» sbs practice room hallway

@kim jiwooᵗʳᵃᶦⁿᵉᵉ with the cold air rushing to her cheeks, the lean dancer stretched her arms as high as she could before yawning into her hands. she snuggled her coat for a moment before she came back inside the building after whimpering about the cold. she approached a vending machine, desiring for a warm drink. after putting the exact amount of change out of her pocket, she kneeled down a bit for the machine to dispense the hot chocolate into her plastic cup. she sipped as she made way back to the dance room from the short break. on her way there, she found someone snooping in front of the room. she took a final sip from the cup and threw it in the nearest garbage can to act intimidating . approaching her, she questioned. "you lost or somethin'?"

@lalisa manobanᵗʳᵃᶦⁿᵉᵉ strolling through the building, jiwoo found herself in a hallway of doors with signs that read 'practice room 001, 002...' her eyes widened as she'd never been in a building with this many practice rooms. jiwoo was curious to what a 'real practice room' looked like as she had only rented random dance rooms for her practice. she assumed dance rooms all looked the same. in her experience, they DID look basically all the same - but just what if these were different? amongst all of the unlit practice rooms was one with its bright lights shining through its frosted door. curious, jiwoo went ahead to take a peek. strangely enough, nobody was in there.

@im jaebumᵗʳᵃᶦⁿᵉᵉ hearing Jaebum's sudden change in tone, yerim was momentarily stunned, unsure of how she should react. she tried to speak out and say that she was alright but she was cut off by jaebum's cupping of her cheeks, which forced her to look jaebum in the eye. as he spoke softly, yerim listened on quietly, surprised at how he had hit the nail on the head. "i'm alright, really," she said, but her eyes said otherwise as they reddened. she desperately tried to blink back her tears and smiled again before trying to explain, but she choked on words instead. how did jaebum know? even she didn't know all these herself. she had always just... ignored it. but as jaebum said the words aloud, it felt as if he was speaking from her heart.

yerim was pulled into jaebum's embrace, head buried in his chest as the tears flowed down without warning. "but.. i can't. i've done this for too many years, i can't just change so quickly. all the other trainees think that i'm this way already. i don't want to lose my friends, and i don't want the public to hate me either," she bursted out in between sobs, the words spilling out of like spilt water out of a dropped bottle. as jaebum patted her back, she found her arms hugging jaebum. "it's been a long time since i've cried," yerim said quietly. "and it's been a long time since i've hugged someone like this." the last time she had cried was when her mother was sent to the hospital, and the last time she's hugged someone like that was then too. yerim felt jaebum's hand caressing her head, feeling safe in his arms. he was like an older brother that yerim never had, a support that she never knew she needed. "thank you."

@choi yerimᵗʳᵃᶦⁿᵉᵉ Pathetic. That's the exact word to described Choi Yerim. Jaebum wasn't a stupid man, he's awared of her shaky breath, invisible arrow pierced through her heart, silent cracking of her mask. The lady was in dillema. She knew he's right and she hates it. She's awared of herself yet trying to be positive. She's everything Im Jaebum hates, but cares at the same time. He saw his sister's image in her, with a mask, smilling to everyone, avoided conflict at all cost, trying to be the lady she has to be, but at the end, she ended her own life. Everyone attended her funeral for courtesy sake. No one really care about her. Choi Yerim was just like her. Again, she apologized for a mistake she never did, even forcing a chuckle and assured him she's alright with all of it. "You're not alright." his voice softened, saying the exact same words he said to his lifeless sister. "You're blaming yourself inside. It hurts you isn't it? You want to be angry, but you don't know to whom. You want to voice out your opinion, but afraid of their reaction." he cupped her cheeks, let their eyes met with one another,starring into each other, trying to read what's inside her heart.

"The more you you put on that mask, the harder it is to put it off. It's not too late if you put it off right now. Broadcast wise, you'll get a few curse but that's it. Nothing's more." he smile before pulled her into a hug, patted her back gently. He couldn't save his sister but he could save her. It would be hard but nothing was easy. "It's okay to cry. It's not because you're weak, but you've hold on long enough." Caressing her head like a big brother to his sister. He disliked how the society shaped a woman like her to be this way. Everyone deserved a chance to compete fairly yet, not all people got that.

