Chapter 34
“Ugh.”
Taeri collapsed into his seat, clutching his ankle.
“Choi Taeri!”
Juha stopped in his tracks and ran toward Taeri.
Choi Taeri had pushed his body to its limits to create a stage performance, only to receive harsh criticism and even get eliminated. He must have been in too much pain to even walk properly, so how agonizing must it have been to endure until the very end of the stage? Just imagining it made it impossible for Juha to go to the winners’ waiting room alone.
Soon the production staff rushed over and surrounded Taeri. Taeri was helped off the stage by the production crew. Juha was pushed back and watched in a daze as he disappeared from view.
“Trainee Lee Juha. You need to clear the stage.”
One of the production staff came over and said.
“Taeri, is he okay?”
Juha’s voice trembled anxiously.
“There’s a doctor in the medical room, so the production crew will take care of it. We need to resume filming, so please return to the waiting room.”
Even as he was being led away, Juha kept looking toward where Taeri had disappeared. His head was filled with nothing but anxious thoughts.
During the ten days of their second group stay, he hadn’t been apart from Taeri for even an hour. They slept together, ate together, and practiced together.
He didn’t even mind when Taeri would tease him and rub against his lips whenever the cameras weren’t around, and he enjoyed the thrilling tightrope walk of resisting subtle temptations at night.
Above all, the process of working toward the same goal together and preparing side by side gave him a satisfaction he had never felt anywhere else.
The thought that all of this would disappear hit him with a shock of loss greater than he had expected.
* * *
Throughout his time sitting in the waiting room chair, Juha couldn’t focus on the other teams’ performances. He couldn’t hear the conversations between the winners either. Even Seo Eunwon, who had entered the winners’ section, couldn’t approach Juha carelessly.
Through that gap, Yoo Youngin, who had just finished his stage, approached. Since his death match opponent was 57th-ranked Choi Musin, Youngin’s advancement was quite predictable.
“What are you going to do now that Taeri got eliminated?”
Youngin placed his hand on Juha’s shoulder as if comforting him.
“……”
Feeling like sharp words would spill out if he opened his mouth, Juha chose silence instead. Youngin moved closer to Juha as if he understood his feelings completely.
“You should have been the one eliminated instead.”
Youngin whispered in a voice so small it wouldn’t be picked up by cameras or audio. In that moment, Juha forgot to manage his expression and glared at Youngin.
“Things will work out.”
Youngin smiled brightly, comforted Juha, and then disappeared.
‘Ha, damn it…’
*You should have been the one eliminated instead.*
These words struck directly at Juha’s heart.
He couldn’t let himself be provoked by Yoo Youngin’s taunts. He was already distressed enough without wanting to make things even more of a mess. Juha maintained his composure as much as possible.
The performances continued for another 3 hours after that. As the filming dragged on, both the judges and trainees grew increasingly exhausted.
As time passed, the cameras capturing the atmosphere of the winners’ room versus the eliminated contestants’ room felt increasingly cruel. The trainees who entered the winners’ room felt sorry for their teammates who had prepared for the stage together, so they couldn’t even show off freely.
Finally, the last 40th team’s performance ended and the staff began clearing the stage. Meanwhile, the masters began their deliberation.
“What are they doing?”
“Aren’t they having a losers’ revival meeting?”
“That’s right. Still, a few people will probably come back up.”
“When you see things like this, they always bring a few back up.”
The conversation the winners were having while watching the screen suddenly caught Juha’s attention.
*Losers’ revival…*
If they just eliminated everyone in the death matches without exception, it would cause an uproar, so the masters would inevitably have to save a few people.
And if it were Choi Taeri, he could come back up in the losers’ revival.
A thread of hope bloomed in Juha’s previously gloomy heart. Indeed, there was no law saying he had to die.
Juha clasped both hands tightly together and stared at the screen. Right on cue, the masters finished their meeting and returned to their seats. Soon Park Jusung emerged from backstage with a microphone.
“All eliminated contestants, please come up on stage.”
The trainees from the eliminated waiting room all rushed onto the stage. Juha craned his neck this way and that, looking for Taeri.
*Taeri isn’t there…*
Taeri should have been immediately visible to Juha, but among the 40 eliminated contestants, Taeri was nowhere to be seen. He began to feel anxious again.
