Little Scheming Children

Back in the competition, Shun was glad Kiki and Ping were top 5 global votes. The crazy thing was the 6 people from the top moved down to the bottom floor. He said goodbye to the ones who were moving up and cupped Taemeng's shoulder. He was going to miss the dancer.

He greeted the trainees who lost the global vote and welcomed them to the 1st floor, but he could tell they were upset. Some were in tears, others were angry, and the rest were sad.

'It wasn't so terrible on the 1st floor as the 2nd floor., right?'

No, they didn't have large comfortable bed that felt like clouds. No, they didn't have an abundance of food and snacks. No, they didn't have a large monitor and tablets to use freely for their challenges. No, they-

'Alright. The top floor had to be better, but the bottom is good enough,' he told himself and did his best to make things comfortable, even though he was still bitter he was unable to film his part.

"New Challenge," the host spoke up, "Top floor versus Bottom floor. 2 groups from each team will go head to head. A dance battle one day. A singing battle the 2nd day. An activity relay the last day; be sure to have your number ready (1-15). You have 3 days to prepare. The winning members will stay or go up to the 2nd floor. Time starts now. Good luck."

Shun nodded to himself as he tried to strategize on what to do. He would be best in singing and what exactly was this activity they needed to do? Scratching his head, he heard the trainees talking about which place they wanted. Quickly speaking up this time, he was determined to get a singing role.

"I'm best in singing," he stated.

"Who is good at dancing?" One of the trainees spoke up and they tried to figure out who was best in which category.

"I would be better in singing…"

"Same…"

"Yeah. Me too."

Shun felt his eye twitch. There were currently 15 of them on the bottom floor. 10 wanted to do singing. They needed 8 for one group and 7 for the other. Which meant, 2 people from the singing group would need to move to the dancing group.

"Heeang and Youang," Shun spoke up with a smile he didn't feel, "Why don't you two do dance? You're both really good at freestyle and we would need that to beat the other group."

The twins looked at each other.

"Youang is definitely better than me, but I am better at singing, Shun," Heeang stated and looked at him, "You are great at dancing too, Shun. Why don't you go?"

Shun forced his smile on.

'I see…'

"I didn't choose last time and let everyone choose. This time I want to sing."

"…"

"I can go," one of the trainees said and Shun thanked him.

"Now we have to assign numbers," a trainee his age, Yu, stated, "Should I just call out numbers."

They nodded and Shun ended up with 15. He was sure he was last on purpose since Yu skipped him 'accidentally' before remembering.

'Everyone is suspicious,' he inwardly narrowed his eyes, 'These little scheming children.'

Going with his group to the dining table, they were going over the songs from the list the host provided earlier. One was fast paced and rock heavy. The second was a soft ballad. The last one was happy pop. He saw the artists attached to the name and when he saw Suu Jin's name on the happy pop, he was interested.

"Ah, I am intimidated to do his song," a trainee stated when he asked about the pop song.

"Me too. People will start comparing."

"Then let's do the ballad," another trainee offered.

"But we've already done ballads. We haven't done rock yet," Heeang stated.

"Since we've already done ballads, shouldn't we do the safe route and win?" Shun questioned with pursed lips.

"But don't we want to push ourselves?" The twin questioned with a smile and it only made Shun more suspicious of the boy. He certainly was good. Heeang should be an actor instead of an idol.

Then it was decided. They were going to do the rock song. Now was the fight for the top 5 placements… again. He offered what they did before- an audition for the spots. This time, he was going to audition for every single spot. Each time, someone else was picked.

It wasn't that he had a huge ego and believed he was better than everyone, but he was certainly better than some of the trainees! Disheartened and upset, he got up and headed out of the room.

"Where are you going, Shun?" One of the trainees questioned.

"Need a breather."

"Want us to wait for you?"

"No. I'll take whatever is left," he said and went into the confession room. He just sat there and rubbed his eyes. Letting out a groan, he pulled his hair before slouching in his seat.

"I will probably get 15," he crossed his arms and dipped his brows, "Whatever. That is fine. I will be the best 15 there is!"

He scowled, but then let out a deep sigh.

"Being here is tough. I miss home," he mumbled and closed his eyes for a long moment, "Alright! No matter. I have my friends, my fans, and people rooting for me. I will do my best!" He clapped with finality and shook off the feeling of dread.

When he returned, he accepted his number.

15.

Of course, it was 15. What other number would he had been given?

3 days passed quickly and here they were entering the elevator like the host said. Passed the second floor, they exited to the roof. Shun was anxious to see his friends again and grinned widely when he saw them. They were in performance clothing, their makeup and hair were done. If Shun didn't know better, he would had thought they were a group already.

"Shun!" Ping called out waving to him excitedly from his spot.

"Ping Ping," he waved back, "I miss you didi."

The young trainee was holding out his hands to him with big brown watery eyes. Shun laughed as the boy truly reminded him of his sister.

'So cute!'

"Welcome, to the Battle: Day 1," the host-

'What?! He is real?! Witch?'