@im jaebumᵗʳᵃᶦⁿᵉᵉ yerim didn't dare to keep her eyes off of jaebum as he approached her, her pupils quivering. she had heard some of the other female trainees talking about him, of him being the "man of their dreams", but she didn't expect that he would be like that. as he squatted before her, his "i'm sick of you" felt like her knife to her heart. the memories of high school played in her mind like a faulty projector that wouldn't stop. she dropped her gaze, breaking eye contact with jaebum, his eyes piercing through her soul. she had always tried the same old method, all the books said the same thing, "kill them with kindness", but it never worked; it didn't work in middle school, it wouldn't work now. she shook her head, saying, "no, the people here are nice, they wouldn't..." her voice trailing off as she said the words to convince not only jaebum, but mostly herself.

yerim couldn't help but think back to when they were dividing the lines. she had only gotten one. maybe the other trainees disliked her. or maybe she wasn't good enough. or worse, both. but it was only the start. it would only become worse after that. jaebum was right but she didn't want to admit it. when he leaned in to whisper, yerim's breath hitched, his words sending chills down her back. maybe that was why she never got to debut. because she would always be at the bottom. but she was sent here, wasn't she? there must be a reason why her company sent her. because they thought she could do it. so, she put on a smile once again. "i don't know how i've offended you or why you're sick of me, but i do hope you can forgive me for that." she tried to keep her words steady to hide her shaky breath and quickly stood up so that jaebum couldn't look down on her, literally but hopefully figuratively as well. "i think i'm doing fine, if you ask me," she said with a forced chuckle.

@choi yerimᵗʳᵃᶦⁿᵉᵉ Jaebum hate it everytime they bowed to him eventhough they had their own reasons to do so, it's like there's a gap between them. Who didn't know Im Jaebum? The only heir of luxurious resorts chain all over the world. His faces were everywhere. Some of female trainees hit on him as well, hoping a shortcut to succeed. The way Yerim bowed to him ticked the man off. Even after his remarks, she was speechless but put on her mask back, told him she's not an angel as a defense, along with her brighest smile, even thanking him for his advice. The man scoffed, realising how thick skinned the woman has become, or maybe how the show made her like this. Closing back the bottle tightly, he got up and walked to her, stopped a few steps away from Yerim before squated down on her eye level. "See? You're being an angel again. I don't need your thank you. Let me be honest, I'm sick of you." eyes straight on hers, lip curled into a smirk. Yes, Jaebum sicked of Choi Yerim. Maybe she's too young and didn't know how the world works but he has learned how it works since his birth. "People will sick of you eventually and teamed up to kick you out. Being greedy is your only way to survive." he stated the fact.

Everyone have their own talents here. They're amazing dancers, singers, rappers, musicians, they're no better than one another. Soon, trainees would get greedy and eliminated everyone who stepped on their way and an 'angel' would definitely be the first one to be kicked out. Should she be afraid? Yes. He didn't expect her to like him. He expected her to take off the mask and show the real her inside. "People like you will always be at the bottom. No chance to climb it up." he leaned closer, whispering it to her. People would judge him as a jerk, it's not like he's a nice guy to begin with. He's a brutally honest straightforward guy, a nightmare for a woman like Choi Yerim.

@im jaebumᵗʳᵃᶦⁿᵉᵉ yerim's group had taken a break, sitting in a semi circle to chat. yerim was sitting among her group as they joked about the show's editing and how it was making everyone look bad. yerim had watched the show, and thought that it was pretty honest and highlighted a lot of the nice trainees, while the more mean ones weren't too far off from how they behaved in actuality. but she nodded along to the senior's jokes, chuckling at appropriate times, which was mostly how she behaved in any discussion, really, leading to her getting not much lines nor centres. she didn't mind, she didn't want to offend anyone.

after an hour or so of practice, the other group members had left to take another break, which yerim had politely declined to stay back and practise. flopping onto the floor, yerim stopped her dance practise to catch her breath, feeling frustrated that she wasn't dancing well. at that moment, a man had entered and sat down a distance away from her. it was im jaebum, who yerim thought sang very well. she quickly smiled and bowed hastily, saying a quick hello to her senior before she was cut off by his remark.

"ah, um, i.." yerim was at a loss of words, confused by jaebum's words, her bottom lip quivering. "i-i'm not trying to be an angel." feeling the tension, she quickly flashed her brightest smile she could muster and said, "thanks for the advice, i'll try!" yerim wasn't sure why he called her stupid but she could feel that he wasn't the most friendly at that moment, and she didn't feel like being called stupid again.

@choi yerimᵗʳᵃᶦⁿᵉᵉ The first episode of the survival aired on the television already. Being his number one fan, his mom called and praised him non stop while his father? Didn't even watch it, even turned the TV off midway while his wife were watching it. What a childish act. When viewers thought trainees wouldn't train when the camera aren't rolling, they're totally wrong. Trainees trained under all circumstances, including their health. The leader of his group fell sick, no other choice except individual training. Walking through the practice room, he caught a group of girls voicing out their opinions about evil editing and such while a girl nodding along without giving her opinion. Choi Yerim? He noticed her during the broadcast, a little girl whom always agreed to what everyone said, most probably avoiding a conflict between group member. Without much care, he entered the vocal practice room for an hour before going to the vending machine in the hallway.

Instead of girls, Yerim was the only one left. In the last broadcast, she sang one line and dance a little, nothing special about her. Pressed on the vending machine, the water bottle dropped down. Took it with him before sitting on the floor several meters away from her, eyes on the lady. "Are you stupid? Keep being an angel and you'll be eliminated right away." Enough with her 'angelic' image, he cursed her, trying to snap her back to her senses.