What worried him most was that Taeri had disappeared after injuring his ankle. On one hand, he thought it might actually be fortunate. If he had spotted Taeri’s face standing there like a defeated person in that crowd, Juha felt he wouldn’t have been able to bear it.
Lee Cheong handed Park Jusung the card with the additional qualifiers written on it.
Park Jusung read the contents of the card and smiled meaningfully.
“As a result of the masters’ consultation, there will be two additional qualifiers from this death match.”
Tension immediately spread across the faces of the eliminated contestants on stage.
Two out of forty people.
“That’s too few…”
“Please…”
“Please!”
In the winners’ waiting room, everyone clasped their hands together and prayed earnestly for their respective partners to be additionally qualified.
Juha was the same. There was only one thing he believed in. It was absurd for Choi Taeri to be eliminated. The production crew wouldn’t make the mistake of eliminating Taeri, who was an early ratings driver.
“The qualifiers are, congratulations. Choi Musin, Jae Byeongho.”
Choi Musin and Jae Byeongho on screen burst into tears. The remaining trainees applauded stiffly.
Choi Musin, who had wisely overcome the kimchi he’d drawn in the profile photo selection, had made a miraculous comeback this time as well. However, in the end, the name Juha wanted to hear didn’t come up.
“Ah…”
Juha sank back into his seat.
Something unbelievable had happened. Choi Taeri had really been eliminated. Juha’s gaze fell emptily.
Beside him, Seo Eunwon clapped and celebrated seeing his partner Jae Byeongho come back to life. The surrounding trainees glanced at Seo Eunwon as if telling him to read the room.
The door to the winners’ waiting room opened again, and a staff member entered.
“The five S-team winners who achieved a perfect sweep, please come to the center of the stage. We’re drawing for the lucky keys.”
“Hyung, what are you doing? You have to go too.”
Seo Eunwon waved his arm, causing Juha to suddenly snap to attention.
The last hope. The lucky keys remained.
Since they had mentioned various prizes and benefits, there must surely be a way to save his partner. That would be the appeal of the death match, so now he had to stake everything on it.
Even someone like Juha, who lacked charisma, felt like he could dance like a dog if it meant saving Taeri.
* * *
The method for drawing the lucky key benefits was: first, each person puts their key into the prepared device and turns it. A roulette on the screen spins, and the moment it stops, the benefit appears on the screen. You can’t see what the benefit is – everything is completely random.
First, Yoo Youngin spun the first roulette. With flashy sound effects going “beep beep beep beep” and flashing lights, the roulette spun. The brilliant lights made it feel like being in a real casino. Soon the roulette stopped and text appeared on the screen.
[2nd Competition Free Pass]
“Trainee Yoo Youngin has won a 2nd Competition Free Pass!”
Park Jusung shouted energetically.
“Wow!”
“Amazing.”
Exclamations continued among the trainees. The protagonist Youngin covered his mouth in joy. It was truly unearned income, too big to be called a lucky key benefit.
Juha looked at the brightly smiling Youngin with clouded eyes. The face that had been provoking Juha earlier was gone, and now Youngin, armed with innocence again, seemed impressive.
That aside, Juha didn’t care if he didn’t get something like that – he just wanted to be able to bring Taeri back.
“Next, trainee Seo Eunwon.”
Eunwon had even brought his partner Jae Byeongho back through the losers’ revival, so now he had nothing particular to worry about. He was just ready to happily accept whatever came out.
[SamG Kimchi Refrigerator Kron]
“Congratulations, kimchi refrigerator!”
…A kimchi refrigerator at a time like this, how tactless. It was a completely inappropriate gift for a 15-year-old. Still, Seo Eunwon jumped around saying it was great.
*At that age, any gift would be good.*
Next, S-group trainee Kim Namhong drew clothes from a famous street fashion brand. Normally he would have been envious, but right now Juha felt no excitement at all.
In the following roulette, Na Junho drew residential rights to the group stay penthouse.
*This is a bit harsh…*
The thought of losing the place that had been Taeri and Juha’s private space made his heart complicated again.
“This is the last drawing. Trainee Lee Juha, please turn your key!”
