed with them for a few hours until Sunghoon called it a day.
"Alright guys! Make sure to rest well!" Jia called out to the boys, "except you Jay, do you mind staying for a second?"
Jay waved his teammates goodnight before he walked over to the idol, "yes noona?"
"Let's practice for a bit, we can go over the positions."
Jay stared at the girl with a blank face.
"Jay?"
The boy blinked before a wide smile took over his face, "Noona, you're so considerate," he chuckled, "are you sure you wanna stay late to help me practice?"
Jia giggled, "I gotta do it for my favorite American," she joked, not noticing the light blush that took over the trainee's face.
"Oh by the way noona, before I forget," Jay walked up to the corner of the room where he had his hoodie bundled up, and lifted it up, revealing a white envelope.
"There's a lot of things that have been plaguing my thoughts, so I wrote it all down," he handed her the letter, "please read this when I'm gone."
Jia frowned but took the envelope anyway.
"And if you aren't eliminated?"
"Then don't read it and please throw it in the trash."
The time of the elimination was upon them. The mood among the I-LANDERs was dark and tense especially after the letters that Jay had given out. Their dear friend was about to be eliminated and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Or so they thought.
The third survivor received 1,535,928 votes and ranked 3rd among 11.
He ranked first in the US, UK, and France.
He's preparing for the Concept Test as a member of team 'Flame On'.
Rank 3 I-LANDER.
JAY.
Jia was jumping and cackling in the safety of backstage.
"Eliminated my ass!"
"I knew he wasn't going to be voted off!" Jia cheered to herself.
"You might wanna tone it down, I swear they're going to hear your voice with how loud you're laughing," Wooseok threw her the stink eye, "we need to check the recording to make sure we can't hear your voice in the background."
"Oh come on oppa! Don't exaggerate!"
"Then stop yelling!"
"Now look who's yelling!"
"Well it's because you're annoying me!"
"You're the annoying one oppa!" Jia pouted.
"Alright! Alright! Calm down girl! Let's just focus on the global voting," Wooseok grumbled before turning to the tv where the filming of the voting was being shown.
Jia's heart broke when it was finally announced that Taki was being eliminated. She had grown way too attached to the sweet boy and to see him go was devastating.
"Go wait outside, after Taki says goodbye to the I-LANDERs you'll get to have your turn too," Wookeok instructed, "you'll be sending him off."
Jia nodded, and started heading out from the back of the building. The recording of the ranking was done, which meant that Taki was already outside talking to the survivors. By the time she rounded the corner, she spotted I-LAND's big entrance door closing, and Taki waving goodbye at his hyungs one last time.
"Taki!" Jia called out to her adorable child.
"Jia noona!" Taki took off running into her arms. Jia took a deep breath, trying not to let her emotions take over as she pulled him in for a tight hug.
"You worked really hard Taki, I'm so proud of you," she rubbed his back trying to comfort him, but he was already starting to cry on her shoulder.
"I don't want to go noona," his voice was muffled against her sweater.
"I know Taki, we don't want you to go either," she sniffled.
The two just hugged for a little bit longer before Taki pulled away.
"I'll keep working hard noona," his voice suddenly took a strong tone, "just wait a little bit longer and you'll see me debut," he nodded with determination.
"I know you'll debut Taki, I'll be waiting!" she wiped her tears away before giving him a tearful smile, "I can't wait till we get to share a stage!"
"I'll do my best noona!"
Jia continued to cry even when she made it back inside. Survival shows were really brutal, but to witness things in person was different than just looking at the show on tv.
For her to spend days and days helping the boys just to have them be eliminated was really harsh on her emotions. Taki was such a sweetheart too, and he really did his best every single day that he spent in I-LAND, but of course, 17 out of the 23 were always meant to be eliminated.
There was just no way around it.
Jia tried fanning her face to calm herself down, but she just kept remembering Taki's faint sobbing as he walked to the van that would take him back to his dorm.
"Sunbaenim?" K called out hesitantly when he saw the idol standing by the entrance while facing the wall.
"Is everything okay?"
"Oh K!" Jia jumped in surprise, quickly trying to hide the fact that she had been crying, "yeah everything is okay."
K walked up to her, "were you crying too? I just barely managed to stop like a minute ago," he chuckled quietly. Jia frowned, but realized that K's eyes really were puffy, probably looking identical to hers.
"Yeah, I just said goodbye to Taki," Jia whispered, "I just hate seeing him go..."
"I know... me too..." K sighed.
"How's everyone holding up?" Jia looked up at the trainee.
K shrugged, "we are holding up I guess, it's a bit quiet and tense since we said goodbye to Taki..."
Jia rubbed her eyes, feeling the tears coming back again and mumbled to herself, "I miss him already..."
"I know, I miss him too..." K stood close to her and grabbed her hand. She had been rubbing her eyes too roughly, "you'll irritate your eyes like that," he gently caressed her cheek, running his thumb close to her lips.
The two young adults stood in silence, looking at each other with fondness.
Maybe K's mental state was still suffering the after effects of losing Taki, but he definitely wasn't thinking clearly when he spoke his next words.
"Do you remember the last time we were alone like this?"
Jia's eyes widened, remembering the very intimate moment her and K had shared previously. That event that she had pushed to the back of her mind after all the chaotic things that had happened afterwards.
"I remember being really upset..." K confessed, "I've been trying really hard to focus on debuting but every single second I take a break from practice, I end up thinking about you..."
"And that day, where we almost kissed..." K slowly leaned forward, hand still caressing Jia's cheek, "I can't help but regret how we got interrupted..."
"You wished we had kissed?" Jia whispered.
"More than anything..." K sighed quietly, "I'm aware of the other guys vying for your attention, I'm not delusional to think that I can compete against Sunghoon or Na Jaemin..."
"But I can't help myself but ask... if for just a moment... I could just hold you and pretend you were mine..."
Jia's heart ached when she heard the pain in his voice.
The pain of having to hold yourself back from loving someone.
All Jia could think about was that she didn't want to him to hurt anymore, so she leaned forward and stood on her tiptoes without a second to spare. K gasped, but immediately held his breath when the idol placed her hands on his chest. Their faces moved closer and closer until they were just an inch between them.
"May I?" K whispered.
Jia didn't even bother to look up from his lips before she nodded.
Lips met with gentle eagerness.
This is what should have happened weeks ago.
He never realized how much he had been craving her presence and her touch until he finally got a taste of her cherry lips. This imaginary thirst that K had been feeling these past weeks was suddenly gone and was replaced with happiness and warmth.
Jia was also feeling incredibly overwhelmed by the man before her. The hand that had been holding her cheek had started to move lover until he was cradling her head, not wanting to let her lips escape his. His other hand had nestled itself at the gentle curve of lower back, holding her tight against his chest. The way that he started the kiss with gentle pecks, but started adding more pressure the more she responded, made her heart race.
Seconds passed by, but the two were not about to let each other go.
A/N - Sorry for the lack of updates these past months, I had bad writers block and struggled to write anything honestly. But it looks like I'm getting some inspiration back!
I've been dying to write another story, either about Single's Inferno (it would be fem OC x cast) or Boys Planet 999 (which would be male OC x contestants, so this story would be BL). Let me know which one sounds more interesting to you guys!
-EDIT- Just published the Singles Inferno book! Please check it out if you can!
Its called Her Inferno