Juha came to the center of the stage, inserted his key, and turned it with all his might.
*Please…*
The short time the lights flashed and the roulette spun felt longer than the entire day. What he had hoped for from beginning to end was only Taeri’s qualification.
Juha closed his eyes tightly and waited for the roulette to stop.
The beeping sound effects died down and fanfare played.
“Congratulations, Death Match Partner Qualification!”
At Park Jusung’s voice, Juha’s eyes flew open. The screen really showed [Death Match Partner Qualification].
For a moment, Juha’s mind went blank. He couldn’t believe what he had drawn.
After Taeri’s elimination, until now he had comforted himself by thinking ‘There’s no way Choi Taeri would be eliminated,’ but when it actually happened before his eyes, even reality felt distant.
Juha stood frozen in place, staring at the screen.
“Trainee Choi Taeri, please come out.”
Park Jusung said with a broad smile. Only then did Juha turn around to look toward the back of the stage.
In Juha’s field of vision, Taeri walked out on crutches. The unbelievable scene unfolded like slow motion.
Wearing the white shirt and black suit pants that had been his performance outfit, with the suit jacket draped over his shoulder, he looked somewhat like the protagonist of a noir film.
Seeing Taeri’s face smiling brightly despite his limping leg, Juha felt an unbearably tender emotion surge up.
“Choi Taeri…”
Juha couldn’t hold back and ran toward him.
Juha could see nothing around him except Choi Taeri. He threw himself into Taeri’s arms with such force it made a thudding sound. The jacket that had been draped over Taeri’s shoulder fell to the floor from Juha’s overly intense rush. Even that didn’t matter at all.
Holding onto Taeri’s waist and embracing him, tears poured out. The emotions he had held back each time he was disappointed burst forth like a collapsed dam.
“Sob…”
Starting from hearing ‘Trainee Choi Taeri, eliminated’ until now, nearly 6 hours had been a nightmare for Juha.
Every time he comforted himself thinking Choi Taeri couldn’t be eliminated, then reconfirmed that Choi Taeri had indeed been eliminated, his world collapsed. Feeling in real-time that the world built by Taeri and Juha was disappearing, he was swept up in all kinds of confusion – the anxiety of being left alone, the sense of loss from Taeri’s absence.
*It can’t be.* He had thought this many times, but in one corner of his heart, guilt that Taeri had been eliminated because of him had been weighing down Lee Juha the entire time.
He was afraid, distressed, sad, and resentful that Taeri might disappear from his life while eliminated. Above all, he was sorry. Taeri had gladly accepted even the suggestion to change the stage concept, and had taught Juha dance by splitting his own practice time.
From the beginning until now, Taeri had never once hurt Juha. He had considered Juha at every moment, and had always shown his heart transparently, turning himself inside out.
In contrast, Juha had hidden his heart the entire time – because he couldn’t trust, because he was embarrassed, because there were cameras. He was afraid of losing the great heart that had become desperate through a brief unrequited love before he could properly confirm it.
With various thoughts swirling, when Taeri appeared before his eyes again, Juha couldn’t control his emotions.
“I… sob, I really thought you were eliminated…”
Taeri embraced the sobbing Juha with his other hand not holding the crutch.
“Why are you crying, Lee Juha?”
Taeri smiled brightly and patted Juha. Burying his face in Taeri’s chest, feeling his touch on his back made everything surge up even more. The moments of playful bickering, the passion of practicing together, the stage they had created and dominated together. The anxiety that he might never be able to do all of this with Taeri again poured out uncontrollably.
“I really thought I was left alone… sob.”
The sorrow Juha had held in for 6 hours exploded, and tears fell continuously, dripping from his chin.
His hair, neatly styled with pomade, came down, and his eyes were red, making Juha’s appearance a complete mess. Several cameras were capturing the two of them, not missing that moment.
He expected this scene would appear on TV, but right now he didn’t want to think about anything. Somewhere Yoo Youngin seemed to be looking at him unpleasantly, but that didn’t matter either.
His head was filled only with the fact that Choi Taeri had returned.
While he was crying like this in front, Taeri, even on crutches, smiled gently and patted Juha’s back, as if he couldn’t be happier.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
